Starting to Eat Clone Soft Rice from Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 48

Since they had never received a Favor from any god, An Xiu and Seele, while not completely powerless in the eyes of this world's natives, were certainly not considered strong.

An Xiu didn't mind this much, as long as no one came looking for trouble because of it.

An Xiu and Seele arrived at a pawnshop, exchanged a few gold bars generously sponsored by Makima for some Valis—the local currency—then found an inn and rented a room.

Inside the inn room, An Xiu opened his System Panel again and silently thought to himself.

"System, Materialize Clone."

"Ding! Points deducted, clone materializing..."

Five hundred thousand points and Sakura's Magic Talent stored in the system space vanished instantly.

With a flash of white light, a young girl with a slightly immature face, chestnut-colored short hair, and a black-and-white short skirt slowly appeared before An Xiu and Seele.

"An Xiu-ge."

After the light faded, the materialized girl immediately looked at An Xiu, a sweet smile spreading across her face as she greeted him.

"Welcome, Sakura."

Reaching out to stroke Sakura's soft hair, An Xiu thought for a moment, then extended his other hand to ruffle Seele's little head.

With one cute girl in each hand, An Xiu felt his mood calm down considerably.

Still, business had to be taken care of.

"Next, we need to find a god to receive a Favor."

Even without deliberate training, Sakura's talent would cause her magic to grow automatically, but active training and stimulation would speed it up—becoming an Adventurer was a good choice.

Besides, An Xiu wanted Sakura to help him analyze the Favor System, which required close contact with a Favor and experiencing the bestowal process firsthand.

However, choosing which god to receive the Favor from required careful consideration.

First and foremost, the god's character couldn't be too poor—no god without moral integrity, they had to have high ethical standards.

Second, the Familia's power couldn't be too large. An Xiu himself didn't plan to receive a Favor, but with Seele around, Sakura and Seele didn't need any senior Familia members' help. So a weaker Familia was best—one where they could easily seize control, making it convenient for Sakura to turn the tables after analyzing the Favor System.

Finally, there was the gender issue. Even if they needed to analyze the Favor, only a female god could bestow Favors on Sakura and Seele; any male god could go as far away as possible.

In summary, there happened to be a god in Orario who perfectly met all these conditions, and she was also the female lead of the DanMachi world: the Blue Ribbon Goddess, Hestia.

In terms of character and morals, although Hestia had been kicked out of a friend's Familia for being a freeloader in the original story, her moral standards and care for her Familia were among the highest of all gods.

Also, because she descended late, if the plot hadn't started yet, this Goddess Hestia's Familia should currently be empty.

Plus, she was a goddess—all these conditions made An Xiu lock onto his target. He immediately led Sakura and Seele out of the inn.

Finding Hestia wasn't difficult. Even without using his perception, just wandering around the more famous Snack Streets in Orario would likely lead to an encounter.

And as An Xiu expected, after passing through a few streets near the Snack Streets, they didn't even need to search carefully—a certain Blue Ribbon Goddess had already spotted them first.

"What... is that?"

After finishing a day's work, Hestia was dragging her tired body down the street, constantly thinking about how to find children willing to join her Familia.

Because she hadn't prepared properly before descending and directly entered Orario, her Familia was still at zero members. No child in the lower world was willing to join a Familia starting from scratch, especially when Hestia, as the main god, had no special skills.

After freeloading for a few months, she was kicked out by an exasperated friend. Hestia could only work part-time to survive while fantasizing about meeting someone willing to join her Familia and support each other—no, even if she had to work to support them, it was fine. As long as they were willing to join her Familia and become her family, that was all she needed. They didn't need to be outstanding or hardworking; even just living a plain life working together would make Hestia happy.

In this state, Hestia accidentally spotted An Xiu, Seele, and Sakura walking from across the street.

The moment she saw them, she couldn't look away.

Two of the three were unreadable even to her as a god, and the one she could barely see gave her the feeling of having power comparable to a god's Authority within her body.

How was this possible?!

Hestia rubbed her eyes in disbelief, repeatedly confirming she wasn't mistaken.

The girl with azure short hair indeed carried the aura of life and death on par with a god's Authority. The chestnut-haired girl and the sole male were both unreadable, but their impressions were completely different.

The chestnut-haired girl felt like a child of the lower world facing a vast starry sky—even as a god, she couldn't see the full picture, and delving deeper gave her an illusion of her own insignificance.

As for the sole male, it was like he was shrouded in an impenetrable fog, with no room even for a glimpse.

So curious, I want these three children to become my family...

Swallowing hard, Hestia couldn't control her steps as she walked toward them.

Chapter 103: Hestia: That's Amazing!

"Three of you, please wait!"

Driven by inner desire, Hestia's steps uncontrollably brought her before An Xiu and the others, and she called out to stop them.

An Xiu wasn't surprised at all. After all, though he didn't know how he appeared to the gods of the DanMachi world, Seele and Sakura's talents were undeniably the kind that would attract any god with decent eyesight the moment they saw them.

With such talent and deliberate baiting, it would be strange if Hestia could resist.

"Um, you three don't seem to have a Familia yet. Would you like to join mine?"

After blocking An Xiu and the others, Hestia hesitated for a moment before speaking.

Having been in the lower world for so long, she knew her conditions were a bit shabby, but these three children were too special—so special that she had to try inviting them no matter what.

But to Hestia's surprise, facing her invitation, An Xiu standing across from her simply nodded.

"Sure. While I personally have no intention of joining a Familia, Sakura and Seele can still join yours."

"Th-this easily? You don't need to think it over?"

Happiness came too suddenly, leaving Hestia somewhat unable to believe it.

Every child of the lower world she'd invited before had first asked about her Familia's scale, its base, and the support and help she could provide new members—only to decisively refuse and leave after hearing her answers.

And now, after inviting three children who clearly looked extraordinary at first glance, the other party had agreed outright without asking a single question?

Even if An Xiu stated he wouldn't join the Familia, being able to gain two members in one go was already dreamlike enough for Hestia.

"We chose our Familia based mainly on the God's character; the rest of the conditions don't matter. And according to the information we gathered, Goddess Hestia, your character ranks among the top tier of Gods."

An Xiu replied.

"Oh~, so you investigated in advance. You've got good eyes."

Hearing An Xiu's answer, Hestia puffed out her ample chest with pride, a smug smile spreading across her face.

"That's right. I don't know where you got your intel, but I, Hestia, have had my virtue recognized by all the Gods since back in Heaven. Not to mention Loki and Freya—I even surpass Astrea and Artemis!"

An Xiu had no interest in debating whether Hestia's character compared favorably to the Goddess of Justice Astrea or the Moon Goddess Artemis. Watching Hestia, who had completely failed to notice anything off about his words and easily believed them, he patted Sakura and Seele beside him.

"Then, following procedure, the next step is to bestow God's Blessing, right? I'm quite curious about this, so could you hurry it up a bit, Goddess Hestia?"

"No problem. Let's find a place now. Once the Blessing is bestowed, these two children will both be members of my Hestia Familia!"

Hestia was clearly just as eager to bestow God's Blessing. At An Xiu's suggestion, the group immediately returned to the hotel room he and Seele had rented earlier.

Inside the room, Hestia sat on the bed, pricked her finger, and then looked at Seele and Sakura beside An Xiu.

"So, which of you goes first?"

Neither girl spoke; instead, An Xiu answered.

"Let Sakura go first."

Hearing this, Sakura nodded obediently and stepped before Hestia.

"Just like An Xiu-ge said, I'll leave it to you, Sister Hestia."

"No trouble, no trouble."

Hestia shook her head repeatedly, then gestured for Sakura to lie face-down on the hotel bed.

"Now take off your top and bare your back. Also..."

Hestia turned to look at An Xiu behind her, her expression clear.

The next step involved undressing. As the only male in the room, shouldn't he step out?

Unfortunately, faced with Hestia's hint, An Xiu remained unmoved.

As if—he wasn't watching precisely for this part. Besides, all his clones were one with his main body; there was no reason to leave just for taking off clothes.

"Sister Hestia, An Xiu-ge is family to Sakura, so it's fine."

Sakura, already stripped of her top to reveal her fair back, lay on the bed and spoke softly at the right moment.

"But Blessing information is very private..."

Hestia still hesitated. After all, An Xiu was the only one of the three children present who hadn't joined her Familia, so naturally she felt more protective and concerned for Sakura and Seele.

And the Blessing Panel essentially represented all of a member's abilities and information. In principle, it was data that no one other than the patron God should see. Spying on another Familia's member's Blessing Panel could even cause a blood feud between Familias.

But Sakura's stance was firm.

"I trust An Xiu-ge."

"Alright, alright. You win."

Seeing this, Hestia realized how deep the bond between the three truly was and stopped persuading. She raised her hand and began inscribing God's Blessing on Sakura's back.

What Hestia didn't know was that while she inscribed the Blessing, Sakura—seemingly obediently lying on the bed—was simultaneously sensing the Blessing's principles and power, learning and analyzing it at a terrifying speed.

In the original story, Sakura, completely unaware of and unable to use her talent, had surpassed the strongest mage, Clow Reed, within two years using only the partial magic gained from capturing Clow Cards and her own subsequent insights.

Now, Sakura, possessing all of An Xiu's memories, not only had a concrete understanding of her talent from the start but was also actively developing and utilizing it.

For instance, right now, Hestia's inscription of God's Blessing was only half-finished. Without her knowledge, Sakura, as the recipient, had already deduced the entire principle and steps of the Blessing through her own reasoning, successfully mastering it.

Then, Hestia realized in horror that the Blessing she had inscribed on Sakura had suddenly severed its connection with her. Under her utterly bewildered gaze, it completed itself autonomously.

The Blessing was still the one Hestia had bestowed, but aside from being identical to her Blessing, it no longer had any relation to Hestia.

Strictly speaking, this was a Blessing wearing Hestia's Blessing as a shell, but in essence belonging to Sakura—a Blessing Sakura had bestowed upon herself.

Faced with this situation, completely unable to understand what had happened, only knowing that her Blessing seemed to have slipped from her control without her knowledge, Hestia could only clutch her face and let out a somewhat broken cry.

"There's a cow!"

Chapter 104: The Hestia Familia That Has Nothing to Do with Hestia Herself

In a room at a certain hotel in the Labyrinth City Orario.

Hestia stared silently at Sakura, who had risen from the bed with an embarrassed expression, and at An Xiu and Seele, who were merely watching without any surprise.

"So, Sakura, what you're saying is, while I was bestowing the Blessing, you learned, analyzed, understood, and mastered the principle of the Blessing, then took over my Blessing, completed it yourself, and bestowed it upon yourself?"

"I'm sorry, Sister Hestia."

Sakura apologized with a look of shame.

However, Hestia didn't feel any anger about it—she only found it utterly absurd.

After all, the Favor System, as the core of the gods' game in the lower world, had been refined over a thousand years by the deities until it was nearly flawless. Not even a child of the lower world, let alone the gods themselves without using divine power, could claim to analyze and learn the principles of the Favor System from scratch. This wasn't a simple matter of knowing how to use it.

But now, before her very eyes, Sakura had deduced the subsequent steps through analysis before Hestia had even finished carving the Blessing Panel, taken complete control of it, and forcibly wrested the half-carved blessing from her hands.

Absurd. Even as a goddess, she found it utterly absurd.

"This must have been your goal all along, right? You wanted to obtain a blessing, to establish your own Familia like a god?"

"That is indeed my goal, but we have no intention of using the blessing to create a Familia in this world."

An Xiu shook his head and replied.

"Not planning to create a Familia yet wanting to master the power of a blessing—the thoughts of lower-world children are truly hard to understand."

As a benevolent goddess, Hestia didn't dwell too long on the issue of her blessing being stolen. What she cared about now was only one thing.

"Is Sakura still my Familia member?"

Hearing this, Sakura, who was kneeling on the bed, nodded.

"The Familia crest on Sakura is still Sister Hestia's Familia crest. In the eyes of other gods, Sakura remains Sister Hestia's Familia member."

Although the Familia crest had now completely severed its connection with Hestia and no longer required her to fulfill any duties as a patron deity, kind-hearted Sakura still chose to acknowledge this bond.

Consider it compensation for Hestia—in this world, Sakura would continue to call herself a member of Hestia's Familia.

"An angel! Sakura, you child are an absolute angel!"

Upon hearing Sakura's answer, Hestia excitedly hugged Sakura, who was kneeling on the bed in the inn room, and spoke with a moved expression.