Freya's Invitation

Dungeon entrance.

Lu Qiming looked at the dense crowd not far away with confusion, immediately noticing the gods standing at the very front, though their gazes seemed a bit off.

Those burning stares were as if they wanted to swallow him whole.

"What's wrong, Senior?"

At this moment, Aili, who was beside Lu Qiming, nudged his backpack, signaling him not to block the exit.

"Nothing. Probably."

Lu Qiming muttered, taking a few steps forward to let the others behind him emerge.

Before long, the dozen or so people behind him walked out one after another. They also noticed the many gods and adventurers nearby staring at them intensely—or, to be precise, staring at Lu Qiming.

They even saw their own patron deity looking at them with pleasant surprise, waving at them incessantly.

Miach was currently looking at his Familia captain with a face full of surprise. He hadn't expected the boy to have already built a friendship with the child who could solo a floor boss without a 'Blessing'. Wouldn't that mean his chances of pulling that child into his Familia were the highest?

"Hmph! Don't get excited, Miach. It's possible that child just happened to run into yours. Besides, how could I let a child with such a beautiful soul slip through my fingers?"

Freya's eyes shimmered with infatuation as she stared fixedly at Lu Qiming. In her eyes, Lu Qiming's soul—so unlike the ordinary citizens of Orario—was a deep, mesmerizing display of seven-colored light.

In eons, this was the first time she had seen such a soul. Within it, Freya saw beauty, longing, purity, slaughter, madness, and reason. All sorts of lights composed a soul color entirely unique, and after being tempered by the Dungeon, they were gradually merging into a dazzling seven-colored radiance.

Watching that soul-light which captivated her, Freya crossed her shapely, snow-white legs.

"What? Are you planning to pull some petty tricks again, Freya?"

Loki looked at Freya with disdain. Always wanting to devour an outstanding child the moment she saw one—truly worthy of being the 'Goddess of Beauty'.

"Do you think I need petty tricks, Loki?"

Freya's watery, large eyes looked down at Loki's upper body with contempt. A mere flat-chested airport trying to join in the fun.

She had already had people investigate everything Lu Qiming had done recently before coming here. Whether it was when Lu Qiming arrived in Orario or what he did on his first night, Freya knew it all clearly.

She believed that as soon as the child knew she was willing to have tea with him, he would surely join her Familia obediently. She was the Goddess of Beauty, the most beautiful existence in this world; how could someone who didn't even turn away a mere tea-selling girl be immune to her!

"Hmph!"

Loki was rendered speechless by Freya's words, and she had also seen that look of contempt Freya gave her chest. But she had no way to retort! Who told her to be a flat-chested airport, where one look downward revealed everything.

However, when Loki saw the little shrimp on the side, her anger flared up even more.

"Little shrimp, what are you doing here? Don't tell me you think that child will join your Familia?"

Loki pulled Hestia over directly and began rubbing her face.

"What—what are you doing, grabbing me without a word? That's so tacky!"

Seeing it was Loki teasing her, Hestia waved her hands and began bickering back.

"So noisy, you idiot! If you have an opinion, go tell that goddess who sells her looks!"

"Don't look for reasons in others!"

Hestia swatted Loki's hand away, glaring at her indignantly.

"Speaking of which, what's wrong? Did you get mocked again because your chest is too conspicuous for clothes?"

"Idiot! Today's protagonist is the child named Lu Qiming. Can't you even tell that much, you chubby little shrimp?"

"I know that, of course! You airport goddess!"

Hestia put her hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, and looked at Loki's chest triumphantly.

"What are you looking at, you exhibitionist little shrimp!"

Loki's fur stood on end the moment she saw Hestia's expression, and she rushed forward, ready to fight Hestia to the death.

"Goddess!"

At this moment, the captain of the Loki Familia helplessly pulled his patron deity back, pointing toward Freya, who was walking toward Lu Qiming. He reminded her that they weren't here to bond with Hestia today.

Indeed, in the eyes of the crowd, the bickering between Hestia and Loki looked like they were just bonding, albeit a bit noisily.

"Ah! That detestable, lewd goddess! How dare she sneak off!"

Loki couldn't be bothered with Hestia anymore and ran over there directly.

Seeing this, Hestia followed, and the other gods also walked over one after another, each determined to secure Lu Qiming. They knew that now that they had decided to seal their powers, an outstanding child was their greatest capital for showing off.

At this moment, at the entrance of the Dungeon, Lu Qiming looked at the approaching Freya with an awkward expression.

Her flushed cheeks and watery, large eyes were fixed intently on him, and her walking posture was so strange—much like Tiya and Anna, who had been leaning against the wall to walk this morning. If he didn't know better, he would have thought he had done something to her.

"Um, Goddess, may I ask what you need?"

Lu Qiming asked, biting the bullet. By now, Freya was practically hanging off him, her body rubbing against his continuously. His keen sense of smell even caught a strange scent. "What a beautiful soul, it makes one..."

Freya stared at Lu Qiming with dazed eyes, one hand sliding gently across his face. She coiled around him like a snake, while her other hand began to advance toward other parts of Lu Qiming.

"Ahem. So, Goddess, what is it you need!"

Lu Qiming quickly pushed her away and asked, looking at her with a serious expression.

Freya, having been pushed away by Lu Qiming, lightly licked her finger as if savoring the taste, her eyes locked onto him.

"Naturally, it is to have you join my Familia. As a reward, I can accompany you for 'tea' every single day."

As she spoke, Freya leaned in close to Lu Qiming again, her tongue lightly grazing his earlobe.

"No! I refuse!"

Startled by Freya's sudden assault, Lu Qiming hurriedly pushed her away and retreated a safe distance, staring at her with a look of shock. Although he knew from the original story that Freya was exactly this kind of deity—that it was her nature to lose all restraint when encountering something beautiful—

Isn't this a bit too much?

Besides, there were so many people around; did she have no sense of shame?

As for Freya's offer that he could have tea with her every day if he joined her Familia, Lu Qiming felt absolutely no temptation. For one, it didn't align with his interests, and for another, Freya was the type to devour everyone in her Familia, not even sparing the Boaz.

Lu Qiming's tastes were not nearly that heavy.