North Street Calamity (Please Keep Reading~)

The scene shifted.

Dusk, at the entrance on the first floor.

Thor led Ais, Lefiya, and Bell out of the Dungeon's shadows and onto a street dyed orange-red by the setting sun.

The air still carried the Dungeon's faint, fishy smell, mingling with the bustle of the crowd.

Not far away, members of the Ganesha Familia were hard at work.

Heavy iron cages were being hauled up to the surface on carts, each holding uniquely shaped monsters.

Thick chains clanked, and the monsters' murky eyes reflected an uneasy glint in the twilight.

Bringing monsters to the surface was strictly forbidden. The only exception was that annual festival.

"Ah, that's the transport team getting ready for the Monster Festival." Lefiya hugged her Forest Teardrop staff and sighed softly. "Time flies. It's that time of year again."

Bell had never heard of it before, and his eyes filled with curiosity. "The Monster Festival? What's that?"

Lefiya explained, "It's a large festival held every year by the Ganesha Familia. They display tamed monsters so people on the surface can see them up close. The aim is to dispel everyone's fear of monsters from the Dungeon."

Bell asked in confusion, "What's the purpose of doing that?"

Lefiya shook her head. "I don't know either, but I've heard one explanation is that the great god Uranus commissioned the Ganesha Familia to hold the Monster Festival."

"The reason is that he has been praying to the Dungeon to suppress it, trying to prevent its monsters from reaching the surface like they did a thousand years ago. But if people continue to fear the Dungeon, it weakens the effects of his prayers..."

Lefiya's explanation was vague because she didn't know the details herself.

But whatever the reason behind the Monster Festival, the festival itself was more than enough to make it interesting.

Lefiya looked expectantly at Ais beside her, already planning how she might invite Ais to the festival.

Ais, however, wasn't paying much attention to Lefiya and Bell's conversation.

Her eyes followed the monsters locked in the iron cages, and a hint of emotion flickered in her gaze.

She suddenly remembered what had happened a few days ago.

Maybe this was a good chance to invite Thor?

If she could ask Thor to go to the Monster Festival with her, perhaps she could repay him a little...

Ais took a deep breath and parted her lips. Just as she was about to turn to Thor and invite him—

Thor turned around first.

His gaze swept over the broken hilt of the dagger at Bell's waist, and he spoke calmly to the three of them:

"Then let's part ways here for now. I'll help Bell sort out his weapon. Without a suitable weapon, it'll be difficult for us to keep exploring the Dungeon."

Ais's parted lips paused slightly. In the end, she didn't manage to say the invitation.

Bell scratched his head, his face full of guilt. "I'm sorry! I broke my weapon because I wasn't careful... I made everyone end training early..."

His head drooped, and his voice grew quieter and quieter.

"It's fine." Lefiya waved a hand, her tone casual. "Weapons break all the time. It happens to everyone."

Ais nodded gently. "Yeah. Weapons are important. You need to be properly equipped."

The words seemed to bring back some memories for her, and she fell silent for a moment.

She remembered the weapons and equipment she had destroyed, along with the astronomical bills that followed.

Her mood suddenly sank for no apparent reason.

At least... all those bills had been taken care of by now.

Thor smiled unconcernedly and turned to Ais and Lefiya. "I'll figure out the weapon. As for Bell's armor..."

He paused, then asked the two of them, "Could you take Bell to the shopping district to buy some? Bell's only been an adventurer for a few days, and I'm worried someone might scam him."

Ais blinked almost imperceptibly.

She hadn't managed to invite him, but this request... seemed like a good way to repay him.

She agreed without hesitation. "Okay."

Ais watched Thor walk away, a trace of regret passing through her eyes.

Looks like she'd have to bring up the invitation another time.

"A new weapon..." Bell was incredibly excited, his eyes shining.

For someone who had only just become an adventurer, getting a weapon that suited him was almost as important as learning magic.

He couldn't help turning to Ais and Lefiya.

"Um... Miss Ais, Miss Lefiya, about how much do your weapons cost?"

As soon as he asked, Bell realized his mistake.

Asking how much someone else's equipment cost seemed a little rude.

He quickly waved his hands. "Sorry! That was too forward of me..."

"It's fine." Ais's voice was calm and even.

Lefiya also waved her hand to show she didn't mind. "It's nothing we can't talk about."

Ais gave him the figure directly. "My Sword of Despair is a Level One weapon. It's worth 99 million Valis."

"My Forest Teardrop is a Level Two weapon," Lefiya added. "It's worth 37.8 million Valis."

Bell froze on the spot, his mouth slightly open and his eyes wide as saucers.

"Ninety... ninety-nine million?! Thirty... thirty-seven point eight million?!"

He repeated the astronomical figures with difficulty, feeling as if he'd stopped breathing.

Envy welled up inside him.

But soon, he came to terms with his own abilities. Compared with top adventurers like them, he was still far too weak.

Even if someone gave him a weapon worth tens of millions, he wouldn't dare use it.

"It'd be great to have a weapon worth more than 100,000 Valis."

Bell muttered softly, full of anticipation for a new weapon, but also realistic about his current situation.

"I'd be so happy I wouldn't be able to sleep all night..."

Just imagining what it would feel like to hold a new weapon made the corners of his mouth lift.

Hearing Bell's mutter, Lefiya and Ais exchanged a surprised glance.

Were Bell's expectations really that low?

A weapon worth 100,000 Valis was indeed pretty good for a Level One adventurer.

But Thor was going to personally step in to have this weapon forged. Would it really only be worth 100,000 Valis?

Would he come back with an artifact beyond anything they could imagine?

Meanwhile, as night fell, the lights along North Street in the Labyrinth City came on one by one.

In front of a fried potato ball stall, Hestia, the black-haired goddess with twin tails, frowned as she clumsily studied a brand-new Second Generation Magic Stone Ignition Device.

In one hand, she clutched an instruction manual covered in tiny print, anxiously running her fingertip over it as she compared the details. Her other hand hovered above the device's conspicuous red button, never quite daring to press it.

"Hmm... this should be the right one, shouldn't it?"

She muttered softly, her eyes darting between the blurry diagrams and the complicated buttons.

Just as she took a deep breath and her fingertip was about to touch the button—

"If you press that now, you'll probably be sent straight back to Heaven." A voice rang out abruptly, its tone unmistakably teasing.

Hestia jolted in fright, her hand freezing above the button.

She looked up, still shaken, and saw Thor standing in front of the stall. He had apparently arrived without her noticing and was leaning one arm against the sign above it, watching her with interest.

Thor wore the familiar smile that always made her both annoyed and exasperated.

"Thor!" The fright in Hestia's eyes instantly turned to delight when she recognized him. She called out happily, "Long time no see!"

"It's been almost a month." Thor spoke casually, his gaze returning to the hand still frozen above the dangerous button.

He stepped forward and gently pushed Hestia's wrist away from the device without giving her a chance to object.

"Tell me, as the Goddess of the Hearth, how can you not handle a simple ignition device? Last time, that secondhand first-generation one almost blew me up. And now you want to try the more powerful second-generation model? Are you serious?"

"Ha, haha..." A blush instantly spread across Hestia's face, and she laughed awkwardly as she tried to defend herself. "Last time... that was just an accident! This time I really did read the manual! Look!"

As if she'd found a lifeline, she quickly waved the paper in her hand.

Thor glanced at its contents and gave a teasing smile.

He casually reached out and plucked the paper from Hestia's hand with two fingers, then gave it a flutter right in front of her.

"An instruction manual?"

Thor tapped a line of tiny text at the top of the paper, nearly hidden by the creases, and teased her.

"You're using a manual for the first-generation model to operate the second-generation one... and you're holding it upside down, too. Are you planning to quit being a goddess and become a terrorist? Do you have a grudge against North Street?"

The blush on Hestia's face spread to her ears. She quickly lowered her head and saw that the blurry text really did say "First-Generation Model," and the page was upside down as well.

She suddenly realized she'd been studying the inverted text and diagrams this whole time.

"Ugh..." A small whimper slipped from her throat against her will. So embarrassed, she wished she could crawl into a hole.

She tried to salvage the situation. "I've only been down here for half a year..."

Thor merely gave a soft snort.

He had a certain special affection for Hestia.

In this life, just as in his second life, he had originally been an ordinary person with no memories of his creation as a star. He worked an ordinary job in the Labyrinth City of Orario.

Then Hestia set off the first-generation Magic Stone Ignition Device and nearly blew him up while they were working at the same shop.

As he hovered on the brink of death, he saw the Starry Heavens and remembered everything from his previous life.

You could even say it was a blessing in disguise: he went from being the ordinary citizen Thor to the great incarnation of creation, Aurelian Thor.

And his connection with Hestia hadn't ended there.

He had been preparing to search for a Familia so he could regain his strength, and Hestia was the one who told him how the gods' Blessing system worked.

With his abilities, he could have figured it all out on his own in at most two days. But Hestia had shared the information with him directly, saving him a great deal of effort.

Later, perhaps because she felt guilty about almost blowing him up, she had told him about Bell when she found him searching for a Familia and repeatedly getting turned down.

Even though she herself was looking for a Familia.

Thinking of that, Thor looked at Hestia and asked,

"Have you found any kids willing to join your Familia this past month?"

Clunk.

It was as if all the bones had been pulled from Hestia's body. Her forehead knocked softly against the table, and her shoulders slumped completely.

She tilted her head, her cheek resting against the cool wooden tabletop. She looked like a scoop of ice cream that had melted and stuck to the table, and her voice came out long and soft, full of helpless dejection.

"Absolutely no one~"

Her muffled voice came from the tabletop, tinged with a slight nasal quality.

"I'm not exactly a famous goddess to begin with... Not even a single kid has come by to ask about me."

Not a famous goddess?

Thor remembered that Hestia presided over the Undying Flame, which kept the Sacred Fire burning forever. Her divinity was quite exalted.

She might not have been on the same level as great gods like Zeus or Uranus, but she was still quite impressive.

After sharing her own news, Hestia managed to lift her head a little. Her chin still rested against the table as she looked up at Thor with her sky-blue eyes and asked with concern,

"What about you, Thor?"

Thor answered in an even tone. "I just took in my second Familia member two days ago. These past few days, I've been busy helping train the other members."

"Whoa—!"

Hestia shot upright, her eyes wide. Her earlier laziness and dejection vanished, replaced by envy so intense it nearly spilled out of her.

The difference made her chest feel a little tight.

"Two?! That's great!"

She puffed out her cheeks until she looked like a squirrel with pinecones stuffed in them. Her lips stuck out as she made a soft "pff, pff" sound, full of envy and resentment.

"That's great! I wish I could find a Familia too..."

Thor watched her childish reaction, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

But time was pressing, so his expression turned serious as he went straight to the point.

"By the way, Hestia," he said in a steady, clear voice, "there's something very important I need your help with."

Hestia blinked, and the envy and pout on her face quickly gave way to a hint of confusion.

She tilted her head slightly and made a questioning sound.

"...Hm?"