"Another failure..."
Watching the novice Adventurer bow to her before fleeing in a panic, as though he had encountered some ferocious beast, even the ever-energetic Hestia could not help feeling a little dejected.
Things had been like this for quite some time. She had descended from Heaven centuries later than the others, so she had run into plenty of setbacks when recruiting for her Familia.
After all, the novice stage was when Adventurers most needed guidance and care. Hestia, who still did not have a single Familia member, could not even provide the most basic equipment.
It really was a case of starting with nothing but a Falna and having to fight for every piece of equipment.
Naturally, Adventurers who could get no guarantees would not join such a hopeless Familia.
So, after several setbacks, Hestia had simply settled into living with her good friend Hephaestus's Familia. That had gone on for several years.
It was not until the last gathering, when her nemesis Loki had gleefully mocked her for being a freeloader, that Hephaestus finally lost patience with her friend's indifferent attitude of doing nothing but staying in her room reading every day.
"Find a steady job or find a Familia member. Otherwise, you might as well go back to Heaven instead of wasting your time down here."
Hephaestus had delivered her ultimatum with considerable firmness.
Hestia understood her friend's concern, and she did not truly want to be a lazy freeloader. She had been working hard these past few days, too, but after being rejected time and again...
This goddess, who had been quite popular even in Heaven, had to acknowledge a sad fact: perhaps the times had left her behind.
Although the Falna every deity bestowed was identical, with none stronger or weaker than another, the help