"A place we must go back to?"
Hestia followed Lin Yuan's gaze to the sky, then quickly turned back.
"If you have a place you want to go back to, why did you appear alone on the thirty-seventh floor of the Dungeon?"
"Because the way back disappeared after I came in."
Lin Yuan didn't continue explaining in front of the guild. He first found a reasonably priced restaurant nearby and ordered two dishes with the currency he had just exchanged.
Hestia was still asking questions, but she immediately quieted down after the food was served.
"Didn't you just come down from the heavens?" Lin Yuan asked. "Do gods need to eat too?"
"Of course we have to eat now that we're in the mortal realm," Hestia, swallowing the bread in her mouth. "Besides, eating is a very important part of life in the mortal realm. There aren't so many flavors in the heavens."
After she finished speaking, she picked up another piece of roasted meat, her movements so quick that Lin Yuan suspected she hadn't eaten anything all day.
When half of the food on the table was gone, Lin Yuan took out the silver pendant and placed it between the two of them.
"It got warm when you were close to me."
Hestia finally slowed down and looked down at the pendant.
The silver ornament was engraved with the Fairy Tail crest on the front and Lin Yuan's name on the back. Apart from that, there were no True Magic characters or traces of stored power.
"May I touch it?"
After receiving permission, Hestia extended a finger and gently touched the edge of the pendant.
The cold silver jewelry regained a faint warmth.
This time, Lin Yuan saw it very clearly. Hestia did not use any power, and there was no True Magic light on the surface of the pendant. The temperature was just slowly rising, as if it had been placed next to a burning fireplace.
Hestia withdrew her hand, and the warmth diminished accordingly.
Why do I react to you?
"Perhaps it's because I'm the goddess of the hearth," Hestia said. "The hearth fire isn't just for cooking; it also represents home, a place of belonging, and a place to return to after leaving."
She pointed to the fairy emblem on the pendant.
"The person who made the pendant must have hoped you would remember where you left from, and that you could return. This sentiment resonates with my divinity, which is why it reacted."
Lin Yuan recalled what Mira had said when she put the pendant around his neck.
She didn't Enchantment Magic the pendant; she simply wanted it to remember where it came from.
"Is it possible to find the person who made the pendant through this connection?"
"In the same world, perhaps we can find a way to expand our sensory connection," Hestia replied, though not as quickly as before. "If the distance is too great, or if it's blocked by a powerful barrier, I can't guarantee anything."
"Not in the same world."
Hestia's hand, holding the bread, froze in mid-air.
"What's the meaning?"
I am not from this world.
Lin Yuan didn't mention the World Marker or his past life, but simply told her about how he came to the Dungeon through the spatial rift and how he had entered another world before.
He also spoke the names Fairy Tail and Magnolia to the people of this world for the first time.
Hestia forgot to continue eating.
"So your home isn't in Orario, or any other country in the Nether?"
"Not in this world."
"You left coordinates on the thirty-seventh floor so you could go back?"
"The entrance I returned to last time appeared at the very spot where I first entered that world. The thirty-seventh floor might also be the exit this time."
Hestia looked at the silver pendant again.
It can only give me a sense of home, but it can't tell me where that home is.
"Even your divinity won't do?"
"I have sealed away my divine power. Even if I could use it, I would only control the hearth fire, not the roads or space." Hestia shook her head frankly. "Gods can't do everything."
Lin Yuan was not disappointed.
The pendant's reaction to Hestia was the first clue she received after arriving in this world. Her inability to directly open the portal doesn't mean the Hearth Divinity is of no help in returning to Fairy Tail.
Hestia on her hand and thought for a while.
"I can help you research gods and divinity. While not all knowledge from the celestial realm can be brought down to the mortal world, I certainly know more than the average adventurer."
"The condition is that you join my Familia?"
Hestia clearly wanted to nod, but ultimately held back.
"If you still don't believe in Falna, forcing you to agree won't work."
She put the last piece of roasted meat in her mouth and mumbled, "I'll help you understand the gods first. Once you know how wonderful the Hestia Familia is, you'll naturally want to join."
"You don't even have your first member yet."
That's why we need to start with you!
Hestia immediately put down her cutlery and looked at him intently again.
"I won't force you until you understand the Falna. However, you can't Loki Familia after you've finished investigating."
"If I decide to accept this Falna, I will consider you first."
"Not just consider, it's a priority!"
"You will be my first choice."
Hestia was finally satisfied and extended her palm.
Lin Yuan gave her a light high five, which was a way of confirming their temporary agreement.
The Tower of Babel still stands tall outside the window, with the entrance to the Dungeon at its base. The coordinates left by Lin Yuan are located on the even more distant thirty-seventh floor, while the Fairy Tail world is in a place that even the gods cannot point out.