Chapter 140 – Ishtar wants to start unnecessary rumors.


    After a few minutes, I recovered. Once I felt better, hunger and thirst hit me hard. Since I hadn''t brought anything with me—I forgot—I had to ask the three to share something with me.


    Of course, they quickly gave me food and water.


    "Haa~~" I let out a long sigh. "I feel much better now. So, what are you all going to do now?" I asked them.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Do you want to leave, or do you want to keep going down? My sword''s broken, so I think I''ll head out now. I need to get a better weapon."


    "We should leave too. We need to report to the guild about what happened here today," Ais said. "This wasn''t normal. I don''t think I''ve ever heard of something like this—this many monsters targeting someone. It was a nned attack to kill us."


    "Ais is right; it''s better to head back and tell the guild what happened here. Not only the guild but our Familias, too," Tione said seriously. I couldn''t say anything but agree with her.


    I can''t tell them the system caused this. They''ll keep thinking someone was behind it… Or maybe it was just a dungeon glitch, which is pretty unlikely.


    Are the other adventurers on this floor okay?


    I looked around, searching for anyone. I couldn''t feel the presence of anyone—not even monsters.


    "What''s wrong, Luan?" Ais noticed I was looking for something.


    "I''m checking for other adventurers. I''m worried others might have gotten caught up in this… But it doesn''t seem to be the case."


    "Oh, right. I forgot about that."


    "Doesn''t look like anyone else got involved in this," Tiona said.


    "That''s good. Should we head back now?"


    "Sure, let''s go," Ais agreed.


    Then, we started heading toward the dungeon exit.


    As we passed through the floors, nothing unusual happened. We ran into other adventurers, and no one knew what had happened on the lower floors. We were the only ones who experienced that.


    Will the Goddess be able to see it when she updates my fake falna?


    She can see what I did inside the dungeon.


    Or does even that get edited by the system? I''m not sure.


    I think I''ll update my falna today.


    Outside the dungeon, I would say goodbye to the three girls and head home... But I was suddenly invited to dinner at the Loki Familia house. Tiona was the one who invited me.


    Ais looked pretty surprised.


    "It''s to repay all the help," she said cheerfully.


    "Help? Youguys didn''t need my help."


    "That doesn''t matter! Just ept the invitation! The Goddess wants to meet you, too. She''s read your book, you know?"


    "Loki read my book?"


    "Tiona, the Goddess doesn''t just want to meet him because of that. She''s interested in the only member of the Hestia Familia," Tione said.


    Interested in the only member of the Hestia Familia? That''s hard to believe.


    Something strange is going on here.


    Well, I''ve never talked to Loki before, so this might be a good opportunity.


    "All right, I''ll go. The dinner''s tonight, right? I''ll go to the Loki Familia house in the evening."


    "Great!" Tiona said happily, and Tione smiled in approval.


    Ais stayed silent during the whole conversation. I looked at her, and she averted her gaze.


    Yes, something strange is definitely going on.


    ####


    <strong>*Ais''s POV*</strong>


    Luan walked away, and I looked at Tiona. Noticing my look, she gave a bitter smile. "Sorry, should I not have done that?" she asked.


    She just invited Luan to dinner at our Familia''s house! And what does she mean by "Loki''s interested in the only member of the Hestia Familia"? That doesn''t make any sense. Tiona should''ve thought this through better.


    I''m sure the Goddess won''t like this at all.


    "You know the Goddess will be annoyed, right? What did you mean by that? The Goddess might not even know who Luan is," I told her.


    "Of course the Goddess knows him! Didn''t you see her carrying his book around? She''s reading it too!" Tiona didn''t seem to be lying. So the Goddess read his book? I had no idea.


    "Even so, do you think this was a good idea?"


    "I''ll talk to the Goddess myself, okay?" Tiona shouted. "I''m sure it''ll be fine!" Impatiently, Tiona walked away. I let out a long sigh and looked at Tione.


    She shrugged and looked at me as if to say, "Whatever."


    I should let Tiona handle this. I''m not getting in the middle of this problem.


    But I hope the Goddess isn''t bothered and lets Luan have dinner with us tonight.


    I''m a bit anxious.


    ####


    <strong>*Luan''s POV*</strong>


    "Goddess, I''m back," I called her as I entered the mansion. Hestia came down the stairs quickly. She ran to me and jumped into my arms. As I held her, I noticed her body trembling.


    "Luan… Lili…" When I heard Hestia say Lili''s name with tears in her eyes, I felt a chill, and my heart raced.


    "What happened to her?" I asked, trying to stay calm.


    "Lili… She…"


    "Just tell me! Did someone do something to her? Was it Ishtar?"


    "Huh? Ishtar?"


    "Just tell me already!"


    "Lili! She tried to ckmail me!"


    "What?"


    "Lili said if I didn''t agree to another threesome, she''d steal you for herself and not let me be with you anymore!"


    "What? You''re crying because of that? Seriously?"


    "Of course! You''ll never abandon me, will you? Will you?" Hestia looked at me with tearful eyes.


    I ran my hand over her head, then leaned down to kiss her.


    But just as I was about to touch her lips, someone yelled from outside.


    "Luan!" It was Ishtar''s voice.


    At the same time, Lili came down the stairs.


    What the hell is that damned Goddess doing here?! Does she want to start unnecessary rumors?