CHAD HESTIA - Chapter 9

Loki and Hestia sat facing each other.

On one side was Loki, frowning, grumpy, and leaning back onto her wooden chair, letting the two front legs rise in the air, with the two back legs to carry her weight.

Opposite to her was Hestia. A simple curl of her lips upwards on her face, just a silent smirk as she stared at her old time rival. Well, more of a goddess she didn't stop butting heads with. Her arms were crossed and so were her legs, yet her posture was more relaxed than the redheaded Norse Goddess.

"So, your stupid ass finally came down to join us in the Lower World. And your first—" Loki began.

"Fat asses are more your thing than mine, Loki." Hestia immediately said back.

"Act is to—Hrghk!" Loki coughed mid-sentence. "The heck! And I didn't call you a 'fat ass'! I said 'stupid ass'!"

"Needed to be said." Hestia shrugged, not caring.

"But, I, you, huh!?" Loki looked thrown off, which was amusing to her children at the moment. Only Riveria noted how odd such a scene was, but she had other things to worry about.

"So, I'm glad our Familias got introduced to one another. Hope we have a fruitful partnership going forward!" Hestia said with a grin, showing teeth for the first time.

That got Loki to get her bearings.

"Oi! What the hell did you get Ais-chan to sign. I swear if its some bullshit like being obligated to transfer to your Familia, I'll declare a fucking War Game, and I don't care how bad it looks like I'm bullying a newbie." Loki declared as she stood up, cracking her eyes open a smidge, showing her crimson pupils.

"Hey! I know you don't like me, but do you honestly think I'm that scummy!" Hestia bit back, frowning for the first time.

"...Tsk," Loki clicked her tongue as she sat down, and looked aside. "Nah. No you wouldn't." Almost lethargically she dragged her head back to look forward at Hestia, with her signature closed eyes again, and a giant pout. "What the heck did you get my Ais-chan to agree to?"

"A simple training arrangement." Hestia said with a smile.

Riveria read through the contract between Ais and the Goddess Hestia for the third time just to be sure.

The contract was pretty—No, hilariously simple.

"It absolutely is not a 'simple training arrangement'." Riveria finally spoke in a calm tone, after reading the contract a second time just to be sure. "This contract is ripe for abuse." She declared

"I knew it!" Loki cried out pointing at Hestia, while Lefiya, Tiona and Tione gasped.

"Ais is the one who gets to set the hours, or even if the training happens. There's no compulsory actions required of her at all." Hestia shrugged with an 'innocent' smirk.

"So wait, Ais-chan doesn't even have to do anything, and there's no penalty?" Lefiya asked after a moment, sounding confused but relieved.

"Of course not." Ruhig spoke for the first time, as he had sat opposite to Riveria, so she could review the contract. "Miss Ais Wallenstein is a First Class Adventurer and an Executive of the Loki Familia. What can a mere newly-formed Familia possible do to her? Or even force her to do anything?" He said with a smile, repeating some of the earlier points his goddess had mentioned.

At first, Riveria only gave Ruhig a passing glance since arriving. Now though, she focused on the half-elf for the first time, since this whole thing began.

It was Ruhig's reaction to her presence that subtly surprised her. In that he wasn't affected by her presence. He wasn't in awe of her.

That was rare.

It wasn't something done out of scorn, malice, pride, hidden resentment, hidden adoration, hidden glee or anything of the sort.

Rather, it felt like he simply viewed her as another elf. His only reaction to when she introduced herself, was a surprised raised eyebrow, recognition of what her last name meant... and that was it.

The boy's neutral disposition toward her in itself was intriguing.

"You can control the payment." Riveria said as she focused on the discussion once more. "I don't know how you found out Ais' preferred food, but given that the contract states 'for every hour she trains any member or members of the Hestia Familia, she will be paid with a serving of 50 of Hestia's high tier Jagamarukuns'. This child!" Riveria pointed at Ais (almost about to say 'this idiot'). Ais froze at attention being one her once more, half-eaten potato snack in her hand. "Is the type that would work for many hours for her preferred food."

Of course Riveria didn't bother mentioning what qualifies as 'high tier Jagamarukuns', because Ais would know, and learning that Hestia was a Goddess of the Home and Hearth meant cooking isn't an angle she can attack for this contract.

"Besides, how the hell do we even know if the food you give my Ais-chan is good, or junk?" Loki didn't have such stipulations.  

Hestia stood up and snatched one of the Jagamarukuns from the plates around.

"Go ahead and try it." Hestia commanded.

"Hell no! I don't know what weird things you put in it. You probably poisoned it just to get at me." Loki refused.

"That's not something I do and you know that!" Hestia growled. "Eat, bitch!" 

"Screw you! I'm not eating some dirty street snack!"

Hestia jumped at Loki.

"Eat!"

"No!"

The two goddesses fell back with Loki's chair, and they tumbled on the floor, struggling against each other.

"Lady Loki, don't fight!" Lefiya said in panic.

"Goddess Hestia, please calm down." Bell cried out in worry.

The two adventurers went to try and peacefully separate the two gods, so they don't hurt each other, while the rest watched.

"Oh wow, that small goddess is good at wrestling." Commented Tione.

"You're right, Loki is usually much more slippery." Tiona replied casually, as the two took another plate of Jagamarukuns.

Ais pouted at her bunny server leaving.

"So," Riveria went back to the contract, addressing Ruhig. She casually and from practice ignored Loki's antics. "This part of the contract needs to be changed to limit the hours."

"The contract is made by Lady Hestia and already signed. Miss Ais isn't a child needing a guardian, she's legally an adult thus can make her own determinations. Besides, I'm pretty sure you can wrangle her to follow a schedule you set up for her." Ruhig said with a smile and a shrug.

"...You're brazen, Mister... Heldenhaft, was it? Not an elf name I've ever heard of." Riveria noted with some amusement, wondering if her pointing this out, would throw him off. Normal elves, and especially half-elves plainly don't usually argue with her directly like this. It's kinda fun.

"Not sure how I'm brazen when pointing out something obvious. And it's my dad's last name. Yes, my father is human." He nodded with an easy, amused smile.

"Oh? Your mother took your father's last name, not the opposite?" Usually in marriage of people from different races, the one with the higher lifespan, is the one who's family name carries the bloodline.

For the elf to be the one to carry the human's last name—and given how normal and happy Ruhig seem, his family is a good one—she must have really loved that human.  

"Haha, yeah. She said 'given everything, it's the least she could do to try and measure up to his love for her'." Ruhig lost his composure for the first time, smiling openly at the memory, rather than maintain his stoicism.

Riveria found herself smiling at the topic.

"A-hem," she coughed, trying to get things back on topic. "We have moved from the main topic, I apologize for prying."

"It's fine. You weren't demanding answers, and at least it's someone cute asking." Ruhig said, copying Bell's mannerism in his absentee compliments he usually gives out. Not that Ruhig wasn't sincere.

Riveria raised an elegant and amused eyebrow.

Lefiya heard the comment and looked at Ruhig scandalized. Her distraction made Loki pass by her to get at Hestia. Now Bell was pulling double duty in keeping the goddesses separated.

"That still won't make me act favorably toward you on this matter." She said, tapping the contract.

"Darn. I thought you high society types weren't used to genuine positive affection." Ruhig said back.

Riveria almost snorted at how, well again, brazen this half-elf boy was.

"You can not imagine the amount of praise I've heard in all my life, in and outside the forest." Riveria replied.

"Damn." Ruhig actually frowned in sympathy. "I get being desensitized enough to discern which compliments are fake and which are not, but getting numb to all genuine praise just seems sad."

Riveria blinked at that. She was surprised that his sympathy was actually real in that regard.

"I think we misunderstood each other." Riveria shook her head, a chuckle leaving her lips. "I'm not immune to genuine praise, but because I've experiences it a lot, it doesn't distract me from my tasks."

"Oh. That's good." Ruhig said in relief.

While he did originally compliment her to throw her off, he felt genuinely worried at her reaction afterwards. Looks like Laut advice to being some social mastermind just really isn't for him.

Riveria found herself smiling at Ruhig's reaction. Regardless of his aloof act, he seems like the type of boy to genuinely care about others.

Before they could continue their negotiations, the childish brawl between Loki and Hestia reached a fever pitch.

"I'm not letting you steal Ais from me with your succubus cooking, Loli Boobs!" Loki shouted, held back to a corner for the room between two walls by Lefiya.

"Yeah, you tell her, Loki!" Tiona cheered as she and her sister shared a basket of jahamarukuns between them.

"Lady Hestia, this behavior is unbecoming of a kind goddess such as yourself." Oriana was holding Hestia back, by holding her from under her armpits.

The knight-aspirant couldn't sit on the sidelines doing nothing. (Her potato snack plate was finished.)

Oriana felt she had to help the kind goddess Hestia not lose herself to a dark path. (Hestia gave her divine jagamarukuns. She must be a kind goddess.)

She couldn't sit back and do nothing. (If she loses the potato giving goddess then how will she ever get those jagamarukuns again.)

So when Ais tugged at Bell's sleeve to ask for more jagamarukun, Oriana tagged in.

"Ha! Please, I'll never take any of your kids, even if they ask. I don't need to steal anything from you." Hestia laughed back, while kicking her feel as she dangled from Oriana's hold. "But I am going to use your Familia to help mine. All's fair in love and war."

"Like hell you are! I'm not gonna let you leech off my cute kids like a leech!" Loki cried back.

"I offer the best darn home cooked meals they'll ever taste!" Hestia declared.

"Fuck you and your meals!" Loki shouted back.

Hestia stopped kicking her legs. Her face fell from grumpy annoyance, to blankness. The change was too apparent that it stopped the noise and arguments, as they felt the atmosphere change, at the goddess's different demeanor.

Even Loki felt like she fucked up.

Hestia suddenly loosened and slipped from Oriana's hold.

"Wha-Hey!" Oriana cried out in surprise.

Hestia landed, and the moment her feet touched the ground, she sprinted at Loki defended by Lefiya.

There were panicked surprised shouts from everyone, calling for Hestia and Loki to calm down.

Lefiya felt that Hestia felt like Loki when she wanted to molest one of the girls, and jumped to the side.

"Aaaah!" Loki was faced with the full force of Hestia, expecting the midget to physically attack her.

THUD!

Hestia slammed her arms and legs into the walls around Loki.

Ka...Kabedon!

That was the thought on everyone's mind.

Yet it didn't look like a normal kabedon. Yes, Hestia's arms were on either side of Loki's head, but... so were her legs, balanced on the corner walls.

It looked more like a crab trapping a prey.

Loki was frozen in shock. Hestia leaned down to Loki's ear, as she was now higher than her.

Hestia whispered something to Loki.

Loki's eyes widened and like a puppet who's strings were cut, she let herself fall down to avoid Hestia.

Loki looked up at Hestia who was still in the double kabedon position.

Loki met Hestia's eyes.

Hestia smirked and licked her lips.

Loki's eyes opened in shock, before she instantly like a snake, move away from under Hestia, while covering the ear Hestia spoke in.

"R-RETREAT!"

"Wait, what?" Lefiya cried out in surprise, while Hiryute twins' eyes widened.

Riveria blinked at the reaction to these events, but before she could ask Loki what happened, Loki ran out of the church.

"Loki Familia retreat! We fight another day!" Loki called out.

"Ah, looks like the fun is over." Tiona said as she followed after her goddess.

"Hey, we're taking some of these baskets for Ais!" Tione called out.

"Please bring them back when you're done. We don't have many." Bell said back.

Tione grunted and nodded with a smile.

Hestia stayed behind as Bell, Ruhig and Oriana were seeing the other Loki members off.

"Y-You!" Lefiya called out to Ruhig. "Please don't speak so casually to Lady Riveria, don't you know who she is!?"

"Those of the name 'Alf' are rich, at least that's what my mother said is the only thing worth remembering about them." Ruhig said.

"She's the princess of the Royal Forest of Alf! She's a High Elf! High Elf! How can you not recognize that?" Lefiya cried out.

"Lefiya, it's fine. Mr. Heldenhaft didn't mean any harm in what he said." Riveria said as she was about to leave following Loki. She didn't want there to be another fight between her and someone that actually spoke to her like a normal person.

"Oh! Alf is royalty? Neat." Ruhig said, nodding to himself.

"N-Neat!?" Lefiya repeated, bug-eyed in shock at the boy's reaction.

Riveria found herself surprised at how underwhelming the half-elf's reaction was as well. It's a bit concerning now.

"Wait! So Miss Frieren is royalty?!" Bell said out loud in shock.

Behind them Hestia facepalmed.

The elves froze at the name.

"..." No sound came from Lefiya's open mouth.

"Ex-excuse me?" Riveria said.

Ais shivered for a moment before shaking her head.

"Yeah," Ruhig gave a playful glare to his Captain, who winced as he realized his mistake. Bell said 'sorry' in a low tone. "My mother's name is Frieren Hvit Alf." He said with a shrug. Riveria had to stop herself from letting her jaw drop. "She never seemed to care about her last name being 'Alf' so I didn't think it was anything important. Ah, I'd appreciate it if you don't mention that to others, as it looks like you had to deal with a lot of annoying attention, Miss Riveria, and I'd rather not go through the same." He smiled and chuckled in good-natured humor.

"R-Right. O-Of course." Riveria quickly composed herself. "We'll have to leave things be as is," Riveria looked to Ais who was with them. The Sword Princess withered in embarrassment under the Nine Hell's scrutiny. "As you said, we'll likely deal with things on our end for this agreement. Isn't that right, Ais?"

"Mmm, b-but, Jagamarukuns?" Ais asked pitifully.

Riveria sighed. "Is three hours enough for your daily training?"

"What do you think Captain?" Ruhig asked Bell, surprising Riveria and Lefiya on who the Hestia Captain turned out to be.

"Honestly I thought we'd only get one hour out of this whole agreement. So yes, three hours is more than enough. Thank you." Bell smiled and gave a bow to Riveria, to which Ruhig copied as well, with Oriana copying them.

"Ah, it's fine then." Riveria quickly said.

Ais secretly decided on going for five hours. She sets the training time after all, right?

Riveria looked at Ais in suspicion due to her maternal instincts. Ais looked away, finding the church's broken doors interesting all of a sudden.

"I hope our partnership continues and be more fruitful into the future." Riveria said.

"I hope so too." Bell replied.

"Let's meet on better circumstances where our goddesses are choking each other." Ruhig joked.

"You 'aren't'?" Bell asked, tilting his head.

Ruhig just politely smiled.

===x===

As Riveria, Lefiya and Ais were walking back, there was a quiet tension in the air.

"He's lying, right?" Lefiya spoke up. "About his mother's name?"

"When he mentioned it, and I looked for it, there are some bearings of royalty from him. Looks and magic energy wise." Riveria said.  

"I hope it's not her." Ais said all of a sudden surprising her foster mother and friend.

"Surely it's not actually Frieren but someone who was just named after the character." Lefiya said, catching onto what Ais meant.

"Lefiya," Riveria spoke up. "Outside of the hidden sections of royal library back in the forest, I have not seen anyone know the full name of Frieren the Slayer."

"S-so... You're saying that..." Lefiya paled, her jaw dropped. A long whine escaped her lips. "Wait, Frieren is real!?" She almost shouted.

Ais shivered and hugged herself.

"She must never find out I'm here." Ais muttered. "I never want to be babysat by her ever again."

"Huh?" Lefiya blinked, not sure if she heard what Ais said or not.

"Ais, you're not a child. No one can babysit you anymore." Riveria said with a sigh.

"R-Right." Ais said as her confidence returned to her. She made a guts pose. "That's right."

"So as a responsible adult, you will explain to all of us at the executive meeting why you agreed to that contract, and do another thousand pages of lines, on not signing anything dubious without consulting me, Finn or Gareth first."

"J-Jagamarukun isn't dubious!" Ais said in rebellion.

Riveria narrowed her eyes.

"Two thousand pages."

"Hurgh!"

===x===

"Loki, come on, you need to get out of your room." Finn said with a sigh wondering what is going on today.

"No! The chibi oppai will get me and make fun of me!"

Riveria and others went to meet with the newly formed (as in yesterday) Hestia Familia and came back with baskets of potato snack. Lefiya a nervous wreck about something new. Ais being punished again for something frivolous (at least not reckless this time), and Riveria seemed unable to focus.

Finn wondered what could a literally day old familia have done to be this noisy.

Inside her room Loki was laying in her bed, rolling and fussing about, as she bit her nails in thought and embarrassment.

What Hestia said was a distraction. Obviously it was.

Yet it was so unlike their quarrels that it completely threw Loki off.

But the worst part? Loki didn't know whether Hestia was serious or not.

Was this a new tactic? Was Hestia messing with her?

What the hell was Loki to do if it was serious? That makes it even worse!

"Fuck me yourself, you coward."

And then Hestia play bit Loki's ear.

Loki touched her ear at the phantom sensation.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN!?

The Goddess of Mischief cried out in her head, completely lost.