While returning to the Familia residence after the basic sword training, he happened to meet Syr Flova, the signboard girl of the "Hostess of Fertility" restaurant.
For Keare, this was an unexpected interlude.
After using Hestia as a shield, he chose to make a quick escape.
He knew the direction of the original plot, and avoiding contact with Syr would only benefit him.
If he entered her sight, his activities in Orario would be monitored, and the thought alone was suffocating.
"Starting tomorrow…"
"I can enter the training phase."
Under the moonlight, Keare finally returned to the Familia residence on South Street.
He did not go directly back to the church basement; his gaze swept towards the abandoned buildings ahead, which seemed to be shrouded in a white veil, and he felt a strange mood.
What had happened to him could no longer be described as a dream.
Accepting reality.
Adapting to the atmosphere and environment of Dungeon or Familia, he gradually worked towards becoming an Adventurer.
This was all Keare could do.
As he cleared his mind, footsteps slowly came from behind, and he turned to see a girl in a white dress, yawning.
Hestia stretched languidly.
Her figure was delicate, but her perfect physique, which even the goddess Loki envied, was perfectly displayed at this moment.
She said nothing, merely came and sat quietly on the steps beside Keare.
"Lady Hestia."
Keare's eyes were filled with surprise; could it be that she had specifically waited for him to return to the Familia residence?
"I never thought the night view here looks quite nice," the girl, completely relaxed, gazed into the distance and remarked from the bottom of her heart.
Perhaps she found wearing shoes troublesome.
Hestia kicked off her slippers, her skin as warm and smooth as mutton-fat jade, her jade-like feet resting on the floor tiles, her toes, as clear and translucent as grapes, were quite nimble.
She suddenly asked:
"Keare, is something on your mind?"
"Yes, there is."
"Today, Lord Takemikazuchi taught me very detailed practical combat techniques, and now I need to start training, striving to enter the Dungeon for exploration as soon as possible."
Keare spoke voluminously; he could envision the tediousness of the process.
Only by making thorough preparations before venturing into the Dungeon for exploration could he truly be responsible for his own life.
Hestia propped her chin, her gentle eyes looking at Keare, shining as if filled with countless stars, and she said lightly:
"Anything else?"
"No."
"Then why are you… sitting outside the door late at night instead of going home?" the girl raised an eyebrow.
This question stumped Keare.
He looked at Hestia, and what first caught his eye was her childish, loli-like face, which he found stunning no matter how he looked at it.
Due to the particular angle.
Keare's gaze inevitably fell on the girl's impressive cleavage, which did not match her appearance or physique.
"Is this something I can say?"
"Why not?"
"I really want to treat Lady Hestia as a deity, but my rationality tells me I cannot," he stated the fact calmly.
Although it wasn't to the extent of being so repressed that he would call every girl he saw 'mom,' could he really live peacefully with a beautiful girl who only existed in fantasy?
Keare didn't consider himself a saint.
Facing Hestia's confused gaze, he decided to be direct:
"And… I just feel that living together is a bit strange, after all, Lady Hestia is a female to me."
"…"
The girl turned her head, avoiding his gaze, but a blush unconsciously appeared on her fair cheeks.
Throughout her long years as a deity, although she maintained distance from all male deities, she could still understand the meaning contained in Keare's words.
Unable to treat herself as a deity, but rather as a female one could pursue?
Hestia was a bit hesitant, but curiosity drove her: "Why do… you feel that way?"
"Because…"
"Because… I think Lady Hestia is very cute!"
—
There was no special plot development; Hestia, hit by a sudden direct compliment, had her mind instantly crash.
It was only after Keare reminded her that it was time to go home and rest that she gradually recovered, hurriedly following his footsteps in her slippers.
Emotional conquest requires gradual progression.
The seeds occasionally planted by unintentional teasing will eventually grow into towering trees.
The next morning.
Keare slept until he naturally woke up, his youthful and energetic body making him feel as if he had inexhaustible energy.
Hestia's figure was no longer in the basement; a piece of kraft paper on the table was held down by valis.
He picked it up and saw Hestia's message.
"I have other things to take care of today, so I won't be back for a while. I've left your lunch money here."
And at the very end of the message, he could see a not-so-neat heart drawn by Hestia with a quill pen.
"Looks like I'm freeloading now…"
Keare had never had such a strange experience.
As for Hestia's so-called "things to take care of," combined with the weapons and equipment she had prepared for him the day before, he quickly had a clue.
Could it be that…
This set of equipment was bought on credit, and Hestia would have to work to pay off the debt?
"Thinking this way… the source of the equipment and armor becomes reasonable. Even Hestia has become hardworking; there's no reason for me to still be lying around at home, right?"
Gathering his scattered thoughts.
After a simple wash, Keare went to the open space within the abandoned church. For training weapons, he directly used the fine iron single-edged sword Hestia had prepared for him.
He carefully recalled Takemikazuchi's teachings from last night and decided to start with basic sword attack moves.
Infinitely repetitive training.
This was the most effective method for developing muscle memory; there was no proficiency system like in web novels from his previous life.
All Keare could do was—put in double the sweat and effort.
"Familiarize myself with the sword…"
He gripped the sword hilt tightly with both hands, reproducing the entire set of basic sword moves from memory.
Chop, hack, thrust, parry…
At first, his movements were a bit stiff, and his body hadn't fully warmed up, but after Keare repeated them several times, his body movements visibly became more coordinated.
And as the basic training progressed.
Every full swing of the sword laid the foundation for Dungeon exploration.
The morning temperature was still cool, but with intense exercise, sweat had already soaked Keare's back, and he had lost count of how many times he had trained.
But the effect was indeed significant.
During the tedious basic training, he gradually understood the sword sense that Takemikazuchi emphasized.
"So."
"Familiarize yourself with the weapon, find the most suitable attack method according to the environment, and increase control over the sword."
"Avoid dropping it or having movements deform in actual combat…"
"Fully utilize the weapon's strengths, integrate them into basic sword attacks, and achieve maximum damage!"
The insights gained from understanding sword sense motivated Keare in his monotonous repetitive training. After rehydrating, he plunged back into basic sword training.
There was no system cheat to help him take shortcuts.
But Keare knew that only by truly sweating through effort would these things truly belong to him.
"So, if I put in a hundred times the effort to improve myself, like Koby the Marine King."
"Wouldn't I just soar?"
—A tribute to the legendary Marine King Koby.