Chapter 0163: Hestia Isn't Good at Cooking
After finishing lunch, the four of them lounged lazily on recliners, letting Erina's Klahh sprawl upwind so they could enjoy the cool breeze filtering through her fur. Sipping on their chilled plum juice—life couldn't be more blissful.
Right, Astraea, the Goddess of Justice, who was currently being hunted by Evilus, forced to hide everywhere, and even afraid to light a fire at night?
"Speaking of which, Hayashi—" Erina suddenly cracked open an eye and asked, "If I remember correctly, at this point in time, Goddess Hestia hasn't descended yet, right?"
Hayashi, half-dozing, mumbled, "Huh? Probably not, I guess..."
"She definitely hasn't. In the original story, after descending, Hestia only stayed with the Hephaestus Familia for three months before getting kicked out—" Hisako chimed in analytically. "So she probably descended about a year before the main story began."
"Aww—" Erina sighed in disappointment, stroking the Pikachu curled up on her stomach. "Guess we won't get to meet Goddess Hestia this time."
Hayashi shrugged nonchalantly. "Hestia Familia was never my target anyway—let's be real, unless someone's smitten by Hestia's looks, who'd willingly choose her Familia?"
Erina rolled her eyes and huffed, "What I meant was—isn't Goddess Hestia the Goddess of the Hearth? Shouldn't she be an amazing cook? I was thinking of taking Hisako along to learn a thing or two."
"Uh..."
Hayashi scratched his head. "That's actually outside my knowledge—is she really good at cooking?"
"Miss Erina, I think you might be misunderstanding Goddess Hestia—" Hisako sat up with a soft chuckle. "In my opinion, Goddess Hestia probably isn't skilled in cooking at all."
"Eh?" Yunyun blinked in confusion. "But isn't she the Goddess of the Hearth?"
Hisako raised a finger with a serious expression and said, "Think about it carefully—before finding the protagonist Bell Cranel to join her Familia, the goddess Hestia was working at a street-side fried potato ball stall to earn a living. If her cooking skills were truly exceptional, why didn't she just open a restaurant? It would surely be more popular than The Hostess of Fertility, right?"
"Ah..."
Hearing Hisako's analysis, Hayashi, Erina, and Yunyun exchanged glances.
"That... makes some sense?"
"Now that you mention it!? Why would a goddess settle for being a small stall owner instead of opening a restaurant?"
"Hisako-nee, could it be because Hestia is a goddess and can't compete with mortals for business... or something like that?"
Facing Yunyun's question, Hisako shook her head and refuted, "I haven't seen any such rule in the original work. If anything, 'each performing their own duty' is the principle gods live by, isn't it? For example, the Ganesha Familia and Hephaestus Familia forge equipment; the Miach Familia sells potions; the Demeter Familia deals in agricultural products—aren't they all engaged in work they excel at?"
By the way, there's also the Ishtar Familia running the Pleasure Quarter.
Hayashi nodded in agreement and said, "Hisako's analysis is quite reasonable. From this perspective, if Goddess Hestia were truly skilled at cooking, she should have opened a restaurant instead of selling fried potato balls at a street stall."
As for excuses like "the Hearth Goddess only knows how to use a hearth and can't operate modern igniters"—let's not even go there. Would crafting a traditional-flame hearth kitchen specifically for Hestia really be such a technical challenge?
"So that's how it is—"
Erina's face lit up with realization before she slumped back into her recliner, disappointment coloring her voice. "Aww, and here I thought I could learn some cooking from a goddess."
Hayashi chuckled teasingly, "What, is Chef Abe's skill no longer enough for you? You greedy little thing!"
If the current Erina were to travel to the original timeline, she could probably outclass every chef in the original story.
"That's not it! I still can't even hope to match Chef Abe's culinary skills!" Erina waved her hands frantically, afraid Hayashi might misunderstand her as getting arrogant. "It's just, well... Hayashi, back in the disciple world, didn't you tell Kōetsuji-sensei that you wanted to absorb combat techniques from various worlds to develop your own martial arts style?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"So, I was thinking—" Erina hugged her knees, resting her heels on the chair as her feet playfully bobbed up and down, "I could also absorb cooking styles from chefs across different worlds, combine their strengths, and become the ultimate top-tier chef—something like that!"
"Ooooh—" x3
Hayashi, Hisako, and Yunyun simultaneously broke into applause, cheering for Erina's ambition.
"My, my—"
Erina shyly picked up the Pikachu in her arms, using its body to cover her face as even her ten round toes curled slightly. Then in a coquettish tone, she said, "Don't tease me about this topic, or tomorrow I'll make Hayashi eat celery stir-fry!"
"Wow, so only I get the short end of the stick?"
"Hmph, who made you the captain? Of course, the leader gets punished when teammates misbehave!"
Erina put down the innocent Pikachu in her hands, then wrinkled her nose at Hayashi and let out two adorable "hmphs."
Mega cute, Z cute, Gigantamax cute, Terastal cute!
"Alright, alright! We promise not to tease you, okay?" Hayashi gave a French salute, chuckling lightly. "In fact, we'll support you! After all, who would complain about having better food in the team, right?"
Yunyun hurriedly nodded beside them, as if worried that a delay might make Erina misunderstand. "Yunyun hopes Erina-nee's cooking gets better and better!"
"Hmph, don't worry!" Erina said confidently. "I'll definitely make even more delicious dishes!"
"Ooooh—" x3
Another perfectly synchronized round of applause.
Hayashi enthusiastically suggested, "Since the mood is so good now, why don't we discuss what to eat for dinner while we're at it?"
Erina covered her forehead and sighed, "You really are the type to think about lunch while eating breakfast, dinner while eating lunch, and breakfast while eating dinner, aren't you?"
"Ehehe—"
Hayashi grinned shamelessly and declared righteously, "We have an old saying: 'Food is the first necessity of the people,' okay? Eating is very important!"
"'Food is the first necessity of the people…'"
Erina and Hisako exchanged glances, mulling over the phrase before simultaneously breaking into faint smiles.
Yes, food is the first necessity of the people!
Just then, accompanied by a buzzing sound, a green-headed fly the size of a fingertip fluttered its wings and hovered in front of Hayashi.
"..."
Hayashi tugged at his cheek and sighed helplessly. Under the relieved gazes of Erina, Hisako, and Yunyun, he extended his right index finger.
The fly slowly landed on Hayashi's finger, then aligned its eyes with the ground and projected a video file—
In a dimly lit forest, three six-member squads were tracking an eight-member Familia. The leader suddenly turned and threw a glass bottle at the pursuers behind.
With a "Boom—", the bottle exploded mid-air, scattering shards and liquid onto the four fastest pursuers, instantly eliciting screams of agony.
—The video ended there.
Hayashi quickly stood up from his chair and said, "Looks like we've found them! Erina, Hisako, Yunyun, let's get ready to move out."
"Yes!" x3
The three swiftly rose, helping Hayashi pack the recliners into portable backpacks before leaping onto Corviknight and Dragonite. They took off, soaring toward the direction indicated by the mechanical scout.
"This direction of the forest..." The young lady on Corviknight's back widened her eyes as she observed their flight path and said, "Seems to be the same area where Yunyun and I went hunting—no wonder we ran into that squad of pursuers. So Goddess Astraea was hiding there after all?"
Hayashi, holding the young lady by the waist, clicked his tongue and remarked, "Damn, you two just brushed past the right answer—"
Yunyun, seated atop Dragonite, let out a distressed cry, "I'm sorry, Yunyun didn't notice them."
Hisako, who was hugging Yunyun from behind, quickly comforted her, "It's alright, Yunyun! The Astrea Familia must have been extremely careful to evade Evilus's pursuit. It's only natural you didn't spot them!"
Erina also reassured her, "Hisako's right! Besides, I was hunting with you! If you didn't notice, neither did I—does that mean I'm at fault too? So neither of us is to blame, okay?"
Yunyun blinked her eyes and nodded obediently, "I understand."
"Ladies, a quick reminder—" Hayashi took a moment to glance at the navigation projected from the green-headed fly's eyes, "We're almost at our destination. Stay alert and ready to strike, alright?"
"I think that's fine," Erina nodded, then slapped Hayashi's right hand away as it crept under her skirt to stroke her thigh, "And certain people should focus on piloting instead of getting distracted."
"This isn't distraction! Fondling the co-pilot's black stockings is part of the driving experience—don't like it, don't drive." Hayashi stubbornly placed his hand back, "This is exactly why cars were designed with a co-pilot seat!"
Erina and Hisako: "Apologize to car designers right now, damn it!"