Chapter 0166: Indeed Somewhat Full
Why did Hayashi choose this world as the destination for this journey?
There were several reasons—
First, the endless monster spawning mechanism in this world's dungeon!
The growth of Hayashi and his companions' innate skill [Monster Hunter] precisely required hunting large numbers of monsters—Hayashi had previously tried to gain growth by farming monsters in the game world, but this innate skill couldn't be activated.
This was because Monster Hunter's growth required absorbing energy from monsters' bodies, and monsters in games obviously didn't contain such energy.
Second, the divine power of the gods in this world!
Don't misunderstand—Hayashi wasn't planning to engage in thrilling god-slaying battles in this world, but rather hoped to use the divine power of this world's gods to heal (or repair) the flaws in Erina's God's Tongue.
After all, Arceus was a "veterinarian" so the specialization didn't match, but finding a "human doctor" should be fine, right?
Finally, they hoped to establish cooperative relationships with certain gods in this world.
For example, purchasing the legendary cure-all medicine said to heal any injury from the Dian Cecht Familia;
For instance, commissioning Hephaestus to craft custom equipment using materials obtained from other worlds;
For instance, learning combat skills from deities with exceptional martial prowess like Astraea, Artemis, and Takemikazuchi.
Hayashi's greatest trump card was his ability to offer these gods amusement called "otherworldly entertainment"—judging by the depictions in animations, otherworldly content was practically an ultimate weapon against these gods who were so bored they'd rather turn into ewes to be mounted by rams (referring to Zeus (cough)).
...
...
That evening, during dinner.
"So! Good! Delicious!"
As the meat stew entered her mouth, Lili's eyes instantly sparkled, and she exclaimed with exaggerated admiration: "It's just ordinary meat stew, so how can it be this delicious!"
One couldn't blame Lili for such a reaction, after all, she had witnessed Erina's entire cooking process firsthand. The ingredients Erina used were all common forest materials, yet the resulting dish was exceptionally delicious.
This feeling was like watching a master builder and yourself both constructing houses in Minecraft—the master's is an exquisite five-story luxury villa, refined enough to be screenshotted for advertisements, while yours is a dirt-built prison cell.
Both are humans, so how can the gap be this huge.
Even the goddess Astraea couldn't help but express approval of Erina's culinary skills: "Indeed, since descending to the mortal realm, this is the first time I've tasted such delicious cuisine."
'Since descending—' Erina pondered these words for a moment, then couldn't help looking up at Astraea and asking: "Goddess-sama, I recall you're the Goddess of Justice, correct?"
"Yes, my divine domains are the Goddess of Justice and the Goddess of Stars." Astraea first nodded, then said with a slight smile: "Also, there's no need for you to call me Goddess-sama. Just call me Astraea directly."
Astraea never cared much for such meaningless formalities to begin with, especially since Hayashi and the others were her lifesaving benefactors, making these details even less important.
"Alright~ Then I'll call you Astraea from now on~" Erina flashed a smile at Astraea and continued asking: "In that case, are there many other gods in the divine realm responsible for different duties?"
Astraea replied: "There are! Such as the God of War, God of Fire, God of Thunder, as well as the God of Harvest, God of Medicine, God of Pharmacy, and so on."
Erina nodded in understanding, then asked curiously: "Then are there any gods related to cooking? Like the God of Cuisine, God of Cooking, God of Culinary Arts, or similar?"
Hearing this question, Astraea showed an understanding smile and said: "You actually wanted to ask this from the beginning, didn't you? Yes, there are! There are several such gods in the divine realm—though unfortunately, they're all solely devoted to researching culinary arts and haven't descended to the mortal realm."
"Ah... I see..."
Erina's disappointment was visibly evident. Seeing her expression, Astraea couldn't help laughing and said: "It seems Erina really enjoys cooking, doesn't she?"
"Yes, that's right." Erina nodded without hesitation, then said with a hint of pride in her tone: "In fact, I've always considered my identity to be that of a cook rather than a warrior."
Hayashi emerged from the side and said, "She's a chef and my girlfriend."
"Shoo, shoo—"
Erina's face flushed bright red, yet the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl upward as she pushed Hayashi's shoulder. "Can't you see Astraea and I are chatting?"
Hayashi innocently raised his hands. "I'm just watching, I won't say a word."
Only then did Erina lower her hands, wrinkling her nose at Hayashi in a faux-ferocious manner. "No saying nonsense, okay!"
Hayashi patted his chest. "I promise to behave! I'll just enjoy Erina's beau—"
Erina's gaze sharpened. "Hmm?—"
Hayashi swallowed the word "legs" that had been on the tip of his tongue and offered an awkward yet polite smile. "Uh, beauty!"
"Hmph—"
Erina glared at the ever-lustful Hayashi before turning her attention back to Astraea, somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry for the embarrassment. Let's continue our chat."
Astraea chuckled and shook her head. "Not at all! On the contrary, I'm quite enjoying the show!"
'!'
Hisako nearly rushed out right then to proselytize Astraea about the "Hayashi x Erina" ship—if she could recruit Astraea into the EMT cult, wouldn't that be an instant victory, an immediate takeoff??
"Stop teasing me!" Erina hurriedly waved her hands, then secretly stepped on Hayashi under the table before glaring at him angrily.
'It's all your fault for talking nonsense! Now I'm being teased! How mean—'
Hayashi looked at Erina innocently.
'It's not Hayashi's fault—'
Erina's eyes widened in disbelief.
'You're eight years older than me! Don't be so childish!'
Hayashi raised his head righteously.
'Men remain boys until death!'
Erina rolled her eyes.
'Is that phrase supposed to be used like that?'
Hayashi blinked.
'Whether it's appropriate here or not, Astraea seems to be watching you—'
"!"
Erina snapped back to reality and quickly turned her head, only to be met with Astraea's teasing expression and the curious gazes of the girls behind her.
"Wow, is this the honeymoon phase from romance novels?"
"They're really communicating through eye contact!"
"The deep gaze—ahh!"
"Waku waku!"
"!!!"
The next moment, Erina gasped sharply before frantically pushing Hayashi's shoulders. "Y-you, go practice! You ate so much for dinner—if you don't exercise, you'll get fat!"
Unexpectedly, Hayashi not only didn't move but laughed heartily as he wrapped his arm around Erina's shoulders, causing the previously flustered girl to instantly lose her ability to resist with confused "Eh? Eh!" sounds.
Then she heard Hayashi boast triumphantly: "That's right! This is what love looks like!"
Immediately, the room filled with a chorus of "Wow"s.
"Hayashiiii—" Erina lowered her voice, her face burning red as she glared at her boyfriend. "What are you doing!!"
Hayashi declared righteously: "I'm satisfying these young maidens' curiosity about love—am I right?"
"Right—" x24
"Look at that!"
Seeing Hayashi's teasing gaze, Erina could easily guess what her eccentric boyfriend was thinking—satisfying curiosity, my foot! You just want to bully me!
So mean!
Behind them, Yunyun couldn't help but let out a soft burp.
'I just finished dinner, and now I'm immediately force-fed dog food...'
'I'm so full.'
Hisako, moved to tears, wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief and began pulling prepared missionary materials from her backpack—it seemed these materials would finally see use! The great EMT God Cult was about to gain new members!
Even Astraea watched the couple with a gentle, almost motherly smile, resting her chin on her hand—unlike Artemis, she would never forbid the members of her Familia from falling in love.
Still, she did feel a bit full. Burp.
...
...
Erina had originally planned to ask Astraea in detail about how exquisite the culinary creations of the divine realm's Cooking God were, but with Hayashi's playful interruptions, the evening had completely devolved into a public display of affection.
By the end, not only did she fail to ask Astraea about the heavenly Cooking God's skills, but she and Hayashi found themselves surrounded by the new members of the Astrea Familia, who eagerly bombarded them with questions about their love story.
Of course, given Erina's shyness, she would never boast about such things in front of others, but she couldn't stop Hisako—the steadfast deputy leader of the EMT God Cult—from zealously spreading the gospel!
In just one short evening, the youngsters' attitude toward Erina and Hayashi shifted from "saviors of our goddess" to "our favorite ship"—their enthusiasm was overwhelming!
"Morning, Brother Hayashi!"
"Good morning, Sister Erina!"
"Osu!"
"Yahallo!"
Hayashi and Erina cheerfully greeted their little "fans" before approaching Astraea, who stood near the camp with her hands resting on her longsword, gazing into the distance toward Orario.
Though she had appeared calm the previous night, she had been quietly worrying—worrying about the safety of the children still left in Orario.
'Lion, Alise, Kaguya, Lyra…'
'Are you all doing well?'