"Can I get two of that, two of this and—no! Make it three! Do you want anything, Kaelis?"
Hestia excitedly looked away from a stall she was at Kaelis as she asked.
She had suggested that they grab some snacks and food to eat at the colosseum and had been buying sweets nonstop for the past 10 minutes.
"No, I'm good. You already bought plenty of stuff for both of us already…right?"
"Alright then."
Even though she said that, Kaelis continued watching as the woman went on to pick out a few more treats—sponsored by Kaelis's pockets.
Kaelis watched in silence as the pile in her arms somehow grew even bigger.
"…You know," he said casually, eyes drifting from the bags to her, "I'm starting to wonder where all that's even going to fit."
Hestia paused mid-action, slowly turning her head toward him.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Kaelis glanced down at her briefly, before shrugging
"I mean, you're the one who's gonna be eating most of that and from what I've observed so far is that since you got access to large amounts of wealth, it seems you've become a big eater."
He paused as he was careful in choosing his next words.
"…Definitely not your height."
Her brow twitched.
"…Excuse me?"
An ominous aura began radiating off her small frame as her eyes lost their light.
He waved a hand, like he was thinking it through.
"I mean, there's no way it's all going to your stomach either. So logically speaking—"
Hestia's eyes narrowed into a sharp side-eye. "Don't. Finish. That sentence."
Kaelis smirked. "What? I didn't say anything yet."
She huffed, cheeks puffing out as she hugged the bags tighter to her chest.
"For your information, gods don't gain weight like mortals do. My body is perfectly optimized." Her nose pointed towards the sky.
"Optimized," he repeated her words, amused.
Small perks that come with being a divine being.
But even though she said that, it seems the female gods are still sensitive about the topic.
Or it might just be Hestia.
"Yes. Optimized," she shot back. "So stop looking at me like I'm some kind of mystery."
"I wasn't," he said coquettishly. "Just impressed."
That earned him another look—this one suspicious, but with a faint blush creeping up her cheeks.
"…Hmph. Let's go. I already got everything I need." She pouted.
Kaelis watched her walking off without him and smirked.
'I wasn't talking about your weight though.'
But she wouldn't have guessed what it actually was.
Soon, they made their way into the colosseum not long after, the noise hitting them the moment they stepped inside.
They found their way to a decent spot in the stands—not too high, not too close.
Close enough to see what was going on without having to crane their necks.
Hestia plopped down first, clearly satisfied, and immediately started digging into the bags as caged monsters were being hauled into position below.
"I PRESENT TO YOU!! A MONSTER CAPTURED FROM THE MIDDLE FLOORS—A WYVERN!!
The announcer, an Amazonian woman, announced loudly.
Roars echoed faintly from within the cages, drawing cheers from parts of the crowd.
Kaelis barely spared it a glance.
Instead, his attention drifted back to Hestia.
His focus drifted back to Hestia instead.
She was eating like she was completely in her element—clearly enjoying herself.
Snack after snack disappeared, but somehow she wasn't making a mess at all.
No crumbs on her dress, no spills, nothing dropped.
He watched for a moment, then said, "You're… weirdly good at that."
Hestia glanced at him mid-bite. "Good at what?"
"Eating without wasting anything," he replied. "I figured at least half of it would end up on the floor."
She scoffed. "Please. Food's expensive. Why would I waste it?"
Another roar came from the arena making the crowd louder.
Hestia turned her attention back to the fight, already reaching for something else.
Kaelis leaned back.
For a while, Kaelis just sat there.
Hestia was fully invested now—eyes on the arena, snacks steadily disappearing as the wyvern was paraded around and the announcer hyped the crowd up.
People cheered, argued, and gasped at every little movement that took place in the arena.
The same couldn't be said for Kaelis though…
He leaned back against the stone seat, arms loosely crossed, gaze unfocused.
After the initial novelty wore off, the whole thing felt slow.
His thoughts started drifting.
Yesterday had nearly been the same. Waiting. Walking around. Sitting still. Only that he spent time with the kids.
Today wasn't much different. Usually he should be meditating, scouting the dungeon, or training Bell like he did the past 4 years as he asks questions every five minutes.
But he could only sit here… idle.
I wanna go do something interesting.
But what other thing else than meditating or studying can he possibly do?
If he had to count how much of his 600+ years has been spent on things other than studying or meditating, it might amount to somewhere between 20-30 years.
The rest?
Half of it was spent studying and commuting atrocities to gain more knowledge or being half dead from having to make a new body.
So as much as he loved the idea of wooing this goddess before him, he got no experience in how to do so.
His previous wives were given to him by their families and he had spent little time in making proper connections with them because why should he?
They'd die in a hundred years anyway.
When's something actually going to happen? He thought.
When is someone gonna do something?
He silently prayed for something to happen at this moment and save him from boredom.
Why does everything have to be so peaceful all of a sudden?
He almost laughed at himself. Most people would kill for days like this.
He wasn't most people.
And as if to answer his prayers—
BOOM!
The sound tore through the colosseum.
The ground beneath began trembling. A split second later, another explosion rang out, closer this time.
The cheers died instantly, replaced by confusion and panic as people stood up, looking around wildly.
BOOM!
Then more.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Multiple consecutive explosions rang out throughout Orario.
Screams followed.
"What was that!?"
"Did you feel that!?"
"Hey—what's going on!?"
From somewhere higher up in the stands, someone shouted, voice cracking with fear.
"The cages—! The monsters—! They got loose!"
"They're rampaging—outside! All over Orario!"
That seems to have done the trick.
The crowd broke.
People surged toward the exits, panic spreading faster than the screams.
Hestia stiffened beside him, the snacks forgotten as she grabbed his sleeve.
"Kaelis—!?"
Before she could say anything else, he stood.
Calmly.
He firmly took her wrist and pulled her up with him. "Stay close."
Kaelis flew up in the air with Hestia in his arms as people flowed under them, shouting and stumbling.
Hestia looked up at him, breath unsteady. "W-What do we do!?"
"We leave," he said simply.
Outside, bells began ringing.
Even as he kept his expression composed, his grip steady, something stirred beneath the surface.
Relief.
No—more than that.
Excitement.
Finally, he thought as another distant roar echoed through the city.
Something's happening.
Not even a few seconds has passed and nearly every building in the immediate vicinity of the colosseum is in shambles.
Chapter 87 end.
——————————
Was watching anime and building pc and shit.