Chapter 267

Chapter 267: Chapter 267

Kiriya had already expected Hestia to react this way, so he remained perfectly calm as he introduced Jeanne to the petite goddess.

"Hestia, this is Jeanne. She’s going to be a new member of our Familia."

Jeanne stepped forward at the right moment, wearing a warm smile that immediately put people at ease.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Jeanne d’Arc. You must be Goddess Hestia. Kiriya often talks about you."

"Oh?"

Hestia folded her arms across her chest.

"Kiriya, huh? You’re already calling him pretty intimately. So what exactly does Kiriya say about me?"

As she spoke, her gaze drifted across Jeanne’s figure and inevitably stopped at her chest.

The moment Hestia realized that Jeanne’s generous proportions were almost comparable to her own, an immediate sense of crisis rose within her.

She had a gentle and sweet temperament, a beautiful face, and, most importantly, a figure that was downright unfair.

This woman was seriously encroaching on Hestia’s territory.

’No. I have to take the initiative.’

With that thought, Hestia’s demeanor became even more imposing.

"He told me that you’re the most important person in his life," Jeanne replied sincerely, "and that without you, he would never have become the person he is today. He also told me that I should always treat you with the respect you deserve."

Those few words instantly melted away most of Hestia’s hostility and wariness, like snow doused with boiling water.

The jealous little goddess visibly brightened at once.

"Hahaha, it’s really not that exaggerated. I just happened to save his life by chance and then gave him my Falna. In the end, Kiriya’s achievements are mostly the result of his own talent and hard work."

"You’re far too modest, Goddess Hestia."

Jeanne’s voice remained gentle, but there was a clear note of disagreement in it.

"Without your complete trust in him, and without the care and affection you gave him as family, I don’t think Kiriya would have grown into the kind, upright, and dependable person he is today."

"Oh, no, no. I only did a tiny little bit."

Hestia held up her thumb and index finger with barely any space between them, although the smile on her face had already blossomed so brightly that it completely betrayed how pleased she was.

After that, Hestia pulled Jeanne over to the sofa and began fussing over her enthusiastically.

She asked about one thing after another and even took out several beautiful pieces of jewelry to give her.

When Jeanne politely tried to refuse, Hestia immediately put on a stern expression and insisted that they were gifts from family, leaving Jeanne with no choice but to accept them.

Kiriya stood off to the side, completely dumbfounded.

For a while, he honestly had no idea what to say.

He really had talked to Jeanne about Hestia before, but most of what he had mentioned involved how adorable, childish, or energetic the petite goddess could be.

When had he ever said anything that sounded this grand and moving?

’Wait... did Jeanne deliberately say all that just to make Hestia happy?’

Kiriya felt thoroughly shaken.

’Jeanne, you look so honest, and now you’ve learned how to flatter people too?’

But after thinking about it again, something felt wrong.

He had specifically warned Jeanne that it was impossible to lie in front of the gods of this world. With Jeanne’s personality, there was no way she would knowingly fabricate something just to flatter Hestia.

Which meant—

She genuinely believed what she had said.

What Kiriya naturally did not realize was that although he had mostly told Jeanne amusing stories about Hestia’s more eccentric behavior, Jeanne had interpreted those stories as evidence of the deep bond between family members, something precious and unbreakable.

More importantly, no matter how casually Kiriya described the circumstances of his arrival in this world, Jeanne could still sense how dangerous that period had been.

Hestia had saved his life.

For that reason alone, Jeanne sincerely respected the kindhearted goddess who had helped Kiriya when he needed it most.

That was why those words came so naturally to her.

"Kiriya, why are you still standing there?"

Hestia looked over at him.

"Go make some tea."

"Right away."

Kiriya immediately answered, casting a glance toward Jeanne before leaving.

When Jeanne gave him a playful little wink, he finally relaxed and headed off to prepare the tea.

...

By the time Kiriya returned, the conversation between the two women had already reached a comfortable point.

The more Hestia looked at Jeanne, the more satisfied she became.

Gentle temperament, pure heart, strong sense of justice, deep respect for bonds and family...

Hestia naturally had no objection whatsoever to a girl like this joining her Familia.

After all, a Familia was supposed to grow.

Hestia had always felt bad about leaving Kiriya to shoulder nearly everything alone, so having another genuinely strong and dependable member was something she welcomed.

As for the clearly unusual relationship between Jeanne and Kiriya, Hestia was no longer particularly worried about it either.

From their conversation, she could tell that Jeanne sincerely respected her.

More importantly, when it came to her relationship with Kiriya, Hestia already had a considerable head start and unquestionably occupied the foremost position.

Compared with someone as pure and inexperienced as Jeanne, Hestia naturally felt much more composed now.

Seeing the two of them getting along so well put Kiriya in an excellent mood too, and even the way he refilled their teacups seemed noticeably lighter.

Once he finished pouring the tea, he moved closer to Hestia with obvious excitement.

"Hestia, let’s update my Status. I feel like I gained quite a lot from this round of training."

Hestia paused halfway through taking a sip.

Kiriya had not looked this excited even after challenging the entire Freya Familia by himself and coming back to update his Status.

That alone immediately piqued her curiosity.

"All right, then. Let’s see what happened."

Kiriya removed his shirt right there in the living room, revealing his broad, muscular back.

Jeanne instinctively became a little embarrassed, but her attention was quickly drawn toward what happened next.

Hestia took out a silver needle, pricked her fingertip, and began chanting.

A deep blue glow appeared as lines of divine script floated into the air, rearranging themselves before descending onto Kiriya’s back.

Then Hestia froze.

"This... this is ridiculous."

She stared blankly at Kiriya’s Status and murmured under her breath.

"Kiriya

Level 4

STR: S 913 → SSS 1376

END: S 990 → SSS 1334

DEX: S 978 → SSS 1343

AGI: S 967 → SSS 1387

MAG: SS 1001 → SSS 1413

Magic: Forest of All Things, Yang Power: Everflowing Vitality, Blade Storm.

Skills: Strong One’s Wish, Demonbane, Mirror Calm, Divine Will Sharingan.

Development Abilities: Mage (G), Luck (H), Spirit Healing (G)."

Every one of his basic abilities had risen by nearly four hundred points on average.

Taken together, his Status had increased by almost two thousand points.

Hestia already knew that Kiriya’s growth rate was absurdly fast, but she had never imagined he could still progress at this speed after reaching Level 4.

If this had been the result of three weeks of intense training, she would not have been nearly so shocked.

But this had taken three days.

Only three days had passed since his last Status update.

On top of that, his Spirit Healing Development Ability had advanced by an entire rank.

’What the heck did this guy go through?’

Hestia narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Kiriya.

"You didn’t secretly run all the way down to the forty-ninth floor by yourself, did you?"

Only the brutal and relentless combat found at that depth seemed capable of producing such ridiculous growth.

Of course, she had no idea that Kiriya had not gone anywhere near the forty-ninth floor.

Instead, he had fought one legendary hero after another.

Achilles and Karna in particular, two of the strongest Servants in the Great Holy Grail War, had placed Kiriya under enormous pressure.

Against Karna’s golden armor and god-slaying spear, Kiriya had even opened the Eighth Gate: Gate of Death and unleashed the complete Eight Gates Released Formation.

That kind of battle, one that forced him far beyond his normal limits, had naturally been recorded by the Falna.

Combined with the enormous feat of defeating demigod heroes, such a dramatic increase in his Status was hardly surprising.

"Uh..."

Kiriya’s eyes shifted from side to side as he tried to think of how he should explain everything.

Hestia immediately waved a hand.

"Forget it. If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to."

Then she looked back at the Status on his back.

"So, do you want to level up now?"

"Level up."

Kiriya answered without the slightest hesitation.

He was already looking forward to seeing what kind of changes reaching Level 5 would bring.