Chapter 162 - Friendship

"I will make it clear, but I'm not inviting you for any particular reason, it's just that Lili, you can't neglect a proper training for all the time it will take me to return as an adventurer, so you'll be training, and maybe I could ask Ais to accompany you to the dungeon sometime"

Ethan wanted to make a lot of things clear, but he knew very well this wasn't the right time to do so, because they were still in front of the stand where the two of them had to work.

"..Right, when does your shift end?"

To his question, Hestia thought about it for a second and looking upward to gaze at the sun, she answered

"In an hour or so..."

Hestia, although thoughtful of what he had said, was more concerned that Ethan would have to wait an entire hour for them.

But this really wasn't a problem at all for Ethan, having to do a general expense of ingredients anyway, and it is just as Hestia was about to add that it was not necessary to wait for them, Ethan was faster.

"I understand. So I'll see you in about 1 hour. Good job, both of you."

Seeing an assumed customer approaching the stand, Ethan quickly walked away to not disturb while Hestia was about to call him back, but was interrupted by the same customer...

Dealing with the latter, Hestia turned her eyes again to look for Ethan, but saw that he was already gone.

"I never said I wanted to come..."

Uttering this while sighing in exasperation, Hestia looked away as Lili had time to realize what had happened in this time, and she could only worry.

"H-Hestia-sama..do you think we did something bad to Ethan..?"

That was the conclusion she'd reached. Although Ethan was always of his usual kindness, from Lili's point of view it was as if there was something holding him back, and even though she was aware Ethan was currently in a relationship, it didn't mean for her there had to be all this concern.

Her question led Hestia to think about it. As Lili pointed out, Ethan didn't seem to act as freely as before, but although this was the case, Hestia was able to understand his concerns.

"I think it's what you think, but it's not something we can change. I don't know how his relationship is going, but managing one is never easy, especially Ethan's as he's dealing with multiple girls. My advice is to wait until he and his relationship are both ready to welcome someone else, if that's what you want..."

Although her words had somehow comforted Lili, her eyebrows twitched from the way the stated things.

"Hestia-sama...you're talking as if this entire thing doesn't concern you at all. Don't you want to be with him too?"

Turning to look at Lili's pouting face for a moment, Hestia smiled at her before shaking her head.

"He's doing so much for me that I would feel like I'm just abusing him by continuing down this path...I would like to do something for all the kindness he's given me, even though our funds aren't that many..."

Realizing what she had said, Hestia nervously raised her hands in front of her c.h.e.s.t as she added

"Obviously it's personal, I'm not implying that you're abusing him or anything.."

At her words, Lili looked down before sighing...

"So that's what Hestia-sama thinks of me.."

In uttering these words, Lili realized that by choosing to move into his home without even thinking about it, she was proving Hestia's words were the truth, and even though Lili hadn't yet understood too many things, before Hestia was able to add something or find some excuse, Lili was faster

"Hestia-sama, so you're saying in addition to waiting for him to be ready to welcome you, you'll be ready to reciprocate his kindness when the time comes? That's what you were implying, isn't it?"

To her words, Hestia was surprised. That was because it wasn't what she was thinking when she explained what she thought. The truth was Hestia would be willing to wait as long as it took. The way Ethan had given her courage, and the way the two of them had slept in the same bed, even though it wouldn't happen again anytime soon, Hestia remembered and carried these memories in her heart, leaving them there until Ethan would again extend his hand for her.

She didn't know if what she felt was feelings of love, and even if they were what kind of love it was, but until she was able to ascertain it, Hestia wouldn't allow her impatience to ruin their relationship..

"More than waiting to return the kindness...I think I should leave understanding what it is that I feel for him.. I've had too little time to realize, and I don't want anything insecure or based only on..."

Remembering some moments spent with Ethan, Hestia's cheeks suddenly turned red and this led her to stop what she was saying.

"N-Nevermind..but this is my thought, I just have to wait for that hand to be extended again.."

Whispering the last part of her speech, Lili had a confused expression on her face while Hestia decided to add

"Anyway, let's just focus on w-working now..."

Her last sentence led Lili to sigh again as she looked in front of her, trying to order the thoughts in her brain. This was because Hestia's determination was something Lili hadn't thought she could possess. In fact, Lili was convinced Hestia didn't have a strong conviction, but differently from before where Hestia would refuse to feel any kind of feeling for Ethan, now she clearly told the truth of things, she didn't feel ready to judge her own feelings, because there wasn't much between them.

'I wish there was at least something between us'

This thought brought her to pout slightly, but instead of staying angry, Lili decided to follow in Hestia's steps. This was because in addition to her goddess, the latter was assuming the role of a friend...

"I understand what you wanted to say, Hestia-sama, if there's nothing else to do but wait, then I won't back down, and I'll wait as long as I have to.."

"If that's what you want to do..I can't interfere..."

Whispering these words more to herself, Hestia had her eyes turned to the floor before Lili added

"Hestia-sama! This customer wants 2 Jagamarukun!"

Seeing the customer approaching the stand to claim the order and pay, Hestia shook her head to remove the thoughts she had from her head

'Now I need to focus on work...'

This was all she thought before she took the Jagamarukun and charged the valis for the case..

---

While this was happening, Ethan used the hour he was given to buy the various ingredients needed for the house. He was lucky as his approximately 8500 valis were enough to buy many goods, so no matter how much he would have bought, Ethan had no problems whatsoever.

But obviously Ethan wouldn't have time to visit the other part of Orario where the market was more concentrated, so he went through the various shops that populate the neighbourhood of his house, so he could get everything he needed for what they would eat.

Although Ethan couldn't cook, he knew many dishes without the need of any commitment and that were easy to prepare, which for now was enough.

With this determination, Ethan filmed a few shops to buy the ingredients he needed, and before he knew it, the hour he had was almost over.

'...time passes quickly when you're busy doing something..'

With this in mind, Ethan again set out for the stand where Hestia and Lili were working...

---

Once he arrived, Ethan saw Hestia sighing as Lili had now grown strong and instead of being sad, she was happy to have at least one chance for the future.

'I wonder what happened that made Lili so happy...'

Asking himself this question, Ethan didn't think twice about approaching them and, once both had noticed his presence, he decided to start the conversation

"Since you guys are done working and I'm done shopping, I guess we can go pack your things?"

Indirectly specifying that during this hour he actually had something to do, Hestia felt more relaxed as she believed Ethan was waiting for them by walking around the city doing nothing, which fortunately didn't seem to be the case.

Seeing this, Ethan was confused for a second but before he could ask Hestia the reason of her sigh, Lili raised her hand clenched in a fist as she shouted "Let's go!" multiple times.

To her joy, Hestia returned to look at her and bringing a hand on her head, Hestia gave her small pats before adding

"I understand your enthusiasm, but we're in the middle of the road now"

Although what she had said was rather interesting to Lili as Hestia 'understood' her enthusiasm, the former chose not to tell her anything given the helpful advice she gave her while Ethan watched the scene and gave directed smile to both of them.

This was because Ethan was currently afraid that his words had hurt a little both, but seeing they seemed to be fine, he decided to not add anything else while Lili from Ethan's action, understood Hestia's words were actually true, and it was better to follow them...

While Ethan and Lili had these thoughts, Hestia looked down embarrassed by all this as the group made their way to the abandoned church..

---

Back at Hestia and Lili's house, the two began to bring into the main room everything they wanted to take with them while Ethan, now with some time alone to think, was worried by the fact that the sun had already set a long time ago....

'I hope the two are not worried.. knowing Lefiya, she will probably be the first to complain..'

Imagining the two of them talking as Lefiya suddenly brings up this topic with Ais who realize it's indeed as she said and together they try to find a reason for why he's so late, Ethan had a little smile on his face even though he knew it wasn't a nice thing to worry so much the two, in fact the new problem was long-distance communication, this because if something unexpected happened, none of the 3 were able to warn, making others worry as a result.

'Unfortunately I can't immediately find a solution to every problem that arises before me.. All I have to do is focus on what I can fix..'

With these thoughts in mind, time passed quickly and in no time at all, Hestia and Lili had finished taking everything they wanted to not remain in what they would soon call their old house...

---

(I have a discord server. discord.gg/cpVr5X8. You may ask me: "Why should I enter the server?". Well, I'm replying to every interesting question you readers are asking in my chapters, so, you should absolutely enter if you want to read my answers. Ah, and you can find some image reference of items in the story such as Light..! (Soon even Qienta).. so it's recommended to join, I frequently post polls as well, regarding things that(most likely) will be present in the story. One last thing, I post chapter updates in my discord right after I posted on , so I guess you can join to be able to know when I post chapters faster.)

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(Alternate Titles: "Hestia is determined!?", "Lili surely is a pain, but she understood she has to back down on her own?" , "Ethan had predicted what happened!")