Chapter 195 - Loyalty

"...."

Loki's question was enough to make Hestia scratch the back of his head as she thought about it. Even though she was what she was, Her pride didn't want Loki to know how Ethan had decided to let her and Lili stay at his house until she had enough valis to buy a house for them. A thing Hestia was determined to avoid since until now she had also taken another job in the tower of Babel in addition to the other two jobs she was already doing to scr.a.p.e together as quickly as possible the valis needed to buy a good house for her familia...

"I asked Hestia to live with me until I have enough valis to buy her--"

Before he could finish though, Hestia immediately raised from the chair she was sitting on

"I-It's true that Ethan asked me to live in his house until he has enough money to buy a house for me, but I plan to buy one for my familia on my own as soon as I have enough valis to afford it..."

She still didn't have much, but to afford a decent house, Hestia planned to not take more than a few months...

Such words startled Loki as she didn't expect Hestia to suddenly shout, but the determination in her eyes told her it was true, Hestia wasn't trying to use Ethan, moreover it was him who tried to help her out.

'I wonder why Ethan's so devoted to this Chibi, what's the difference between us anyway?'

She couldn't understand. A Goddess like Hestia, whom no one would take seriously because of her lazy personality, was so revered by Ethan who wasn't even in her familia. It was impossible for him to know her before she descended to the real world, so Loki couldn't understand why Ethan was helping her out this much.

'Maybe Ethan was in some kind of debt with her? But it doesn't seem like he's protecting her for that reason...so why, is he in love with her? But again, who would fall in love with this Chibi...'

"If that's what happened, then let me buy you the house you want, after you have enough money you'll pay me back."

It was what Loki would call 'investment' since a house didn't cost her that much, but she believed if Ethan held some kind of special feelings for her, then he would surely be pleased by this, and maybe he would tell her more about him, or how he would make his plan reality.

"...Eh?"

Hestia couldn't believe what Loki said. The Goddess who always treated her with hostility since Ancient times, was now saying she would buy her a house, obviously she wouldn't believe her words so easily.

"...What are you planning? I don't have anything to offer you other than that amount of money, you know?"

At her words, Loki smirked while Ethan clearly understood why she was offering such a deal to Hestia.

'It's for me'

Ethan could almost read her intentions written all over her face with ease. She was doing so because he seemed to have a special relationship with Hestia, so if she helped her out, he would feel like trusting her more.

Previously, he would have thought this was just her own way of manipulating Hestia, as well as him, but even if that was the case, he knew her way of manipulating wasn't bad. Loki wasn't doing anything wrong in the end, she was just trying to gain his trust, and Ethan couldn't be angry at her for such a reason.

"You should accept her offer, Hestia."

His words made Hestia's suspicious gaze previously on Loki to move on Ethan with awe. She didn't expect Ethan to say she should accept her offer and, understanding Loki and Ethan were staring at each other with the same knowing smile on their faces, Hestia had even more doubts running through her head.

'Just what happened in these few hours...'

She barely nodded to make Loki understand she accepted her offer as Ethan suggested while Lili was surprised too.

"Good. In a few days your house will be ready. Since you have ties with Ethan I'll buy a house in the neighbourhood..."

Even though Lili wanted to say something, she remained silent as what Loki said was actually the best she could wish for. She obviously preferred to stay in the same house as Ethan, but if she said such a thing now, she was afraid Loki would choose to buy a house distant from his in the end.

After this conversation came to an end, the atmosphere from the tensed one of before changed to a more relaxed one while Ethan glanced at Reyna. She initially said it would be rude to eat in the same table as her master, but after Ethan clarified more than one time it was perfectly fine for him, both Glenda and Reyna reluctantly agreed to eat with them...

'I clearly said I will treat both of you rightfully, why do you think I care about such a thing...'

He obviously didn't know how normally maids were treated. Even if Glenda knew he was a good person, she still believed he was 'superior' to them, which is why it wasn't normally allowed to the servant to eat in the same moment as their master, as if they were lucky they had breaks during the day to do so.

The moment he stated they had to eat with them, Ethan could see the same stream of messages that both Glenda's and Reyna's loyalty increased, and from that he understood 'why' their loyalty went up.

'Their loyalty isn't something mechanical I can gain like stats, they will feel more loyal to me based on their own emotions...'

Ethan understood now their feelings had a big role. Even If he made them feel comfortable, it wasn't assured the loyalty would go up at all, but if he did something reckless like give them perverted orders, their loyalty would sharply drop, or at least that's what he believed.

'....This system is a little unfair though'

He wasn't worried about Glenda's loyalty at all since even if he didn't check it yet, he had access to her emotions, so it was easy to know if something he did wasn't to her liking, but that wasn't the case for Reyna. She was way more sensible than Glenda, so Ethan believed increasing her loyalty to the point Glenda was currently at would be way more difficult as he was actually afraid if he approached her casually, she would be more scared than before.

While Ethan was wrapped up in his problems as he now didn't have the confidence to approach Reyna anymore, his attention was diverted by something touching his leg.

Startled, he looked under the table just to see Maple with her tail wagging side to side and an expression clearly indicating she was worried about him. She was the only one able to sense what people felt and, with Ethan being the only one who was 'out of place' with a strange fear, she believed something must have happened and, seeing no one was paying attention to him, Maple decided to be the one to do so.

Smiling at her, Ethan picked her up as he stroked her fur to let her understand she didn't have to worry so much and, to his care, Maple didn't react, but the calm she wanted to make Ethan see was betrayed by her tail, as the latter was wagging furiously side to side, reacting to his warm hand, always able to make her feel that sense of protection she liked.

"Sorry to interrupt you, but I'm wondering what is she, Master..?"

Glenda was the one to ask this question. This wasn't the first time she looked at Maple, and she couldn't help but being curious about her since she never saw an animal like her in her whole life...

Being asked this question, Ethan thought about what to reply. He knew he could trust her as her loyalty was incredibly high, but she wanted to keep the information regarding the True Dungeon for later, when they would have the time to have an in-depth conversation alone.

"...I found her abandoned to her fate in a place where she shouldn't have been, so I chose to take care of her...she's more intelligent than you think, so you should treat her as such..."

Remembering in what state she found her again, Ethan released a heavy sigh as it wasn't the best of his memories, and understanding this as well, Glenda apologized for the question as she in her mind wasn't even allowed to ask in the first place...

"There's no need to apologize, it's just that I don't like to remember how I found her as she was on the verge of death..."

Apologizing again, Glenda decided to not ask any other question to Ethan as she could feel his words were filled with pain, something that made even Reyna, who was trying to evade his gaze, to look up at him...

Staring at his scarlet-gold eyes, Reyna felt she could understand his pain, since she had similar memories she didn't want to remember...

'He's incredibly similar...to me...'

That was what she believed, as his eyes now represented the exact description Glenda described her pained expression with...

[[Reyna Barther] Loyalty increased by 1]

[[Reyna Barther] Loyalty increased by 1]

...

'No way...'

Ethan was shocked. He understood loyalty wasn't easy to understand, but the sudden stream of messages now from Reyna were an actual proof of his thoughts.

'Why would Reyna's loyalty increase...I didn't even speak to her...'

Looking up, his pained expression completely disappeared as while the atmosphere was again quite heavy, Ethan stared at Reyna's azure eyes while the latter, surprised by his sudden stare, immediately diverted her eyes with her face all red...

'..Well, it seems I still didn't gain her trust though.'

He was taken by surprise, but that didn't mean he would casually forget about the fact she was still scared of him. He didn't know why her loyalty had a sharp increase all of a sudden, but he was determined to let her slowly trust him with time, as when he would truly need her, she wouldn't hesitate.

While his thoughts now made a ray of hope in approaching Reyna, the group quickly changed the topic of the conversation, understanding Ethan didn't want Maple's matter to be talked about as the latter licked his cheek to comfort him...

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(Alternate Titles: "Even if we'll lose Hestia in Ethan's house, it's actually for the better.", "Reyna felt like sympathizing with Ethan, but she's not conquered yet!", "I still miss Light, am I the only one? probably..")