Danmachi SI-The Silence's Heir

Part 31

Chapter 31

GODDESS HESTIA

Hestia was no stranger to death. She was a Goddess who had lived for thousands of years and was far more understanding and aware of human life's frailty. Perhaps this frailty and mortality made humans so attractive to gods and goddesses like them.

But death was one thing. Slaughter was a whole other thing, and what she had witnessed that day was not death. It was a slaughter, and now, despite it being days past the Cathedral massacre, Hestia could scarcely come to terms with it.

Inumaki-kun was her child, and yet, at that moment, it was as if he was a different person, a different being. That ruthlessness, cruelty, and disregard for human life was not something that she had expected of him, and he was having trouble making sense of it.

And there was no one she could talk to about this.

Astrea's girls, which were now her own children, were busy acting with Ganesha familia as they tried to root out the people associated with the evil set to destroy Orario, the one person who had brought Evilus back to life.

Enyo, and now, due to Ishtar, they knew who that was. A God, one who had played them all for a fool—Dionysus. And she was not surprised by the name, having witnessed his rants in the heavens above many times.

And now the whole city searched for members of the said God and his familia, and yet despite it being two days since the discovery, no trace of the Dinoysus familia could be found. Each and every member of the said familia had vanished into thin air, and despite multiple searches, the Guild had nothing.

And now the people of the city grew nervous and tenser as they sought answers but got nothing in return.

And as she sat there in the center of the city, below the fountain, she could feel that the fate of the city was about to shift, that the world around her was about to shift.

It was her intuition, but down here in Tenkai there was nothing more dangerous than a God's intuition.

"You seem rather troubled, Hestia-chan," a sweet and beautiful voice broke her put her muse as she looked up and found herself at the hooded face, and yet, despite it being covered, one could hardly deny its mesmerizing beauty and elegance.

And how could they? Now, after Ishtar's ascension, she was the only Goddess of beauty in Orario; it was Freya. And she was surprised at seeing her like this, given that her familia was in much trouble with the guild.

Freya had refused to let the Guild's inspectors search through her mansion, and her actions were making her familia look complicit, and yet despite that, the Guild was hesitant and nearly incapable of acting against her, given hers was the strongest familia in the city.

"What are you doing here?" Hestia questioned, and despite her kind and pleasant face, Freya had always made her cautious, for she was a Goddess she could scarcely understand.

"I was just passing by after my meeting at the guild, and was surprised at seeing you so down," she added, and she was surprised by those words as the said Goddess plopped down beside her.

"So, I am curious why when you should be happy at the progress and achievements that your familia has made, yet you are sitting here in such a somber mood?" Freya questioned, and her familia had indeed grown by leaps and bounds.

They may not be as strong as Loki or Freya familia, but now it was only because of the sheer number of adventurers associated with these familias. When it came to aces and elites, Hestia familia was loaded and was second to only the cities' two strongest familias.