endless path infinite cosmos Pt. 2

chapter 216

After Hestia calmed down, they began touring around the common areas of the building which Hestia had decided to call 'Hearth Manor' since her principle Divinity related to the Hearth. For their emblem, other than the crest itself, Hestia wanted something that embodied their first meeting and the bond they shared from now on. The final design ended up being two winged snakes, one black and the other white, circling around a flame that was half-part aquamarine while the other half was the crystalline blue of Hestia's eyes.

Since Vahn had relatively high dexterity and could even put fine details into metalworks, it was actually very easy for him to make the basic design of their emblem. Hestia hugged the piece of paper like a treasure and Vahn promised to forge a plaque that they could put outside the gates to represent the Hearth Manor in the future. He even intended to make it out of magically conductive metal so it could act as one of the formation cores for the security of the manor. Since this building and property was specifically designed by Hephaestus in the past, it already had powerful security that made Vahn's mind go numb after imagining the cost. Though he was still unaware of how much she had spent for his previous security, Vahn imagined the number for the current manor was an astronomical amount.

While they were touring the building, Vahn purchased various items from the system shop to decorate the Manor. Hestia was amazed at how he was able to 'create' things and pull them out of thin air, but she was already informed about the nature of his pseudo-divinity previously. The fact he could make use of a power similar to the Arcanum of the gods was an incredible sight to behold. After asking him about the details, she learned that he could usually only create general use items that had few, if any, magical properties. The consumables he 'created' were only usable by himself, and any of the equipment he created couldn't be used by others unless he used a special method to transfer ownership.

Interested by the prospect of an item that only she could use, Hestia asked Vahn if he could make her an accessory or piece of clothing that he thought suited her. Vahn saw the shining eyes of Hestia and began to seriously consider what he could possibly give her. He inspected her body from top to bottom in a contemplative manner while Hestia waited patiently, though Vahn could see that she was very excited by how her aura was flickering like an actual flame. Noticing a slight peculiarity, Vahn asked, "Do you not like to wear shoes?"

He hadn't thought about it previously, but the entire time Hestia had been accompanying him she hadn't been wearing shoes. Even though some of the roads were somewhat rough and had uneven or even abrasive stone surfaces, she seemed to be completely immune. While looking at her feet with interest, Hestia lifted up her foot and dangled it a bit as she said, "I don't really like to wear shoes that much since it feels more natural to walk on the ground with my own feet. If its cold, I'll probably wear boots though and I also sometimes wear sandals so I don't track dirt into places."

Vahn was listening to her words while remarking in his mind about how clean and petite Hestia's feet looked in his mind. There didn't seem to be any dirt to speak of and her foot looked very soft, unlike something that would be able to walk on a rough surface without difficulty. Since she kept dangling it in front of him, Vahn asked, "Do you mind if I look at your foot more closely?" He was genuinely curious to inspect it since he couldn't make sense of it just looking from his current angle.

Hestia's smiled widened at his words as she sat down on the floor and held up her foot for Vahn to 'inspect'. With the angle she was sitting at, Vahn could see her pure white panties that matched the color of the short dress Hestia wore. He wondered why she wore such a 'revealing' outfit since there was barely a hands width between the start of her thigh and the end of her dress. If she weren't 'petite', it would be very easy to see up her dress as he could at present. Even if she sat in a chair, unless she crossed her legs, Vahn imagined her panties would be fully visible to anyone paying attention.