My Goddess is a Tsundere

Grrr. Bane heard a loud, ominous sound while on his way back to the dungeon entrance.

'Man, I am so hungry…' Bane thought. The sound wasn't an animal or enemy—it was just his malnourished stomach growling. He reached around his body and squeezed the energy crystals he had obtained. He could exchange them for some Shill at the guild and then get some decent food.

Nothing of interest happened on the way back. No other enemies appeared, and soon enough, Bane was back in the large open room. Just like when he had left, adventurers were scattered around in groups, while some hung alone. Luna was at her usual post. Bane was going to ignore her and head straight to the guild, but she called out to him.

"Hello, how was your first time in the dungeon?" Luna, the mercenary, asked, glancing over Bane's body.

'Did I tell her it was my first time in the dungeon?' Bane thought back to their first interaction. He only remembered saying he was new. 'Was it that obvious?'

"It was good. I slayed a few slimes," Bane replied.

Luna nodded. "I see." Bane expected her to continue, but that was all she said.

"Okay, bye," Bane said. Luna ignored him and continued staring off into the open room. 'What a weird one.'

Bane shook his head and walked past the cat-girl mercenary to the stairs leading up.

'So many stairs!' Bane thought as his breathing became more erratic. Soon enough, though, the torture was over, and he was back on the surface. He had successfully entered the dungeon and made it out unharmed.

Bane took a deep breath, appreciating the fresh air that greeted him outside the dungeon. Down below, the air had tasted stale. Gazing out at the mid-afternoon sky, Bane returned to the guild, ready to exchange his crystals.

Bane heaved open the large door and was met with a slightly more active guild hall. He glanced toward the counter and saw that Winter was currently helping another adventurer. He took a seat and waited for her to be free.

He would've gone to another clerk, but that morning, Winter had taken his robes and told him to return to her. He had no choice but to wait. Bane simply gazed out at the guild hall's wide-open entrance, watching an incredibly diverse set of characters pass in and out of view.

A woman with red skin and horns carried a giant great axe. A blindfolded monk walked as if he could see everything. A beautiful female archer with obnoxiously pink hair strode by. As the people passed, Bane's eyes slowly closed. 'Hungry… tired…' were the only thoughts on his mind.

"Bane!" a woman's voice shouted from behind him. Bane jolted up and turned to see the ghostly-looking Winter. Her snow-white arm was in the air, waving him over, and her similarly colored hair danced in the wind as she did.

Bane maneuvered around the guild hall to the front desk to meet Winter. "You made it back!" she exclaimed.

"Yep," Bane nodded, not wanting to prolong the conversation. He just wanted food and sleep.

"Are you okay?" Winter asked, tilting her head.

"Yes, I'm just tired," Bane replied.

"I see. Then let's make this quick. Did you acquire any energy stones?"

"Yes, one second," Bane said, reaching into various pockets of his light armor. He retrieved sixteen energy crystals—one for each slime he had slain. Winter's eyes widened, and she broke into her usual smile.

"Wow! For your first time in the dungeon, that's really good!" Winter said, clasping her hands together. She scooped the stones off the counter and began examining them. Bane was surprised. With his untrained eye, he could never tell the difference, but she made quick work of the examination and gave him her price.

"Looks like about 1200 Shill worth," she said, setting aside the crystals. Bane nodded. He had hoped for at least a thousand, so this was fair.

"That's what I thought. That sounds like a fair price," Bane said without emotion—a stark contrast to his demeanor that morning. This caused Winter to question him further.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Winter asked, quieter and gentler now, trying to get Bane to open up. However, there was nothing for him to share.

"I'm just tired and hungry, I promise, Winter…" he said, trying to think if anything had happened. Then he remembered something. "Actually… do you know a mercenary named Luna?"

Winter was taken aback and heaved a long sigh. "Yes… she's a troublemaker. Did she mess with you?" she asked, annoyed at the possibility.

"No, she was just… different," Bane struggled to find the right word but settled on that to describe her. The only reason he found her suspicious was that she wasn't already with a party. Bane had gone down to the dungeon in the middle of the day when many adventurers were deep underground, but Luna was just standing around.

"She's quite a shifty cat. I'd steer clear. We've had numerous complaints about her stealing and betraying party members," Winter explained. Bane nodded. It seemed this was information known to adventurers alone; back in the slums, Bane had heard nothing of the sort.

"I see. But other than that, I'm just tired and hungry. I promise," Bane said, lowering his head in a show of honesty.

Winter pursed her lips and eventually sighed. "Fine, if you say so. I'll trust you, but know you can tell me anything, right?" Bane nodded.

"Yes, I know. If anything happens, you'll be the first to know," Bane said. Aside from Eir, this was true. Hearing that, Winter returned to her usual cheerful self and went to retrieve the Shill and the robes she had held onto that morning.

"The money is in the bag, along with your robes. You did great today. I hope to see you soon," Winter said, handing Bane the bag with a nod.

Bane returned the courtesy. "Yep, I'll see you soon," he said, making his way out of the guild hall and heading back to the faction building.

At the faction house, Eir had only one thing on her mind since she returned: 'Is Bane okay?' Currently, she was sitting in the same position Bane had first found her in, tapping her foot on the ground and her finger on the arm of her chair. She had planned to clean up the faction building, but that quickly devolved into pacing around the decrepit structure, worrying about Bane.

Her emotions toward the young adventurer were something she couldn't explain. Whenever she tried to make sense of them, she would shake her head violently. 'Why am I so worked up over a human?' she thought.

Since the cleanup effort had failed, Eir spent her time deep in thought. Eventually, she moved past her emotions and began considering the ability Bane had received.

'It's just like the rumors—how the early adventurers were spurred on by messages and became exceedingly more powerful than the rest. Could Bane really be like that?' Eir wondered, imagining her first recruit becoming one of the strongest adventurers.

'It would bring a lot of attention, but we'd have a lot of money,' she thought, looking around at her drab surroundings. 'A god living in such conditions… how pitiful. Bane probably thinks the same thing.' She quickly stopped that thought.

'Ah! Why do I care what a lowly human thinks!' her thoughts screamed. Eventually, she just sighed and returned to waiting for Bane's return.

An hour passed. Nothing. Eir sat unaffected.

Another hour passed. Eir was starting to become slightly flustered. She reassured herself that a trip into the dungeon would, of course, take more than two hours.

Another two hours flew by. Still no sign of Bane. Anxiety began to overtake her. She paced around the faction building, muttering, 'I hope he's okay.'

Another two hours passed. Six hours since she had last seen Bane, and she couldn't help but panic. "Where is he?" Her thoughts could no longer be contained as she started speaking to herself while pacing.

"It'll be fine," she reassured herself. But another thirty minutes later, she was at her wit's end.

"I'm going to go find him," she declared. It was late afternoon, and Eir was convinced the worst had happened.

She paced for a moment longer, hoping the door of the faction building would burst open. But alas, no such thing happened. She rushed to the front door and swung it open.

"Oh, hey Eir. Were you waiting for me?" Bane asked, his hand outstretched toward the doorknob. Eir's face flushed.

"No! Why would I care if you returned?" she screamed. 'Of course, he came back at the perfect time,' Eir internally sighed.

"Come in," Eir said, moving out of the doorway to let Bane inside.

They made their way into the room where the two spent most of their time. Equipped with a chipped fireplace and one singular chair, it was the best room in the house.

"So, how was it? Did you make any money?" Eir asked, taking her seat.

"It was good, and yeah, I did. The money's in here," Bane said, reaching into the bag and fishing out three coins: one 1000 Shill coin and two 100 Shill coins. He lifted them out of the bag and showed them to Eir.

Poof.

The three coins Bane held in his hand miraculously disappeared, causing the two of them to stare at his hand, agape.

Just after this, Bane was assaulted by a new text box:

[Bank Unlocked]