Naruto: Our Goal Is To Dig Every Corner of Konoha

In the end, Hestia completely fell into despair. She had no advantages, and her mindset hadn't fully adapted to the harsh realities of the lower world.

As a kind and benevolent goddess, Hestia cared deeply about her Familia. In the original story, after Bell joined the Hestia Familia, although they struggled, Hestia constantly supported him.

The weapon Hephaestus made was incredibly valuable, so much so that even if Bell reached Level 5, he still wouldn't be able to afford it. The weapon was a gift, but repaying the debt wasn't easy, especially for Bell.

Now, Hestia found herself in a similar situation. Without a Familia, without a way to reach that level of influence. The most important point is that Asahi harbored a bit of dissatisfaction with Bell.

It was because of the Xenos incident. Ais had done nothing wrong, but Bell didn't stand up to her. Regardless of Bell's intentions, he was still alive thanks to Ais and the others. But what did he do in return? Nothing. He didn't even defend her honor when he should have.

Asahi's view of Bell took a nosedive after that. Everyone has double standards, but it's a problem when they're blatantly shown.

After that arc, Asahi's interest in helping Bell vanished, and if it weren't for that arc, he might still be willing to support him. Now, though, he was more inclined to leave Bell to Freya.

Let Freya deal with him. As for Hestia, Asahi figured he might as well take care of her instead.

"Wait, what? You don't want to join my Familia, so why are you giving me money?"

Hestia asked, genuinely confused. She didn't suspect any malice from Asahi. Gods wouldn't be expelled from the lower world just because someone disliked them.

The real threat was to adventurers who disrespected gods, something that rarely happened.

"Just think of it as taking care of a pet. You'll need time to find a Familia member, and you don't have any advantages right now. Without work, you'd end up sleeping on the streets `

"Seriously, though, it wouldn't be good for a goddess to be in such a tough spot. So for now, I'll take care of you!"

Asahi said with a smile, but Hestia pouted at his words. "What do you mean, taking care of a pet? You're treating me like a pet! That's too much!"

Her face puffed up in indignation, looking like a little angry dumpling.

"Hahaha! Well, if you don't want to be a pet, you can always return the money!"

Asahi said, stretching out his hand as if to take the money back. But Hestia quickly snatched the money, hiding it behind her back.

"I'm not giving it back. You already gave it to me!"

Hestia declared, clutching the money tightly.

"Is that so? Fine, I won't tease you anymore," Asahi replied with a chuckle. "But let me be clear: the money is yours for now, and it's meant for your lodging. However, if you want to survive, you'll need to find work. I'm not covering your meal expenses."

"If you're serious about establishing your Familia, then prove yourself. At the very least, don't let people think of you as a freeloader!"

With that, Asahi turned and walked away, leaving Hestia with no chance to argue. She stared at the small pouch in her hands, lost in thought, 'He was right… If I didn't put in the effort, how could I attract any mortal to my Familia?'

After pondering for a while, Hestia found a place to stay and began looking for work. Unfortunately, her situation was grim. She had no special skills, and no one wanted to hire a goddess with no strength to speak of.

Despite her good looks, Orario was full of beautiful goddesses, and none of them needed someone like her.

With few options, Hestia returned to what she knew best: making potato snacks. At least it was work she could do, and it would keep her going.

Meanwhile, Asahi confirmed Bell's location. Bell hadn't yet arrived in Orario, and at his current pace, it would still be some time before he did.

When Bell finally did arrive, Asahi planned to hand him over to Freya. Speaking of Freya, she was undoubtedly anxious, as Ottar was truly dead.

The gods had lost their powers, unable to sense their followers, and Freya knew that Ottar wasn't coming back. The fact that the members of the Loki Familia had all returned while Ottar had not suggested that he had either encountered serious trouble or had died.

To be honest, Freya still valued Ottar as a powerful tool, after all, he was the strongest in Orario. But with no word from him, Freya was growing increasingly uneasy.

Though she still had other powerful followers, Ottar had been irreplaceable.

"What's in the dungeon? What is the Loki Familia hiding? I'll wait a bit longer, but if necessary, I'll send the reconnaissance team to investigate. If that doesn't work, I might have to make this public."

Freya wasn't one to take things lying down, and now she was determined to uncover the truth. As she pondered her next move, a member of her Familia suddenly brought news: Loki had come to see her.

"Loki? Does she know that I've caught on to their situation? It seems Ottar has been compromised. But given the strength of the Loki Familia, it should've been impossible for them to hold Ottar. What's really going on?"

After Freya heard that Loki was looking for her, she also knew that Ottar must have been exposed, otherwise, the other party would not come.

'But why didn't Ottar come back?' She began to wonder again.

But this does not prevent her from meeting Loki, after all, the cause is the Loki family, no matter what, a meeting was necessary.

Soon enough, Freya and Loki met.

"Say what you need to say. Why are you here?"

Freya asked, getting straight to the point.

"Cut the nonsense. You know why I'm here," Loki responded, her tone serious. "I'm here to discuss something with you and to bring you some news. Ottar is dead. He died in the dungeon. By the time we found him, it was too late!"

Loki hadn't initially wanted to contact Freya so soon, but after thinking it over, she realized that sharing this information with Freya was better than letting it spread elsewhere. So she had sought out Freya.