Never mind Hestia, who was already planning to work on her novel once she got home.
As for Alice...
She was genuinely surprised that the comic story about her and Loki had reached nearly sixty percent of Orario's population in just three days.
At the same time, Alice began seriously considering the idea of collaborating with Loki to sell comics in Orario.
They had discussed it before, but it had only been rough planning up to that point.
If they really wanted to make money from selling comics,
Alice would need to carefully select which ones to publish. Through the doujinshi, she could confirm that Loki's artistic skills were quite good—not as exquisite as Dionysus's paintings, but more than adequate for comics.
Hmm? Have Alice draw them herself?
It wasn't entirely impossible. Alice was quite confident in her own drawing skills. After all, designing always came before crafting dolls. If she were to bring out her hand-drawn doll design drafts, they would undoubtedly far surpass Loki's technical level.
However, Alice had no intention of drawing comics herself. As for why...
It was because in her memories, whenever Patchouli called the 'other her' over to help draw comics, that 'other self' would always end up utterly miserable and drained after finishing.
So, Alice absolutely refused to draw comics.
Anyway, she already had plenty of stories on her side. She could just hand the stories over to Loki and let Loki be the one to draw them.
By the time Alice returned home, Lili had already changed into her pajamas and was ready for bed.
Seeing that Lili was still awake, Alice called her straight into her room.
Lili, in her pajamas, obediently sat down on a stool and looked at Alice.
"What is it, Lady Alice?" Lili asked, her face full of confusion.
"Lili, what are your thoughts about Hestia? What kind of goddess do you think she is?" Alice began.
"Lady Hestia?" Hearing this, Lili frowned. Though she didn't understand why Alice was asking, she still thought it over carefully.
"As for Lady Hestia... she seems like a fairly good goddess, I think. She doesn't neglect her own familia, and she's even willing to swallow her pride to ask you, Lady Alice, to let her freeload here. For the members of the Hestia Familia, Lady Hestia must be a very good goddess."
"Her familia is still a bit small, and Bell is still quite weak, but with Miss Daphne and Miss Cassandra joining, their future prospects should be pretty good."
Lili answered earnestly.
Hearing Lili's reply, Alice nodded.
"Then, if you had to choose between the Loki Familia and the Hestia Familia, which one would you pick?" Alice asked again.
"As for me... I'd probably choose Hestia—" Lili blinked, then suddenly went pale. "Lady Alice! Have I done something wrong?"
"Not at all," Alice shook her head.
"Then why are you asking me this, Lady Alice? Aren't you... trying to send me away?" Even after Alice's reassurance, Lili still felt uneasy inside.
"Not at all," Alice smiled gently at Lili. "It's just... I have this feeling that you shouldn't stay by my side forever. You have your own adventures waiting for you, that's all."
Since when had she started feeling this way?
Probably ever since Alice became aware of the power of boundaries. She'd had this persistent sense that she didn't truly belong in this world.
As for joining a familia... for Alice, there wasn't really any compelling reason to insist on it.
If she had wanted to, Alice could have joined Loki's familia from the very beginning.
The reason she still hadn't joined any familia was simply because something inside her resisted it.
And the reason for that resistance was that faint, peculiar feeling in her heart.
The fact that she wasn't from this world was already common knowledge throughout Orario.
Even though Alice very much wanted to integrate into this world, the existence of her [Knowledge Repository] constantly reminded her that she didn't belong here.
She even had a premonition that one day, she would leave this world.
She didn't know when that day would come—it might not be for a hundred years—but it would happen eventually. Alice wasn't human, and she had no idea how long her lifespan was.
But she figured that even if she wasn't immortal, she'd probably live about as long as an elf.
After all, the 'other self' in her memories had a very long lifespan, and Patchouli was already hundreds of years old without even a change in appearance.
She would leave this world one day.
That's why Alice didn't want to join any familia. Her relationships with the gods and elves were fine as they were—gods didn't die, and elves lived extremely long lives.
But if she left this world, there was no telling how long it would be before she returned.
If a hundred years passed in this world by the time she came back, the gods would still be there. Lefiya and Riveria would still be there. But Lili and Bell... would definitely be gone.
So, while she was still in this world, it was fine for Lili to stay by her side. But if she were to leave, Lili's future was something that needed serious consideration.
Alice couldn't take Lili to other worlds with her.
For one, she didn't know if it was even possible to bring someone along. Secondly, Lili simply wasn't strong enough.
Because of that, the best outcome for Lili would be to join a familia.
Of course, Alice could also approach the Soma Familia to have Lili's Blessing removed. But after that, Lili would still need to think about her own path.
Lili couldn't understand Alice's thoughts.
And Alice didn't have a good way to explain it, either.
After all, even though she had a premonition of leaving, she herself didn't know exactly when it would happen. What if it really did take a hundred years before she left? In that case, whether she told Lili or not—what difference would it make for Lili?
Still, since Alice had called Lili over, she had her own way of putting things.
Gently, Alice said to Lili:
"Lili, you know what happened with the Apollo Familia. Hestia and Bell were captured by Apollo because they weren't strong enough."
"Your own strength—while it might have been a bit better than Bell's when he first joined the Hestia Familia—he's already surpassed you now. And in the future, Bell will grow even stronger."
"At the same time, I've already caught the attention of the gods. No one has made a move yet, but sooner or later, someone will try something underhanded. So your own growth is very important, too."
"That's why I need you, Lili, to become stronger. You don't have to become incredibly powerful, but reaching Level 2 is necessary."
"And as for Loki and Hestia—they're the gods I'm most familiar with. You can choose whichever one you prefer."
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T/N: Gacha x Multiverse Fic Up!
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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