Seeing Loki's utterly despairing expression, Alice let out a soft laugh.
Hearing her laughter, Loki cautiously glanced her way. "Alice-chan, you're not angry?"
"Angry?" Alice tilted her head, a faint smile playing on her lips. "Why would I be angry?"
"Because I drew that kind of story?" Loki said uncertainly.
Alice chuckled lightly. "If even you don't know what you did wrong, how could I possibly be angry?"
What she did wrong?
Loki thought it over, and it seemed like she'd messed up in every way possible.
She'd drawn a story about herself and Alice without Alice's permission, gotten drunk, lost the manga she'd drawn, and let someone from the Soma Familia pick it up.
But seeing how completely unbothered Alice seemed, maybe she really didn't mind the picture book. Could it be that in another world, this kind of thing was actually common?
Loki's mind settled on that idea.
Alice had brought out that new style of manga, and it wasn't even drawn by her. That meant the literary and artistic scene in Alice's world must be pretty well-developed.
If she could come up with the idea of putting herself and Alice into a story, then in Alice's world, there were definitely people doing the same thing—and they were probably way better at it than her.
Otherwise, Alice wouldn't have called the story "old-fashioned."
Once Loki understood how Alice saw it, her worries vanished instantly. Not only that, but a bold idea began to form in her mind.
"Alice-chan, do you really think the story I drew was that cliché?" Loki asked, trying to fish for more information.
Just as Alice opened her mouth to reply, Hestia cut in from the side.
"Of course it's cliché! A prince saving a princess—what an overused plot. And worst of all, the important details weren't even fleshed out. If it weren't for the manga style Alice introduced, I wouldn't have bothered reading it. If this were in plain text, nobody would want to read your story."
After finishing the manga Loki drew, Hestia was both baffled and indignant that such a simplistic, plotless scrapbook could sell to nearly 60% of Orario's population.
At the same time, though, she saw a business opportunity. If a story like Loki's could sell so well, then her own stories, adapted into manga, would definitely sell even better.
So, Hestia crossed her arms and looked at Loki with disdain, ruthlessly mocking her.
"You're not just flat-chested—you're barren-minded too, huh? How could you come up with such a meaningless story? And making yourself the prince… Did you do it because you've given up hope over your own flat chest?"
"You—! Alice-chan is right here. I've been holding back because of her, but don't you dare push your luck!"
Loki gritted her teeth at Hestia's taunts.
To be honest, that picture book had taken Loki three days to draw, and most of that time was spent on the artwork. She hadn't put any real thought into the story at all.
While drawing, she'd just put the scenes she'd fantasized about onto paper. The story was something she threw together casually after finishing the art.
Alice calling the story cliché didn't bother her, because she hadn't tried with the plot.
But Hestia was different. If Hestia got hold of something like this, she'd definitely use it as leverage to mock Loki endlessly, all to get back at her for picking on her earlier.
Hmm…
If Alice knew the full story, she'd probably tell Loki she'd brought it on herself.
But Alice didn't know the details. She only saw Hestia and Loki bickering, and figured they actually had a decent relationship.
So, Alice stepped in to smooth things over.
"Now, now. Hestia, that's enough. Everyone has their own strengths. You're probably not particularly skilled at drawing either, so don't keep picking on something Loki isn't good at."
"And Loki, I can tell the story in the manga wasn't something you seriously thought out—it feels more like you just filled it in casually. But when it comes to writing stories, even Hestia's quick ideas are better than yours."
"So, both of you, just let it go."
Hearing Alice's words, Hestia pursed her lips. "Fine, if Alice says so, I'll drop it."
Loki also turned away with a "Hmph! You little runt, if it weren't for Alice-chan, I'd have you sent back with Soma today."
At that, Hestia suddenly remembered. "Ah! You've messed everything up! I still have important business to take care of!"
With that, Hestia dragged Lili over from the side and pulled her right up to Soma.
"Soma! I've taken a liking to this child. Since you don't even care about being sent back by Loki here, I doubt you care whether she stays or not. So hurry up and transfer her to my Familia!"
Hestia looked down on Soma with a haughty expression.
"With the way you run things, this child's just suffering under you anyway."
Even though Hestia and Loki couldn't stand each other, they were both gods who deeply cared for their Familias, treating their members like family.
Because of that, Hestia detested Soma's attitude toward his own Familia.
She'd originally planned to discuss things properly with Soma and have Lili transferred over. But now, with Loki and Alice present, and the Soma Familia's strongest member being only a Level 2 like Zanis, while her own Familia had two Level 2s…
She had nothing to fear from the Soma Familia.
So, Hestia's attitude turned downright arrogant.
As for Soma, even if he didn't care about the children in his Familia, he still paid attention to matters between gods. Especially when Loki and Hestia were acting as if he were completely beneath their notice.
Even though Soma usually ignored everything except brewing, their dismissive attitudes still managed to irritate him.
And most importantly, their arguing had interrupted his brewing.
So, Soma was thoroughly annoyed. In a low, suppressed voice, he snapped at Hestia, "If I'm going to be sent back anyway, then this child's blessing will disappear once I'm gone. Since she's already by your side, why not just wait until after I'm sent back to take her in?"
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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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