> 🚨 Want to read more?
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The Hostess of Fertility, technically closed, was completely empty besides him. Him and over a hundred mugs that needed washing. Really, he should've seen this coming when Mama Mia had offered a thirty percent discount on all drinks last night. But still, the act of doing nothing but rinsing, soaping, then drying was strangely cathartic.
It gave him something to do so his mind wouldn't wander and dwell on a past that he didn't want to think about. It gave him a sense of normalcy in his life, and he liked to pretend that this was something he'd been doing his whole life, and would continue to do for the rest of it.
And so, when Loki burst in through the door, a big cheeky grin on her face, Godou had been quite annoyed. He looked at the clock. Not even lunch time.
"Dear valued customer, we are closed," he said, as neutrally as possible. "Please come back after three."
"Aha," Loki said coyly. "I know you're closed. That's why I'm here!"
Of course. Hadn't Mama Mia said it herself? "You can try to recruit him after working hours." Great, and now if he knew any better, Loki was going to be here until three. "Don't you have a Familia to run?" Godou asked.
"All my adorable children are in the Dungeon, and you know," Loki winked, "recruitment is a very big part of managing a Familia."
"You have some nerve, still asking me to join after that stunt you pulled last night. You know, none of the waitresses are willing to look me in the eye anymore." It'd been even more awkward trying to cook with May; she'd slapped him out of reflex when his hand had brushed past hers on accident.
"Ah." Loki even had the audacity to sound embarrassed. "It was just joke!"
"I got spat on by a customer as I was leaving yesterday."
"Ooph. Sounds harsh. What'd you do to make them do that?"
Godou glowered at her.
She recoiled. "Sorry," she mumbled.
He blinked. It was rare for a God to apologize to him. "I can't hate you for it," he said while shrugging. "You're the goddesses of tricksters. I suppose stuff like this is in your nature."
"Finally!" Godou nearly jumped at Loki's sudden outburst. "Somebody who actually understands!"
"Doesn't mean I've stopped blaming you, either. Haven't forgiven you too."
"Oh," Loki said mutely. "So...that's a no on the Familia thing?"
"Yes. I'm not joining your Familia. Or any Familia for that matter."
Loki visibly deflated, and she let her head rest on the table. For a while, it was just silence, and Godou resumed his work.
"Hey, Godou." Loki sounded despondent all of a sudden. "Do you hate us?"
Godou looked up. "Us?"
"Gods," Loki clarified. "I noticed it the day you woke up. I mean, you trying to stab me was one thing, but you were already on edge even when talking to Freya, Hephaestus, and Hestia. You'd only just met them, too."
Had he been that obvious?
"I...don't have many good experiences with Gods," he told her. She seemed so dejected that Godou felt like telling a bit of the truth. "They've done nothing but to cause trouble for me and the people I care about."
"You know, Gods don't have as much control of the world as much as you think we do. It's actually really hard to alter fate."
Godou wiped a mug clean, inspected it, and placed it on the rack with all the clean cups. "I'm not talking about the world. I'm talking about you. Gods have no control over themselves when they're the ones who need it the most."
Loki flinched. "That's not true. I mean look at us. No God that's descended into the mortal world has used their Arcana in decades, except..." she trailed off. "Except when you showed up."
Godou blinked. "What do you mean?"
"A week before you collapsed in front of the Dungeon... there was a blast of energy. A God had used their Arcana, and we suspect that whoever did also summoned you from...whatever world you came from."
Godou froze. "So you know?" he whispered softly. And he'd been trying to keep it a secret too.
"Just because we've lost our immortal bodies doesn't mean we've lost our knowledge. There isn't a place called Japan, and there never has been. And it doesn't take a genius to figure out the real reason why you were so clueless about adventurers and everything."
Cautiously, Godou allowed himself to relax. "And you guys aren't alarmed? Or curious?"
"I'm curious. Some of the other Gods don't really care. And as for the alarmed part...no, I guess we're not. I mean, we Gods have always viewed the Dungeon as a bridge between ours and another world. We certainly never created monsters, and there seems to be no other explanation why the Dungeon can resist our authority and give birth to an infinite number of them."
"And you guys aren't scared?"
Loki scoffed. "What for? We're Gods. This is our home turf, it's not like anything here can really hurt us anyway. It's just that we might end up destroying the whole continent so we're suppressing our powers."
Godou tried his best to smile, but all that came
out was weird laugh. "Yeah, I guess that's true."
If only they knew.
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🚨 Want to read more?
The next 10+ chapters are already available on my Patreon!
By joining, you'll get:
📖 Early access to future chapters
🗳️ Polls to shape the story
🎁 Exclusive content for Patrons
🔥 Bonus adult-themed pictures & scenes you won't find anywhere else(adult only 😉)
Don't fall behind—others are already ahead! 👀
👉 Patreon.com/c/FanfictionTakashi
( please search this link on Google Chrome)