Standing outside the Hostess of Fertility, Light somehow found herself able to read the foreign nguage as if it were English. She silently took in the bustling atmosphere. The sounds of ughter, the pitter-patter of footsteps moving from table to table, the clinking of gsses. The only word that came to mind to describe such a scene was lively.

  Before joining a Familia, Light wanted to make sure that Freya, better known as Syr, was not going to set her sights on her. The st thing she wanted was for some Goddess of Beauty, Love, and Sex to scheme in the shadows and put her life in danger. Rather than dealing with such a scenario, she would simply join Freya outright, avoiding the headache altogether.

  Without knowing how different the soul of someone from another world would appear in the eyes of a Goddess, it was difficult to determine whether Freya would take an interest in her without testing it.

  "What on earth?"

  Walking through the double doors of the tavern, Light was forced to dodge immediately. The moment her feet crossed the threshold, a drunken person was unched through the air straight towards her. Quickly scanning the room, she spotted where the person had been thrown from. A giant woman with broad shoulders stood there, rubbing her hands together, seemingly content with getting rid of the trash.

  Light immediately recognised her as Mama Mia, the ex-captain of the Freya Familia and a level six adventurer. She was also the proud owner and manager of this tavern.

  When she noticed that she had almost hit someone while dealing with a drunk who had been getting too handsy with one of her staff, she did not apologise. Instead, she broke into hearty ughter.

  "Thats some good reflexes, kid!"

  Light merely chuckled in response, taken aback by the situation, especially by how unapologetic the half-dwarf was.

  "Thank you." Light answered but realised an oddity about herself. For some reason her palms were beginning to sweat.

  Seemingly amused by Light’s confused expression and reaction, Mia let out another round of ughter and loudly directed her to a seat. Thankfully, it was tucked away in the corner. As she followed the rger woman further into the tavern, she could not help but notice the stares she was receiving.

  Her newly acquired beauty really was captivating, to an annoying degree, especially in a pce filled with people emboldened by alcohol.

  Light also noticed a rowdy group sitting at the front of the tavern, occupying several tables that had been pushed together to fit the rge party comfortably.

  "The Loki Familia."

  She recognised them instantly, surprised by the coincidence. Seeing all the people she had only ever known from the other side of a screen, Light unconsciously smiled in amusement.

  Running her gaze across the table, she took in the familiar faces. From Finn to Ais, from Bete to Riveria, to Loki herself, every one of them was present.

  From what she could overhear, they seemed to be celebrating ahead of their expedition tomorrow.

  Although Ais and Riveria were the most beautiful women sitting around the table, Light found her eyes drawn to Loki. A literal Goddess. She could not believe she was bearing witness to the divine.

  A cute tomboy Goddess too. Even across fiction, it would be difficult to find another like her.

  Unfortunately, as Light was too busy staring, she failed to notice that Mia had stopped walking and ended up bumping into the taller woman. Fortunately, with Mia’s level six status, her agility and reflexes were superhuman, and she quickly caught Light by the shoulders before any contact could be made.

  "I am fttered, kid, but you are a little too young for me!"

  Mia joked before following Light’s gaze and nodding in understanding.

  "This your first time seeing a Goddess?"

  Light rolled her eyes at Mia’s teasing and answered honestly.

  "It is."

  "You must be new to the city, then. You will get used to it while living here."

  Mia nodded sagely, having encountered this sort of reaction before.

  "One of my girls will come and serve you in a moment."

  "Thank you," Light replied politely, taking a seat alone. The moment Mia was out of sight, she winced slightly from where Mia had caught her falling,

  With some free time, she decided to observe her surroundings and take in the other patrons, but most importantly, she was trying to find the best girl. A waitress who could take her order.

  It did not take long for Light to spot Ryuu.

  Despite wearing such unfttering clothes, the half-elf still managed to capture people's attention. It was not just Light. Several others around the tavern were mesmerised by her appearance, their gazes shifting periodically between Ais and Ryuu.

  After taking in her favourite character, Light refocused on the reason she had come here. Scanning the room once more, she found Syr entertaining guests while subtly avoiding the Loki Familia’s table.

  If Light remembered correctly, Loki was unaware that Syr was Freya’s second identity. However, the trickster Goddess was suspicious of her and had even warned Finn not to get too close to her.

  That probably expined why the Loki Familia had chosen this pce as their regur tavern.

  Knowing Loki’s personality, she was likely here for more than just drinking. She probably revelled in the mystery of who Syr truly was, slowly piecing together the puzzle while getting drunk. Truly a woman who could multitask.

  Syr eventually noticed Light staring. The waitress subtly gnced in her direction, but to Light’s relief, she showed no reaction to seeing her. It seemed her soul was not something the Goddess had taken an interest in.

  As if it was so easy to tell what a Goddess of Freya’s capabilities was thinking.

  Unfortunately, while Light was relieved that she was not going to be chased by Freya, she failed to realise that another Goddess had locked her eyes on her.

  At the same time, Light began rubbing her shoulders while frowning. She could still feel a sting of pain from where Mia had caught her to stop her from falling into her chest. Naturally, the manager had not intended to use so much force, but not every adventurer had perfect control over their strength.

  Ever since Light had entered the tavern, she had felt a sense of unease, resulting in her curt and simple responses. At first, she assumed it was just anxiety from meeting her first group of fictional characters, not wanting to leave a bad first impression. Or possibly fear that Freya would put her life in danger with her little games.

  However, now she was certain why her body was so nervous. The pain in her shoulder told her everything she needed to know. Everyone in this bar had the strength to end her second life on a whim.

  She, someone who would call Yuri to get rid of spiders from the bath, was now surrounded by superhumans.

  If she had not dodged that drunk being thrown out, she could have been badly injured. If she had been unlucky with the nding, she might have even died.

  This feeling of powerlessness… Will every world be like this?

  Light stared down at her feet, hiding her anxiety. Despite having a system, despite possessing innate skills, despite having beauty that could rival Freya herself, she had no means to protect herself.

  Suddenly, joining a Familia and growing stronger was no longer just a when in Rome, do as the Romans do type of motivation. If she was going to travel through different fictional worlds, she needed the strength to defend herself.

  [Sign-in location: Hostess of Fertility has been met. Reward: Subcss Chef unlocked.]

  [By killing monsters, humans, elves, or any other being, the user can absorb their life essence to empower their subcss.]

  "That notification was deyed.” Light whispered, keeping her head down to ensure no one could hear her. Or at least, she hoped they could not. With their enhanced senses, it was possible. Thankfully, the tavern was loud, and no one, except for a couple of people, was paying attention to her.

  [You seemed busy, so I thought I would hold off until you were free.]

  "Excellent customer service," Light joked with a smile. "But subcss? Does that mean I can unlock actual csses ter? Like in some role-pying game?"

  [You will have to find out for yourself.]

  The system answered cryptically. For some reason, Light could almost feel that it was smiling teasingly while saying those words.

  "You enjoy telling me that, do you not?"

  Light rolled her eyes, but rather than being annoyed, there was a visible sense of joy in them.

  "But you really cannot read the room, can you? Here I am, getting all dramatic about my own powerlessness, but instead of giving me an overpowered css or a levelling system that surpasses this world's, you tell me I can bake better cookies by killing things."

  While Light was bantering with her system, a sudden knock on the table caused her to lift her head and meet an amused pair of red eyes examining her. Without another word, Loki slid onto the seat next to her and leaned in closer.

  "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Loki pyfully flirted, all but whispering in Light's ear. However, when she pulled back and expected to see at least a hint of embarrassment on the other girl's face, she was instead met with a cool, bnk stare and a thin smile.

  Her reaction reminded Loki of what Ais would do in the same situation, but rather than indifference, this new girl simply looked amused. Seeing that Light was neither disgusted nor dispying any negative emotions, a sense of empowerment filled Goddess Loki.

  Light was aware that Loki was something akin to a pygirl, or at the very least had a highly flirtatious personality around beautiful women. So although she was shocked by the suddenness of Loki’s approach, it was not outside the realm of what she had expected.

  "Sore eyes, was it?" Light quipped while looking past Loki towards the Loki Familia table. Her gaze nded on Ais, Riveria, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya. "For some reason, I get the feeling you may already be well medicated on that front."

  Following Light’s gaze, Loki could not help but burst into open ughter, fully understanding what she meant. Her outburst earned a few curious gnces, especially from her Familia.

  "Well, you are not wrong there."

  Loki was not even going to try and cim that the women in her Familia were anything less than stunning. For one, no one would believe her, and for two, she was proud that these girls were all hers.

  Seemingly switching gears, as she had other intentions in coming over, Loki asked, "I have not seen you around the city before. Are you new?"

  "As new as someone can be, I suppose. I have been in the city for less than an hour at this point."

  "And you already have a Goddess hitting on you. That has to be some sort of record."

  "You make it sound like you are not that Goddess," Light teased, rolling her eyes.

  Again, Loki burst into ughter, her smile growing wider. She had a soft spot for girls who were not only beautiful but also had some backbone.

  "So what pns do you have now that you are here?"

  Knowing that Gods and Goddesses had a passive ability to see through all lies, Light decided to be upfront.

  "I was pnning on joining a Familia, but I thought I would come here and contempte further before committing to one."

  "Oh? Which ones have caught your eye so far?"

  "I was thinking about joining the Hestia Familia."

  "That shrimp?!"

  Loki spat out her drink and shouted, genuinely caught by surprise. The worst part was that she could tell Light was not lying just to get a reaction out of her either.

  "Trust me, you can do a lot better than hers."

  "I am not so sure about that. I am only human after all. Only Pallums have worse compatibility for being an adventurer than us. Obviously, there are always exceptions, but whoever took me in would be gambling."

  Silence overtook the table as Loki examined the only human instead of answering straight away.

  "You are lucky I am partial to a little bet then. Why do you not join my Familia instead?"

  "And you are?"

  Light tilted her head and smirked, fully aware that a Goddess would be able to pick up on her little act.

  "But seriously, why would Goddess Loki want me? A top two Familia in the city would not just accept anyone. It is not just my looks, is it?"

  "I would be lying if I said that did not py a part, but it is not the whole reason. You do not get to my position without being able to assess those with potential, and you… you are giving me the same impression that some of my strongest members possess."

  "Impression?"

  "A sense of desperation. A strong desire for strength."

  Loki’s teasing expression faded into something more serious.

  "People like you either reach the top or die early. So how about it? I am willing to take this gamble, but are you with me?"

  Light watched as Loki stretched out her hand, waiting for an answer. Without a moment's hesitation, Light shook it with a genuine smile.

  "My name is Light. I guess we will be seeing a lot of each other, my Goddess."