As soon as they reached the Abandone Church, Hestia threw herself into Ad's arms. He couldn't help but be amused at how clingy the little Goddess was. He also felt his heart warm up, as he felt how worried she actually was. With such a pleasant atmosphere, Ad decided to give Hestia the big surprise.
Adalwulf: Hestia-sama~ You won't believe how big a haul we had~
Hestia: How much money did you make? Tell me, tell me!
Adalwulf: How much was it, Natsuki?
Natsuki: I think Misha said it was 1,036,800 Vallis.
Hestia let go of Ad and, for what felt like the umpteenth time since meeting them, her jaw almost touched the floor. Once again, it was stopped by Ad, who decided to tease the Goddess.
Adalwulf: Hestia-sama, if you don't close your mouth, I'll kiss you~
To Ad's surprise though, Hestia jumped on him while kissing his cheek many times, as if she was a chicken pecking its food. He, feeling her chest tightly pressed on him, did his best to simply hug her back and not attack her.
Hestia: Guys! *peck* With *peck* that *peck* much money *peck* we can live for at least two years!
Natsuki felt slightly jealous of her Goddess being so close to Ad, but she was able to hold it in thanks to her already reserved personality. Hestia and ad caught on to her feelings though, as he let go of Hestia and the Goddess stopped pecking him, though she didn't let go of his arm.
Adalwulf: Our idea is to spend at least eight hundred thousand into rebuilding this place.
Hestia: Why not buy another place?
Adalwulf: Well... the logical reason would be that this location if perfect. We're very close to pretty much everywhere, and far away from Daedalus Street. The actual reason... this place feels like Home, doesn't it, Hestia-sama?
Hestia just smiled softly at his words. She had spent quite a long time in this Church, while searching for someone who would join her Familia. She would be lying if she said the old ruined place didn't feel like home. She was very happy with Ad's consideration of her feelings towards the place.
Natsuki: We also wanted to let you know about one more decision we took.
Adalwulf: Oh, that is true. This was all Natsuki's idea, by the way.
Hestia looked at Natsuki with almost the same degree of love she looked at Ad with, and asked curiously what was the "plan" they so mysteriously talked about. Natsuki gave her quite a pleasant surprise.
Natsuki: Well, I figured, since you also are a very proficient architect... why not have you design the building?
Hestia: Yes! I'll do it!
Adalwulf; Well, now that that is decided, we wanted to know if you had any Familia in mind that could provide the workers to build it.
Hestia: Well... the Hephaestus Familia are good friends of mine, and they work along these lines, even though they are mostly related to metalworking.
Adalwulf thought of how to proceede with the construction. He knew Hephaestus could provide the necessary workers, as they'd be paying for the materials. This got him into thinking about which was the best possible option. After pondering for a few minutes, he decided to honor Hestia's friendship with Hephaestus, instead of going to the Goibniu Familia.
Adalwulf: Ok, I'll contact the Hephaestus Familia later. For now... let's sleep, please. I'm dead.
After taking a short bath, Ad simply lay on the sofa, and after a few minutes, Hestia came to lay on top of him. She now had no aprehension to him knowing about her clinginess, or her feelings. She knew he could feel them anyway. Ad simply allowed her to do as she pleased. He wasn't going to complain about a beautiful Goddess, with a soft package, laying on top of him.
Natsuki, who was alone on the bed, though deeply about how to get close to Ad. In the end, she understood that she only had to be honest and a little bit bolder. Little did she know that it would backfire on her.
*
Next morning, Ad woke up to Hestia staring at his face lovingly. He simply hugged her by the waist and caressed her cheek, which caused the Goddess to blush and jump from the bed. Ad wondered how that blue lace could hold her breasts in place, but threw the thought aside.
Adalwulf: 'Gravity seems to have no effect on her rack.'
After having a sumptuous breakfast with the girls, they all went towards the Hephaestus Familia Workplace. Once there, it was Hestia's turn to do the introductions.
Hestia: Hephaestus!
Hephaestus: Hestia? What are you doing here?! I told you to find yourself a Familia!
Hestia: And I did! I'm here for a different reason. These are the current members of my Familia.
After that, Ad and Natsuki went inside Hephaestus' place. It wasn't extremely spacious, but it had everything one could need. There was a metal door on the back of the place, which Ad assumed led to her personal smithy. After Hestia introduced her friend, it was their turn.
Adalwulf: Adalwulf Blågrønn, pleasure to meet you, Hephaestus-sama.
Natsuki: Kishimoto Natsuki, it is also my pleasure to make your acquaintance.
Hephaestus: Hmm... those names... I know you! I overheard some workers from the Guild talk about two rookie adventurers who broke through the million Vallis on their first visit to the dungeon!
Adalwulf: Aaah... those would be Natsuki and I, yes.
Hephaestus: So, what brings you all over here?
Hestia: We want to rebuild the Abandoned Church where I've been staying.
Hephaestus: I assume you want me to provide people to build it, right?
Adalwulf: That would be the case, indeed.
Haephaestus: Well, there should be no problem. I can send thirty workers as soon as you get the materials. What do you think about that?
Natsuki's whole demeanor changed in the face of business. But that wasn't a good sign. After realizing she sucked at bargaining and didn't really know how to value money, Ad simply took the reign of the conversation. After a bit of a push and pull from both sides, it was decided that they would pay 300,000 Vallis for the three days of work the rebuilding would take.
Ad, after leaving an upfront payment of 50,000, Ad went to the Babel Tower to search for the materials and furniture. After shopping for what felt like an entire day, the total cost of their new home turned out to be 831,600 Vallis. In the end, they were left with 205,200 Vallis.
Adalwulf payed for three nights at an Inn, which cost 200 Vallis the night, meals included, for three people. He and Natsuki didn't visit the Dungeon in that time-frame, as they wanted to wait until their new home was finished. In such a fashion, three days passed quickly.
*
Hephaestus: I still am impressed by how good your design is, Hestia.
Their new place, now called Hearth Manor, was a building of Norse design, similar to a classic church. It had a blue roofing and cream coloured walls. The doors and furniture were made of dark mahogany, with the interior being painted mostly in a creamy beige colour. The floor was made out of thick oak wood and had a dark teal carpet in most places. There were a few paintings on the walls, together with some decorative weapons and a blue lace that seemed to run through every decoration, tying everything together.
Both the outside and inside appearances of the place were now beautiful, and it was big enough to hold at least twenty people. Ad was very satisfied with the finished result. The place now looked like an old church from the place he used to live in back on Earth, but it was quite a lot more beautiful.
Natsuki thought that it really suited their Goddess and their Familia, as it looked like a lively place. She was sure that, in the future, a lot of people would come and go from the Manor. Some going to the Dungeon, others simply visiting. She could already see the future growth of the Hestia Familia.
Hestia was the happiest of them. She jumped like a little child from side to side while going through every room. In one of them, she found a huge kind-sized bed. She jumped on it and kicked her legs up and down, excited at how her "children" had changed her life in just a mere two days. She couldn't wait to see what they would do in the future.
Adalwulf: Let's celebrate at the Hostess of Fertility! Tomorrow we're back to the Dungeon!