Chapter 188
Punishment, as it turned out, was exhausting work.
Hestia was beginning to regret her decision. Her legs felt even more sore than before.
Kiriya looked down at the goddess sprawled lazily across his chest and clicked his tongue.
She had made such a grand declaration, only to run out of energy almost immediately.
Still, she was his goddess.
What else could he do?
Kiriya helped Hestia lie down comfortably, then began carefully massaging her tired muscles.
A perfectly respectable massage.
Nothing more!
"Mmm..."
"Ahh..."
Hestia pressed her lips together as soft sounds escaped her throat.
A warmth unlike anything she had experienced before spread through both her body and mind.
"Kiriya... when did you learn how to do this?"
"I’ve read a few books about it."
Kiriya gave a deliberately vague answer.
He could hardly admit that all the practice he had gotten helping Maki recover after training had made him surprisingly skilled.
Hestia would probably sink her teeth into him before he finished the sentence.
The massage was so relaxing that Hestia’s body soon went limp.
Within minutes, she was breathing softly in her sleep.
Kiriya smiled, covered her with a blanket, and quietly headed into the kitchen to prepare dinner.
...
The smell of food eventually pulled Hestia from her nap.
She sat up with a yawn, rubbed her eyes, and immediately spotted a table covered with dishes.
Her eyes lit up.
"Whoa! You made all of this?"
Kiriya carried out the final pot of soup and placed it on the table.
"Wash your hands. Dinner’s ready."
Hestia hurried away and returned almost immediately. She dropped into her chair, seized her knife and fork, and eagerly dug in.
"It’s so good!"
She practically radiated happiness.
What kind of miraculous Familia member had she found?
He was charming, could cook, knew how to spoil her, and could hold his own against nearly anyone in battle.
Had all those lonely years before they met simply been fate preparing her for this moment?
"Slow down. No one’s going to steal it."
Kiriya continued eating while placing more food onto her plate.
Hestia grew happier with every bite, happily sharing stories from her shifts at the tavern.
"The green-haired elf is a wonderful girl. She doesn’t talk much and always looks so serious, but she’s actually very considerate. Whenever I don’t know what to do, she quietly comes over and shows me."
"And that gray-haired girl, Syr... she’s really strange. Apparently, her cooking turns out fine when she doesn’t try very hard, but the moment she puts real effort into it, everything somehow goes wrong."
"Oh, and Anya, the cat girl, is adorable too..."
Kiriya listened to her chatter with a warm sense of satisfaction.
This was how a goddess ought to spend her time—working a normal job, meeting new people, and keeping herself occupied.
When she had too much free time, all her attention went toward romantic rivalries and imagined conspiracies.
Nothing good ever came from that.
Just as Kiriya was congratulating himself on how well things were going, Hestia suddenly remembered something and slapped both hands against the table.
"Wait!"
She narrowed her eyes at him.
"You nearly distracted me. What happened between you and Allen Fromel today? How did you end up fighting someone from the Freya Familia?"
"I know you’ve grown much stronger recently. You even defeated the Vana Freya."
Her expression became unusually grave.
"But Ottar is different. The King is unlike every other adventurer in Orario."
"The difference between Level 6 and Level 7 isn’t small. They’re practically in different worlds."
"I know."
Kiriya nodded seriously and gently took Hestia’s hand.
"But I never enter a fight unless I believe I can win. You don’t need to worry."
With the Seventh Gate open, Kiriya believed he could confront a Level 7 head-on.
And that was before considering the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Both of its abilities were absurdly powerful in the right circumstances.
Once he fully mastered the eyes, he would also gain access to the third power born from awakening both Mangekyō.
With so many trump cards available, only a legendary Level 8 could truly frighten him.
Hestia studied his confident expression.
Ever since meeting him, she had watched Kiriya create one miracle after another.
That memory allowed her to relax slightly.
"If you’ve already thought it through, I won’t lecture you."
She squeezed his hand.
"As your goddess, there isn’t much I can do to help in battle. But I can at least update your Status."
"Now?"
Kiriya pointed at the food still covering the table.
"You haven’t even finished eating."
"It’s fine. I’m already full."
Hestia quickly stuffed several more meatballs into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out, then grabbed Kiriya and pulled him toward the sofa.
Kiriya removed his shirt and sat with his back exposed.
Hestia pricked the tip of her finger with a silver needle.
A drop of divine blood fell onto the Falna engraved across his back as she began updating his Status.
The numbers surfaced one by one.
Senju Kiriya
Level 3
Strength: D 512 → SSS 1338
Endurance: D 538 → SSS 1323
Dexterity: D 576 → SSS 1361
Agility: D 561 → SSS 1378
Magic: D 589 → SSS 1521
Magic:
Forest of All Things
Yang Power: Everflowing Vitality
Blade Storm
Skills:
Strong One’s Wish
Demonbane
Mirror Calm
Divine Will Sharingan
Development Abilities:
Mage (H)
Luck (H)
Hestia stared at the numbers.
Her entire face froze.
What had happened?
Kiriya had only been gone for a single day.
How had every one of his ability values risen so dramatically?
She had no way of knowing that while barely a day had passed in this world, Kiriya had spent more than three months in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen.
During that time, he had trained and fought at extreme intensity almost every day.
Those experiences had been engraved into his soul.
The moment Hestia updated his Falna, all that accumulated growth appeared at once.
"Did you somehow run all the way below the fortieth floor?"
Hestia muttered to herself before immediately rejecting the idea.
There was no way he could have traveled that far and returned in a single day.
"And this Skill..."
Her expression grew even more complicated.
"You awakened another one."
Most adventurers would consider themselves blessed to gain a single Skill in their entire lives.
Kiriya seemed to pick up a new one whenever he felt like it.
If word spread, half of Orario might die from sheer envy.
"Is this what Luck does?"
Hestia continued muttering.
"Even for a Development Ability, this is ridiculous."
Kiriya finally lost patience.
"Well? What does it say?"
"You can read it yourself."
Hestia copied the updated Falna onto parchment and handed it to him.
Kiriya barely glanced at the increased ability values.
His attention immediately fell upon the final Skill.
Divine Will Sharingan: Converts the user’s spiritual energy into nourishment, continuously advancing the evolution of their ocular power and eye techniques.
The description was brief.
Its significance was not.
Kiriya stared at the parchment in shock.
Ordinarily, major growth in the Sharingan’s ocular power required intense emotional stimulation.
Such opportunities could not be deliberately created.
Worse, those breakthroughs were often accompanied by terrible pain and tragedy.
Kiriya could never accept that path.
He had no desire to gain strength through the suffering or death of someone he loved.
In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, he had found an alternative by absorbing the purified spiritual energy released after cursed spirits were exorcised.
But the cost had been enormous.
Reaching the Mangekyō alone had required the energy of nearly ten special-grade curses, along with thousands of Grade 1 and weaker spirits.
Advancing to the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan—or even the Rinnegan—would require an almost unimaginable amount of energy.
Kiriya had no idea how long that would have taken.
Now, the problem had been solved.
Divine Will Sharingan could steadily convert his own spiritual energy into the special chakra required by the Sharingan, allowing his eyes to evolve continuously.
The process might still take a long time.
But it was the best path he had ever found.
"Eternal Mangekyō... Rinnegan..."
Kiriya clenched the parchment, excitement burning in his eyes.
"Just wait. One day, you’ll both be mine!"
"Before you get too excited, we need to decide something important."
Hestia interrupted him.
"What?"
She pointed toward the Status on his back.
"Are you going to level up?"