The labyrinth city Orario. Not only does it have an underground maze known as a dungeon, above it was a huge city. The city, or rather a city that flourished because of the guild that managed the dungeon, had a variety of people living here, not only humans, but also other 'races'.

As for L who still had little understanding of the place, the explanation for Orario can only end here. Although Bell Cranel was a resident here, his level of knowledge about it is still not high. As for the people who enter the dungeon, and continue to gain revenue from there to sustain their livelihoods, they are called adventurers. It is also L's current occupation.

Bell Cranel grew up in a rural village not too far away from Orario, and can be regarded as someone who knows nothing about the world. After the death of his 'grandfather' who raised him up, he had completely lost his guardian. So he took the remaining wealth and left the village.

Needless to say, the reason he left was because he wished to have a fateful encounter in the dungeon.

<——If you're a male, you cannot not hope for a harem!>

When he was young, his disgusting 'grandfather' would frequently say this sentence to his ear while having a hearty laugh. L almost threw up right then and there when he remembered that excuse of a 'God' who tried to play the grandfather of a human child. His true identity was so blatantly obvious that L was considering whether Bell Cranel actually has sperms instead of brain cells in his head. L pitied the boy who was brainwashed and raised into a helpless idiot that can only think with his dick.

But at least he was a kind and upright person… Unlike me...

L doesn't know why it happened, but his mode suddenly plummeted as his eyes turned hollow.

"..."

Going past the busy street, L entered a narrow alley and turned a few corners. Once the noisiness completely disappeared from behind, he walked to the end of the road. Then after walking for a few minutes, he stopped and raised his head to look at the building in front of him.

What was constructed in the depth of this unpopular small road was a broken down church. L can see that this two-story building that used to pay respects to gods was almost completely broken.

From the appearance, there are traces of broken stone everywhere. It would easily make one feel that it has gone through many years and has disappeared from the memories of the people. Then at the top of the front entrance, a statue of a goddess, with a tattered body and half her face missing was smiling down at him. This type of sadness wasn't helping L's mode in the slightest. He was even questioning whether it was a good idea to come here at all.

"..."

L looked at the front entrance that did not have a door as he considered his options.

Bell Cranel is dead.

This. He was certain of it as he was now the one using the body instead. Moreover, because he stayed in that black space for too long, L somehow developed an affinity towards souls so he was pretty sure that his soul is the only one occupying this body right now.

Now the problem is... How would Hestia react to that fact?

Even though L was looking down on the God who raised Bell Cranel just a few moments ago. He would absolutely never say it out loud to the Man's face directly. It was simply too dangerous and L wouldn't fall to the facade those terrifying beings are putting up in front of them. Each and every single one of them might as well be considered a walking nuclear bomb with a head and limbs attached. One that's equipped with a lie detector too.

Those fellows started to come down to the lower world from 'heaven' 1000 years ago. Some were around since then, and some only recently came down. They are forbidden to use their powers known as Arcanum. And If any God or Goddess breaks the rule, they are forcibly sent back to Heaven.

But the terrifying fact that the people of this world seem to miss is that it's only 'forbidden', not blocked or stripped. So L would rather avoid those monsters for now. At least until he got his hands on a reliable thermonuclear weapon of the same destruction  power as their Arcanum.

The only thing that's keeping L's sanity despite being in the same city as those 'things' right now is that they have the same physical abilities as normal people. So they could at least be killed with normal means from the shadows. Just make sure they don't have the chance to use their Arcanum and it's all good.

Well... if worse came to worst, I could just knock her out and then safely leave the city while she's unconscious. It's not like I have any interest in becoming an adventurer in the first place.

With such thoughts in mind, L walked to the front entrance and entered the inside of the Church. The inner part of the building had a degree of destruction comparable to the outside. From the gap between the broken floors, dense weeds grew. Most of the ceiling had already fallen apart, it was equivalent to having none. From the big hole in the ceiling, the warm sunlight shone right through. It shone onto the altar that had managed to maintain its original appearance. This could be basically called a ruined church.

L followed the path in his newly acquired memories to pass through it. He came in front of a small room in front of the altar and went in. There is a row of shelves without any books in this dimly lit room. Behind the innermost shelf was a ...ladder extending to the bottom.

"..."

After going down this seemingly bottomless ladder, a door appeared in front of his eyes, the door was open and from the tiny window on the door, a small light leaked out.

L swallowed his saliva before resolutely stepping into the door. What was in front of his eyes gave off a feeling that it was a small room in the basement. Inside there is the aura that someone lived here, but about the point for people living here, it seems like it was only one part of it.

The person he was expecting was seen as soon as he entered the door. She was lying down on the purple sofa. With a position of lying on her back and holding a book in her hands. Once she heard his footsteps, she immediately stood up.

Hestia is a beautiful and petite Goddess with a youthful appearance. She has blue eyes and mid-thigh length black hair tied into two twintails which reach down to her mid-thighs. If just by judging from the appearance, she looks like a little girl… she can be considered between a little girl and a female teen. She was even shorter than L, so from other people's perspectives, saying that she was his little sister who was almost the same age as him was not a problem. But L 'know' better than to perceive her like that.

A smile emerged on the innocent girl's face. With a sound "totototo", she ran up in front of him.

"Ahah you've returned. Aren't you earlier than usual today?"

"I died in the dungeon…"

"Hey Hey, are you alright? If you die I will be quite troubled. Perhaps it would be quite sad to say."

After saying this, her two small hands gently touched his hands. As if to confirm that he has not been injured. From her words, L could hear a hint of concern.

"..."

"Bell?"

Perhaps it was because L didn't answer her question immediately. Hestia lifted her concerned eyes and looked at his crimson ones.

"It's not a problem. I will not let you be left on the street."

"Ah, you've said this before. If one day you decided to ride on a big boat, you must have prepared your resolve right? Hahaha!"

Hestia seemed to misunderstand his words as she laughed merrily while taking his hand and dragged him into the room.

The inside of the room was composed of space made from a square and a rectangle. It just looks like the shape of the letter P. Near the door of the square section stood two sofas. L sat down with her.

A different being compared to humans, demi-humans and monsters that appear in the dungeon, she is an existence that is in a different dimension compared to them. They are different from them in how their appearance never changes as their age increases. It is completely beyond mortal cognition, an existence that is greater than the hero in this world's legends. L was facing such an existence.

"In that case, today you basically have no harvest?"

"A little more than usual. ...Kami, umm… sama, what about you"

L's eyes twitched as he barely was able to squeeze those middle words out of his mouth. This is torture to his scientific mind.

"Oho, Look at this! Tada"

"This?"

"Because I made a lot of small contributions to the store's revenue, I got a lot of potato croquettes! Today's dinner is a feast of potato croquettes. Fufu, Bell-kun, you won't be sleeping today right?"

"Uhh… I see."

This nuclear bomb was working in a shop?

L definitely wouldn't want to be the manager of such a danger zone. no, he doesn't want to be the customer either.

"Ah, come to think of it...Even though everyone says I am extremely cute as a mascot character, there is still no one who wants to enter my <Familia>. They all say: "I've never even heard of the name Hestia." These people are all so calculating."

—...cute?

"Well... no matter which Familia gives the Grace, it is all the same…"

The God in front of his eyes is called <Hestia>. Gods like her all have children bear their own title. To be accurate, a <God's Familia> is a faction of the god. <Loki's Family> means <Goddess Loki's Familia>, <Hestia's Family> is <Goddess Hestia's Familia>.

Of course, there are people who refer to it as a faction so it is called Loki's faction and Hestia's faction. From what L can see, joining a family is equivalent to becoming a family member to the god. And although Gods decided to live in the Lower World, food and living standards all require money.

Of course, there are a few Gods that enjoy working, but most Gods still like to simply enjoy themselves. These Gods, in order to continue their carefree living style, they lend their power to the people from the Lower World in the form of <Grace>. Then those individuals would have to meet the requests of the Gods, and help the Gods earn money.

In other words, if we unfold those words, Gods are supported by their family

Members. L couldn't help but just label it as 'freeloading' instead.

However, he cannot completely ignore the benefits from the <Grace>. Just by accepting it once, no matter what kind of people, they will all be able to repel the lower level monsters in the dungeon.

According to Hestia's words, it is a <Equivalent Exchange>

"Ah, making Bell-kun take the burden alone, I really am quite sorry about it…"

"Hah, you better be— I-I mean, I'm okay Kami... sama. You too have been working hard."

"...sorry, I made you contract with such an incompetent god."

Damn, I screwed up.

L grimaced while looking at the increasingly weak and tiny god who looked to be on the verge of crying.

She wouldn't detonate on my face right?

L was genuinely scared for his life as he tried to salvage the situation as soon as possible.

"D-Don't let it bother you, Our Familia is still in the beginning stages, it's still developing. Although at the beginning it may indeed be difficult, but as long as we get through this, our life will become better. At that time, we will also have free time and people will come and join us."

"Bell-kun, you…!"

L sighed in relief as he could see that she was completely moved by his words.

"Oh, oh, to have an encounter with such a person must be my fortune. Then, for our future, let us first update your <Status>!"

When L heard those words, all of his relief instantly vanished. His smile also started fading as he slowly nodded towards the oblivious Goddess.

"Then, as usual, take off your clothes and lie down."

"Understood"

While heading to the bed inside the room, L removed the light helm that adventurers use, then he removed his top underwear. What was on his upper body was completely taken off. Afterwards he tilted his head to look behind. The wall had a mirror. What the mirror reflected was his figure with elderly white hair and the light skin color. What was particularly striking was the black text engraved on his back. These are all things that Hestia engraved on his body. This is God's Grace — A Gift from God.

"Okay, Okay, lie down, lie down."

After hearing Hestia hurrying him, L tensed his entire body. Once he lay down on his stomach, she jumped up and sat on his waist.

"Anyway, you just said that you died in the dungeon, what exactly happened?"

"..."

L didn't answer her question.

"Oya? Are you embarrassed bell-kun? Fufu, you can't even speak in this position aren't you."

Hestia kept on touching L's back. Once, twice, she went over the same places over and over again, as if she was telling him to relax, and gently stroked it. Then he heard a metallic sound. That was Hestia taking the needle out. L lifted his head slightly, then turned back and looked. Hestia first used the needle to pierce her fingertips, then she let the blood flow out and drip slowly down onto his back. The red blood that landed on his skin spread like a ripple and completely entered his back. L's eyes started studying Hestia's face as some incomprehensible patterns suddenly came out from his back.

"Let's see, Umu Umu~ Hmm?"

L clearly saw how her complexion slowly changed from excitement to confusion then to realization and finally...

"—??????!!!!!!"

Absolute Horror.

Author: More Feedback = More Chapters, it is a <Equivalent Exchange>