75 Chapter 72: Outbreak

The team camped for now and everybody looked at Lars.

"What? Yeah, yeah, I'm the pack horse, I know." He rolled his eyes.

He took out a tent from out of nowhere and it was even a fancy one.

"That's useful as heck." Hermes was jealous of his inventory.

"Okay, Kaguya, Ryuu, please prepare the ingredients. You two are the best at cooking here, besides me that is." Lars had a smug expression.

"Kuu! We failed at showing our girl power, Tiona." Tione winced, remembering their burnt cooking.

"The best I can do is roasted meat on a spit." Tiona shrugged, she knew her limitations.

"Why is Hestia even here with us?" Lars pointed at the small goddess.

"What? I can't be here?" Hestia huffed at him. "Then tell me why are you here? This is a dangerous mission." Lars raised a brow.

"Geh, that's true... Artemis is my best friend?" Hestia thought of a reason, but that was the best she could do.

"Fine, that's good enough." He rolled his eyes and everyone started preparing to camp.

"Enough about that though, how are you holding up Hestia? As Hephaestus and Demeter's friend, you're a friend of mine too. Need any help?" Lars asked the legal loli goddess.

"Urgh, don't remind me. I've been trying to get a child. Yet I've been rejected 35 times now." Hestia deflated.

"Why does Demeter have you anyway? She's rich already, why can't I have a capable child too?" Hestia was jealous.

"Well, because I found her first? Honestly, you'd be a pick of mine too, if you weren't lazy that is." Lars laughed and she swung her twin tails at him.

"Kuu! I'm working hard you know!" Hestia bristled.

"Yeah, because you'd starve. But you can work a little harder." Lars rolled his eyes.

"I'm gonna save up and bring in all the good adventurers!" She did a guts pose.

"I believe I have some experience on that." Lars pointed at Airmid and the twins. Not to mention Belnas and Elnea who were hauling thick logs to create a pyre.

"Rub it in, will ya!" Hestia looked like she was gonna cry.

"Now, now, you'll get one eventually." Lars patted her head.

"Hmm?" He saw that her hair ties were worn. 'She must be working her ass off on those jagamarkun stands.' He sighed.

'She should just continue working in Hephaestus' store. She can get commissions there. But I guess she doesn't want to rely on her anymore.' Lars nodded at her determination.

He took out some dyed arachne silk from his inventory.

Lars sewed it together with his psychokinesis and he made a blue ribbon out of it.

"Here, let's replace those worn out stuff. You've been working hard, haven't you? At least you're not a shut in here." Lars changed her ribbons.

She just looked at him like he grew a second head, Hestia was speechless.

"You're not fair at all..." Hestia looked downwards as she bit her lip.

She started crying and he panicked a bit. "Hey, are you that touched by this?"

Hestia sniffled and wiped away her tears. "I've been working hard, but nothing goes my way. I thought it was easy, just descending and adventurers will flock to me."

"But I'm in debt with Hephaestus, Miach, Demeter, and Artemis. Just to get by day by day, because I didn't know anything." Lars patted her head softly.

"And Demeter's child even has to help me try to get my life together." Hestia couldn't help but cry.

"Hmm, but that's what friends are for anyways Hestia. You know it best, you preside over family." He sighed.

"But... But I'm being a no good goddess that just receives help." She was holding in a lot.

"Hah, that's true." He agreed with her and she looked like she was gonna cry harder.

"For now that is, you've been carrying out your duty for eons. You know nothing about how the real world works, unlike the other gods." Lars sighed.

"So it's fine, rely on us for now. You're already starting to stand on your own two feet." Lars smiled at her and she looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"Really? Uwaah!" She hugged him and she put snot on his clothes.

He smiled wryly as the others looked at them with warm smiles.

After she calmed down, she noticed that everybody was watching.

"Ahhh, kill me now." She curled into a ball and the others laughed.

Finishing their meals, Lars took out a huge ass bath tub that he commissioned for events just like this.

"Don't peek! I'm warning you!" Hestia blushed at the thought of him peeking at them.

"Yes, yes, I won't Lars sighed and the girls were delighted that he could prepare a bath for them.

"I won't mind~" Kaguya winked at him, Alise and Ryuu glared at her and she chuckled at the shy girls.

"Come and bathe with us, Lars?" Tiona hugged his arm and he pointed at Ryuu and Hestia.

"They'll mind." He deadpanned at her and she pouted.

"Hey, I'll mind too." Airmid blushed, but she did want to experience bathing with him in private in the future.

"See?" Lars shrugged and the amazoness gave up.

Tiona shook her head at Tione and they retreated in defeat.

"Hey, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Hermes whispered and Lars rolled his eyes.

"We're not teenagers, Hermes." Hermes smirked.

"But we are men. We should enjoy the sight of their nubile bodies, burn it into our minds!" Hermes did a guts pose. Monologuing passionately.

"You just want a peek, why? You maidenless?" Lars smirked at him.

"Gah! T-that is simply not true! But aren't you at least thinking of it? Hestia's massive chest, floating in the water.

Artemis' dynamite body that is toned by being the goddess of the hunt, the other beauties with them!" Hermes was burning with determination.

"I am, but there's something called discretion. If you want to look, a true gentleman woos a woman and lets her show their assets by their own." Lars nodded sagely.

"T-that's true." Hermes couldn't refute that. "I am a gentleman first, before I am a pervert." Lars announced with finality.

"So you are a pervert." Hermes wiggled his eyebrows.

"Someone who's involved with multiple women? Who would think I'm not?" He admitted it blatantly.

"And they're my girls, why would I let you look at them?" Lars grinned and Hermes backed off.

"Okay, okay, that's a perfect point." Hermes gave up, but he suddenly ran towards the bathing area.

"Hey! You little shit! That guy's fast as fuck!" Lars ran after him.

But Hermes was indeed fast as fuck. He was already almost at the bathing area.

"Come back here!" Lars catched up with him and he was about to tackle him, but Hermes dropped to the ground and Lars sailed past through him.

He then dropped at the bath tub he took out. "Damn, Hermes dodged. That guy's pretty good."

"Awawawa!" Ryuu started stammering and Alise hid under the water.

"L-Lars! Y-you! Why did you land here when you were chasing Hermes!?" Hestia pointed at him.

"Think, Hestia. Why would someone like me even try to peek when she would strip in a heartbeat if I wanted to?" Lars pointed at Tione who nodded in agreement.

"Uhh, you're a voyeur?" Kaguya answered instead and the others chuckled, except Ryuu who was hiding with Alise.

"What!? No! Hah. It's an accident." He just sighed.

"Lars, ignore them. Come here and bathe with us instead!" Tiona hugged his arm and Tione walked up to him while swaying her hips.

'Damn.' Now that he focused, they were very enticing.

'What the hell are people eating here? I haven't seen a single average looking person here.' Lars was perplexed.

"Yeah, stay with us, yeah?" Tione attacked on the other side and the twins gave each other a look, doing a pincer attack.

"Lars, stop gawking at Hestia and Artemis, just come here already." Airmid beckoned him over as well, though she hid herself with a towel.

"W-wait! Why does he have to go to you? He's always with you guys, I demand that he will hang out with us tonight!" Alise stood up against the injustice.

"AAAAA-Alise! He can see! He can see everything!" Ryuu stuttered like an alarm clock.

Alise went atomic red as Lars nodded at her. It was already presented to him, why would he look away.

"Orion, so that's how you look naked? Wow..." Artemis gawked at him and they started a capture the flag with Lars as the flag.

"Girls can get pretty insane eh?" Lyra was chilling with Hestia on the side.

"Y-yeah, they can get insane alright." Hestia was in a daze.

"Hoh? You looking at his dangly bits? As expected of a virgin goddess, you must be repressed huh?" Lyra teased her.

"Am not!" Hestia smacked her with her huge tits.

"Gah!" Lyra didn't receive any physical damage, but she did got hit by a truckload of emotional one.

__A week to the journey__

"Hmm, I won't ever get tired of flying." Hermes looked around the sky, still as excited as ever.

"We've been flying for a week, Hermes. How far is this crappy ruin?" Lars sighed.

He was getting tired of flying around. And he's starting to run out of stories he could remember to entertain Artemis.

"The Ersos ruins are at the edge of the continent. Inside a forest, untouched by man." Lars rolled his eyes at his dramatic explanation.

It's far as fuck is what it is. "So, how much longer away is it?" The amazons were also beginning to get twitchy.

They are too used to killing things. And they haven't felt their weapons end something for a week now.

"It's 10 days away, so 3 more days." Hermes smiled wryly.

"Calm down guys, take it as a vacation." Lyra was relaxed as hell.

"We've left Astraea-sama our work, Lyra." Alise gave her the side eye.

"Wait! I see something." Lars looked down and everybody was on full alert immediately.

"Monsters! They're chasing a mother and daugther pair, attack!" Lars shouted and everybody jumped off of their mounts.

They saw scorpion monsters and Lars made a grasping motion, lifting off the civvies being chased.

"Lightning crash!" Tione supercharged her leg with electricity and she dropped with an axe kick on the ground.

The forest shook as a large crater appeared, lightning flowing everywhere.

Lars kicked the air and a vacuum blade appeared from his leg.

Trees started to fall like dominoes and the vacuum blade sliced anything in its way clean in half.

The civvies were scared shitless, seeing superpowered freaks suddenly appear out of nowhere.

"You okay?" Lars slicked back his hair as he asked, sighing at the monster horde.

The other members of the quest were making quick work of them.

"Y-yes, sir knight." The woman blushed at being saved by such a handsome man.

"Wow, mister you were so cool. You were like swoosh and bam! Then the trees go eek, then kablam!" The girl was excited.

"At least you're alright." Lars patted her head and he talked to them more.

The monsters were spreading and the villages were migrating away from the direction of the Ersos ruins.

"I see, take these supplies then, have a safe journey." Lars gave them a backpack full of food and water.

"This... This isn't good at all. Isn't the Artemis familia the ones keeping them in line?" Lars frowned.

Shouts of clear resounded in the forest and all the monsters were taken care of. The only problem was their numbers.

They regrouped, but Lars stared right at Artemis.

The night fell and they had to camp again. This time, Lars pulled Artemis away from the group.

"Who are you, why do you feel like Artemis? And where's the familia?" Lars raised a brow as he confronted her.

"Orion... It's me, Artemis. Yet at the same time, I am not. Let me tell you a story of a goddess of purity that has been enlightened about love." Artemis closed her eyes.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.