Balm in Gilead Chapter 19

Chapter 19

“Thank you for the help.”

The blonde elf, Lissos, nodded across from me. “It's only natural, given our alliance.”

I shrugged. “We haven't quite finalized it yet.”

The Apollo Familia adventurer just gave a light chuckle. “If you believe that, then perhaps we have no need of an alliance with you after all.”

I hid my annoyance behind a smile. The adventurer across from me was one of the level 2s of the Apollo Familia, an elf with long blonde hair and a penchant for scarves. I could have done without his lip, though.

“Be that as it may, I'm grateful all the same. It would have been difficult making it that far on my own.”

He nodded gracefully.

We cleared our way down past the 18th floor today, making a quick stop at the adventurers’ village there, before heading back up. The rest stop built in one of the safe floors in the dungeon seemed more like a Boomtown—complete with overpriced and undervalued goods—than any sort of settlement. But I guess some level 2 adventurers still had trouble clearing their way through the upper floors, especially when the Goliath was up. We’d dodged him ourselves, which is why we’d managed to essentially speed run the whole intro section to the dungeon.

I wasn’t so proud to deny that Lissos had mostly carried until I got a grip on the newer types of monsters.

The two of us paused beneath the atrium of the tower of Babel. It was later in the evening, but both of us were morning people. We'd gotten started on the dungeon while the sun was still below the horizon. If nothing else, I was impressed with the strength of the Apollo Familia’s level 2 adventurers, even if the rest of the Familia had done little to endear themselves to me.

“Would you care to join me at the Manor for some refreshments?” Lissos asked. I quirked my lip. Another thing I could have done without was the constant praise of Apollo and his virtues during our trip.

“I would love to, but I already have plans with the rest of my Familia.” I gave the man a smile. “We're still in the middle of finalizing our alliance and getting our new Familia members settled in. It's a busy time; I'm sure you understand.”

He hid his annoyance almost as well as I did. Still, it was clear that Lissos didn't enjoy being turned down. He waved a hand. “Some other time then.”

“Some other time.”

But not for a long time, if I could help it. My meeting with Apollo and his Familia went fine, but I wasn't exactly eager to spend more time with them. I got the sense that they were trying to slowly convince me of the benefits of switching my allegiance.

Even though anyone with eyes could see that I wasn't interested in that in the slightest. You’d think a God of prophecy would be able to get to the bottom of things.

We parted ways, and I turned to head up the tower of Babel. The one good thing about having a new delving partner was that I was able to finish my clear—extended as it was—in time to get Hestia once she finished her shift at Hephaestus’s store. I cashed my stones quickly with the guild representative on site before making my way up the tower.

Of course, I wasn't expecting to be stopped halfway by my own dearest goddess along with an unfamiliar one in a flowing white shift and hair like spun gold. Objectively, I could say that she was almost as adorable as Hestia. It was the highest praise I could give.

I smiled. “Hestia.”

The two paused, before breaking out into matching grins. Friends then.

“Tayloooor!” Hestia launched herself at me. Laughing, I caught her around her middle, spinning once to bleed off momentum, before settling her against my hip.

“I was just coming up to get you,” I said.

Hestia giggled. “I didn't think you'd be here in time!”

I shrugged. “A benefit of our upcoming alliance with the Apollo Familia.” I glanced over at the other goddess in the hallway. “Speaking of…”

“Yep!” Hestia reached into her… cleavage and pulled out a thin sheaf of paper. “Just finalized our alliance with the Hephaestus and Aphrodite Familias!”

“Aphrodite?” I blinked, turning slightly. “I didn’t know you were on such good terms.”

I moved to put Hestia down, before Aphrodite waved me off. “Oh, don't stop on my account!” she giggled, putting a hand to her lips. “Watching you two together is lovely.”

“Mou, Dite-chan!” Hestia pouted. “Stop making fun of me!”

“I would never.” the goddess gave mine a sly glance out of the corner of her eye. “But… keep going at this rate and I’ll win our bet in a week.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Bet?”

“N-n-nothing to worry about, Taylor!” Hestia waved her hands in front of my face. “Just, you know, heaven stuff! Yeah, heaven stuff!”

I was immediately suspicious, but Hestia seemed more embarrassed than worried, and Aphrodite was just giggling behind her hands. I decided that if it was important, she’d tell me.

With a sigh, I set Hestia down. “Still, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Goddess,” I said to Aphrodite. “Thank you for allying with my Familia.”

Aphrodite giggled.

“Ah, uh, Taylor.” Hestia tugged at my sleeve. “Dite-chan is a guy.”

I blinked.

Reaching up, I rubbed my forehead with a sigh as Hestia hopped daintily from my grip. “This is the type of thing one usually thinks to mention when discussing their close friends.”

Aphrodite giggled. Louder.

“Sorry, Taylor.” Hestia looked down, scuffing her foot against the polished marble floor. She winced as her soft sole hit the hard stone with a bit more force than she anticipated.

Served her right, honestly.

“Well, I’m sorry for that, then.” I rubbed the back of my head as I turned back towards Aphrodite. “You pass flawlessly.”

Aphrodite tilted his head, before a smile broke out onto his face. “Thank you!” Even his voice was, well, more overtly feminine than mine. “I try, you know.” He gave a little spin, shift flaring out around his delicate thighs. “Looking this delectable isn’t easy!”

I gave a laugh. “I wouldn’t know.” I waved a hand to my own outfit: simple rough-spun fabric and armor. The only thing I bothered to take care of was my hair, in this life and the last. “Just a quick question…” I glanced off to the side. It was always kind of awkward to bring this up, and really, it might not even translate, but in my experience, people were usually happier with you asking than not. “Is there any way you’d like to be referred to?”

Aphrodite hummed, tapping his chin even as Hestia looked back and forth between us in confusion. “Well, my body is definitely male this time, hehehe…” His face took on a more depraved cast. “I suppose I wouldn’t mind being called ‘she,’ it’s actually quite flattering in my opinion, but I am a guy this time around. Inside and out.”

I nodded. “Thanks for the clarification.” I suppose it figured that the god of love would be much more… fluid than most of the people I’d met in this era. Love came in all shapes and sizes, and all of that.

“What are you guys talking abouttchu.” Hestia sneezed. I looked back to her immediately.

“Are you cold?” I unbuttoned my cloak. It was a newer addition to my outfit. “I keep telling you to wear more clothes.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” She waved me off, shifting as I settled the fabric around her shoulders. A full two feet of it brushed the floor.

“And as for the first part!” Aphrodite said.

I glanced over at him, blinking at his outstretched hand pointing directly at me. “First part?”

“About not knowing anything about looking good!” He giggled. “It is one hundred percent correct! And we’re going to fix that.”

I felt a rock settling in the pit of my stomach. “You could at least butter me up first.” I’d been shopping with enough smug blondes to know where this road ended. I looked back over to Hestia. “Don’t we have something to…” I stopped, rock dropping even further as I saw the excited expression on her face.

“Nope!” Hestia grinned, practically bouncing in place. “I cleared out our schedule. Lili has her guild orientation today, and she’ll be joining us later in the fashion district!”

I nodded slowly. “And Ais?”

“I made her a bento!” Hestia grinned, before her expression abruptly soured. “And also, that stingy washboard was complaining about me stealing her Familia…”

I sighed. “Well, if the two of you are going to make such a concerted effort.”

Hestia tilted her head. “Didn’t I mention this to you?”

“I thought it would be…” something I could avoid indefinitely. “Later. It’s just so lucky that delving with the Apollo Familia saved so much time.”

“Yep!” Hestia grinned. “I thought we were going to have to push this off for tomorrow, but Dite-chan convinced me that you’d probably be done by now.”

I flicked my eyes over to the god of love. “I see.”

He fluttered his lashes at me coquettishly. “Ah~! What a piercing stare.”

“Taylor!” Hestia pouted at me. “Don’t—don’t smolder at Aphrodite!”

I turned my glare on her and she leaned back as if I’d struck her. “Am I smoldering, Hestia?” I asked.

“Ahaha.” She tugged at the collar of her dress, such as it was. “Well, I feel like that’s in the eye of the beholder, right?” Her cheeks went a touch red in embarrassment. I sighed.

To my right, Aphrodite giggled, cupping his cheeks. “Oh, that’s just too good.” He reached out to grab both of our hands. “Just wait until you start getting her to try on some clothes. Legs that long in a skirt? Positively yummy!”

Hestia looked away, mumbling something under her breath.

I just let myself be dragged. Past experience had shown that struggling would only whet their appetite.

I cursed Lisa, with one last breath, being melodramatic to the very core of my being…

And then I continued down the steps of Babel to go try on new clothes.