The Protagonist System

20 An Adventurer’s Life For Me

I woke up and wasn't surprised to feel another source of warmth inside my blanket. I had suspected Hestia would become a cuddler after learning she had a falling out with her longtime friend. I knew it was Hephaestus from my previous knowledge, because she hadn't mentioned it.

Then again, I didn't really know a lot about the story, just the overall plot and a few of the events that happened. It wasn't something that had caught my attention before, which was why I chose it. It was almost all new territory for me, so I couldn't wreck everything by mistake like I had in the last world.

I folded the edge of the blanket back and revealed Hestia's sleeping face. She had snuggled right into my chest and looked really comfortable. When I checked the invisible clock in my head, I saw that it was barely past dawn and I wrapped my arms around the sleeping Goddess. I could easily waste an hour or two like this as I waited for the various shops to open.

Hestia murmured my name and how hot I was, then her lips kissed my pectoral right by the nipple. It hardened for her, as if she asked for it, then she moved slightly and clamped her lips right onto it and started to suckle.

I couldn't fight against how good that felt and my erection grew right up between her legs. She let out a soft moan at me pressing against her panties and she wiggled her hips a little, probably trying to either feel more or to stop feeling pressure down there. Either way, it felt great on my end.

Hestia was about the same height as Koneko and that made me feel even hornier. What were the odds that I would find another woman that was the same size as the last girl I was falling hard for?

As soon as I thought that, I had to smile. Blessing of Fortune was definitely at work again. I reached down and gripped Hestia's ass and she let out a fairly indecent moan and sucked even harder on my nipple. Her thighs pressed together and gave me a great spot to work with, so I did. I dry-humped her and made sure to rub over her, just like I had with Koneko, to give her a great orgasm.

“Ohhhh... ohhhhhhh... ohhhHHHH!” Hestia moaned and gasped. Her thighs squeezed me tightly and I blew my load all over the inside of the blanket and over her panty-covered ass.

We were both panting after the exertion and Hestia stopped suckling to give my chest several kisses and started to softly snore.

I didn't complain that she didn't thank me for getting her off, because the 600 Karma points certainly did. I wasn't going to question the value of a 'semi-conscious orgasm' when it involves a virgin goddess, especially because I knew she would be freaking out if she realized what had happened wasn't just a dream.

I cast a cleaning spell to clean myself of the mess, one for her because of her own mess, and one for the blanket for both of our messes. As far as she was concerned, it was just a pleasant dream. I wasn't going to ruin her powers by taking advantage of her, because she had been a virgin goddess for centuries for a very specific reason.

I closed my eyes and dozed away for the next couple of hours. I wasn't sure if Hestia had to work today, so I waited for her to wake up before I asked. She started to stir and made a few odd sounds, almost like disappointment, then she stopped breathing and completely stiffened because of the position she was in.

I thought about pretending to be asleep and chose to get the confrontation over with. “Good morning, Mother Goddess Hestia.” I said and kissed the top of her head, since that was the only spot I could reach with my lips.

Hestia didn't relax as she lifted her head from my chest. Her eyes almost bored into mine as she blushed from embarrassment. “G-g-good m-morning, B-Bell.”

I gave her a warm smile and provided her with a convenient excuse. “I need to thank you for looking after me so well, Hestia. It was my first time sleeping in a strange place and you took it upon yourself to make sure I was okay.”

Hestia's eyes almost lit up at my words. “Y-yes! Yes, that's exactly what I was doing! I was comforting you, my new child. It was my responsibility to take care of you like this. Yes, it was.” She said and nodded her head several times.

I barely held in my laugh at how much she was jumping on that excuse. “Now that you're awake, are you working today?”

“I have half a shift today.” Hestia said and looked over at the clock. “And I have to be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Not a problem! I'll help you.” I said and threw the blanket off and picked her up.

“EEP!” Hestia let out at me seeing her wearing only her panties and she cupped her hands over her breasts. It was funny, because by her doing that, it gave me an even better view than what I had.

“It's okay, Hestia. We live together now. I was going to see your big beautiful breasts bare at some point anyway.” I said and her eyes went impossibly wide.

I laughed at that and set her down on her bed, quickly dressed her in her new dress and gloves, and looked at her bare feet. I had to risk the pain and conjured a pair of stylish calf-high white platform boots with little blue bows on them to match her gloves.

I grunted at the pain of 115 points being spent and I took 99 damage. Maybe I should have created a basic version first and then transfigured them? I asked myself, then I berated myself silently as I slipped them onto her feet. It was worth a little pain to make something so nice for her.

Hestia seemed to marvel at the things that fit perfectly onto her usually bare feet. I grabbed my own clothes, slipped them on in only a moment, and thought about what to do next. We hadn't eaten breakfast, so I did up a small bowl from the still lightly simmering stew. She gobbled it up in only a few moments and gave me a huge smile.

“You're welcome.” I said and picked her up in a princess carry. She let out another 'eep' sound at that and almost looked comfortable as I ran up the stairs. I used my back to ease the wall of shelves open to slip out and used an elbow to close it, then left the storage room. I ran outside and came to a stop and hefted her up to sit her on my shoulder. “Okay, where am I going to drop you off?”

Hestia blinked her eyes at me. “You're going to run with me sitting on your shoulder?”

“I would have kept you in my arms if I knew where to go, so we can save that for the next time you're working.” I said and she blushed. “So, where to?”

Hestia pointed in a direction and I clamped my arm over her calves to hold her steady. “Head for the market square and I'll tell you were to go from there.”

“Grab on and brace yourself.” I said and she hunched as she dug a hand into my hair to get a good grip and her other hand grabbed a handful of my shirt at the shoulder. I used a few points of magic to stick her to me, just in case, and then ran.

I thought I could hear a distant giggling and wondered where it was coming from, then realized it wasn't getting any farther away as I ran through the back streets. I briefly glanced up at Hestia and saw her ecstatic face. She was laughing under her breath as her hair in twin pigtails whipped around behind us.

“Left at the middle street, right, back alley, left again, third street, second shop at the end.” Hestia's commentary led us right to the shop she needed to get to and we arrived with two minutes to spare.

I undid the spell to stick her to me and carefully put her down. I cast several cheap spells to make sure she looked immaculate and fixed her messy hair. “Have a good day at work, Goddess Hestia.”

“Thank you, Bell.” Hestia said with a smile. “You have a good day, too.”

I opened the shop door for her and the other people in the shop looked stunned as she walked in wearing her repaired clothing. The click-clack of her boots also drew their attention. I closed the door when I heard her softly giggle at their reactions. Now that I knew where to go, I could get there faster and could carry her in my arms.

It also gave me an idea and I wasn't sure if it would work here or not. It wouldn't hurt to try it, however. I would need to make a few carving tools and would need to pick up some silver dust or maybe some liquid silver. A blacksmith would be a good idea, assuming he would sell to a civilian.

I sighed at that, because I was pretty sure he wouldn't even look at me if I wasn't an adventurer and could pay him, probably upfront. I walked down the street and barely looked at the storefronts that were there. There was no point, especially without a significant amount of money in my hand.

My idea would have to wait until I could get some collateral, so I took a back street and ran at my top speed. Without Hestia's weight on my shoulder and having to protect her, I could go all out. I didn't sweat or felt tired, which meant fighting in the dungeon was going to be downright easy and I would only have to rest after taking a lot of damage to recover.

I made it home and ignored the dilapidated state of the outside and went inside and down to the small apartment. I ate a bowl of stew and it settled my stomach. I knew I would need a lot more time and good food, for the both of us, to fix the long bout of starvation we had both suffered through. I was sure that was why my stat numbers were so low, despite what I looked like.

On a whim, I created a thermos for 80 points and put a bowl's worth of stew into it. I was sure I could use it as leverage to negotiate a favorable loan with the Guild, then I chuckled. I created another one and filled it, and secured both to my belt on either side. I turned the stove off and left the apartment and went upstairs to look over the inside of the church.

I chose a good spot off to the side of the altar for my experiment and cleared enough space for it. With that done, I looked at the ruins of the church. It hurt my eyes to see the sad state of it and there wasn't much I could do about it, not without taking significant damage as I tried to repair it with magic. It would have to stay as it was for now.

I left the church and cast a detect magic spell. It cost 15 magic points and briefly lit up a 100 feet around me. I couldn't tell if it was only for my eyes or if everyone would see it. If that was the case, it might cost more to lose the glow. I didn't bother trying to expand it by spending more points and just started spamming it. I could cast it 6 times before I had to stop briefly and cast another chain.

I took my time to walk back to the shop that Hestia worked at and the people around me still seemed interested in staring at me. I was really tempted to jump at them and yell 'boo!' to scare them, then chuckled and ignored the temptation. I stopped and looked into the shop that was almost like a cafe that served food.

Hestia looked inordinately pleased as everyone complimented her on her new dress and she served everyone with a bright and happy smile. I watched her for about ten minutes before there was a lull in her work and I entered the shop.

“Hello! What can I do for... Bell!” Hestia gasped.

“I'm sorry for bothering you at work. You forgot your lunch at home and I brought it right over.” I said and unhooked the full thermos from my belt to hand it to her.

Hestia winced slightly at the double lie and I smiled at her. “Yes, thank you.” She said and accepted the thermos, then stared at it and wondered what it was.

“Like this.” I said and popped the top off to show her it was like a bowl and unscrewed the top to pour a small amount of still hot stew broth into it for her.

Hestia drank it immediately without prompting, so I screwed the top back on and she popped the top onto it, understanding its function, and grinned at me. “Thank you, Bell.”

I bowed to her and left before anyone could complain that I wasn't a paying customer. I would be eventually because the food smelled good. Buying it fresh was much better than buying it at the end of the day after it had been picked over. However, food was food, and I wasn't going to turn anything down.

I made my way across the city to the large Guild Hall and went inside. I spent a few minutes looking around and wondered how they could have the main adventurer hall be so... plain. Wood was everywhere and nothing really stood out to show that it was the most important and most used building in the whole city.

I walked over to the main counter and a woman with a moderately large chest was there doing paperwork. I say woman, except I meant she was a quite pretty half-elf with a slim body, shoulder-length brown hair, pointy ears, and emerald colored eyes behind very thin glasses. She wore a uniform of white shirt, black vest, and black pants.

“Good morning, ma'am.” I said softly, trying to not startle her.

The woman lifted her gaze from the papers she was working on and her eyes widened when she looked at my face. Her eyes darted down to my chest and back up, then down to my waist and back to my face, this time with an added blush.

I smiled to stop my chuckle at her actively checking me out. “Could you advise me about how to join up as an adventurer? I'm a complete novice about such important things and need to rely on an expert like you to handle me properly.”

Her face flushed to a deeper red at my innuendo. “I... I would be happy to help you, mister...”

“Bell Cranel, Prospective Adventurer.” I said and held a hand out for her to shake.

“Eina Tulle, Advisor.” She said with a smile as her blush faded and took the offered hand.

I didn't shake it and bent over it to kiss it instead. “It's very nice to meet you, Miss Tulle.”

Her blush rushed back and she looked a little faint.

“Do you have an office or something where we can talk things over? I have some concerns about money and earnings...” I started to say.

“Y-yes, I... if I can have my hand back, I can lead you to a meeting room.” Eina said.

I chuckled and let her hand go, then motioned for her to lead the way.

Eina smiled at me and called for another cute woman to take her place as she picked up a pile of different papers than what she had been working on. She walked around the counter to join me in front of it and led me to a small side room.

I couldn't help but admire her nice ass in tight dress pants as she walked. I just hoped that my peace offering would be accepted as it was intended, a blatant bribe to not be so harsh with me at the negotiation table.