Ch.211211 – Hestia Has Few Friends

# 211 – Hestia Has Few Friends

The Academy’s first semester midterms had ended.

With this major event over, students gained their freedom.

And another battlefield began.

“Hey, freshman over there. Want to join the Body Modification Club and modify your body with us?”

“Ah, that’s a bit…”

“Join the Alchemy Club and learn alchemy that makes tasteless 1-point black bread delicious!”

“Wow, really?”

Like the Pied Piper, winners led naive freshmen in droves to their club rooms, while losers sadly stroked their pulsating biceps as they headed to the training room.

This place where winners and losers crossed paths in a ruthless competition was the Regular Club Recruitment Zone.

<Weekly Event – Club Promotion Week>

It was the season when seniors devoted themselves to recruitment during this golden opportunity, intertwining with students who wanted to fill their deficiencies through club affiliations.

“What club are you joining, Oknodie?”

“Hmm. I don’t really have any weaknesses, so I’m not sure.”

“That’s annoying but true.”

“What about you, Isabelle?”

“I’m planning to join a cooking club.”

Isabelle had been starting to feel her limitations.

“I have broad knowledge and know various cooking methods, but I can’t keep improvising forever. I want to learn from the seniors’ wisdom.”

“Wow! That’s a great idea.”

“You’re just excited about eating new dishes, aren’t you?”

“Hehe.”

“…Well, fine. It’s annoying, but I am joining partly to feed you.”

“So which cooking club are you joining?”

“There’s more than one cooking club?”

Of course there is. Food compendiums are so important—how could there be just one cooking club?

“There are mainly three cooking clubs. First, the <Bone Broth Cooking Faction> that masters one type of food each week. They have to fill at least a hundred recipes on one theme before moving to another.”

“…Wouldn’t you get sick of it?”

“It’s not a bad choice if you want to learn different ways to prepare the same dish.”

“What else?”

“The <Gourmet Society> that specializes in rare dishes. They value both taste and quality, but I don’t personally recommend it.”

“Why? It sounds good.”

“The club fee is 200 points every week!”

“…Is that some luxury for the rich? I’ll pass.”

“The last one is <Dark Feast>, which I recommend!”

Isabelle’s expression showed she was really reluctant.

“The name matches the Dark Chef class disturbingly well. What do they do there?”

“It’s a commendable club willing to make extreme choices to raise your compendium. Like mixing animal feed into dishes? Or turning non-edible ingredients into edible ones?”

“…Why would anyone go that far?”

“Remote areas with low productivity, far-flung regions, and forbidden zones including the demon realm naturally have scarce ingredients. They prepare you to eat anything in such places.”

“That’s surprisingly practical.”

“Right?”

“You want me to join that one, don’t you, Oknodie?”

“Yes!”

“…Well, I’m doing this to feed you anyway, so I should go where you recommend.”

In the end, Isabelle joined the <Dark Feast> club.

“So where are you planning to join, Oknodie? Cooking? Swordsmanship? Magic? Assassination? Gathering?”

“Well, I don’t want to join, but there’s a club I’d like to observe. The one Hestia attends.”

“Why there?”

“I’m a bit worried about Hestia.”

More precisely, she was concerned about Hestia’s persecution trigger that she had unwittingly activated.

-To think that the friend I poured my heart out to all night for comfort was… a ghost trapped in the wall? And not truly offering friendship but planning to trap me instead?

Hestia had become deranged after her last sanctuary crumbled upon learning the true nature of her only friend.

It was completely understandable why Hestia’s expression hadn’t been good lately, since Oknodie had pulled her wall friend out with the hat.

“That child must be heartbroken.”

The Second Mad Hatter was genuinely worried about Hestia.

Freed from the wall, she no longer used her bond with Hestia for impure purposes.

She worried about her purely as a friend with whom she had shared heart-to-heart talks all night.

“Okay. Let’s go see Hestia!”

“Thank you…”

“I should be thanking you for spending time with Hestia.”

“…You’re truly a kind child.”

Stop saying such embarrassing things.

Feeling shy, she lightly touched the hat’s brim.

* *

Hestia belonged to a club with the rather unusual name <Paper Dungeon Expedition>.

“What’s good about joining this club?”

“You can go on adventures with comrades!”

“Comrades…?”

“Seeing is believing. Come and see for yourself.”

Hestia offered no resistance as she was pulled along by a senior weaker than herself.

Having gained strength but lost all relationships she could call comrades in return, she secretly hoped for an opportunity to soothe the sorrow of being a Berserker class distrusted even by allies.

“Today’s paper dungeon theme is stagecoach robbery. Anyone not confident in horseback riding should sit out.”

“Damn. Bad luck.”

“I’ll just watch.”

“Me too.”

“Newbie, you come watch too.”

Several challengers approached the senior holding a book, placed their hands on it, and with a bright flash, they were sucked into the pages.

The senior who brought Hestia calmed her as she jumped up in surprise.

“Relax. That’s a paper dungeon.”

“Is it okay for people to be sucked in like that?”

“If the book receives external damage, it forcibly ejects everyone inside. Don’t worry about getting hurt from book damage.”

The paper dungeon was quite an interesting game for Hestia, who had experienced all sorts of adventures.

“Now, as you cross the border checkpoint, five orcs appear. What will you do?”

The senior holding the book narrates the situation, and the seniors inside the book respond accordingly.

It was truly a story of paper dungeons and dungeon explorers!

Moreover, the books on the shelves were diverse in genre.

Romance.

Action thriller.

Mythical fantasy.

Political fantasy.

Adult fairy tales rated 19+.

Books of every genre were available.

‘Orcs don’t look like that.’

‘The dungeon research is wrong.’

‘Clients don’t give that much reward.’

To Hestia, a former mercenary, the adventure seemed completely inaccurate with its poor research and overly hopeful scenarios that felt disconnected from reality, but she liked it precisely because of that.

“So, newbie. Want to join us?”

“I’ll join.”

“Good decision. You’ll make an excellent tank!”

“That’s unfair. Your party already has another newbie.”

“Hehe. If you’re jealous, recruit your own newbies.”

“Newbies, that guy looks different but he’s super stingy, so if you’re not satisfied, come join our party later. Got it?”

“I can hear you!?”

Though it was a false world with false adventures, they shared trials and hardships and enjoyed themselves together.

The joy of building bonds and having fun was real, something that couldn’t be experienced in reality.

Hestia enjoyed this time so much that she attended the <Paper Dungeon Expedition> without fail every week.

“Hestia, why the long face? Did you fail the exam?”

“I haven’t been able to talk much with my friend lately.”

From 9 AM to 9 PM.

For twelve hours each day, they had set boundaries for their conversations, but her friend beyond the wall would always respond when spoken to.

Now that friend had been silent for days, making her anxious and impatient.

“Cheer up, friend. The gallant shield-bearer Skull is here. Let’s enjoy another exciting adventure today!”

Skull, a second-year senior.

He had decent skills, enough to be in the intermediate class.

He had a personality as good as his skills, but he wasn’t a classmate.

They couldn’t spend most of the week together—attending lectures, doing assignments.

He was just a paper dungeon comrade she could only meet in the club room on leisurely weekends.

“I’m sorry, senior. Today I’m a bit…”

“What? I was really looking forward to it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Alright. Let me know if you feel better later.”

If he were a true friend, he might have skipped the adventure for a day to listen to her, but Senior Skull quickly formed a new team with other seniors.

Flash!

With a bright light, Senior Skull disappeared on another adventure with a different party.

Hestia gave a bitter smile.

Somehow, she had expected this.

The senior didn’t value his relationship with her.

He simply appreciated her mercenary background, rich practical experience, and excellent skills—wanting to feel like he was adventuring with a capable comrade.

There was no genuine relationship.

‘Should I quit the club?’

Her resolve weakened.

It felt like she was back to when she first entered the Academy.

She was alone.

Before entering.

Right after entering.

Until she met Oknodie, the friend beyond the wall.

Yes, perhaps Oknodie saw her the same way she saw Senior Skull.

Someone to talk to and rely on only when needed.

Someone who only sought to comfort her own loneliness.

A shallow person.

‘No. I’m different.’

She should find Oknodie.

And ask what’s wrong.

As she opened the club room door, an unexpected figure appeared.

“Hello, Hestia!”

“Oknodie…?”

“I came to observe. Can you play with me?”

“Of course I can.”

Hestia quickly grabbed her hand and went inside.