My eyelids, heavy as lead, were forced open.
Jleb!
A wave of dizziness slammed into the base of my skull.
The first thing my senses registered wasn't light or my surroundings — it was the sharp sting of medicinal smell tangled with the rich, savory aroma of warm soup.
My blurry vision slowly pulled into focus, taking in an unfamiliar wooden ceiling above me.
A medical room.
---
"Kaen! You're awake?!"
"Ugh..."
A hoarse groan scraped out of my throat, which felt as dry as sand.
When I tried to move my fingers, my entire body — from head to toe — felt like it had been flattened by a freight truck. Every muscle was screaming.
My chest was impossibly tight, a deep throb radiating from what felt like several broken ribs beneath the layers of bandaging.
Before I could even process the pain, a very familiar face appeared above me.
Wide, round eyes. Black hair tied in two pigtails with blue ribbons. An expression caught somewhere between panic, anger, and the desperate urge to cry.
Hestia.
---
"Goddess...?" My voice came out strangled, hoarse and heavy.
"Thank goodness! Do you have any idea how badly you scared me?!" Hestia immediately lunged forward, gripping my hand so tightly it almost hurt.
Tears were already gathering at the corners of her eyes.
"How'd you end up this badly hurt?! Your whole body was in pieces when Riveria from Loki Familia brought you back! The doctor said your ribs are broken, your hand is cracked, and you nearly bled out! What in the world happened to you in there?!"
The moment I heard the name Loki Familia, my head erupted with a sharp, painful throb.
The memories from just before I lost consciousness began spinning through my brain like a reel of horror.
Wait... Loki Familia? Right. I remember now.
---
The flashbacks hit without mercy.
The image of a golden-haired girl with eyes as cold and deep as the ocean.
Aiz Wallenstein.
A violent shiver ran through me under the blanket. My brain was screaming as I replayed the insanity of those last few hours.
Inside that dark labyrinth, I had fought — brutally — against the Sword Princess herself. We put our lives on the line, trading blows, until the stone corridor around us was in ruins.
The most insane part was that even though I'd completely lost control of my own body through all of it, I could still feel every detail of what happened with perfect clarity.
I can't believe that skill actually exists. Fighting on autopilot when my body loses consciousness — when I'm on the verge of death?!
That's insane. This is insane. My heart was racing like it was trying to escape my ribcage.
I actually managed to hold Aiz off long enough for Gob to get away?! This is the same person who can slice through a pack of minotaurs in a single swing?! And how am I even still alive after her sword went straight through my chest without me bleeding out completely?
---
"Kaen! Calm down! Why is your face going pale so fast?!" Hestia's panic spiked when she saw me suddenly spacing out.
She pressed her palm against my forehead. "Don't move yet, your wounds could reopen! Who did this to you? Tell me! I'll go after their god personally!"
I stared up at her with a hollow expression still full of leftover shock.
"Goddess... I was almost killed by the Sword Princess..." I whispered, my voice trembling with the genuine terror of how close I'd come to walking through death's door.
The room went dead silent.
The only sound left was my own heartbeat, completely irregular.
"Wh... who?" Hestia asked, making sure she'd heard right. Her voice was shaking, a note of pure disbelief buried beneath it.
"Aiz... Wallenstein..." I whispered again.
---
The moment that name left my mouth, the worry on Hestia's face completely collapsed.
Her eyes darkened, filling with a dense, seething anger. Her divine aura flickered out around her, pressing down on the air in the room until it felt heavy as stone.
"LOKI FAMILIA?!" Hestia shrieked, furious.
She shot up from her chair, clenching both tiny fists until they shook. "That damn golden girl! How dare she leave my child half dead! I don't care if she's Level 5 or Level 6 — I'm heading to Twilight Manor right now and dragging that flat-chested Loki out by her hair!"
"Go-Goddess, calm down — ugh—!" I tried to grab her wrist, but that impulsive movement sent a sensation like being struck by a mace tearing through my bandaged chest.
I winced hard, my body curling involuntarily from the pain.
"Don't move!" Hestia immediately spun back around, pressing down on my shoulders as gently as she could to ease me back down.
Tears of rage were streaming down her cheeks now. "Look at yourself! You can't even sit up! How could she do something like this to you?!"
All I could do was swallow hard and try to regulate my short, halting breaths.
---
Knock. Knock. Knock.
A knock at the door cut through the chaos.
It slowly swung open, revealing a tall woman with green hair and an elegant emerald robe.
Riveria Ljos Alf. The most powerful mage in Orario, and one of the highest-ranking executives in Loki Familia.
"Excuse me," Riveria said in a calm tone weighted with genuine regret.
She stepped inside, leading a girl behind her who kept her head bowed the entire way.
That girl was Aiz Wallenstein. She wasn't in her battle armor this time — just a simple, casual dress. But her eyes, usually cold as ice, now carried an unmistakably visible guilt.
---
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE?!" Hestia immediately planted herself in front of my bed, spreading her tiny arms wide like a mother hen shielding her chick from a predator.
"Get out!"
Riveria bowed respectfully, ignoring Hestia's outburst to make clear how seriously she meant this.
"Goddess Hestia, I sincerely apologize for what happened in the Dungeon. We're here to take full responsibility for all medical costs, and..." Riveria glanced sideways, "...so Aiz could apologize to him in person."
Aiz stepped forward one pace.
She looked at me with her lips slightly parted, clearly unsure where to begin.
"Sorry..." Aiz murmured, her voice nearly swallowed by the silence. "I didn't mean to leave you like this. But back there... you were frightening."
---
Hearing the word frightening come directly from the mouth of a Sword Princess, I went completely still.
My mind went blank.
It's true that my body fought Aiz on autopilot when I lost consciousness. But I never expected an assessment like that to come out of her mouth.
Was I really that dangerous? Even Zagan was once a victim of mine, but Zagan is just a regular person. That's completely different from Aiz — a top-tier adventurer and one of the most powerful humans in all of Orario.
How is it possible for someone like me to make a person like her feel scared? Even if my body was fighting on its own, there's no way it could've actually been her equal. However I think about it, the skill that activated must have simply been pushing my body to its absolute limit — not making me truly comparable to Aiz.
---
"Fr-Frightening...?" My voice finally came out, hoarse and unsteady. "You're joking, right? Look at me. I'm the one who almost died here, not you."
Aiz shook her head slowly.
She stared at her own palms, which were trembling slightly — as though the memory of our fight was still imprinted in her nerves.
"No," Riveria cut in, her tone completely serious.
The elf's green eyes fixed on me sharply, as if she were trying to see past the surface of this beginner adventurer in front of her.
"Aiz isn't exaggerating. When we found the two of you on the 9th Floor, the entire corridor had been reduced to rubble. The wind pressure and aura residue left behind — that's not something a Level 1 adventurer could produce."
---
"Wait — what do you mean?!" Hestia cut in, her face going pale.
She turned to me with an expression of equal parts disbelief and anxiety. "He only just got his Falna not long ago! His status is still rock-bottom! How could he have possibly pushed the Sword Princess to use her wind magic?!"
I couldn't answer her. I was already drowning in my own spiral of panic.
My heart started hammering again, slamming against my bandaged chest hard enough to create new pain where there hadn't been any before.
What kind of terrifying power actually woke up inside me?
As a normal person thrown into this insane world, the fact that I apparently had something inside me capable of threatening a Level 5 or 6 adventurer made my skin crawl.
I truly had no idea how to respond to any of this.
---
Aiz took one more step forward, closing the distance to my bed before Hestia could block her.
She leaned down slightly, looking directly into my eyes, which were shaking with barely contained panic.
"Who..." Aiz asked, her curiosity undisguised — as if I were the greatest mystery she'd ever encountered in the Dungeon.
"Alright, that's enough!" Hestia cut in firmly, slipping between us to sever that eye contact.
"You came here to apologize and take responsibility — not to interrogate my child who just woke up!"
Her sharp rebuke snapped both Aiz and Riveria back to the actual reason they'd come.
The tension on Riveria's face softened, replaced by a genuinely remorseful expression. She seemed to realize they'd overstepped.
Riveria gently tapped Aiz's shoulder as a signal.
---
Aiz stepped up beside my bed.
She bowed — deeply, so deeply that her golden hair cascaded forward.
"I'm truly sorry. I lost control because I thought you were a threat. All of your medical expenses and recovery potions will be fully covered by Loki Familia."
Watching a legendary Sword Princess bow that deeply in front of me, my brain just... short-circuited.
The fear that had been gripping me moments ago slowly ebbed away, replaced by an almost overwhelming awkwardness.
"Ah... yeah, it's fine," I managed, stumbling over my words. "What matters is I'm still alive. Thanks for taking responsibility."
"Good, I'm glad you understand," Hestia replied, folding her arms across her chest, eyes still locked sharp on their two guests.
---
Riveria gave a nod of acknowledgment. But before she turned to leave, her expression made one thing clear.
As one of the most perceptive adventurers in Orario, she definitely knew something was off about me.
"We won't take up any more of your time, Kaen," Riveria said, touching Aiz's shoulder to signal her to step back.
"Get plenty of rest. But once you're feeling better, I'd like to talk — as fellow adventurers."
Aiz straightened up.
Before turning away, her golden eyes briefly dropped to my bandaged chest, then came back to meet mine with an expression that was difficult to read — something between guilt, curiosity, and quiet anticipation.
"Get well soon," Aiz whispered, before stepping out after Riveria, who pulled the door closed firmly behind them.
---
The moment the door shut — click — Hestia immediately locked it from the inside.
She walked toward me with quick, purposeful steps, and the tension and fury that had been written all over her face moments before melted completely away, replaced by a childlike worry so open it almost hurt to look at.
"Kaen...!" She rushed to the bed.
Instead of interrogating me about my status or the mysterious power, she carefully lowered herself onto the edge of the mattress. Her small arms wrapped around my neck with extreme gentleness, making sure not to put any pressure on my injured chest.
"Goddess... ugh, easy—" I groaned awkwardly, but I couldn't lie to myself that her embrace felt deeply comforting.
The scent coming off her — like fresh flowers — immediately settled the wild pounding in my chest.
---
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Hestia looked up, resting her chin on my shoulder.
Her wide eyes were glistening, gazing at me with a warmth so full it almost ached. "I was so scared of losing you. When I heard you were hurt, I felt like my whole world was about to fall apart. Don't ever scare me like that again — promise me!"
She puffed out her lips in a pout, sulking in a way so utterly endearing that the awkwardness I felt slowly melted into a thin smile.
"Yeah, Goddess. I promise," I answered quietly, lifting my right hand — the one that didn't hurt as much — to gently stroke her twin black pigtails.
Her hair felt incredibly soft between my fingers.
---
Hestia flushed, her cheeks blooming pink.
She quickly released her embrace and hurriedly wiped the remaining tears from her face.
"Ah! Right! The soup's getting cold!"
She turned and reached for the bowl of soup whose aroma had been teasing my senses since the moment I first opened my eyes.
Hestia settled into the chair beside the bed, stirring it slowly, then scooping up a small spoonful.
"Come on, open up. Aaa~" Hestia said, blowing gently on the spoon with her small lips before holding it out toward my mouth.
My face suddenly felt very hot. "Go-Goddess, I can feed myself — that hand isn't even broken..."
"No you can't!" Hestia cut me off immediately, eyes going wide in a look that was equal parts playful and absolutely non-negotiable.
"You're my patient right now — and my precious adventurer! So you're allowed to be spoiled. Now open up, Kaen. Aaa~"
---
Looking at that stubborn yet completely loving glint in her eyes, I had absolutely no choice but to give in.
I opened my mouth and accepted the spoonful of soup.
The rich, well-seasoned broth flowed down my throat, warming my body that had gone cold from shock.
"How is it? Good?" Hestia asked eagerly, eyes sparkling as she waited for my verdict.
"Really good, Goddess. Thanks," I answered sincerely.
Hearing that, Hestia broke into the widest smile, her eyes creasing into little crescent moons.
She went back to carefully scooping the soup, feeding me slowly and steadily, occasionally dabbing broth from the corner of my mouth with a small handkerchief in movements so light they barely registered.
In the middle of all that warmth, a thought drifted quietly through my mind.
Speaking of food — how's Ukyo doing right now, anyway? She didn't get caught up with Loki Familia too, did she?