Chapter 23:  Reputation Rebound

Dorothy stared at the steak on her plate, speechless.

She, the mighty Demon King, ate only the highest-grade monster meat in the Abyss and drank the sweet nectar brewed by elves.

This kind of crude human food—she wouldn’t even glance at it on a normal day.

But now, for the sake of acting, she could only pretend to wolf it down.

“Thank you, Mother! It’s delicious!” Dorothy bit into the steak with big mouthfuls, her lips dripping with grease.

Primrose sat across from her, cutting bread slowly and deliberately.

She watched Dorothy’s over-the-top acting and secretly laughed to herself.

‘Keep pretending. Let’s see how long you can keep it up.’

Primrose complained inwardly.

Cecilia and Yuna sat on the other side.

The two of them barely touched their utensils, their gazes fixed warily on Dorothy.

Cecilia leaned close to Primrose and said in a low voice, “Lady Goddess, I still think this is unwise.”

“This Demon child has an aura that makes me very uncomfortable. Though faint, it is definitely not that of an ordinary demon.”

Primrose knew that as the Saintess, Cecilia had a keen perception of evil auras.

“It’s fine, Cecilia.”

Primrose patted the back of her hand and soothed, “I’m here. Eat more and don’t starve yourself.”

When Cecilia heard the Lady Goddess’s concern, her face flushed bright red.

“Yes! Lady Goddess! I’ll definitely eat a lot!” Cecilia immediately picked up her knife and fork and began devouring her food frantically.

As she ate, Dorothy cast sidelong glances at Primrose.

‘Strange. The way she looks at me… doesn’t it feel odd?’

Dorothy muttered inwardly, ‘Could she have seen through my disguise?’

‘Impossible. My disguise magic is perfect. Even a god couldn’t see through it.’

‘I am no longer the little girl who could only hide behind others!’

‘I am now the World’s Strongest!’

Little did Dorothy know that Primrose possessed an unreasonable cheat like Divine Inspection.

Divine Inspection—though that’s what it’s called, and it sounds like a standard ability for gods…

…in reality, not every god has it.

This was originally Primrose’s skill as the Sage.

—Sage’s Vision.

After becoming a goddess, this skill was enhanced and upgraded, becoming Divine Inspection.

Soon, dinner ended.

The long oak table was now covered with empty plates. The hearty roast meat and thick soup from earlier had been thoroughly devoured.

Lin Naiyue sat in a chair, holding a clean wet towel, and was wiping Dorothy’s mouth. Dorothy sat on a barstool next to her.

A bit of steak sauce was smeared on Dorothy’s fair little face. Lin Naiyue carefully wiped it off bit by bit.

“Dorothy, are you full? Still hungry?”

Lin Naiyue asked softly, her eyes full of the doting love a mother has for her daughter.

Dorothy sat on the barstool, her little legs in white stockings swinging in the air.

“I’m full! Thank you, Mother! Mother is the best to me!” She could only pretend to be obedient and pitiful, replying sweetly.

This cry of “Mother” made Lin Naiyue’s heart blossom with joy. She directly pulled Dorothy into her arms and rubbed her cheek against Dorothy’s face.

Watching Dorothy call out “Mother” over and over, watching her own mother dote on Dorothy so much…

…this suddenly made Primrose feel a bit uncomfortable.

‘Was she… jealous?’

“Primrose, you come too. Dorothy will be your little sister from now on. A family should love each other and stick together~”

Lin Naiyue pulled Primrose into the group hug as well.

The Demon King, the Hero, and the Goddess.

The most unparalleled and bizarre combination in history. Now they pressed their soft, bouncy cheeks together and rubbed against each other.

Cecilia was extremely envious, and at the same time, she felt very indignant.

“A little demon brat can actually have such intimate interactions with both the Lady Goddess and the Lady Hero Mother!”

‘Ah!!’

‘I’m tired. World, just perish already.’

On the other hand, Dorothy got goosebumps from all the rubbing and was cursing wildly inside.

‘Every single one of them treats me like a child.’

‘Damn it, damn it, damn it!’

‘No… It seems I’m the one who looks too much like a child.’

‘I should have taken on the form of a mature woman!’

The catgirl Mei Fei was clearing the table.

Mei Fei was very quick and nimble, stacking plates and utensils neatly.

Her furry cat ears twitched occasionally, and her tail wagged happily behind her.

Today, the Lady Goddess and the Hero were staying at the inn—this was a huge blessing.

The boss will surely give a big bonus, and maybe a promotion too.

The more Mei Fei thought about it, the happier she became. She picked up a large stack of plates, as tall as the Eiffel Tower.

Just kidding.

She bowed respectfully to Primrose. “Lady Goddess, Lord Hero, Lady Saintess, everyone—I’ll go take care of these. Later I’ll be on night duty at the front desk on the first floor. Please call me anytime you need anything.”

“Go ahead. Thank you for your hard work.” Primrose nodded.

Mei Fei carried the plates and walked briskly out of the private room, heading down the wooden stairs to the first floor.

At this time, the night outside the inn had grown very deep.

But on the streets of Tattle Town, over a dozen bright magical streetlights glowed warmly, and the sounds of people continued unabated.

It could be said that it was brightly lit, with crowds flowing.

Ordinarily at this hour, there would be no one. Only today was an exception.

The battle had just ended during the day. The Lady Goddess, Lord Hero, and the Lady Saintess had been coming and going in town, temporarily staying at the Golden Rose Inn—the residents had all seen them.

All along the way, Primrose and her party had been the most noticeable focus of attention.

Incidentally, on the way back, they had applied a little disguise to Dorothy, covering the black horns on the sides of her head that symbolized the Demon Race.

Now, in an ordinary tavern.

“Did you hear? In today’s battle, thanks to Lady Goddess Primrose and Lord Hero descending, we’d already be on the road to evacuation otherwise.”

“Yeah, I just caught a glimpse of the Lady Goddess’s true appearance from afar. So beautiful, almost more than the Lady Saintess…”

“Shh, shh, shh! Saying such blasphemous things about a clergy member—aren’t you afraid of prison?”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m just too excited.”

After a day of news spreading,

Primrose’s own reputation had recovered somewhat.

Along with it, the people’s trust in the goddess and the Hero had recovered a little too.

But it was mainly centered on Primrose’s name.

After all, she was the goddess personally worshiped by the First King Gabriel—she had a celebrity effect.

At this moment, Primrose and the others had already returned to their room.

Luckily, the room had two beds, enough for everyone.

‘Nn?’

Suddenly, Primrose sensed something abnormal.

In the shadows of the back alley, two figures in black cloaks were hugging the base of the wall, using the noise and bustle to slowly creep toward the back door of the Golden Rose Inn.

Their footsteps were extremely light—clearly, they were used to such sneaky, underhanded work.

A cold wind whistled sharply.

The dark figure on the left was bald, with several strange black runes tattooed on his head.

The dark figure on the right was a man with a long knife scar across his face.

The bald man and the scarred man crept to the inn’s back door.

This wooden door was usually locked, but for these career criminals, it was no problem at all.

The bald man pulled a long thin wire from his pocket, inserted it into the keyhole, and pressed his ear against the door to listen.

His fingers moved lightly a few times. With a soft click, the lock was successfully picked.