Chapter 0172: Wife Material Confirmed, Mother Material Still Lacking—
Facing Hayashi's request, Takemikazuchi raised his hand to scratch his cheek, then crossed his arms and muttered, "It's not impossible, but I still have to work my part-time job—if you don't mind, you could come find me after I get off work?"
After all, earning living expenses through work was his top priority. He couldn't just stop working to teach Hayashi martial arts, could he?
"Of course that's no problem!" Hayashi nodded with pleasant surprise. He looked at Takemikazuchi's stall and asked, "By the way, Lord God, what's your hourly wage working here?"
Takemikazuchi scratched his head and asked, "Huh? It's 400 valis per hour, why do you ask?"
Hayashi faintly recalled watching an analysis by a Bilibili content creator—the exchange rate between Valis and Japanese yen was roughly 1:4. That meant Takemikazuchi's hourly wage converted to approximately 1,600 yen—quite a decent rate in the part-time job market.
"Four hundred Valis? Well, since I'm the one requesting Lord Takemikazuchi to train me, I shouldn't waste his physical and mental energy for nothing..." Hayashi lowered his head in thought for a few seconds before saying, "So during the training sessions, I'll pay one thousand Valis per hour. What do you think?"
'O-one thousand Valis! That's two and a half times my current wage—' Takemikazuchi showed clear signs of being shaken—to the point where he momentarily considered quitting his job at the fried potato ball stall to focus entirely on teaching Hayashi martial arts.
One thousand Valis per hour! That's incredibly tempting!
But, but...
"Th-that's not necessary..." Takemikazuchi struggled to speak, his expression pained. "Y-you're Astraea's savior, so..."
Hayashi quickly interjected, "No, no, no! Strictly speaking, the price I'm offering is already quite low—this is personal instruction from the God of War himself. In my opinion, even millions or tens of millions of Valis wouldn't be excessive."
This was the truth!
Don't be fooled by Takemikazuchi currently working part-time at a fried potato ball stall with only four hundred Valis per hour, living in cheap inns (he can't even afford his own Familia headquarters yet)—that's only because he has to follow Orario's rules!
Setting that aside? Takemikazuchi remains the God of War, possessing martial arts skills honed over hundreds of millions of years—something Hayashi couldn't hope to match even if he rode a rocket while slapping a nuclear bomb!
Takemikazuchi scratched the back of his head somewhat sheepishly. "Ah, with you praising me like that, I'm getting a bit embarrassed, hahaha!"
Aside from masochists, who doesn't like being praised? Well, actually, masochists like being praised too—being stepped on by a queen while being told "You're such a good dog"—right?
Hayashi said seriously, "So one thousand Valis per hour is truly just a small token of my appreciation! Please don't refuse—this price isn't meant to turn our arrangement into a transaction, but rather as gratitude and compensation for your efforts!"
If Hisako were here, she would have been moved by Hayashi's words—How remarkable! Truly remarkable! Our young master has finally matured! Just listen to this speech—perfect! Bro!
Takemikazuchi thought for a moment, then smiled at Hayashi. "Alright! Since you put it that way, it would be rude of me to refuse any longer—starting tonight, I look forward to working with you!"
"Awesome!"
...
...
With the matter settled, Hayashi's steps felt lighter than usual as he followed Astraea home.
"You surprised me somewhat."
"Huh?"
Astraea's sudden statement left Hayashi confused. He stopped walking and tilted his head to look at her. "What's up?"
"I'm referring to you offering Takemikazuchi payment."
"Hey, when you trouble someone, you should offer some compensation, right? Otherwise, how could I have the nerve to ask him for help again next time?"
"You're already planning a next time?"
"Of course?" Hayashi chuckled smugly. "When you find such an agreeable War God, wouldn't it be a shame not to take advantage of him a few more times?"
"..."
Astraea made a subtle expression and muttered, "If Takemikazuchi knew you were treating him like a sheep to be sheared, his reaction would definitely be... interesting."
Hayashi shrugged and said, "I actually think he might be quite happy about it."
"Huh?"
"Because that means he can earn some extra income again."
"Ha ha ha ha—"
Astraea burst out laughing. After imagining Takemikazuchi's personality, she nodded and said, "That really might be possible—"
"Heh heh—"
Hayashi threw a couple of punches, looking excited as he said, "I'm really looking forward to tonight's training! I'll probably get beaten up pretty badly, right?"
Only through getting beaten can one improve and understand where their weaknesses lie!
Lord Takemikazuchi, please temper me thoroughly!
...
...
"I'm back!"
Pushing open the door to the room, Hayashi saw Erina lying on the bed in a short skirt and 30D black pantyhose, reading shoujo manga.
So, he let out a "Woo-hoo!" cry, then "swish!"—he pounced onto the bed, wrapped his arms around Erina's legs, buried his face in her plump thighs, rubbed back and forth a few times, then lifted his head to peer at the more mysterious area under her skirt.
"Long time no see, Miss Peach!"
Hayashi pinched the hem of Erina's skirt with his fingers, gently lifted it, revealing her perky and rounded buttocks. He gave them a few light pats with his hands, feeling the undulating softness, then said with satisfaction, "Today's Miss Peach is as plump as ever!"
Blushing bright red, Erina turned her head and said irritably, "Can't you just touch, rub, and pat without saying anything!?"
Hayashi said innocently, "Why? It's not like you haven't heard it before?"
Erina covered her face with her left hand, then pointed with her right hand toward the beanbag chair near the foot of the bed, saying, "Because Hisako and Yunyun are also in the room."
Hayashi: 0v0
Hisako: ( )
Yunyun: /(/ /o/ω/o/ /)/
He couldn't help but roll over and sit up, then scratched his head with an "Ahaha," saying, "Well, you know, Erina's beautiful legs and perky butt are just amazing, right? It's understandable to lose control, isn't it?"
Come on, when you walk in and find your girlfriend lying on the bed in black pantyhose, with the curves of her beautiful legs and the shape of her perky butt right in front of you, how many people could resist!?
Hisako nodded earnestly and said, "Young Master, you don't need to explain, I understand!"
Hayashi said with emotion, "As expected of Hisako, you truly understand me!"
Yunyun: "I-I-I, I didn't see anything just now!"
Hayashi said contentedly, "As expected of Yunyun, such a good girl!"
Erina covered her face and said weakly, "I feel like our team's vibe has been completely warped by you!"
"Hahaha, it's no big deal!" Hayashi waved his hand cheerfully and said, "Oh, by the way! Today, I asked Astraea to take me to find the War God Takemikazuchi, and we've finished negotiating!"
"Really?" Erina showed a smile and asked curiously, "How did you negotiate?"
"It went like this—" Hayashi briefly explained the process of his negotiation with Takemikazuchi, then muttered, "But I'm also curious, why doesn't he just open a martial arts school or something? With the War God's skills, quite a few people would probably want to learn martial arts from him, right?"
Hisako, who was nearby, retorted, "Young Master, are you really that clueless? How could he possibly open a martial arts school?"
"Huh?"
Hisako shook her head helplessly and said, "My dear Young Master! Familias have a competitive mindset—how could he help other Familias train their combat strength?"
Hayashi immediately showed an expression of understanding and muttered, "So that's what it means, now I get it."
So why did Takemikazuchi help Hayashi? To put it bluntly, it was still out of respect for Astraea that he was willing to teach this "savior of Astraea"—if Hayashi had gone over recklessly on his own without going through Astraea, Takemikazuchi would definitely have made all sorts of excuses to brush him off.
"So it seems, choosing to save Astraea really helped us in every possible way—" Hayashi muttered, sitting cross-legged on the bed. "If it weren't for Astraea, things would have been really difficult."
Erina also furrowed her brows and said, "Hayashi, I don't think this is right—it feels like we're constantly relying on Astraea's reputation!"
Hayashi propped his chin on his hand and said, "That may be true, but without her reputation, many things would be hard to handle!"
For example, without Astraea's reputation, it wouldn't be easy for Hayashi to meet Hephaestus directly!
Erina thought for a moment, then leaned close to Hayashi and said, "Later, I'll give you a new fried potato ball recipe to deliver to Takemikazuchi."
Hayashi was taken aback but quickly understood Erina's intention—she was planning to use the fried potato ball recipe as a reward to thank Takemikazuchi, thereby eliminating the "favor owed to Astraea."
Some might ask, didn't Hayashi also pay? And at 2.5 times Takemikazuchi's hourly rate at that!?
First, hiring a war god as your training partner isn't something you can just do by saying "I'll pay your hourly rate"—fried potato balls only consume some of his time, but being a training partner requires him to share his skills!
Second, instructing Hayashi is essentially just a short-term side job, but the fried potato ball stall is Takemikazuchi's long-term work—short-term guidance won't change his life, but the improved fried potato ball recipe from Erina could allow him to set up his own stall, transitioning from an employee to a boss.
Hayashi scratched his head somewhat helplessly and said with a wry smile, "Why do I feel like I'm just coasting along? Without Erina, I can't seem to do anything right—"
Erina shot him an annoyed glance and said, "What's mine is yours! Why be so fussy about it!"
Hayashi chuckled, wrapped his arm around Erina's waist, and muttered, "I was just expressing my feelings! Ah, our Erina is such a wonderful wife and mother!"
Hisako said quietly from the side, "Young master, 'wonderful wife' is certain, but 'mother' still seems a bit premature—"
Hayashi: "..."
Erina: "Hisako, ahhh—"