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Chapter 85: The Goddess's Curiosity
Frustrated and anxious, Lefiya stomped her foot. "Honestly, Mr. Aiden! Now I'm actually mad at you!"
Seeing her puff her cheeks like an angry squirrel, Aiden didn't look the least bit intimidated. Instead, he just laughed.
"It's fine. I know you wouldn't really be mad at me, right, Lefiya?" he said softly. Then, his tone shifted smoothly. "And from now on, just call me Aiden. I don't like using overly formal titles between friends."
S-So assertive… Lefiya's beautiful blue eyes went wide. She suddenly realized her understanding of Aiden had barely scratched the surface.
The boy standing in front of her was no longer just a gentle, polite youth. He was a man with unwavering principles, and he wasn't afraid to enforce them. This sudden display of assertiveness didn't offend her in the slightest. In fact, it made her elven heart pound wildly in her chest.
Hephaestus watched the entire exchange with profound amusement. As a goddess, she could see exactly how high the elf girl's affection for Aiden was. All the boy needed to do was give a tiny, gentle push, and that deep fondness would blossom instantly into full-blown love.
But right now, the petty romantic dramas of mortal children were secondary. Her attention was wholly consumed by the seemingly ordinary spear in her hand.
She hadn't told Tsubaki the full truth.
Or rather, she had omitted the most critical part of her discovery.
As the goddess governing fire and forging, her understanding of every metal in existence vastly eclipsed mortal comprehension. She could feel the very essence of the spear's material—and it fundamentally did not belong to this world.
Whether it was Orichalcum mined from the deep floors, the skeletal remains of rare dragons, or the legendary Mithril left behind by ancient Spirits, she knew them all intimately.
But the metallic composition of this spear was completely alien. It was resilient yet lightweight, possessing exceptional magical conductivity, yet it carried a subtle, inherent sense of rejection—as if it operated on an entirely different set of physical laws.
Perhaps the deepest, unexplored reaches of the Dungeon—floors even the top Familias hadn't reached—could birth a new mineral. But even a new mineral would still adhere to the foundational laws of this world.
What troubled her even more were the techniques used to forge it.
As the God of Forging, she wielded the divine authority of 'Creation.' If a new, brilliant forging method was invented in the lower world, she only needed to look at it to instantly comprehend its mechanics and replicate it flawlessly.
It was like a master composer who could immediately understand and replicate any chord played on a piano.
But she couldn't do that with this spear.
To her, the forging techniques within the White Tassel felt like a melody played on an instrument that didn't exist. She could appreciate its beauty and analyze its structure, but she could not use her divine authority to replicate it.
That proved, without a shadow of a doubt, that this technology did not originate from this world.
Everything pointed to a single, impossible conclusion: This spear was an artifact from another universe.
With that realization, Hephaestus's crimson eye shifted back to Aiden, burning with intense curiosity and scrutiny.
Having lived in Heaven for eons, Hephaestus was well aware that this "lower world" was not the only one. There were countless lower worlds scattered across the cosmos, like stars in the sky. Each one possessed its own unique civilization and rules.
It was only because Orario's world housed the Dungeon—a singular, terrifying anomaly—that it had drawn the attention of the gods in the first place. In fact, many of Orario's modern concepts were influenced by passing knowledge from other realms.
For instance, the way Hegni—the dark elf from the Freya Familia—spoke and acted was mockingly referred to by the gods in private as "Chuunibyou." That exact term had been picked up from some bizarre lower world and spread among the deities for a laugh.
So the existence of an 'alternate world' didn't shock Hephaestus.
What shocked her was that an artifact from one of those worlds, built on an entirely alien technological foundation, had just been casually dropped into her lap.
And the one who brought it was the boy named Aiden.
Focalors, was it…? Hephaestus searched her memories.
Up in Heaven, there were as many gods as there were clouds, and they all had their own cliques. She didn't have a strong impression of a Goddess of Justice who ruled over water. They had never really interacted.
An unfamiliar goddess, a mysterious Familia member, and a weapon that defied the laws of their reality.
A nearly imperceptible smile touched the corner of Hephaestus's lips.
I should invite her out for a chat sometime, she thought to herself as she watched Aiden and the girls. Compared to the fleeting romances of mortals, this was a puzzle worthy of the God of Forging's time.
Forging, no matter the skill level, required time. Even for Tsubaki Collbrande, Orario's greatest smith, forging a heat-resistant Third-Class Weapon wasn't going to be instantaneous, even if it was a walk in the park for her. It still required quenching and polishing.
Aiden and the girls finalized a pickup time with Tsubaki, left a deposit, and politely bid farewell to the Goddess Hephaestus.
When they stepped back out onto East Main Street, they were hit by a completely different kind of heat.
The thoroughfare was practically boiling over with activity, the air thick with the sounds of cheering and jubilation.
It was just past nine in the morning—a time when most adventurers were already deep underground, grinding away at the Dungeon. Yet, East Main Street was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with ordinary citizens, creating a massive, bustling sea of people.
Countless vendors lined the center and sides of the road, filling the air with the mouth-watering scent of street food and the loud sizzle of meat on hot iron grills.
The entire avenue was lavishly decorated with colorful ribbons and vibrant flowers, transforming the normally busy street into a grand, festive carnival.
Overhead, long strings of banners flapped wildly in the breeze.
The banners primarily featured two designs: the ferocious silhouettes of roaring Dungeon monsters, and the iconic elephant-head crest of the Ganesha Familia.
A young beastman child, his face flushed with excitement, aggressively tugged on his mother's hand, pointing desperately at a stall selling monster masks. Even the collective rhythm of the crowd's footsteps seemed faster, driven by an infectious, soaring energy.
The morning sun blazed brightly in the sky, as if the heavens themselves were celebrating this spectacular day.
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