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"So, what class of divine weapon do you want? What total price are you expecting? And how much are you putting down as a deposit?"
Hephaestus asked with a smile.
Normally, a deposit was between ten and twenty percent of the total price.
"The deposit... is ten billion valis."
"Pff~"
That single sentence shattered Hephaestus's composure.
Ten billion?
Was he joking?
And that was only the deposit. Which meant the final price had to start at fifty billion at the very least.
Even after serving as the god of blacksmithing for so long, she had never earned fifty billion herself. It was not that she could not forge things of that level, but forging them was one thing. Finding someone who could actually afford them was another.
"You're putting down ten billion. Just how expensive is the final weapon supposed to be?"
It took Hephaestus a while to recover enough to ask the question.
Ten billion was not impossible. But at that level, they were already talking about something in the class of a divine armament, maybe even beyond it.
"Obviously the highest class possible."
Anos answered with a smile.
If something could be obtained, then he would obtain the best version of it. That was simply how he lived.
"Are you sure?"
Hephaestus frowned.
Taking the order itself was not the issue. What worried her was that Anos might need years to pay the rest.
At the pace he had earned money this month, enough to repay Hestia's debt in one go, it looked like he might be able to gather the full amount in a little over a year.
But now he also had a Familia.
And a Familia had far too many places where money needed to be spent, especially in its early stages of growth.
Which meant the process of gathering the rest should have slowed down considerably.
"As for the deposit, I already have it ready."
Still smiling, Anos produced another card.
This was the valis he had accumulated during this period, after leaving behind only what was needed to keep everything running.
Just as he had calculated, he had finished ahead of schedule.
"You already have it ready?"
Hephaestus lost her composure all over again.
A few hundred million in a month was at least something she could mentally accept.
For a giant Familia, that was not even hard.
And if it was this absurdly gifted boy, she could still believe it.
But ten billion?
"If you're trying to fool me, then that would be another matter entirely."
The size of the sum itself was only enough to surprise her.
What truly shocked her was that Anos alone could reach a number like this in a single month.
"Lady Hephaestus, this is the deposit. You can rest assured the amount is correct."
Anos held out the card with a calm smile.
Truthfully, he had already been prepared to expose a few things the moment he decided to come here.
"Uh... all right..."
Hephaestus still accepted the card, but this time she truly intended to verify it.
"If a few hundred million could still be explained away by other methods, then earning more than ten billion in such a short time only leaves one possibility."
Hephaestus had heard the rumors.
If someone controlled two of those three terrifying industries, then yes, reaching that level of profit in a short time was absolutely possible.
The three monstrous industries she meant were simple.
The prophet is selling maps through the Guild.
The supplier providing weapons to Hermes Familia.
And Soma's Holy Wine.
Considering that Holy Wine was supposed to be something Soma himself had developed, and that even among the gods no one could surpass Soma in that field, the answer became obvious.
The prophet who had kept his identity hidden, and the supplier arming Hermes Familia, had to be Anos Kanzaki.
What a terrifying boy.
Hephaestus felt that even the title Holy Child no longer seemed grand enough for him.
What she did not know was that Soma's wine business also belonged to Anos.
Anos had already completely won Soma over with his own brewing skill.
"So you've been hiding your identity this whole time and using other people to make money for you."
After a long pause, Hephaestus let out a sigh.
This human was far too frightening.
And now that she thought about it, that prophet had only appeared after Hestia brought Anos back.
"Yes... That's more or less how it is, Lady Hephaestus."
Anos smiled.
If that was how she wanted to interpret it, then that was fine with him.
After all, he was not lying.
If the Holy Wine business came to light too, it probably would lower her impression of him a little.
Though more likely, Hephaestus would just become interested in how he had managed to talk the shut-in Soma into cooperating.
At this point, Anos did not particularly care whether parts of his business were exposed.
Even though it had only been a little over ten days, his industries had already exploded into true giants.
Even if it came out now that he was the one behind them, it would not have any catastrophic effect on him. If anything, it would only push more people toward wanting to join Hestia Familia.
After all, a Familia with that much money would tempt anyone.
That was simply the kind of place Orario was.
Or perhaps more accurately, Orario was the kind of place where the strong made the rules.
"All right then, will you be preparing the materials, or should I? If you provide them yourself, I can lower the price a little."
Hephaestus rubbed her forehead and decided it was better not to dwell on where Hestia had managed to find a monster like this.
"I'll prepare them myself, The main material might be a little unusual, so please try not to be too surprised."
Anos smiled.
He had already decided what the core material would be.
According to the result of his judgment, the best possible method of creating a weapon perfectly suited to him required a main material that was not found in this world at all.
"Hm? You're preparing the main material yourself?"
Hephaestus looked genuinely surprised.
She had only asked out of courtesy and out of professional habit. She had not actually expected that answer from him.
"Of course... Lady Hephaestus, what do you think of a main material like this?"
Anos stepped a little closer and whispered into her ear.
"What? What did you just say? Is that real?"
The moment she heard it, Hephaestus's eyes flew wide open.
She stared at Anos in disbelief.
So something like that was actually possible?
"If you can really do that, then I'd forge it for you for free."
Her eyes lit up with blazing heat.
Just as Soma eternally chased higher and higher wine, she too had spent all this time pursuing ever greater forging skill and weapons of ever greater heights.
And today.
If what Anos said was true, then she believed she could reach a higher realm through this.
...
At that same time.
In the world of High School DxD.
Koneko finished a full day of training and looked off in one direction from her home.
That was where Anos's house lay.
"My, my, Shirone, are you staring toward that man's house again?"
Kuroka lounged across the sofa in Koneko's house like a cat, lazily licking one of her paws as she spoke.
She had been carefully observing her little sister's reactions, trying to gauge just how much that man really mattered to her.
What irritated her most was that, in the end, it almost felt like that man had only managed to gain such an absurd amount of affection from Shirone because of her.
Kuroka understood perfectly well why Anos occupied such a large place in Koneko's heart.
First, he had used his wits to clear up the misunderstanding between the two sisters and forced Kuroka herself to speak honestly.
Second, he had used his strength to give Koneko a legitimate reason not to leave with her, which meant Koneko had been given the right to choose her own life.
Third, he was the only man who had done those things.
The fact that he was male gave him far too much of an advantage.
Kuroka was sure that if some girl had done all this instead, then she herself would still matter more in Shirone's heart.
"Big Sister... when do you think Anos will come back?"
Koneko's gaze drifted off into the distance again, toward the direction she believed Anos had gone.
"Who knows... You'd do better to focus more on yourself, nya."
Kuroka shot a displeased look in that direction.
That man really had gone and done it.
He was the one who told Koneko to choose the life she wanted.
By all rights, that should have meant he was the one protecting Shirone now.
So why had it become her instead?
"I'll keep getting stronger."
Koneko spoke with firm determination.
In just a short time, she had already reached the bottleneck of High-Class Devil. Within three days at most, she was certain she would step fully into that level of power.
That was the terrifying effect of a gifted Nekomata finally opening up her talent completely.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Right after Koneko said that, her phone started ringing.
She immediately picked it up.
Everyone knew this was training time for her and that they were not supposed to disturb her.
Which meant the opposite was also true.
If someone were calling now, then it had to be important.
"It's President Rias."
The name on the screen flashed before her eyes.
"Hello, President. Is something important happening?"
Without hesitating for even a moment, Koneko answered.
Her sister was her sister.
Her sister was important.
Anos was Anos.
He was important too.
And of course.
President Rias was important as well.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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