"But compared to that..."
"Hai... Haimer... where did you get this thing?"
"Don't tell me you sneaked into Hephaestus's armory in the dead of night last night and stole it..."
Speaking of this.
Hestia guilty lowered her voice and stole a glance towards the depths of the workshop.
Haimer couldn't help but roll his eyes at Hestia upon hearing this.
"Relax."
"I got this through a trade with Hephaestus."
"A trade with Hephaestus?"
"That's right."
"Didn't I see that the children of my Familia were all very interested in Hephaestus's weapons last night?"
"And you know how it is."
"Although Hephaestus is generous, she places particular importance on weapons forged by herself and others. If one wants those high-end goods of hers, one must always show some sincerity."
"So..."
Haimer paused, raising the fingertips of his other hand to tap lightly on the spear shaft.
"I used a little of my Divine Blood, a few strands of hair, and..."
"[Divine Characters] that only I can write."
"Using these as the price, inside her private workshop, an unconventional Divine Weapon was forged."
"I gave that Divine Weapon to Hephaestus."
"In exchange."
"Hephaestus agreed to give the children of my Familia the green light, allowing them to pick a suitable weapon from her treasury at will."
"Since it was 'pick at will'."
"Originally, I wanted to go through the motions and ask Hephaestus if I could also pick a weapon for self-defense."
"But you know the situation now."
"As soon as the sun rose, Hephaestus locked herself inside the workshop."
"So—"
"This matter was ultimately left to Tsubaki, as the Captain, to handle."
"When I took this spear, Tsubaki happened to be right there, and she didn't say anything either."
"Thus, I logically took this spear with me."
"..."
Finished speaking.
Haimer lifted the long spear in his hand.
He casually twirled a spear flourish.
After listening to these words.
"..."
The main hall fell into a deathly silence.
Only the sound of striking iron, distant as could be, faintly drifted over.
Hestia's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was now thoroughly dead.
She understood Hephaestus's personality too well!
Once she encountered top-tier materials that interested her, or divine-level techniques she had never seen before.
That fellow would absolutely throw everything else to the back of her mind!
Even if the sky fell, it would have to wait until she finished her research!
And so, because of this...
"That idiot Hephaestus!!!"
"She definitely forgot to warn Tsubaki about the most critical matter because she was too excited!"
Hestia let out a tragic wail in her heart.
Tsubaki didn't know the inside story!
In Tsubaki's view, since her own Patron Deity had nodded and agreed to 'pick at will'.
Then, as a deity, was there any problem with Haimer picking a handy weapon from the armory to play with or collect?
Absolutely no problem!
But this was a colossal misunderstanding!
However, the wood was already made into a boat; the weapon was already grasped in Haimer's hand.
Moreover, Ganesha definitely already knew.
Then this news would absolutely spread through Orario faster than a plague.
Since that was the case.
"..."
Forget it!
Let it be destroyed!
I give up!
Hestia simply abandoned thinking altogether, completely letting herself rot.
After all, even if the sky falls, there's a tall God there to prop it up.
Could it be that she could expect herself to make Haimer put the spear back?
Don't joke around.
She was just an innocent freeloader!
Thinking of this, Hestia's small face instantly became much calmer.
Immediately after.
"Grrr—"
A long, drawn-out sound of a stomach rumbling.
Very inopportunely, it transmitted once again from that shriveled little belly.
Hestia clutched her flat little stomach, her entire small face instantly wrinkling into a bitter bun as she looked at Haimer with a depressed expression.
"Uuu..."
"So hungry..."
"So hungry I'm almost seeing hallucinations of the Heavens..."
Haimer looked at Hestia's salted fish appearance, looking too lazy to even flip over.
He also sighed helplessly, then turned his head to look at the darkening sky outside.
The afterglow of the setting sun had already dyed the red brick walls of [Valka's Red Room] an even deeper shade.
"Alright then."
"Since it's like this."
"It's getting late anyway."
"It's almost dinner time."
"Tell me what you want to eat while we're here."
"My treat."
"Really?!"
Startled up from a dying illness; hearing these words, Hestia came back to life on the spot.
In that instant.
Haimer even felt like green light was starting to emit from Hestia's eyes.
"Of course."
"As long as it doesn't go beyond today, you can eat whatever you want. Anyway, you don't need to pay, and I don't need to pay either."
"My financier for the day is right here."
Saying that.
Haimer pointed at Shakti beside him.
Shakti: "..."
Although being treated as a financier made Shakti's mood much more complicated.
However, she still maintained that unshakable appearance, nodding slightly and tacitly accepting the upcoming expenses.
"Additionally, calculating the time, Tsubaki and the others should also be back soon."
"We might as well have a meal together later."
"Consider it a celebration of the housewarming."
"Okay!!"
"..."
...
With this.
At the same time.
Orario Underground, 10th Floor.
At the entrance of the spiral passage leading to the upper floors.
A group of people was climbing up along the winding stone steps.
"Phew..."
"Miscalculation."
"Miscalculation."
"If I had known earlier that you little monsters were so good at grinding..."
"I shouldn't have boasted in front of Haimer-sama back then that we didn't need Supporters."
"I should have called a few more Supporters to follow along."
"Even hiring two porters would have been good."
Tsubaki walked at the very front of the team.
She stopped her steps, looking at the tail end of the team.
A trace of helplessness flashed in that single eye.
After all.
Who could have thought.
Originally, she only planned to take the newcomers for a casual stroll in the upper floors, to familiarize themselves with the environment and kill a few Goblins to practice.
As a result, who would have guessed that this group of newcomers would actually slaughter their way all the way to the 12th Floor.
Not only did they kill.
—Wherever they passed, it was simply like a plague of locusts passing through.
The respawn speed of the upper-floor monsters almost couldn't catch up with their killing speed.
This led to an explosive growth in the quantity of loot.
Fortunately, there was a big black bear in the team.
Not only could it tank and fight.
It could also serve as a transport vehicle.
Thinking of this, Tsubaki couldn't help but turn her head to take a look—at that big black bear named Kyoubou.
At this moment.
This big black bear was carrying a gigantic package on its back that was as exaggerated as its body size.
That package.
It was simply sewn from the hide of a Silverback that Tsubaki had personally killed on the 12th Floor.
Inside, it was bulging and stuffed full of all sorts of messy things.
With every step the black bear took, the package would emit a crisp "clatter, clatter" sound.
—It was precisely the sound of the piled-up Magic Stones colliding with each other.
Aside from that.
Beside the black bear.
Another small bear hadn't been spared either.
Carrying a small bundle on its back, it followed behind, waddling happily.
The others also carried some loot bundled with monster tendons in their hands, more or less.
Just the Magic Stones alone filled several bags.
Not to mention those valuable materials dropped from Orcs, War Shadows, and Killer Ants.
Presumably, when Haimer-sama sees these harvests brought back.
His reaction should be quite wonderful, right?
____
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