Northwest Street rang with the noise and laughter of adventurers.
Bell Cranel passed by the dazzling rows of merchandise, ignored the gleaming weapons, and went straight for the stairs.
Every weapon in the display cases bore the emblem of Hephaestus Familia, and every one of them carried a hefty price tag.
On the second floor, an adventurer was trying to haggle.
"Please, just make it a little cheaper. I really need this scimitar."
"My apologies, but this branch does not negotiate prices."
Bell Cranel did not stop to watch and continued upstairs.
Not that long ago, the prices in those display windows had been astronomical to a country boy like him.
And yet, in just a little over two months, Bell Cranel had already reached the point where he could easily afford weapons like these.
If the familia kept developing at this pace, even that two hundred million debt would probably be paid off soon.
That was, of course, assuming he did not end up taking on any new debt.
"Goddess Hephaestus, it's Bell Cranel."
Bell Cranel walked to the room at the very back of the third floor and knocked politely.
"Come in."
The crisp voice carried a trace of fatigue, along with a hint of excitement.
Hephaestus had specifically asked for a private conversation. Not only Artemis, but even Hestia, Bell Cranel's Familia Goddess, was not allowed to sit in.
It was probably because of the special nature of the [Hestia Knife]. Hestia had no choice but to give in and let Bell Cranel come alone.
"Excuse me..."
"You can skip the formal introduction. There's no need to be so polite, either."
Just as Bell Cranel started to greet her, Hephaestus cut him off with easy familiarity.
That casual attitude came together with short hair as red as flame and a vivid crimson dress.
Her fine, beautiful features looked as though they had emerged straight from a kingdom of fire, soft yet still sharp. The black eyepatch only added a touch of mystery.
Neither the metal earrings nor the dress that hugged her figure could outshine the distinctive presence beneath that beautiful appearance.
A smith.
The forging goddess who walked with flame.
With just one look, Bell Cranel could feel the strength of her will.
"Bell Cranel, I visit the Sword Smithing City Solingen from time to time, and I'm very close with Astraea. And not just her. The matter with Artemis too. Thanks to you, both of them made it through safely."
Hephaestus smiled gently, then added, "They're both your lovers, and if we really dug into that, it would get troublesome fast. I'd rather not make a formal show of thanking you, so just relax. You don't need honorifics with me."
She gave Bell Cranel a look, signaling for him to sit wherever he liked.
"Alright."
Bell Cranel accepted the kindness and sat down on the comfortable sofa.
"Have you been busy these past few days, Hephaestus-sama?" he asked softly.
Before getting into the real matter, it helped to lay some groundwork with small talk. That was one of the standard tricks of negotiation.
"Yeah... there've been more requests lately. I don't need to step in personally, but those kids are always causing trouble."
Hephaestus let out a quiet sigh.
"You really care about your familia members, don't you?"
Following her lead, Bell Cranel answered in a more friendly tone.
He had heard from Hestia that unless the circumstances were extremely unusual, Hephaestus never forged weapons with her own hands.
Given the size of her familia, the Goddess of Forging could have stepped back long ago and enjoyed a comfortable life in the Lower World.
And yet Hephaestus still insisted on staying in her office, personally handling disputes involving her familia members.
"Flames can easily burn others, and steel is far too unyielding. A smith lives alongside both, so of course they are bound to make people worry."
Hephaestus sighed with emotion for a moment, then changed the subject.
"I never told Hestia and the others, so how did you know I've been busy?"
Bell looked at the goddess's brilliant crimson dress and answered honestly,
"Because the Denatus was held yesterday, and Hephaestus-sama still hasn't had time to change out of her dress."
"I see. How embarrassing..."
Hephaestus instinctively adjusted the shoulder strap.
"I think it looks beautiful. No one suits a crimson dress better than you."
Bell spoke his mind without hesitation.
"..."
Hephaestus's expression shifted for an instant.
"Bell Cranel, is this how you charm goddesses?"
"I'm only telling the truth."
Bell answered frankly.
"If gods were unable to tell lies, then saying something like that to a goddess you've only just met would leave you looking rather frivolous."
A faint smile rested on Hephaestus's face.
"Even so, I would still praise something beautiful. Whether it is flowers or the stars, if you keep your praise to yourself, wouldn't that be a kind of disrespect toward beauty?"
Bell gave his honest view.
"Beauty..."
Hephaestus seemed to remember something.
"That word does not suit me very well."
"Why not? No matter how you look at it, Hephaestus-sama is beautiful."
Bell answered at once.
He was certain that the unique presence she carried, one born from the fire of the forge, was something no other god possessed.
"Even with this eyepatch? If I took it off, you would not say that."
Hephaestus placed a hand over the eyepatch, the elegant motion touched by a faint sadness.
"No matter what, I wouldn't take it back."
Bell answered without hesitation.
What the boy valued most as beauty was concern for one's familia members and kindness toward one's friends.
He did not know what Hephaestus was thinking, nor did he understand why she was being so familiar with him, but Bell still chose to answer her honestly.
"So you really are not lying..."
Hephaestus stopped moving her hand.
"Still, I was not planning to show you. Just hearing that is enough to make me happy."
Warm sunlight streamed through the window and fell across the goddess's shoulders.
Her crimson short hair looked as though sugar had melted into it, giving off a strangely sweet impression.
Bell realized that Hephaestus was being somewhat [intimate].
This was their first meeting, yet there was no sense of distance between them at all.
"Hephaestus-sama, you specifically arranged for Welf to join my party. Do you have some special reason for that?"
Bell tried to find the source of this unusual behavior.
"I simply thought it was a shame. That child is talented, and I wanted to give him a chance to change, so I came to you."
Hephaestus replied softly.
After forging the [Hestia Knife], she had, in her personal capacity, asked Hestia Familia to take Welf with them into the Dungeon.
The goddess had no selfish motives. She had simply judged that Bell could draw out Welf's talent, and that was why she made the arrangement.
The result had turned out exactly as she expected.
After thinking for a moment, Hephaestus added,
"Bell Cranel, I need to tell you this in advance. Although there is no one in my heart now, I once had a lover back in Heaven, and that person was also a goddess... Even if I had simply lost my head at the time, that is still an undeniable fact."
Hephaestus spoke honestly about her past.
In truth, the so called ex-girlfriend she mentioned had really only been a friend.
From a god's perspective, that person was a foolish goddess of beauty who had confessed to many goddesses, yet from beginning to end, no matter who the target was, she had never done anything substantial.
The same had been true in Hephaestus's case.
At the time, Hephaestus had been troubled by her scar, and it was that goddess's praise that helped pull her out of the mire. In a moment of weakness, Hephaestus had agreed to become her lover, something she had never done before. In reality, it had only been a verbal promise, and nothing had ever happened between them.
Forget the kind of intimacy a romance should have had. After that, they had not even managed to meet each other again.
By the time they met for the second time, that vague romantic relationship had already ended without ever truly becoming anything.
Bell frowned.
"Hephaestus-sama... why are you telling me all this?"
He had once asked Hestia about her dark history, only for it to lead nowhere.
He had never expected Hephaestus to bring up such a thing on her own.
They had only just met. This was not the kind of topic they should have been discussing.
Hephaestus smiled faintly and took out the already shattered [Hestia's Knife].
"Sorry. It is only natural that you would be confused. The answer lies in this dagger."