"What do you mean you don't have them?" Orion asked with an exaggerated face. Though, seeing how much he liked that sword, for him it wasn't exaggerated at all.
For someone who had dozens of swords—even magical weapons—in his arsenal, to use just a normal katana with the most simple Ashes of War, it was clear how much Orion liked that weapon.
Even in the game he mostly used the Uchigatana, and here it was no different.
The dwarf sighed. He knew this would happen, but his goddess wouldn't listen. Perhaps he shouldn't have taken the weapons to her in the first place.
"I'm not saying we don't have them, lad. Calm down."
"Oh! Then what exactly are you saying, good sir? Care to explain yourself?" Orion asked with an even more exaggerated expression and tone.
On his way out of the dungeon, he almost bumped into those two girls again (Ais and Lefiya), and today he wasn't planning on getting entangled with them.
He directly made his way to the dwarf's shop, where he had sent his sword and shield to be repaired. It had already been three days—well, technically two, but Orion counted the day he gave the sword as well. Clearly, it was the world whose math was wrong, right?
"My goddess has taken interest in those weapons."
"And…" Orion intentionally lingered his tone to the point that the dwarf himself felt uncomfortable.
"And she has offered to pay any price you are willing to sell those weapons for—"
"No!"
"—her." The dwarf's voice trailed off when Orion cut him off midway.
"Lad, are you not understanding what I just said? Do you know who my goddess is?" The dwarf looked like his blood pressure was rising.
"There are only two smithing gods in this city, and only one of them is a goddess. I'd have to be living inside the dungeon not to know who you're talking about.
But my answer is still the same. I'm not selling those weapons." Orion snorted.
The dwarf's eyes narrowed. "Do you really not understand when my goddess says she's willing to pay any price? Lad, you can have all the money you want. You'll never have to venture inside the dungeon in your lifetime. You can have enough to never work for your entire life. Don't miss this chance. Chances like this seldom come in life."
The dwarf slowly explained it to him, like he was imparting life-changing wisdom to a junior.
"Do you think I'm an idiot? If those were simple items, then forget about paying—Goddess Hephaestus wouldn't even pay attention to a simple adventurer like me. I know those weapons and items are unique. My answer stands. I'm not selling them," Orion said stubbornly.
It wasn't like he didn't wish to sell items he obtained from the system. He had enough that he would never use most of them in his life, partly because they fell out of his playstyle.
But selling that katana and shield? He was completely unwilling to sell those.
As for selling other things, it was pointless to tell this dwarf. Talking face to face with the goddess of the forge would most likely yield better results.
The dwarf looked like he was about to burst a nerve or something. He was about to convince the boy even more, if needed with deep consultation, but then he recalled what his goddess had told him.
"Bring him here. I'll talk to him personally if he doesn't agree to sell them. Actually, forget that—bring him here regardless of whether he agrees to sell the items or not. I wish to talk to him."
The red-haired goddess's words echoed in his mind, and his half-opened mouth shut again.
"Fine, you win. You want the items back? Then come along."
"Where?"
"To my goddess. She has them, as I told you," the dwarf said in an almost mischievous tone, perhaps wondering whether the boy who talked so big would dare bark like that in front of his goddess.
Orion blinked at this. 'So quick.'
He knew he would be meeting the forge goddess sooner or later, especially when Hestia talked about helping her heal one of her friends. But this was indeed too quick.
"Fine~ lead the way!"
Orion grumbled. At least let's end this phase sooner rather than later.
—-<>—-
Unlike what Orion thought, he wasn't meeting Hephaestus in an over-exaggerated throne room with a red carpet laid down on the ground while her entire Familia stood behind her to put pressure on him.
Well, that was indeed an exaggerated imagination on his part, but still, he thought there would be some majesty the goddess would show when they met. Nothing like what actually happened.
The meeting room was her forge room. Better than any forge he would ever see, agreed—but still far from his imagination.
And if that wasn't enough, the one-eyed red-haired goddess made both him and her own child wait outside for two hours.
Two freaking hours.
'I swear that if this wasn't a goddess, I'd be chanting Megumi's longest chant by now.' Orion grumbled internally, irritation rising as time went on.
"Are you certain she told you to come here with me?" Orion asked, probably for the tenth time in two hours.
"Insolent boy, I told you she did. Do you think meeting a goddess is that easy? It takes much hardship and patience to even glance at a goddess, something you clearly lack," the dwarf huffed.
'At this rate, I have met more goddesses than this guy has seen in his life.' Orion grumbled again but didn't open his mouth further. He was here to take his weapons back.
'I'm learning how to fix my weapons after this,' he grumbled.
Just as he was promising himself he would leave the place if he wasn't called in within the next five minutes—like he had been saying for the last hour or so—the gate finally opened.
'Finally!'
But instead of the mature red-haired goddess, he found a not-so-familiar figure he was very used to.
She came out shouting.
"Don't worry, Hephaestus! You won't be disappointed. Just stay here, I'll bring him here in no time—"
She wasn't even looking when coming out, and bam!
She walked right into Orion, who was standing just outside.
"Awhhh." Hestia almost stumbled down when a rock-solid yet gentle hand wrapped around her waist, preventing the fall in a familiar manner that she couldn't even register someone was holding her by the waist.
"Ahmm, huh… thank you," she muttered, dazed—until the face of the one who saved her came into her vision.
"Orion!" Her eyes lit up.
"You should watch where you're going, goddess. I won't be there always to catch you," Orion teased with a visible smirk.
A blush flushed her cheeks before her own hands wrapped around his neck, pulling herself closer to him. Seeing no obvious signs of that golden cow around, she didn't hold back.
"Why not? All you have to do is leave that golden cow and join my Familia. Then you will always be there to catch me when I fall," Hestia grinned, blush still there.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… and here I thought you understood me, Hestia. Guess not. If I were to join your Familia, I wouldn't be the one catching you, my goddess—I'd be the one you'd fall for every day," he arrogantly stated, a roguish grin on his face.
Hestia's face turned red like a tomato.
This was the side of her favorite human she hardly saw, especially when Marika was around. She always knew he was a flirt.
"Huff… you sure have learned how to talk for someone who used to blush just from getting hugged," she grumbled, a big pout on her face.
And while this exchange was going on, the dwarf on the side saw everything, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull.
'Is that really a goddess? This brat knows a goddess this closely. Is he her Familia? No, wait—that doesn't matter. What's going on with goddesses nowadays, falling into kids' arms like they're schoolgirls? Hmph… good thing my goddess isn't like that.'
No one knew whether that was pride speaking or jealousy.
"Oh… now that you're here, come with me. Hephaestus is waiting." Hestia suddenly realized that she had come out exactly to look for him. So she grabbed him—literally—and dragged him inside like she owned the place.
The Dwarf blinked when the big gate of Hephaestus' forge slammed shut on him with a thud.
'Wait, what about me?!'
xXx
A/N : What you think, good chapter, or could be improved. Tell me in the comments. Sorry for the late update if you're reading this in Patreon, I was having a little writers block.
Tell me if you find any mistake, I'll fix them Asap.
As for what I need, simple, just throw some stones over. Even patreon readers, a humble request to you guys as well. Those stones could promote my story and more people can read it. Thank you !