It had been roughly twenty minutes since Tsubaki began running through the heart of Orario, dragging me along by the scruff of my neck.
"Ah, right there... the one right next to the blue roof is our Familia's warehouse."
"*Huff, huff*... Hey, why the hell is your warehouse tucked away in such a remote corner?"
"You're the one who started running before you even knew where our Familia was located, Tsubaki... Besides, we just moved here recently, so this is actually considered quite close."
I left Tsubaki behind as she struggled to catch her breath and proceeded to unlock the warehouse.
'Squeak—'
As the old wooden door opened with the sound of rusted hinges, a massive hunk of iron boasting a giant frame revealed itself amidst the piles of miscellaneous junk.
It was my first masterpiece—and also my failure—the early prototype press machine.
"Ho... So this is the thing you mentioned?"
Tsubaki strode toward the press and began scanning every inch of the machinery.
"The structure is certainly simple, likely because it's an early model. A gravity hammer that drops a heavy weight from above? Looking at the finish alone, the amateur work really stands out."
...She began pointing out the flaws with brutal honesty.
"...I can't argue with that. I'm not a professional blacksmith; I'm closer to an 'Item Maker' who designs and assembles necessary tools. My hammer work doesn't even reach your ankles, Captain."
"Hmph~ I like your honesty. So? What did you want to do with this giant piece of scrap? If it's just to flatten iron plates, hiring a dwarf would be much faster."
"It's not just about flattening. What I want is 'uniformity' and 'replication'."
I pulled a small component I had prepared in advance from my pocket and handed it to her.
It was a 'shell casing' about the size of a finger, with a reddish tint. A hollow shell, devoid of gunpowder or a bullet head.
"This... isn't this just a hollow cylinder? Looking at the color, is it copper... No, wait."
Tsubaki took the casing nonchalantly, but then frowned at the cold yet hard texture against her fingertips. She tapped the casing with her fingernail and her eyes widened.
"This isn't metal. This texture and hardness... is this, by any chance, 'Killer Ant' carapace?"
As expected of Orario's top blacksmith, she identified the material instantly.
"Correct. It was formed by processing the carapaces of Killer Ants from the 7th floor."
"Ha! This is crazy. Are you insane? You melted down that hard carapace just to make this tiny shell?"
Tsubaki clicked her tongue, looking completely baffled.
"If you needed a cylinder this size, you could have just used copper or iron! It's much easier to process! Killer Ant shells should be used for armor or weapons. Why go through all this trouble for nothing?"
Well... from a blacksmith's perspective, it was a natural reaction. It probably felt like watching someone carve a toothpick out of a diamond, but I shook my head.
"General metals won't work. This cylinder has to withstand immense heat and pressure generated instantaneously. Standard copper or iron would stretch or tear after just a few uses, making them unusable."
"Heat and pressure...?"
"Yes. My situation requires me to recycle and reuse these dozens of times, not just throw them away after one use. That's why I chose a durable drop item, even if it's difficult to process."
"Ho... Recycling, huh?"
After hearing my explanation, Tsubaki scrutinized the casing once more.
"Well, if that's the reason, ant shells would definitely be the perfect fit. But the processing difficulty must have been a nightmare. Even for me, hammering out a thin cylinder with such uniformity is a task so annoying it'd make me want to quit."
"That's why when I first made this, I tried melting it and pouring it into a mold. However..."
I scratched the back of my head with a bitter expression.
"When I poured it into the mold to harden, it would warp slightly while cooling, or air bubbles would form inside, causing it to explode under pressure. Countless defects. The craftsman who made them barely salvaged 20 finished products through sheer spite, and then swore he wouldn't take a job like this again even if I paid him double..."
"Kuhahaha! I can understand that old man's feelings. Melting ant shells is work enough, but if the final product is a defect after all that hardening, you'd definitely want to call it quits."
Tsubaki chuckled as if she fully empathized with the craftsman's plight.
"Ahem... anyway, that's where this machine comes in."
I quickly changed the subject and pointed to the massive press machine behind me.
"What if you had to make thousands of items with the 'exact' same thickness, size, and weight? Instead of simply pouring it into a mold like casting, you have to stamp it out with powerful pressure like a hammer strike to make the structure dense and fix the shape permanently. That's the only way to avoid defects."
"...!"
It was then that Tsubaki's gaze changed. she accurately grasped my intention of choosing 'pressure' to overcome the limitations of 'casting'.
She looked back and forth between the red shell casing in her hand and the crude press machine.
"...Ha! I see. You're planning to mass-produce those hard Killer Ant materials like you're stamping out coins? If you did it by hand, a blacksmith's wrists wouldn't last a day, so you're using this guy's power..."
"With the technological power of the Hephaestus Familia, is it possible to mass-produce parts with this level of precision?"
At my provocative—no, desperate—question, Tsubaki's lips curled into a smirk that was half-mocking and half-confident.
"Ha! Hey, kid. Who do you think you're asking?"
She slapped the heavy frame of the press machine with her palm—'Thwack!'—and declared proudly.
"Who am I? I am the Captain of the Hephaestus Familia, Tsubaki Collbrande. This kind of structure? It's nothing once I modify it and touch up the magic stone circuits."
Her single eye seemed to radiate heat, like a flickering flame.
"You can look forward to that 20% my Goddess promised. I'm going to modify this guy perfectly and sell so many that your pockets will burst!"
Tsubaki, shouting boldly, immediately moved to action. She rolled up her sleeves and grabbed the base of the early prototype press, which was much taller than me.
'...Wait a minute, she's taking that by hand? Without a cart?'
For a moment, I doubted my eyes. That press was a prototype built purely on theory, so it was basically a mindless chunk of iron. The heavy weight and the steel frame alone easily weighed over several hundred kilograms...
'When we moved last time, it took five or six grown men to barely budge it, and she's doing it alone?'
"Heave-ho!"
'Thump—!'
With a short grunt, that massive hunk of iron was lifted into the air as easily as a cardboard box.
"..."
As I stared blankly, lost for words, she slung the giant machine over one shoulder like a sack of grain, then looked back at me with a grin.
"I'm off then! I'll contact you when the modification is done, so see you then, partner!"
"...H-Have a safe trip."
"Hahaha! Don't worry! No one in Orario is gutsy enough to mess with me!"
'Boom—!'
With a leap that made the ground tremble, Tsubaki burst out of the warehouse door and vanished from sight in an instant. All that remained was the thick dust she kicked up and the emptiness of the warehouse.
And amidst that dust, I blankly muttered to myself.
"...With monsters like that walking around... what the hell was that elf thinking when she told me the limits of the physical body are clear even with a Falna, and that such 'brutish training' is meaningless?"
I shook my head, gathering my stunned wits. It was better to assume that Lübearia's common sense was wrong or that Tsubaki was simply an anomaly beyond reason.
'Right... that's not what's important right now.'
With the contract with Hephaestus tucked safely in my pocket, our Familia could finally be completely free from the suffocating mountain of debt. No, since we've essentially formed an alliance with one of Orario's premier blacksmith Familias, it's like gaining a thousand-man army.
"Let's get back quickly. The Goddess and Senior must be waiting for the news."
I stepped out of the warehouse with a light heart. There had been many hardships, but my steps felt lighter than usual, and it probably wasn't just my imagination.
.
.
.
"I'm back."
As I opened the door to the 'Blue Pharmacy', the new home and shop for the Miach Familia, Naza looked up from her ledger at the counter to greet me. Lord Miach also emerged from the back lab, having heard my voice.
"Welcome back, Kai. You're a bit later than I expected. Did the meeting with Hestia go well?"
Miach greeted me with his usual gentle smile. Both of them had been confident when they first saw the press blueprints, saying it would 'definitely work,' so they seemed more curious about the progress than worried about failure.
"I didn't even need to go through Lady Hestia. By a stroke of luck, I made a direct connection with the Captain of the Hephaestus Familia."
I grinned and pulled out the contract, slapping it down onto the counter.
"I've become 'business partners' with none other than the finest blacksmith in Orario!"
"...Eh?"
Confused by the unexpected answer, Naza picked up the contract first and began skimming its contents.
"I figured you'd get the contract, but... let's see. The terms are..."
Naza's eyes, which were scanning casually at first, grew wider and wider as she read further down.
"..Huh? W-What?! Is this for real?!! The official seal of Hephaestus?!!!"
Her usual sluggish habit of drawing out the end of her sentences vanished instantly, replaced by a fast, sharp voice that sounded like a different person entirely.
"A... A 20% royalty?! And it's not just a supply deal; it's an 'exclusive manufacturing and sales rights' contract with a 'Familia Protection' clause?! Kai, what on earth did you do over there? This is basically an alliance level!"
"It's not like I threatened them or anything. It's a legitimate technical partnership. They recognized the value of the press machine too."
"My god... Lord Miach! Look at this!"
In her excitement, Naza wagged her tail furiously and ran over to show Miach the contract.
"With these terms, clearing the remaining debt to the Dian Cecht Familia is only a matter of time! No, even after we pay off the debt, our Familia's vault is going to burst!"
While the profits from my 'Bath Bombs' had put out the immediate fire and helped with materials, and Naza's 'Dual Potions' and new cosmetics had become the Familia's pillars, this contract was like putting a golden roof on top of those pillars.
In short, our Familia had finally broken the shackles of that dreadful 'debt' and could now enjoy 'wealth' in the truest sense.
"Heh..."
Lord Miach also carefully checked the contract, his expression filled with emotion.
"Really... you're amazing, Kai. I knew the blueprints you made were innovative, but I never expected Hephaestus, who is stricter than anyone regarding these matters, to offer such exceptional terms."
Before I knew it, he was stroking my head with that characteristic warm touch of his.
"You've worked so hard. To think my child could achieve something so wonderful... as your God, I am truly proud of you."
Hearing his sincere praise, all the fatigue I had felt throughout the day seemed to melt away like snow.
"So, here's what I'm thinking."
Riding this positive atmosphere, I made a bold suggestion.
"We can't just let a day like today pass by, right? The contract is a hit, and debt liquidation is just around the corner... dinner tonight is on me."
"Oh? You're treating us?"
Naza's ears perked up. She was already putting on her coat before I even finished speaking.
"We're going to the 'Hostess of Fertility', right? I'm not holding back today! I'm going to order the most expensive fruit wine first."
"Haha, eat as much as you want. Today is the day we order without looking at the price tags on the menu."
I laughed heartily at Naza's reaction and led the two of them out of the Blue Pharmacy toward the Hostess of Fertility. My steps felt lighter than they ever had before.
.
.
.
At the same time, in stark contrast to the happy laughter heard above ground.
The deep floors of the underground Dungeon, where not a single ray of light reached, were filled with suffocating bloodlust and the metallic scent of blood.
""BUOOOHHHH!!!""
In the pitch-black darkness, two giant beasts roared simultaneously with a momentum that seemed capable of devouring even the floor boss of the 17th floor, Goliath.
Red skin bulging with muscles, viscous saliva dripping from their mouths, and bloodshot eyes filled with a mixture of rage and terror.
The two 'Minotaurs' panted heavily as they lunged to kill the lone man standing in their way.
'CRASH!!'
However, that heavy pincer attack was fruitlessly blocked by a single, casual gesture from the man.
"Weak."
Ottar, the man who had caught two mountain-sized Minotaurs with his bare hands, looked down at the two monsters with emotionless eyes.
"Is this all? With this level of bloodlust, you cannot serve as a trial for 'those boys'."
As he applied strength to his hands, the Minotaurs were slammed into the floor like luggage.
'RUMBLE!'
The aftermath of the impact cracked the Dungeon floor, and while the Minotaurs vomited cries of agony, Ottar did not stop. He calmly stared at the one on the left, whose stone axe had shattered.
'Growl...!'
In a normal situation, any monster would have fled in terror. However, the creature ruthlessly threw away its broken weapon handle, clenched its fists, and lunged at Ottar again with a beastly roar.
Primal combat instinct—the desire to crush the enemy with teeth if there is no weapon, and with fists if there are no teeth.
"Ho..."
Ottar's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
The one on the right showed the potential of a swordsman if given a greatsword, and the one on the left showed the temperament of a warrior who doesn't break even when his weapon does.
The boy who received Freya's favor, Bell Cranel. And the mysterious boy beside him, Kai.
These two monsters would become the cruel yet perfect stage for those two boys.
"Rise."
Ottar pulled a crimson greatsword from his side and whispered softly.
"Struggle harder. Run wild with madness born of terror."
Only when driven to the brink of death can a monster transcend its limits and grow stronger.
"Because you must become the greatest 'offerings' for those children."
In the darkness, Ottar's eyes glinted like those of a predator.