"But putting that aside…"
"H-Haimer… where exactly did you get that thing?"
"Don't tell me you snuck into Hephaestus's armory in the middle of the night and stole it in the dark…"
As she said that, Hestia even lowered her voice guiltily and stole a glance toward the deeper part of the workshop.
Hearing that, Haimer couldn't help rolling his eyes at her.
"Relax."
"I traded for it from Hephaestus."
"You traded for it from Hephaestus?"
"That's right."
"Wasn't it last night that I saw the kids in my Familia were all very interested in Hephaestus's weapons?"
"And you know how she is."
"Hephaestus may be generous, but she treasures the weapons forged by herself and her people more than anything. If you want one of her higher-end pieces, you have to show some sincerity."
"So…"
Haimer paused, then lightly tapped the shaft of the spear with the fingers of his other hand.
"I used a little of my divine blood, a few strands of hair, and… the Hieroglyphs that only I can write."
"As the price, I forged an unconventional divine weapon in her private workshop."
"I gave that divine weapon to Hephaestus."
"In exchange, she agreed to give the children of my Familia special permission to freely choose a suitable weapon from her treasury."
"And since they were allowed to choose freely anyway, I originally planned to go through the motions and ask Hephaestus whether I could also pick a weapon for self-defense."
"But as you can see, things turned out the way they did."
"The moment daylight came, Hephaestus shut herself inside the workshop."
"So in the end…"
"This matter was handed over to Tsubaki as the captain."
"When I picked up this spear, Tsubaki happened to be right there, and she didn't say anything."
"So naturally, I just brought it with me."
After saying that, Haimer lifted the spear in his hand and casually spun it once.
When Hestia heard all of that, the hall fell into a deathly silence.
Only the distant sound of hammering metal could vaguely be heard.
The heart Hestia had been holding up until now finally died completely.
She knew Hephaestus far too well.
The moment that woman encountered top-grade materials she found interesting, or a never-before-seen divine technique, she would throw literally everything else out of her mind.
Even if the sky collapsed, it would still have to wait until she finished researching.
And because of that…
"Hephaestus, you idiot!!!"
"She definitely got too excited and forgot to tell Tsubaki the most important thing!"
Hestia let out a miserable scream in her heart.
Tsubaki didn't know the inside story.
From Tsubaki's point of view, if her own goddess had already nodded and said they could choose whatever they wanted, then what problem could there be with Haimer, as a god, taking a weapon from the armory to play around with or keep as a collection piece?
No problem at all!
But this was a gigantic misunderstanding.
And now the deed was done. The weapon was already firmly in Haimer's hand.
And if Ganesha already knew about it, then the news would spread through Orario faster than a plague.
In that case…
…forget it!
Let it all burn!
Hestia simply gave up thinking and went completely limp.
After all, if the sky fell, there would always be taller gods to hold it up.
What, was anyone actually expecting her to make Haimer put the spear back?
Don't joke around.
She was just an innocent freeloader!
Thinking that, Hestia's little face immediately calmed down a lot.
Then-
Grrrroooowl
A long, drawn-out stomach growl rang out once again, very much at the wrong time, from that shrunken little belly of hers.
Hestia covered her flat stomach, her whole little face instantly wrinkling into a pout as she looked toward Haimer with misery written all over it.
"Uuugh…"
"I'm so hungry…"
"I'm so hungry I'm starting to see hallucinations of Heaven…"
Looking at Hestia's complete neet like state, where she couldn't even be bothered to turn herself over anymore, Haimer sighed helplessly and turned to glance outside at the darkening sky.
The glow of the setting sun had already dyed the red brick walls of Valka's Red House an even deeper shade.
"All right."
"In that case, since it's already getting late…"
"Dinner time's coming soon."
"If there's something you want to eat, tell me now."
"My treat."
"Really?!"
A dying patient suddenly sitting bolt upright out of sheer shock was probably something like this. The instant she heard those words, Hestia practically resurrected on the spot.
For a moment, Haimer even felt like green light was starting to shine out of her eyes.
"Of course."
"As long as it doesn't go past today, you can eat whatever you want. You won't be paying, and neither will I."
"My one-day sponsor is right here."
As he said that, Haimer pointed at Shakti beside him.
Shakti: "…"
Even though being openly referred to as the sponsor left her feeling somewhat complicated inside, she still maintained her unshakable composure and gave a slight nod, silently accepting the coming expense.
"Besides, judging by the time, Tsubaki and the others should be on their way back too."
"We might as well have a meal together later."
"Consider it a celebration for the move."
"Okay!!"
…
At the same time.
On the tenth floor beneath Orario, at the spiral passage leading back toward the upper floors, a group was climbing up the winding stone steps.
"Haa…"
"What a miscalculation."
"A total miscalculation."
"If I'd known you little monsters were this good at grinding…"
"I never should've boasted in front of Lord Haimer that we didn't need supporters."
"I should've called a few along."
"Even hiring two porters would've been better."
Tsubaki walked at the very front of the group. Then she stopped and turned to look toward the rear, a trace of helplessness flashing through that single eye of hers.
After all, who could have imagined this?
Originally, she had only planned to take a group of newcomers around the upper floors, let them get familiar with the environment, and kill a few goblins for practice.
In the end, she never would have guessed that this bunch of rookies would fight their way all the way to the twelfth floor.
And not only fight their way there, wherever they passed, it was practically like locusts sweeping through.
The monster respawn rate in the upper floors had nearly become slower than the rate at which they were killing them.
That, in turn, led to an explosive increase in the amount of loot they collected.
Fortunately, they had a big black bear in the team.
Not only could it tank and fight,
it could also be used as a transport cart.
At that thought, Tsubaki couldn't help turning her head to look at the large black bear called Kyoubou.
At this moment, the beast was carrying an enormous bundle on its back, one nearly as outrageous in size as the bear itself.
That bundle had been crudely sewn together from the hide of a silverback ape Tsubaki had personally killed on the twelfth floor.
It was stuffed to the brim with all sorts of miscellaneous things.
Every time the black bear took a step, the bundle let out a rattling clatter-clatter sound.
Those were the sounds of piled-up magic stones knocking against one another.
And that wasn't all.
Beside the black bear, the other little bear hadn't escaped either.
It had a smaller bundle strapped to its back and was following along with quick little steps.
The others were also carrying various trophies here and there, all tied together with monster tendons.
Just the magic stones alone had filled several bags.
And that wasn't even counting the valuable materials dropped by Orcs, War Shadows, Killer Ants, and the other monsters.
When Lord Haimer saw the haul they were bringing back, his reaction should be pretty entertaining, shouldn't it?
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