Welf was in a room inside the Hephaestus Familia's home. In front of him was a finely crafted wooden table, and seated behind it was a beautiful woman with red hair and an eyepatch.
She smiled at Welf and asked, "You know why I called you here, don't you?"
After saying that, Hephaestus pulled a sword from beneath her desk and laid it on top of it. The moment the sword entered Welf's field of vision, his eyebrows shot up.
He couldn't hide his surprise.
"This sword... did you forge it?"
Hephaestus looked at Welf with a smile on her face and waited for his answer. Welf let out a sigh and answered honestly. He couldn't lie anyway.
"No, I didn't forge it."
"I thought as much."
"You did?"
"You refuse to forge magic swords, and this is a magic sword."
Hearing Hephaestus's words, Welf was so surprised that he immediately asked,
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. It's a magic sword with two abilities."
"How do you know that?"
"It was purchased by one of our Familia members after hearing the rumors. We conducted a few tests. Pour magic into it, and one of its two abilities will activate. I've never seen a sword like this in my entire life."
Hephaestus ran a finger along the blade.
"So ordinary, yet at the same time so powerful," she murmured.
Welf had already heard some rumors, but he had assumed they were exaggerated.
'So they weren't lies? Just what kind of ability does Ethan have?'
Welf began to believe that Ethan's special ability was far greater than he had imagined. An ability with unprecedented power.
"So, if you didn't forge this sword, why is it—and so many others like it—being sold at your workshop?"
"That's..."
"Just be honest with me. Is it an artifact? A forbidden spell? What are you using to create these swords?"
"..."
After thinking for a moment, Welf decided he wasn't going to get himself into trouble for someone he had only met recently.
"A boy named Ethan is forging these swords."
"Ethan? I've never heard that name before."
"He's a suspicious kid who suddenly showed up at my workshop asking for a job. I... I just couldn't bring myself to turn him away without helping him."
Welf scratched his head and began explaining everything that had happened.
"I see. And this strange ability of his... how does it work?"
"I don't know exactly. Every time he finishes forging a blade, he touches it with his hand, and then the blade changes instantly. I can't understand it... I've tried, but I just can't."
'He can alter a blade simply by touching it with his hand?'
Hephaestus thought, resting a hand on her chin.
'That's astonishing. I've never heard of anything like it before. I need to meet him. I'm interested.'
"However, there's something important I forgot to mention."
"Hm?"
"He's already a member of a Familia."
Hearing that, Hephaestus replied,
"That's not a problem. Which Familia does he belong to?"
She assumed Ethan belonged to some minor blacksmith Familia, but that wasn't the case.
"The Alectro Familia. I don't know anything about them, so they must be a small Familia."
Welf made a point of making his lack of knowledge clear.
After hearing Welf's words, Hephaestus was left speechless.
The moment Welf saw her expression, he understood.
'She knows that Familia very well, doesn't she?'
####
After finishing his conversation with Hephaestus, Welf left the Familia's home deep in thought.
'When the Goddess heard the name Alectro Familia, she suddenly looked extremely serious... and worried. Is that Familia even more dangerous than I thought?'
Welf already knew the Alectro Familia wasn't a decent Familia after everything Ethan had told him, but it seemed they were even worse than he had imagined.
He had never seen Hephaestus so concerned about someone's safety.
She had told Welf to bring Ethan to her, saying she would personally ensure his protection. Ethan could stay at the Hephaestus Familia's home until everything was settled. But Welf didn't fully understand why she wanted to do that.
'Is she really worried about him... or is she worried about his ability?'
From Welf's perspective, Hephaestus seemed far more interested in Ethan's abilities, and he didn't like that.
Even so, as much as he disliked the idea of Ethan being valued only because of his ability, he knew that, for now, the best thing for Ethan would be to accept the Hephaestus Familia's protection.
He would have a place to sleep, food, a Familia that supported his work, and, most importantly, safety.
Since a god couldn't determine the exact location of a member of their Familia, it would be extremely difficult for the god Alectro to discover that Ethan was being sheltered by the Hephaestus Familia.
'But what will Ethan think about all this? Will he accept the Goddess's offer?'
####
Welf approached his shop and noticed something was wrong. The front door, which he had left closed, was standing open. Furthermore, it was eerily quiet inside; he couldn't hear the sound of Ethan's hammering.
With his heart pounding, Welf stepped into his shop.
Upon entering, he was met with a scene of carnage.
Swords and armor were scattered everywhere, and there were bloodstains, too.
The situation at the forge was even worse.
As soon as Welf reached the forge, he smelled something burning. Looking over, he saw a person with the upper half of their body inside the fire. Judging by the clothing, however, it wasn't Ethan.
The sight made Welf feel nauseous for a moment.
Besides that body, there was another one slumped in the corner of the shop, a gaping wound in his chest.
Welf didn't need to think long to realize what had happened: members of the Alectro Familia had likely broken into his shop looking for Ethan. The rumors had surely drawn them there.
Huff...
Welf took a deep breath and thought, "I need to report this to the Goddess." He left the bodies where they lay and quickly exited the shop.
As he walked down the street, he glanced around.
All the shops were operating as usual. No one seemed to have noticed what had occurred.
Or, if they had noticed, they were pretending not to see a thing.