While Tsubaki carefully dealt with the bodies in the forge, Welf was accompanied by several members of the Hephaestus Familia with whom he barely had any contact. He felt completely out of place among the group.
They went from inn to inn asking about Ethan, but they had no success.
Meanwhile, Ethan was inside his room, staring at the bloodstained sword. He took it into the bathroom, washed the blood from the blade, and then placed it back on the bed.
After doing that, he shook his head to forget what had just happened and opened his status.
Name: Ethan Walker
Familia: Alecto Familia
Level: 1
Strength (STR): B 736
Endurance (END): G 241
Dexterity (DEX): C 615
Agility (AGI): B 767
Magic (MAG): G 233
Luck (LUK): F 350
Available Points: 760
Looking at all of his stats and the number of available points, Ethan saw that he could maximize two of his status.
'That is, if the cap is 999 or 1,000. I have a feeling I might be able to raise my stats infinitely.'
He decided to distribute his points among Strength, Dexterity, Agility, and Endurance.
[Strength +200]
[Agility +200]
[Dexterity +200]
[Endurance +160]
After allocating all of his points, Ethan opened and closed his hand, testing his strength. He could clearly feel the difference and smiled.
"I think that if I use this sword, I could kill a Level Two adventurer with ease."
However, Ethan was beginning to worry.
He didn't know the true strength of the Alecto Familia.
"I need to grow stronger. I need to level up."
But Ethan had no idea how to do that.
He had tried asking the system several times, but it never responded. It wasn't like the systems he had seen in Japanese or Korean stories back in his previous world. This system had no consciousness.
In a way, Ethan preferred it that way.
It meant the system could never turn against him.
Having a system with its own consciousness could become a huge problem.
"Maybe I need to forge something special in order to level up. My system is connected to blacksmithing, isn't it?"
That was the conclusion Ethan reached.
But what exactly did he need to forge?
He had no idea.
Besides, he didn't even have a workshop to work in.
He was at a dead end.
Still, the important thing was that he had money saved up. He would be able to survive at the inn for a while.
At least until someone found him.
Ethan let out a sigh and stood up before looking out the window.
As he looked down at the street, he noticed several people approaching the inn.
They were people he didn't recognize.
Although they didn't look particularly suspicious, Ethan immediately became alert and remained locked inside his room. Several long, tense minutes passed before someone finally knocked on his door.
"Ethan, are you in there? There are some people downstairs who want to speak with you."
It was the innkeeper's voice.
Thinking the woman might be under threat and that someone could be standing outside with her, Ethan didn't open the door.
Instead, he asked from inside,
"Who are they? Did you ask?"
"They said they're members of the Hephaestus Familia. They said they really need to speak with you. Ethan... did you get yourself into some kind of trouble while you were out?" the old woman asked worriedly.
She had grown somewhat attached to Ethan since they saw each other every day during breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
'The Hephaestus Familia?'
Welf belonged to the Hephaestus Familia, and he had most likely told the goddess a great deal about Ethan, especially after his swords had started gaining some fame. 'I figured...' Ethan thought.
Even though Welf believed Ethan was unaware of everything happening, Ethan knew that his swords were becoming well known.
In fact, he had been expecting Welf's shop to be attacked at any moment.
Fortunately, Welf hadn't been there when it happened.
Before opening the door, Ethan asked,
"Are you sure they're members of the Hephaestus Familia?"
"Yes, I'm sure. I know one of those young men."
"I see. Thank you, Jordania."
"No need to thank me. But... you really didn't get yourself into any trouble, did you?" she asked again.
Smiling behind the door, Ethan replied,
"Don't worry. Everything's fine."
"I'm relieved. I don't want you getting hurt."
The old woman smiled and walked away from the door. Once she reached the first floor, she informed the visitors that Ethan would be coming downstairs shortly.
Ethan picked up his sword and silently made his way downstairs.
As soon as he reached the first floor, he was met by three judgmental stares.
The men looked him up and down.
The man standing in the middle stepped forward.
"Are you Ethan?"
"Are you really members of the Hephaestus Familia?" Ethan asked, looking at them seriously.
"Yes, we are members of the Hephaestus Familia. We came here on Goddess Hephaestus's orders. She wishes to meet with you."
"Was it Welf who told the Goddess about me?"
"Yes, it was. Your swords had started gaining some fame, but we thought Welf had forged them himself. When Lady Hephaestus confronted him, he told her about you. The Goddess wants to meet you to talk about those swords... and also to help you with this problem..."
'Problem?'
Ethan wasn't stupid.
He immediately understood the man was referring to the Alecto Familia.
"I see. And what if I refuse?" Ethan asked, wanting to know what would happen.
Contrary to what he expected, the men simply smiled. The man who seemed to be leading the group answered,
"We'll turn around and leave. The Goddess told us to leave you alone if you didn't want to meet with her."
Then another member of the trio added,
"Actually, she told us to try convincing you first... but we're not very good at that."
"..."
The three men laughed, but Ethan didn't smile.
They assumed they had somehow irritated him, but instead, Ethan simply smiled and said,
"All right. I'll meet with her."