Some time earlier, in the area where the workshops were located, a group of four men walked through the streets, carefully observing everything around them. They had received information that their target might be hiding in one of those workshops.
They began entering every workshop they came across, asking about Ethan.
Eventually, they approached Welf's workshop.
As they drew near, they noticed several people leaving the workshop carrying two large crates. Among them was someone they immediately recognized—a well-known figure.
Tsubaki Collbrande, captain of the Hephaestus Familia.
Tsubaki noticed the four men staring at her and glanced in their direction. The men quickly looked away and entered the workshop next door as though nothing had happened.
They stayed inside for a few minutes before coming back out.
By then, Tsubaki and the members of the Hephaestus Familia had already disappeared.
The men headed toward Welf's workshop, and the one leading the group kicked the door open with ease. It had already been damaged. As soon as they stepped inside, they noticed bloodstains scattered everywhere.
The man remembered Dina's words.
'I sent two men after him, but they disappeared in that area.'
Then, the two large crates came back to his mind.
"We need to head back. I understand what's going on here now," the man said.
The other three looked confused but didn't question him.
They left the area and returned to the meeting point where they were supposed to rendezvous with Dina. They waited for hours until she finally arrived at dusk. The man explained everything that had happened.
His conclusion was simple.
"The Hephaestus Familia is helping him. There's nothing we can do."
They had no intention of getting involved with the Hephaestus Familia.
Dina clicked her tongue before tossing a bag of money to the man.
"Fine. Now get out of here."
She was visibly irritated, so the men left as quickly as possible.
Once they were gone, Dina punched the wall beside her.
"Damn it."
However, that single punch was enough to calm her down. After thinking it over, she concluded that there was no reason to worry too much. Just as Ravinas had said, Alecto would never be able to reach Ethan.
She let out a sigh and returned to the Alecto Familia's home as though nothing had happened.
'I'd better let this go. We're worrying about this far too much.'
From that moment on, she decided to stop thinking about Ethan.
She would simply continue living her life as she always had.
####
"That's it. Keep hammering."
Inside Ethan's forge, Tsubaki stood right behind him, helping him forge a breastplate. The process was taking much longer than she had expected. Although Hephaestus had introduced him as a genius, he certainly didn't look like one.
He did everything very slowly and made plenty of mistakes throughout the process.
Hours passed before he finally finished forging all the iron plates for the breastplate and the backplate. Fortunately, the quenching process went a little faster. After that, Tsubaki began teaching him the next steps.
Sanding, removing burrs, polishing the iron plates, and then drilling the holes for the rivets. This part of the process took quite a while as well. Tsubaki even considered stepping in to help Ethan, but ultimately decided against it.
He was completely focused, and she didn't want to interrupt him.
Next, Ethan prepared all the rivets and began assembling the armor using leather, which was abundant there. Tsubaki helped him, and little by little, he managed to finish the breastplate.
Then she helped him adjust the armor so it would fit his body properly.
Once everything had been adjusted, Tsubaki looked at Ethan wearing the breastplate and said,
"Yeah... it's not very good..."
She let out a sigh.
"Don't worry. We're not finished yet."
"What do you mean?"
Ethan took off the armor and placed it on a nearby table. Then he rested his hand on the breastplate.
He had expected the gacha message not to appear since the armor had already been completely finished, but it appeared anyway.
The gacha activated, and the coin began to spin.
Tsubaki looked at Ethan in confusion as he stared silently ahead.
A smile appeared on Ethan's face.
'What's he doing?*' Tsubaki wondered.
Then her expression changed.
Her eyes widened as she noticed the armor resting on the table slowly beginning to transform.
The iron plates became larger. Their shine grew brighter. The entire assembly shifted...
The rivets became flawless. The leather, which had been damaged because of Ethan's lack of skill, now looked perfect.
It was shocking.
Tsubaki suddenly remembered what Hephaestus had told her.
'I need him in my Familia. He's incredibly talented. He possesses an amazing ability.'
It was the first time Tsubaki had ever seen Ethan use that ability.
Ethan turned toward her and saw just how stunned she was.
'Another person knows about my ability...' he thought.
Too many people knew about it now, and that didn't make him happy. Even though they were trustworthy people, he still didn't think it was wise to reveal everything he was capable of.
But it was too late to think about that now.
'From now on, no one else will learn about my ability.'
"Please don't tell anyone about this ability," Ethan said coldly.
"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. But I'm curious. How does it work? Is it magic?"
"Don't ask so many questions," Ethan replied.
Tsubaki didn't mind that Ethan had been a little rude. She picked up the breastplate he had forged and examined it closely.
"This is incredible. There isn't a single flaw. Does this armor have abilities like your swords? Did your ability really transform it this much?"
Magical armor existed in this world, but none of it was made of iron.
In fact, not even magic swords were forged from iron. Such a thing had never existed before Ethan arrived in this world.
That was what made his ability so extraordinary.
"Yes, but the abilities aren't very impressive. Still, I'm happy since it's the first piece of armor I've ever forged. Please keep teaching me from now on. I learned a lot from you today."
Ethan smiled.
Seeing that smile, Tsubaki thought,
'Cute...'
"Ahem..." Tsubaki cleared her throat before saying,
"I'll be happy to help you. In the end, it'll benefit the Hephaestus Familia too."