“Calm down, Hestia.”
Heimer reached out and patted the bristling loli goddess on the head.
At the same time, he picked up the bag of Jagamarukun she had dropped on the floor and blew the dust off it.
“What do you mean I secretly made it big?”
“This is called years of buildup finally paying off.”
“Besides…”
Heimer took a bite of the warm Jagamarukun and pointed at the group of girls behind him, each wearing a different expression.
“Isn’t this perfect?”
“Since Hephaestus is treating us, adding a few more mouths to feed shouldn’t be a problem.”
“A few… a few more mouths to feed?!”
Hestia looked at the room full of people—and the two bears—and the corner of her mouth twitched wildly.
“They won’t even fit at one table!”
“And…”
“These children…”
“Are they really Familia members you recruited?”
“They don’t look like locals from Orario at all…”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“Let’s hurry up and go. Didn’t you say we were about to be late?”
“It wouldn’t be good to keep Hephaestus waiting.”
With a wave of his hand, Heimer cut off Hestia’s questioning.
…
And so, after another round of chaotic commotion, this strangely mismatched group finally left the broken-down temple.
Twilight in Orario was the liveliest time of the day.
The streets were brightly lit, and magic-stone lamps cast a gentle glow.
“Wow… those ears! Are they real?”
Kikakujou Mary hugged her dictionary and pointed at a passing rabbit beastman girl, her eyes wide as she could not help crying out in surprise.
“Shh! Don’t point at people. It’s rude!”
Although Onigawara Rin said this, her own eyes could not help drifting toward the rabbit girl’s twitching long ears.
Her hand remained pressed against her sword hilt, as if she were overly nervous.
“Is that a beastman?”
Amou Kirukiru watched a burly boar-type adventurer with a fierce face pass by while carrying a giant axe.
“Awooo…”
Hanasaka Warabi’s huge black bear, Kyobo, was completely robbed of reason by the rich aroma drifting from a roadside grilled meat stall.
Drool flowed all over the ground, wetting a patch of stone tiles.
“Move it, Kyobo! Stop embarrassing me!”
Kyobo and the smaller bear stubbornly refused to move.
In the end, Hanasaka Warabi had to blush furiously while pulling on the chain with all her strength, nearly leaning her whole body backward like she was playing tug-of-war, before she barely managed to drag them away.
Along the way, the girls were like country bumpkins visiting the big city for the first time.
No, they were even more exaggerated than country bumpkins.
They showed tremendous curiosity toward every magic-stone lamp, every passerby of another race, and even the drainage channels beside the road.
Their eyes were pure.
Pure like children seeing the blue sky for the first time.
Hestia walked beside Heimer and watched the girls act as if they had never seen the world before.
Her suspicions became even more certain.
She elbowed Heimer, lowered her voice, and looked at him with contempt.
“Heimer, be honest.”
“Did you trick these kids who just arrived in Orario?”
“Look at them. How have they never even seen demi-humans before…?”
Hestia crossed her arms, looking as if she had already seen through the truth.
Heimer merely shrugged and did not refute her.
After all…
In a certain sense, saying he had tricked them into coming was not exactly wrong.
Those grand promises about a “vast world” and “feeling truly alive” did indeed have a bit of salesmanship to them.
However…
Looking at the light flashing in the eyes of the girls ahead, the corner of Heimer’s mouth rose slightly.
Because…
They had taken the bait.
From an evolutionary perspective, humans were creatures full of contradictions.
Just as humans were not born brave.
Fear of the unknown was the first defense line carved into their genes to preserve their lives.
However…
As long ages passed…
Another deeper, more primitive instinct would also gain the upper hand and suppress fear.
That instinct was curiosity.
Fear of the unknown made living creatures stop inside the shells they believed were safe, drawing a prison around themselves.
But curiosity…
Curiosity could swiftly pull humans away from their fear of the unknown and make them greedily seek everything they did not yet understand.
It was a primitive instinct planted deep within human genes, older and stronger than fear.
It was a driving force more enduring than hunger.
Because the history of human migration was also the history of curiosity being awakened.
From the first time Homo sapiens left the African continent in ancient times, to later sailors steering their ships into the ocean again and again…
Behind every adventure in human history, aside from the pressure of survival…
Was it not also the primitive impulse to “see what lies beyond the mountain” and “know whether there is land at the other side of the sea”?
It could not be denied.
As the saying went, curiosity killed the cat.
This danger-chasing spirit, as if carved deep into human genes, had caused humans to die again and again on the road of reckless exploration, paying painful prices.
But it was also this very spirit…
That allowed humans to conquer the land, the sky, and the ocean, and finally turn their gaze toward the stars.
“Don’t worry. As long as they have that spark in them…”
“I believe they’ll soon shock all of Orario.”
“We’re here.”
As Heimer’s words fell, roughly twenty minutes had passed.
Everyone finally stopped.
Before their eyes, a magnificent building appeared.
…
The headquarters of the Hephaestus Familia.
The moment they stepped into this area, a heat wave completely different from the outside rushed toward them.
It was not the heat of flames.
It was the passion of steel and forging, emitted by countless furnaces operating day and night without rest.
This was the workshop and headquarters of Orario’s largest smithing faction—the Hephaestus Familia.
A massive sign was engraved with the image of two crossed hammers.
Weapons and armor hung across the walls, reflecting cold and captivating gleams beneath the magic-stone lamps.
Greatswords, battle-axes, spears, rapiers…
Every piece was finely made.
The streamlined designs and perfect weight distribution were so impressive that even an amateur could tell at a glance that they were extraordinary.
For a group of girls who lived for martial skill…
This place was practically heaven.
“That…”
Onigawara Rin’s steps instantly stopped.
Her gaze stuck firmly to a katana displayed inside a glass case.
The blade was completely black, and cloud-like forging patterns ran along its edge, releasing a sharp aura that made one’s heart tremble.
For a swordswoman, seeing a famous blade of this level was like a drunkard seeing aged fine wine.
She simply could not look away.
However…
When Onigawara swallowed and lowered her gaze to the price tag beneath the blade…
[Famous Blade: Black Crow]
[Maker: Hephaestus Familia — Senior Smith]
[Price: 3,800,000 valis]
“Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands…”
Onigawara counted the long string of zeros, and her face instantly turned pale.
In the end, she could only move her gaze away in despair and squeeze out a dry sentence.
“This price is way too ridiculous!”
Although she did not yet understand the purchasing power of this world’s currency, valis…
When Onigawara thought of the run-down temple she had just left, she suddenly felt that a famous blade of this level was extremely far away from her.
However, Heimer noticed the look in Onigawara’s eyes and could not help glancing at the famous blade a few more times.
…
“Hey, Heimer! Hestia! You two are way too slow!”
At that moment, a slightly husky yet magnetic female voice came from deep inside the workshop.
Everyone turned toward the voice.
A woman with short crimson hair strode toward them.
She wore a crisp white shirt and black trousers, and a black eyepatch covered her right eye.
However, this did not diminish her beauty in the slightest.
Instead, it added a sharper, more dignified aura to her presence.
She was the patron goddess of the Hephaestus Familia—Hephaestus.