Ever since humanity first learned to make tools, its obsession with weapons had been carved into its bones.
Just as clawless, fangless apes picked up the first sharpened stone and gained the power to tear prey apart.
Weapons.
They had never been mere tools.
They were extensions of human limbs, the material form of will, and the only thing the weak could rely on to challenge the strong.
After all, even in human history, mankind had once hunted giant beasts such as mammoths for food.
For these girls, who had spent their lives in a low-martial world relying on flesh and ordinary steel, the weapons of Orario were an irresistible temptation.
Forged from monster materials, and some even imbued with special enchantments, those blades were far beyond anything they had ever imagined.
It was like a traveler in the desert seeing clear spring water.
That longing could not be hidden.
Onigawara Rin, in particular, kept turning back every few steps even after reluctantly tearing her eyes away from the [Famous Blade: Black Crow], which cost several million valis.
Seeing this, Heimer thoughtfully rubbed his chin.
“Um…”
After the girls disappeared around the end of the corridor, Heimer turned and looked at Hephaestus, who had not yet left.
“Hephaestus.”
“If you’re not busy tonight…”
“I’d like to talk with you.”
“Oh?”
“Looks like you noticed it too.”
“The way those children looked at the weapons on my walls…”
“They were practically starving wolves staring at meat.”
Hephaestus looked at Heimer with interest.
“However…”
“You should know this as well.”
“Weapons bearing the Hephaestus brand are not cheap.”
“With your current situation…”
“Are you sure you can afford them?”
“I naturally have something worthy to offer.”
“So…”
“Wait for me.”
…
At this point…
A short while later.
Inside a guest room of the Hephaestus Familia.
Although it was called a guest room, the conditions were exactly as Hephaestus had said.
They were quite good.
The room was spacious, with soft carpets underfoot, and even clean changes of clothing had been thoughtfully prepared.
At this moment, the air in the room carried the warm, damp freshness left after bathing.
The girls had all finished washing up.
They had changed into the simple sleeping robes prepared for them.
Although the design was plain, on this group of beautiful young girls, even simple clothing had a different charm.
Amou Kirukiru sat by the window, quietly wiping her damp long hair.
Onigawara Rin sat stiffly at the edge of the bed, her hands clutching the hem of her robe as if she was deeply unused to wearing something so loose.
Inaba Tsukuyo sat quietly on the bedsheet like an exquisite doll.
Not only that…
Even Kyobo and the little bear had been scrubbed clean.
At this moment, the two bears were lying comfortably in the corner, humming with satisfaction.
“Creak—”
The door opened.
Heimer walked in.
The somewhat noisy room instantly fell silent.
Everyone’s gaze gathered on him.
There was curiosity, expectation, and a faint trace of shyness that could not be fully hidden.
After all, Hestia had already explained to them during their bath what was about to happen next.
Divine Falna.
It was the necessary path for a mortal to become an adventurer.
It was also the most sacred contract between a god and their Familia.
“Since everyone is ready…”
“Then.”
“Let us begin.”
Heimer did not waste words.
He walked directly to the wide bed in the center of the room and sat down beside it.
“Falna, simply put, is the process by which I grant you my divine blood.”
“Through it, the potential hidden within your bodies will be drawn out and quantified.”
“This process…”
“Requires a small ritual.”
Heimer’s gaze swept across the girls.
“Who will go first?”
After a brief silence…
“Um…”
“If you do not mind, I would like to go first.”
Unexpectedly, the first person to step forward was not the most fanatical Amou Kirukiru.
It was Inaba Tsukuyo, who seemed the quietest and most proper among them.
The blind girl with long silver-white hair slowly stood up.
Her delicate, porcelain-doll-like face carried a solemnity almost like that of a pilgrim.
“Very well.”
Heimer nodded.
Following the sound of his voice, Inaba Tsukuyo slowly walked to the side of the bed.
Then…
“Please loosen your robe and expose your back.”
“!!!”
The air in the room seemed to freeze for an instant.
“L-loosen the robe?”
Onigawara Rin stammered as she repeated the words.
Her cheeks instantly flushed bright red, and her hands instinctively covered her collar while her eyes widened.
She was not the only one.
Kikakujou Mary’s face also turned crimson from embarrassment.
“Um…”
Hanasaka Warabi hid behind the black bear and weakly raised her hand.
“Do we really have to take everything off? Isn’t that a little… you know…?”
“What are you all thinking?”
“Only the back needs to be exposed.”
“The mark of Falna acts directly on the connection between soul and body.”
“And the back…”
“Is the largest surface of the human body, as well as the place closest to the spine’s central axis.”
“It is also the blind spot humans are most vulnerable about, and the part they are least willing to expose to outsiders.”
“To offer one’s back to another person without reservation goes against the human instinct to seek safety and avoid danger.”
“But that is precisely the essence of the word Familia.”
“A Familia is not merely a relationship of superior and subordinate between a god and the children they choose.”
“It is a contract built upon absolute trust.”
“The chosen child entrusts their most vulnerable back to the god.”
“And the god accepts that child’s resolve, engraving sacred letters upon their back—letters powerful enough to let them challenge the world.”
“This is the true meaning of bearing a god’s name.”
Sitting beside the bed, Heimer looked at the girls, whose thoughts had clearly gone astray, and sighed helplessly.
“I understand.”
Inaba Tsukuyo did not disappoint him.
Although a faint blush had also appeared on her doll-like face, and even the tips of her ears hidden beneath her silver hair had grown warm, her movements did not hesitate.
“Since Tsukuyo has already decided to follow Lord God…”
“Then this body no longer belongs to Tsukuyo alone.”
After saying this, Inaba Tsukuyo’s slender fingers moved to the sash at her waist.
“Rustle…”
With the soft sound of shifting fabric, she loosened the robe enough to reveal her back for the ritual.
Inaba Tsukuyo would now bear a god’s name.
The fabric settled around her as she calmly prepared herself on the bed.
Her small back was exposed to the air.
It was not the fragile softness of someone raised in comfort.
Years of sword training had given her body a quiet strength and disciplined grace.
Under the gentle glow of the magic-stone lamp, her pale skin carried the clean, austere luster of polished ivory.
“Mm…”
Feeling the faint chill of the air on her back, the girl instinctively shivered.
Then Inaba Tsukuyo bit her lower lip and placed both hands on the bedsheet, lowering herself into the proper position for the ceremony.
Her long silver-white hair scattered like a waterfall, covering part of her back.
Between the strands, the line of her spine and the shape of her shoulder blades remained clear.
It was like a blank page waiting for the first sacred stroke.
“Pardon me.”
Heimer said softly.
There were no unnecessary movements.
He directly stepped over the girl’s body and straddled her small hips.
This was not intimacy.
It was a formal posture required for the ceremony.
A necessary position to guide divine power without error.
“Mm…”