"Tsubaki, you're back?"
In the scorching workshop, Hephaestus, the goddess of forging, heard footsteps behind her and turned to look.
What came into view was a tall woman with black hair tied up and brown skin.
Her left eye is covered with an eye patch like Hephaestus', a mirror image of the goddess.
However, it is not difficult to tell from her delicate facial features that she is from a Far Eastern country.
"Yes, I have been on an expedition with Loki's family for several months, and I finally had time to come back and take a look."
The woman called "Chun" spoke in a very relaxed tone, revealing her closeness to the god.
In fact, she is the leader of Hephaestus's family - an adventurer with the title of "Cyclops."
"Where is the little brother who always follows you around and helps you with the ironwork?"
Chun looked around the workshop for a while but didn't see the familiar figure in her memory.
"I gave him a few days off."
Hephaestus knew who she was talking about and subconsciously looked to the side of the forge.
Just a few days ago, there was a figure who often accompanied her there.
"He has officially joined the clan and has the right to choose whether to become an adventurer or a blacksmith."
"Eh..."
Chun looked at her goddess sideways with a teasing tone.
"I think it would be better if you use some coercive means to keep him by your side."
"When I came in just now, I saw you standing there in a daze, not even moving the hammer."
Hearing this, Hephaestus sighed.
"…It is always sad when children leave the nest to be independent, but I cannot order them to break their wings because of this."
"Let's not talk about this anymore. You came back just in time."
"What do you mean?"
Chun rolled up his sleeves and subconsciously took out the forging tools.
"You want me to help you?"
"No, today happens to be the day of the Molten Fire Festival."
Hephaestus patted the one-eyed girl's shoulder and reminded her.
"You deal with Loki's family a lot. Do you want to invite them to the festival?"
"Well... forget it."
Chun thought for a moment and shook his head slightly.
"In fact, they prefer to cooperate with the Guberniu clan. I just went on an expedition with them."
The Gubernui clan is also a clan famous for forging.
In fact, the product levels of the two families are similar, but the service methods are different.
Hephaestus is good at manufacturing uniform standard equipment and maintaining excellent quality.
The Gubernui clan prefers to customize according to the adventurer's strength and fighting style.
Therefore, the latter is more favored by the powerful Loki clan.
The weapons and equipment of the high-level elite adventurers in the clan are almost all made by the Guberniu clan.
Only the lower and middle-level members would use the products of the Hephaestus Familia.
"But I heard that Sword Princess was invited."
Suddenly, Chun seemed to have thought of something and spoke with interest.
"The person who invited her is called Kevin. If I remember correctly, this is the name of that little brother, right?"
"That's right."
Hephaestus was stunned for a moment, as if she couldn't imagine how Kevin could know a member of Loki's family.
She is also a popular adventurer with the title of "Sword Princess."
"Really... I think this kid is pretty good."
Tsubaki gave a look that said, "As expected."
"He can do whatever he wants just because he has a handsome face. I wonder how capable he really is."
"Don't make it too hard on him."
Hephaestus heard the eagerness in her words and said helplessly.
"You are a Lv5 advanced adventurer, and he has only registered for a short time."
"What about forging?"
"Compared with you, the most powerful blacksmith in Orario?"
"At least we can produce something decent at this Molten Fire Festival."
The tall girl with a healthy complexion shrugged.
"After all, even I haven't stayed with you for so long."
Hearing this, Hephaestus couldn't help but retort.
"Isn't it because you always say 'Newly made weapons must be tested with real weapons' and then you often go to the dungeon and don't come back for several months?"
"Well... I am at my current level thanks to this."
Chun didn't care about this at all and was even proud of it.
"When does the festival start? I can't wait to see my work."
"He specially invited Jian Ji, it can't be that he wanted to make a fool of himself in front of her, right?"
...
The venue for the Molten Fire Festival was paved by renting the entire arena.
Because the quality of the forging work needs to be demonstrated, an open space and the indispensable... target are needed.
The arena run by the Ganesha clan meets all the above requirements.
Not only does it have an empty and spacious venue that won't be crowded even with thousands of people attending.
It can also provide living monsters captured from dungeons.
These monsters are kept under strict control by the Ganesha family to ensure that they do not escape and cause trouble in Orario.
This kind of "monster economy" is the only one in the entire maze city.
Because the Ganesha family is also the organizer of the "Monster Festival," the guild has granted them special permission to take charge of this business.
After the Molten Fire Festival began, except for the Hephaestus family who had booked the entire venue,
only those who are invited by clan members can enter the arena and participate in the festival.
At the entrance of the arena, there was already a line of people waiting for their identities to be verified.
Just then, the team became confused due to the arrival of an adventurer.
"It seems that Miss Ais is very popular."
Feeling the burning gazes coming from all around, Kevin said without changing his expression.
The person walking side by side with him was the Sword Princess in casual clothes.
Her long golden hair fluttered with her steps, her fair skin was inadvertently exposed, and her beautiful face was no less beautiful than that of a goddess.
It was no wonder that some male adventurers stared at Kevin with murderous eyes.
"Yeah."
Ais responded lightly.
She probably didn't realize what "popular" meant.
"But thank you for inviting me."
"You've already thanked me before, Miss Ais."
Kevin asked while registering the visitors.
"By the way, why did you accept my invitation?"
The blonde swordswoman answered without hesitation.
"The weapon... was taken for repair."
"I need to find a spare weapon before the next expedition."
After thinking for a while, Ais added.
"It'd better be cheaper. Repairing weapons is very expensive."
"God has already reprimanded me several times."
As the elite main force in the clan team, Ais's weapon is naturally a high-end product tailored for the Guberniu clan.
If equipment of this level is damaged... it would be time-consuming and expensive to repair.
No wonder Loki reprimanded Ais for this.
"Will [Sword Princess] also be troubled by money matters?"
Kevin asked curiously.
Ais looked at him calmly, opened her red lips slightly, and said a number.
"Forty million Valis."
"What's the meaning?"
"The cost of repairing the Sword of Despair is also my current debt."
"...Okay, I think I understand."
Kevin looked at the sword lady beside him with sympathy.
This amount of money is enough for any commoner in Orario and his entire family to live a prosperous life.
Who would have thought that this beautiful girl owed such a huge sum of money at such a young age?
However, with Sword Princess' fame and strength, it is estimated that the debt will be cleared in the dungeon soon.
"In that case, I have a small request."
After thinking about it, Kevin suggested.
"The work I'm using for the Molten Fire Festival today happens to be a sword."
"I wonder if Miss Sword Princess could be the tester of this sword?"