Chapter 23: Lili Seizes the Future.
....
Lili hadn't heard anything about book retrieval from Hestia, but her observational instincts were sharp enough to catch the way Hestia's eyes were moving — a slow, deliberate sweep in her direction, two seconds per rotation. Code for there's something I can't say in front of Kihara. She kept her mouth shut accordingly.
Once he was out of sight, she turned. "Lady Hestia — what are we actually going to Hephaestos for?"
"Shh."
One finger to her lips. "You'll find out when we get there. Come on."
The plan had been forming since before the kiss — perhaps earlier. Lili had mentioned in passing that the weapons Kihara used in the dungeon carried no detectable magical resonance. They lit up, they struck hard, but in terms of conventional weapon properties they read as essentially inert. For a man going deeper into the dungeon alone, that was a liability worth addressing.
A dedicated weapon. Something made specifically for him.
The Hephaestos Familia's forge hit them with the usual wall of heat and metallic smell the moment they stepped through the gate. Hands over ears, they made their way into the manor — and found Hephaestos herself just emerging from her private forge room, wearing a black training vest, the lines of her shoulders and arms carrying the particular definition of someone who works with their hands for reasons beyond exercise. Sweat caught the forge-light. She pulled on a white shirt when she saw them and raised an eyebrow.
"Hestia. What brings you here?"
"The Orichalcum I left with you — could you use it to forge a dedicated weapon for Kihara?"
Hephaestos stopped drying her face. She looked at her friend for a long moment.
"You're serious. A dedicated weapon."
"Lady Hephaestos—" Lili ventured, "what's the difference between a dedicated weapon and a regular one?"
She knew the standard tiers: First-class arms for the top-rank adventurers, refined and responsive, often carrying special properties shaped by compatibility with their wielder. Second-class for the solid mid-tier.
Third-class for beginners. But dedicated weapons weren't part of that framework.
"A dedicated weapon is bound to a specific Falna. In anyone else's hands, it performs worse than third-class. In its true owner's hands," Hephaestos set down her towel.
"it's a divine instrument. Materials respond to the wielder's parameters. Properties unlock that wouldn't activate otherwise."
She looked back at Hestia. "They're also not cheap. Can you cover the commission?"
"Lili, wait outside for a moment."
"Of course."
The door closed. Hephaestos waited for the financial discussion she assumed was coming.
Hestia dropped to her knees, pressed her forehead to the floor, and at volume announced:
"I have no money. Can I put it on credit."
"...I don't know why I keep expecting better from you."
"I can't help it — Kihara just spent eighty million falis on clothes for me, I can't ask him to pay for his own surprise gift—"
"Eighty million." Hephaestos went still. "He actually took you to that tailoring shop."
"He did!"
The Hephaestos Familia commissioned more work than any forge operation in Orario, and even they couldn't casually produce eighty million in liquid funds for a clothing trip. Whatever Kihara's financial situation actually was, the willingness to spend that way on Hestia said something that made Hephaestos look at the whole situation slightly differently.
"Fine. You can defer payment."
"Yes—"
"Don't hug me, I'm still sweating." She held up a hand. "The minimum commission for a dedicated weapon is two hundred million falis. That's the floor — I won't go lower. And I'll need your divine blood, a strand of your hair, and your divine inscription."
Hestia bounced to her feet. "I promise I'll pay every falis. Start now?"
"Preparation alone takes a full day. Get me the materials first."
"Okay!"
Hephaestos watched the smile on her friend's face and found herself asking the question anyway.
"Hestia. Have you genuinely fallen for a mortal?"
"Yes. Completely." No hesitation, no performance — just the simple fact of it. "I love Kihara. This life, the next one, however many times he turns in the cycle — I'll find him each time. I'll bring back every small memory of what we had, and we'll begin again."
The smile was the kind that reminded Hephaestos of the most vivid flower fields in the divine realm — the sort of thing that made you instinctively want to stop and look, because the beauty in it was the kind that could be caught.
"Oh — don't tell him about any of this. I want the weapon to be a surprise."
"What does he normally use?"
"A sword, according to Lili. Something that glows red."
"Glows red?"
Professional curiosity surfaced briefly, then was filed away. "Your Orichalcum won't stretch to a full longsword. A short sword is the realistic outcome."
"That's fine. He has a magic stat too, so add mithril to the alloy — improve the mana conductivity."
"Understood. Come to my office and we'll collect the materials. Pick up the finished piece in a week."
"Yes!"
She practically bounced out of the manor afterward, rejoining Lili outside with an energy that persisted the entire walk home.
Hephaestos, alone in her office, decided not to mention that Kihara had already been here days ago to commission a weapon of his own. At the rate he was indulging Hestia, the two hundred million debt was the most useful corrective measure available — the one thing guaranteed to keep her from completing the transformation into a fully dependent, entirely helpless goddess.
If you won't work for yourself, you'll work to pay off what you owe. Get moving, Hestia.
Hestia floated through the rest of the evening in a state of private happiness that seemed to have its own weather system. Every time her eyes met Kihara's she dissolved into a dreamy smile and drifted away into whatever was happening inside her head. Conversation attempts stalled after two or three exchanges. She was simply elsewhere, and the elsewhere seemed pleasant.
Lili observed all of this with the quiet attention she gave to useful information.
Lady Hestia's attention is entirely accounted for.
The opportunity was, objectively, ideal.
She waited until deep into the night, then eased Kihara's bedroom door open and slipped inside.
Silver hair tonight. Wolf ears. She bit her lower lip and whispered into the dark with quiet triumph:
"Lili has seized the future."
.....
Thank you for reading.