The upstairs reception room of Hephaestus Weapon Shop had never felt so much like a courtroom.
Cassandra sat on one side of the table with Yumeutsutsu resting across her lap, both hands placed carefully over the sheathed blade as if she was afraid it might float away if she relaxed too much.
Daphne sat beside her, close enough that their shoulders nearly touched, and although she had stopped glaring at Rayleigh every few seconds, the improvement was only because Hephaestus had entered the room and become the larger source of danger.
Rayleigh stood near the window.
That had not been his choice.
Hephaestus had pointed there with the calm smile of a goddess who had already decided where the criminal belonged, and Rayleigh, being a sensible child who valued his life, had gone there without arguing.
The shop manager stood near the door holding a stack of documents, his expression suggesting that his soul had aged ten years in the span of one night.
To be fair, a secret midnight trial, an Apollo Familia girl being chosen by a Zanpakutō, ceiling damage, disturbed Kidō seals, and the absence of a Guild observer would make any responsible manager reconsider his life choices.
Hephaestus sat at the head of the table with a cup of tea in front of her.
She had not drunk from it even once.
That was how Rayleigh knew he was in trouble.
'If she drinks tea, she's thinking. If she doesn't drink tea, she's calculating how much of my earnings to confiscate, crap.'
The silence stretched long enough that Cassandra began shrinking into herself.
Rayleigh sighed inwardly.
He had expected the trial to be troublesome.
He had not expected Cassandra to look like she would apologize to the furniture if the atmosphere got any heavier.
Hephaestus finally spoke.
"Rayleigh."
"Yes, my Goddess."
"You used my shop and our reputation to conduct an unofficial Zanpakutō trial in the middle of the night, without a Guild observer, without Apollo's permission, and without telling me beforehand."
Rayleigh considered several possible responses.
Most of them were bad.
One involved claiming that the sword had started it, which was technically not false but would also make him sound like the sort of smith who blamed his own hammer after breaking a wall.
Another involved pointing out that Cassandra had come voluntarily, which was true but also dangerously close to making the frightened girl shoulder part of the blame.
So he did the only intelligent thing.
"I take full responsibility."
Daphne blinked, clearly not expecting him to say that so cleanly.
Hephaestus's visible eye narrowed slightly.
"You're not going to add some clever excuse?"
"I have several, but none of them are good enough to say aloud while you're looking at me like that. I would rather preserve what little dignity I still have."
The shop manager looked as if he wanted to ask where that dignity had been when Rayleigh caused property damage under the shop, but wisely chose silence.
Daphne, unfortunately, did not possess the same survival instinct.
"That's the first reasonable thing you've said tonight. I was beginning to think all smiths were required to throw common sense into a furnace before forging anything."
Rayleigh glanced at her.
"I only did that once, and in my defense, the result was Senbonzakura."
Daphne opened her mouth, then closed it with visible effort, probably because arguing with him while Hephaestus was present felt like getting dragged into someone else's punishment.
Hephaestus rubbed her brow.
"Rayleigh, I am trying very hard to scold you properly, and you are making it difficult by sounding like Tsubaki after she breaks something expensive."
"That is hurtful, Hephaestus-sama! Tsubaki would have blamed the equipment."
"She has. Many times."
The shop manager gave a tiny nod before realizing he had done it and immediately froze.
For a moment, the tension in the room loosened.
Cassandra looked between them, clearly confused by how quickly the conversation had shifted from severe judgment to strange family comedy.
Daphne noticed her expression and leaned closer, whispering just loud enough for Rayleigh to hear.
"This is apparently how Hephaestus Familia handles crimes."
Rayleigh turned back toward the window.
'She says that as if Apollo Familia is a model of legal behavior. Their god treats emotional boundaries like decorative ribbons.'
He kept that thought to himself.
Hephaestus finally picked up her tea, but only to move it aside.
"Jokes aside, this situation is serious. Cassandra is Apollo Familia's child, and the sword has acknowledged her without Apollo's prior consent. If Apollo decides to make trouble, he has enough room to do so."
Cassandra's grip tightened around Yumeutsutsu.
"I'm sorry, Hephaestus-sama. I came here on my own. Rayleigh-san didn't force me, and Daphne-san tried to stop me before she came with me. If Apollo-sama gets angry, I'll explain that it was my choice."
Her voice was soft, but she managed to say everything without stumbling.
Daphne looked at her with obvious concern.
Hephaestus's expression softened.
"I'm not blaming you, Cassandra. You came because you believed something dangerous would happen if you stayed away, and judging by what Rayleigh has told me, you were probably right. The problem is that gods do not always care about who is logically at fault when emotions and ownership are involved."
Daphne clicked her tongue.
"That sounds like Apollo-sama, unfortunately. If he sees this as Cassandra being chosen by some beautiful tragic destiny, he'll get excited before he gets angry, which might actually be worse."
Cassandra lowered her head.
Rayleigh pushed off from the window and walked closer to the table, though he stopped before he seemed like he was crowding her.
"Then we need to decide the terms before Apollo-sama decides them for us. The sword chose Cassandra-san, but the sale was public, the listed price was two hundred million valis, and the trial was supposed to follow formal procedures. We can't pretend nothing happened, and we definitely can't let Apollo-sama frame this as his Familia obtaining a Zanpakutō through divine romance or whatever poetic nonsense he'll invent before breakfast."
Daphne stared at him.
"You really don't like him."
"I have a healthy distrust of gods who call fear beautiful."
"That is fair..... annoyingly fair."
Hephaestus nodded slowly.
"The price still matters. If we waive it completely, every god in Orario will accuse us of favoritism or start pushing their children toward future trials without paying. If we demand the full amount immediately, Apollo gains leverage because Cassandra cannot pay it herself."
Cassandra's face went pale.
"I don't have that kind of money. I don't even have anything close to that amount. I knew the price before I touched the sword, but I thought... I thought if it really called me, then maybe..."
Her voice shrank.
Daphne placed a hand over hers.
"You don't have to apologize for not casually carrying two hundred million valis around. Most adventurers can't even imagine that number without getting dizzy."
Rayleigh nodded.
"Two hundred million is a ridiculous price from a normal adventurer's perspective, and I say that as the terrible person who set it."
Daphne gave him a sharp look.
"At least you know."
"I am self-aware, not merciful."
Cassandra looked down at Yumeutsutsu.
The sword was quiet, but she could feel the name inside her now, faint and steady, like a candle seen through fog.
Hephaestus studied her for a moment.
"Rayleigh, what was the original reason you priced this one so low compared to your other Zanpakutō?"
Rayleigh did not answer immediately.
He looked at Yumeutsutsu, then at Cassandra.
"Compatibility. This child has an ability that is nearly useless to someone who only wants power. Worse than useless, honestly. Give it to an arrogant front-liner and they'll either ignore the warnings, misunderstand them, or go mad trying to force the future to obey. A sword that makes you stare at the outcome you fear is not suited for most adventurers."
Cassandra's shoulders curled slightly, but she did not look away.
Rayleigh continued, his tone gentler.
"For Cassandra-san, though, the flaw becomes the foundation. She already sees futures she hates. Yumeutsutsu does not remove that pain. It gives shape to it."
Daphne looked at the sword with a complicated expression.
"Can it really make people believe her?"
"No," Rayleigh said, and when Cassandra's fingers tightened, he added before the hurt could settle too deeply, "but it can make ignoring her much harder. There's a difference. Stubborn idiots can deny anything if they're committed enough, but when a glowing warning appears under their feet right before a ceiling tile caves their skull in, they at least have to work harder to pretend nothing happened."
Daphne let out a breath that was almost a laugh.
"That sounds depressingly realistic."
"Reality has terrible manners."
Cassandra looked at him, eyes still damp.
"But if people still don't believe me after seeing it, then what should I do?"
Rayleigh pulled out a chair and sat down across from her, which made the shop manager twitch because apparently even sitting without permission was now another offense to add to his mental ledger.
"You keep the ones who do believe you close, and you learn how to make the proof clearer next time. You won't convince everyone. No one does. If you try to save every person who laughs while jumping into a pit, you'll break before they learn anything."
Cassandra lowered her gaze.
"That sounds cruel."
"It is cruel. It's also the kind of cruelty healers, commanders, and prophets all have to learn, otherwise the world eats them alive. You can care about people without handing them every piece of yourself."
Daphne's expression shifted at that.
Hephaestus looked quietly satisfied, as if Rayleigh had finally said something she could approve of without adding a complaint.
Cassandra's hands relaxed a little around Yumeutsutsu.
"I don't know if I can do that."
"That's fine. If you already could, you probably wouldn't need the sword."
Yumeutsutsu gave a faint chime from her lap.
Daphne leaned back slightly.
"Was that agreement or insult?"
Cassandra hesitated, then said with a weak smile, "I think both."
Rayleigh nodded solemnly.
"A true Zanpakutō he is! Rude even when supportive."
Daphne stared at him.
"Why do you sound proud?"
"Because I am suffering as a parent and need to find joy somewhere!"
"You are impossible."
"I've been told."