By morning, Hephaestus Weapon Shop looked perfectly normal from the outside.
The display windows had been polished, the front door opened on time, and the clerks greeted customers with the same professional smiles they always used when adventurers came in wanting a weapon strong enough to save their lives but cheap enough not to ruin them financially.
The public display room had also been restored before dawn, which meant none of the curious onlookers outside knew that a ceiling tile had fallen in the testing chamber several hours earlier.
A sealed Zanpakutō had chosen its wielder during an unofficial midnight trial, and the shop manager had experienced what Rayleigh privately considered a near-death event of the soul.
Physically, the man was fine.
Emotionally, Rayleigh was not optimistic.
The shop manager sat in the upstairs reception room with a stack of documents arranged in front of him, his face held together by professional discipline and the kind of quiet despair only paperwork could produce.
Every few minutes, his gaze drifted toward Rayleigh with the exhausted resentment of a man who had calculated the repair cost, the legal risk, and the possibility of having to explain the incident to the Guild.
Rayleigh pretended not to notice since it was easier for everyone that way.
Cassandra sat near the table with Daphne beside her.
She had changed out of her nightclothes after Daphne dragged her back to Apollo Familia's home before sunrise, but she still looked like someone who had slept for perhaps three minutes and regretted all of them.
Her hands rested in her lap, fingers twisting together whenever the silence became too heavy!
Daphne, meanwhile, looked ready to bite the first person who tried to blame Cassandra for anything.
Rayleigh respected that.
He also suspected she had slept even less than Cassandra, which made her current level of aggression entirely reasonable.
Yumeutsutsu had been returned to the sealed display case downstairs for the morning, though the seal now included Cassandra's Reiryoku signature.
Rayleigh had adjusted the Kidō himself, and he had done it properly despite Hephaestus watching over his shoulder with the calm expression of a goddess waiting for her child to admit he had broken the rules on purpose.
Which, unfortunately, he had.
Hephaestus sat at the head of the table.
She was fully dressed now, her eye covered as usual, her red hair tied neatly back, and her expression calm enough to make everyone in the room nervous.
Hephaestus placed one hand on the contract draft in front of her and looked at Cassandra.
"Before Apollo arrives, I want you to understand what we are going to say and what we are not going to say. The sword chose you, but the original sale was public, and the trial did not follow the formal procedure. That gives Apollo room to object if he wants to make this difficult."
Cassandra's shoulders tensed. "I understand, Hephaestus-sama. I also know I caused trouble by coming here at night, so if Apollo-sama becomes angry, I can explain that Rayleigh-san didn't call me here. I came because of my dream, and Daphne-san only followed because she was worried about me."
Daphne leaned forward before Cassandra could shrink any further into herself.
"Cassandra, stop trying to prepare a neat little speech where all the blame lands on you. That is not happening! The sword was calling you, Apollo-sama was already interested, and if we had waited until morning, someone else might have touched it first because people in this city see a dangerous weapon and immediately think, 'What if I poked it?'"
Rayleigh nodded with the solemnity of a man who had seen too much stupidity to deny it.
"She's not wrong. Adventurers have a frightening talent for turning obvious warnings into personal challenges. I once watched a man read a sign that said 'do not touch' and then ask whether it meant with both hands."
The shop manager closed his eyes as if he remembered that customer.
Cassandra looked like she wanted to apologize again, but Daphne's hand settled over hers and stopped her.
Rayleigh leaned back in his chair, letting the tone stay light enough that Cassandra could breathe.
"If we're assigning blame, Yumeutsutsu should be near the top of the list. He caused the dream, called Cassandra-san here, mocked her inside the trial, and then laughed after damaging the ceiling. Unfortunately, punishing a Zanpakutō for bad behavior is difficult unless you count polishing him with cheap oil, which I suspect would make him worse out of spite."
Cassandra's eyes widened slightly. "Rayleigh-san, please don't do that. He might actually get angry!"
Daphne stared at her, then toward the floor as if she could see the display case beneath them.
"The sword has opinions about oil?"
Cassandra hesitated for a moment, listening to something only she could sense, before answering with a troubled expression.
"He says cheap oil is an insult to his dignity."
Rayleigh looked toward the floor as well.
"His dignity caused property damage before breakfast. I feel we are already being generous."
A tiny smile tugged at Cassandra's lips despite her anxiety.
Daphne rubbed her forehead. "I cannot believe I'm listening to people discuss the emotional standards of a sword before I've had breakfast. Apollo Familia has problems, but at least our weapons don't complain about skincare."
Hephaestus let the exchange continue for a few breaths, perhaps because it helped Cassandra relax, then tapped the contract with one finger.
"The important part is this. Yumeutsutsu chose Cassandra personally. The blade cannot be treated as Apollo Familia property, cannot be transferred to Apollo, cannot be drawn by another member on Apollo's order, and cannot be used as a decoration for divine entertainment. If Apollo wants to sponsor the payment, he may do so, but sponsorship does not create ownership."
The shop manager cleared his throat and added carefully, "The wording also states that any attempt to force the wielder to release, transfer, display, or command the Zanpakutō against her will may trigger cancellation of the contract and direct arbitration through both Hephaestus Familia and the Guild."
Daphne read the clause again, then looked genuinely impressed.
"That is much sharper than I expected. I thought contracts were usually written to make ordinary people fall asleep before realizing they had been robbed."
Rayleigh nodded. "That is also a valid style of contract, but Hephaestus-sama prefers the kind that politely places a knife against the other person's throat."
Hephaestus gave him a look.
Rayleigh smiled. "In a legal sense."
"That clarification did not make it better," Hephaestus said, though the corner of her mouth moved slightly.
Cassandra looked at the contract as if it were something far more frightening than the sword trial.
"If Apollo-sama refuses, what happens to Yumeutsutsu?"
Rayleigh did not answer immediately.
He wanted to make a joke, partly because Cassandra looked like she might dissolve if the air became any heavier, but there were times when jokes helped and times when they only made him look like the sort of person who should not be trusted with soul-cutting weapons.
Unfortunately, those categories overlapped more often than he liked.
"If Apollo refuses to acknowledge the contract," he said, "then the sword stays here under Hephaestus Familia custody until the dispute is resolved. He can argue about money and procedure, but he cannot make the sword unchoose you. That part already happened."
Cassandra breathed in slowly.
Daphne squeezed her hand. "You hear that? The sword chose you, and no one gets to pretend it didn't just because the paperwork is inconvenient."
Rayleigh glanced at the stack of documents. "To be fair, the paperwork is extremely inconvenient."
Daphne glared at him.
Rayleigh lifted both hands in surrender. "I am reading the room. I am simply also reading the paperwork, and the paperwork is winning."
Cassandra let out a tiny laugh, and Hephaestus finally picked up her tea.
Rayleigh considered that a sign that he might survive the morning.
...
Apollo arrived just after the shop opened.
He did not come with the full procession from the previous day, which was either a sign of restraint or proof that he understood Hephaestus would not tolerate theatrical nonsense before the contract was discussed.
He brought Hyakinthos, two attendants, and a smile bright enough to irritate Rayleigh on principle.
Eleonora arrived almost at the same time as the Guild witness.
That was not an accident.
She entered with a neat folder tucked under one arm, her posture professional, her expression mild, and her eyes sharp enough that Rayleigh immediately revised his estimate of how much she intended to "merely observe."
The Guild had sent her because the matter involved a public sale, a famous smith, Apollo Familia, and a weapon no one in Orario fully understood.
Or perhaps Ouranos had decided Rayleigh's problems were becoming everyone's problems.
Both were plausible.
Eleonora greeted Hephaestus first, then Apollo, then Cassandra with the same polite smile, though her gaze lingered briefly on the girl's hands.
Not long enough to be rude, only long enough to notice the faint tremor Cassandra was failing to hide.
Rayleigh filed that away.
Apollo, unsurprisingly, noticed the atmosphere the moment he entered the reception room.
"Oh my! I expected a negotiation, but this feels more like I've walked into the first act of a courtroom drama. Hephaestus, you wound me. I thought we were friends."
Hephaestus did not rise from her seat.
"We are friendly enough that I'm giving you the chance to resolve this cleanly."
Apollo laughed lightly as he sat across from her. "Cleanly? Such a cold word for something as wondrous as a living blade choosing a girl who dreams of tragedy. Surely you can understand why I would want to hear the story properly before signing away my rights."
Daphne's fingers tightened around the edge of her chair.
Cassandra went still.
Rayleigh, who had promised Hephaestus he would not say anything politically explosive within the first five minutes, counted silently in his head and realized they were barely past thirty seconds!
Apollo looked toward Cassandra.
"My dear Cassandra, I heard something marvelous happened after you returned last night. You went back to the shop on your own, stood before the sword, and came away chosen. If I were a poet, I might accuse destiny of being too heavy-handed."
Cassandra lowered her head slightly, not because she wanted to hide, but because she was gathering herself.
Daphne looked ready to answer for her, but Cassandra spoke first.
"I didn't go because it was beautiful, Apollo-sama. I went because I was afraid someone would be hurt if I stayed silent."
Apollo's smile softened. "Fear and beauty are not enemies, Cassandra."
Cassandra's fingers tightened, but she did not retreat. "They are not the same either."
The room quieted.
Rayleigh's eyes shifted toward Apollo, waiting to see whether the god would dismiss that small act of resistance or understand that the girl in front of him had changed overnight.
Apollo's smile did not disappear, but something behind it sharpened.
Hephaestus placed the contract on the table before the moment could become heavier.
"The sword's name is Yumeutsutsu. It acknowledged Cassandra as its wielder, and because Zanpakutō are soul-bound weapons rather than ordinary equipment, Hephaestus Familia recognizes her as the only legal wielder. The terms are written here. You may sponsor the purchase price if you wish, but Apollo Familia cannot claim ownership of the blade."
Hyakinthos's expression changed at once.
"Apollo-sama has paid for the equipment of our Familia members before. If he sponsors the price, then it is natural to consider the sword part of the Familia's assets, even if Cassandra is the one carrying it."
Daphne turned toward him so sharply that Cassandra almost reached out to stop her.
Rayleigh spoke first, partly because he suspected Daphne's version would involve more honest anger and less plausible deniability.
"That logic works for armor, spare blades, and things that don't have opinions. Yumeutsutsu is not a sword you can place in the Familia armory and hand to whoever looks prettiest under Apollo's light. If someone other than Cassandra tries to claim it, the best outcome is rejection. The worst outcome depends on how stubborn they are and whether I arrive before the sword decides to make a point."
Hyakinthos's face darkened.
"You speak as if you can threaten Apollo Familia whenever you please."
Rayleigh leaned back, not bothering to look impressed.
"If I were threatening you, I would be much clearer. This is a warning from the person who made the weapon and would prefer not to scrape anyone's dignity off the floor. It's bad for the room, bad for the witnesses, and extremely bad for my schedule!"
Eleonora's pen paused for half a second.
Daphne looked away, shoulders trembling with the effort not to laugh at Hyakinthos's expression.
Apollo raised one hand, stopping Hyakinthos before the exchange worsened.
"Rayleigh-kun, you have such a sharp tongue for a craftsman. I can see why Hephaestus keeps you close; troublesome children are always the most entertaining."
Hephaestus's visible eye narrowed.
Rayleigh smiled pleasantly. "Hephaestus-sama keeps me because I'm profitable, occasionally useful, and charming under specific lighting."
Hephaestus gave him the look of a woman who had heard this nonsense before and regretted allowing it to continue.
"Rayleigh."
"I'll stop before I damage my own case further."
Apollo laughed, genuinely amused this time, though Rayleigh could feel the calculation beneath it.
The god turned his attention back to the contract and read through the terms with more care than his theatrical attitude suggested.
"Two hundred million valis as the listed price. Long-term installment structure. Sponsorship permitted but ownership restricted to Cassandra. The blade may not be transferred, seized, drawn, displayed, or commanded against her will. Any violation leads to Guild arbitration and Hephaestus Familia intervention. You wrote this quite thoroughly."
Hephaestus folded her hands.
"I had motivation."
Apollo looked toward Cassandra again.
"And what do you want, my Cassandra? Not what Daphne wants, not what Hephaestus demands, and not what Rayleigh-kun's sharp tongue insists is wise. You are the one this blade chose, so I would hear your answer."
Cassandra seemed to shrink under the attention for a heartbeat.
Daphne's hand moved toward hers under the table.
Cassandra noticed, breathed in, and then looked up.
"I want to keep Yumeutsutsu," she said, her voice quiet but steadier than it had been before.
"Not because I want a famous weapon, and not because I want people to look at me differently. I want to keep him because for the first time, my warning became something another person could see. I know I'm still weak, and I know I'll probably be scared every time I use him, but if this sword can help me stop even one person from walking into danger, then I don't want to let go."
Apollo watched her in silence.
For once, he did not immediately turn her words into poetry.
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