Chương 15: Goibniu, God of the Forge

Although Hestia was a god, she had sealed her divine power and everything connected to divinity in the lower world. In practice, she was no different from an ordinary person. Even working at a potato puff stand, something adventurers might see as completely ordinary, was probably interesting in Hestia's eyes. Perhaps all gods were like that. As eternal beings, they understood life very differently from beings with limited lifespans.

After firmly telling him, "You absolutely, absolutely cannot enter the Dungeon right now. You have to wait until the Guild finishes investigating and confirms there is no problem," Hestia happily skipped away to take care of the potato puff stall. Cael had still wanted to spend a little more time with her. But in a god's eyes, perhaps she would accompany him for his entire life, so there was no need to rush every moment together.

"Next, I should go to the Guild and apologize to Miss Eina. Then I can use the money from the Magic Stones to buy two decent swords." Cael made his way toward the Guild district. There were more adventurers around than yesterday because the Guild was investigating the previous day's special incident and had banned lower-class Lv. 1 adventurers from entering the Dungeon. Some adventurers discussed the terror of the event, while most of the complaining came from Lv. 1 adventurers.

Many of them would never Level Up in their entire lives and only became adventurers for money. Adventurers like that made up more than half of Orario. The minimum condition for advancing to Lv. 2 was to raise at least one Basic Ability to D 500 or above, then complete a feat worthy of the gods' admiration. A feat was an adventure. Defeating an enemy far stronger than oneself. Fighting through countless monsters while covered in blood. Doing something the gods themselves could praise.

Adventurers who cared only about money did not have the courage to stake their lives on that kind of adventure. Even among Lv. 2 adventurers, most advanced the moment one value reached D 500 because they could no longer continue improving. Anyone who could raise a value to A 800 was a gifted talent, a rare talent of their generation.

"The effect of my careless action really was huge." Cael suddenly felt like the culprit standing in plain sight while no one knew he was responsible. Because anyone heading for the deeper floors had to pass through the Upper Floors, upper-class adventurers were often there. Thanks to that, the emergency had been suppressed with relative ease. If these adventurers knew that he had caused the Irregular and stopped them from earning money, they would probably chop him apart.

At the Guild reception area, Cael gave Eina a small bow across the tea table.

"Thank you very much, Miss Eina. Without you, I might not have come back. But the equipment you gave me..." If Eina had not given him that light armor, the wolf-headed monster might have torn his heart out with one claw. It had saved his life.

"I am glad you returned safely." Eina looked at the boy in front of her, her eyes shining with emotion.

"But yesterday really stunned me. In that dangerous situation, you came out of the Dungeon alone and brought back so many Magic Stones. It was not only me. Everyone there was shocked." The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Yesterday, she had been frozen by the sight of him. A lone boy covered in blood, walking out of the Dungeon with a broken sword in one hand and a backpack full of Magic Stones in the other.

That upright, unyielding figure looked like a hero from the Sacred Tales of Heroes stepping out of the story. And the words he had spoken before losing consciousness had moved her deeply. At that moment, he had shone brightly. Knowing that the equipment she had given him helped someone like that survive felt like an honor.

"However, you took a risk yesterday." Eina's expression became serious. She folded her arms and scolded him for ignoring her warning.

"Some of the Magic Stones came from monsters that normally appear on the seventh floor or deeper. During this Irregular, monsters were appearing two floors earlier than they should. That means you went to the fifth or sixth floor, right?"

"Honestly. You became an adventurer on the very first day and already took such a risk. Rookies must not go past the fourth floor. It is truly dangerous."

"You are right. It will not happen again," Cael said warmly. Being cared for by someone felt wonderful. Though next time, he would probably still dare.

"Seriously, Cael, you are very lucky." Eina sighed in relief.

"You encountered a once-in-a-thousand-years Irregular on your first day and still came back alive. Now you are even standing here on your own two feet. You may be the first person in history to do that." Her gaze softened as she looked at him. Compared to yesterday, he had gained a firm and lonely courage. He really had changed so much.

"By the way, I exchanged your Magic Stones for valis yesterday," Eina said, pointing toward the exchange counter with a teasing smile.

"Unless you suspect I secretly pocketed some of it."

"Of course not. I am very grateful." Cael hurriedly answered. He trusted Eina's character. In this world, other than Hestia, the person he trusted most was probably her.

"The total was 32, 689 valis. Truly unbelievable. A normal five-person Lv. 1 party usually earns less than thirty thousand valis in a day." Eina sounded amazed, but she did not forget to tease him.

"You really fought desperately in the Dungeon. Even in that dangerous situation, you did not forget to bring back Magic Stones."

"Heh. My pockets were empty." Cael held the heavy bag of coins and felt a sense of security fill him.

"My goddess is also quite poor. I do not want her to stay poor forever." In truth, he had only slowly picked up those Magic Stones after the monsters stopped spawning. Fighting and collecting stones at the same time in that situation would have been pure suicide. Unfortunately, if Magic Stones were not picked up quickly, the Dungeon reclaimed them. Otherwise, he could have gathered far more. He did not even know how many monsters he had cut down. And this was only the Upper Floors.

Once he reached the Middle Floors and Deep Floors, the money would become ridiculous. A single Drop Item from a deep floor monster could possibly sell for ten million valis.

"Miss Eina, I have something to ask you." Cael clasped both hands together and looked at her pitifully.

"All my equipment broke. I want to know where I can find a cheap but practical weapon shop. Preferably somewhere that will not bankrupt me. Please, please." The only shops he knew were those of Hephaestus Familia, but even their cheapest goods cost hundreds of thousands of valis. He could not afford even their furnace scraps. And after already being cheated once, he had no confidence that he could pick out something good from an ordinary weapon shop.

"Giving necessary recommendations to rookie adventurers is part of my duty," Eina said kindly. She brushed a lock of hair near her temple and stood, stretching lazily.

"Besides, I would like to go shopping with Cael too." She seemed rather pleased at the chance to slack off.

"This is a good opportunity to take a small break." Shopping with his half-elf adviser was, of course, not a date. It was only routine work. Eina was responsible for many rookies like Cael. Before long, they reached Orario's northeastern avenue. Aside from the main street, alleys of different widths crossed one another in every direction. Shops lined both sides of the street, and the clanging of hammers against metal rang out from within. Damaged weapons and armor hung on the walls outside many stores.

This could be called Orario's industrial district. Forge-type Familias gathered here, and many of the Magic Stones the Guild collected from adventurers were consumed in this area. Adventurers came here to repair, buy, and sell equipment. Some were discussing prices with shopkeepers. Some hot-tempered beast people were already arguing loudly. The whole district carried the heat and smell of iron and fire. At last, Eina brought him to a rough-looking weapon shop.

The sign above the entrance bore a Familia emblem made of three hammers. Looking in from the doorway, Cael saw a thin old man with his upper body bare hammering a red-hot weapon by the forge. At the entrance, a shop employee warmly received customers.

"Goibniu." Cael's expression went blank. He looked at Eina beside him, the corner of his mouth twitching, and lowered his voice.

"Cough. Miss Eina, I am completely broke. I cannot even afford the slag from the God of the Forge's weapons."