"Bell, how many Valis did you sell those daggers for?"
Suppressing her worries about Eina, Hestia shifted her focus to the final sale price. She also wanted to ask about how the transaction was handled. Though she didn't fully understand the inner workings of the Guild, she still had more experience than Bell, enough to form a rough judgment on the process.
"Each dagger was bought for 100,000 Valis. I kept 20 for myself, and sold the remaining 264. That came out to a total of 26.4 million Valis."
"That much!?"
Hestia wasn't completely clueless about money. Back when she was freeloading off Hephaestus, she'd picked up a decent sense of its value. That made her even more aware of what Bell had accomplished—this was just one day's haul. If he kept this up, they could have everything they needed in no time.
Seeing the gleam in her eyes, Bell felt the need to gently bring her back to reality. Today's earnings were indeed impressive, but that didn't mean it would be like this every day.
"Goddess-sama, I think you should calm down a bit. The main reason I earned so much today is because of the Goblin Daggers. They're easy to use, since they're weapons dropped by first-floor Goblins, so they don't have many restrictions. But they're also incredibly sharp—sharp enough to deal with mid-floor monsters. That's why they fetch such a high price. If the drops from other floors aren't similarly sharp weapons, they won't sell for nearly as much."
Hestia's overexcited brain cooled down a bit. Now that she thought about it, it made sense. Weapons that are both sharp and usable by Level 1 Adventurers were the key factor here. Without those conditions, upper-floor drop items wouldn't go for high prices at the Guild. Unless Bell spent every day farming Goblins on the first floor, building a fortune this way just wasn't sustainable.
And if Goblin Daggers started flooding the market in Orario, it'd raise suspicion. One batch might be written off as old stock, but a second or third? Eventually, it'd all trace back to Bell. The risk of exposing his secret was too high, so Hestia gave up on using this method to get rich.
"Goddess-sama, besides that, I think we should try establishing a long-term partnership with Goddess Hephaestus."
Hestia's eyes lit up instantly. Listening to Bell's report, she felt more confident about persuading Hephaestus. Hephaestus might not lack drop items, especially from the upper floors, but her Familia was huge—having extra materials for forging could only help. Plus, those materials wouldn't just be used by Hephaestus's own people. Other Familias could buy them too.
In Orario, most Adventurers were Level 1. So even upper-floor materials, if forged properly, could bring in a lot of profit.
Hephaestus probably wouldn't mind letting the Hestia Familia become one of her suppliers. With Bell's Luck skill, they could ensure a steady flow of drop items. As long as Hephaestus saw Bell's skill for herself, there shouldn't be any problem.
If it were any other god, Hestia wouldn't even consider it. Exposing Bell's abilities wouldn't benefit her at all. But Hephaestus already knew about Bell's two skills—that changed everything. If she could trust them as suppliers, it meant Hestia could go back to eating and drinking for free under Hephaestus's roof.
Just thinking about that made Hestia glance over at Bell. The adorable, innocent Bell stood quietly, his blood-red eyes calm—like a rabbit waiting patiently for her answer.
Looking at him, Hestia felt a strange sense of peace. Even her excitement over the chance to freeload again had mellowed. That's right—she wasn't alone anymore. Her words and actions now represented the entire Hestia Familia... and Bell, who had just become her child.
'I don't want to look too pathetic in front of Bell.'
That was the last bit of dignity she had as the head of the Hestia Familia. Hestia didn't know whether Bell still saw her as someone respectable, but she didn't want to go back to her old, lazy self—especially not in front of him.
"Ahem! It's definitely worth discussing things with Hephaestus. Bell's Luck is a skill that benefits us tremendously. If we establish a partnership with Hephaestus, Bell will have a proper channel for handling Drop Items. Plus, I could ask Hephaestus to forge a weapon for you."
"!?"
Bell was caught off guard. He hadn't brought up weapons at all—so how had Goddess-sama already gotten to the point of asking Hephaestus to forge him one? He quickly tried to stop her.
"Goddess-sama, do you know how expensive weapons made by Hephaestus-sama are? Even if we multiplied all our assets tenfold, we probably still couldn't afford to commission one."
In the original story, Hestia did ask Hephaestus to make an upgradeable weapon. Sure, it was labeled at 200 million Valis—but anyone with sense knew that kind of weapon wouldn't go for less than 2 billion. That 200 million was likely just the cost of the materials.
Hephaestus didn't even treat it like a favor—she just slapped on a 200 million price tag up front. That alone says everything about how much pull Hestia really has. If it were any other god asking, Hephaestus wouldn't have blinked before quoting over 20 billion.
But was 20 billion Valis really that outrageous? The "200 million" weapon from the story could grow with its owner—it was practically alive. Once the wielder hit Level 5, the weapon would match that power. It was like gaining an extra Level 5 all on its own.
So, wouldn't a Level 5 be worth at least 20 billion Valis? And this wasn't just a Level 5 weapon—it had the potential to go even further. As long as its user grew fast enough, reaching Level 6 or even Level 7 wasn't out of the question.
Thinking about it like that, it was clear—Hestia's connections were seriously valuable.