Chapter 33 — I Can Pay You With My Body!
Hephaestus stared at Shin Akira, hesitation flickering in her single visible eye. Her lips parted as if she were about to speak—but in the end, she chose silence.
Noticing the subtle shift in her expression, Shin Akira tilted his head slightly, sensing something off.
"Hephaestus-sama... is there something on your mind?"
"Shin Akira... be honest with me. Are you a child of the gods?"
"...Huh?"
The question caught him completely off guard.
A demigod? Where the hell did that come from?
Back in his original world—and even now after crossing over—he'd never had any ties to divine lineage.
Well... there was that one time in DxD when he defeated Loki, the mischievous Norse god, but aside from that? Zero divine ancestry.
"Your growth rate is... unbelievable. Just three days, and you've already come this far. If I didn't know for a fact you had no Falna before this, I would've assumed you were some high-ranking adventurer in disguise."
"Maybe I was just born with a bit of extra talent? Still, Hephaestus-sama... no matter where I came from, I'm a member of your Familia now, right?"
"Hmph... says who?"
She looked away with a cold expression, but her voice held a subtle tremble.
In Orario, bonds between gods and their Familia could be unshakably strong—or painfully fragile.
Plenty of adventurers had left their gods behind, switching allegiances for better offers or personal ambition. Even the Hephaestus Familia had lost a few members over the years.
The truth was, many gods treated their followers like mere pawns—or worse, servants. Only a few deities, like Hephaestus and Loki, truly saw their Familia as family.
To most gods, mortals were nothing more than insects from the Lower World. Granting them a Falna was already an act of divine generosity.
"If you're feeling uncertain about me, Hephaestus-sama... there's actually a very simple way to put your mind at ease—"
"You pervert! I'm a goddess! How could you even think of something like that!?"
As soon as Shin Akira leaned in and whispered something into her ear, her entire face went crimson. She shoved him back in a flustered panic, glaring daggers at him.
Akira simply raised both hands in surrender, grinning shamelessly. Whether she accepted his offer or not didn't really matter to him.
"Alright, alright. Let's drop the topic. More importantly—dinner. I brought some delicious food today."
"Hmph! Don't think you can just distract me with food! What you just said was blasphemous!"
"Yes, yes. I'm terribly sorry. Please forgive this foolish mortal."
He accepted the scolding without resistance. Taking the blame didn't cost him anything—and honestly, it felt a little like trying to cheer up a grumpy girlfriend. Kinda fun, in a weird way.
Akira pulled out the boxed meals he'd bought from the market and began setting them on the table.
But just as everything was ready, he paused. Something—or rather, someone—was missing.
He glanced around and noticed the bedroom door was wide open, and the room inside was empty.
"Hephaestus-sama, where's Hestia-sama?"
"Hm? Oh, she went to the bookstore. Lately, she's been obsessed with reading Lower World romance novels. Seems like she's gotten completely hooked on fictional love stories."
"...Eh."
So this was how it started.
Shin Akira mentally took note. No wonder Hestia would eventually turn into that overly attached, emotionally dependent goddess with zero members in her Familia.
Spoiled by Hephaestus, lost in fiction, and no initiative to seek out adventurers of her own. It was only a matter of time before she ended up freeloading in someone else's basement.
"Well, her absence isn't all bad. It means we get to enjoy some alone time, right, Hephaestus-sama?"
"W-Who wants to spend alone time with you!?"
Her voice rose a pitch, and her cheeks reddened again. The words said "no," but the look in her eyes didn't quite match her tone.
Classic tsundere.
"Oh, by the way—Hephaestus-sama, do you know how much a First Class Weapon from our Familia costs?"
"Why do you ask? Planning to buy one? I heard from Tsubaki that you took twenty-four weapons from the workshop already. Sure, they were all rejects, but for a beginner like you, that's more than enough."
"It is. For now. But I'm thinking about the future. Our weapons are famous across the continent. I figured I should start saving."
"Hmph. Saving? You? Even if you made two hundred thousand valis in a single day, the cheapest First Class Weapon starts at eight million valis. And that's for the most basic model. The top-tier ones go for over a billion."
"Ugh..."
Akira froze. His expression went blank, like his soul had momentarily left his body.
Was she mocking him? Or seriously underestimating him?
"Hephaestus-sama... please... support my lifestyle. I'm so tired of struggling alone…"
Without hesitation, Shin Akira wrapped his arms around her slender waist and put on his most pitiful face.
Hephaestus didn't know how to react. She stiffened instantly.
But the moment she felt his hands subtly shifting toward... certain areas... her instincts kicked in.
So this was all a trap!?
Even so, she wasn't entirely angry. Embarrassed, yes—but maybe... a little happy?
After all, no matter how divine she was, Hephaestus was still a woman. And every woman wants to be noticed—especially by someone she might actually like.
"Stop that right now! If you want money, go earn it yourself! 'Support your lifestyle,' my ass!"
With her face almost as red as her hair, she pushed him away forcefully.
"But we've gotten so close... how about a little discount, then?"
"We are not that close! But... a discount, huh? I suppose it could be discussed."
"How much?"
"As recognition of your... rare talent, I'll give you twenty percent off."
Twenty percent!?
That was huge. For items that cost millions, that meant saving hundreds of thousands.
"In that case... could you maybe bump it up a little more?"
"Huh? You mean... more than twenty?"
"Yup. I was thinking... maybe a ninety percent discount?"
"GET OUT!!"
Ninety percent!? Why not just ask for it for free!?
At that price, she wouldn't even be able to cover the raw materials!
"If I don't have the money... I could always pay with my body…"
"WHO THE HELL WOULD TAKE YOUR BODY AS PAYMENT!?"
Hephaestus exploded again, completely unable to follow this guy's train of thought.
When he kept quiet, he seemed like a refined, noble young man. But the moment he opened his mouth—it was pure chaos.
Still... what she didn't realize was that bit by bit, the distance between them was shrinking.
Like the old saying goes: If you want a girl to feel comfortable around you, tease her just a little. Once she gets used to it, you're already halfway there.
Of course... that only works if the girl already likes you to begin with.
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