Tsubaki was a bit hesitant, seeing how serious Emiya was. She didn't know if he was telling the truth.
Did he really have important information that concerned
the Hephaestus Familia?
Or was it just a prank?
After all, he was from the Loki Familia.
Tsubaki couldn't help but think this way, as Loki's reputation had spread throughout Orario a long time
ago.
She had even started battles among the gods for her own amusement.
The Goddess of Pranks was known to all.
After a brief thought, Tsubaki asked, "Do you have any proof that what you're saying is true?"
Emiya thought for a moment and pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to Tsubaki. "You can give this
to Hephaestus."
"What is this?" Tsubaki was baffled. She had no idea what it was.
Emiya took the phone back, opened the camera function, and snapped a picture of Tsubaki. He then handed it back
to her.
"What do you think? Pretty, right?"
Tsubaki's eyes widened when she saw the picture of herself on the phone screen. "This... this..."
"Now, go give this to the goddess Hephaestus. I'm sure she'll see me," Emiya said with a smile.
"Please wait a moment." Tsubaki didn't quite understand what the phone was, but she had a vague sense of its value. She took off and ran to present it to her goddess.
Erina looked at Tsubaki's disappearing back and asked, a little confused, "Is that really going to work?"
"Of course. A cell phone or a camera is an unimaginably valuable treasure to this world. I'm sure someone with Hephaestus's insight will realize its value."
Emiya said with certainty. "Don't forget, she's the goddess of blacksmithing."
As expected, Tsubaki returned a moment later and said to Emiya, "The goddess Hephaestus would like to see
you."
"Then please lead the way, Miss Tsubaki," Emiya said.
Tsubaki nodded and led the way.
The group followed Tsubaki through the back door of the shop, down a wide, winding corridor, and finally arrived at the door of an office.
Tsubaki opened the door and walked in.
"Goddess, they're here."
"Come in," a magnetic voice said from inside.
Emiya, Erina, and Hisako entered the spacious office, and Emiya's eyes quickly landed on the red-haired goddess sitting behind a large desk, playing with the phone. Hephaestus.
Yes, this famous blacksmithing goddess from the God Realm, like Loki, had vivid red hair. However, Hephaestus's red hair was like a burning flame.
Her slender, sharp-angled features showed a strong will.
The precious metal earring on her ear seemed to pale in comparison to her fiery beauty.
The most striking thing about her face was the black leather patch that covered half of it. It was very similar to her Familia leader's.
Or rather, the black-haired, red-eyed Tsubaki was simply imitating this goddess.
"Are you the ones who wanted to see me?"
Emiya nodded. "To be precise, I was the one who wanted to see you, Goddess Hephaestus. These two are not here for you, but for Hestia."
"Hestia?" Hephaestus's eyes showed a bit of surprise when Emiya mentioned her friend.
"Yes, they're here to join the Hestia Familia."
"Join Hestia's Familia?"
"Yes, but we can talk about that later. Let's talk about the item in your hand first, Goddess Hephaestus." With just a few words, Emiya easily took control of the conversation.
Hephaestus obviously realized this, but she didn't say anything. The conversational lead didn't matter to her.
She was more interested in the item in her hand.
"What do you call this thing?"
"A cell phone."
"What does it do?"
"It's a convenient tool for surfing the internet, making calls, recording videos, and taking pictures."
"Taking pictures? Like this?" Hephaestus pulled up the photo Emiya had taken of Tsubaki.
Emiya nodded. "That's right. Using the camera function, you can capture a person's most beautiful moments in the phone. You can also print them out into actual photos. Even when you're old, you can look at these photos and remember your best times."
Hephaestus was moved. "That's a fantastic invention."
"Indeed."
"And what about 'surfing the internet'?" Hephaestus asked again.
"I'm sorry, that function can't be used at the moment, so I can't show you. But I can promise you it's a very useful function, one that people can easily get addicted to."
"Really?" Hephaestus was non-committal. Then she asked,
"What about making calls?"
"Although this function also can't be shown, I can tell you that people can use it to talk to others from a distance, perhaps even across the entire world."
Hephaestus couldn't help but say, "If what you say is true, this thing you call a cell phone is undoubtedly a priceless treasure."
Emiya shook his head. "No, no, no. A cell phone is
valuable, but once you understand the principles behind it, it can be mass-produced. It's far from priceless. The real priceless treasure is the technology to manufacture this cell phone."
Hephaestus was silent for a moment. Then she turned to Tsubaki. "Tsubaki, can you leave for a moment?"
Tsubaki nodded and left without any complaint.
After Tsubaki was gone, Hephaestus closed the office door and sighed.
"You're coming to me so openly. Aren't you afraid I'll rob you? Person from another world."
Emiya clapped his hands. "As expected of the goddess Hephaestus. You figured out our identity so quickly."
Hephaestus pouted and held up the phone.
"Don't take us gods for fools. This thing doesn't look like it's from this world at all, does it?" Then she rubbed her temples.
"The gods know there is more than one world, but none of
us have ever found a way to another world. I never thought people from another world would show up so brazenly. You're not trying to hide it at all."
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