Chapter 21: The Shura Field of 'Justice' and 'Forging' (Mid) (Patreon)

Fair competition?

Competing over what?

Me?

Renan fired off three silent retorts, though his face didn't change in the slightest.

Once the words sank in, he bowed again toward the red-haired goddess. "Lady Hephaestus, I believe I already told you yesterday evening, but I'll say it once more. I'm doing well enough in the Soma Familia, and I have no intention of transferring out for quite some time."

The words had barely left his mouth when Hephaestus's snort sounded beside his ear. "Your 'well enough' means you can't even update your Falna and had to run to Astraea for help?"

Clearly, during her visit to the Soma Familia's headquarters that afternoon, Hephaestus had gotten Soma to tell her everything about the boy standing in front of her.

Hearing the retort stirred Renan's temper, and he stiffened his neck and started spouting nonsense. "On a subjective level, at least, that's honestly how I feel."

He didn't enjoy any of the Familia's perks, and he didn't have to work for it either.

Nominally he belonged to the Soma Familia, and that was it. In every other respect, neither Soma nor Captain Zanis had any hold on him.

Hell, if Zanis ever got water on the brain and really pissed him off, Renan could pull a power-minister's coup from ancient China in his past life. He'd hand that bastard over to the military police and install a captain who listened to him. Not that it was even a stretch. With the pile of garbage Zanis had pulled in the anime, he'd be locked up in Vice City until he died of old age!

If this didn't count as good, then life in any other Familia could only be even more "miserable."

Hephaestus, however, didn't see it that way. "Heh, Young Renan, that's no fun. Whatever the Soma Familia can give you, the Hephaestus Familia can give you more. Valis, equipment, power, medicine, fame, and pretty girls too…"

Right then, Astraea, who had been silent until now, suddenly pressed her palms together. A crisp clap drew both their attention.

A gentle smile never left her face, yet for some reason, both Hephaestus and Renan sensed an inexplicable pressure in the brown-haired goddess's expression.

"…" x2

Astraea glanced at the boy beside her.

Then she turned to the old friend she'd known since their days in Heaven. "Hephaestus, if you come on too strong, the children will start to dislike you, you know~"

Hephaestus's eyes drifted away, and she muttered under her breath, "Says the one who'd love to make a move on this kid herself."

Astraea acted as though she hadn't heard a word, and simply let out a soft "Hm?"

The red-haired goddess shuddered from head to toe, as if a natural predator had locked onto her, and threw both hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine, I apologize for what I just said. Young Renan, sorry about that. But if you ever want it, the doors of the Hephaestus Familia will always be open to you."

With Astraea's intervention shutting down the transfer talk, Renan breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, he still had to say the polite thing. "Being favored by Lady Hephaestus is my honor."

"Heh, you really are something." Hephaestus had now witnessed the full extent of Renan's thick skin. He knew perfectly well that gods could see through lies, yet he kept spouting pretty words even he didn't believe. "If it's really an honor, then let me stand to the side and take a peek when you update your Falna in a bit."

Other adventurers and patron gods would have considered the request somewhat overstepping, but Renan honestly didn't mind.

His true core secret was hidden in plain sight, like the answer to a riddle. Since Astraea had already confirmed it for him, he was eighty or ninety percent certain, if not a full hundred, that no god in Orario could guess it.

As for his other skills and magic, they were rare enough, but that was all.

Renan was about to agree when Astraea's voice rang out once more beside him. "Hephaestus, you've stayed at the Star Hall quite a while today. If you don't head back soon, your children will start to worry."

Renan/Hephaestus: "…"

About two seconds later, the red-haired goddess coughed lightly and stood up, though one hand still gripped the rune scroll tightly. "I'll take this back and study it at my leisure. Hehe~ I'm sure you wouldn't mind, Astraea?"

Astraea kept smiling the whole time. "We were friends in Heaven. It's just a trifling possession. If you want it, of course I'm willing to give it to you."

—But it could only ever be a trifling possession.

She left the second half unspoken. Then again, how long had Hephaestus and Astraea known each other? How could she possibly miss it?

"All right, I'll be on my way for tonight." As she spoke, she had already walked up beside Renan and was about to leave the Star Hall.

But in the next instant, for reasons known only to herself, Hephaestus suddenly stopped. With lightning speed she shot out her left arm and mercilessly squished Renan's cheek.

Once her mischief was done, she nodded her head in satisfaction and delivered her verdict. "Mm, nice feel."

…

Hephaestus did leave in the end.

But the mood in the first-floor living room of the Star Hall hardly improved with her departure.

Silence crept in.

After quite a while, a faint, almost imperceptible sigh sounded beside Renan's ear. Then Astraea's soft, warm fingers gently (tightly) gently (tightly) clasped the boy's palm.

"Let's go update your Falna first," the brown-haired goddess suggested.

Renan didn't refuse. Or rather, he couldn't. "Okay."

This was already their third Falna update, so the whole process went smoothly, like second nature.

A little over two minutes later.

"…Done."

Astraea handed over the parchment inscribed with the boy's Falna information, her tone still gentle.

"Counting Magic, all five of your stats are now above 200. The growth isn't as huge as last time, though. Barring accidents, your stats will keep growing more and more slowly. To reach D from where you are, you'll need to use Thunder Breathing around the clock for about three weeks, maybe even a month. Magic has to be calculated separately."

"As for skills and spells… unfortunately, nothing new appeared this time."

She had expected as much. After all, nobody could awaken a brand-new skill or spell every few days. Even so, a flicker of disappointment crossed Astraea's face as she spoke.

Renan nodded at her words. He felt neither delight nor surprise at the speed his visible strength was growing.

He knew full well that he was just an ordinary person. The only reason he could grow faster than the other adventurers in Orario was that he shared the Breathing Techniques of the Demon Slayer world.