Ch.12 Tsubaki Collbrande°
Morning of the fourth day after arriving in Orario.
At the door of the Hephaestus family, Estelle was wearing a pure white shirt on his upper body, a pair of khaki linen trousers on his lower body, and black boots on his feet.
He elbowed the blacksmith next to him and said, "Brother Kate, do you think my outfit suits me?"
Kate was the blacksmith Estelle met on his second day in Orario.
After two days of acting, he finally obtained the referral spot for the Hephaestus family from the other party.
The most important task today is to join the Hephaestus family.
Looking at Estelle's attire, the blacksmith Kate was a little speechless.
"A qualified blacksmith usually doesn't wear white clothes."
Just as he said this, a woman suddenly added in front of the two, "Remember, except for Lord Hephaestus!"
Hearing the voice, Estelle and Kate looked for it at the same time.
A woman with a black ponytail, an erotic upper body with only a bandage wrapped around her chest, a wheat-colored complexion, and a black eyepatch over her left eye is slowly walking in from outside.
"Captain!"
Seeing the face of the person coming, Kate respectfully called
This person is obviously the head of the Hephaestus family.
Hephaestus Familia's first-level adventurer, Tsubaki Collbrande, who is also the strongest mortal blacksmith, has reached Lv5!
While Estelle was looking at her curiously, Tsubaki was also looking at him.
"You are Estelle, right? I heard from Kate that you are quite strong." Coming in front of the two of them, Tsubaki raised his hand and patted Estelle's shoulder, seemingly light.
But only he himself knows that Tsubaki's shot must have a force of at least two tons.
Estelle's strength is undeniable, but his legs were bent, and he almost sat on the ground.
However, Tsubaki's eyes lit up when she saw this scene, and she couldn't help but exclaim, "Good boy, you are born with supernatural power!"
"With the strength of this body alone, I'm afraid it's almost reaching the middle of a Lv1 adventurer!"
Letting go of his hands, Tsubaki took a step back.
When she looked at Estelle again, her eyes were shining, but she said on her lips, "Whether you can become a member of the Hephaestus family or not, you still need the approval of Lord Hephaestus."
"Kate, go back first and leave the rest to me," Tsubaki turned to look at Kate beside him and said.
Kate has done everything she can do, and before leaving, he can only raise his hand and hit her on the shoulder to show his encouragement.
It seems that patting the shoulder is one of the hobbies of most forgers; it can be said that this is their greeting to those close to them.
Watching him leave, Tsubaki then spoke to Estelle.
"Follow me to meet Lord Hephaestus."
After speaking, she walked back to the Hephaestus family first.
Step forward and stride to keep up with Tsubaki in front of you.
...
Hephaestus Familia, Main Base
Estelle, who followed Tsubaki into it, saw a woman with short red hair who was concentrating on measuring something with a ruler.
When I glanced closely, I found out that she was measuring the drawing data.
"My lord, people have been brought here."
It wasn't until Hephaestus, who was wearing a white shirt, slowly put down the measuring tool in his hand that Tsubaki began to report.
During the period, Estelle stood silently behind Tsubaki, shocked by Hephaestus appearance.
Quickly calming himself, he no longer dared to have eye contact with her.
"Your name is Estelle, right?"
In the face of a god who has lived for hundreds of millions of years and has countless experiences, all Estelle can do is empty his heart and try not to think about things other than joining the Hephaestus family.
"Yes, Goddess Hephaestus," Estelle replied, neither humble nor overbearing.
Slowly walking out from behind the table, Hephaestus crossed his arms and sat on the table with his hips raised. His left eye, which was not covered by the blindfold, looked at the young man opposite him.
"Can you tell me why you joined my family?"
In the presence of a god, the lies of mortals mean nothing.
So Estelle replied very frankly: "My main purpose, just like any other adventurer, was to become stronger."
"Perhaps Freya and the Loki Familia can provide me with a better growth space, but I am confident that I can grow up quickly even without a leader."
"So instead of adding to the icing on the cake, I might as well choose the Hephaestus Familia, who can provide me with greater assistance."
After Estelle's voice fell, the entire forging room fell into silence.
Until half a minute later.
Hephaestus, who crossed his arms, spoke quietly.
"It seems that you are very confident in yourself.
For this problem, Estelle had thought about it beforehand, but silence is better than words, and all decisions are up to Hephaestus; adding more words means losing credibility.
Hearing this answer, Hephaestus stared at Estelle seriously, and after about ten seconds passed, she smiled.
"I have understood your thoughts, but as a member of the Hephaestus family, forging is an indispensable skill."
"So I will inspect your forging skill someday. If you fail to meet the standard, you will be punished."
Hearing that Hephaestus allowed him to join the family, Estelle quickly nodded.
"Thank you very much, Goddess Hephaestus, for giving me this opportunity!"
Seeing Estelle bow his head to express his gratitude, Tsubaki stepped forward to help him up with a smile on his face and said in a very soft tone, "Joining the family is an inseparable family, so you don't have to be so reserved in front of us."
"Um... where do you live now?"
"Temporarily staying at the Hostess of Fertility."
"Oh, so it's there."
"That place is really nice, but since we are all in the same family, it is necessary for everyone to live together. I will arrange a room for you later."
"It's still early; you should go back and move your things to the family. Later, I will conclude a contract with you and give you the favor of God," Hephaestus quickly said as she rubbed his forehead in annoyance due to the behavior of Tsubaki.
Naturally, Estelle would not have any dissatisfaction with this arrangement, as the accommodation fee could be reduced by two or three thousand a day.
"Okay, Goddess Hephaestus, I'm going to move things now."
When Estelle walked out of the forging room with a little excitement, Tsubaki, who was silent at the door, spoke in again, looking at his master god with a questioning tone.
"My lord, can you see anything?"
Tsubaki's attitude towards Hephaestus is obviously much more serious than when facing family members.
"A very talented kid."
"Although he seems to have deliberately concealed something, the idea of joining the family is not fake."
The losses in our familia are huge. So we also need fresh blood. Compared with other gods, I trust my intuition more than my eyes."
"Tsubaki, take care of this child. Being able to go to the dungeon while surviving again and again without falna is an amazing feat, which also shows his forbearance.
"Okay, my lord."