29 Awakening(1/2)

Being able to observe the whole scene, Ouka said nothing, as he did not feel compelled to add anything, while Chigusa was visibly surprised by what had happened. While she was still brooding over the fight she had witnessed, Mikoto had already rushed to his rescue.

Deciding to go and check on the situation, Chigusa was able to observe closely the moment when Haru and Mikoto's eyes met. She could also see well the gentle smile Mikoto had on her face for him, which seemed to have induced Haru to rest. At that moment, Mikoto seemed much more like an angel who came down from heaven to help Haru, and the thought made her happy.

But as soon as this moment was over, Mikoto looked at the captain, with the gentle air she had around her moments ago vanished.

"...Captain. We must bring this boy to the surface. If monsters appeared in this room, then all his efforts to survive would have been in vain."

Her words resonated in the room, but while Chigusa didn't add anything, Ouka nodded.

"Taken to the surface, we can determine which family he's a part of, then we can go back to the dungeon or maybe take a break for today."

After watching Haru fight so relentlessly to preserve his life, Ouka felt a bit down. But if Chigusa planned to cheer him up, Mikoto instead was a bit worried about his injuries.

It was quite clear that the wounds were not deep. Yet Haru had nevertheless suffered numerous attacks from which to defend. It was the price of going on the offensive without caring about defending or dodging. However, Haru endured and found the strength to save himself from tragic situations without the help of others, and Mikoto thought all this was admirable. She hadn't yet had the opportunity to talk to him even once. However, by how he handled the sword and the clarity of his amber-coloured eyes, Mikoto understood the person with his head on her thighs was an honorable person.

Logically speaking, Chigusa would have to carry Haru to the surface as she was the weakest of the three. However, Chigusa's embarrassed expression changed the whole party's mind, deciding that Ouka would carry Haru instead as Mikoto took care of the strongest monsters and Chigusa of the weakest ones. Besides, it was also useful to increase the parameters of the latter since she was still far from level 2, even though it had now been almost a year since Mikoto and Ouka had respectively leveled up.

But agreeing in this plan, Ouka wasted no time taking the unconscious Haru on his shoulders, and now having her thighs free, Mikoto got up with Chigusa as she had a surprised expression on her face.

"M-Mikoto-san! Your boots a-are all stained with purple blood!"

Although the colour of the boots was not different from that of the blood, it was still quite visible, but in her words, Mikoto shook her head as it did not change much. If it had served to cushion the fall, compared to it having to wash a piece of clothing was nothing.

With Mikoto expressing her views on the matter, the group wasted no more time in conversation.

---

After an indefinite period, Haru felt as if the lightness in his mind weakened until he could hear the rustle of the wind. He opened his eyes slowly as the last memory he had, was that during his loss of consciousness, a girl slowed his falling to the ground until she gave him what he believed to be a lap pillow. However, Haru, being able to see that the ceiling and the surrounding walls were different from those of the Dungeon, could only sigh.

'That girl must have brought me back to the surface...'

On second thought, it now seemed strange to Haru that someone could arrive with such precision just before he fell to the floor, which is why he was sure he had been spied on during the fight, or at least the girl was not there recently. But he chose to interrupt these thoughts, for the time being. Removing the blanket, Haru tried to move. Noticing the pain in his arms was still there, he saw they were covered by bandages, excluding only from little before reaching the wrist.

'...It looks like I was hurt more than I could expect.'

Before he could try to get up, however, Haru heard someone knocking the door.

Confirmed that whoever it was could enter, Haru saw someone he did not expect to see there at all...

"Hestia...sama?"

Haru was confused. He knew things had settled down between them, but certainly not to the point where she was the first person he expected to see here. It would have been more believable to see Hephaestus or someone from his familia come to inform him of the situation, but he could not give voice to these thoughts before Hestia sighed.

"Don't get the wrong idea. The only reason I am here is a strange set of coincidences that only by thinking gives me a strong headache."

Sitting on the chair that was available in the room, Hestia hastily explained how the people who had brought him back to the surface were part of the Takemikazuchi Familia. She was looking for work right in the area before she could see Haru transported into one of the restrooms just outside the Dungeon.

Having little choice, Hestia had gone to the adventurers to ask what had happened. Once they explained the situation, Hestia learned that the three adventurers were part of the Takemikazuchi familia, but beyond that, she had to return home to inform Hephaestus. However, as the latter was busy with an important contract, she was unable to visit him, so she kindly asked her to notify him of the situation, Which is why Hestia was here now.

"You are quite unlucky, Hestia-sama. I don't mind if you leave."

At his words, however, Hestia sighed again, looking at him as if he had said the stupidest thing she had ever heard.

"You are the only one who doesn't mind. Hephaestus is worried about you. She certainly wouldn't have asked me to stay if it wasn't for that. Even if you want to do your best for Hephaestus, you can still indirectly damage her with your actions, remember it. But taking the rest away even I was impressed once I knew the tremendous amount of monsters you managed to defeat all by yourself. Your injuries are rather light, but wide and scattered throughout various parts of your body, which is why the Guild decided for at least a couple of days, you'll have to avoid going to the Dungeon. Besides, you'll need some equipment to suit your fighting style, but most of all, a new sword..."

Haru agreed with the armour but had no idea why she was referring to a new sword, but looking around, he noticed that the previous seemed to have disappeared.

"...Where is my sword..?"

Probably because of fatigue, Haru had erased the memory of his sword shattering, which is why he now did not remember this had happened.

"Your sword? Oh, don't you remember? From what they said, it broke into a thousand pieces shortly after you killed the last monster."

The news was like an arrow piercing Haru's heart directly. Even though the sword would have no longer been useful after a certain point, Haru had in mind to use his [Blacksmith] development ability to forge something similar to the sword the blacksmith had created to amaze her when he returned. Yet now he was told that his use of the sword had led to the latter's shattering.

Seeing Haru's expression change radically from a normal to a much more serious one, Hestia looked elsewhere as she sealed her lips for a moment.

"...Was it an important sword?"

At her words, Haru's eyes looked down.

"It was the first gift I have ever received in this world."

In this world, gifts were a much more abstract concept than they appeared to be. Making a gift here was certainly not as easy as making a gift in the previous world. It was precisely for this reason that Haru intended to leave the sword as a sort of memory to show himself where he had started, in addition to using it to observe the improvements in his ability to forge. However, all this was not possible now, and although he had no close bond with the blacksmith in his village, Haru felt decidedly down.

Being able to see this as well, Hestia had the opportunity to help him, and even if she didn't like it very much, she knew Hephaestus would be worried about him if she saw him in this state.

"So that was the first gift you ever got in this world. Yet you seem to have misunderstood the message behind it."

At her words, Haru glanced at her, which the latter did not hesitate to reciprocate. He was certainly not in the mood to indulge Hestia's playful attitude, but before he could express his desire to want her out of the room, the latter was faster.

"Whoever gave you that sword put their heart into it. And if your thought is probably to have shattered the first gift you have ever received, I inform you that your reasoning is wrong. Swords serve the purpose of defeating monsters, defending against people with bad intentions, yet they can shatter easily, but in the same way, can save your life in the moment of need. I believe that your sword shattered at the price of saving your life, exactly what the person who gave you the weapon wanted more than anything else, protect your life in their own way. You really want to throw these feelings away thinking selfishly the sword was a gift you had to hold onto, I wonder...?"

Hestia's words pierced him much more than he expected. In front of him, he did not have the classic Goddess who Haru used to see or who did nothing but show her laziness. Hestia had eyes that did not express any emotion whatsoever, but even if this was the case, he could not deny the veracity of her words. The blacksmith must have wanted to fill her wish into the sword, being able to save his life. If it had fallen fulfilling its purpose, then it could also be considered imbued by the honor of having shattered fulfilling the wish of its creator. Indeed, his desire to keep the sword with him and use it for anything else no longer seemed right as he thought.

"...I understand the meaning of your words, so please drop the facade, you are scarily serious, to be honest."

Not used to seeing this type of Hestia at all, he felt frightened by the seriousness behind her words. Yet as if everything that happened until a second ago had never happened, Hestia had a smile on her face, now returning to normal.

"See? It was easy to change your mindset. Remember to appreciate anything you receive for the purpose they have to fulfill, Haru Yamasomething-kun. Otherwise, you will end up causing problems to others and to yourself!"

Feeling rather proud to have Haru surrendered, Hestia raised her chest proudly as she nodded. However, it made Haru sigh, no longer knowing whether he preferred a Hestia that seemed so solemn as to be scary or one that boasted her ego for no reason at all...

---

(Hestia = Touma, NGL I can easily picture the two as similar in some ways. Btw join my discord.gg/y8VBZAp seriously I have candy!)

(Ah for some people who believed the story would be an Harem, it's not. This novel is a late romance with only 1 love interest, but there are several people who can becomed that 1 love interest, this is the clearest version I can offer of what will happen lmao)