Goddess of the Forge

The next day, Kazuya left the inn. Haruhime's, as usual, was with him. It's not like he can leave her alone, it would be dangerous for her.

So now the two were walking around casually. As a side note, Kazuya and Haruhime got new clothes. He bought it from the system.

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"Hey, you!"

When they were walking, they heard a voice calling out to them. Kazuya turned around and was stunned.

He saw a beautiful woman, she has red hair with an eye patch on the right side of her face. Getting out of his stunned state, he pointed at himself.

"Me?" He asked feeling confused. Hephaestus shouldn't know him, right?

Hephaestus nodded, "Yes you, can you help carry these materials to our workshops? Don't worry, I'll pay you" she explained.

Kazuya's eyes shined as he got an idea, "Okay, but may I know where this needs to be carried? We're new here in Orario, so can you please guide me?" He said while pointing at himself and Haruhime at his side.

Hephaestus looks beside him and saw a little girl. She nodded, "Alright, by the way, my name is Hephaestus nice to meet you"

Kazuya pretended to be surprised, "Ah, my apologies for my previous conduct, Hephaestus-sama" He bowed his head slightly as respect.

"It's okay"

He nodded and stared at the crates of materials, he approached them and stored them into his inventory.

Hephaestus was surprised upon seeing the materials suddenly disappearing. She turned to Kazuya, "What did you do?" she asked curiously.

'Yes, successfully got her attention. A chance to join her familia' Kazuya rejoiced in his mind but outside he merely smiled and started his bullsh*t.

"You can say it's a unique ability of mine." technically it has some truth into it since he has the system and his inventory could be said to be a unique ability or skill of him, right?

She nodded and didn't ask further but her interest was piqued, as with this ability they can transport materials easily. Especially in a dungeon expedition, it would be convenient to have him.

With that in mind, Hephaestus asked him some questions about his ability while she guides him towards their workshop. She inquired things like how much is the capacity he can store, etc.

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After minutes of walking, they finally arrived. Hephaestus led him to the warehouse and had him store the materials there.

After finishing his task, Hephaestus asked him, "Can you come with me for a bit? I have something to talk to you, she can also follow" she said while staring at Haruhime.

He nodded and followed her to her office. Of course, Haruhime was following him closely. After arriving there, Hephaestus signaled for them to sit.

"I wanted to talk to you since I know your ability has so much potential, especially for my familia. You also should know this right? Since from what I saw, you deliberately have me see your ability. You also explained it to me." She paused for a bit and stared at him, she saw Kazuya was just smiling. "You could have just carry the box one by one but you had me see your unique ability. What is your purpose? No, I suppose I can tell.." she continued.

Kazuya chuckled and admitted it, "hehe, as you've guessed Hephaestus-sama. I want to join your familia along Haruhime. So do you agree with us joining?" He asked while smiling.

What happened was all according to Kazuya's plan. Just like Hephaestus said, he deliberately showed his ability to store items in a different space, aka his inventory.

He knew that his ability would pique her interest since it was a very convenient ability. And it is very useful especially in dungeon exploration as they can just store whatever they got there, and It will lessen their luggage which in turn makes their journey back faster.

Just these points were already attractive for any familia, and there was still much good use for his ability.

She sighed, "As you've already said, alright I will have you two join my familia" Hephaestus agreed, it's not like she will lose anything in fact she gained more.

Kazuya smiled brightly when she heard her. In fact , what he did was a gamble on his part. As even though his ability was useful, the Hephaestus familia doesn't really lack men to carry some luggage or something.

But it seems Hephaestus thought of much more uses for his ability. And that's why his gamble paid off.

After that Hephaestus gave them her falna, making them officially part of her familia. She was surprised upon seeing their status.

And Haruhime got her strong support skill. She was surprised seeing that skill. It was very strong if Haruhime utilise it greatly.

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After they were done with the ceremony, Hephaestus sighed. "Did you know about her skill?" she asked Kazuya.

He nodded seriously while Haruhime was just silent as she already told him the skill. "That's also one of the reasons, I wanted to join your familia, it's because I want Haruhime to be protected." He explained while Haruhime who was listening became happy.

Hephaestus nodded, "Good thinking, so you want her to be a member of my familia so even if some people knew her skill, she wouldn't be targetted"

"Yes, and for that, I thank you for accepting us" He bowed his head, he truly pities her about what happened to Haruhime so he wants her to have some kind of protection at least. Since he knew he will eventually leave this world.

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After talking to Hephaestus for a bit more, the two soon left. Leaving Hephaestus alone in her office.

After they left, someone entered her office. It was a beautiful woman with long black hair and tanned skin. She had an eye patch on her left eye.

"Who were those two? That young man, I could feel danger from him" Tsubaki Collbrande, is the name of the woman who entered Hephaestus's office.

"Oh? Do you think he's strong?" Hephaestus asked, she knew Tsubaki is strong and could easily perceive danger from her opponents whether people or monsters.

Tsubaki nodded, "He is strong, I can feel danger from him. Although I don't know who he is but for him to give me a dangerous feeling, he can only be strong. By the way, is he some high leveled adventurer I don't know?" she asked curiously.

Hephaestus chuckled, "No, he's only level one"

"What?! Impossible" Tsubaki exclaimed and asked Hephaestus more questions. Of course, they didn't know that although Kazuya was level one currently, he was much stronger than that since he got ki.