Hearing those words, Hermes felt his brain buzz like it had been struck by lightning.
His lips parted, wanting to say a few more words of persuasion, but the moment he saw Ryota's calm, deep eyes—completely free of hesitation, arrogance, or recklessness—his voice got stuck in his throat.
There was only a quiet, composed confidence there.
The kind of composure born from true mastery of power.
"Tch…"
"Not arrogance, huh…"
Hermes muttered, brow furrowed with complicated emotions.
After a moment's thought, he finally sighed, waving a hand.
"Good luck, Ryota."
He didn't press the matter further, simply turned and nodded at Asfi.
"Let's go."
The blue-haired girl pushed up her glasses, took one more look at Ryota, then glanced at Karasu, which was still lying in pieces on the workbench. A spark of intense interest flickered in her eyes.
"Next time," she said softly,
"you'll have to show me the finished version, okay?"
"Of course. As long as you don't mind a rough build, I can even show you its internals next time."
Something like this puppet—neither driven by a magic stone nor classifiable as a standard magic item—had never appeared before in this world.
For someone like Asfi, who made magic gear for a living, it was practically a treasure trove.
Her eyes brightened, and she looked like she wanted to ask more, but Hermes coughed lightly beside her, pulling her back to reality.
With some reluctance, she waved.
"Then it's settled."
With that, she followed Hermes out of the forge.
The workshop grew quiet once more, leaving only the half-cooled steel on the anvil and the crackling furnace.
Hephaestus didn't leave right away. Instead, she stood there, quietly watching Ryota work on the disassembled Karasu. Then she let out a soft laugh.
"So, have you thought about what your life in the Freya Familia is going to be like?"
Ryota froze, then looked up, exasperated.
"Why is even Lady Hephaestus saying that?"
"No one expects you to win, that's just reality."
Hephaestus shrugged, the mature charm of the red-haired goddess practically overflowing in that moment.
"This forge room will be yours from now on. If you ever need materials, just come to me."
"For real?!"
Ryota's eyes lit up immediately.
"Then I want a few things right now!"
He thought for a second, then rattled off a list of materials perfect for enhancing puppets.
Hephaestus: "…"
The corners of her mouth twitched, and she stared at him for a moment before sighing deeply.
"Is it possible," she said,
"that I was just being polite?"
Ryota put on his best harmless, innocent smile.
"In times like these, you never know—turning down a god's polite offer might shave ten years off your life."
Hephaestus rolled her eyes, but in the end, she didn't refuse.
"Fine. Write a list. I'll have someone pick it up later and bring the materials over."
"But only this once! Although…"
"Although what?"
Seeing the sly grin slowly spread across the goddess's face, Ryota felt a chill down his spine.
"But if you join my Familia, you can use as many materials as you want. I'd even smooth things over with Freya for you."
Ryota: ???
There it is! She showed her dagger!
He was about to refuse, but before he could say anything, the grin on Hephaestus' face turned playful, like she'd already predicted exactly how he'd react.
"Kidding, kidding. I'll still get you those materials. Now get back to work."
With that, she turned, pushed open the forge door, and left.
Walking a few steps down the main hall of the Hephaestus Familia's headquarters, Hephaestus lifted her head to gaze at the Orario skyline, softly murmuring,
"If only I'd been on Northern Mainstreet that day…"
"Ryota of the Hephaestus Familia… doesn't sound too bad."
…
Three days flew by in a blur.
During those days, Ryota was practically glued to the forge at the Hephaestus Familia.
The piles of materials around him silently grew higher and higher.
Hephaestus' so-called "just this once" had, in some sense, turned into the biggest lie of those three days.
Every morning, Ryota would scribble down a new materials list, and by afternoon, sweaty porters would haul in fresh deliveries, including rare alloys and advanced magic components, with a loud bang bang bang.
"Um… Lady Hephaestus really meant for me to have all this?"
Ryota had to ask for confirmation, only to get a wry smile in response from the manager.
"She said if you needed it, then you needed it."
Ryota fell silent.
Was this really just this once, or an unlimited supply?
As for whether these materials were racking up some hidden debt—he really didn't dare ask.
But since they were there, of course he'd use them.
Ryota quietly sighed about how hard it was to repay favors, then doubled down on his work.
With a final strike of his hammer, a crisp, steady clang rang out.
Sparks danced, and the upgraded puppet Karasu was at last complete.
It stood silently on the anvil. At first glance, it didn't look that different from the earlier three-eyed, four-armed weird puppet, still carrying that blend of creepy and mechanical beauty.
But on closer inspection—
Its chest now housed a faintly glowing pale blue core.
It was a high-purity magic crystal, structured almost exactly like the Arc Reactor from Ryota's past life on Earth.
At its center, a gentle but pulsing ring of light rotated, transmitting a stable flow of energy, like a heartbeat.
Infused with his Mystery development ability, its function had been tuned to Power.
Just like the hidden property of Ryota's Kusanagi Sword.
And that wasn't all.
His eyes shifted to Karasu's four arms.
Those had been reforged by his own hands, each one inlaid with guiding seals for Lightning Style chakra and slots for Fire Style chakra.
In other words—
Ryota could now flood this puppet with either lightning or fire chakra at any time, and then, thanks to the core's power, push its might to a whole new level!
The only shame was—
Ryota looked down at the Karasu in his hands. He still hadn't figured out how to fully embed ninjutsu inside a puppet.
"Time… there's never enough time."
He stored the Karasu back, then glanced out the window.
Night had fallen.
Outside the forge, Orario shimmered with gentle lantern light. In the distance came a few muffled dog barks and the faint strings of a bard's song drifting out of a tavern.
Tomorrow would mark the official start of the first round of the War Game!
Ryota stood, stretched his back, and tidied up the forge.
"No telling when I'll be back next."
He chuckled softly, then pushed open the door and stepped into the night.
As he left the Hephaestus Familia, he noticed the streets of Orario seemed unusually restless.
It was like a fever had begun to spread through the crowds.
Tavern doors stood wide open, drunkards yelling about "the bets" and "Ryota."
Peddlers hawked War Game good-luck charms mixed in with their usual wares.
Even the posters slapped on the walls showed a dramatic showdown portrait of him versus Ottar, with huge bold letters:
A Battle of Fate! Orario's Ultimate Duel!
…Buddy, are you serious?
Ryota's eyelid twitched.
He suddenly had the illusion he wasn't in Orario anymore, but had somehow crossed into an entertainment-world timeline that survived on hype alone.
"This is getting ridiculous…"
He shook his head and picked up the pace toward Twilight Manor.
The moment he stepped through the doors, he spotted those familiar faces sprawled around the lobby sofas.
Except—
Loki was slumped against the cushions, yawning over and over. Finn looked dead tired, like life had punched him three times in a row. Even Lady Riveria was rubbing at her eyes.
As for the others, Bete, the Hiryute Sisters, Lefiya—they were all drooping, on the verge of nodding off.
The only one still as composed as ever was the doll-like princess, Ais.
The blonde girl sat straight-backed on a bench, unmoving, staring at the front door.
As soon as she saw Ryota, she tilted her head slightly and spoke in a soft voice.
"Welcome back…"
Hearing that, everyone practically whooshed to their feet at the same time.
"Ryota, you're finally back!"
Finn rushed over, holding a massive stack of papers, and shoved them into Ryota's arms before he could even stand steady.
"These are all the tactical scenarios you might use in tomorrow's battle! Gareth, Riveria, and I spent three days straight working them out!"
"Every page simulates Ottar's attack patterns, his preferred moves, and possible counters you could try…"
Ryota stood there dumbfounded, staring at the mountain of documents.
A second later, Loki also stepped forward, wearing a rare look of total seriousness.
"And Ryota, we have one favor to ask…"
"That giant skeleton, you know, the one that smashed Riveria's defense magic in one blow… could you maybe… use that at the very end?"
"We get it, that's your trump card, right?"
"Better to keep a trump card for the finish, yeah?"
In Orario, trump cards had nothing to do with Falna blessings, but were rather moves Adventurers developed on their own—skills, magic, or techniques honed through training or experience, usually for finishing blows.
Though Loki was a bit off on one point—
Ryota had more than just one trump card.
He looked down at the tactical mountain in his arms, then at the haggard, sleep-deprived war freaks in front of him, and asked,
"So… none of you have slept these past few days?"
"Sleep? You're asking about sleep?"
Loki's hair practically stood on end.
"You really think a War Game is a game?!"
"You just tossed us a 'sure, put me in,' then ran off to hammer steel! We tried to find you, but Miss Ais here blocked us."
She shot a resentful look at Ais, who was still watching Ryota with bright, unwavering eyes, and a few more stress lines appeared on her forehead.
"With you gone, the only thing we could do was work out strategy for you!"
"So hurry up and go through those papers, then tell us what you think."
Ryota smiled.
"What I think, huh…"
"I think—
it's time to make Ottar taste despair."
Loki: ?
Everyone: ??