No matter where you go, night always brings a certain dimness.
Even though Orario was bustling after dark, visibility was still much poorer compared to the daylight hours.
Seven days had passed, but the buzz around Alice showed no signs of dying down. If anything, it seemed to be growing even more fervent.
Walking alongside Hestia on the road to the Hephaestus Familia's home, Alice could sense the people around her—it felt like they were all talking about her. She couldn't make out the words clearly, but she caught enough to gather it had something to do with her and the Loki Familia.
Being the subject of everyone's chatter made Alice a bit uncomfortable, though it was still preferable to having every single pair of eyes fixed directly on her.
Soon enough, Hestia and Alice arrived at Babel Tower.
The Hephaestus Familia, aside from their own Familia's main building, had also rented several storefronts within Babel Tower. It was a clear display of their substantial wealth and influence.
These days, Hephaestus herself could mostly be found residing in the upper levels of Babel.
Hestia expertly located Hephaestus's door and raised her hand to knock without hesitation.
Bang, bang, bang!
"Hephaestus! Open up~ I've brought your dear Alice-chan, the one you've been dreaming of day and night!!"
Hestia shouted loudly. If it weren't so late, with few adventurers around, her outburst would undoubtedly have been the most eye-catching spectacle on this entire floor.
The moment Hestia finished her cry, Alice—who was looking at Hestia with a strange expression—immediately heard a series of hurried footsteps from behind the door.
Thud!
The door was flung open, revealing a stunning red-haired beauty whose face was slightly flushed as she glared at Hestia.
"Hestia! What kind of nonsense are you spouting now?!"
"Well, if it isn't Hephaestus! Long time no see!" Completely ignoring Hephaestus's murderous gaze, Hestia simply raised a hand cheerfully in greeting.
"So, what do you want at this late hour? Weren't you just here earlier? I already agreed to give your three Familia members the best possible rates on equipment repairs. What more could you possibly want?"
Seeing Hestia's utterly unrepentant attitude, Hephaestus felt a headache coming on. Being friends with Hestia sometimes felt like the biggest mistake she'd made in her hundreds of millions of years as a deity.
Hearing this, Hestia pouted, clearly displeased.
"How rude, Hephaestus! Do you really think I'm that unreliable? The Hestia Familia, with two Level 2s and one very promising Level 1, has already surpassed both Miach and Takemikazuchi!"
"The Hestia Familia is the rising star of Orario, you know!"
Hestia placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest, brimming with confidence.
"Right, right…" Hephaestus massaged her temples. "So why are you here?"
"To fulfill our deal, of course! Honestly, Hephaestus, you're being terribly rude. The adorable Alice-chan has been standing right here for ages, and you didn't even notice?"
Hestia frowned at Hephaestus.
"Alice?" Hephaestus blinked, then glanced to the side.
Due to her eyepatch, the left side of Hephaestus's body was a blind spot in her vision—and that was exactly where Alice happened to be standing.
Prompted by Hestia, Hephaestus turned her head and finally noticed Alice standing quietly to the side.
"Uh…" A faint blush spread across Hephaestus's cheeks as she spoke apologetically to Alice. "My apologies, I didn't see you there."
"Not at all, it's quite alright." Alice offered a gentle smile. "But it has been a while, Lady Hephaestus."
"Ah, yes, it has been some time, Alice." Hephaestus's gaze seemed slightly evasive, which struck Alice as a bit odd.
But she didn't dwell on it, figuring it was probably just due to Hephaestus's earlier oversight.
"I never thought you'd bring Alice here so quickly. You're really going all out for that repair discount, aren't you? I heard Alice has been incredibly busy lately—so much so that even members of the Loki Familia couldn't get into her workshop."
Hephaestus narrowed her visible eye, a suspicious frown forming as she studied Hestia.
"Don't tell me you dragged Alice straight out of her workshop just to settle our deal?"
"Hey! Hephaestus, you're getting ruder by the minute! Even I wouldn't disturb Alice while she's hard at work." Hestia was clearly offended by the insinuation.
"You just got lucky, Hephaestus. Alice happened to finish her work and just stepped out of her workshop today. And not only that, but the day after tomorrow, she's heading out on an expedition with the Loki Familia. You wouldn't have been able to see her for days after that."
Hestia rolled her eyes at Hephaestus.
Hephaestus crossed her arms. "Oh, so I should be thanking you, then?"
"But of course~~" Hestia's eyes sparkled cunningly. "So, how about adding a little something to our deal? Say… a fifty percent discount on future equipment purchases?"
Hestia was clearly calculating every possible advantage.
"Absolutely not." Hephaestus's face fell. "Your children can negotiate equipment purchases on their own. A twenty percent discount on repairs is already more than generous between friends. My relationship with Alice might not be particularly close, but it's certainly not bad. I'm sure if I visited her directly, she'd welcome me gladly. Isn't that right, Alice?"
"Indeed," Alice replied calmly. "I would be very happy to welcome Lady Hephaestus as a guest in my home."
As she spoke, Hephaestus turned her attention fully to Alice.
Listening to the exchange between the two deities, Alice finally pieced it together. Hestia and Hephaestus had struck a deal: in exchange for bringing Alice to see Hephaestus, the three current members of the Hestia Familia would receive a twenty percent discount on equipment repair fees.
As for Alice herself, she had already agreed to a separate arrangement with Hestia earlier.
In other words, Hestia had used her clever little head to wrangle a pretty good deal out of Hephaestus.
From Alice's perspective, this was just fulfilling a prior agreement, so she hadn't gained any extra advantage from this particular encounter.
Ahem, ahem…
Hearing Alice's response, even Hestia seemed a tad embarrassed. She sidled up to Hephaestus and began kneading her arm placatingly.
"But I did provide you with a valuable heads-up, didn't I? Without me, you would've had to wait another whole week to see Alice-chan."
"And as for that twenty percent repair discount… well, you have similar agreements with plenty of other Familias. What's one more, right?"
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