Time really did fly like an arrow. The week we spent at the Running Pony in Karna; the fight we got into there with a Familia from outside Orario because their god insulted Lady Hephaestus, after which I beat them to a pulp; boarding a merchant caravan bound for the City of Sword Emperors almost as if we were fleeing because my goddess pushed us along; even encountering a wild Blood Saurus during the ten-day journey and spending thirty minutes playing tag with it to gain some experience hunting a large monster—I could finish it with a single blow, while it could finish me by catching me in its jaws and swallowing me, so it was a deadly game of tag where the first one caught died—and finally taking it down by striking it first and snapping its neck...
It would have taken at least five chapters to explain all those turbulent adventures, but before I had the chance to describe any of it, I came to my senses and found myself standing before the gates of the City of Sword Emperors.
...?
What was that? It felt like something far beyond my control had happened incredibly fast.
"What are you doing? Come on, let us go."
"...? Yes."
"We will need to verify your identities and confirm payment of the entry toll. If you are with a merchant caravan, the caravan will already have paid the toll, so please state the caravan's name."
"Uh... the caravan we were with was..."
"Nine's Own Goal."
"Ah, that one."
"Y-yes. Your identities have been confirmed. Let me verify one more time: are you Lady Hephaestus, a goddess from Orario... and Talos, a Level 2 adventurer serving as her escort?"
The guard seemed fairly experienced, but perhaps this was his first time dealing with a god, because his voice trailed off slightly when he addressed Lady Hephaestus. Well... unless one lived in Orario, it was not as though one got to see gods easily.
"That is correct."
"...Then welcome to Joringham, the City of Sword Emperors. May the weapon you hold at the end be the finest weapon of your life."
Huh... saying something like that in front of the greatest smithing god in the Lower World... Either he was immensely proud of his city, or he was simply repeating a memorized line like a parrot.
And so, my goddess and I arrived at Joringham, the City of Sword Emperors—our final destination.
"My goddess, should we find lodging close to Smithing Street? Or should we simply choose the best place available?"
"Hmm... We will be wandering around Smithing Street constantly while we are here anyway, so since we came all this way for a trip, shall we just stay somewhere nice? We will be here for at least a month, and we brought plenty of money."
"Yes. We have spent very little on the road, so we still have more than nine hundred thousand valis remaining."
"What did we spend the hundred thousand valis on?"
"You spent fifty thousand valis after seeing some rare ore in Karna. The rest went toward travel expenses."
"Well, we have plenty of money, so let us go somewhere reasonably nice. If we somehow run short, we can sell the weapons you brought with us."
"Yes. You there, guide. Please show us the way."
"Yes, sir! What price range did you have in mind?!"
As my goddess and I discussed lodging near the city gate, I naturally called over one of the guides waiting nearby to solicit work and had him lead us. Of course, choosing carelessly and having several of them make a racket would inconvenience my goddess, so I selected the guide standing by himself and dealt with that problem in advance.
"Hmm... Do you know a respectable establishment where we can live comfortably for a month on around three to four hundred thousand valis?"
As I spoke, I slipped a hand into my spare pouch and flicked a one-thousand-valis coin toward the guide with my finger. Perhaps because I was wearing gauntlets, the sound of the flick rang out exceptionally clear.
Ting—!
Catch.
The guide deftly snatched it out of the air with one hand.
"There is nowhere in Joringham that I do not know, good knight."
"If you guide us somewhere worthy, I will give you that much more when we arrive. Do not disappoint me."
"A place with 'class,' understood. Now, just follow me!"
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Traveling to the sound of the young man, the goddess, and the guide chatting...
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As we walked along while listening to the guide introduce Joringham, we eventually came upon a building that was fairly large by DanMachi's architectural standards—remember that, aside from Babel, there were no skyscrapers. It looked about six stories tall and resembled France's Palace of Versailles. With a broad plot stretching out to either side and a neatly maintained garden in front, it looked like quite an impressive place.
"This is the [Anvil and Hammer], a place that would be offended to be called second-best in Joringham! It is always tied for first place in Joringham's hotel popularity rankings!"
"As expected of the City of Sword Emperors, that is an unusual name for a hotel. Do you know why it was named that?"
"Hmm... I have heard rumors that they named it that in the hope that a smithing god might visit at least once, but beyond that, I do not know."
"Hee, they gave it that name hoping I would come... Now that I have heard that, I cannot simply pass it by."
"Yes, then I take it you will be staying here. And, guide?"
"Yes, good knight. Ask me anything."
"What is your name?"
Apparently not expecting to be asked his name, he was briefly at a loss for words.
"I am Guido, sir."
"Thank you for showing us to the hotel today. Here is the payment I promised. And..."
"And...?"
"Could you come here around noon for at least the next four days? I will pay in advance. Two thousand valis a day, plus today's one thousand valis—there are nine thousand valis here."
"Oh, thank you, sir! For the next four days, I, Guido, will take responsibility for everything my guests need in Joringham!"
"I look forward to it."
"We are counting on you, child."
"Uh... may I ask the name of the honored goddess... I mean, could you tell me your name, Lady Goddess?"
"If you are so curious, then I am Hephaestus—the very god the owner of this hotel has been longing for so dearly, child."
"My name is Talos. Ah, and it will become known eventually, but until word properly spreads, could you keep our stay here as secret as possible? My goddess has simply come here to rest, and she does not wish for things to become too hectic."
"Understood. Rest well, and I will see you tomorrow!"
When we entered the hotel, its owner happened to be at the counter. I went over and told him that Lady Hephaestus, the smithing god he had longed to see, had arrived, only for him to look at me as though I were some lunatic.
"You picked the wrong person to swindle, good knight. Do you think I would even blink at something like that?"
"Whether it is a scam or the truth, you will know if you see for yourself. Look over there."
The incredulous look in his eyes immediately changed to one of reverence once he saw Lady Hephaestus in person.
According to the hotel owner, his family had been blacksmiths for generations. However, he himself had been disastrously untalented at smithing and had only been blessed with business acumen. So he sent his son away as an apprentice to another smithy, supported him from afar, and named the hotel after symbols of a forge in the hope that, as the rumors said, the smithing god might hear of it and visit at least once.
"Now that even that final wish has come true... I could die without regrets..."
"Ahaha, we would feel uncomfortable staying somewhere a person has died, so you need to stay alive for now! Right, Talos?"
She had called me Talos for over a month now, so I supposed it had finally settled naturally on her tongue. She no longer felt the slightest awkwardness about calling me Talos.
Thus, welcomed warmly by the hotel owner—we stopped him when he tried to give us the royal suite free of charge, saying that as a merchant Familia, he felt uncomfortable not paying anything at all, and that a ten-percent discount would be enough—we began sightseeing in Joringham.
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"So, child, what did you say your name was?"
"--------"
"I cannot hear you very well. Could you say that again?"
"My name is Welf. Welf Crozzo. Let me say this in advance: I will not make any magic swords."
A new connection begins to be woven into the loom of fate.