A year and a half had passed since Evilus's attack on Orario, the incident commonly known as [Death's Seven Days].
The Hephaestus Familia had lost a total of ten members. Among them were the little kid our goddess had brought in just before I left on my journey, as well as a senior who had joined long before I did.
We were not the only ones visited by the sorrow of parting.
Across all of Orario, around three thousand adventurers had died, while a similar number suffered injuries severe enough to force them to retire from adventuring.
Countless Familias disbanded, and the survivors vowed revenge before converting to other Familias.
Then, four months ago, those Evilus bastards caused another disaster.
Evilus members centered around a man called Olivas Act caused a massive Pass Parade, intending to take the adventurers gathered to subjugate them down with them. It was commonly known as [Nightmare of the 27th Floor].
...That must have been when Phyrvis Shalia was born as well. Regrettably, there was nothing I could do. What could I possibly have done?
Should I have gone to the Guild and told them that Olivas Act had been blessed by the Dungeon and resurrected as a monster hybrid with only his upper body remaining? Should I have told them that the Dionysus Familia had not died in the Pass Parade, but at the hands of a corrupted spirit, and that Phyrvis Shalia had died before the corrupted spirit planted a jewel in her and rebirthed her as a monster hybrid?
Then how would I explain it? How could I convince them that I had any way of knowing those facts? I had no method.
That was why I decided to repay my guilt, if only to those people from a year and a half ago. I resolved to make prosthetic arms and legs that were at least somewhat cheaper and more comfortable for those who had lost limbs and were struggling to survive on the money they had saved until now.
So I persuaded my sister to pursue a technical exchange with the Dian Cecht Familia.
The prosthetic arm and leg craftsmanship of Amid Teasanare from the Dian Cecht Familia was the best in Orario. I believed that if we learned her techniques and could improve them at a reasonable price, we could provide enough help to people with missing limbs.
I was able to obtain my sister's permission. I managed to persuade her with the profits prosthetics could bring in and the boost they would provide to the Familia's image.
However, on the Dian Cecht Familia's side...
"No!"
"Why exactly is that impossible?!"
"It would reduce our exclusivity!"
"That! Is! Why! I keep telling you that what we will sell is not the high-end model you sell, but an improved downgraded version! We have no intention of making high-end prosthetic arms or legs suitable for combat use by second-class adventurers or above!"
"How do I know you won't start selling them under the table later on?!"
"No, we'll make a contract on our gods' names!"
"I don't care! No technical partnership, and if you insist on doing it, then pay us technology royalties!"
"We need to leave ourselves a profit margin too! What do you mean, thirty percent of the revenue?!"
This happened at every single negotiation...!
Goddamn money-grubbing bastard! I had expected royalties to some degree. That was why I had gotten our goddess's permission regarding royalties as well.
But thirty percent was too much!
The absolute upper limit was fifteen percent, so how could he raise it all the way to thirty?!
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A young man is engaged in a price war with the God of Medicine...
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Three months after negotiations began, I finally got the royalty rate down to sixteen percent... Let's give up here. I lost this one...
"Fine... We will draw up a technical partnership contract that includes a sixteen-percent royalty rate, the condition that production be limited to a level unusable as combat equipment by adventurers of second-class rank or above, and seven other clauses. Do you agree?"
"Fine. How many people will be coming to learn for this technical partnership?"
"Probably three High Smiths, including myself, and six people total once we include each of their apprentices."
"Then come by starting next month. Cackle, cackle, cackle!"
"...(grit) See you next time."
Damn that money-crazed old man...!
The inventor, Amid, was only fourteen, yet she was so sharp and kind. Why was that old man such a money-grubber?
"Ah, hello, Smith!"
"Hello, Amid."
"You're having a hard time because of our god again today..."
"No, it is all right. We have settled all the various terms of cooperation now, so starting next month we will come to learn properly, without having to make adjustments like this."
"That's a relief! Could you tell me in advance what kind of people will be coming next month?"
"Hmm, first there's me and my assistant and apprentice... you could call him that, Welf, and then—"
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A young man is talking with a girl.
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"Goodbye, then!"
"You too, Amid."
...She really was kind. If only that old Dian Cecht geezer took after Amid even halfway...
Let's see. Once I report the final proposal to our goddess and my sister, it should be around four in the afternoon. I suppose I'll hang around the shop until ten, then head home.
"Goddess, Sister. This is the final compromise proposal. I did not think I could push them any further, so I stopped it there."
"Hmm... You did well. You worked hard through negotiations that lasted a full three months."
"Even if I planned this project, isn't it a little much to dump every detail onto me, Sister?"
"Hey, they say the one who brings it up gets hit first. Besides, a man needs a sense of responsibility. Once you start something, shouldn't you see it through to the end?"
"Isn't that gender discrimination? These days—Ow!"
Bang!
"This brat hasn't had a taste of the hammer lately, so he's still not in his right mind. When you're told to do something, you do it! Who do you think you are, talking back?!"
"Why are you getting involved too, Goddess?!"
When I turned around at the sharp pain, our goddess was standing there with a hammer in one hand, grinning.
"Enough of that. You had a visitor today."
"Me? Who was it, and what did they want?"
"Apparently, the captain of the Astraea Familia came to buy a spare weapon for an adventurer who converted to their Familia this time. The shop was closed, so she came to the Familia home. She's in reception room one, so go see her."
"What could they want..."
...In the original story, nobody died during [Death's Seven Days], and everyone leveled up. There had not been any particular mention of someone newly converting to them beforehand, either. Was it really... beginning to change?
Knock, knock.
I knocked before entering.
"It has been a while, Alise."
"Ah, it's been a while, Smith."
"I heard you came to commission a spare weapon for someone who converted this time. The person beside you is...?"
"Say hello. This is Jeanne, who converted to our Familia this time."
"...?"
"I have heard much about you. My name is Jeanne, and I have recently converted. It is embarrassing to say so myself, but I am known by the alias [Saint Leticia], the Saint Who Saved the Nation."
"Ah, yes. Nice... to meet you."
...Why was my big sister here?
"Um... if you do not mind my asking, which Familia did you previously belong to...?"
"Yes. If I were to render the name of the Holy One into the pronunciation of the Lower World... it was the Yahweh Familia."
"Ah... I... see."
?!?!?!?!?!??!?!???!?!?!!!!?!?!?
Why is the plot turning into this?
"Sooo... what kind of weapon are you looking for?"
"Hmm... I do not need anything especially expensive. I mainly use a staff, and I am looking for something that can protect me as a last resort if my staff breaks... A third-class longsword should be appropriate."
"Will that really be enough? I told you, we can buy you something more expensive."
"No, this is enough. As I said, I am a mage who primarily uses a staff. If an enemy has already closed to within the range of my staff, then it would be a situation I could not handle no matter how fine a weapon I possessed. I am buying this as a spare anyway, so I do not need anything too good. Or is the Astraea Familia such a weak Familia that we would allow enemies to penetrate as far as the rear guard where I stand?"
"Oh, come on... If you put it that way, I have nothing left to say..."
"Hmm... Third-class, third-class. I have several suitable ones. But among them, there is exactly one that will find its owner today."
"Oh, then shall we go right away?"
"Let's go."
And so, the three of us headed for NPC.
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A young man walks along carrying bouquets in both hands.
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"Welcome to our shop, NPC. This is both of your first time here, right?"
"That's right. Other than Kaguya and our goddess, I do not think any of our members have come here."
"Yes, it is my first time coming here as well, even though I have been to Smithing Street."
"Then, while I go get the item..."
Trailing off, I gently picked up Rex, who was dozing in front of the furnace, and handed him to the two of them.
"You can pet this fellow. He is very gentle, so as long as you do not hurt him, he will stay still."
"Wow..."
"...(sparkle, sparkle)"
"Whaaa...?"
After offering Rex up as a sacrifice to relieve the two women's boredom, I headed over to the Brand-Type-Moon section.
There were usually three kinds of brands I made.
Brand-Dark Souls.
Brand-Type-Moon.
Brand-Knight Run.
Everything else was bundled together and sold under the brand Phantasm.
Of those, Type-Moon had the fewest types and variations, so inspiration did not come easily... But around three months ago, just before I entered the contract war with the Dian Cecht Familia, I suddenly felt that I absolutely had to make this one sword.
What I made then was...
"This Sword of Saint Catherine."
A deep navy-blue scabbard and grip; a ricasso the length of a palm—the unsharpened section near the grip of a longsword—and a long iron plate coiling around that ricasso as ornamentation.
The pommel, the counterweight at the end of the hilt, was shaped like a flower bud before it had bloomed.
The belt for wearing the scabbard had also been dyed deep navy blue, connected from beginning to end by a single leather strap.
"Seriously, what kind of fate is this? It was the same with Anne last time, and now Jeanne too..."
Shaking off the pointless thought, I brought the Sword of Saint Catherine—Catherine, for short—to the two women, who were enthusiastically petting Rex.
"I have it."
"Ah, is that the sword I will use?"
"Yes. The sword's name is Catherine. The crossguard and ricasso are somewhat ornate, but it is more than a fine sword."
"It certainly... looks good."
Shing.
Jeanne slowly drew the sword from its scabbard.
"I can truly feel that it is a sword made just for me. To the point that I feel as though I came to Orario in order to meet this sword..."
"Fate... is it?"
"Yes. It truly feels like fate."
"So, how much is it?"
Alise, who had been stroking Rex's back for quite a while, asked about the price.
"Hmm... Its sale price would be around three million valis, but the Astraea Familia has always helped us out, so I will only charge two million valis."
"Oh, thanks! This is why I came all the way here for it. You really hold our Familia in high regard!"
"Hahaha. You are people who fight day and night for justice in Orario. This much is only natural."
"That is what I am thankful for. Other people are starting to take it for granted."
"There is a saying that if kindness continues, people mistake it for a right..."
"Anyway!"
Clap!
Perhaps to stop the atmosphere from growing too heavy, Alise clapped sharply and stood up.
"Here is a check for two million valis. You can cash it at the Guild later."
"I have received the payment. Thank you."
"I will put it to good use."
"I hope to hear stories of Jeanne's exploits with that sword in hand."
"Please look forward to them!"
Without thinking, I found myself captivated by the saint's beautiful smile.
And I hoped. If Jeanne, another variable besides myself, was in the Astraea Familia, could something change?
If there was Kaguya with the Sentō Namakura I had sold her, and Jeanne wielding Catherine, then perhaps they... those who sought to bear justice upon their backs, could reach a different ending.
I simply hoped.