Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

On the way here, the main street was bustling with all sorts of citizens, regardless of their social status. But in this central square, almost everyone you saw was an adventurer carrying swords, guns, and other weapons. What's most terrifying is that even though the number of people was so large it was dizzying, it still wasn't enough to fill the place to capacity.

"Miss Eina, what's going on?! I don't have that much money to buy things at the Hephaestus Familia!"

"Alright, alright, you'll see when we get there."

"I was so nervous!"

Miss Eina saw me crying and shouting, but she didn't seem to care. She didn't slow down her pace at all.

Instead, she held my hand tightly with her slender fingers, pulling me back from where she had left me behind.

"Never mind that, let's go! Boys shouldn't grumble like that!"

First my mind went blank, then my face turned red as Miss Eina pulled me forward.

Her soft, tender hands contrasted sharply with my calloused hands, hardened from years of farming. They were both warm and a little embarrassing. My head was spinning, and my thoughts were becoming increasingly unclear.

However, as I walked through the crowd, the male adventurers who were next in line to enter the dungeon all gave me looks that said, "I'll kill you."

My face turned ashen, but I calmed down.

"Miss Eina, Coco, could you please let go of my hand? Bye-bye, please...!"

"Since we're going to one of the top forging clans in Orario, perhaps you should learn about blacksmiths. Bell, do you know what 'development ability' is?"

Even though I'm a man, I'm still grumbling and complaining, and it seems my voice is no longer being heard. This is a matter of life and death for me!

I gave up, trembling as I desperately tried to shrink myself up.

"No, I don't know..."

"The so-called 'development ability' is the ability that is randomly learned as the 'ability value' level increases. Its characteristic should be that it places more emphasis on specialized abilities than 'basic abilities'."

Miss Eina further explained that this was like a bonus when LV. rises... [upgrades].

"Which abilities one can learn depends on the individual's inclination in terms of experience, and one of the abilities to develop is called 'forging'."

"Development capability" and "forging"... I was hearing these two terms for the first time.

According to Miss Eina, in modern times, to become a blacksmith, one needs the ability of "forging," and most of the blacksmiths of the [Hephaestus Familia] have learned this ability.

In other words, many members are at LV.2 or higher... It seems that their faction's combat strength should not be underestimated.

"Blacksmiths have existed since ancient times. Many ancient works are antiques, but some are still usable in modern times. However, modern blacksmiths... possessing the ability of 'forging' can add attributes to their works with the power of 'blessing' bestowed by the gods."

"property……?"

"It's a special ability. Just think of it as an adventurer who has received an [Ability Value] and learned a skill that can be attached to a weapon. For example, a sword that will never break, or a blade that will never dull. You could never make something like that by forging iron in the normal way, right?"

Indeed, I nodded.

"Some of these weapons can trigger phenomena equivalent to magic. For example, they can spew out flames with a single swing."

"Wow!?"

"Actually, this is common knowledge... Anyway, we call this kind of weapon that can produce the same effect as magic a 'magic sword'. Only a very small number of blacksmiths can forge such weapons."

I swallowed hard. It sounded simple to her, but in other words, as long as you could obtain that "magic sword," you would gain magic at will—power strong enough to defeat even a powerful swordsman.

"However, the magic sword is a consumable item, characterized by its tendency to shatter when used to its limit. In addition, it can be activated without chanting, so its effect is inferior to magic."

"It's an extremely expensive disposable weapon," Miss Eina said with a wry smile.

Judging from her expression, there probably aren't many people who possess the Demon Sword. Although I imagine this weapon must be quite sought after, its inherent weakness—its tendency to break—might deter adventurers seeking stability in the unpredictable dungeons.

Most importantly, well, it must be ridiculously expensive.

"Um, Miss Eina, besides 'Forging,' are there any other types of abilities you can develop?"

I asked what adventurers were most curious about.

One day, this will likely become my inevitable path. No, it will become unavoidable.

"Hmm—, the most representative development abilities for adventurers are probably 'Abnormal Resistance' or 'Magic.' Besides that, there's also something called 'Mysticism.'"

""mystery"?"

"Hmm, to explain this, it's like unleashing the 'miracles' that the gods excel at. It's what's called 'divine intervention,' right? Bell, have you heard the story of the Philosopher's Stone?"

Of course not. I shook my head.

"It is said that this happened a long time ago, when a member of a faction with 'mystical' abilities... namely a sage, successfully created an item called the 'Philosopher's Stone.' Its effect, as explained, is the manifestation of eternal life."

"...I just don't know how to react."

"Hehe, that's right. But there's more to the story... This sage went to see his chief god with great joy to report on the refinement of the Philosopher's Stone... However, the god who obtained the stone smashed it to the ground in front of the sage... And thus, Shui Heng's life was shattered."

"..."

"It is said that the god pointed at the dejected sage and burst into laughter, laughing until his stomach hurt."

This is the most outrageous part of any mythological tale I've ever heard about gods.

Incidentally, the myths mentioned here refer to stories where deities bring about a bad ending to a situation.

The first deity I encountered was the goddess Hestia, how wonderful...

"I heard that the Philosopher's Stone was created by chance and could never be refined again. Later, no one was able to cultivate the 'mystical' ability to the limit like that sage, so the Philosopher's Stone lived up to its name and became a legendary item."

"Can't you reach your limit...? Do development abilities also have a proficiency level like basic abilities?"

"No, there's no proficiency level. It's just that, like basic abilities, it has different levels of skill, from S to I. Advancing to the next level is extremely difficult. It's incomparable to basic abilities."

That must be incredibly difficult... I had a vague feeling.

Because I haven't reached a point where I can experience it firsthand, this is all I can think about it.

As we chatted, we arrived at the entrance to the Tower of Babel. Calling it an entrance was a bit of a stretch; it was actually just several trapezoidal openings running around the first floor of the tower. This design allowed even a large number of adventurers to enter from any direction. Stepping through the entrance, a hall with a white and light blue color scheme came into view.

The entrance to the underground city is located here underground.

"Start from here..."

"Go up. The shops offered by the Tower of Babel are all on the fourth floor and above."

The first floor of the Tower of Babel was like an entrance hall, with the main public facilities on the second floor and above. Upon reaching the third floor, I saw the money exchange I'd mentioned earlier in a corner by the wall. I looked for the staircase that ended on this floor, and at that moment, Miss Eina continued to hold my hand, leading me to the center of the hall.

We stepped onto one of several circular bases. It had transparent walls instead of glass, and without thinking, I thought it looked like a glass.

Then Miss Eina operated the device installed within it, and immediately... the base left the ground and floated up.

The base floated directly into the air—no, it began to rise.

"!"

"Haha, I felt the same way you did the first time I sat in it."

She said this glass-shaped device is a lifting device used for moving between floors... it's a kind of magic stone product.

It seems that a large number of "magic stones" are installed under the base, converting the magic power generated by the magic stones into buoyancy. I was just marveling at this principle when Miss Eina told me that the magic stones need to be replaced every once in a while. It seems it's not a panacea after all.

Soon, we arrived at the fourth floor of the Tower of Babel.

"The store we're going to is upstairs, but since we're already here, why don't we look around first? Belle probably wants to check out the other stores too, right?"

A quick glance revealed that the place was filled with weapon and armor shops. I nodded excitedly to Miss Eina.

Wait, that "HOαιτοS" logo on the sign... Could it be that all the shops from here to here belong to the "Hephaestus Familia"...?

"By the way, all the shops from the fourth to the eighth floor here belong to the [Hephaestus Familia]."

...They've taken it all. Just how powerful are they, [Hephaestus Familia]?

Incidentally, there's also a branch of the same school of thought on Northwest Street near the headquarters of "Me and the Immortals".

The short knife I always stand in front of the shop and look through the window is priced at... eight million falies.

That one hand alone could buy several nice houses.

There was a shop window right next to me, and I looked at the price tag on the red sword displayed inside...

(...30 million fali!)

A wave of dizziness washed over me, and I staggered a few steps, pressing my hand to my forehead. I could sense Miss Eina's wry smile beside me.

The Hephaestus dagger I possess now was said to be the only one of its kind in the world... Just how much did she spend on it?

"Welcome! What would you two like to do today?"

As I swallowed hard and stared at the merchandise in the shop window, the saleswoman responded with a lively voice.

Although the girl was short, she had a very pretty face and a sweet, trained shop assistant smile. Her cute black twin ponytails swayed bouncyly, making her even more endearing.

Beneath her red apron-style uniform were a pair of high, firm breasts that seemed completely out of place with her petite frame…

"...What are you doing, god?"

"..."

The shop assistant's smile twitched slightly.

Oh, I see. I was just wondering why she's been so busy lately; turns out she works in a place like this…!

"How did you end up here?! Working two jobs? Didn't I just tell you I added more floors to my floor plan and my finances are a bit better now?!"

"I'm telling you, Belle, forget everything that's happening right now, cover your eyes and ears and go back home...! You're way too early!"

"Even gods are no different! Their hourly wage was only thirty falies before!"

"You're not allowed to look down on French fries!"

"Alright, alright, let's go home! Even gods have their pride, right? What if people laugh at us again?"

"Hey, let go, let me go, Bear Grylls! Gods are in the game, they have no choice but to follow the rules!"

"What could possibly make a god unable to control his own destiny? Please, listen to me!"

The deity whose right wrist I had grabbed with both hands turned his face away, desperately trying to escape.

What on earth makes the gods so persistent...?!

Miss Eina's wide-eyed expression flashed across my vision, but I didn't have time to pay attention to it right now.

"Hey! New guy, stop slacking off! Get to your next task!"

"good--!"

"what!"

Whoosh—! The immortal shook off my restraint and ran away as fast as he could.

With her hair in a flustered pigtail, her petite figure disappeared into the store.

"immortal--……"

"...This goddess is still as extraordinary as ever?"

To my groans, Miss Eina gave me a smile that I didn't know how to respond to.

I felt down for a while, but then I remembered that I wasn't alone today, so I forced myself to cheer up.

...Let's forget about the immortals for now.

"I'm sorry for showing you such an unpleasant scene..."

"Never mind it. Shall we go upstairs then?"

I nodded and headed to our destination—the eighth floor of the Tower of Babel—with Miss Eina, who wore a wry smile.

This time, we took the magic stone elevator again, which took some time to get upstairs.

"Come on, we've arrived."

"We've finally arrived..."

We opened the manual doors of the stationary elevator, and the same scene as on the fourth floor greeted us.

Swords, spears, axes, hammers, knives, bows and arrows, shields, armor, and other protective gear... a dazzling array of weaponry shops lined the spacious floors. And it seemed like there were even more customers than on the fourth floor... adventurers were everywhere.

The thought that all of these people were top-notch adventurers immediately made me shrink back in fear.

"Bell, you must be thinking that a high-end brand like the Hephaestus Familia is something you can never have, right?"

Feeling incredibly embarrassed, I nodded honestly. Need I say more?

Miss Eina, seeing my reaction, seized the opportunity and smiled smugly at me, saying:

"It's not as unattainable as you think. Okay, seeing is believing! Come with me."