Chapter 341

Chapter 341: Chapter 341

A little earlier, not long after Esdeath left Hearthstone Manor, Kiriya finally woke up as well.

The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was Hestia sleeping soundly beside him, and as usual, the sight immediately sent his thoughts wandering in directions they probably shouldn’t.

There was an old saying that when you stared into the abyss, the abyss stared back, and Kiriya found himself dangerously tempted to surrender to that abyss entirely!

"Mmm... hehe, that tickles..."

Still half-asleep, Hestia instinctively reacted to his teasing by wrapping both arms around him and trapping him tightly against herself.

Any ordinary person might have accepted defeat on the spot, but Kiriya had never been particularly good at surrendering.

Before long, the peaceful morning had turned into another ridiculous struggle between the two of them.

...

"Kiriya, you’re a complete idiot!"

Hestia furiously scrubbed her teeth while glaring at the entirely unrepentant man beside her.

Seriously, who started tormenting someone first thing in the morning?

Unfortunately, she did not dare retaliate too aggressively.

After the exhausting events of the previous night and morning, she knew perfectly well that if she accidentally pushed the wrong button, she would probably be the one suffering again.

In the end, all she could do was bombard Kiriya with a furious stare and hope he felt even the slightest trace of guilt.

He did not.

Having successfully survived Hestia’s counterattack, Kiriya felt refreshed and energetic.

He hummed cheerfully while working a spatula over the stove, preparing a simple but carefully made breakfast for her: a heart-shaped fried egg, grilled bacon, soft sweet bread, and a steaming cup of milk.

After checking her appearance several times and finally deciding she looked presentable again, Hestia sat down at the table and began attacking breakfast with enough hostility to make it seem as though every bite were a mortal enemy.

"Slow down. You’ll choke."

Kiriya watched her with an amused smile and slid the milk toward her.

"Here. Have some milk. Tastes good and it’s nutritious."

Hestia froze.

For some reason, she had become unusually sensitive to certain words lately, and Kiriya’s suspiciously innocent expression only made her more wary.

"No funny business!"

She crossed both arms in front of herself in a firm prohibition gesture.

After everything from last night through this morning, she was exhausted.

"I wasn’t planning anything."

Kiriya gave her a perfectly innocent expression that practically screamed, What are you even talking about?

Hestia tightened her grip on her knife and fork. For one dangerous moment, she sincerely considered stabbing him with them.

Kiriya sighed dramatically.

"What a shame. I heard Lafat recently released several new clothing designs. I was thinking of taking you over to have a look, but if you’re that opposed to me doing anything with you..."

"Ahem."

Hestia immediately sat up straight.

"That does not count as funny business. That is extremely serious and worthwhile business. We should absolutely go."

She rapidly finished everything on her plate and started urging him along.

"Hurry up and eat! We should leave early before it gets crowded. Shopping is much harder when there are too many people around."

Lafat was one of the most famous fashion houses in all of Orario, renowned for sophisticated designs and exquisite workmanship.

Women across the city adored it, and countless customers—including goddesses—were willing to spend enormous sums commissioning clothes there.

Hestia was no exception.

She had always loved beautiful outfits; she simply had not possessed the money to indulge that interest before.

Now that Kiriya had become such a successful adventurer, however, finances were no longer a concern, which meant she could finally enjoy her hobby without worrying about the price tag.

By the time they arrived at Lafat, the attendants’ sweet compliments had already put Hestia in an excellent mood.

It did not take long before she became completely absorbed in browsing through one design after another, while Kiriya faithfully performed his role as boyfriend by showering her with praise at every opportunity.

Hestia visibly blossomed beneath the attention and eventually added several especially daring outfits to her purchases, clearly intending to save them for another future confrontation with Kiriya.

Once they finished at Lafat, Hestia happily linked arms with him and continued wandering through the city.

Kiriya was handsome and eye-catching, while Hestia was petite, lively, and adorable.

Walking together, the pair drew attention everywhere they went, and the openly envious looks from young women and goddesses around them satisfied Hestia’s little desire to show off so thoroughly that her smile never disappeared.

"Oh! Isn’t that one of Hephaestus’s children’s shops?"

Hestia glanced toward a nearby weapon store, swallowed the last fried snack in her hand, wiped her mouth, and immediately pulled Kiriya inside.

"Hey, Hestia. Now there’s a rare customer."

They had barely entered when they spotted Hephaestus speaking with several members of her Familia.

Upon noticing Hestia, she greeted her first.

"Haha! I missed you, Hephaestus!"

Hestia bounded over enthusiastically.

"Oh, spare me."

Hephaestus gave her a knowing look.

"You were obviously wandering around and happened to stop by."

The two goddesses had known each other for years.

There was no fooling her with something that obvious.

"Hehe. You got me."

Hestia scratched her head and stuck out her tongue.

"Lady Hephaestus."

Kiriya stepped forward and greeted her politely.

"Good to see you, Kiriya."

Hephaestus’s expression immediately brightened when she saw him.

"Looking to buy something or commission another piece?"

Few gods disliked talented adventurers, and Kiriya was an especially welcome sight to Hephaestus.

He had already brought significant business to her Familia several times before, making him a very valuable customer.

"I actually have some monster materials on hand."

Kiriya glanced around the store.

"I’d like to have some equipment forged, but there’s quite a lot of material. We should probably find somewhere larger."

Hephaestus gave him a long look before turning away.

"Follow me."

Kiriya and Hestia went after her, and the petite goddess immediately leaned closer to him.

"You still have materials?"

"Yeah. Pretty good ones too."

Kiriya nodded.

"There should be enough to make quite a bit of high-grade equipment."

"But you didn’t bring any luggage."

Hestia looked him over suspiciously.

"Well, I have my methods."

Kiriya smiled mysteriously.

Hestia responded by rolling her eyes.

Hephaestus eventually led them into a spacious hall in the rear of the building.

’Once they had enough room, Kiriya pulled out his summoning scroll and began releasing the materials stored inside.

Poof! Poof! Poof—!

White smoke filled the hall, and when it cleared, enormous piles of monster materials covered the floor.

Scales, hides, bones, and other parts formed miniature hills around them.

The most eye-catching pieces were six enormous fangs several meters long.

Even while simply lying there, they radiated an oppressive, almost savage presence that made Hephaestus and the nearby Familia members instinctively catch their breath.

They were the fangs of the three-headed flood dragon.

"What... exactly are these?"

Even Hephaestus looked shaken.

After spending so many years in the Lower World and dealing with countless adventurers and materials, her eye for quality had become extraordinarily sharp.

She could immediately tell that the creatures these parts came from had been tremendously powerful.

And those fangs in particular...

They were approaching the level of materials one might expect from something close to Level 9.

’Where in the world did this boy even find monsters like these?’

Hephaestus suddenly had far more questions than answers.

"So?"

Kiriya smiled.

"What do you think of the materials, Lady Hephaestus?"

"They’re... exceptional."

Hephaestus finally recovered and stepped forward to perform a rough appraisal.

"Conservatively, this entire collection is worth at least a billion valis."

She ran one hand over one of the massive flood-dragon fangs and sighed in admiration.

"These especially are unbelievably rare."

Her expression quickly shifted into that of a Familia goddess handling business.

"What do you intend to do with all of this? If you’re looking to sell, I can offer you a fair price."

"I’d rather have you personally forge something for me."

Kiriya picked up paper and began sketching.

"Two swords. One single-edged blade and one slender sword designed for a woman."

He drew the general shapes of the weapons he and Esdeath habitually used.

"For the slender sword, I’d like it to tolerate extremely low temperatures, and ideally conduct or amplify frost-based power."

After spending nearly a year at Esdeath’s side, Kiriya understood her combat habits and equipment needs extremely well.