After having a spar with Haruhime, Jaune opened the store, and the first person there was Hephaestus and Hestia. Looking at the duo, Jaune saw that Hephaestus was calm as usual, but the shorty with her was looking impatient.
"Hephaestus, good morning," Jaune greeted. "Are you here again to convince me to join your Familia?".
"No, after what you said a week ago, I decided to stop. However, I'm still going to come here every day. You are one of the only few people that I enjoy casual conversation with," Hephaestus said. She then took out a short sword. "For today, I'm here regarding this short sword. I was wondering if you can tell me who you sold this sword to?".
"I didn't sell this sword to anyone," Jaune said. Hephaestus then thought Jaune's word might have been stolen. But that conclusion was shut down with what Jaune said next. "I gave that sword to Bell. Why is it with you?".
"You gave this to him?" Hephaestus asked for confirmation. "A weapon of this calibre would net you 100,000,000 valis. Why would you give it to him for free?".
"For one, when he came to my store, he looked quite beaten, and I don't mean physically," Jaune said. "The kid needed a win. I had a weapon that I've never sold for personal reasons. So, I gave it to him since I believe he can put it to good use rather than letting it rot in storage".
"So, you're not making Bell do anything questionable?" Hestia asked. Jaune looked at her weirdly before he shook his head. "Good! I thought that Bell dug himself a hole he couldn't get out of".
"Jaune, this sword seems to be of a higher quality than the one you made for Tsubaki," Hephaestus said. "Is this sword special in any way? And can you produce more magic weapons of this calibre?".
"The sword is special to me since it was not only my first magic weapon but also my first masterpiece," Jaune said. "If you gave weapons grade from Trash to Legendary, then Tsubaki's Flame Emperor would be Epic grade, while Lightning Edge is Legendary. Unfortunately, I've tried making more weapons of Legendary grade, but I haven't succeeded in the last two years".
While conversing with Hephaestus and Hestia, the customers were starting to enter. So, Hephaestus and Hestia bid their farewell since they could see Jaune was getting busy. Both Jaune and Haruhime took the customers' custom orders and those who bought weapons from the stand. It's hard work for popular stores.
After a day's work, Jaune and Haruhime were closing shop. Tonight, Jaune wasn't in the mood to make dinner. So, he invited Scáthach and Haruhime to eat out. However, the two are used to Jaune's food. They didn't want to eat anything not cooked by Jaune. But they also knew how hard Jaune worked every day and agreed to eat out. The trio headed to the Hostess of Fertility.
Hostess of Fertility, Jaune hasn't been here for a while. The last time he was here was when Scáthach destroyed the Ishtar Familia, which remains unsolved. Scáthach kept her bounded field up for an entire month before she released it, making any traces of her gone. Aisha and the other Amazoness that didn't fight Scáthach don't remember anything. This became the biggest unsolved death of Orario. An Entire Familia was destroyed without a single clue.
Once Jaune, Scáthach and Haruhime arrived in Hostess of Fertility, they were greeted by a waitress known as Anya, a Demi-Human. They were then seated and each given a menu. Jaune rejected the Menu and told Anya to bring one of each item on the menu for him. Haruhime wasn't Jaune, she only ordered a few items on the menu. However, Scáthach only chose a few things since it wasn't made by Jaune. If it was, she would eat as much as Jaune.
While waiting for their food to arrive, a new customer came in the Hostess of Fertility. This was Bell Cranel. When he saw Jaune, he greeted him.
"Jaune-san! It's been a while," Bell said. "I want to thank you once again for giving me such a valuable weapon".
"No problem," Jaune said. "Hope it helps with your dungeon diving".
"It's been useful," Bell said. He then showed a saddened expression. "Though, I haven't been to the dungeon for a week since my Goddess banned me from entering. Thankfully, she said I can start going to the dungeon starting tomorrow".
"Alright. Make sure you take plenty of rest between each dungeon dive," Jaune said. "It's unwise to go dungeon diving if you're fatigued physically or mentally. Keep yourself safe. Oh! And also stop using honorifics with me. Just call me Jaune".
"I'll do that," Bell said. "I'll go to my table and leave you to enjoy your date with the two lovely people with you".
"We're not on a date," Scáthach said. "If we were, Jaune would have straight up asked us on a date, but since he didn't, then this isn't a date".
"Oh, okay," Bell said. "Well, enjoy your dinner then".
Once Jaune's group's food arrived, they started eating. While eating, Jaune can feel someone watching him. Without making much movement, Jaune looked for the origin of the feeling of being watched. It didn't take long. It was one of the waitresses. If Jaune remembers correctly, her name was Syr Flova. Jaune knew from the first meeting that her looks were nothing more than an illusion.
Jaune then used a spell on her called (See Me Not). This spell made her temporarily blind. Looking at Syr, that was struggling, Jaune chuckled. Haruhime then looked at Jaune since there was nothing funny happening. Jaune just continued eating.
After eating dinner, Jaune, Scáthach and Haruhime returned to their abode. Jaune told them that they would be having a big day tomorrow since Jaune was going to make a few dozen drones. Scáthach asked Jaune what he needed a drone for. Jaune said he plans to use the drones to make a complete map of the dungeon and the monsters' habitats, then give it to the guild for everyone to use. Jaune hopes this would lower the death rate of adventurers.
The following morning, Jaune was designing a drone. Beside him was Hephaestus, who was interested in the drones. She asked Jaune what it was since she's never seen such a thing before. Jaune calmly explained it to her. Hephaestus, the Goddess of blacksmithing, understood everything Jaune told.
After a few hours of designing with Hephaestus help, Jaune completed the conceptual design. Now, he needs to make the parts. With all the materials at hand, Jaune used (Flames of Transmogrification – Mythical) to make each parts. Then slowly, Jaune had to assemble each parts together.
After assembling a drone, Jaune tested to see all its components were functional. He then took out his computer and connected it to the drone. Jaune uploaded an operating system on the drone, something he created a long time ago. Once done, Jaune tested if it was fully functional. He asked the drone to make a complete systems check. Once done and no errors appeared, Jaune continued assembling the rest of the drones.
A few weeks later, Jaune was inside the dungeon with Scáthach and Haruhime. However, Scáthach and Haruhime were on the lower floors while on the upper floors. The reason for that is because he's observing the drones to make sure that it's doing their job correctly. Once he was done, he made his way towards Scáthach and Haruhime, on the forty-ninth floor.
Jaune was curious as to why they were only on the forty-ninth floor. Scáthach alone is capable of reaching the hundredth floor. Looking around, Jaune realised why the Loki Familia was making their move against Balor.
"Are you girls going to wait for them to kill the Monster Rex," Jaune said. "Or do you want to slip past them and get to the lower floors?".
"Let's wait for them to kill it," Scáthach said. "I'm interested in how strong that girl known as the Sword Princess is. I wonder if her level of swordsmanship is anywhere close to yours".
Jaune, Scáthach and Haruhime watched the Loki Familia's raid against Balor. Scáthach watched and observed Ais, but she was disappointed at her fighting style. She can tell that Ais is strong, but her sword style is developed to fight against monsters and not people. That was a limitation she believes Ais needs to eliminate.
To Jaune, when he's watching Ais sword style, it feels as if it wasn't taught to her. Jaune believes that Ais copied the style without a teacher. However, to reach the level she's at without a proper teacher in the style she uses is quite impressive.
As soon as the Loki Familia killed Balor, Jaune, Scáthach, and Haruhime made their way to the fiftieth floor and onwards. This would be the first time Haruhime would be this deep into the dungeon. She was a bit nervous, but Jaune and Scáthach's presence, it calmed her down.
