There was something… relaxing about the rhythmic sound of a hammer hitting steel.

The clank, clank, clank that filled the sweltering room thrummed in my chest, and I could swear my heartbeat was starting to match the rate of the hits Ashe was delivering to the red-hot blade-shaped piece of metal she was working on. Childlike as she looked, her divine enhanced strength was enough to shape the metal with ease.

Clunk.

I had to keep the grimace out of my face when the discordant sound of a glancing blow disrupted her flow, and her rhythm was broken.

"Stop." Atticus said in a calm voice from his place at the other side of the anvil. Ashe winced and she did as he said. "Easy now. You were doing great. Don't rush your hits, keep them constant and accurate." He instructed, his scarred face looking almost kindly at the blue-haired pallum.

He looked nothing like the mess of a man I rescued from that forest just a couple of days ago. Only his missing arm remained as proof of what he suffered that day.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that…" Ashe glanced at me.

"Am I in the way? Should I leave?" I offered, a little uncomfortable. They had told me they didn't mind me waiting here while they were working but Ashe seemed a little self-conscious. "I can come back later."

"No, it's not that! I just felt a little bad for making you wait for me to finish, so I rushed a bit." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then exhaled. "Okay, I'm fine. I'll continue."

Ashe's eyes returned to the piece of metal, her expression focused, and started to hit again.

A few minutes later, she deemed it ready. The blunt hiltless blade was still unfinished, still missing half of the process that would make it durable as a weapon, but it looked to be going well. I couldn't see any flaws in its structure and any misshaping left would be gone with the heat treatment and the sharpening.

Still, there was something I needed to ask.

"What kind of metal is that? I thought it was steel at first, but there's something weird mixed in the alloy." I squinted at the metal.. There was iron, carbon, some other minerals and…collagen? Calcium? "Is that an alloy of metal and bone?"

"Huh, how did you know that?" Ashe asked, confused. "I mean, yeah. It's mixed with a drop item, a Hard Armored's shell."

I haven't heard of that monster yet, but I'm guessing it's a turtle or armadillo type of monster. Normally adding such a thing to a metal would do nothing but compromise the integrity of the alloy, but I guessed things were different with monster drops.

"Did you… figure out the composition of the metal with a look?" Atticus asked, looking at me intently. "Have you seen it before? Do you have forging experience, Shirou? You didn't tell us."

"No, never forged anything with my own hands. I just have a good eye for weapons."

"Well, that sounds like a waste of a good eye, in my opinion." My shoulders tensed when an amused voice answered from the entrance of the room. I turned and met the ruby red eye of a goddess. "Didn't know you were talking with a prospective member, kids. Should I come later, once you've convinced him to test a hammer?"

She's gorgeous. I should have expected it, really, but on this occasion I had an excuse for my surprise.

Because the fire I could feel burning in her being, the comforting heat reminiscent of the forge I was in right now…this divinity couldn't be anyone else's but Hephaestus'.

The God of the Forge from my world was rather famous for his deformity and ugliness in comparison to the other gods and goddesses. And yet, this slender red haired woman was nothing like that. With her sharp, mature features she was a different kind of beauty than Astraea, but I didn't think she was any less attractive.

Not even the eyepatch covering almost a third of her face could detract from her looks.

She entered the room with a confident stride, an easy smile on her face.

"My lady! Ah no, this is Shirou, the one who helped us in Westmount! He's not here to join!" Ashe rushed to stand and explain, only for the goddess to chuckle, a twinkle in her eye.

"I know, Ash. I'm just messing with you a little. Even without that familiar blood in his veins, I would have recognized him from your descriptions." Hephaestus turned to me and gave me a once over, focusing for a moment longer on Alise's sword. My hand moved to the hilt when the fiery feeling of her divinity flared for a moment. "That's not one of mine." She mused. "Goibniu's work?"

I nodded, forcing myself to relax. "One of his children's." Hephaestus nodded back, and focused back on my face, looking at me curiously. Figures that the goddess of the forge would focus first on my weapon. "Though I'm just borrowing it until I get one made for me. Well forged as it is, it doesn't fit my style."

"Thus, you coming here." She finished. "Shirou Emiya, was it? The young man who saved my Atticus and delivered my Rath's last creation. " Hephaestus smiled softly. "Astraea's newest child."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Lady Hephaestus." I bowed slightly, trying to show some respect to my goddess' acquaintance. "I heard great things about you from Astraea."

"Exaggerations, surely." She waved off my words, a slight flush on her face. "But I heard better things about you and your actions. Thank you, truly. You are the only reason my child could come back home." She's like Astraea, huh. I thought when I heard the sincere gratefulness in her words. A god that loved their mortal children.

I shook my head, beginning to relax. "I did what anyone else would have done, I'm just glad I was in the right place to help." I glanced at Atticus, who raised an eyebrow, and smiled. "And Atticus is already thanking me with a weapon, anyway." Ashe cleared her throat at that. "And Ashe too, of course."

Hephaestus chuckled. "Spoken like a true child of the goddess of Justice. I'm starting to see how you caught her eye." She then nodded. "Okay, if you made arrangements with my kids, I won't get in the way. Atticus." The blond man straightened up when her goddess called his name. "Come to my forge later. I'll provide the materials this time." Atticus' eyes widened.

"Thank you, my lady. I'll be sure not to waste them." He bowed deeply.

"Ashe." The blue haired pallum jerked up in attention. Hephaestus smiled and approached her. "Show me what you're working on. I have some free time, so I can help you finish your sword and give you some pointers while we work. If you're going to help with this, I want you to be at your best."

Ashe gasped. "Really? Thank you so much!" The goddess of the forge patted Ashe's head, leaving her preening, and turned to me.

"Let Astraea know to visit me soon, will you? I'd like to catch up with her." She smiled. "I'll make time whenever she wants to come."

I nodded, knowing that Astraea would be glad to meet with her… if only to brag about my abilities. She always spoke of Hephaestus with a twinkle in her eye. She's probably going to be another victim of my goddess' teasing. "She was probably going to come visit soon enough, but I'll be sure to tell her." I smiled with some amusement. Better her than me.

Hephaestus tilted her head in confusion but then she grinned. "Ah, she's up to her old antics, isn't she? That girl can be quite the handful once she warms up to you. Hope she isn't giving you a hard time." she said, her tone nostalgic.

"I'm slowly getting used to it." I admitted. "I'm glad she's going to have a few more targets now that we're here."

Hephaestus shook her head, chuckling. "I'll be sure to be ready when she comes, then." She turned to Atticus. "So, want to take the details for his weapon while I work with Ashe for a little while, Atticus?"

Atticus nodded seriously and Hephaestus turned around and went with Ashe to the other side of the room. I would like to say that my eyes weren't tempted to follow her retreating form as she walked away from me, attracted by the tight leather pants she was wearing.

But I would be lying.

These goddesses are dangerous to my heart. I thought with some chagrin.

Fortunately, my will was stronger than that, and I just kept my eyes on Atticus the whole time.

Hephaestus and her child huddled near one of the furnaces of the room and started to talk about the process Ashe had already completed and what came next. Atticus stood up with a small smile and came to me, leaving the women to their talk.

Weird how this girl talk consisted of tempering steel infused with monster parts.

Different worlds, I guess.

"So, you told me you wanted a longsword, correct?" He asked, sitting on a workbench nearby and starting to take notes on a piece of paper. "Do you have any specifications in mind? Length? Shape of the guard?"

Atticus spent some time asking questions and taking my measurements. My height, length of my arms and forearms, and even my hands. He meticulously filled the paper with his observations and the details of what I wanted

"A shame you don't have your actual weapon with you." He mused while sketching a design on another paper. "I never actually saw it, now that I think about it. Did it break on you?"

Hm? My actual…? "Ah right, I never told you, did I?" The only people that had seen me doing my Tracing were Astraea and Ann. As far as Ashe and Atticus knew, I killed the goblins with actual weapons.

"Hm? Tell me what?"

I suppose it wouldn't hurt to show them.

Some part of me rebelled at the thought. Years of hiding my magecraft were hard to shake off…but magic was commonplace here.

I wouldn't tell them all my secrets, but some explanations and showing them Sir Kay's longsword would go a long way to make this easier.

Besides, Astraea seemed to trust Hephaestus, so that was enough for me to do so as well.

"I'm a mage." I said, and Atticus lifted his eyes from the sketch, a question in his eyes. "Most of the time, I don't fight with an actual sword. I have a spell that creates copies of weapons out of my magic. That's how I killed the goblins."

"Really? That's interesting. You had magic before your blessing?" I nodded. He put the pencil down and focused his attention on me, curiosity filling his yellow eyes. "Care to show me?" There was an intrigued edge to his taciturn voice.

Hm, I guess that I shouldn't be surprised that such a spell would be interesting to someone who dedicated his life to the forge.

I extended my right hand, and with a strike of the hammer of a gun, a magic circuit opened.

"Trace On."

I don't know if it was the fact that I was in a smithy, or that I just saw Ashe put so much work in her own creation, or maybe it was that the Goddess of the Forge was in the same room as me, her burning divinity serving as a beacon to my senses, but when I closed my eyes, the first four steps of my tracing stood out starkly in my mind.

Judging the concept of creation.

Hypothesizing the basic structure.

Duplicating the composition material.

Imitating the skill of its making.

I could clearly feel the heat of the forge and the phantom reverberations of the strikes of the hammer as it shaped the steel into its final form, each and every hit molding the metal with meticulous intent.

I could almost see the red-hot sword as it was heat treated; the hardening, the tempering.

And then the sharpening.

The silver sheen that remained afterwards, before it was even held by one of the most famous warriors in the history of mankind.

Green light filled my hand, extended and then turned into the longsword that helped me so much since coming to this world.

A gasp brought me back to where I was, and I looked up to see Atticus' curious eyes watching my sword, "Well, seeing this, I can get a better image of what you want." Atticus said, taking the sight of the sword with interest. "I can see why you want the upgrade. It's a good sword, but it won't last much in the dungeon."

"Yeah, I heard that monsters after the…" I trailed off when I noticed Atticus looking to my side, confused. And then I realized something.

He wasn't the one that gasped.

"That… where did that come from?" Hephaestus mumbled from her place suddenly near me, inspecting the steel longsword with shock. I shuddered when the weight of her presence filled the room. "You made that? With just a short-chant spell?"

"Ah, yes?" I answered with some uncertainty, not because of the question, but because of the urgency with which she asked it. Was it so surprising that the chant was short? I mean, most of the meat of the spell was made in my mind.

Would my seven steps count as a chant, even if I never say them out loud?

"But how? It's made out of magic, but… the metal is real. Real iron was processed and turned into steel. The wood and leather of the hilt came from a real tree and a real animal. It… it was made hundreds of years ago by hands that were not yours, and yet it's freshly forged as well. How can it be?" She rambled and my eyes widened with every word.

It sounded like she was tracing it, reading its history as she spoke.

"That's because it's not real, Lady Hephaestus." I explained, letting her take hold of the sword to continue her inspection. She traced her fingers over the blade and then glanced at me. "You could say it's just an illusion of a real sword I shaped with my magic energy."

"An… illusion." She whispered. "I've never seen anything like this. It's only because I saw it being created that I looked deeper and noticed at all. To anyone else, this sword would look and feel like the real thing."

I shook my head. "Not… really. There's always a flaw, a downgrade when I make them, but it's hard to notice the difference sometimes." It's only because I created them and had the perfect image in my head that the differences were so glaring to me.

She took a last look at the sword and returned it to me, then she grew serious. "It's remarkable. Just this would be enough for you to earn a place in my Familia, should you want it. That's how impressed I am about it." Hephaestus looked at me for a second more, before she grinned ruefully. "But you are Astraea's, so I won't insult you by asking."

"Thanks." I nodded, knowing that I would have rejected her without question had she asked me to join her, but if she was so curious about the spell… "But, I can answer some questions if you want."

I smiled when she nodded eagerly, feeling some amusement at the fact that both her children did the same behind her. "I'm… curious about how you ended up with such an ability. Is it a Skill?" Then she grimaced. "Sorry, that was rude of me. I shouldn't pry about private matters."

"It's okay, I don't mind. Astraea trusts you, and I wouldn't have offered it if I wasn't willing to answer." Hephaestus sighed in relief. "It's not a Skill. I think Astraea called it congenital magic? I had it before I met her."

"Wait! Aren't you a human?" Ashe asked, taking the chance to approach and start to poke at my sword. "Are you a quarter-elf or something?"

"Or half-dwarf like the captain?" Atticus added. "It would explain the proficiency with creating weapons."

"Ah, I never met my grandparents, but my dad was fully human… I think." Those messes he always made in the kitchen could be explained by him being an extra dimensional being. Ah, but I guess it wouldn't matter if he was, he adopted me, after all. "I was born with the ability to use magic, and learned the basics from two masters before I met my goddess."

"So, it's magic that can be learnt?" Hephaestus interjected with interest.

I grimaced. By the way Astraea had berated me for my reckless use of magic, I don't think mages here do things the same way I do. "I… don't think so. I have some… special circumstances that allow me to cast spells the way I do." I haven't met any mages yet, actually, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be able to replicate my magecraft.

"But you learnt the spell from your master, so there's a possibility, surely!" Ashe exclaimed, a little complaint in her tone.

"Ah, actually, I just learnt the basics from them." I smiled sheepishly. "The spell I use to create my weapons is one I created. Or rather, I improved upon an existing one until I ended up with what I have."

"Which is?" Atticus asked, using the opportunity to continue his sketch, now that he had a model of what I wanted in front of him.

"The basic spell is called Projection, but I like to call my version Tracing. It works by using the image of an object in my mind to create a copy in the real world, duplicating the materials, the forging or creation process and the history it accumulates over time."

"The materials and the process…The history." Atticus mused. "To even picture one of those things should be… hard. To do all of them with enough clarity to create something like this…"

"Should be impossible." Hephaestus finished, a question implicit in her words.

"I have another spell, Structural Analysis, that allows me to read the composition of any object, down to its materials and structure." I smiled, letting the implication hang.

A spell that needs the details of an object, and a spell that reads them. One would think that I can create my Projections due to me using them together, but the actual reason I could make use of it with such ease was the addition of what seems to be a natural ability of mine, one that probably appeared due to my sword element, or so Tohsaka had hypothesized.

The ability to learn and remember every detail of a bladed weapon with just a look, no spell needed.

If it wasn't for that, I would be forced to keep a real sword with me each time I wanted to use my tracing.

I can, with some time and patience, use my Structural Analysis repeatedly to learn and remember the details of an item enough that I can trace them without having the original with me, but it isn't the same.

However, even with that limitation, the two adventurers seemed to become more interested in it.

…I wonder what they would think if I explained myself fully.

"That's so cool… I wish I had something like that myself. I would know if I left any cracks after I shaped the metal, or if my sword became brittle in the furnace, or- Sorry I'm just rambling and making your magic sound lame." Ashe trailed off with a small blush on her face.

"It's okay, I understand. Until just a while ago, I mostly used my magic to repair stuff around my home. It's really useful to know if something can actually be repaired or if I should just throw it out." I smiled sheepishly. "Though, lately I just use it for combat. Circumstances change, I guess."

"And you never tried to use it to properly forge a sword on your own?" Atticus asked. "I can imagine you could learn the basics pretty quickly if you locked yourself in a room with some weapons and a forge."

I scratched my cheek, remembering thinking about it when Astraea tried to get me to join the goddess in front of me. "No? I mean, I've thought about it, but I never had the chance to test it out. Not that I would have the time anyway, with how busy I'm going to be now that I can go to the Dungeon. I prefer to use my free time to improve my swordplay."

"And you think that's okay?" Hephaestus, who had been silent since I explained my magic, cut in sharply. I looked to the side, where the goddess of the forge still stood, and frowned.

Hephaestus was looking at me with pity.

"...my lady?" Ashe asked with some trepidation.

"You are saying that you can learn anything from a weapon if it's in front of you, and yet you limit yourself to combat?" she asked, her tone almost sorrowful. "That's… such a shame."

What? A shame? Isn't fighting the whole reason a weapon is made for? "I… don't understand." I admitted and that just made the pity she seemed to have for me grow.

"And that made it just worse." She smiled ruefully. "That talent you possess, any smith worth their salt would kill to have it. You don't seem to understand how precious it is. Atticus, don't you agree?"

I looked at the blond man, and found him grimacing, the scar on his face twisting with his mouth. "I… agree. I owe you too much to try and force you to do anything, but you having that combination of abilities and not using them to their fullest is almost… insulting." He grimaced. "I can't help but imagine how far I could go with them."

I felt a twinge of guilt at the words he was saying. They were… basic spells. Spells that would earn only mockery from proper magi.

Yes, my Tracing might be more advanced, but it was nothing compared to what Tohsaka could do.

And yet, from their perspective, it was something precious enough to envy.

"Like he said, I won't force you, Shirou. I don't have any say in your future… but I know Astraea won't want you to live just for conflict." I froze when she placed a hand on my chest plate, right above my heart. She wasn't directly touching me, but I felt my heartbeat speed up anyway, my blood rushing like fire through my veins. "Despite how little I know you, looking at this sword, I understand. You may want to be a warrior but I know you were born to create."

My eyes widened.

Emiya Shirou. Understand, you are a maker, not a fighter.

The words that that red Archer said to me months ago surfaced at that moment.

After spending almost a month in this world, even though it hadn't been my choice to arrive here, I began to feel glad of the things I got to experience due to that.

Things like meeting Astraea, saving Ann or rescuing the victims of the hobgoblin, I was genuinely happy to have arrived here.

I had been lost after Saber disappeared. I yearned to follow her steps, to live in a way that would make her proud, to reach that place I was sure she was resting in, but in my world there wasn't a clear path to follow.

Here? Here I could fight to save people using the skills she imparted in me, with the memories of the blades that I got to see through her eyes.

Make her proud.

And thanks to Astraea's blessing, I began to think I might one day be strong enough to do what she could have done in my place. To compare myself with the memories that remained after she was gone and not find myself wanting.

And yet…

You do not need outside enemies. For you, the one you have to fight is none other than your own image.

It was those words that guided me to create Caliburn for the first time and overcome Berserker, it was by following those words that I created Avalon and survived the curses of the Grail.

In my desire to follow in her footsteps, to fill the hole her absence left, had I been… ignoring what makes me, me?

"Let me teach you." Hephaestus declared. "That talent you possess, I won't - I can't- let it go to waste. You may not be one of my children, but allow me, the Goddess of the Forge, of Blacksmiths and Craftsmen, turn you into a smith."

I shuddered, feeling some part of me, deep in my soul, rejoice at her words, at her touch.

The fires of her divinity didn't feel oppressing anymore.

If anything, they relaxed me.

And why wouldn't they? After all, she is the Goddess of the Forge and my body is made out of blades.


"I'm home!" Astraea's cheerful voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I stirred the contents of my pot, checking that I wasn't about to let something burn, and was about to go greet her when she entered the kitchen. "Oh! That smells nice~."

I smiled softly. "Welcome home, Astraea." I greeted her. "I'm almost done here, but I can keep it warmed up until you take a bath, if you want. The bathtub upstairs should still be hot."

"Oh, Shirou, you are a lifesaver!" She gushed. "I'm exhausted~. Ganesha's enthusiasm for his work is a little too much sometimes." she complained, a little tiredness seeping into her tone. "It was nice catching up, but working with him is always an experience."

I nodded almost commiseratingly, from what I heard about him, Ganesha seemed like a male Fuji-nee, only ten times louder.

"Well, it sounds like you need a moment to relax." Now I'm glad I went through the trouble of heating more water after my bath. "Go on up and take your time, I can keep this warm until you are done. We can talk over dinner." Astraea nodded gratefully and I turned back to the food, but then I stiffened up when I felt her arms circling my stomach and the softness of her chest pressing against my back. "... Astraea?"

"Mm, indulge me a little…" she whispered, her warm breath sending a shiver down my spine. "I needed this, even more than a delicious dinner or a warm bath." Even as my cheeks heated up, I forced my muscles to relax so she wasn't hugging a statue. "Sorry. I know you're strong, my hero, but I couldn't help but worry all day knowing you went to the Dungeon."

…Of course she would worry. After everything she lost in that place, it would be more surprising if she didn't.

"My bad. I should have gone to see you after I was done." I apologized. "Everything went okay, I wasn't even hurt."

She shook her head against the crook of my neck. "Mm, don't blame yourself, this is just me being a worrywart." She said with a giggle. "Let me recharge my Shirou energy a little more, and I'll let you go."

Am I an energy generator now?

"Don't take too much time, your bath is going to go cold." I reminded her.

"...you could always join me, you know? The bath is big enough for two." She answered in a voice all too casual for the words coming out of her mouth.

…And now she's just teasing me.

I thought I had finally grown used to it, but my heart trying to lurch out of my chest told me that I was still weak to her.

"That bath is big enough for five, but that's not the problem here." I sighed with some exasperation. "Don't joke about that, Astraea. It's dangerous for my heart."

"Fufu, I don't see the problem here. I already saw you half-naked, why are you being shy now?" Because I'd be seeing you, and I don't trust myself that much to not react. I didn't say anything, though, and after a few seconds Astraea giggled and let go. "Hm, you smell too nice. You didn't think of waiting for me and took a bath on your own, huh? How inconsiderate."

"Just go before I end up burning the house because you are distracting me."

Astraea left the kitchen with another giggle and a "Next time wait for me~" and I let out an explosive sigh.

Should I say something? I liked Astraea and I knew that her teasing was a way to show closeness to the people she liked… but sometimes I felt like she was treating me… like a child.

Like I'm not a man.

And that annoyed me.

I returned to my cooking, even though there was barely anything else to do before serving. I needed something, anything, to distract my mind, because if I started to think why I was annoyed at that, I wouldn't like the answer.

That way laid dragons.


"Unfaithful. One afternoon on your own and you went and found a replacement for me?"

I sighed. "Astraea…It's not like that. I haven't even accepted her offer."

"And that makes it better?" My goddess pouted, before letting a pleased hum when she took a bite of the sauteed chicken on her plate. "So good~ Ahem. While you were out there seducing my friend, I spent my whole afternoon negotiating with Ganesha so you could join their patrols. How's that fair?"

"I didn't seduce her! She just offered to teach me blacksmithing!" I protested, going along with her game, before taking a bite myself.

Hm, average, I guess? I wanted to cook something with fish, but the few shops I visited had none left by the time I finally had time to go shopping. I had to make do with what I found, thus chicken sauteed with onions, green pepper and garlic and a side of potatoes.

Basic, but quite delicious, even if I had to experiment a little bit with the spices to know what I was working with.

Now if I could find some good soy sauce and miso…

Astraea pulled me out of my thoughts of grilled fish and miso soup with a harrumph. "The Goddess of Blacksmiths offered to turn you into a blacksmith, how is that any different from you gaining another goddess?" She counter-argued, raising an eyebrow. It would have been a good argument if not for how her lips were twitching upwards in mirth.

"Jokes aside, please." I begged. "What do you think?"

Astraea fell silent in thought… or maybe she was too distracted by polishing the food on her plate to talk.

"I think you should do it." She declared after a few seconds. "Jokes aside, the fact that you impressed Hephaestus so much she offered to teach you herself means a lot. It's an opportunity that you shouldn't waste."

I nodded. I had actually thought the same, but I wanted to have a second opinion before I dived head first into it.

And this was something that I felt Astraea needed to have a say in.

Luckily, Hephaestus didn't mind waiting for my answer and just nodded when I told her why I couldn't accept just then.

"Eventually you may not want to delve into the Dungeon anymore, so it'd be smart to have a backup plan, just in case." She continued.

"Even if it may cut into my training time? Or my trips down there?"

"...Shirou, you reached the fourth floor on your first day, with all your Basic Abilities on I. Time is not against you." She admonished me. "Your life doesn't need to consist of only fighting and the Dungeon. You need to have something else. Don't you want to learn how to create your own weapons?"

"...I do."

"Then you shouldn't hesitate." She then gained a complicated expression. "You are young, and things are peaceful in the city for the first time in years. Take advantage of every chance you get to grow, now that you can."

"...Alright, I'll accept the offer, then. Thank-""But!" Astraea cut in before I could finish. "Don't forget you are my child. Hephaestus may be your teacher but I am your goddess. If you leave me for her, I won't forgive you." She warned me half-jokingly. "If she wasn't seduced today, then she will be after you tell her of your affinity with swords. I might need to prepare for a War Game for you."

She wouldn't…would she?

But right, thinking about it, I might need to come clean about my full capabilities if I wanted to learn properly from her.

She was willing to offer training after hearing the basics of my abilities, what would she do if I told her everything about my Tracing?

If I showed her Avalon?

…Astraea might not be stretching the truth about a War Game in the future.

Silly predictions aside, I smiled with some amusement about the fact my goddess was worried about me leaving her, of all things.

"Of course, my goddess." Even if I had to fight the whole Familia to remain with her, I feel like I wouldn't lose.

"So, changing subjects!" Astraea continued, clapping her hands. "How about we do some cleaning around here after you come back tomorrow? I did some dusting this morning and you cleaned the bath but there's still much to do! Even the garden is a mess."

"Right, I found some mops and buckets in a closet near the bathroom, but should I pick up some cleaning supplies before coming back?" I offered.

"Oh! That's a good idea! I can wait for you in Pantheon and we'll go shopping together. I can give you a tour of the city at the same time!" She exclaimed with a bright smile, before starting to list her favorite stores around.

I let my eyes drink in the sight of my joyful goddess and relaxed in my seat, feeling an easy smile settle on my face. Yeah… If it's to protect this, a War Game or two sounds cheap.

"And there was a nice cafe around there too. It served a sinful cheesecake that you have to try-"

…We might end up buying a lot more than cleaning supplies.

I better do my best tomorrow and earn some money. We're probably going to need it.


Adventurers were… reckless.

There's a saying about thrown rocks and glass houses, but I feel that on this occasion, I was allowed to say it.

Because, while I have been going to the fourth floor for the past week without having received any updates to my Falna, I felt that I was more than ready to face the dangers of the monsters from that floor.

Many I met over the course of this week couldn't say the same.

"It's okay. It's just bleeding, it looks a lot worse than it is." I tried to comfort the crying girl whose leg had been mauled by a dungeon lizard just a couple of seconds before I found her. "Do you have a potion with you?"

The girl, a blonde teen a little older than me, shook her head, her face pale as the cloth I was using to staunch her bleeding- before said cloth turned red, anyway. "I used them all already. I- I was late on my rent so I couldn't afford many. A-Am I going to die?" She asked, her blue eyes wide with dread.

"No! Of course not. You're going to be fine." I smiled as kindly as I could and reached to one of the pouches in my waist. I rummaged a little bit and found the glass phial I was looking for. "Here, a healing potion." The girl grabbed the potion with shaking fingers and looked at me with shock. "I'm going to remove the cloth and you are going to pour it on the wound, okay?"

"Are you sure? I- I don't have money to pay you." Even as she said that, she removed the stopper from the phial. I shook my head and just smiled.

"It's okay, just use it. I have a lot more." Astraea being Astraea made sure every day to fill my pouches with as many potions as she could. I'm sure she won't mind me using one of them for this.

She didn't, the few times I did so this week.

Low quality as it was, the potion was able to close her wound enough that the bleeding stopped. It would leave quite the scar, and be a little tender for a while, but that's a small price to pay for survival.

"Do you want me to accompany you back up? I was about to leave in a little while anyway."

The girl started to stand with difficulty and took a shuddering breath. "Will you? I… feel a little woozy. I don't think I can fight anymore today."

"Right. Come on, take the stones from the lizards and let's go."

"Eh? But you killed most of them!" She exclaimed, looking at me like I was crazy.

"But you need them more than me, right?" I had quite the haul already, losing five more stones wouldn't really impact me that much. "Come on, I'll help you out." I kneeled and started to open the chest of the nearest lizard with a knife.

"...Okay, I'll take you up on your kindness. You're a saint, really..." I pretended not to see the tears filling her eyes.

Leaving the Dungeon, even while protecting someone else, was quite easy. Just going up one floor was enough for the rate of monsters to peter out to one very few minutes.

…Actually, it was easier because I was protecting her. Every one of my Basic Abilities got quite the boost thanks to my Skill whenever a monster threatened her. If I thought a goblin was easy to kill normally, then with my Ashes of a Beautiful Dream active it looked like they were just standing still waiting for my sword.

"I thought I could do it… but I'm useless, compared to you." She smiled mirthlessly. "I thought that after killing a couple goblins and kobolds I was ready to go lower, but now that I saw you fight, I realize how stupid I was… No wonder… lost interest." She muttered the last part under her breath.

"I had some experience fighting before I came to the city, so I'm far from someone you should compare yourself to." I talked to her while taking the stone out of a goblin I just killed. "You may want to practice a couple more days on these floors before going lower… Maybe you could ask a member of your Familia for help?"

"I don't think they would help me… My Familia is quite enthusiastic about our God, and they grew jealous when Lord Apollo gave me his full attention after I first joined up." She grimaced. "Now that another child just gained his favor, I'm left without his love and without friendship."

Familias are more diverse than I thought, I guess.

From what Astraea had told me, her children had been almost family to each other. There had been some friction between them sometimes, but they had supported each other unconditionally. Apollo's seemed to be rivals for his affection.

So gods and mortals do love each other like that…

I shook my head. It wasn't the time to get lost in intrusive thoughts. I stood up and flicked the stone to the girl- Chryseis, as she introduced herself. She grabbed it out of the air with a grateful smile and we continued on our way.

It wasn't long before the entrance to Babel was in sight and I finally cut the constant rush of magic energy feeding my Reinforcement.

It really wasn't necessary at this point, but training was training.

Magecraft had been my lifeline since I arrived here, so any improvements I might get by training my Magic Basic Ability will make it worth every second I keep my spell up.

"Right, you probably should go to the infirmary to get some rest before you go home. Wouldn't want to fall unconscious on your way back, hm?" I told her once we were in the lobby of the tower.

"Ah, can't you accompany me home? I… want to thank you." She said twirling one lock of her hair with a finger, a healthy flush returning to her cheeks now that we were out of the Dungeon. "I can make you dinner as thanks, I'm a good cook! You won't be disappointed."

…I was a little tempted, if only to see what kind of dishes people make here but, unfortunately, besides the fact that my dinner time was reserved to spend time with my goddess, I had an appointment today.

"Sorry, but I have a meeting with my advisor. She's quite the stickler for punctuality." I smiled apologetically. "I might take you up on the offer another day."

A few moments later I was on my way to Pantheon, leaving her with quite the pout. I felt a little guilty, but I promised Fannett I would be there today, and going back on my word is not something I like to do.


"Another one? That's what? Five, six people you had to escort back since you started?" Fannett wondered, writing a report of my latest Dungeon trip and my following escort mission out.

"Around that, yeah. There's quite a lot of people trying their luck on the fourth floor without much experience." Luckily I was there to rescue those that needed it. "They may be ignoring their advisors' wise counsel." I said, letting some amusement show.

Fannet raised an eyebrow, her expression deadpan. "Right, carelessness and overconfidence is quite common in adventurers. But you wouldn't know, right, Emiya?"

I shrugged. "Hey, I've been listening to you since the first day. Not a step on the fifth floor yet."

"You mean after the first day, and that was me threatening you, no counseling needed." She corrected, but then sighed. "Speaking of, when are you going to get your Basic Abilities updated? You must be getting tired of goblins at this point, aren't you?"

"Hm? Well, Astraea said that we were going to do it tomorrow and take a day or two off so I'd get used to the change." It will give me time to finally go and pick up my sword. Atticus told me that it would take him and Ashe a few days to get it done, so I'm hoping that a week might have been enough.

…and I would talk to Hephaestus about starting my lessons with her.

"But, wait, you think I'm going to raise one of them to G right away? Isn't that after the two hundred point mark?"

"The first few hundred are the easiest to raise. You've been doing seven or eight hour trips every day, plus training outside, so even if you don't reach G, H is quite possible." She shrugged. "Knowing the ease you have now, and that you are getting a weapon from a smith from Lady Hephaestus' familia, exploring the fourth floor will be a waste of time after you update." Fannett took out a leather bound notebook, a planner, from her desk and jotted me for an advising session. "If you get a couple of abilities to H, come see me the day after tomorrow at two and we'll review once again the fifth floor so you go down prepared."

Well, wasn't that great news?

I was about to start helping the Ganesha Familia the following week due to them needing more people because of the start of the solstice festival. Being able to explore the Dungeon even deeper will let me make up for those days I would spend patrolling.

I just had to make sure some of my abilities reach H.

I'll stay up even later today practicing my projection. Considering the amount I trained my Magic since I got my Falna, I'm guessing it would be the closest to a rank up.

I wouldn't mess this up.

"Right, thanks for your time as always, Fannett. Anything else before I leave?" I asked, as I was standing up.

"One more thing, actually. It took quite a while to find this, buried as it was with other reports." I stopped and looked at her curiously.

"What is it?"

She stared back at me with her intense yellow eyes for a moment, before sighing, her ears twitching in annoyance. "A warning first, not from the Guild, but from me. If you follow through with this, many will question any achievements you may have in the future, Emiya, if only because they will have the opportunity. So be careful with your actions going forward." ...what? What does she- "Ryuu Lion is working in the Hostess of Fertility, a pub in this very district, along the Western Main Street."

…Oh.


Ryuu Lion

"Ugh~ I don't want to work-nya~" Ryuu's right ear twitched when the grumbling words of Anya reached her, even before she entered the changing room. "We ended up closing at three yesterday-nya! It should be illegal to make me take a shift the day after that-nya!"

"Then report Mama Mia to the Ganesha Familia, instead of complaining, idiot." Lunoire replied, rolling her eyes, as Ryuu entered the room and went to her cubby.

"If you don't want to work closing, then wake up early and ask for the opening time, Anya." Ryuu interjected. "You're always the last to volunteer whenever Mama Mia asks." She reminded Anya while checking her dress for wrinkles on the mirror in front of her.

"Uuh~ But, Ryuu, tips in the morning are awful-nya! Do you want me to starve? How could you ask that of me-nya?" Ryuu sighed, wasn't she complaining about time? Of course night customers gave more tips, they were mostly drunkards. They're awful with money.

It was even worse considering the advent of that festival the Guild was organizing.

Nights had been awfully busy the last few days with all the people that came to Orario for the festivities about to start at the beginning of the next week.

"If you weren't so grumpy-pants first thing in the morning, the nice old men would give you lots of tips! They always do it to me!" Syr exclaimed from her place next to her, and Ryuu grimaced, those old men always came around whenever she was taking another shift. She didn't want to assume, but… Maybe I should join Syr more often.

"That's because the nice old men perv on you, Syr." Lunoire said in a deadpan, and Ryuu hissed out a breath while tying up her apron. Just like I thought. "I hate to agree with Anya, but they're awful whenever you're not around."

"Stop~ they're just being nice." Syr whined with a plaintive voice. "But even if they were a little pervy, they give me presents all the time just for some attention, so it's fine anyway! The other day one left me a bottle of Soma wine~." Ryuu narrowed her eyes. I should really keep an eye around here, even if I'm not on shift. Syr is too nice and those men might misunderstand…

"Uh. Maybe I should start waking up early-nya…"

"Yeah, I might smile a little bit more during the morning…"

Ryuu sighed, and finished adjusting her headdress over her hair. She narrowed her eyes a little when she saw on her reflection some blonde starting to peek from her roots. Might need to reapply the dye later.

"Mm~ Need a hand with your hair later, Ryuu?" Syr asked, placing her hands on her shoulder and smiling softly through the reflection.

"If it's not a bother, Syr." She nodded.

"Of course not, silly." Syr giggled. "How about we take tomorrow off together and make a day out of it? Been a couple of weeks since you took a rest. I know you Adventurers are tough, but you need some free days too, Ryuu."

Hm. Syr was right, with all the influx of people, Ryuu had put in more hours to help around until it calmed down, but with the festival about to start, she might need to take a breather now before it got too busy.

And it's been some time since I took the time to go back ho- to Stardust Garden and do some proper cleaning.

The garden had been a mess the last time she went to take a look, and even though she dusted the rooms a little, she knew it wouldn't last. It never did.

She nodded. After spending her morning with Syr, she would go to Stardust Garden and spend the day cleaning.

And she might have a letter waiting for her there.

"Okay, I'll ask Mama Mia later."

"Will you? Yes, that sounds like a good idea!" Ryuu raised an eyebrow when Syr suddenly wasn't meeting her eyes. "Ah, I might have missed a shift or two last week so Mama might be a lil' bit angry at me."

"Syr…" Ryuu's tone was filled with disapproval, but to her exasperation, Syr's answer was to bump herself on the head with a fist and stick out her tongue.

"Ehe~." And wink at her. Ryuu sighed.

"...I'll do my best to convince her." It might annoy Mama Mia, but if it was for Syr, then Ryuu didn't mind doing so.

"Yay! You're the best!" Ryuu felt her lips quirk upwards. Yes, she didn't mind.

Having finished changing ahead of her coworkers who were taking their sweet time, Ryuu went down to the first floor of the pub, hopefully prepared for the busy night ahead.

Just as she was walking down the stairs, the boisterous voice of Mama Mia reached her. "So, boy? What do you think? It's good, right? Comes from Lady Demeter's garden itself!" Oh? It was rare for Mama Mia to serve one of those to a customer. It usually was reserved for when gods visited. It wasn't even priced, it was a courtesy tea she offered. "You can't say that this is not to your taste, huh?"

"Hm…Oh! This one is quite good, yeah. I wonder how green tea grown in her gardens might taste." A young man's voice answered, his words bringing back some memories that she had forgotten until now.

It's not bitter, it's just your unrefined palate that can't appreciate the complex taste of good tea, Lion.

"Green tea? Isn't that from the Far East?" Mama Mia asked. "I heard it's quite bitter."

"Ah, probably?" He said, proving himself to be more diplomatic than Kaguya had been. "It's an acquired taste, to be sure, but for me there's nothing like that taste to relax after a cold day. You should try it someday and see for yourself, madam." As he said that, Ryuu finally got a good look at the Far Eastern young man. Hair the color of rust that was cut quite short and light-brown eyes so bright they looked like bronze. He looked quite eye-catching, if compared to the other men and women Ryuu had met from that country.

He was also an Adventurer. A rookie one, if she wasn't mistaken.

It wasn't the leather clothing and mismatched armor he was wearing that told her so. It was… his movements. Those that had received a Falna recently had a… reticence to their movements. An unconscious fear of going overboard with their newfound strength.

His was more subtle than others she had seen over the years, but it was there if one knew what to look for.

"Hm, might need to order some the next time the merchant from there comes around." Leaving Mama Mia to her conversation, Ryuu looked around the bar, quickly finding some dirty tables. Right, time to work. "I wonder if someone might buy it, though. My teatime clients often look for something a little… sweeter than that."

"Well, you'll have me as a buyer. I might start coming here often if you can find some. Especially if you tell me when is that merchant coming. I might need to buy some stuff myself, it's quite hard to find some good spices around here."

"Hah! I knew you had the look of a cook! I need to check properly, but if you come around, let's say, tomorrow for breakfast, I might have the information for you." Ryuu piled some dirty cups and plates on her tray and started to head for the kitchen, paying some attention to the conversation so she could catch Mama Mia once it finished. "Ah! There she is! Lion! There's someone looking for you!"

Hm?

For her?

Ryuu turned around and met the bronze eyes of the young man with some confusion. Why would an Adventurer be looking for her…?

She left her tray on the counter and approached the two. "Looking for me, Mama Mia?"

"He said he has a message for you, he's been waiting for more than half an hour already!" Mama Mia said with a grin. "I've been keeping him entertained."

The young man smiled with some amusement. "If by that you mean relieving me of my coin, then yes, I've been thoroughly entertained." Mama Mia chuckled at that, and Ryuu had to wonder about the identity of the Adventurer who could joke around with someone like her. Even if she didn't act the part, there was an air about Mia Grand, probably remnants from those years leading Lady Freya's Familia, that demanded respect from those around her.

And yet he…No, that didn't matter as much as the fact that he came to deliver her a message of all things.

Maybe it was Lady Astraea's?

No, that was impossible. There was no way her goddess could know she was working in this place, not with the way she had been putting off answering her previous letters.

"You said a message." She said coolly, wanting to get this over with. "What is it? And from whom?"

The red haired Adventurer stood up and tilted his head, looking like he was… inspecting her. Her eyes narrowed thinking back on those men that followed Syr around, but there was no lust or desire she could see in his eyes, only mild curiosity.

"Huh, I've been told you were blonde, Ryuu Lion." He said in lieu of a greeting and Ryuu felt her blood go cold.

It's been almost a year since she began dyeing her hair, and her name had since been struck -probably done intentionally by the Guild- from most people's memories. The few times she heard rumors about herself it was all 'Gale Wind', not Ryuu Lion.

It was like her past and her present were two different people for most.

Gale Wind was a blonde elf from Astraea Familia, Ryuu Lion was the green haired elf that worked in the Hostess of Fertility.

And yet this young man knew who she was. Knew her from before.

Was he an ally from that time? No, he didn't seem to know her. He just heard of her. He'd been told of her.

The last time someone had come looking for her knowing her past was when she met Lunoire and Chloe and all that it entailed, but as far as Ryuu knew, any bounty on her was gone. Most assumed she left Orario, some that she died.

Yet here he was, looking for her.

Why?

Dressed in armor, a sword hanging from his waist- That sword, why did it seem familiar?-, in her home, knowing details that most would ignore. Who was he?

"You, who are you? Say what you need to say and leave. Otherwise, if you came here seeking trouble then…" Was he an enemy? A remnant of them?

He was young, but if he proved to be a threat to her new home, to Syr… She had killed younger.

Her hand reached down, she had a dagger sheathed on her thigh under her skirt. If she wanted, with her speed it would be less than a second to- Ryuu's face snapped forward, unable to even react to Mama Mia's hand hitting her on the back of the head.

"Lion, stop, you idiot." The Hostess' owner said with exasperation. "I thought you were over trying to wreck my bar. Look at him properly, does he seem the like to have ulterior motives?"

Shaking her head, trying to clear the cobwebs from her head after that strike, Ryuu focused back on the Adventurer.

She didn't know what she was looking for. The leather jerkin, the iron armor that looked quite old but well-cared for, the blue handkerchief tied around his right arm, a line of flowers embroidered in it- a woman's handkerchief, a present? A memento?-, the sword… the sword that was so familiar it ached. What did Mama Mia mean?

She looked up- Ah.

Looking at his eyes Ryuu realized what it was.

His eyes. They were too clear.

There was none of the tiredness that Lunoire and Chloe used to have in theirs, there was none of the regret that sometimes clouded Anya's… there was none of the darkness that, even after a year of peace, still remained in hers.

Innocent, stupid eyes, unsuited for this city. There was no way that he was one of them. No way he was a bounty hunter.

Were Alise's eyes like these? Did Alise used to look at the world with such innocence? No, not even hers looked like that.

No, if anything, those eyes were like…

Stupid, I must be more tired than I thought if I lost my cool like that.

"And you too, boy. I don't know what you plan to do with your hand empty like that, but I suggest you stop before I kick you to the curb." The owner continued.

Ryuu's eyes widened, while she was distracted by her paranoia getting the better of her, the Adventurer hadn't been idle. He stood ready, his hand, instead of going to his sword, was stretched, angled away from his body and half closed, like he was holding an invisible weapon.

And the Mana.

Mana rushed to him, like the winds of the world guided the energy to fill him. All to stop her if she attacked.

"Who says my hand would stay empty for long?"

He was a mage.

"That's the problem, dumbass, nothing good comes from magic in a closed room." Mia continued. "Now, we had a good thing going here, don't ruin it by being stupid. Just give your message and go on your way. Is that okay, Lion?"

"...Yes, it's fine." Ryuu took a second to inhale deeply and then exhale, doing her best to regain her calm. "I'm sorry for overreacting, I've… been working quite a few tiring days, it must have been the stress."

Right, the stress that sometimes made her want to attack random people.

Stupid.

"Right, if you say so." He said, a troubled smile appearing on his face as he settled back into his seat. "I… might have said the wrong thing to start with. Let's just… say that it's water under the bridge." He sighed and for some reason Ryuu had the impression that he was berating himself just as she just did. "I don't want to give an even worse first impression to someone so important to her, so I'll just say it and leave you be."

Someone so important to her? What does he-

"Your goddess wants to see you, Captain. She's back in Orario."

…huh?