"So what next" my goddess asked as we walked the streets of Orario.
"I have to go to the blacksmith shop to get some armour"
"Oh if it's that let's go to the Hephaestus familia area, there are new smiths that sell their works cheaply. I also get to introduce you to Hephaestus if she's not busy" she said in a cheerful tone
'She really likes Hephaestus I guess' I thought as a saw her basically skipping since we started talking about Hephaestus.
We walked for a while and arrived at the Hephaestus familia. The security seemed to be tight and a weird guy in a cloak approaching them didn't seem very wise. But they let their guard down a bit as they say my goddess.
'Seems they are used to her coming here a lot' I thought.
"Is Hephaestus around or is she busy" Bahamut asked.
"Welcome Bahamut sama, please wait here as I go and Inform Hephaestus sama of your arrival" one of the guards said as the others remained and watched me warily. Noticing this my goddess assured them that I was her familia member to which they once again relaxed.
A few minutes later
We were let inside and directed to Hephaestus office.
Now In front of me are two girls, one with beautiful red hair and an eye patch, and the other was a cute legal dragon loli with silver hair and eyes. Bahamut my goddess was hugging Hephaestus. Which made them look like mother and child. So I removed my cloak and introduced myself. I felt that I would remain out of place if I did nothing.
"Sorry for intruding if you were busy but my goddess insisted that I met you today. I am Draco black, Captain of the Bahamut familia. Nice to meet you Hephaestus sama" I said with a small bow.
Upon noticing and seeing my appearance Hephaestus looked shocked before composing herself. But I could hear her mutter.
"A dragon kin".
Noticing I was still bowing she seemed a bit flustered before beckoning me to raise my head up with her introduction.
"I am Hephaestus, goddess of the Hephaestus familia. And feel free to call me just Hephaestus" she said as she held her hand forward for a shake which I shook.
Feeling my positive intentions she smiled a bit and seemed a bit relieved as she was sensitive to other people emotions just like my goddess. Probably because they were outcast I guess.
" So how did you get yourself a dragon kin, I thought that they all died out" Hephaestus asked curiously.
"Sigh, it's a long story" said my goddess as she proceeded to explain what she told me while still leaving out big chucks of information and some that she probably told Hephaestus before. Hephaestus didn't seem to mind as they had been friends for a long time and that Bahamut would open up eventually.
"I see" Hephaestus said while stroking Bahamuts hair.
"It must have been tough" Hephaestus said while looking at me.
"No, I had a family that adopted me so I grew up ok till I met Bahamut" I replied with a smile while remembering my naughty siblings.
"That's good, please take care of Bahamut, she tends to do crazy things at times." Hephaestus said in a warm tone
"I will protect and watch out for her with everything I have" I said sounding confident.
Upon hearing our conversation Bahamut felt embarrassed and hastily got up. Her horns seemed to have removed Hephaestus eye patch and it dropped to the floor.
" Draco don't look" she said as she knew Hephaestus didn't like others seeing her eye.
But it was too late for that.
"…" Silence filled the room as Hephaestus finally caught up to what was happening, she placed her had of her eye to cover it.
"..." feeling a bit awkward and suffocating, took a deep breath and asked.
" Why do you cover your eye??" I asked as I really wanted to hear it directly from her. I did so while picking her eye patch from the ground and handing it to her.
"Don't you find it weird" she said in a quivering voice.
"Ha ha ha" I couldn't help but laugh at the reason as it seems like a stupid thing to worry about. As we had similar problems. Not to seem rude I quickly explain why I laughed.
"Look at me, I am so different from other Demi human races as I bear similarities to certain monsters. And your friend Bahamut has the same look even though she could disguise it. Do you feel disgusted by me and my goddess appearance, because I find myself quite handsome.. Despite all that, I still see both you and my goddess as beautiful women. So no need to feel that your eyes are weird. I mean,I have weird eyes to" I said while pointing at my eyes.
"A- a-um no I don't find you and bahamut disgusting" Hephaestus said while stuttering and blushing.
She knew what he said was true, she didn't find Bahamut disgusting and found Draco to be quite handsome. She also knew he wasn't lying as his eyes were clear and she didn't sense anything false in his words.
After coming to the realization that what he said was all true, Hephaestus face went as red as her hair with embarrassment as she noticed that Bahamut too had a red face.
"Ah I am sorry me about my goddess lack of manner, we seemed to have opened a sore spot for you" I said quickly trying to hide the embarrassment in the words I just said while thinking 'Has my Rizz gone up, but damn those were some seriously cringe lines'.
Bahamut also apologized as she was also embarrassed by her actions and what Draco just said served to fuel it more. But she knew this was a significant improvement for Hephaestus as only Hestia and her could talk to Hephaestus like this.
" it's nothing" said Hephaestus as she kept stealing glances at Draco.
I wasn't dense as I noticed her glances and thought of the possibility romance that could follow, but I knew now wasn't the time as I was just a adventurer and had a lot of things to take care of.
"It's getting late we need to get the armour and go to the construction familia" I said to my goddess.
"Ah yes we have to do that, goodbye Hephi , I will come bye sometime soon to hangout" said Bahamut.
"Hephi?" I muttered as we exited the office, but before we left I told Hephaestus that only what she thinks of herself matters, not what others think. As we exited the room I couldn't help but notice Hephaestus blush when I muttered Hephi. Well that was a cliche encounter with cringe words but it happened so I had to deal with it.
A few minutes later we're in the shopping area for equipment. My budget was 100,000 Valis for armour as I already had a weapon, I could also use my partial transformation for offence, defence and maneuverability so I needed strong light armour that didn't inhibit my agility. I also need a new cloak with effects that wouldn't get in my way to hide my features. I hadn't gotten the space rune yet, so I would get a large dungeon bag and put my valuables somewhere safe.
Looking around for a few minutes with Bahamut, I came across a shop with a dwarf at the counter.
Walking into the shop, I went around looking for a cloak and light amour and found them. I then picked them up and checked if it fit my body, which it did. I brought them to the counter to purchase while asking how much.
"30,000" Valis he said in a gruff voice after which I paid while slightly nodding to him as a sign of thanks and greeting.
After we exited the shop my goddess couldn't help but ask how much money I had. Because I had spent a lot of money today, well at least more than a normal non adventurer would in a day.
" I have about 10 million Valis" I whispered to her which gave her quite the shock.
"Let's get you anything you want before we head home" I said but she hesitated for a while before I egged her on. She eventually told me the things she needed without holding back as we walked home.
I wanted to stop by the famous Hostess of fertility restaurant, but wasn't even sure it existed yet in my current timeline and going there might also lead to me gaining some unwanted attention. We bought some street food on the way home, ate and then went to bed to welcome a new day.
Feel free to vote and read ahead on patreon. Hungrymushroom.