Chapter 20: I'm Going to Host a Uma Musume Race!
After clearing up Lili's confusion, the little Pallum girl lost the courage to meet Shirou's gaze for over half an hour. Even if Shirou's eyes merely drifted toward her cheek, Lili would look away, her face growing hotter and hotter like a girl experiencing her first love.
Fearing that continuing to tease her might actually cause her to faint from shyness, Shirou acted a bit more normal for the rest of the trip.
Along the streets, they occasionally spotted people of various races hailing from outside of Orario—such as cat-people, elves, horse-girls... wait, did he just see a horse-girl?
Shirou's gaze suddenly paused, carefully observing a few horse-girls running past.
"T-That guy is looking right at us—!"
"I seriously get the feeling that guy's look is like he's about to kidnap us..."
"When you put it like that, it sounds super scary, let's hurry up and get out of here!"
A few horse-girls took off running at top speed, leaving everyone else in the dust. Their running speed was quite impressive, far beyond what humans could manage, kicking up enough dust along the way to make passing pedestrians cover their noses and mouths.
Seeing this scene, however, light flashed in Shirou's eyes.
Orario was the core setting where the plot of this world took place. If he stirred up a massive commotion right here, he would undoubtedly be able to mold this world into his own shape in no time!
So, step one would start with hosting a "Uma Musume Race"!
Before that, though, he still needed to gather enough capital.
"Hmm, decided. Let's find a good residence first, and then head over to the [Hephaestus Familia] to check out the market."
With that said, Shirou pulled the still-bashful Lili along and headed toward the estate of the [Hephaestus Familia].
Lili snapped out of it as if waking from a dream, looking at Shirou with a hint of surprise as she spoke up:
"W-What happened... Where are we going?"
What was the one thing adventurers venturing into the dungeon could least afford to be without?
Some would say booze, some would say magic stones, while others would say the euphoria that follows a battle—
Yet genuinely experienced adventurers would scoff at all those answers.
Because all of the aforementioned things were items needed only after returning from an adventure. Down in that perilous dungeon where the crisis of life and death could hang in the balance of a single thought, the one thing you could never go without was top-quality equipment.
Swords, spears, bows, staves, armor, magic potions—these weapons and tools directly concerned an adventurer's life. No matter how careless one might be, one could never afford to be careless about gear.
The quality of these weapons and tools would correspondingly influence an adventurer's chances of making it through a dungeon excursion safe and sound.
In the northeastern section of the city of Orario, there existed just such a place where a steady stream of adventurers visited day after day.
A massive building resembling a volcano—that was the estate of the 'God of Fire and Blacksmithing,' Hephaestus, and her familia.
The items produced by Hephaestus and her familia were the absolute peak of equipment in Orario. Any adventurer who had ever used a creation crafted by the [Hephaestus Familia] showered praise on the quality of the weapons and armor.
And before this building, which was as filled with the sound of hammers and billowing heat as ever, two new guests arrived.
"Eh? Isn't that the otherworldly god—!?"
Craftmen in the middle of smelting work suddenly noticed the tall and short figures standing outside, immediately letting out cries of exclamation.
Members of the [Hephaestus Familia] turned their gazes over with curiosity one after another, and some even became distracted as a result.
"Alright, alright, everyone back to work!"
With those stern words of reprimand from the goddess Hephaestus herself, the craftsmen immediately refocused their attention onto their respective forged pieces.
Meanwhile, Hephaestus walked up to the entrance and looked at Shirou.
"I know you. I heard about you from Loki before. Do you have business with me coming here?"
"I just heard that your familia boasts the highest blacksmithing skills in Orario, so I came here out of admiration, wanting to appreciate what the most expensive armaments look like."
Shirou smiled as he stated his purpose, looking very much like someone who had merely heard of Hephaestus's reputation and wished to come pay his respects.
"Is that so...?"
Although Hephaestus felt something was slightly off for a moment, there was genuinely no reason to turn him away under the circumstances, so she led Shirou and Lili inside.
Arriving at the display stands, Hephaestus introduced the best works her familia had produced thus far to Shirou.
A jet-black straight sword, a pair of blood-red short blades, and a pure white longbow imbued with an ethereal feel and decorated with feathers.
Seeing these three pieces of work, Shirou's eyes lit up slightly.
"I see, I see..." As he inspected the quality of these armaments, Shirou sighed in repeated admiration, causing Hephaestus's brow to furrow slightly with the lingering suspicion that Shirou harbored ill intentions.
Sticking to the etiquette of introducing wares to a customer, however, Hephaestus went ahead and explained the uses of these three armaments—such as the ability to channel magic to release a slash, causing continuous bleeding upon striking an enemy, or hindering an opponent's mobility once hit by an arrow.
"So, which one are you going to buy?"
Faced with Hephaestus's inquiry, Shirou smiled with absolute ease and answered:
"I'm not buying any of them."
"..."
Hephaestus felt a giant tic mark pop up on her forehead.
So you browsed around here for ages just to buy absolutely nothing, is that it!
The sheer shamelessness of this otherworldly god made Hephaestus's anger flare up. Staying in a place filled with constant hammering sounds and billowing heat made it hard to keep a cool head anyway, and naturally, she felt a bit displeased now.
Then again, remembering that Shirou was a god from another world—both a guest and a peer of equal status—she figured that unless they had a genuine blood feud, there was really no need to put on a sour face.
With that thought, Hephaestus took a deep breath and did her best to restore her composure.
"Fine then. Please take care on your way out."
"See you later, then."
Shirou waved his hand and left the place, bringing Lili along with him.
Watching the backs of the two as they walked away, Hephaestus let out a soft sigh.
"An otherworldly god, huh... Was that guy simply broke, or did he look down on the things crafted by my familia?"
Muttering to herself, Hephaestus quickly shook her head with an amused smile.
"Looking down on armaments made by mortals is fair enough, though. If I were to step in and forge something myself, the Divine Instrument I create would definitely shock that guy out of his mind."
Even so, Hephaestus as a patron deity generally refrained from forging things herself; doing so would undoubtedly be akin to stealing the rice bowls of the familia members she had worked so hard to cultivate.
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