As Drad Bahamut made their way through the Hephaestus familia home, the rhythmig of metal strikial echoed through the halls.

  g! g!

  The sound resonated in the air, filling the atmosphere with a sense of industrious energy.

  The temperature was high, and the rich smell of earth and ash permeated the spabsp;

  For Draco, this was a pletely new experie was his first time visiting the home of the famed goddess of bcksmiths.

  When they arrived at the door to Hephaestus's office, Draco hesitated, raising his hand as if to knobsp;

  Bahamut, notig his indecision, gave him a puzzled look, as if to ask why he was hesitating.

  Without waiting for his reply, she opehe door and walked in, pulling him along behind her.

  “Is it alright to just enter…” Draco’s voice trailed off as he took in his surroundings.

  As he observed the office, he found himself utterly captivated by the sight before him.

  The office itself was quite simple, taining a desk for paperwork, some chairs, a sofa, and other basic office furniture.

  However, what truly caught Draco’s eye were the impressive array of ons and armour dispyed around the room.

  Even without knowing the specific materials used te them, his draises reized their extraordinary value.

  He felt a strong urge to possess at least one of those magnifit items.

  Crafted by Hephaestus, they radiated a level of perfe that stirred the greedy instincts within Draco, instincts he had been striving to suppress tely.

  The thought of g such treasures for himself and being surrounded by their magnifit presence made his mouth water.

  ‘Fufufu, I knew he would love it here,’ Bahamut thought, reizing the glint of desire in his eyes.

  She uood all too well the allure of Hephaestus' creations, as she too felt a simir thrill whenever she visited the goddess of craftsmanship’s temple in the world of the gods.

  “Like what you see?” a voice suddenly inquired, pulling Draco from his reverie.

  He turo find Hephaestus emerging from her private fe, her fad clothes smudged in soot.

  Using a cloth on a nearby rack, she wiped her fad hands, before approag.

  “Ah, I apologize,” Draco hastily replied, realizing how unseemly he must have appeared, practically drooling over the treasures before him.

  “It’s no problem, your rea reinforces the value of my creations, well as long as you don’t actually snatything,” Hephaestus teased, a pyful smirk on her face.

  Draco felt a mix of embarrassment and indignation; he would oop to stealing.

  Bahamut, uo stifle her amusement, ughed at his rea.

  It had been a while since she had seen him so flustered.

  Things had beeic for the Bahamut familia sier the st Denatus meeting.

  “So what brings you here today, Bahamut? You rarely e without giving advaice.” Hephaestus inquired with a curious smile.

  “Well, it isly me that wao visit today, but him,” Bahamut replied, pointing at Draco.

  Hephaestus’s gaze shifted to Draco, waiting for him to speak.

  ‘What? She’s putting me on the spot like this!‘ Draco thought, feeling flustered by the sudden attention.

  “First, I would like to reintroduce myself. I am Draco Bck, captain of the Bahamut familia,” he began, trying to maintain a formal tone.

  “Pffff, hahahahaha!” Bahamut burst out ughing, clearly amused by Draco's formality.

  Ign her, Draco tinued, “I thank you for taking care of oddess. I know she be quite zy, so I’m sure she was a quite the handful.” he said.

  Hephaestus smiled wryly, closing her eyes and nodding in agreement.

  “Hey! What do you mean by that?” Bahamut pined, clearly unhappy with Draco’s ent, but he pressed on, uerred.

  “We met only once during the st Denatus meeting, so it’s hard to say we’re more than acquaintances. However, I’ve heard many positive things about you from my goddess,” Draco stated.

  “Oh? And what exactly has she been saying about me?” Hephaestus asked, her i piqued.

  “I ’t repeat her exact words, as they were a bit embarrassing, but they were definitely positive,” Draco replied.

  Hephaestus raised an eyebrow, intrigued by his choice of words but chose not to pry further.

  “So, what is it that you want?” Hephaestus asked, her tone shifting to a more serious one.

  She wanted him to get straight to the point.

  Draco took a deep breath, removing the dungeon bag he had been carrying.

  He ope and carefully pulled out an object ed in several yers of thick cloth, soaked in his blood.

  ‘What is this?‘ Hephaestus thought, sensing a strange energy emanating from the item.

  As Draco began to un the object, Hephaestus felt her anticipation build.

  The aura surrounding it was heavy and unique, sending an odd thrill through her as a craftsman.

  It didn’t take long before he fully revealed what y beh the yers, and as he did, the oppressive aura of the object filled the room.

  It was the scales of the one-eyed bck dragon, which had fallen off around four years ago when it had taken the lives of Draco’s family.

  Draediately used his own draic aura to suppress the remnant energy emanating from the scales.

  Although his aura was her stronger nor equal to that of the small fragment within the scales, he had obtained his own aura by emuting that of the bck dragon, so when he mixed it with the scales’ aura, it was more manageable.

  Draco stared at the scales, struggling to tain the flig emotions that surged within him.

  It had been a while since his ragiions had surfaced so vividly.

  “What is this? Where did you get this?” Hephaestus asked, her single visible eye sparkling with desire as she fell to her knees, hands trembling slightly as she reached out to touch the scales.

  “It’s the scales of the one-eyed bck dragon,” Draco replied.

  Hephaestus froze, her eye widening in shobsp;

  Bahamut had informed her of much of what had transpired with Drad his siblings, so she was somewhat aware of the significe of the scales to him.

  Yet, the value of such a material was overwhelming.

  It was nearly impossible for ao acquire a treasure like this, as no current mortal alive could hope to ihe one-eyed bck drago alorieve its scales.

  Bahamut watched the two of them, feeling slightly left out but finding the se amusing.

  “What do you want?” Hephaestus asked, using her hand to stop her other hand from reag out.

  She reasohat since Draco had brought the scales to her, he must want something iurn.

  ‘Does he wao craft something for him? Well, I don’t mind if I get my hands on such a valuable material. Besides, he is the child of my friend,’ Hephaestus thought, her mind rag with possibilities.

  “I want you to…” Draco paused, pting his words.

  ‘e on, just say it already!‘ Hephaestus thought, her excitement bubblih the surface.

  “I want the Hephaestus Familia to help us store these scales,” Draco said.

  “Eh?!” Hephaestus excimed, vinced her ears were deceiving her.

  “I want the Hephaestus familia to help us store these scales,” he reiterated, sensing her disbelief.

  Hephaestus stared bnkly at him for a moment, struggling to process his ued request.

  These weren’t the words she had expected to hear.

  Bahamut stifled her ughter, thhly eained by Hephaestus’ shock.

  “Is something wrong with my request?” Draco asked, puzzled by Hephaestus’s expression.

  “Nothing is wrong with your request,” Hephaestus replied, quickly posing herself.

  “But I’m curious about a few things. First, why would you ask me to store these scales? And sed, why aren’t you requestio craft something instead? You do know what kind of familia I lead, right?” she inquired.

  “I uand my request is unusual, but there’s a good reason. First of all, I don’t yet have the money, status, or power to ission something from you. I also don’t wish to leverage the friendship between you and my goddess. Even if you did agree to craft something for me, the Bahamut familia simply cks the means to protect such a treasure,” Draco expined, his tone ear.

  Hephaestus’s expression softe his words.

  ‘You got yourself a good child, Bahamut,’ she thought, gng at her friend, who nodded in agreement.

  “The level of attention we’re currently receiving is enormous, and there have been a few acts here and there. We are often out in the dungeon, and oddess ’t exactly be home to watch over everything 24/7. It’s only a matter of time before our home may be attacked, and it would be a shame to lose these in the process,” he tinued.

  “I uand, but why me?” Hephaestus asked again.

  “Well, Bahamut often speaks intimately of you, and your familia is powerful. I doubt anyone would dare to rob you. Plus, I io request your help crafting something for my familia one day, so it all ects,” Draco replied.

  “I see,” Hephaestus muttered as she pted his words, her thoughtful expression revealing her intrigue.

  ‘Silly child, with such a level of material, I might have even crafted something for you for free, even if Bahamut wasn’t my friend,’ she mused, thinking of her favourite child, Tsubaki.

  ‘It wouldn’t be bad if they met.’ she thought…