Ais as a Child

"Hey, Finn, you finally made it. I've been waiting for you for ages."

While Leo was sizing up Orario's strongest smith, she had already approached with a bright smile and greeted Finn, who stood at the head of the group.

The smiths behind her also greeted acquaintances within the Loki Familia. Though they belonged to different factions, their relationship appeared fairly amicable.

The Hephaestus Familia was originally a familia of smiths. Every high-ranking smith within it was highly sought after, with countless adventurers coming to them in hopes that they would forge weapons and equipment for them. These high-ranking smiths, in turn, especially favored famous adventurers, hoping their creations would shine in the hands of renowned adventurers and make their own names known far and wide.

Thanks to this, famous adventurers and famous smiths often maintained mutually beneficial, friendly relationships. Especially notable smiths, who tended to have extensive connections and contracts with multiple powerful adventurers, tailoring weapons and equipment specifically for them. Naturally, such relationships were never bad.

Quite a few members of the Loki Familia had working relationships with smiths from the Hephaestus Familia and had used their creations. Bete Loga in particular wore metal boots forged by Tsubaki, Orario's strongest smith.

So when Tsubaki approached with that cheerful grin, Bete clicked his tongue and unconsciously shifted the foot clad in his metal boot.

"We'll be relying on you this time, Tsubaki."

Finn exchanged a few polite formalities.

"Not at all. This is a rare opportunity for us too. We should be the ones thanking you."

Though Tsubaki was a woman, she possessed the enthusiasm and forthrightness typical of a smith. She grinned broadly, paying no mind to Finn's polite words.

She was not merely being courteous, either. For smiths like them, who rarely entered the Dungeon in ordinary