"Brother, no need to see me off. I'm rushing back to the Temple of the God of Fire. I'll come chat with you next time."
Hephaestus drove his chariot away at high speed, waving to Russell from afar. He had arrived stifling his grievance and resentment, yet left beaming with joy.
"Is this really okay?"
A'e stared deadpan at the Magic Pocket in Russell's hand. "You took Hephaestus's money and the materials for forging the battle armor, yet you aren't doing anything."
"Nonsense, I drew the design."
Russell curled his lip disdainfully. "You think Hephaestus paid a lot of money, but you don't realize it meant nothing to him. As long as it could make Aphrodite behave herself, he would pay any price."
"But you know he can't possibly succeed."
A'e was speechless. Hephaestus trembled all over whenever he saw Aphrodite. Expecting him to stand up to her even once was nothing but a fool's dream.
"That has nothing to do with me!"
Russell said shamelessly, "Hephaestus has full responsibility for forging his wife's battle armor. I took the money without lifting a finger, you got to watch a free comedy, and Aphrodite will eventually get her Love God Battle Armor. Everything ends perfectly. What's bad about that?"
"Oh, right. Hephaestus owes me a favor and still has to thank me. It's simply perfect!"
"..."
A'e shook her head repeatedly. She saw no perfection—only a devil.
After seeing Hephaestus off, Russell used the newly acquired materials to continue forging Silver Cloths. During that time, he received another order from a god.
It came from one of the Twelve Olympians: the god with an absurd number of domains, Zeus's number-one lackey, Hermes.
Russell silently calculated. Among the Twelve Olympians, Zeus, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Athena, and Hermes already had arrangements for their battle