Freya read the status sheet. Then she looked up at me and slowly said, "Bell. Dear."
"...Yes, Freya?"
"...Should we make an expedition to defeat the One-Eyed Black Dragon?"
Hestia gasped and said, "Freya! No!"
Freya frowned, seriously thoughtful. "Mm... but according to this status... the synergies here... and with Our Bell's innovation..."
Alfia spoke up, holding Bella in her arms and Fina over her shoulders. "My son is powerful and adaptive, yes. But in terms of raw might, he is still far from that terror. There's no need to rush."
I let out a sigh of relief. "That's good- Wait."
I noticed a word on the status sheet. One that I'd skimmed over earlier in my rush to get everyone here.
Herrscher.
Then I remembered what I called my cube.
Then I remembered the golden cube Materia had.
Then I remembered the tree she showed.
I gave my youngest daughter a long stare.
She stared back and giggled.
I'll just... pretend I don't know what that word means or the implications about what it means in conjunction with the other stuff.
Ignorance is bliss.
And in my case, selective attention is the key to a healthy, stable, and predictable life.
So...
I looked at everyone and said, "Right. The main point. I was going to say, I still had plans to fight in the War Game by myself... but would anyone here think it's cheating if I summoned Materia? Because, you know, magic spirit and all."
Fina puffed her cheeks. "That's not fair, Daddy! I wanna fight too!"
Bella nodded. "Yes! Papa! That's not fair! I can teleport to you in battle too!"
Materia tilted her head and looked at me. Then she stuck up her tiny fist and said, "Sisters, fight. Together. Win. Easy." She smiled.
Fina gasped and then high-fived Materia. "YES! You get it, Ria!"
Materia tilted her head. "Ria?"
"Mmhm! I'm Fina. You're Ria. And this is Bella!"
Bella waved. "Hi~!"
Materia... or 'Ria' now, smiled and said, "Sisters. Yay."
...I'm going to end up having to fight the entire Apollo familia with my daughters, aren't I?
===
"You know, Bro." Welf finished adjusting his latest suit of chainmail on me and said, "I knew you were ridiculous since the day you dragged me through hell and back in the dungeon. But you DO realize that we've gone from ridiculous to having to show we're better than everyone else, right?"
I sighed. "Tell me about it..."
A few days had passed since Materia's birth... arrival? Anyway, a few days had passed, and it was the day of the Denatus.
We were back in Welf's workshop. Since he had perfected his latest armor apparently, he wanted me to be there to get it fitted.
The kids were all playing together in the basement of the church, and our newest members were either out training with Alfia or working at the Hostess of Fertility with Ryuu.
As for Tia, she had gone with Freya, Hephaestus, Miach, and Takemikazuchi to the Denatus.
Apparently, the latter two were witnesses to the challenge so they had to show up to attest to it or something. Freya and Hephaestus were just there for moral support though.
Welf finished attaching the last of the chainmail and said, "There we go. Adamantium chainmail. It can flow, bend, and weave, but it will never shatter."
"Thanks, Welf- Wait." I paused. "AdamantIUM, not AdamanTITE?"
Welf grinned. "That's right~ It's my special invention, made with Pyrrha's help. It's a bit complicated to make, but basically we alloyed adamantite into steel and some resins. During the process, the resins evaporate, leaving an alloy with Adamantite's Durandal property, but on a molecular level. In short-" He grabbed a nearby broadsword and swung it at me.
I reflexively moved my arm up to parry. And when I did, the broadsword was shaved away like butter.
"Heh." Welf chuckled. "See? Amazing, right?"
"...Holy shit." I stared at my arm, covered with steel shavings. Then I looked at the completely ruined steel broadsword in Welf's hand. "...Let me guess. That had
"Yep. Crazy, right?" Welf flicked a finger at the ruined broadsword and said, "This should be unbreakable, but against that? Might as well be butter."
I eyed my chainmail again. Then a thought came to mind. "...Welf. Buddy. If it does THAT to a broadsword with
"I thought about that! After, uh... three failed prototypes on various mannequins."
"...Well, at least you thought about it..."
Welf laughed and said, "Relax. Pyrrha helped me out. The inside of the chainmail is both enchanted and structured to never chaffe, and it's also lined with expensive silks that Freya sent over. Shouldn't be a problem."
I let out a sigh of relief. "That's good." I paused. "...Wait." I stared at my chainmail. Then I noticed how it was all one piece... and how it had snapped together cleanly after Welf finished adjusting it. "Welf. Buddy. Pal. How do I take this off?"
Welf froze.
"...You didn't think about that, did you?"
Welf started to panic. "W-Wait. That's right, if we... but then we can't force it off, so... Oh gods, did I just accidentally make cursed armor?!"
I laughed. "I knew it. Something like this is too good to be true. Thankfully." I pulled it into my inventory and winked at Welf. "Cursed equipment doesn't work on me."
Welf paused. Then he groaned. "Right. You have that ridiculous trick... But did you really have to give me a minor heart attack?"
"Well, take it as a lesson for next time. Just like with Black Demon, I happen to be able to use it. But if it was some other poor sap, they'd be stuck wearing it forever."
Welf sighed. "...Yeah. We'll stick to plate mail for Adamantium then. Safer that way."
"Mmhm." I tested putting my chainmail on and off a few times. Thankfully, there weren't any problems... though if there were, I could probably just use my crafting system to turn it into something else and get rid of it that way. "Though you're specializing in armor now, huh? Give up on the magic swords and ridiculous conceptual blades path?"
Welf let out a wry smile. "Well. I COULD do that. And I'm sure I can do it properly. But..." He shook his head. "If I do, then people will just view it as me being a 'Crozzo.' The weight of my ancestor's name is too heavy for just one person to overturn it. And while I can... I don't intent on replacing him. I'd just be a faker."
"There's nothing that says a fake can't-"
"If you finish that, I WILL kick you out a window."
I laughed. "Fine, fine. But that's why you switched to armor, huh?"
"Mmhm." Welf nodded. "I figured it's a good test too. If I make the strongest armor... one that can withstand the best blade Hephaestus has... that proves I can be her equal. And it also doesn't clash, right? She's known for weapons as well. If I get known for armor, we'd be a good pair instead of competitors."
"Ah, smart."
Welf made a good point.
Adventurers focused on weapons more than armor since it let them kill more monsters. As a result, there weren't many blacksmiths specializing in armor.
They made it, sure. But the focus was always on forging the best blade, axe, lance, etcetera.
If Welf became the armor guy...
And if he eventually branched out into stuff like powered armor and things like that...
My eyes sparkled, already imagining something like Raiden's Cyborg Ninja body.
Welf paused and gave me a weird look. "You have that twinkle in your eyes again, Bell. The one that says I just got an idea that'll either damn Orario or change it forever..."
"...I do. But I'll put a pin on this one. It's a bit too soon."
As much as I'd love having powered armors around, considering Dionysius was already chalked up to be doing something in the background... and that there might be other forces still at play, I wasn't about to hand off crazy tech to a mass of people that could reverse engineer it, even in part, and raise hell.
I'd seen that trope play out more times than I'd like, thank you very much.
"...Alright." Welf nodded. "But anyway... How's the other thing I gave you last time? We never gave it a name, but it has a status too, you know?"
I paused and pulled out Void Archives, staring at it. "Wait. This can grow? Like, level up and have skills?" I side-eyed him. "...This isn't going to end up being ANOTHER child, right?"
Welf held up his hands and said, "Hey man. That's on you." He pointed at Void Archives and said, "Hestia somehow managed to give it a Falna, so it's going to rack up Exilia. As for how it'll end up, that's how you use it."
"...So you're telling me this is DEFINITELY going to end up becoming another magical item child then. I've seen where these things go. The final evolution of a sentient item is ALWAYS a human form. The blade starts wielding itself."
Welf shrugged. "Hey, your words, not mine."
I groaned. "Well." I stared at Void Archives and said, "As long as you don't end up being ANOTHER daughter, I'll give you a pass."
Void Archives vibrated a bit, almost like it was laughing.
No, it was DEFINITELY laughing.
"...I swear to the stars above, if you're a daughter in waiting, I WILL carve a moon in half. Just to spite the honkai."
Welf paused. "Hon...kai? Is that like Tenkai?"
I paused too. Then I groaned. "...No. But now that you mention it... No. We're not having this. I reject your reality and substitute my own. This conversation never happened. Bye."
Before Welf could say anything else, I warped away into the dungeon.
Because I am NOT about that noise. I had enough on my plate, thank you very much. I did NOT need to escalate this to interplanetary threats.