Chapter 13 13: Do You Know the Value of a Hero?

"Then let's head home for a bit," August said, making no effort to hide his actions.

A portal materialized in the center of the room. It didn't radiate any oppressive energy or blinding light. It was just a plain, unassuming doorframe standing quietly on the floor.

Hephaestus stared at the gateway. The moment her eyes locked onto it, her divine senses flared, trying to analyze its composition.

She reached out to touch the frame without hesitation. But her hand passed right through it, grasping nothing but empty air.

"An intangible door?" Hephaestus murmured. "It has a physical form, but it feels like a mirage."

She wanted to study it, but the construct clearly recognized its master. It refused to let anyone else interact with it.

"It seems only you can use it," Hephaestus noted. It was the first time she had ever encountered something like this. An artifact on the level of a true genesis relic—one that even a Goddess of Forging couldn't physically touch.

"Ooooh! What a surprise!" Hestia peered into the portal from her perch on August's back.

Unlike Hephaestus, Hestia could see bizarre, distorted landscapes flashing endlessly within the void beyond the frame.

Suddenly, she recoiled.

"DON'T STARE AT IT!" Hestia buried her face in his shoulder. "If you stare too long, your entire being will be assimilated into it!"

Her divine intuition screamed at her. Gazing too deeply into that chaotic spacetime could trap a God's consciousness, turning them into a mindless puppet of the portal or leaving them lost in a dimensional storm forever.

"Oh? It has a defense mechanism like that?" Hephaestus realized the danger.

Without August's explicit permission, the door rejected physical contact. But if you tried to force your way in mentally, the sheer chaos of alternate dimensions would swallow your mind.

'Never mind then.' Hephaestus suppressed her curiosity. Prying further would only invite disaster. Besides, this portal was bound exclusively to August.

"We will be going now," August said.

With Hestia still clinging to his back, he stepped through the threshold. The moment they crossed over, August, Hestia, and the unassuming door vanished into thin air. It was as if they had never been there at all.

"Fascinating," Hephaestus whispered, a rare spark of excitement igniting in her chest. This was the most intriguing mystery she had witnessed since ascending to godhood.

The lower world truly had a knack for attracting anomalies.

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

Knock, knock.

"Lady Hephaestus, the crowd has been dispersed," Tsubaki called from the hallway.

"Come in," Hephaestus replied.

Tsubaki pushed the door open and stepped inside, only to pause in confusion. The workshop was empty, save for her Patron Goddess.

"Where did Lady Hestia and that young man go?" Tsubaki blinked. Guards were posted at both the front and back exits. How did they just disappear?

"They went home to take care of some business," Hephaestus answered vaguely.

She had no intention of explaining the portal. Some secrets were better kept in the dark. If word got out before August established his strength, her Familia would be dragged into the crossfire.

"I see." Tsubaki was no fool. She didn't press for details. Given the city-wide light show earlier, it was obvious the kid possessed some sort of spatial or stealth ability to bypass the guards.

A new thought crossed Hephaestus's mind.

"Tsubaki, I have a mission for you. Find a young boy with white hair and a naive face." She paused. "Specifically, look for someone who shares facial features with Alfia."

"Alfia? Lady Hephaestus, you can't be serious." Tsubaki froze, startled by the request.

Alfia? The monster of the Hera Familia from the dark ages? Why were they looking for someone connected to her?

"He is Meteria's child," Hephaestus clarified, walking back to her desk and taking a seat. "His real name is Bell Cranel."

She could keep August a secret, but she was going to capitalize on the intel she just bought.

Tsubaki didn't know where her Goddess acquired this information, but the gravity of finding the descendant of those scary sisters was not lost on her.

"And when I find him?" Tsubaki asked seriously.

"Recruit him into our Familia," Hephaestus ordered.

She wasn't one to make a bad investment. She spent good Valis on that intel, and she planned to earn it back tenfold.

"The boy is currently wandering Orario, looking for a Familia to join. Seize the opportunity and pull him in."

Since the kid needed a home, Hephaestus had no qualms about opening her doors. Grooming a destined hero sounded like a worthwhile project.

"Understood," Tsubaki nodded.

"But be careful," Hephaestus warned, her tone turning grim. "Freya is watching him from the Tower of Babel. If you run into the Freya Familia while trying to secure him, prioritize your own survival above all else."

"I understand." Tsubaki frowned. For a Goddess of Beauty to be stalking him from the shadows... "Lady Hephaestus, who exactly is this boy?"

"A destined hero." Hephaestus leaned back. "The final legacy of the Zeus and Hera Familias."

"Oho? Now that is a massive prize." Tsubaki grinned, fully realizing the stakes. "Leave it to me, Lady Hephaestus. I will drag that kid back to our Familia."

A destined hero. The last remnant of the two greatest Familias in history.

If this information leaked, all of Orario would turn upside down. She could already picture how much power and prestige this boy could bring to the Hephaestus Familia.

'A true hero.' Tsubaki made up her mind. She had to secure Bell Cranel.

Even if she had to lie, cheat, or kidnap him off the street, she wasn't coming back empty-handed.

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

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