Drake's greeting caused the passing mbers of the Loki Familia to slow their steps.
"Ais, you know this kid?"
The lazy question ca from the white-haired werewolf with the lightning tattoo on his face.
Behind him, a swordswoman in azure light armor, with golden hair and golden eyes, gave a slight shake of her head.
"I don't think… I know him."
"But… I'm interested in the Molten Festival."
Ais Wallenstein.
A human girl of the Loki Familia, granted the title Sword Princess by the gods.
It was said that she carried a trace of spirit blood, which was why her beauty rivaled that of the goddesses themselves.
Aside from that, she was also hailed as the strongest female swordswoman in all of Orario.
Among adventurers, she was a household na, a celebrity-level figure—though she herself had never cared about that sort of thing.
"Don't waste too much ti."
"This expedition took quite a while. Everyone's in a hurry to get back and rest."
Finn's voice ca from up ahead.
Because of the prum's height, only his voice could be heard, not his figure.
Ais gave a small nod and walked over to Drake.
"You're a mber of the Hephaestus Familia."
Though it was phrased like a question, there was no uncertainty in her tone.
As sharp as the Sword Princess was, she had already noticed the Familia crest on Drake's chest.
Adventurers—especially lee-focused ones—would all have dealings with the Familia of the forging goddess.
And for certain reasons, Ais in particular interacted with the Hephaestus Familia quite often.
"That's right."
Drake smiled and admitted it.
His first contact with the Sword Princess was going much more smoothly than expected.
He had really only tried on a whim. Even if she hadn't responded, he wouldn't have lost anything.
But now it seed Ais had none of the arrogance or overbearing attitude one might expect from a high-level adventurer.
Outside of battle, aside from being a bit airheaded, she wasn't much different from an ordinary girl…
Of course, that was a judgnt Drake could only make because he already knew her personality.
"Miss Ais, you've only just returned from an expedition to the Dungeon, so you probably haven't heard about the Molten Festival yet."
After choosing his words, Drake spoke to the blond girl in front of him.
"Mhm."
Ais nodded with her usual calm expression.
An expedition was a prolonged campaign launched into the deeper parts of the Dungeon.
It usually required gathering dozens or even hundreds of adventurers from an entire Familia—or sotis multiple Familias— bringing large amounts of supplies and provisions to explore and fight on floors deeper than the thirtieth.
This particular expedition had lasted for several dozen days.
Since Ais had only just returned from the Dungeon, there was naturally no way she could already know about the Molten Festival being held by the Hephaestus Familia.
Because the Molten Festival was an internal Familia event.
Although outsiders were not forbidden from attending, they needed a mber of the Familia to act as their sponsor.
That was exactly why Drake had invited her.
"If Miss Ais is interested in the Molten Festival, you can use my guest invitation."
"Mm…"
The blond swordswoman showed a thoughtful expression.
Perhaps rembering the captain's order not to waste ti, she accepted very quickly.
"Thank you. I'll be in your care."
Seeing Ais agree, Drake couldn't help showing a bit of delight as well.
He hadn't expected it to be this easy to close the distance with the fad Sword Princess.
"No need to thank . My own work will also be displayed at this festival."
"If I can get support from the Sword Princess herself, I'm sure it'll receive a good evaluation."
"You're a smith too?"
"I guess you could say that."
After a brief pause, Drake added aningfully, "But my way of forging is just a tiny bit different from other craftsn."
'Prepare to be amaze by Terraria tech, kid!'
Those words made Ais finally feel a flicker of curiosity toward Drake.
The reason she wanted to visit the Molten Festival was because she wanted to see whether there might be a suitable spare weapon there.
Although her combat strength was extrely high, the weapons in her hands were often damaged.
That was because Ais possessed a very special Skill—Avenger.
This skill greatly increased Ais's attack power when fighting monster-type enemies, and further strengthened her when facing dragon-type monsters!
Even the gods praised this skill, calling it one of the strongest offensive skills in the history of the lower world.
But because of it, most weapons couldn't withstand the strain and were easily damaged.
Even magic swords worth tens of millions of valis, with the indestructible property, could still break.
Because of this, Ais, despite being a Level 5 adventurer, had accumulated a fair amount of debt.
Almost every expedition required her to replace a spare weapon.
"For the next few days, I'll be having dinner at the Hostess of Fertility."
"Before the festival starts, you can co find ."
After thinking for a mont, Ais asked the boy before her,
"What's your na?"
"Drake."
Using the pronunciation of the common tongue, Drake gave his na.
"Mhm… I'll rember it."
Ais's expression didn't change much.
After saying goodbye, she returned to her Familia's expedition party.
The mont she ca back, the Amazon twins with their sun-kissed skin quickly crowded around her, curiously asking about Drake.
"That boy from just now looked pretty good. Makes want to gobble him right up—Little Ais, is he soone you know?"
"I didn't know him before this."
"So he just walked right up and started talking to you? Tsk tsk, rookie adventurers these days sure are bold."
"Seriously. He looked like nothing more than a Level 1 beginner, and yet he still dared to flirt with our Sword Princess."
"Just that courage alone already puts him way above a certain soone with wolf ears…"
"Shut up. What does that have to do with ?"
Bete, who got dragged into the conversation for no reason by the Amazon twins, shot them a glare.
...
Soon after, the Loki Familia's expedition force disappeared into the distance amid laughter and chatter.
Once the maze had fallen completely quiet again, Drake patted Lili on the head.
"We should head back too."
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