.
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How long had it been since I knelt here, bowing my head as I begged my friend for a single act of grace?
The door opens, followed by a sigh, and her presence recedes into the distance.
...After a long while without any sign of life, just as my consciousness was fading and beginning to return, the distinctive footsteps of my friend approach. Then, with a sigh and the merciless sound of the door, her presence vanishes outside once more.
I no longer know how much time has passed. I thought that, having spent countless ages in Heaven, I was rather well acquainted with the passage of time... but now that I possess a body and have willingly taken on this penance, time feels as though it stretches on forever.
I once heard a rumor from the Lower World. Some of the children here, seeking to prove their faith in the gods and attain enlightenment of the soul, prostrate themselves more than a hundred times each morning, then prostrate themselves again after every three steps. They cut away their own desires and worldly afflictions, attaining spiritual transcendence even without Falna.
Compared to the lifelong penance endured by those children, this single moment of full-body prostration may be nothing at all. Yet if even this is so difficult, what kind of suffering must they endure?
As I lose myself in thought, the door sounds once more, and I sense my friend's presence. Damn it, I no longer even know whether it is morning, noon, or evening. I simply bow my head, hoping for the one mercy my friend might grant me.
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How many times had I been lost in thought, hearing Hephaestus sigh and walk away?
My legs and waist are beginning to lose all sensation. How much time has passed?
A day?
Two days?
A week?
Perhaps that much time has not actually passed. Otherwise, I might have already starved to death and been sent back to Heaven.
Surprisingly, perhaps not even a full day has passed. This body of mine is weak, ordinary flesh with not a speck of Arcanum. It may simply be unable to withstand even the slightest hardship.
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How much time had passed? Hephaestus's presence, which had only ever brushed past me, stopped before me this time.
"...How long are you planning to stay like that?"
"...Until you grant my request."
The fact that my voice has not cracked tells me that perhaps not so much time has passed after all.
Imagining the face of my friend Hephaestus, who was surely looking at me as if I were unbelievable, I allow myself a faint smile.
"You know, I feel a little sorry saying this, but I'm a god with far more work to do than you."
"..."
"It's not like you're making a scene or causing trouble, but if you keep curling up there like a pill bug, it's distracting and making it hard for me to focus."
"..."
"Hestia? You are listening, right?"
"...I'm sorry about that. But I cannot back down."
"Haa..."
I know. I know that simply by kneeling here and bowing my head, I am making my friend uncomfortable and weighing on her mind.
I know. I know that with the money currently in my Familia, I could not buy even a grain of iron dust from any weapon made by my friend's Familia.
I know. I know that relying on my friend's affection and begging like this is the foolish act of someone who might shatter their friendship entirely.
But... but...!
Even so, I cannot retreat from here. That weak child, that bright child, wants to move forward so that he can become stronger.
He declared his will, wishing to become strong so that he could stand proudly beside the one he admires, so that he could establish the ideal he hopes to achieve. Then isn't it only natural that, as his goddess and the one who protects the place he can return to, I should do whatever I can for him?!
That is why I came to my friend, lowering my head again and again as I pleaded with her.
That was not enough, so I even performed the Eastern full-body prostration Takemikazuchi taught me.
And when even that was not enough, I remained here with my head bowed, waiting for her answer.
What a shameless, senseless thing this is.
I know that, but I cannot stop. I still have not received Bell's weapon.
I have not yet obtained the armament that will help that child move forward.
"...Hestia, will you tell me? Why are you going this far? Why are you voluntarily putting yourself through penance for more than a day, all for the sake of just one follower?"
"...So it has only been a little over a day. It felt like I'd been like this for nearly a week."
Slightly surprised, I prepare to answer my friend's question.
"...I want to be that child's strength."
With my head bowed and without breaking the posture of my full-body prostration, I begin to speak, as though vomiting out the emotion I had kept pressed deep within my chest—the bitterness.
"Right now, that child is a little bird about to break out of its egg and fly into the sky. A little bird that looks upon the sun it admires, carves the mountaintop it wishes to reach deep into its heart, dries its wings, and prepares to take flight.
He knows how many harsh trials will drive him onward. He knows that his own strength is feeble. But Bell, having set his goal, seeks to use even those trials as stepping stones for growth and soar high into the sky.
It is such a dangerous journey, and that child will push on against such cruel winds... He is still too weak...!"
I squeeze the words from the depths of my lungs, continuing as I fill them with the anguish of being unable to help him, with bitterness, with guilt.
"That is why he needs it—wax to hold his wings firmly in place! Strong claws!
Please, Hephaestus. Please make just one weapon for our child!"
Keeping my gaze fixed on the floor, unable to even meet Hephaestus's eyes, I draw my wish from the deepest part of my heart.
"Until now, I have only ever been helped by that child! I relied on his kind heart, lazily doing nothing but eating and sleeping as I slowly rotted away. But not anymore!"
Forcing out my final words, I tense my body.
"...I hate being unable to do anything for him. Now, I want to do something—anything—for that child...!"
In a voice that fades weakly, like the last flame in a dying forge, I tell Hephaestus of my resolve, my goal.
"..."
"..."
"...All right."
"...Does that mean?!"
"It means I'll make a weapon for your child."
At those joyous, precious words, I force myself to raise my head, which feels too stiff to move, and meet Hephaestus's eyes.
"If I don't nod, you're never going to move from there, are you?"
"Yes...! Thank you, Hephaestus!"
I try to rise, but my lower body, nearly devoid of sensation from kneeling so long, collapses back to the floor. Even so, my cheeks flush as I smile brightly. When our eyes meet, Hephaestus looks exasperated, but I can see that she is smiling back at me.
"I'll tell you in advance: I am absolutely taking payment. Even if it takes decades or centuries, you will repay this debt without fail."
"Of course! I'm grateful enough that you're making it for me. I never expected to receive it for free!"
"If you're that resolved, then work until your body turns to dust and can be used as fuel for the furnace."
"Understood! I can work when I have to! To prove that my love for my Bell is sincere, I'll work myself to the bone!"
"Then first, what weapon does your child use?"
"Hmm... I think it was a knife."
"Is that so?"
Muttering quietly, Hephaestus ties back her flowing vermilion hair and slips a simply shaped hammer into the pouch at her waist.
"Don't tell me you're going to make it yourself?"
"Of course I'm making it myself. This is entirely a private matter between you and me, so I can't bring the other children into it."
"Th-then... um..."
"?"
"Ah, I don't know anymore! Do you remember this [Contract], Hephaestus?!"
Prepared for Hephaestus to smack me hard, I pull out the [Contract] tucked between my breasts and unfold it.
"Hm? Don't tell me this is..."
"That's right! It's the [Contract] with Smith, which lets me have him pay half of any debt just once!"
"H-Hahaha... hahahahahaha...!"
"Eeeek...!"
"Fine... I understand... I understand your thinking very well, Hestia... I was trying to keep this just between you and me, but you're dragging our vice-captain into it too, huh...? We'll talk after this is over, Hestia...!"
"B-but our Familia has no money... We don't have enough to properly pay for a weapon you made yourself, not to mention one made by anyone else..."
"Whew... Then before I make it, go to the Familia home and bring that guy here. Since he's paying for it instead—zap—he has the right to watch it being made."
"O-okay...!"