Conversation

Leaving behind a Hestia who was probably going to get food, Haru made his way to Hephaestus' room, knocking so that she would be aware of his presence.

Having entered, Haru noticed how Hephaestus was working in what more like a room, was very similar to an office.

"Oh, you are back. I would have expected you to come a little later, but that is not a problem."

Before Haru returned, Hephaestus had lost track of time after the conversation she had with Hestia. Having work to do, it was the perfect timing to do so, as she would be spending the day teaching Haru if he was here.

Assuming she wanted him to sit down, Haru did not hesitate to do so while the latter sighed. She knew that his behaviour had been incorrect. Although this deserved the right reprimand, he had acted because she had foolishly leaked her concerns, Haru felt compelled to defend her, or at least that was what Hephaestus had assumed, which was wrong, yet she could not choose to punish.

Seeing that Hephaestus seemed to be trying to find the right words, Haru sighed. Since Hephaestus was having a hard time dealing with it, he wouldn't hesitate to help her out.

"... I came back earlier than expected because instead of going back to my house, I explored the close-ups of the Dungeon. But leaving that aside for the moment, I talked with Hestia-sama, and besides apologizing for how I treated her earlier, things seem to be normal between us..."

However, Haru did not know for sure if things were alright now. As Hestia used to do with the adventurer Ais Wallenstein, she did not seem able to remember his name. Although not of great importance, It was still a crucial point that made him understand even though Hestia had partly forgiven him, they were not in a situation where they could speak without restrains to each other, but Haru did not think much of it.

His words calmed her mind a bit. She was before deep in thought regarding how to start the conversation, but it was not necessary anymore. Since Haru had already apologized, Hephaestus overlooked this point. Besides, she was interested in talking about something different.

"I understand. If so, then fine. What I wanted to discuss for the moment are your actions. I know your motives and appreciate the thought, but even if Hestia tried to abuse my kindness, that would not be a problem. What bothered me was that she was damaging my familia, which I could not allow continuing."

She wanted to make it clear that she had faith in Hestia. Although his words made painfully sense, Hephaestus was not concerned about their friendship and did not doubt it for a second. This revelation caused Haru to flinch for a moment.

He understood their friendship certainly did not last for a couple of years. A quantity of time perhaps comparable to a thousand, or even millions of an average human's life cycles, and yet this security came from something that Haru could not explain. He was curious as to why this friendship could not break in the face of something pure truth, but before he could leave his mind absorbed in thoughts, the answer came by.

"...You are probably wondering why I have faith in her. I think you already know this, but my right eye has a deformity so horrible that everyone would run away if I did not wear this eyepatch to my eye. However, Hestia looked at me in the eyes, smiling, and demanding if that was all I wanted to show her. She was the only person so far who has not looked at me with hate or terror after seeing this side of me. Even if your words told us the truth from a human's point of view, I would never doubt Hestia."

To his own words, Hephaestus' expression changed many times. If at first, she looked almost depressed as talking about her defect was the thing she most hated to do, it was necessary to make Haru understand why even if what he had said could be true, things would not change drastically.

However, when she reached the point to tell him how Hestia had dealt with this, her previous expression seemed only a memory as she had a smile that still expressed today, after a countless amount of years, happiness to have met Hestia.

In reality, Haru knew nothing about Hephaestus other than that she would be the one to forge Bell Cranel's dagger along with Hestia's help in the future, so he did not know about her defect, but even if that was the case, he thought it was not a big deal.

In his past life, he had been able to observe people with disabilities through the internet, which had emancipated him to feel the preciousness of being a whole after he discovered some people had even lost their arms and legs. It might sound stupid, yet Haru never really pondered about how the disabilities could be before progressing to middle school, where he could freely search on the internet. From that moment, he had also chosen to keep himself trained so as not to ruin the body he was blessed to receive in one piece without any problem whatsoever.

"I see. I apologize for my behavior. In the future, I will consider what I say since anything could be unfounded. Humans and Gods have two distinct approaches to life, after all."

Having two considerably different natures, it was rational that Haru could not entirely understand the faith Hephaestus placed in Hestia. However, Hephaestus could not understand what Haru had gone through to make him so sensitive to attempts at manipulation, and somehow, with both of them unable to comprehend the other, a sort of balance was established.

Nodding to his words, Hephaestus was about to add something, but the former was faster.

"I know it does not have much to do with this conversation. But in the future, when you feel ready, can you show me your...defect?"

If he had said it too late, Haru knew it would have turned out awkward. His goal was to grow closer to Hephaestus and attain her trust. But, having discovered there was a way for him to make her trust him more, Haru chose to ask her to show him her covered eye, not expecting Hephaestus to do at the moment. However, Haru opted to think for the future. He believed that the day would come when Hephaestus could ask for a pause from their work, show him whatever was covered by that eyepatch, and confirm placing her trust in him was not wrong.

In his own words, Hephaestus jumped in surprise. She had told him any person who had seen her eye, never looked at her with the same expression again. There was only terror and hatred in their looks, and she certainly did not want Haru to have that kind of reaction as well.

".. And why would you want to see this eye of mine? You have no reason to go that far."

It was the truth. Theoretically, Haru had nothing to do with her defect, yet to her words, Haru sighed, looking towards the floor as he echoed his thoughts about the matter.

"It is as you say, Hephaestus-sama. But see, I wish you could work with me knowing that no matter how many imperfections you may have, I will respect you and continue to look at you within this same respect. You provided me so much already that discriminating you for anything, whatever flaw you may possess, would be shameless. I promised to grant your wish with my blacksmithing, after all. If the person who grants the wish is such an unpleasant person, I would prefer my wish not to be granted."

His speech struck within Hephaestus a lot. He was echoing what he had sealed in the bottom of his heart. The words themselves were what she had always wanted to hear. However, it happened before that some of the people close to her had said so more than once. She did not even know the reason, yet his words made her feel that this time, she could believe in someone from the bottom of her heart as well, that perhaps not only Hestia would be able to look her in the eyes without worrying about her left eye.

Returning his eyes to her after ending his speech, Haru found himself faced with a reaction radically different from what he had imagined. The calm, rational Hephaestus that he had been able to observe in this week had tears that spilled down incessantly from her face. Even from the eyepatch, Haru could see tears flowing out, but he chose not to care about the little details. Before he could even ask her if it was all right, she wiped her tears with her hands.

"... I-I apologize for this embarrassing scenario... but hearing you say you would respect me anyway... I did not hear similar words in years..."

Although there had been times when some people, including human beings, had promised not to judge her for her outward appearance, they had likewise worn that expression of terror Hephaestus hated more than anything else. But, by the time it became known, the people who believed they could handle the sight of whatever Hephaestus was hiding, decided to avoid approaching her, frightened by the exaggerated description of her eye.

Being aware of the event held by the Hephaestus familia, she was pretty sure that Haru could hear descriptions of the people regarding her covered eye, which were not far from the truth. So Hephaestus believed Haru would avoid talking about it at all, yet he had met her expectations, cutting himself a unique path, working with serenity.

His goal was not to enter into her graces nor for requesting any kind favoritism. From the bottom of his heart, Haru wished that Hephaestus could find herself working with him in a peaceful environment, where if by pure chance she wanted to take off her eyepatch, she would be free to do so in his presence without him even caring much. He wanted this kind of harmonious future that Hephaestus thought could only describe with a single word, wonderful.

At her words, however, Haru sighed. He believed somehow his speech could have hurt her, or that his move was too forced, but in reality, there was no appropriate time to open his heart, as telling her how he felt was the only important matter. Finished wiping her tears, what was once a smile turned to her fateful encounter with Hestia, now was a smile that Hephaestus had worn only thanks to his words.

"Since you want to see my eye so much, you will be able to only if in 5 months you can obtain the development ability [Blacksmith] then I will show you."

Saying these words as he carried one of his hands on her eyepatch, her eye met his own, filled with determination after hearing her.

"..Understood. I will work hard to obtain the development ability."

Nodding at his words, the two remained for a few seconds in almost embarrassing silence. But before the situation could escalate, Hephaestus chose to give Haru the rest of the day off, since if they started working now, They could not have done much anyway.

"Wait... there's still something..."

These words surprised Hephaestus, who in a moment assumed a more serious expression to listen to anything Haru would have said to her.

"I need to update my status"

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(It's hard to edit, this chapter took what 3 hrs... but I won't back down from my goal of 14chs/week! Join my discord.gg/y8VBZAp)

(Guess who's going to be friend-zoned in the future... why you said Welf though?)