Chapter 316

Chapter 316: Chapter 316

Bell looked down at the plain Asauchi Rayleigh had placed in his hands, then shook his head.

"No, sir. I’ve never heard a sword speak before."

"That makes things easier."

Rayleigh watched him adjust his grip.

Bell was obviously more comfortable with the knife at his waist than with a full-length sword, and the way he held the Asauchi only confirmed it.

His stance was still rough after barely a week as an adventurer, but he naturally favored keeping his weight light and his body ready to move rather than planting himself for heavy strikes.

More importantly, the Asauchi was already responding faintly to him.

There was no transformation or visible spiritual pressure, but Rayleigh could feel Bell’s Reiryoku settling into the blank blade without much resistance.

For someone who had never touched a Zanpakutō before, the compatibility was promising.

’So he really is here.’

Rayleigh had known Bell would eventually come to Orario, but that knowledge had belonged to the increasingly unreliable future he remembered.

Seeing the fourteen-year-old standing inside his workshop made it real in a way his memories never had.

He nodded toward Bell’s knife.

"Put the sword down for a moment and show me how you normally fight. You don’t need to demonstrate anything fancy. I only want to see what feels natural to you."

Bell carefully returned the sword to the table before drawing his knife.

He took a stance and explained that Eina had been correcting him over the last several days, although most of what he had learned still came from surviving fights against Goblins, Kobolds, and other Upper Floor monsters.

Rayleigh circled him once, checking his balance and the position of his feet.

"How long did you say you’ve been an adventurer?"

"About a week."

Rayleigh stopped beside him and looked toward Hephaestus.

The goddess gave a small nod, confirming Bell was completely serious.

Rayleigh turned back and looked at the bandaging still visible beneath Bell’s shirt.

"A week of experience, and you’ve already had a Minotaur chase you through the Fifth Floor? You certainly picked an efficient way to learn the difference between monster levels."

Bell scratched his cheek awkwardly. "I wasn’t trying to fight it. I tried to run, but it was much faster than anything I’d faced before. If Ais-san hadn’t arrived when she did, I probably wouldn’t be standing here."

There was no bravado in the admission, which Rayleigh appreciated.

Hestia stepped closer and folded her arms tightly.

The memory clearly still bothered her.

"That’s exactly why I brought him here. His current knife is fine against Goblins, but the first time something truly dangerous appeared, it might as well have been a kitchen utensil. I don’t need some ridiculous ceremonial weapon. I need something Bell can actually keep using while he grows."

Rayleigh glanced at Hephaestus, who said nothing but made it obvious from her expression that this was the part she wanted him to consider seriously.

A weapon that could grow with Bell was precisely what a Zanpakutō was meant to be.

It also happened to be an extremely attractive investment for the owner of Soul Blade.

Bell’s future had already diverged from the story Rayleigh remembered, but if even part of his potential remained intact, a Zanpakutō in his hands would eventually produce more Excellia than most contracts Rayleigh could ever make.

That was reason enough.

Rayleigh picked up the Asauchi again and rested it across both palms.

"I’ll take the commission. Bell’s clearly better suited to a shorter weapon than a conventional sword, and the response I felt just now was clean enough that I don’t see any compatibility problem. I can’t promise what exact form the blade will take until his soul is properly merged with the Asauchi, but whatever comes out of the forge will belong to him in a way an ordinary weapon never could."

Bell’s face brightened immediately. "Really? Thank you!"

Hestia looked almost as relieved, though practical concerns quickly returned to her expression.

"Before Bell gets too excited, I should probably ask what this is going to cost! I know what people pay for your Zanpakutō, and Hestia Familia definitely doesn’t have that kind of money."

"You couldn’t pay my usual price even if you sold the church anyway."

Hestia opened her mouth, visibly offended, but Rayleigh continued before the conversation could go anywhere useless.

"I’m not asking for the usual price. Bell is a rookie from a new Familia, so I’ll arrange the contract around his future Dungeon income instead. Once he starts earning properly, a percentage can go toward the weapon until the debt is settled. That way you don’t bankrupt yourselves before he even reaches the Middle Floors, and I still get paid eventually."

That explanation was reasonable enough that Hestia’s irritation faded almost immediately.

She glanced at Bell before giving Rayleigh a suspicious look.

"You’re being much more generous than your reputation suggests."

"My reputation is exaggerated.... slightly."

Hephaestus made a quiet sound behind them that very clearly suggested otherwise.

Rayleigh ignored it and returned his attention to Bell.

"There is one part I need you to understand before you agree. A Zanpakutō isn’t something you replace when you find better materials or earn more money. Once I forge it properly, the blade becomes part of your soul. It will develop with you, and your relationship with it matters just as much as keeping the steel maintained. If you treat it like disposable equipment, I’m not interested in making one for you."

Bell’s excitement settled into something more serious.

He looked at the Asauchi for several seconds before nodding.

"I understand. If you’re willing to make something like that for me, I won’t treat it carelessly."

Rayleigh believed him.

"Good. Come back tomorrow after you’ve eaten and rested properly. The forging isn’t dangerous if everything goes correctly, but I’m going to merge this Asauchi with your soul before I work the blade, so I’d prefer you not arrive half-dead from another Dungeon trip."

Hestia immediately pointed at Bell before he could answer.

"He’s not entering the Dungeon tomorrow anyway."

Bell wisely chose not to challenge his goddess while standing between a divine smiths and a Level Six adventurer.

Rayleigh took that as agreement.

...

Hestia and Bell left soon afterward, with Bell turning once at the workshop door to look at the Asauchi before Hestia pulled him along.

Hephaestus remained behind.

Rayleigh had already begun preparing the materials he would need for the next day when she walked closer to the workbench and rested one hand against its edge.

"You reacted the moment he told you his name. Bell noticed it, and so did I, so don’t bother pretending otherwise. I don’t need every secret you’re keeping, but if there’s something about that boy that could make forging for him dangerous, I need to know before tomorrow."

Rayleigh set the tongs in his hand down.

It was a fair question.

"Bell isn’t dangerous to me, and forging for him shouldn’t create any special risk beyond the normal process. I knew his name because he’s connected to someone I know, although I can’t explain that person’s situation without breaking a promise.

What matters for the commission is simpler: Bell has extremely high potential, his soul responded well to the Asauchi, and Soul Blade means I benefit whenever one of my Zanpakutō achieves something significant. Giving a blade to someone like him makes sense for both of us."

Hephaestus studied his expression for a moment before glancing toward the door.

"Hestia only showed me enough of Bell’s new Skill to explain why she’s worried about his equipment, but what I saw was extraordinary. If the effect is really as strong as it appears, his growth could become difficult to predict. I wanted to make sure you weren’t agreeing simply because you knew something about him that nobody else did."

"I know a few things about what he might become, but I’ve stopped treating that knowledge like a schedule. Too much has changed already."

That answer seemed to satisfy her more than Rayleigh expected.

Hephaestus looked toward the Asauchi again. "Then make him something suitable. Hestia has finally found her first child, and she’s already terrified of losing him."

Rayleigh nodded. "I noticed."

Hephaestus turned toward the door, though she paused before leaving and gave him one last look.

"And try not to ruin the boy financially before he reaches Level Two. Your old contracts were horrifying."

Rayleigh waited until she disappeared into the corridor before muttering, "They were profitable!"

He returned the Asauchi to its stand, but his attention had already moved away from the forge.

Bell Cranel was in Orario.

There was someone at home who needed to know that before anything else happened.