"Wow!" Fina looked at at her back in a nearby mirror and then turned to look at me. "We match, Daddy!"

"Y-Yeah... I guess we do."

The basement room of the church. Away from any prying windows.

There, Tia decided to update my status and give one to Fina to avoid any misconceptions... Or rather, to make a misconception.

It was a smart move.

Now that Fina had a Falna, the part of her that felt like Tia blended in with the blessing she got from the Falna.

Of course, that still left the awkward question of why she looked almost exactly like Tia... But it should be fine.

Maybe.

...Hopefully.

Of course, we had an issue. Both with my status and Fina's.

xxx

[Bell Kranel]
Lv. 1
Strength: H 100
Endurance: H 100
Dexterity: H 100
Agility: H 100
Magic: H 100
Energy Manipulation: G
Compilation: G

[Magic]
Quantum Magic: Instant Magic
Inventory: Auto-Magic

[Skills]
Liar's Phrase - Reality is nothing more than the lies we tell. Growth is determined according to the user's will. External influences are subsumed and overwritten.

Storyteller's Refrain - Allows the user to impart a portion of their experiences onto another.

xxx

First, my status.

The stat ups were expected, so they weren't too big a deal. But the troubling parts were my magic and skills.

First off, it looked like Inventory was counted as a magic. The thing was, it was 'Auto-Magic', meaning it was always on.

That was rare in and of itself... But there was the fact that it was freaking called Inventory!

If anybody saw it, wouldn't they know that I can store items?! The heck?!

Not only that, but there was that new skill! Letting me impart a portion of my experiences... Didn't that just mean I could give 'excelia' to people without them having to work for it?!

If word got out, all of Orario would be after me!

But not only that...!

xxx

[Fina Kranel]
Lv. 1
Strength: I 0
Endurance: I 0
Dexterity: I 0
Agility: I 0
Magic: I 0
Mystery: I
Luck: I

[Magic]

Spirit Body: Auto-Magic
Resurrection: Auto-Magic
Phoenix Fire: Instant Magic

[Skills]

Vesta, Spirit of Everlasting Flame: Grants dominion over fire. Grants instant regeneration.

xxx

Fina was listed as my actual daughter! Or at least a blood relative! I mean, what else could having my last name mean, right?

And then there were her development abilities of Mystery and Luck, THREE magics that sounded INCREDIBLY broken, and then there was her skill which doubled down on those magics!

Hestia let out a rigid laugh and said, "Y-You really inherited a lot from us, didn't you, Fina?"

"Did I? Yay!" Fina pumped her tiny fist in the air and said, "I'm like Mommy and Daddy!"

I sighed. "You sure are, Princess. Though, Daddy realizes now just what a hassle he must be to others..."

I really needed to give Eina an apology gift...

"Hm?" Fina tilted her head.

"Nothing, Princess." I put my shirt back on and looked at Hestia. "Are you going to take her to work with you, Tia? Or should I watch her?"

Hestia frowned. "I don't know if that's a good idea... And don't you have things to do, Bell?"

"I do, but it'll be awkward for you, won't it?"

Hestia bit her lips. "It... will. But it'll be the same for you."

...Yeah. That was true. Especially if I ran across someone like Eina...

Fina put her shirt on as well and then looked between us. "...Am I a bother?"

"No!"

"Never!"

Hestia and I responded at the same time.

Fina flinched and then lowered her head. "But... Mommy and Daddy look upset. It's because of me, isn't it?" Fina's eyes started to glisten.

I quickly stood up to hug her, but Hestia was faster.

"It's not that, Sweetie." Hestia brushed Fina's hair and said, "Mommy and Daddy just weren't expecting you. But that doesn't mean we don't care about you. Right, Bell?"

I nodded. "Right. We just have to sort out who will watch you when we're working." I frowned and muttered, "After all, I don't think I want to be that guy dragging a child into the dungeon... Even if she's ridiculous enough to not get hurt."

Fina sniffed, and then she turned to look at me. "But... I don't want Daddy to go alone! It's dangerous down there!"

Hestia nodded. "It is. And because of that, I don't want my sweet little girl to go either."

"But...!"

"I know." I looked at the girls and said, "Why don't we do this? Fina can help you out with selling the Jagamarukuns until noon while I sort out my affairs and then I'll take her back for lunch."

"...Is that okay?" Hestia frowned. "Won't it be hard to go into the Dungeon for so short a time?"

I waved my hand. "It's fine. I'm taking it slow anyway." I looked at Fina. "How does that sound, Princess? Do you mind going with Mommy to her work for a while?"

Fina frowned. "...Promise that Daddy won't go do anything dangerous?"

"...I'll promise to try?"

Fina's frown grew deeper, but she slowly nodded. "...Okay. But I want a sweet!"

"Sweet?"

Fina nodded. "I saw crystal candies on our way back! Daddy has to get me some!"

I laughed and walked over to ruffle her hair. "Fine, fine. Daddy will get you some candy."

"'Kay~!"

I glanced at Hestia and said, "In that case... You should probably get going, right?"

Hestia sighed. But then she put on a smile and picked Fina up. "Come on, Sweetie. Let's have a girl's day out and get to know each other, okay?"

"Yay!"

xxx

"Crystal candies, huh?" I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "Well, I gotta make sure to get that too."

After Hestia left with Fina, I decided to go around sorting out what I had to do.

After the mess of yesterday, I really wasn't in the mood for dungeon diving.

Was this how a guy felt when he found out that the girl he was interested in suddenly got pregnant after a one-night stand and had to man up?

Granted, I was sure I didn't have a one-night stand with Tia and Fina wasn't born like that, but-

Huh. Yeah, in hindsight this looked pretty bad.

Definitely needed to speed up the whole 'get strong and famous' plan.

But before all of that, preparations.

"Let's see..." I walked over to the pantry to check what we needed, made a note of what to get, and then walked out of the church, making sure to close everything up behind me.

After that, I headed towards the marketplace... Or rather, that was what I originally planned. But since it wasn't too far from the church in the first place, I decided to head to Babel first.

It was about time that I started to sort through equipment. Proper equipment.

After all, I made a decent amount of valis.

So, with that in mind, I walked off.

...I noticed that there was a bit of a commotion in the direction of Hestia's stall as I passed around the corner, but I pointedly ignored it for the moment.

I wasn't a coward. I just knew where and when to fight my battles... and to delegate trouble to people who could handle it better than I could. Not to mention that my presence would probably cause an even bigger commotion.

So I avoided that mess and continued on my way. The rest of my walk was uneventful though, and I arrived at Babel without a hitch.

After withdrawing some money with my card... Roughly 10k valis, I used the elevator and headed up to the weapon and armor shops on the higher levels.

Inside the elevator, I stared at the buttons and recalled the info about the shops that I read. "Let's see... The Hephaestus Familia has shops on the fourth through eighth floor. The upper floors probably have the better goods, so... let's start with the fourth."

I pressed the fourth floor button and waited.

In terms of equipment, my knife was still good, so I didn't need that. What I needed was armor.

As for what armor... If I remembered right, Bell used light armor and a chest plate. But he was fast and light, able to dodge.

I wasn't. Well, not AS fast. I was still pretty fast, but not 'zoom across the floor and walls' fast.

Besides that, I also wanted to test something out.

I didn't have any proper weights, but plate armor was a thing. Apparently, it wasn't super heavy, but it would still be decent enough to do a work out in. Not only that, but I really needed defense power.

Vision wasn't an issue with me since I could 'see' with Energy Manipulation, so a full helmet was probably best. Then...

The elevator door opened. When it did, it immediately opened to a desk. There was a man seated behind it, buff, scarred, the typical blacksmith type.

He looked at me and said, "Welcome. Looking for anything in particular?"

I glanced around at the various mounted swords and weapons and said, "Armor. Preferably full plate."

"Full plate, eh?" He looked at me and then nodded. "Mm... Got a budget?"

I looked back at him and said, "Anything good for under 10k?"

His face fell. "10k... Hm." He rubbed his chin and sighed. "If you're looking for platemail... I don't think so. Decent quality runs around 30k. You could probably get a few pieces, but..."

Ah. Right, a full set would be pretty pricey.

He looked at me and then hummed. "Well, if you don't mind the quality, you could always take a look in the back." Saying that, he pointed to the corner.

I blinked. "The back?"

"Yeah. Some of our new smiths put their work there. Maybe you'll find enough pieces in your range."

In short... He was telling me to dig through the discount bin.

"If you're just looking for something like a chest plate though-"

"That's fine." I nodded and said, "I'll take a look."

"Suit yourself." He shrugged and sat back down.

When he did, I walked over to the corner.

Like the guy said, there were a bunch of armor pieces lying around. Most of them were a mess. Failures that I could instantly tell weren't up to snuff.

Grieves that were too thin and brittle. Chestplates that were crooked and uneven...

I glanced through the shelves and walked further, carefully scanning the armor.

A few were good, but not what I wanted. Others were up my alley, but didn't fit me.

Dammit. This was the problem with trying to buy stock equipment...

Just as I was about to give up, I saw it.

A full armor set, tucked in the back corner. It was sleek, but bulky. Almost like a mechsuit. Black steel... No, it was lead. A full set of lead platemail, using steel to support the base frame but lead for defensive protection.

Curious, I went over to pick up the vambrace.

Heavy. On its own, not much, but when taking into account that the armor was meant to be worn while moving...

I could see why it was tucked away. Something like this was impractical.

A person able to wear it would probably be strong enough to afford better quality armor that could provide the same protection while being lighter.

For practical purposes, it was... Not trash. I could see that the maker intended to have it be proper armor and was testing out an idea. But the execution was flawed.

Something like this would have been better done with a stronger base frame and then a lighter exterior.

Still, for my purposes, it worked perfectly. I didn't plan to use it in the Dungeon beyond the first five floors anyway, but on those levels it'd be more than enough to face tank all the attacks. Not only that... but it looked cool.

Call it a man's passion?

I picked up the display card showing the information about the maker and the price.

Price... It was 10k for the full set. A severe underprice for the materials... but since it was impractical for the average adventurer, it was reasonable. As for the maker...

"Welf Crozzo?"

I frowned.

The name seemed familiar... But I couldn't remember why.

Still, I memorized it.

The craftsmanship and idea behind the armor was really good. Granted, the execution was flawed, but the guy had good taste and decent skills.

I'd have to remember to hunt him down later when I had more money for a proper armor commission-

"What do you mean you put it in the corner!?"

A shout echoed from the front of the room.

I blinked and turned around.

There, I saw the receptionist arguing with a young man that had red hair.

He wore a blue scarf and a black tunic. There was a giant sword strapped to his back... And he looked angry enough to use it. Almost, anyway.

The shopkeeper huffed. "Did you really think anyone would buy that failure?"

"Black Demon isn't a failure! It's meant to provide defensive power while-"

"While being too damned heavy for any person to wear!" The man slammed his fist on the table and said, "Get it through your head, you brat! If you're planning to sell things in Lady Hephaestus's shop, they have to be usable! You're lucky I even allowed it here at all!"

"It *is* usable! And just you wait, I bet it's going to sell in the week!"

"Hah! If that happens I'll eat my-"

I coughed.

The man behind the counter scowled and said, "Look, you're disturbing the customer!"

"A-Ah." The young man leaned back. He still looked frustrated, but he turned towards me and apologized. "Sorry. Didn't mean to disturb you."

"It's fine." I waved my hand and then walked up to the counter.

The man turned towards me and said, "Did you decide on something?"

"Yeah." I placed the card on the table. "This one. It's not exactly what I'm looking for, but it should do for the time being."

The man nodded and moved to pick up the card. "Alright. Let me see what-" When he saw it, he froze.

I blinked. "What's wrong?"

The young man with red hair leaned over and said, "Yeah, Garet, what's the deal with-" He saw the card as well and also froze. But then he burst out laughing.

The man... Garet, turned red and then crossed his arms. "This doesn't mean anything!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say." The young man grinned and then leaned on the counter. Picking up the card, he spun it around and said, "So you're buying this, huh?"

"...That was the plan." I looked at the reaction of the two and frowned. "But it looks like that's an issue?"

"Nah. It's just hilarious." The young man slid the card over to me and then tapped the name there. "You see that? The person who made the armor?"

"...Yes?" I frowned.

The young man grinned and said, "That's me! Welf Crozzo, maker of Black Demon!"

Garet groaned. "I still think that's a terrible name for the armor."

"Yeah, yeah." The young man... No, Welf waved his hand and said, "Not talking to you. Anyway..." He looked back at me and said, "Could I get your name, Pal?"

I couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. I held out my hand and said, "Bell. Bell Kranel."

He grinned and shook my hand. "Great! Glad to meet my first customer."

"...Wait, first customer?" I looked at Garet and said, "Don't I pay you?"

He shook his head. "Ordinarily... but the money goes to the maker anyway."

Welf nodded. "Yeah! So butt off already, Garet!"

Garet held up his hands and then walked off. "Fine. I'll go package the armor then."

"Anyway." Welf looked at me and said, "You said that Black Demon wasn't exactly what you were looking for. So what ARE you looking for? Is the design too showy? Parts too heavy?"

"No." I shook my head. "It's fine. And I like the design actually." I grinned and said, "Super slick and intimidating while being able to face tank most attacks. It's great."

"Yeah!" Welf pumped a fist in the air and said, "I knew someone would get me!" He paused. "Then what's the problem?" He scanned my physique and frowned. "Mm... I made it with my body as the base so it's a bit bigger than most people, but you're around the same build as me, so it should fit, right? I'm guessing that's not the problem... Do you not like the material?"

"That's right." I nodded and said, "I think it was a good idea to have a base with an exterior layer to support it, but you chose the wrong metals. Lead is good for the exterior, but it's too heavy. It also dents pretty easily... Not that much of an issue, but repair would be a hassle. The steel base was a good idea though. If anything, I'd do something like a steel base with layered alloys on top to dampen attacks while stopping them at the core."

Welf blinked and then he let out a wide grin. "Damn. You a blacksmith too, Bell? Those are some pretty good ideas..." He placed a hand on his chin and said, "It's pretty hard to do... but something like that would be pretty good."

I shrugged and said, "I just like to analyze things and come up with ideas."

"That so?"

Garet came back with a big box and said, "You wanna carry this back now? Or should I send it somewhere?"

"Ah."

I wanted to just toss it in my inventory, but that would definitely raise flags.

So instead, I gave him the address of the church.

"Mm... Got it." Garet nodded and said, "I'll have it out by the end of the day."

Welf looked at me and then said, "You not planning on wearing it out?"

I chuckled. "That'd be fun, but I have a few more errands to run. Maybe in the future though."

"Errands... Hey." Welf looked at me and said, "You want to grab some food?"

"Huh?"

"Since you're a fan of my work, I've got a proposal for you..."