After the auction, the Hephaestus Familia became a spectacle all its own, the sort of name that drew every god's attention.
Pity for them, Hephaestus's children were producers by nature. Most craftsmen burrowed into their forges for days on end. All those "eyes" lurking outside the compound found no seams to slip through.
As for the "eyes" that had already been dug up within the Familia, they were expelled the very day the auction ended.
In short, the Hephaestus Familia turned into a slab of steel.
Hephaestus didn't hide the reason from her children either. She told them plainly why those people had been driven out.
Betrayal.
Spies from other Familia.
No one liked hearing the word. Traitors are always the most repulsive—especially when they'd been eating your bread while feeding someone else your secrets. And Hephaestus's children believed their god's judgment. It wasn't her style to throw someone out on a whim, and gods, after all, could tell whether mortals were lying.
So the expelled were quickly forgotten. They weren't killed, only sent back where they came from. What was there to dwell on?
"At last, it's steady," Hephaestus exhaled. The last few days of smoothing ruffled hearts had been exhausting. "Of course this would paint a target on us—an auction with fireworks, a new forging method, and publicity about a certain 'gifted' child I just 'took in.' No wonder the gods are hovering."
"Sorry to trouble you, Lady Hephaestus," Sawada Tsunayoshi said with a sheepish smile. He came up behind her chair and set both hands on her shoulders, easing the stiffness there.
"Ah, this time really did me in," she grumbled without pretense. "First prying out the nails, then calming the kids. If I'd tossed people without explanation, my children might have thought I'd turned tyrant."
Handled poorly, a purge plants whispers. Thankfully, it hadn't come to that. She had explained why those people had been expelled, soothed the mood—Tsunayoshi's beast constructs had helped as emotional balm—and after three quiet days, the workshop's hum returned to normal.
The kneading fingers on her shoulders coaxed the knots to loosen. Hephaestus let herself sink into the backrest.
"With your character, your children won't think that of you," Tsunayoshi said. He wasn't worried about turmoil inside. "Betrayal is the gravest sin anywhere. A Familia can't tolerate double-dealers. Brand them 'traitor,' and no one here will waste sympathy."
Hephaestus knew her children felt the same—but one question still rested on her mind. "The ones we sent out… there won't be trouble?"
"No." Tsunayoshi's answer was steady. "I used 'memory worms' to read their memories—and found the parts that had been cut away. Then I strengthened those gaps, so they themselves would notice something missing. They'll understand why they were branded 'traitors.'"
"And once that awareness is seeded, any fuss they make becomes their own trap. Deny it in front of a god, and the lie shows instantly. Every god will know what they are."
He'd already laid the safeguards. No crude forced rewriting like the gods who'd planted them. It was enough to let them realize their memory was wrong—and that they'd been inserted into the Hephaestus Familia as pins. With that impression lodged in place, any tantrum would only harm them.
"The best way to keep them quiet," Hephaestus murmured, eyes closing a moment. She knew she couldn't bring herself to do this part; Tsunayoshi's solution was kinder than most deserved. In truth, they were traitors. For children who'd been pampered into uselessness, this was the best outcome she could give.
"My name's going to stay under a lens for a while," she added. "It doesn't change Orario's balance—I'm just a smith—but the ones who can't resist poking at 'unknowns' won't pass up the chance."
"Gods lose interest with time," Tsunayoshi said. "If we keep still long enough, their gaze moves on. All we need in this stretch is quiet."
He rose, helping her ease the last bit of tension from her back and arms.
"And for that," he said, smiling a little, "I'll need to trouble you here as well, Lady Hephaestus."
(End of Chapter)
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