"The Tarnished"
As for the character save he had just drawn, Ron was, of course, extremely familiar with it—more precisely, it was the character controlled by the player in Elden Ring.
Those who lost the blessing of the Erdtree and were expelled from the Lands Between were known as the Tarnished.
It was just that—
What he was more curious about now was what this so-called "character save" actually was…
After experiencing countless playthroughs, was it an all-around, fully maxed "bucket build,"
or was it something like the Tarnished of the Elden Ring world, merely inheriting certain special talents?
'Guess I'll only know once the status values get updated!'
Holding onto that anticipation.
The boy looked to his side. At this moment, Hestia was clinging to him like a sloth, hanging off his body. He didn't really mind this kind of… relatively intimate closeness.
He could even feel a hint of softness.
Ron decisively withdrew his gaze and asked tentatively, "Today's dungeon exploration was pretty intense. I wanted to see how much the status values have improved."
"And also, the skills I've mastered seem to have changed a bit?"
"That's good news!"
If she wanted to help Ron update his status values, then she could only do it in the office.
Realizing her earlier behavior, the girl timidly turned her head. What she saw was her close friend Hephaestus's face, wearing a meaningful expression full of teasing.
'A god holding her familia member should be pretty normal, right?'
Hestia's mood was inexplicably a little flustered.
But thinking that she was upright and had nothing to fear, she loosened the arms wrapped around Ron's neck and lightly jumped down onto the ground—and gods were no exception.
Pulled by gravity, the magnificent swell on the girl's chest rose and fell continuously.
Looking at Ron again, Hestia finally noticed something amiss—compared to usual, Ron was not wearing that familiar set of armor.
Even his clothes had holes that were plainly visible to the naked eye.
One could easily imagine just how fierce a battle he had encountered in the dungeon!
"As for updating the status values…"
"It might need to be a bit later, or Hephaestus agreeing would also work, because after all, it's working hours right now, and she's in the office."
"…?"
Hephaestus had just gotten up and reached the office doorway when she heard the girl's muttering. Her originally normal expression instantly turned strange.
Did that mean that if she wasn't around, this one could just do whatever she pleased?
However, she did not take Hestia's words to heart, knowing full well that this one would never come here specifically to joke about a familia member's safety.
Ron had safely left the dungeon.
That counted as good news.
But when she noticed that the boy in front of her was not carrying any protective gear, Hephaestus felt somewhat relieved—at least he wasn't leaving all the trouble to her.
"You came back relatively late today—"
"Yeah. Some god had no idea how nervous she was. She couldn't focus on work, and just now even ran to the office, wanting me to find someone to fish you back."
"If it were any later, someone would probably have been busy for nothing!"
"…"
As for which god that supposedly was, Ron did not need to guess to know who it was.
Even though those words were spoken very casually, he could still picture the scene—because just a moment ago, Hestia had rushed straight out of the office.
She cared about him even more than he had expected.
But before Ron could speak, the girl's cheeks gradually reddened. She waved her hand, trying to brush the topic aside.
"There's no helping it—after all, as a god… caring about one's familia..."
"That's a perfectly normal thing!"
"…"
It was not normal—but he had no intention of pointing that out.
Ron placed the spoils he had been carrying behind his back onto the ground. As they rubbed against the floor, they produced crisp clanking sounds. He then asked, "Lady Hephaestus."
"I'd like to ask whether there's a way to deal with damaged equipment."
"You could also just say directly that you want me to help."
Knowing exactly what kind of person this one was, the corners of Hephaestus's mouth twitched slightly. She still could not help teasing the rather interesting boy in front of her.
However—
When the bundle was opened and she saw the dwarf armor inside, she lifted her head, her eyes filled with confusion.
"Are you sure these pieces of armor aren't the spoils from robbing some dwarf adventurer team?"
The armor was all of very common designs.
As for the materials, Hephaestus recognized them with a quick glance—products forged from fine steel, simply somewhat battered due to a lack of maintenance.
They did have value.
But they were absolutely not goods that could be put up for sale in a "weapon shop."
"How could that be?"
The dungeon was, of course, nowhere near as safe as one might imagine.
Not only did one have to face all kinds of monsters, but a very small number of ill-intentioned adventurers could be far more dangerous than the dungeon's monsters themselves.
Ron explained with a smile.
"All of it is dungeon drops. I never do things like killing people to seize their goods, and I also don't have any other channels to deal with equipment."
"It can be handled."
"But the price definitely won't be particularly high. I'll buy them back at 50,000 valis per set. As for how they're sold afterward, you don't need to worry about that."
Once the damaged areas were patched up and some basic maintenance was done, they could be sent to the shops of the Babel Tower apprentice smiths for sale. With a slightly higher price tag, they could still become popular items among dwarf and smallfolk adventurers.
Hephaestus did not refuse.
There were only a few sets of armor in total. When the time came, she could just have members of her familia come and take them away.
However, when Ron took out the set of armor that had been pierced with nearly ten holes by a broad-headed spear and was almost completely ruined, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
"And also—"
"This set of armor might also need Lady Hephaestus to find a smith to repair it."
Case closed.
It was the third-tier armor that Hestia had taken from her before. Now, judging from its appearance, it looked like it could not protect anything at all.
Every hole that had been pierced through still carried enough residual force to shred a body.
Hephaestus looked at Ron once more. Noticing his battered gray shirt, she fell silent for a moment before speaking in an extremely complicated tone.
"To be honest."
"That you managed to come back alive is quite a surprise!"
"That's just how it is when something's hard to kill."
Ron smiled and shrugged, not denying it.
"…"
"If you want to update your status values, go to the office. I have something to take care of at the main shop. As for these dungeon drops of yours, I'll have adventurers from my familia come and collect them."
She did not want to stay here.
Because Hephaestus had realized that ever since Ron joined Hestia's familia, these two seemed to have an endless stream of troubles that could never be fully dealt with!
As she watched the tall woman's back disappear from sight, Hestia somehow produced the tools for updating status values—silver needles and the matching parchment—and stood beside Ron with a beaming smile.
She lazily stretched her body.
"Ahem!"
"Since Hephaestus has already agreed, let's go to the office and update your status values. Let me see just what kind of surprise you're going to give me."
"No problem."
Ron was equally full of anticipation.
Coming to this world completely different from Elden Ring, a Tarnished who had lost all guidance—what kind of help would that bring to his future dungeon explorations?
A moment later...
Only the girl's utterly incredulous cry remained.
"Holy crap!"
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