Danmachi - Card Wizard

Chapter 34 - Ch.34 Denatus

A/N: Congrats, you loving time-skippers; one is coming along soon since I don't know what to write anymore, hahaha

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"Hum, except for the noise, it's pretty ordinary." Said Aidan as he looked at the various shops and forges along the main road of the district.

"I was expecting rows and rows of weapons everywhere." Answered Ais as she took upon the sight of the district.

"Right, did you only want to visit to see the Hephaestus familia?" Asked Aidan as they slowed down at an intersection before being intercepted by a tall woman with an eye patch on her left eye.

As Ais was about to answer, the lady started talking. "Hello, can I help you find what you are looking for?" She asked with a bright smile on her face as she saw two youngsters looking over the weapons of the shops.

"Yes, I came here to browse the weapons." The girl explained as she pointed at Aidan. "He has a good sword, but I never saw something similar in the shops."

"Hum? You don't have your sword with you, do you?" Asked the girl, who immediately presented herself. "I'm Tsubaki, the captain of the Hephaestus familia, by the way."

"Hum. Yes, I have it here." He answered, taking his sword in his scabbard out of his card. "My name's Aidan, and she's Ais. We're both parts of the Loki familia." He continued, presenting himself and his partner.

"Nice to meet you." She answered with a smile before bringing her attention to the blue scabbard in her hands. "Hum, it's a beautiful sheat. Do you mind?" She asked while lifting the weapon as it was inappropriate to use someone's weapons or armour before asking for permission.

"Feel free to do so." Answered Aidan with a smile. He didn't care if she wanted to try it. In the end, he could always recall the sword wherever it was, so he wasn't afraid of the sword getting stolen.

Tsubaki's eyes widened after taking the sword out of its sheath, seeing the craftsmanship of the orange-edged black sword. "It is incredibly light." She whispered to herself as she waved it a little, feeling the sharpness and lightness of the blade.

Touching the flat side of the blade, she nodded to herself and did all kinds of other weird verifications for a few minutes before turning her head to Aidan and asking with excitement: "Who made this sword?"

"I don't know. It was left to me by my parents." He answered lightly. "So, do you have any similar weapons?" He asked as he brought back the attention to Ais's request.

"Well, I can't forge this kind of sword, not to mention the others in the familia." She answered with a shake of her head which broke Ais's expectations. She knew that there weren't many chances of them selling such as sword, or she would have been aware of it, but she couldn't help but have some small expectations, which made her sad when the lady broke them.

Patting Ais's head while she looked down, he turned his head towards the captain of the familia, who was deep in thought for a moment before looking at the two. "Are the two of you free for a while? Maybe my goddess would be able to create something similar after inspecting it." She explained with a gentle smile as she was confident that her goddess did not know such a forging technique.

While she could, just like her goddess, imbue attributes such as Durandal on weapons, the boy's weapon was inherently different since she didn't detect any characteristics on the sword, but it still possessed them and more. Moreover, she had seen the most precious work of her goddess and the sword presented before her easily surpassed her previous work. As crazy as it sounded, her goddess most proud work didn't seem to hold a candle to this sword in front of her.

"Hum, not right now. We need to go back to the familia manor." Answered Aidan with a shake of his head as he remembered Loki's warning not to meet any other gods or goddesses as much as possible.

"Oh, I see. Well, sorry I couldn't help you more than that, have a good day." She said while keeping a smile despite being rejected by the two.

"You too." Answered Aidan as he walked out of the district with Ais, who wasn't interested in them anymore after learning that they didn't have what she searched for.

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(Loki POV)

'Urg, denatus are always boring.' Thought Loki as she looked at the stream of gods and goddesses entering the room, all clothed better than the last.

'Well, at least there are some sexy goddesses.' Thought the woman as a lascivious grin appeared on her face as she approached a familiar goddess with rather large breasts.

"Huu. Loki! What are you doing?" Asked the brown-haired walnut goddess while distancing herself from the trickster.

"Hello Astraea, it's been a while." Said Loki with a grin as she approached her once again. She felt pleasure making the virgin goddess unsettled as she slightly moved, keeping her on her toes.

"Yes, Loki, it has been a while." Answered the goddess of justice as she kept a gentle smile despite being nervous by how her acquaintance looked at her. "So, what can I do for you?" She asked as she was aware that besides her perverted tendencies, Loki would never be one to start a conversation unless she benefited from it one way or another.

"Bright as always, Astraea-chan." Smirked Loki before leading her to the side of the hall, at a distance of the other gods who had the bad habit of liking rumours a bit too much.

"So, what is it?" Asked the indigo-eyed goddess.

"Well, since you're familia has been tasked for the safety and justice of everyone in Orario, and that one of your mission is to arrest criminals and if necessary send back gods to heaven, I was wondering if you were interested in a deal?" Offered Loki as she started to pull allies to herself for the card deal. Moreover, by having the Astraea familia, one renown of their justice and respected as such, working with her, everything would be easy to do.

"What deal?" She asked with a frown on her face. Most of the time, when gods came to her for deals, it was for her to look the other way while they committed crimes or release a criminal. "If you want me to look the other way of a crime, I'm afraid we won't have a deal." She continued while losing her perpetual smile on her face.

"A crime? No, no, that isn't it." Laughed Loki as she waved her hand. However, the default of most gods appeared in her again. "But, which god tried to have you look the other way?" She asked as listening to rumours and gossip, whether they were true or false, was one of the gods' enjoyment in this long life.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Repeated the goddess as she ignored her desire for gossip.

"Right, during this denatus I'm going to present a new product to sell. However, this product will greatly change the way familia's explore the dungeon. It means that most familias will do their best to either get my children who can do those items or attack my familia one way or another to get the items for free. However, with your help, there won't be any problems. After all, no one wants to get on the bad side of the only goddess who can legally send us back to heaven." Smirked Loki as she was prepared to use her influence to get the best deals with the gods during this denatus.

"Oh? Can I ask what those items are?" She asked with pure curiosity.

"Yes, my children can do card magic, and he made an inventory card, a map card, a link card along with a few defensive and supports ones." Said Loki before she started to explain the uses of the cards.

"As for having your help, I already planned for it; here is a track card I had him create. This card can track down anyone, anywhere that person is, as long as you know his name and a clear picture of the person. You can use it in conjunction with the link card to track down a killer, for example. This card is only made for your familia and the guild in exchange for your help." Continued Loki as she looked at the goddess of justice, believing that she would accept to help in exchange for this restricted card for her familia and the guild.

"Alright, I will help." Nodded Astraea as a smile crept on Loki's face.

"Perfect. In that case, I will talk of these cards to Ouranos to receive his support, and I will present it later to start selling them tomorrow." Grinned Loki as she completed her plan. After all, once they accepted the cards for the first time, they would never reject them anymore. They would also have to keep her familia and herself pleased so that their adventurer group could hold the advantage in the dungeon.