*Hephaestus's POV*

  *Sometime earlier*

  I left Eryk in the bedroom a straight to Tsubaki.

  "I need you to take care of something for me. Do you remember Balnan?"

  "Balnan?" Tsubaki pced a hand on her , thinking. "Isn't he the guy you assigo train your boyfriend? Hasn't he been doing that for years? He seems to enjoy the job si doesn't require much effort."

  "That idiot was one of the few who agreed to train Eryk when he first joihe Familia. After I started dating Eryk, I thought about repg his instructors with more qualified ones, but Balnan, Luck, and Eryk seemed to get along... But today, I found out that wasn't the case."

  "Hm? What happened?"

  "Balnan tried to kill Eryk." When Tsubaki heard my words, she froze.

  She's one of the few who knows how much I value Eryk and care about him. She uands how furious I am right now.

  "What do you wao do? Should I kill him?" Tsubaki asked.

  "That won't be necessary. I just want you to find him and hold him until tomorrow. I believe he'll try to run since he's scared."

  "You said something scary to him, right? You o trol yourself, Goddess. I know you care deeply about Eryk, but you 't apulsively because of him."

  "I'm still very angry. I want that man to suffer before I throw him out of the Familia. Nobody threatens to kill Eryk in front of me and walks away unpunished."

  "Urgh, terrifying. But seriously, what do you see in that guy? Isn't he... useless? He's been training for years and still hasn't mae a det sword." Tsubaki smiled bitterly.

  "Eryk fed five swords yesterday and another five today. One of them is a high-quality sword."

  "What!?" Tsubaki's mouth fell open in disbelief. "That's impossible! Five swords in one day is a lot. And that guy couldn't fe anything not long ago."

  "I haven't seen him f with my own eyes, but both Balnan and Luck firmed it was his work. And it's surprising..."

  "What?"

  "The high-quality sword I mentioned came with magic that even I 't uand."

  "Are you sure he's the same Eryk we know? I'm starting to get worried," Tsubaki said, looking at me with .

  I hadn't given it much thought, but Eryk has ged signifitly over the past two days.

  His f skills and personality have ged.

  Before, he was like a frightened kitten, avoiding other members of the Familia out of fear of being judged. But now, he doesn't seem to care about that anymore.

  His personality during sex is different. I like his new personality far more than the previous one.

  I used to dominate him 100% of the time, but now, I'm the one being dominated.

  I 't say I hate it.

  "Goddess?"

  "Ah, it's nothing. I was thinking about some unnecessary things."

  "Hmmm..."

  "Alright, I think I'll head baow. Do what I asked, okay? I'll deal with this tomorrow."

  "Got it." Tsubaki still seemed worried.

  'I'm sure he's the same Eryk. I don't o worry about this... right?'

  ####

  *Tsubaki's POV*

  Following the Goddess's orders, I went to the training room where her boyfriend practiced to see if I could find Balnan there. But he wasn't in the room.

  I noticed some swords on the ground and approached them for a closer look.

  "Did the Goddess's boyfriend fe these swords?"

  I picked one up to i it.

  It's a good sword.

  "It's a on sword, nothiraordinary, but the bde is perfect. This could be sold. And there are four more here." The Goddess wasn't lying when she said he fed five swords.

  The sword with the strange magi't here. He must have taken it.

  "Well, at least he's improving." I shrugged and tossed the sword bato the ground.

  After that, I went to look for Balnan.

  I couldn't find him, so I sought out Luck. He was easy to locate. I ran into him, walking down one of the corridors.

  "Hey, you."

  "Yes?"

  "Where's Balnan?"

  When he heard my question, Luck turned pale.

  "I don't know..."

  "You'd better not lie. The Goddess is very angry with him, so it's better not to hide anything."

  "I swear I don't know! When the Goddess left the training room, he bolted out, terrified. I haven't seen him since."

  "I see. Maybe he's already left the house and run away."

  "I... I know where he could be."

  "Tell me right now."

  Luck then told me about a friend of Balnan's who had a house not far from here. He'd likely goo hide there si was his only friend besides Luck.

  I thanked Lud headed to the Balnan friend's house.

  It was nighttime, but the streets were quite busy.

  "Luck said it's around here." Walking calmly dowreet, I spotted Balnan sitting at a table inside a nearby bar. When I saw him, I couldn't believe he was so stupid.

  He's not hiding. He's just enjoying himself.

  I ehe bar and walked up to Balnan's table.

  When I approached, Balnan turned pale.

  "You o e with me," I said calmly.

  It's unpleasant to handle something like this, but the Goddess asked me to.

  The Goddess is so in love with that guy it's a little frightening.

  'Something strange is going on.'

  ParodyGirl