Around noon, Riveria paid a personal visit to the Hephaestus Familia.
Normally, this sort of matter would’ve been handled by both Finn and Riveria, but today, Finn had to head to the Apollo Familia to formally declare war.
With Finn out making the declaration, the rest of Loki Familia had to stay behind and prepare. Even though the Apollo Familia was relatively weak, they couldn’t afford to be careless.
And with Loki Familia’s current strategy so tightly focused—every move aimed at exploring the uncharted areas of the Dungeon—they had to be extremely cautious to avoid leaking information and giving other Familias the chance to swoop in.
Even Gareth had remained behind to handle internal supervision.
With Finn off declaring war and Gareth holding down the fort, Riveria was the only one available to act today.
She was greeted by Tsubaki, the captain of the Hephaestus Familia.
Since they’d known each other for years, Riveria got straight to the point.
"Tsubaki, is Hephaestus-sama here?"
"She is. Not just Goddess-sama, Hestia and her boy are here too."
That answer left Riveria a bit puzzled.
"Does Hestia-sama need to be involved in today’s business?"
Tsubaki immediately understood the misunderstanding.
"Hestia-sama often visits when that boy goes to the Dungeon. She and our Goddess are pretty close, so it’s normal for her to come here when he heads out."
"Today’s the same as usual—they just happened to arrive while we were dealing with your matter. So our Goddess went out to bring Hestia-sama and the boy here."
"I figure once you’re done with your end, he’ll be heading into the Dungeon."
Given how closely Hephaestus and Hestia’s Familias were connected now, it wasn’t strange for them to spend time together.
Not just Hestia and Hephaestus—at this point, even Hestia regularly showing up around here had become commonplace.
Still, considering Loki’s current efforts to avoid Hestia altogether, Riveria figured that even if Hestia did show up, Loki would just feign illness to avoid meeting her.
’As for that boy... did he really go into the Dungeon?’
Loki Familia had tried to gather intel on him, but Riveria knew how scarce information on him truly was—virtually nothing concrete.
Given the power he possessed, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’d slipped into the Dungeon without anyone noticing.
But if that were the case, they knew even less about him than they thought.
Riveria didn’t dwell on it. There would be plenty of chances to learn more in time—no need to rush.
Soon, with Tsubaki leading the way, Riveria entered the inner chambers of the Hephaestus Familia.
It was the same reception room as always, set up just like she remembered.
The only difference was that today, Hephaestus and Hestia were seated to one side, sipping tea and chatting. Meanwhile, that boy sat alone on the couch, waiting for her.
"Captain, there’s important news from the Guild."
Just as she was about to step inside, a member of the Hephaestus Familia stopped her, relaying the message from the Guild.
Though uncertain about the nature of the intel, she decided to go check it out.
"Riveria, go on ahead. I’ll take a look at what the Guild sent."
With a soft click of the door closing behind her, Riveria entered the room alone and walked over to take a seat across from the boy.
As she sat down, her sharp eyes took a moment to study him.
’Huh? He looks... a bit thinner than before.’
She silently took note of the change but didn’t comment on it.
"Bell-kun, is the space pouch ready?"
"It’s been ready for a while. But the user needs to make a decision—whether it should be a universally accessible pouch or one that requires character-specific access."
"You can set it to recognize specific individuals?"
Bell began explaining.
"In essence, the ’lock’ on the pouch works by binding it to a designated person, who acts as the ’key.’ Only that person can open it. This prevents any trouble if the pouch is ever lost or stolen."
"The pouch can be configured either to open for anyone or only for a specified individual."
"This function exists to minimize the risk of unintended use and, mainly, to prevent theft."
Riveria nodded in understanding. It was a reasonable precaution.
Once a pouch was locked to a person, no one else could access it, eliminating a lot of potential problems.
Seeing that Riveria was following, Bell continued.
"Given how many unpredictable variables are out there, I’d recommend locking them for safety."
"You could set aside one or two pouches for general resource collection, but the rest should be personally locked to avoid unauthorized use."
"A locked pouch could hold strategic materials—like food or necessary Rune Stones."
"For example, Loki-sama ordered special enhancement Rune Stones for Captain Finn, you, and Elgarm. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to keep those stored in your personal locked pouch? That way, you can access them immediately during combat."
"Separating the pouches by use is the best way to get the most out of them, right?"
Riveria agreed with the logic.
The advantage of a locked pouch was clear—it prevented anyone else from accessing it, and it could also hold private belongings.
"Bell-kun, is the process complicated?"
Bell shook his head slightly.
"Not at all. It’s a simple ritual. All it takes is a drop of blood."
"Then I’ll leave it to you."
Bell then pulled five pouches from his four-dimensional storage.
"These are the first five. I’ll have the Rune Stones prepared and ready for you before the expedition."
He handed one of the pouches to Riveria.
"Let’s start your lock first. Vice Captain Riveria, please remove your glove and raise your hand."
Riveria removed the glove from her right hand and raised it.
With a flick of Bell’s fingers, a small wind blade swept through the air, leaving a fine cut on her finger. A drop of blood fell.
A glowing character emerged in the air, catching the blood and guiding it onto the pouch. A glowing symbol encircled the pouch.
A locking sound echoed softly as the blood fused with the pouch.
The locking ritual was complete.