Chapter 9:
Hello there, consider this an early Christmas present. The time since this has been updated hurts my soul.
Hmmm… I should've completely read Volume 12 of Sword Oratoria before I even began writing this haha. Glad that I did it before having written this chapter at least, because I won't need to change a lot of things in previous chapters.
If you wanted to know what I wrote wrong, it was that Filvis hadn't known about Olivas before the volume where she met Lefiya. Because I can't be bothered to rewrite that, let's just pretend that Dionysus had informed her of Olivas but it didn't matter to Filvis, thus nothing on that end has differed from canon (asides from being a little less shocked at Olivas' reveal later here).
Silkdreamweaver: I finally understand why harem stories just settle on one girl in the end or only have three to five girls to work with lmao. Writing interactions and raising points with every one of them is… ahhh… not ideal if you're writing a plot-oriented story, maybe if the story was just mindless smut there wouldn't be a problem. Anyway, I'll still try my best, the more the merrier of course. And no worries, the polls don't control me, I just like seeing a reader's perspective, I'll still be the one deciding anyway.
For the second time in his life living inside the city of Orario, Bell Cranel awoke without having remembered what had happened to him the night before, his memories after having his first Status Update had been a strange blur. Whatever had happened after his resignation to spend another night there in the Freya Familia home was, once again, unrecallable to him.
However, after waking up next to the divine beauty that happened to be his goddess, the white-haired boy could only assume, or rather, only hope that nothing that trespassed the 'boundaries' that his grandfather had mentioned. Though Bell realized not even a minute later that his grandfather would have more so cheered him on in progressing his relationship with women by breaking said boundaries.
Fortunately for the young adventurer, this was the third day in a row wherein he had woken up to a lady by the side of the bed, and he recovered relatively faster from being completely flustered at his circumstances. And by successfully not making a large fuss during the still-dark skied morning inside Freya's quarters, Bell managed to avoid alerting the other residents of Folkvangr of his presence and not waking his goddess from her slumber.
Finding his body entangled by the arms of the silver-haired woman, Bell, as stealthily as he could, gently wriggled them off of him bit by bit until he was free of her grasp and able to stand up from the bed and begin changing to his adventuring attire.
When and at what point had he stripped them off in the first place, there was no remembering, but putting on his black and dirtied trousers, stitched up in plentiful of places long-sleeved shirt, boots, and then his dashing white coat, Bell readied himself to escape before Freya awoke.
The words of his grandfather called out to him inside his head, about how he should run away after sleeping with a woman in a one-night stand, and quickly shook the thought away.
"This isn't anywhere close to that! I'm just… shy… that's all!"
Rude as it may have been for the young boy, it was simply too embarrassing for him to wake the goddess to bid her goodbye without having any recollection as to what had happened the night before or patiently wait for Freya to rouse. But the guilt of possibly hurting her by leaving right away without even a goodbye left Bell uncomfortable as he made his way to the room's door.
Betting on the belief that the Boaz captain of the Freya Familia was still standing guard outside, kindly hoping that the level seven adventurer had at least gotten some measure of sleep despite having to watch over the entrance all night, the white-haired adventurer tapped the door just enough to let Ottar know that someone inside was awake.
And as if Bell's intentions to leave had been read perfectly by the older man, the door had been carefully pushed open, enough that the large form of the 'Warlord' and his piercing eye was visible through the crack.
Lowering the volume of his voice as much as he could while still being audible enough to be understood, Bell whispered to Ottar.
"O-Ottar-sama, I need to leave and go to the Dungeon, can you please carry me out?"
Anxious under the powerful gaze of the strongest adventurer in Orario, Bell felt like more time had passed than in reality before the Boaz looked away for a second to make sure that the hallway was clear, then opened the door fully to get inside the room.
"Make your preparations."
"T-thank you."
Stepping away from Ottar, the young adventurer packed away the rest of his belongings inside his black pack, including the parchment with his Status to show off to his advisor later, fastening his still badly scratched chest piece armor to his body, and then made sure to properly attach the sheathes where his knives were placed inside of to his belt.
Standing still for a moment to think about if he had forgotten anything, his eyes fell upon his still sleeping goddess and thought for a second about what to do so that he could ease the ache in his heart about leaving without any farewells.
Considering that it would at least be a week until their next meeting, there had to have been something that he could do for Freya before going off to leave.
And then an idea had hit him, making Bell's face blush red at what had popped into mind.
Quietly approaching where his goddess laid, he took a small peek at the Boaz adventurer inside the room, and released a sigh of relief at finding that the older man was facing away from them and still guarding the door in case of any wanderers that had gotten suspicious of Ottar's actions the previous night.
This was, after all, the second time that he had brought a mysterious large sack of unknown contents inside the room where their goddess had rarely ever taken residence inside. And while there was no way they would ever violate the privacy of Freya's quarters, Ottar took no chances.
However, unknown to the goddess of love's most trusted protector, his goddess' favorite was currently having plans of his own that if any of the other followers would get informed of, would send them into a flying rage.
Kneeling down by the side of the bed with one knee, Bell brought himself closer to Freya's form and for a brief time, was able to admire just how lovely the woman he had slept together with was. He had been in such a haste to get away from her when he had awoken that he'd failed to actually observe the sleeping goddess.
From the sound of her soft breaths, the beauty of her face, the smoothness of her skin, and the smell of her fragrance, it was impossible to deny that this person was a goddess even among her kind, incomparable to anyone Bell had ever seen, as much as that sounded insulting to the pretty women he'd come to know there in Orario.
The closest comparison he could have made was Demeter, and even then, Freya was simply just a step above.
And to this silver-haired beauty, Bell granted the quickest of pecks, though only on her dainty forehead, pulling every last courage he had inside of his young body to do such an outrageous act of intimacy with a divine being, leaving him breathless and red-faced, unable to notice the slight turn upwards of the ends of her mouth as he backed away in a hurry.
Paranoid of Ottar suddenly turning around and finding him uncomfortably close to their deity despite supposing to leave right now, the white-haired boy doublechecked the room for anything that he had left lying around from last night.
Once Bell found nothing that hesitated him from staying any longer, he quietly walked back to where the Boaz still stood guard, and then proceeded to have Ottar do the usual procedure.
As for the goddess who'd laid there unmoving at the sound of her little adventurer being stuffed inside a sack and lugged out of her room to be dropped off to somewhere discreet, the faintest of smiles gracing her features had grown, as well as a hint of pink coloring her cheeks.
"Such a cute rabbit~"
"Goodbye, Ottar-sama!"
Waving away the level seven adventurer, who had generously taken time out of his most likely busy schedule of going down into the Dungeon to slay monsters or fulfill Freya's other demands, with a happy smile on his face, to which the older man gave no response to the boy's farewell and turned away to return to Folkvangr.
Left alone under the nearly empty streets of the city, watching the eastern sky begin cracking with the blue hue of the rising sun, Bell thought about how to spend the little time he had left before he'd need to meet his chienthrope Supporter for another day in the Dungeon.
Considering his Status Update, and wanting to test the increase of his body's strength and speed in somewhere deeper than the fourth floor, where only Kobolds, goblins, and Dungeon lizards could be found, the little adventurer made up his mind as to where to go.
Enjoying the freedom of running as quickly as he could without having to worry about crashing into someone while there were practically only several adventurers heading off to the Dungeon this early in the morning instead of an entire crowd bustling through.
It wasn't long before he'd reached the Pantheon, where he hoped Eina was coming to work as early as he went to the Dungeon, but was instead greeted with the sight of a different yet familiar Guild employee and two others that he was sure he'd never met before, or so Bell thought.
Misha Flott, the pink-haired friend of his half-elf advisor if Bell recalled correctly, and if he'd remembered it right, this was also the same person that he had tried to distract from being suspicious of his quick growth, which had unfortunately given the impression that he had a crush on her.
"Well… it's not like Misha-san isn't cute…"
As his eyes gazed off to look at the two other employees that were with Misha, he found that even they were quite attractive, making him wonder if this was something that the Guild was requiring of their workers. The first one looked to be an older woman in her twenties, a redheaded werewolf, if her ears were any indication, and then the second was an elegant silver-haired elf.
Had he been given the choice of which advisor to have on his first day visiting the Guild, maybe he'd have picked the elf, though clearly the case had changed since then because he was perfectly happy with Eina and wouldn't even consider about switching to a different person.
Seeing that no other employee was there that he recognized, Bell decided to approach the three ladies so that he could ask if Eina was there or coming any time soon. With time ticking on by, it wasn't the best idea to stand around and do nothing where he was at, Naaza was certainly waiting for him at the Blue Pharmacy.
"Misha-san!"
Getting all three of their attention, he ran over to where they were having their chat and politely greeted them a good morning, getting a different set of reaction from each of the three.
Misha had probably been told by Eina that their last incident had been just a misunderstanding, so she looked much less shy as before, yet there was still something off with the young woman that he couldn't get quite place.
On the other hand, the werewolf was glaring at him for no reason that he could think of, Bell was sure that he'd never met this person before but it definitely seemed like she knew him from somewhere. As for the elf, the cold look in her eyes was sending shivers through his back, feeling as if he was being very much looked down upon.
"U-uwahh… I don't think they like me very much…"
"Eh? Bell-san? Isn't it a little too early for you to be here?" Misha said, breaking Bell's thoughts.
"Oh, well, I'm here to see Eina-san!"
"I don't think she'll be here for a while, none of the adventurers she advises usually come here at this time."
"R-really?"
"Maybe in an hour? Not a lot of people are here this early, you know?"
"Then why are you and…" Pausing a bit, glancing at the two beside the human girl, trying to let her know that he wasn't familiar with them.
"Ah, this is Sophie," gesturing to her right where the silver-haired elf stood cross-armed, "and this is Rose," gesturing to the red-haired werewolf still glaring at him from Misha's left side.
"Y-yeah… Nice to meet you Sophie-san, Rose-san. My name is Bell Cranel and my advisor is Eina Tulle."
"A pleasure, Cranel-san."
"Yeah, we know you."
Though he was still receiving the same glare and cold look, Bell could at least safely presume that they perhaps just weren't the very early morning types, and awkwardly returned to speaking with Misha.
"S-so, anyway, I finally got my first status update, Misha-san!"
Not noticing the slight change of expression in the faces of the other two Guild employees, the young adventurer more focused on looking at the pink-haired human giving him a look of surprise.
"Your first? Hasn't it been a week since you've been going down into the Dungeon?"
"Yeah! And I was thinking about going down further than the fourth floor today."
"I see, and you're here to ask for Eina-san's permission?"
Nodding enthusiastically, his excitement to test his abilities later reignited.
"I guess I can give you permission in Eina's place, we can go check your stats inside the building."
"Oh! Hold on…"
Pausing so that he could take out the parchment that Freya had let him take, so long as he didn't show it to other adventurers, Bell was glad that he'd brought it along and showed what was on the paper, which his goddess had not detailed his magic and skill in.
Eyeing the contents, Misha found herself wondering about the white-haired boy's goddess and her Familia, whom had requested, though the better, but up in the air, term was threatened, that the matter of his deity's identity was kept secret, only to be disclosed to those within the Guild.
Beside her, the werewolf and elf could not help but also take a gander at how the boy had developed since his arrival.
"A total increase of almost three-hundred fifty points! And in only a week, that's actually quite commendable for a beginner!"
"Haha, thank you, Misha-san!" Bell said, beaming at the praise he'd been given.
Suddenly, someone other than two interjected into the conversation.
"Then, all that time you handed me a bagful of magic stones and drops, you were genuinely at I – 0 and killing a hundred monsters?"
"Seems as if those bets about him lasting for longer than a week were totally-"
"Sophie! Please don't speak about those things when Bell is right here!"
Completely oblivious to what Misha and Sophie were talking about, Bell thought hard about how he was to answer the werewolf, Rose, and the question she'd raised. The last time he'd casually talked about how he had managed such abnormal feats; it had led to an embarrassing misunderstanding that he'd rather not want to happen again.
"Ehh… hold on… Rose-san was that angry lady working at the exchange counter?"
"Hmph, reminds me of that Sword Princess, except you don't look like a battle maniac."
"W-well, I wouldn't be anywhere close to it if I hadn't trained under some really skilled adventurers! I owe it all to them!"
The three Guild employees looked to each other in slight doubt, though they safely assumed that the little adventurer was referring to the skilled members of the Freya Familia, but a high-level of instruction could only come so far in assisting an adventurer. Even the famed Aiz Wallenstein had not been so severely limited as to have been denied Status Updates on a frequent basis.
Still, there were boundaries that they had to respect, Bell Cranel had been assigned to their half-elven coworker, and they had no authority to start any investigations, especially not for something so hollow as simple curiosity. And if the boy was somehow faking his achievements, having an experienced adventurer do all the work that he was supposedly doing, then any accidental deaths were not on their hands.
Looking back to the parchment they had on hand however, a rate of improvement on that level was admittedly not possible if he weren't putting in quite a bit of effort, to say the least.
"A-and also because I have a great advisor!" He suddenly stammered.
"Oh?"
The little addon caught the attention of the silver-haired elf, whom was reminded that the boy's advisor must have much more information on her adventurer, factors like skills, abilities and magic were details that the Guild needed to know but gods could play dirty and withhold it.
If there were anybody, besides his goddess, that held that kind of information, it was Eina.
Unfortunately, Sophie gave up on that thought almost immediately, because even if she knew, the half-elf wouldn't spill anything, even if they were all Guild employees. Whatever they could go public with, or the information that was only privy to those in the Guild, was all that she could work with.
"How is Eina, Cranel-san? Is she a wonderful advisor?"
Nodding very enthusiastically, "Eina-san is great! And she's really pretty too."
Bashfully scratching the back of his head, Bell shyly muttered the second half of what he said.
"Picking an advisor for her looks, eh?"
"W-wha- no way!" Though Bell wouldn't admit that being attractive had been at the forefront of his initial preferences for an advisor while on the way to Orario, recommended of course by his grandfather before he had passed.
"I-if I did, maybe I would've picked a really beautiful elf… l-like Sophie-san."
"Oh?"
"Eh?"
"Hmm, a boy who can't keep his compliments to himself, how dangerous."
"I-I'm sorry! Umm… Misha-san and Rose-san too are also very pretty-!"
"Bell-san!"
"Uwahh, he's making it worse."
Perhaps being around his goddess last night had a few more lingering effects on him than Bell would have thought, a confidence boost if he could put a word on it, but flustered as he was right now with what he said, the best that he could put it was just another bad case of not thinking before opening his mouth, or was it just a mistake of using his grandfather's tips on talking to women a little too often?
Regardless, it took a few minutes before they were all able to move on from the little blunder.
"A-anyway, Bell-san, you're here so that you could ask Eina to go down to the fifth floor, right?"
"That's right," he answered with a nod of his head.
"Why don't I let Eina know about your Status Update and give you permission to go down the fifth floor in her stead, Bell-san?"
"Eh? You would do that!?"
"Sure! Eina will understand, and after showing these stats to her, she probably wouldn't mind!"
Given her slightly airheaded personality, it never crossed the human girl's mind that it wasn't technically any of her business to be giving approval to any adventurer not in her supervision, least of all the one that her friend was directly responsible of.
"Thank you so much, Misha-san!"
"Oh, it's no big deal, and I'm sure you can handle the fifth floor just fine."
Seeing as he had nothing else in mind to chat with, and that time had continued ticking away to the point that the streets were beginning to fill up with a handful of adventurers, who were making their way to the Dungeon to get a head start over the mass of level ones soon to be crowding the upper floors, Bell decided that it was time to leave and meet with his Supporter.
"Looks like I better get a move on, I'll be going ahead, Misha-san," giving the pink-haired girl a small bow to once again show his appreciation for letting him go down to the fifth floor to test his substantial growth.
"Rose-san, Sophie-san, it was nice to meet you! I'll make sure to come back later with plenty of magic stones!"
The elegant elf nodded and gave the little adventurer her regards, a small bit peeved that her expectations of the boy had been proven wrong, though relieved that Eina had reprimanded her and the other Guild employees for taking bets on when the rabbit-looking boy would meet an untimely accident. Had the half-elf not done so, certainly Sophie would've lost the wager.
On the other hand, the redhead werewolf curtly said her good-bye before turning away and entering the Pantheon, unreasonably annoyed with the adventurer for some reason neither she nor the little rabbit could understand. Nevertheless, her eyes were set on the boy, much rather inclined to pay close attention on the oddity that was Bell Cranel, at least more so than the generic adventurers under her advisement.
Blissfully unaware of the rather rude but understandable way they had initially perceived him, Bell rushed off to the tower of Babel, where Naaza was likely waiting for him. Flashing the two ladies still standing where they were a childish but cute grin, and an energetic wave goodbye.
With the adventurer now out of sight, but not out of mind, Misha and Sophie paused in silence, not exactly knowing what was next to be done for the short time they had left before their work at the Guild would begin. The silver-haired elf, now that the boy was away from earshot, said in an almost emotionless tone,
"Rather cute, isn't he?"
"E-eh?" Misha quickly turned her head to look at her fellow coworker, a tint of pink covering her cheeks.
"If he keeps up with this," tapping a finger on Bell's status, "maybe he'll be quite a catch, yes?"
The sudden compliment also earned the elf a sound of something thudding somewhere behind them from inside the building, seemingly much closer than they'd expected the eavesdropper to have been.
"Ah, still there, Rose?"
"Shut up."
Dungeon, 5th Floor
It may not have been the young adventurer's first time to delve down into the next floor, but considering the state of his mind at the time that he had gone feasting on magic stones right where the duo of adventurer and Supporter were currently travelling at, it may as well have been.
Though Bell did recognize where in his map his manic body had taken him to when it was frenzied because of the strange hunger overtaking his rationality, there was no remembering the entirety of what he had gone through, merely just bits and pieces of slaughtering monsters.
However, if there was one image that always came up in his head whenever he tried to visualize what he had seen that one day, then it was most certainly that one figure he caught a glimpse of before he'd completely blacked out: a mysterious masked person wearing a dark robe who stood so distinctly from the monsters they were surrounded by.
There was something off about whoever they were, enough that even his hazy mind then had been able to carve them into his memory, like a haunting specter he couldn't shake his mind off.
With so much happening the last few days, Bell hadn't had the time to truly think about them.
But upon hearing the distant sounds of monsters lurking somewhere nearby, it would seem as if the Dungeon itself was trying to keep him from thinking too much about the eerie feeling that the stranger gave off but he could not decipher, and so he shook his head and focused on the present.
Taking a glance at the chienthrope who was keeping an eye on the ends of the cavern corridors for a certain monster that didn't spawn in any of the four floors above them, Bell knew exactly what she was keeping such a good guard of. After all, they were the monsters that gave him a difficult time at escaping the fifth floor with their ranged attacks threatening to smash him into a wall.
Knowing that he needed to protect Naaza at all cost, simply having a good perception of his surroundings and being light on his feet for quick evasive maneuvers shouldn't be what was on the forefront of his mind, or at least, only the first one should be.
Dodging and potentially getting the chienthrope hit when it should have been his duty to keep her safe, Bell wouldn't take any risks of that ever happening, and what better way to test his new and increased Strength and Endurance than by blocking and deflecting a Frog Shooter's propelled tongue.
Having his agility increased by a whole hundred points, the white-haired boy felt more confident that he'd be able to take down at least one of those frog monsters before they could launch a second attack. But with his unique ability to continually get stronger and stronger, having a grasp at what his maximum attack and movement speed was practically always inconsistent.
"Naaza."
"What is it?"
"I'm going to check on the room up ahead for how many monsters, just in case there's any Frog Shooters, I'll draw their fire and you can sneak inside…"
"Sounds like a plan… Bell."
"Yeah?"
"Oh, it's nothing."
Tilting his head a little to the side in a curious manner, wondering why she paused for a second in the middle of what she had been saying, but nonetheless still preparing to take a small peek at the end of the tunnel they were in, which opened up to a sizable room as displayed on his map.
In a quick burst of silent movement, Bell dashed towards the room's entrance, crouching slightly and using the wall as his cover so that he could survey the room in order to get an initial idea of what plan of action to take. Such lessons in how to be an adventurer in the Dungeon were courtesy of Eina, Ryuu, and surprisingly, Anya, who knew a lot more to it than he'd have guessed for an airheaded girl.
Spotting several goblins and a few couple of Kobolds, it almost seemed as if he had worried all for nothing, that was, until something large leaped up from somewhere at the corner of the cave and slammed down hard near the center of the room.
"Well… there it is. But only one? Looks like this should be easy!"
Turning his head around to look at Naaza, he beckoned her over to where he hid with a hand gesture and then put a finger up to his lips, telling her to stay unnoticed, before giving a thumbs up and a grin as he jumped into the fray and immediately got the attention of every monster in the room.
As for the chienthrope, who'd crept close and decided to watch from just a bit further away instead of coming inside so that any wandering or spawning monster approaching from the tunnel they had come from would not see her, she took in the sight of her adventurer who had excitedly told her about receiving his first Status Update.
Bringing back her befuddlement of how the boy got stronger and faster after every day that she had accompanied him to the Dungeon, and hearing that he had only recently gotten a Status Update, her puzzlement had gotten doubly increased.
"I don't understand at all… He was I – 0 the entire time…? But… that's impossible…"
She had personally witnessed his growth, and none of the abilities that he had displayed were anything remotely that of a beginner adventurer with the freshest of stats. The only possible answer was that it was a unique skill he'd received after gaining a Falna, but as far as she knew, there were conditions for that type of skill to activate and she'd observed no indication of such trigger.
"A skill… it has to be… but…"
Looking back at the white-haired boy's battle with the monsters inside the room, the Supporter couldn't help but feel astounded even despite her being level two, comparing what she had seen of his performance yesterday to now.
At times where Bell was surrounded, even he would have some trouble with evading every attack that came his way, however, that wasn't to say he didn't escape them all without a scratch because he had. Both the day prior and today, the rabbit was swift and nimble, not allowing anything to even get in touch with anything besides his blades, the difference now was that she could tell there wasn't even a single trace of worry or concern on his face.
Catching him throw a smile in her direction before leaping out of the way of a flung pink appendage, Bell was fully enjoying the good boost to his speed, and Naaza couldn't help the tugs at the corner of her lips, even as he slew goblins and Kobolds left and right, his jubilation was just contagious.
It was only a matter of time before the entirety of the room's enemies had been dispatched with ease, the last remaining monster to have been killed being the Frog Shooter who'd not landed one hit on the young adventurer during his time cutting down the fodder, Bell impaling its head with the narrow dagger in his right hand.
And so, their first room for the day had been successfully cleared.
"You didn't bring any food today?"
"Sorry, Naaza! I had to stay somewhere else for the night yesterday, and I got caught up with something this morning so I couldn't head to the pub where I work…"
"Well, it's fine… and I can cook too you know…"
"Eh? You can?"
"It's a little insulting that you're surprised."
"S-sorry! I didn't mean anything by it, I swear!"
In place of having a meal for their momentary pause from monster hunting, the duo of adventurer and supporter were instead spending their time sitting down on the rough cavern floor of a room they had recently cleared, further into the fifth floor from where they began.
"…And I'd love to try your food too, Naaza, someday!"
"…Just let me know before we part company at the end of the day…" Turning her head away from Bell, making him wonder what was so special about the rock wall she was looking at to their left.
After a few short exchanges of conversation, a comfortable silence settled over the atmosphere, though the sounds of battle from elsewhere on the floor would echo from time to time. The white-haired adventurer found himself lost in his thoughts, looking back at his battles so far and wondering just how much different he felt from before his Status Update.
On the other hand, the chienthrope, after getting herself together, subtly eyed the boy to her side, not sure of what was running across her head as she continued to simply stare at him. Though it didn't take long before Bell noticed that his Supporter's gaze was fixated on him.
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
"Ah. Nothing. I was just thinking about something."
"Err, alright? Can I ask what's up?"
"No."
Taking humor in the little rabbit flinching at the sudden refusal, it wasn't as if she really had anything in mind, Naaza herself couldn't even come up with an explanation, but she wanted to assume that it was simply remnants of her earlier perplexed observations of his Status.
"Bell, do you have any skills? Or maybe even a magic spell?"
The adventurer in question hesitated to answer, technically he'd been told by Eina that he wasn't allowed to be divulging any information regarding his Status to anybody, while his goddess never mentioned anything beyond being absolutely prohibited from sharing about his skill and magic to other deities.
"But Naaza is officially my Supporter, right? I should at least let her know about it, I mean, it's not like I'm telling her about how I'm a creature."
"A-actually, I have one of both," sheepishly trying to be as humble about as he could, Bell rubbed the back of his head, a tiny feeling of unsureness inside him since Naaza was the first person he'd be telling about his skill and magic.
"Ahh… I haven't even told Eina-san about them… but maybe if she knows, she'll let me go down a little bit deeper in the Dungeon!"
Then again, he reconsidered the thought of letting his advisor know practically an entire week after his signing up as an adventurer about his skill and magic and the only thing Bell could imagine was being bombarded with more extra lessons regarding them. At the same time, it dawned on him that he'd been surprisingly good at keeping his mouth shut if he never gave too much thought about particularly important matters.
The ignorance of a beginner, would be what a more experienced adventurer would call it.
"Y-you're not joking, right?"
"Sorry for keeping quiet about it… but only my goddess actually knows about it and I never really thought about telling anybody else."
"Especially since I have no idea about what my skill even does…"
"And you're fine with telling me?"
"Ummm… I think so?"
A little dejected by the way he answered, though unsure of why and what exactly she wanted to hear from him, Naaza mulled over whether or not to just wave away being informed of something so important of an adventurer as their undisclosed skills and magic.
The most unique of capabilities also brought with them their fair share of troubles, what with the curious, meddlesome nature of most gods and goddesses, as well as the exploitative motives that certain adventurers who were beholden to such information could have. Plus, taking into account how Bell never displayed them in battle while she was present, perhaps that signified something about their relationship as partners in adventuring.
It almost hurt, was what the voice in the back of her mind said, but it was understandable from the standpoint of someone who's been living in the Labyrinth City for years.
That was, until,
"But now that I think about it, I don't even really need to rack my head about if I should tell my Supporter or not," the white-haired boy looked away from Naaza's eyes, pausing to stare elsewhere with a flush of pink on his cheeks.
"Because there's nobody else I'd trust more than Naaza with something like that," closing his eyes and giving the chienthrope a cute and boyish grin, it was akin to a straight-shot arrow, dealing quite a blow to the young maiden.
"…Well, Freya-sama is an exception, and maybe Eina-san also deserves to know about it…"
Snapping her head down, her hair helping to cover how embarrassed she was at hearing the type of lines that she would usually hear from her god, Miach, now being directed towards her.
"W-well, thank you, Bell… it means a lot to hear that."
"Haha, I'm just being honest, Naaza! I… ummm… want us to get closer, y-you know?"
Testing the waters, or at least that was what Bell had intended, the confidence in his voice gradually falling down past the second half, trying to see how far he could push his luck with the pretty chienthrope. Whether or not he had the experience to detect the subtle effect he had on his Supporter, that was another story.
"R-right, I understand."
After a few seconds of awkward silence suffocating the atmosphere between them, Naaza took the opportunity of her adventurer wanting to be honest with her and decided that it was time to be asking the questions she'd been wondering since a while ago.
"Bell, I'm curious about your improvement."
"Err, what do you have in mind?"
"Your movements seem much better than what your stats would imply."
"O-oh!"
Just only realizing that perhaps fighting monsters without any forethought of how he appeared to the people around him, Bell inwardly smacked himself for getting himself in this situation. Being an inefficient liar, he was once again put in a difficult situation.
"W-well, I'm not sure actually, since I'm a new adventurer and all…"
Using his natural innocence and believable inexperience, though Naaza had her doubts, the white-haired boy surprisingly put himself at an easier position, and capitalizing on this, Bell used the chienthrope's knowledge on the matter by relying on asking her questions.
"Are you sure I'm doing much better than someone with my stats?"
"Definitely much faster than how I was when I began as an adventurer."
"Err, I don't know, Naaza, I'm just kinda... going with the flow?"
Without any hint of a lead as to how she could probe the boy for answers, the brunette decided to drop the subject until further notice, opting to switch for another matter that had gone unquestioned even before the establishment of their partnership.
"At the time that you asked me to be your Supporter, I never got to ask about your Familia."
"L-looks like I overestimated how honest I could actually be…"
Bell thought to himself, almost wanting to take back his earlier words of wanting to reveal more about himself than simply just his magic and skills, but of course, nice as he was, Naaza had interpreted it a whole knowledge about him.
"I… I'm sorry, my goddess wants me to keep what Familia I belong to a secret."
"Quite the mystery you are, Bell."
"I-it's… not up to me, unfortunately… I wouldn't want to disobey my goddess, so I'm sorry, Naaza!"
"I suppose everyone has their circumstances, but you've got a lot of secrets for a little rookie."
Awkwardly chucking, Bell let slip from his mouth, "You don't know the half of it," sounding completely weary of having to keep a lot about him hidden when he was a naturally good-natured and honest person.
"If I'm getting it right, you're part of some top-tier Familia, correct?"
"That's what my advisor and everyone else says about them, yeah."
"Mmm, fine, fine, I won't dig any deeper, but one day, you will let me know, alright?"
"Of course!"
Smiling at the young boy, though curious and reluctant as she was at conceding, Bell was the adventurer who had kindly forced himself into the personal lives of the Miach Familia, all just because he saw that he could help them. If the rabbit had any scandalous secrets, Naaza had to admit to herself that in some way, she could not simply just probe him for the truth.
However, secrets held plenty of risks and danger, and it was up to her if she was willing to face whatever was in store for partnering with the adventurer, Bell Cranel.
"Now, while we have still have some time left before getting back to hunting, tell me about the skill and magic that you mentioned."
Right as he was about to excitedly start sharing, the white-haired boy's face fell into a dumbfounded expression, and cluelessly looked towards the corner of his vision as if he was clueless.
"A-actually, to be honest, I don't really know how my skill works…"
"What do you mean?"
"I don't think my goddess ever explained it to me?"
"That's… odd."
"Litlauss Einherjar, that's what my goddess called it."
"Hmm, it's not Koine and I'm not familiar with many foreign languages…"
"She said that she would be watching if one day I would use it, but besides that…"
"Nothing else, huh?"
Bell nodded with puzzled look on his face, making it clear to Naaza that the little adventurer truly had no idea about what his skill could allow him to do, and judging by how terrible he was at lying, these were his honest feelings on the matter.
"You never asked your goddess?"
"Ahhh, well…"
"I can't really say that I never thought about it… I mean, there's been so much happening and I still haven't even gotten used to being adept with my magic-"
"Oh! But I can cast a spell, Bregðask i Óvættr, here let me show you!"
Standing up from the uncomfortable rock he'd been sitting on since they took a break, Bell took off his gloves and stuffed them inside the pockets of his white coat. Letting the magic of his chant flow through from his voice and onto his fingertips, a white glow shining over them before fading away and revealing the familiar ivory claws he'd used to rend monsters to shreds.
Stretching and curling his fingers in front of him, like a feline monster checking their talons, the white-haired boy gave an excited grin as he showed off the fruits of his magic to his Supporter, who wasn't quite as enthused as he'd wanted her to be.
"Magic claws?" Naaza asked, getting up so that she could take a closer look at the boy's sharp new weapons, and then took one of his hands, tentatively feeling the smooth texture of the bone-like nails.
"I think there's something more to it but I'm not so sure just yet."
"How so?"
"I'm not sure how to explain but I get all jumpy whenever I cast it, like I get a rush of energy."
"Like a rabbit?"
"Ack, y-yeah…"
He received a chuckle in response.
"I'm supposing your goddess never told you about what your magic can do?"
"W-well, I thought it was a way for me to learn by myself… or something like that…"
"Aren't you quite the adventurer."
"A-anyway, I'm guessing that it becomes stronger the more my Magic increases, and it actually looks like it's covering a little more of my fingers than before…"
The chienthrope stepped away from Bell, moving towards the wall that was nearest to them.
"Here, why don't you give it a go?"
Taking up his Supporter's call for an assay, the adventurer got into a proper position before letting loose a vicious slash, leaving a gash across the Dungeon wall as deep as he could dig the talons in, and then walked back to appreciate the visible difference in damage from the first time he'd tested them on a wall.
"Not bad, but I have to admit, Bell, it's not as… flashy as I thought."
"Y-yeah, I can't really say you're wrong. Maybe I'd get a lot more out of my magic if it were something like a fireball or a bolt of lightning..."
"Perhaps if you regularly fought at a distance, then it would be a great tool."
"Doesn't sound like my kind of style though," Bell said, considering what the more experienced former adventurer advised, but ultimately knowing that he wouldn't have any luck switching to a ranged fighting style just to get a better utilization of his magic.
"Alternating between your knives and claws doesn't yield much of advantage when they're both used in very close range. But don't take my word for it, I don't have expertise in that department."
"Hmm? Did you ever mention how you fought as adventurer back then?"
"When the Miach Familia had plenty more members, I settled at the backline, using my skills with the bow to whittle down oncoming monsters."
"And a while back you said those members…"
"Yeah, you remembered what we told you, the debt we needed to pay discouraged every one of them, and so were anyone that had intentions to become followers of Miach-sama."
"I… I don't think they were right to leave, if there was anybody in my Familia who'd get into that kind of trouble, I'd go hunt down twice as many monsters as I could!"
"Well, not a lot of adventurers would think the same, but it would depend on what Familia they belong to. I'm sure there would be plenty of people that would do the same as you, Bell, if they were of the Loki Familia for example."
Walking away from the white-haired adventurer, Naaza was the first to notice that the sounds of battle had steadily neared their location and that meant others would begin encroaching upon their hunting route.
"We should get on our way before we start competing with other adventurers for monsters."
"G-gotcha!"
However, wanting to make himself clear, Bell reaffirmed to his Supporter of her reason to be there beside him.
"Naaza."
"Yes?" The chienthrope asked, looking back at the boy who had remained standing still.
"Even after I'm able to help you with your Familia's debt, I would still want you with me."
"N-now's not the time for that, Bell."
"I-I know… but I just didn't want to leave our time here like that… I'll definitely still be there if you ever need my help, that's all."
"A-alright, I understand, Bell, now let's go… before anyone gets here."
Hurrying herself forward, slightly forgetting her phobia of monsters so that the white-haired boy wouldn't see how flustered she'd gotten from hearing his adamance. The young adventurer could only keep up his pace with his Supporter, cautious of any sudden monster encounters while Naaza was taking the lead, as they recommenced their adventure into the Dungeon.
As Bell Cranel was on his way to the Hostess of Fertility, having finished his usual chat with the goddess Hestia, a flutter of a familiar white dress startled him from his glancing around at the different sights of the streets and people he was passing by.
"Eh? Filvis-san?"
Walking amongst the crowd, he looked back to where he thought he had caught a glimpse of the elf and, with some difficulty, managed to make out a trail of long silky black hair from the cracks of vision provided between the many unique looking adventurers blocking his vision.
Wanting to apologize to the other creature for how their last meeting had ended, Bell gently nudged his way through the crowd until he was finally close enough to guarantee if it truly was Filvis or not.
And while he was happy to see that it was, the elf, however, was not alone.
Standing beside her was the handsome blond god that Bell had tried to ask for an invitation to his Familia but was unsuccessful at even getting his attention. There were plenty of questions Bell had in his head whenever he thought of who Filvis' deity was, like how he found the elf, what does he think about creatures like Bell, why were they a secret to be kept from gods and other people, and many more.
This was the god of the person who had told him about what he even was, or rather, what he become after Lady Nyx blessed him with a magic stone.
"Filvis-san!"
Sharply turning her head to where that voice had come from, the dark-haired elf's cheeks turned slightly pink at the sight of a young adventurer, who not so strangely reminded her of the Almiraj in the Dungeon, waving at her with a wide grin and struggling to break through the crowd to get over to where she and her god were.
"Cranel-san, isn't this quite a surprise."
"Ahhh, so this is that new creature running amok," said the charismatic Dionysus, adopting a curious twinkle in his eyes and a smile that hid whatever maliciousness he exuded.
"Should we invite him for a drink, Dionysus-sama?"
"It seems as if we've been blessed with the perfect opportunity, considering it will be a while until a certain Familia comes back after getting a little taste of what's to come..."
Dionysus, the god of wine and madness, better known by the former and almost entirely forgotten as the latter, though the gods and mortals of the world were currently more preoccupied with the taste of Soma's liqueur, he was relatively unnoteworthy as a god of a Familia and more so admired for his attractiveness and gentlemanly dignified behavior amongst his fellow deities.
Unknown were his intentions to those outside of his one and only true follower, the creature he'd lovingly accepted even after the aberration she had become, but six years had passed since he'd found all the pieces for his little game, and now all of a sudden, an indiscriminately colored little pawn had dropped itself onto the board.
Whether or not he could use this pawn, directly or indirectly, was up in the air for only a matter of less than a week until the Loki Familia returned from the depths of the fiftieth floor, whereupon preparations would be needed to be done for his special surprise to Orario on the day that the Monsterphilia will soon be held.
For now, however, he needed to see just how much of a wildcard was the little Bell Cranel.
"Filvis-san, good afternoon!"
"Yes, hello to you too, Cranel-san."
Shifting his attention away from the elf, Bell turned to look at the man who stood next to her, and immediately felt something off with the blond, as if he could discern something beyond the kind eyes of this prince-like being but simply couldn't understand what it was that gave him such a strange vibe.
"A pleasure to meet you, Bell Cranel, my name is Dionysus."
"G-good afternoon, Lord Dionysus!" Giving a large bow out of respect for the god, the white-haired boy decided to ignore the weird sense of unease that he was feeling in favor of being humble and reverent.
"I'm sure that Filvis here has made contact with you, correct?"
"Y-yes! She gave me this coat and told me that it was a gift from you, Lord Dionysus!"
"Indeed, it is, but why don't you come with us and we'll have this chat somewhere more private, Bell-kun?"
Slyly winking at the young adventurer, Bell flushed a little in embarrassment, both at forgetting that the nature of this conversation wasn't to be held around such a number of people walking around, and at realizing that, like every other deity he had come across during his two weeks of living in the Labyrinth City, Dionysus was not in any way an exception from having the trait of being incredibly good-looking.
"I think I still have some time before I get to work… Sure, Lord Dionysus!"
"B-but doesn't Freya-sama watch over me outside the Dungeon? Should I let Lord Dionysus know or… I'm sure Freya-sama wouldn't do anything more than watch, right?"
Smiling fondly at the boy, the blond nodded to his elven follower before telling the two to come along with him, spending a short amount of time walking in silence, with Bell occasionally took glances of curiosity at Dionysus and Filvis as they eventually reached their destination of an inconspicuous little café's second floor, which to their either luck or circumstance was currently vacated.
Ordering himself an expensive looking bottle of deep red, while the two adventurers accompanying the god waved away the choice of having a drink with the god of wine. Once the attending waiter who had followed them upstairs left, with some persuasion given to him by Dionysus that there be no one given access to the second floor, they settled comfortably in their seats.
"So, Bell-kun, I'm sure you have a lot to ask me, let's see if I can answer them, shall we?"
"I haven't really thought or asked myself this but… why do we have to keep quiet about being Creatures? W-what happens if people find out?"
Dionysus chuckled, "It's easy to be frightened of things that we cannot understand. Monsters are already a threat, Bell-kun, what would you think of something with the mind of an adventurer and the strength of a monster?"
"I guess… they – or we – would be kinda scary… but that doesn't mean we're not people who can talk and get along with everybody, why can't we just... I don't know... work together?"
"It's much more difficult than that, Bell-kun, not everyone will be very... accepting. That is, until you've proven yourselves as, shall we say, champions of the mortal world."
"What does that mean?"
"Heroism, Bell Cranel. Before any plans of revelation are to occur, the best course of action is for a Creature to hold a certain reputation amongst adventurers and, unfortunately, it may be too late for my Filvis to earn it, what with the way the upper-tier adventurers talk about her."
"Y-you're saying that I have to be a great adventurer? A hero?"
Another chuckle came from the blond, "More or less, at the very least a Creature must achieve a great feat, one that will recognize them as not a potential enemy or in the leagues of monsters."
Dionysus could hardly keep himself from retching at the amount of tasteless garbage he was forcing himself to spew out, certainly it had been his best idea to initiate this conversation with at least some alcohol inside him. Though he could've put on a greater act if it had only been stronger.
All of it would be for a most grandiose show however, and he'd continue so long as he could move the boy as he pleased. How much he could use the little adventurer as a pawn depended on who his god was, and his investigations so far had netted nothing interesting beyond the boy having a most unique affiliation with the Hostess of Fertility.
With Bell Cranel being a relatively unknown individual asides from his nightly duties as a male waiter in a female establishment, add the fact that his useless elf was tied busying herself with their surprise for the Loki Familia, and of course he had next to nothing on him.
However, Dionysus had his suspects; the god Miach, and the goddesses Hestia and Demeter. They were likely, but not absolute, and the thought of Mia Grand's Familia had made him hesitate altogether any succeeding interactions with the rabbit. Though he'd be damning himself entirely by ignoring what could be a special piece on the board.
For now, he would amuse himself with Bell Cranel while he was in front of him.
"With you being a new adventurer, you're the perfect mold for what I have in store."
"Filvis-san said that there were other Creatures, right? W-why me?"
"They are… not so easily moved to the call of action, to put it simply, the partnership we have is hardly anything but that, they would prefer to roam the Dungeon aimlessly than rise themselves up."
"Can I meet them?"
"Oh, I'm afraid that-… Actually, Filvis, see if Bell-kun can, that might be rather interesting."
"I'll see if I can, though I doubt it would end well."
"W-which one? Inviting them won't end well or the meeting won't end well?"
Bell didn't know why, but he suddenly felt an eerie foreboding sense of doom from the sounds of what the god and elf were expecting, nevertheless, it wouldn't hurt to at least try and schedule something or rather.
"Actually, if I think about it… it might hurt a lot…"
"W-well, that aside, can I ask, Lord Dionysus? If you're planning to make one of us a… model Creature for adventurers, why do you want to do it? Is it because Filvis-san is one?"
A somber smile showed itself on the deity's face, "Six years ago, my Familia was annihilated in the Dungeon, the only one that survived was my Filvis. But when she returned, she'd been transformed somehow, turned into something even we gods have no knowledge about."
"F-Filvis-san?"
"It's true, the Twenty-Seventh-Floor Nightmare, it had been a ploy schemed by Evilus to lure and massacre a large number of adventurers, I can hardly recall what happened but after seeing what I had become, Dionysus-sama was the only one I could turn to when I returned.
"Evilus… that name again…"
"Do your Familia members right now know about all of this?"
"No, it's well kept only between others like us, but the Nightmare and the matter of my former Familia members perishing is known to anyone who speaks of the Dionysus Familia."
The white-haired boy felt overwhelmed, in place of the questions answered were even more questions that he wanted to ask, and he didn't have all night to be talking with the two.
"S-so then, whatever it was that Evilus had used to… kill all those adventurers… it was also the one that turned Filvis-san into a Creature?"
"That's one of the questions we've been investigating since then, but I'm afraid whatever it was, it lurks much deeper in the Dungeon."
"In those years then… what have you found out about what we are?"
"Not a lot, Bell-kun, only about what Creatures are capable of, as well as their limitations."
"Can you tell me?"
Filvis looked to her god, silently asking permission, before receiving a nod in response, "We possess outstanding regeneration, Cranel-san, I'm sure you've seen it yourself?"
"N-not exactly? I still use potions whenever I get hurt, and it doesn't look like my wounds heal themselves…"
"It must be because you're a relatively new Creature, in due time it should show once you've devoured enough magic stones."
"I see… what else can we do?"
"I'm not sure about the others but I was able to develop a very… unique magic spell."
Bell's eyes lit up, "Oh! Hold on, I think that must be why I have that spell!"
"You as well, Cranel-san? That's surprising, since you don't look like the type to be a caster."
"E-err, actually it's just a spell to give me claws…"
"How…" Dionysus paused, "…uninspired," an apologetic smile on his face.
"I should have expected," said Filvis.
"Sorry…"
"No matter! I'm sure you'll be interested to know that you may also have the potential to bring out a more monstrous form once you've developed after… a few years hopefully!" Dionysus tried to enthusiastically cheer.
"A monstrous form?"
"One of the other Creatures is capable of it, so we're assuming all must be in some way or another."
"Yes, Cranel-san, with any luck, you might be able to become an Almiraj."
"F-Filvis-san!"
"Moving on, let's discuss a Creature's obvious weakness, our magic stone."
"No matter how strong we get, it'll only take one hit and… we'd be dead?"
"Just like any other monster, Cranel-san, we are no different."
"I-I see…"
"Now, you may have experienced this already, but you should be aware that our Statuses have become dysfunctional, our hybridization has eroded it from our bodies."
"What do you mean?"
"Your god or goddess should know, perhaps your Status shows the skill: Monstrum Union, or if that is not the case, it should display that your stats are at an absolute zero."
"Well, it was? But I had a Status Update last night and my goddess showed how much my stats increased-"
Stopping abruptly after seeing how shocked the two looked as they stared at him with complete astonishment in their eyes, Bell wondered what he had said wrong.
"What's wrong? Did I say something weird?"
"I had a Status Update… my goddess showed how much my stats increased… Wait, I get it! They're shocked because I said 'goddess!' Now they know that she's a she! I'm such an idiot!"
"Bell-kun?"
"Y-yes!?"
"You said you had a Status Update?"
"Huh? I mean- yes, why?"
"T-that's impossible… No matter how much we tried…"
"Your stats, Cranel-san, what are they now!?"
"I-I don't remember! My Agility is at one-hundred now, I think?"
"U-unbelievable, your Status did not become defective…"
"Should it have been?"
"The others have not made any mention of their gods, but I am proof that it should be the case for theirs as well…"
The two looked to each other, like they were having a secret conversation in silence, leaving the boy in utter confusion at what was happening.
"You mentioned that it was a goddess who had bestowed your magic stone upon you in our first meeting, Cranel-san, correct?"
"T-that's right."
"Who was it?"
"I-I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say…"
"Bell-kun, please, this is incredibly important, this discovery is astounding! A perfect union between child and monster… This is unheard of!"
Torn between whether or not to reveal the goddess of the night as the deity who had transformed him into a Creature, the little rabbit had never been technically told by Lady Nyx to keep her identity a secret, but at the same time, it wasn't something that he felt like he could share to just about anybody.
Filvis, however, wasn't just anybody, and so was Dionysus.
"Lady Nyx, at least, that's what-" shutting himself up, leaving out that it was Freya that had been the one to tell him who he'd met that night. Luckily for the young adventurer, the two listening had instantly shifted to their silent conversation once more, their attention on him disappearing in a flash at the mention of the night goddess' name.
"Lady Nyx is on the mortal world… How terribly frightening…"
Despite what he had said, Dionysus was far from horrified of the news, more and more this unremarkable piece had climbed its ranks of importance.
"We will have plenty to discuss about this, Bell-kun, but we shall save that conversation for later. I'm sure you have much more pressing questions to ask before you leave?"
"I-I guess?"
"Ask away."
"Back to those six years, how did you meet the other Creatures?"
"Ah, well, that's difficult to answer, but essentially, in our tracks trying to find the cause of the Nightmare, Filvis was able to meet them and ask for a… cooperation between them."
"Their reasons are, not exactly regular, Cranel-san. If you are to meet them, you would need to do so very cautiously."
"I-I see that they must be quite the characters…"
Dionysus laughed tiredly, "They get on my nerves more than you would think, Bell-kun."
Pondering with an idea that had lit up inside her mind, the dark-haired elf looked towards Bell with a sharp look in her eyes, and proceeded carefully with what she would say next.
"You wouldn't happen to have a way to disguise yourself, Cranel-san?"
For anyone that wasn't as naïve as the little adventurer, such a question would have raised at least one or two alarm bells in their heads, but given that Filvis was the only other creature that Bell knew and adding the fact that he was naturally good-natured, it never came across him that the elf would have any underlying motives.
"A disguise…"
Bell's first thoughts were his rather lacking wardrobe, but he couldn't think of anything that he owned that could be used for a disguise, that was, until he recalled a certain gift he'd been given by a goddess of the night which he'd left rather forgotten under his bed.
"That mask… Wait a minute, it's perfect!"
"Ah! Filvis-san, I think I do, actually!"
Raising an eyebrow at the enthusiasm on the boy's face, she followed by asking what Bell had in mind, not having much expectations for what it is that he was considering as a disguise.
"It's a magic item from the goddess who gave me my magic stone! I'm not sure what it actually does but it's a mask that gives me rabbit ears!"
"How fitting."
"R-right… but I'll bring it over tomorrow and let you see it!"
"That covers your race and face, but what about your clothes?"
"Hmmm… Oh! I can turn my coat inside out! Filvis-san, you said I could if I didn't like how the white looked, right?"
"Yes, I suppose that sounds satisfactory."
"Then I'll see you tomorrow night!"
"Hopefully Mama Mia won't mind if I take a day off just for one night?"
Looking towards the dark-haired elf's deity, the handsome Dionysus gave Bell a bright smile in response, seeming quite eager to work with the little adventurer for the sake of giving creatures like he and Filvis a community to live peacefully amongst the people of Orario.
"Seems as if we're looking to cut our little discussion shorter than I had thought, Bell-kun, if you have any more questions to ask, feel free to ask Filvis, it seems like I'll have you two spend more time with each other."
"E-eh!? Dionysus-sama!?"
"Oh? That isn't the type of reaction I had expected."
Instead of the common impassive obedience to simply shadow an adventurer, the elf was looking much more flustered and hesitant, pink-cheeked and hot in the collar as he watched the dark-haired girl angrily rebuke the poor boy helpless against claims of perversion and womanizing behavior.
"Aren't you quite interesting, Bell Cranel."
"Now, now, Filvis, you'll be guiding your new friend into assisting us whenever you're not busy, so I do hope you be more comfortable with the boy."
Much as the elven adventurer wanted to complain, disobeying orders from her god was unthinkable, and after exchanging a few more words with the boy, who was more than happy on the inside at perhaps finally getting more opportunities to get to know the elf better, their plans to meet on a relatively daily basis had been made.
Seeing as much time had passed since he'd been detoured away from his prior destination, once Bell finished saying his goodbyes to the two who decided to remain there in the café, the rabbit scampered off, hurrying to the pub where he worked, wanting to make up as much as he could for being excused the night before
With regard to the blond god and his child, who had finally calmed down from her earlier unbecoming behavior, the two sat there in silence, as if all the warmth in the room had been completely erased, like a theater devoid of its actors.
"A grand performance, no?"
"Cranel-san would have been naïve enough to believe us even if it hadn't been, Dionysus-sama."
"To think that there had been a deity doing experiments of their own as depraved as a Corrupted Spirit's… with a product far more potent…"
"Should we organize a pursuit of this… Lady Nyx?"
"No, no, I'm quite sure that would take far too long to achieve. But whoever Bell Cranel belongs to… there are two possibilities. Either they did not recognize his unique physiology… or have and are aware that Creatures exist."
"It should be latter, correct?"
"With how far they want to hide his affiliation with them, it could be so. Perhaps trying to distance themselves in case something went awry, a cunning goddess…"
"…Does she know that I have been associating with him?"
"Most likely. But the boy seems to hang around a surprising number of women… I'm sure his goddess thinks you're simply another one."
Dionysus was both amused and piqued to see that the elf that had been so completely bound to him displaying a well concealed expression of vexation and embarrassment at thought of being perceived in such a way. What was most interesting was the hint of, if his eyes could believe it, envy, and not being as naïve as the little adventurer from before, he knew exactly why.
"This could be… a problem…"
Or perhaps it wouldn't, Dionysus contemplated, but he was in no way sure which.
"Three-hundred points! That's amazing, Bell-kun!"
"Mmm, a considerable progress, Bell-san. Our training sessions have given us quite the results."
Receiving praise from the Hostess of Fertility's two human waitresses, the white-haired adventurer put a hand behind his head, blushing as he had gotten a little embarrassed with the proud looks he was being given after having told them about what had happened last night and earlier this morning.
With the pub closed for the night, the only sight to be seen was the establishment's employees doing the cleanup, the only male amongst them arriving hours ago to do his duties as a waiter and now chatting with the girls he worked with as they cleaned.
"Nice job, Bell, nya!"
"Perhaps a celebration with some drinks is in order? I'm sure Mama Mia wouldn't mind as long as we don't stay up too late," Chloe proposed, wanting to have a toast for their little rabbit's growth as an adventurer but subtly also interested to see what an intoxicated Bell Cranel would look like.
And as expected, Anya was more than happy enough to support her fellow feline waitress.
"Yeah, nya! We never had a welcoming party for Bell too, nya! This is perfect, nya!"
Lunoire was hesitant to agree, though it wasn't as if the two had not raised a good point, rather the real question would be if their strict dwarven proprietress would even allow it. In the event that they would be, she'd make sure to enjoy the small festivity, and she was sure that if the blue-grey-haired girl next to her was to plead alongside them, Mama Mia would relent much easier.
However, quite surprisingly, the one who had not spoken at all while she'd been cleaning was the one quicker to voice out her agreement to Chloe's suggestion.
"I shall see if Mama Mia will give us permission."
"Eh!? Ryuu wants to celebrate something!?"
Getting a reasonably shocked reaction from her colleagues, even making Syr raise an eyebrow, the elf looked away from them and towards the room where Mama Mia was working, quietly excusing herself but not after leaving him with a short but genuine approval of his efforts.
"Cranel-san… deserves some congratulations, that is all."
While the girls hotly talked with each other about their elven coworker's odd, but very much welcomed warm behavior, Bell could only stay silent as his ready humble declination to the offer had died down before it could leave his mouth.
"B-but I don't even drink… And I'm not actually sure if I can get drunk at all!"
Then again, he thought to himself, this would be the perfect time to find out whether or not ingesting something outside of magic stones could affect him in any other way.
And once the dwarven woman came out of her office alongside the elf, letting a suspenseful atmosphere build around the dining area where her waitresses and one waiter stood, before a small smile on her face broke out and gave them a nod, leaving them with a reminder to keep their noise down while she retired for the night.
"I'll go get the drinks, nya!"
"Don't, you might trip and spill them everywhere," but before Ryuu's words could reach the cat-girl, the brunette had already left, leaving the elf to quickly follow after.
"I'll ask the girls if they want to join us!"
The ever so cordial Syr said, leaving for the pub's kitchen where May and the others were likely still finishing up with their own hand in cleaning up the pub after a long day of work, wanting to see if they would be interested in celebrating alongside them.
Now with only the two of them temporarily being the only ones still left in the hall, Lunoire sighed before giggling quietly at the antics of her friends.
"Let's get this place cleaned up before they all get here, alright, Bell-san?"
"Gotcha!"
Fortunately, the work had already been mostly finished and it would not take much time nor effort for the two to complete the final touches, and by the time that their friends had returned, only two tables pushed next to each other were absent of chairs neatly placed on top of them. Placing several mugs of ale on those said tables, Anya hurried off to Bell's side while Chloe already positioned herself on his right, leaving Syr to blankly smile in quiet dissatisfaction next to Ryuu and Lunoire.
The staff that mostly stayed in the kitchen, outside of the times where extra hand would be needed in the dining hall, greeted the little adventurer that they hadn't much interaction with and offered their congratulations for working hard both in the Dungeon and in the pub. Thanking them for being here to celebrate, Bell promised to get to know them better one day before Chloe whispered in his ear that he was to raise his mug to cheer.
"Everyone, thank you! Let's continue to work hard for the Hostess of Fertility!"
"Cheers!"
And with that, the entirely female workforce similarly took their own drinks up and, minding their voice so that a certain someone upstairs would not come down upon them angrily, somewhat yelled out their toast and as ladylike as they could, lively downed their alcohol.
"Here goes nothing!"
Following his friends and coworkers, he took a large gulp of the bitter yet oddly tangy ale and almost couldn't stop himself from spitting it back out in surprise. But then, he took another gulp, and then another, and then another.
"I'm not sure this is filling me up… but isn't it getting a bit… hot…?"
His perception of time seemed to zoom by and the white-haired boy could hardly keep up with what was happening, since he distinctly remembered sitting down next to two cat girls before emptying the large mug he'd been given. However, the next thing he found himself doing was talking with the kitchen staff, who all seemed like they were having plenty of fun chatting with him, but they looked a little red-faced, from the alcohol he thought, at least that was what his bleary mind could tell.
"Hmm? My mug… did I get more to drink? Wait… how many refills have I even had?"
Beyond that point, he wasn't even sure what he was feeling or seeing, as suddenly there were two cute little monsters at his sides, tempting him with their adorable eyes to pet them on the head, which he happily obliged and earned lovely sounding purrs and mewls in response. Before he could start rubbing their stomachs, an enchanting fairy abruptly whisked a strong gust of wind that blew them away from him, and then appeared to float in front of him.
Right as the fairy began telling him something, the white-haired boy couldn't help but zone out and simply appreciate how captivating she was with her long ears and lovely frowning face. Feeling his mouth open to say something his delirious state couldn't comprehend, the fairy looked to have been stunned mid-speech by what he had said. The green aura surrounding her turned bright red and then the fairy flew away, making Bell wonder,
"Just what… is going on?"
"Bell-kun."
"Eh?"
"Bell-kun?"
"T-that voice… Freya-sama?"
The adventurer turned to where he had heard the voice but only saw a silhouetted form of the goddess, the silver hair being what he could only recognize. Though once he started losing the feeling of his senses again, the image of the goddess disappeared, leaving only just a kind and beautiful girl in her place. She looked concerned about something, and Bell tried to think of a way to cheer her up.
'There's only one way to make a woman happy, Bell."
"G-grandpa?"
That had surely been the voice of his grandfather.
'Do you remember?'
"Ah… I think so."
Something was wrong however, the young boy was definitely sure that there were plenty of ways to make a woman happy, so there must have been a mistake in what he had heard.
"H-hold on, w-which one is it?"
Unfortunately, he received no reply, and so he wracked his semi-conscious head for an answer.
"Ah- I got it!"
Taking the girl into his arms, not that he could feel anything with how utterly out of it he was, Bell whispered what he could only guess were sweet nothings into her ear and felt the girl quiver in his embrace. His grandfather could have written a small book of the many expressions he'd known about what type of things a man should say to a woman, and the young boy mistakenly opted to use those particular way of words.
Completely intoxicated, nothing quite made sense for what was going on in the boy's head, and the last thing on Bell's mind was stopping to even think about if what he was to do next was the right course of action when he couldn't even figure out who he was talking to.
Luckily for the only male employed in an establishment of women, he'd be taking no more possibly reasonable offenses against his colleagues that could have him evicted from the pub, or earn some other more terrifying punishment from the dwarven woman who ran the business, because a strong force pulled him away and began carrying him up to his room.
As for Bell himself, he was enjoying the feeling of weightlessness, not noticing the hands on his clothes and body that were the reasons behind how he was up in the air.
When the young boy felt like he'd been thrown onto a soft and comfy bed, he tried to look up and identify the figure that was standing just a bit away from him, somewhere at the end of the bed he was on. Alas, it was at that point that Bell's memories stopped taking notes, yet he was at least sure of two things, that he hadn't fallen asleep, and he was still talking to the figure.
Unbeknownst to Bell, he was in for quite the surprise the morning after, as he'd once again woken up in bed next to another one of his friends and would go on to learn about what exactly happened the night before, only making the boy want to dig himself into a hole than leave his room.
Raising points with several girls is difficult, not to mention I needlessly involve characters that don't even have much of an appearance haha. Oh well, background characters need some love too, right? That's not to say I'll be writing them a lot though; I have enough trouble as is.
Anyways,
As I was reading Volume 12, I realized something very difficult and it's that I can't have Bell in two places at once, and this doesn't mean only for the events of that volume.
This means that I actually have to make Hestia's first follower good enough to compete with the Bell Cranel in canon…
Very puzzling, but no worries, I won't be introducing any OP original characters, I'll just have to circumvent not having a 'Bell Cranel' in the Hestia Familia with a follower that has a unique skill that makes them an almost as good of a 'replacement.'
And I just thought of a very good idea on how I can do that. But I'll save it until I get around the Monsterphilia arc.
And Vol 16 invited so much trouble as well… but I won't complain since it's been an entire year since Omori-sensei gave us Vol 15. But I realize only now that I should have put a huge spoiler warning before reading this fic all the way back in Chapter 1 because of Filvis and Dionysus.
Before that, however, we have Aiz and the minotaur… I'm super excited to write the next chapter. If college doesn't destroy me, expect the next chapter to not take two/three months!
Leave a review of your thoughts as always.