Chapter 4

As Bell finally came back from his day full of adventures back to the abandoned church, he yelled immediately after entering the room:

"Goddess! I'm home!"

"Where have you been, Bell?! You look so exhausted! Did you go after that item for Asfi Al Whatever that Hermes told you about?!" said Hestia as she rushed over to Bell to inspect his injuries.

"I did, my goddess. I am so sorry…" he said while looking down.

"Uhh. Did you at least ended up getting it?" said Hestia as she tried to cheer up her child.

"Yes, but I was saved by an elf from the Hermes Familia on level 8. She also escorted me back to the surface since my dagger broke in the middle of the fight with a monster who carried the drop item." Said Bell as he purposely omitted the interrogation part, as Hestia was unable to believe how close Bell was to dying again.

"She?! Did you fall in love with that elf too, Bell?" said Hestia while rubbing her forehead.

"Of course not, goddess. Oh, and I wanted to ask if you can give me a new status update." He said as Hestia was already pulling the long needle she usually used.

"Sure, Bell"

As Bell turned away from the goddess and was unable to see her face, she turned red and became very angry at Bell, after she saw a new skill that he got.

Name: Bell Cranel

Familia: Hestia Familia

Race: Human

Level: 1

Strength: I-82 → H-156

Defense: I-13 - I-98

Dexterity: I-96 → H-186

Agility: H-172 → G-289

Magic: I-0

Magic

()

Skills

Liaris Freese

Fast growth as long as feelings last. The strength of the effects corresponds with the level of the user's feelings. As a side effect it makes the user immune to charms

Elven Protector

The user's feelings for elves are increased. If user consciously or subconsciously holds love in their heart for an elf, their growth speeds up. Also makes the user more charming to all nearby female elves.

"Bell, just what did you do in that dungeon with that elf?!"

"I didn't do anything, my goddess! I am telling the truth!" said Bell while raising his arms in defense as he turned and looked at Hestia.

'Hmm, yeah. He does indeed say the truth, but why does he have this new skill? First, that "Liaris Freese" because of that Asfi Al Whatever, now "Elven Protector" after he spent time with that Elven girl. If I won't do something, someone would snatch my Bell away from me! And they are all from Hermes Familia?! What if they would charm his innocent soul and make him want to leave me for Hermes?'

"Tell me honestly, Bell. Do you plan on leaving me?" said Hestia while almost tearing up.

"No, goddess. Why would I want to do that? You are my only goddess." Said Bell in a reassuring voice.

As Bell felt that Hestia was satisfied with his answer, he asked,

"So, goddess… Can I go to the dungeon tomorrow?"

"Yes, but only if you promise that you won't be secretly meeting with that Elf or Asfi again. I don't think they are a good influence for you."

"My goddess, I would never lie to you. I went there today only because I wanted to thank Asfi by finding that item, not because I wanted to see Miss Laurier."

'It breaks my heart to hear this. He is not lying, but why do I feel so bad?' thought Hestia to herself, while erasing the skills part of Bell's status update and giving it back to him.

"Okay," said Hestia while turning away and pretending to go to sleep, while also having 1 tear slowly fall from her right eye.

When he woke up the next morning, Bell was confused. Not only goddess Hestia was on top of him, but he also felt as if he lost a sense of direction regarding what he should do.

In his grand plan, to win Asfi's heart he only was able to come up with 1st step that he already accomplished yesterday. He was thinking about what to do for the next several minutes when he heard goddess yawn and saw her go back to sleep again.

After that yawn disrupted his flow of thoughts, he decided that he should just go to the dungeon right now. He thought that he would somehow figure out what to do next during his dungeon run. But first, he had to buy a new dagger instead of the one that was now broken and exchange all the magic stones that he got from killing Kobolds on level 8 yesterday. As he was thinking about all of this while putting on his weary armor, he forgot to have his breakfast.

As Bell was walking near the Hostess of Fertility, he heard someone's voice,

"Um, excuse me…" said a feminine voice behind Bell.

As Bell was confused if someone tried to sneak up on him, he turned swiftly as if expecting an attack from whoever was talking.

"Ohh, I am sorry…" said Bell when he saw an innocent girl in front of him while patting his head with his right hand.

"It's fine. I just wanted to give you this because you dropped it." Said a human female who seemingly was a waitress at the nearby tavern.

"A magic stone? Huh?"

'I thought my pouch wasn't loose. Probably should check if better next time.' thought Bell to himself.

"Well, thank you for helping me. You are a kind person."

"Oh, no need for that. It's fine." She said as she blushed.

"So, are you going to a dungeon already?"

"Not yet, I will have to get to the guild first, then I will go to the dun…"

As Bell was finishing his last phrase, his stomach reminded him about a fatal mistake he did this morning – skipping his breakfast.

"…"

"…"

"Did you have breakfast today, young adventurer?"

As both of them stood in confusion, he saw a beautiful female leave temporarily only to reappear with a basket full of food like cheese and bread.

"I hope this would be enough for you. The tavern is still closed, so I can only give you my food." She said as she tried to give Bell her own breakfast.

"No, no, no. I can't accept it! This is your food, not mine!"

"Please, Mr. Adventurer. Accept this for me. I can't leave you hungry like that!" she said as she made an extremely cute face, though not as cute as Asfi thought Bell.

As Bell was still at loss for words, she leaned forward and said,

"I am making this sacrifice for you, Mr. Adventurer. In exchange for this, you have to come and eat dinner at this place tonight." She said while having a big smile on her face with her eyes closed making her face look incredibly cute.

'Oh… I see how this works. Though I feel like I was just manipulated by a beautiful girl, I still have a strange unexplainable feeling that tells me to come here this evening.' thought Bell

"I guess I will see you tonight then." Said Bell as he already started walking away from the kind girl with a basket in his hands.

"Yes! I will be waiting!" she said while waving to him.

As he was leaving, Bell turned around after he remembered his grandfather's advice about always telling the girl his name.

"Yeah… I am Bell Cranel. What is your name?"

"Syr. Syr Flover" she said as she blushed.

As Bell left the scene, he was slowly but steadily approaching the guild's headquarters to exchange magic stones.

Meanwhile, a half-elf was getting incredibly worried with every minute. She was thinking about him all the time since she recklessly allowed him to go to level 8 to get a drop item for Asfi. As she was once again debating if she made the right decision, she was finally relieved when Bell Cranel walked into the lobby room.

'Thank you so much Bell for returning alive…' said Eina to herself.

"Hello, Miss Eina! How are you doing today?" said Bell while waving his hand.

"Hi, Bell! I'm glad that you returned alive. You seem to have gotten a lot of magic stones from your last trip. Did you succeed in finding the drop item?" she said pointing to the big bag of magic stones he was carrying with him.

"Yes, but I had to be saved a Miss Laurier from Hermes Familia. If not for her, I would have died when confronted by Blue Kobold." Said Bell with a slight smile on his face.

'And just who is this, Miss Laurier?! Why does he look so happy when he talks about her? I let him chase Asfi, but now he thinks about her too? What about me?!' thought Eina to herself when Bell was explaining what happened on level 8.

"Have you thought about getting a supporter, Bell? You seem to be doing quite well in the dungeon," said Eina as she collected Bell's stones and calculated how much vals he would be getting.

"and you probably had to leave some magic stones there since your bag is completely full." inquired Eina after recollecting herself from all the jealousy that Bell fell in love with yet another girl.

"Yeah, it's true Miss Eina. I will probably think about getting one in the near future. Thanks for pointing that out."

"Here is your money, Bell. You got 42,000 vals for just a single day in the dungeon. Congratulations!" exclaimed Eina in an excited tone.

"Thank you, Miss Eina! I also wanted to ask if you know where I can buy a new dagger since my old one broke yesterday."

"Yeah, Bell. We probably should meet together sometime and get you new armor and weapons. [she started blushing] As of right now, you should buy another dagger from a starter kit in the guild's store since you already grew familiar with it in the last 2 weeks. It may not be the best dagger for you, but at least it would be something reliable and cheap so that you won't die today." Miss Eina smiled.

"Thank you very much, Miss Eina! I really appreciate that you are helping me." Said Bell while waving his hand on the way out of the guild.

"My lady, we have finished collecting information on the boy you requested' said Ottar in his iconic voice.

"Good job, Ottar. Now tell me everything about him…"

"His name is Bell Cranel. He came to Orario 2 weeks and was rejected by all Familias except Hestia Familia. He joined Hestia Familia and is currently its only member. Though we don't know his stats, from everything we saw he seems to be progressing extremely fast. He already went up to level 8 in the dungeon. There, he was saved by an elven swordsman named Laurier from the Hermes Familia when he almost died while fighting the rare monster. They seem to have feelings for each other since they were seen touching bare hands near the entrance of the dungeon. Most importantly it seems like Hermes himself knows something about this boy since he was seen traveling with Laurier to what we think is probably Traveler's Inn's secret entrance."

'Interesting… Just how much you know Hermes…' thought Freya while looking at Bell

"Thank you, Ottar. You did a good job." Said Freya as she turned to Ottar

"Now, can you just leave me alone? I need some time to think."

"Yes, my lady"

As Bell was spending his time in the dungeon, he certainly felt how his new status update increased all his stats and let him spend the whole day on floors 6 and 7, while still thinking about what he should do next to make Asfi notice him.

After the whole day of thinking, Bell arrived at the ultimate conclusion that he needs to become stronger first. He then started approaching the entrance of the dungeon since it was already well into the afternoon.

It was then when he saw Laurier along with some other Hermes Familia members also coming out of the dungeon - all walking in front of Bell, with Laurier being the last one in the group.

As Laurier saw Bell, she asked if she could leave everyone for a second to talk with her friend. When the only level 4 of the group, Asfi, gave an affirmative nod to Laurier, she dashed in the direction of Bell so that other members of the group won't see him.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Cranel?!"

"I just finished my dungeon run for today, and wanted to say Hi..."

"Uh. Yeah, Hi... So… Did you get yourself a new dagger already?" said Laurier trying to come up with anything to have a conversation.

"Yes, I just bought myself a new one right before coming to the Babel Tower at the guild…" he said not knowing what to speak about next, but then he remembered what he wanted to say to her initially:

"Yeah Miss Laurier… I was so amazed by your sword skills yesterday, I just wanted to ask if you would be able to help me to become stronger by training me?" said Bell with eyes full of determination.

'Wow, he is quite bold. Train him? He does have some potential and, besides, I still don't know much about him since Lord Hermes keeps me in the dark. I don't think anything bad can happen if we train together occasionally…'

"I guess I can help you to train if you would want that."

Bell felt incredibly happy when he heard Miss Laurier say those words. The dream of him standing near Asfi as an equal was what briefly crossed his mind at that moment. However, for some reason, he also felt some strange sensation in his chest when he was near Miss Laurier. In addition to that, he also noticed that it was hard for him to think about Asfi when near her. Bell thought that it was all probably because he was nervous about how his future training would go.

"Yes, I would be honored to be trained by someone as skilled as you," he said as he bowed to Laurier.

"Haha, Mr. Cranel. I am not as skilled as you may think, but I am flattered by your compliment" she said as her face turned light pink.

"I am just saying the truth!" he said while still bowing.

As he was saying that they both heard the growling of Laurier's stomach.

"…"

"…"

"Yeah… If you would like we can grab something to eat sometime later in the evening."

'Why did I say this? Aghhh! I have a meeting with Syr, now I will come there with Miss Laurier. This will be awkward, but I can't back off now. I wanted to ask Miss Laurier about Asfi, but I guess I can ask about her later. What if she thinks it is a date? Wait, why am so excited about this?'

'Wow, is he inviting me to a date? I mean, he is really cute… But I am not that interested in him romantically… But, again, it probably isn't a date. He is probably just being friendly… Or so I think…' thought Laurier when she heard about the offer.

"I plan on going to this place called Hostess of Fertility, I think you probably heard about," said Bell, as he continues to talk about the offer since Laurier was speechless at that point.

"Yes, I have been there a few times."

"Great, then I will be waiting for you at around 9 PM. If that works for you"

"Yeah, that would be fine with me. See you later then, Mr. Cranel!"

"See you soon, Miss Laurier," said Bell as she turned and ran back to her group. Asfi was the only one who stayed and waited for Laurier, which made her see Laurier talking with Bell.

"So, what did you talk about with him, Laurier?" said Asfi in a playful tone.

"Nothing much, he just asked me to train him which is funny since I am just level 2 myself…" said Laurier while looking at her bright yellow sword with some indifference in her voice.

'Wow, Bell sure is moving fast with Laurier. But I don't think Laurier likes him as much as I thought…'

"Ohh, and Asfi I just wanted to ask if I can skip our Familia's dinner today. I have some plans." Said Laurier

'Training and a dinner. Nice. Well, maybe Laurier is just sad about something today. But how can I refuse such a request to a kind girl like Laurier? I hope you won't break her heart, Bell Cranel' thought Asfi

"Yes, sure Laurier. If you would ever want to go out, you can just leave me a note in advance in my office and if I won't be able to accommodate you, I will talk to you. Would that work?"

'No wonder she is a captain of our Familia. She is thinking so fast about everything. Asfi even thought about how to make it easier for me to ask for time with someone without it being awkward pleading every time.' thought Laurier.

"Yes. Thank you very much, Asfi."

"No worries, Laurier. I hope you will enjoy your time." Said Asfi while correcting her glasses.

Bell came back to the abandoned church at around 7 pm. He had just enough time to shower and change his clothes before going to the Hostess of Fertility.

As Hestia saw him dressing up so late in the evening, she inquired,

"Where are you going, Bell?"

"I promised to come for dinner at the tavern, goddess. I met this one girl in the morning and said I would come back later…" said Bell as he smiled while remembering the Syr and her kindness.

"Oh, Bell. Can you please stop trying to get girls for one day? And what is it with that smile of yours?!" said Hestia in a very jealous voice. As she was becoming more and more jealous, she thought she had enough.

"You know what, Bell! I hope you will have fun today! Without ME!" she said as she rushed out of their Familia's home and slammed the door.

"Goddess, it wasn't my fault. She gave me breakfast on my way to the dungeon this morning, and I promised to come back and have dinner there today. Also, I …" were the only things that Bell was able to say before his goddess slammed the door so loud, he was unable to hear himself.

"Well, I have no other choice now…" said Bell as he was finishing changing his clothes and thinking about how to get to the Hostess of Fertility.

Later in the same day, he was waiting for Laurier around the Hostess of Fertility entrance.

Bell was looking at some flowers near the road when he heard the friendly voice behind him,

"Hi, Mr. Cranel"

"Hi, Miss Laurier. Happy to see you here" said Bell as he blushed a little

"I guess we should come inside," he said while taking the lead and walking in first.

As Bell walked in, Syr instantly started walking to him and was beyond excited. That was until she saw that he brought a companion with him – an elven girl. This made Syr sad, but she didn't want to believe what she saw and wanted to test how serious their relationship is.

"Hi, Bell… [she said as she crushed her teeth and made a fake happy face that clearly was supposed to show her anger for showing up with another girl]. Happy to see you here! Would you guys like a couples table?" she said when she wanted to get her revenge on Bell for coming with another girl on what she thought would be their first time together.

"NO!" they said simultaneously.

"It is not a date. He is just my student. That is all there is to it." said Laurier as she tried to diffuse the tension floating in the air.

"Emm, Syr… It-it's nothing like that. She is just my teacher. I asked her to help me with my training."

'Oh. I see that, Bell. You look at her as if you are in love! How could you do it to me on our first date!' thoughts Syr to herself.

"Do you know her, Mr. Cranel?" asked Laurier.

"Yes, we met in the morning and I promised to come back and have dinner here today"

'Wow. He really is clueless about dating. I feel bad for this waitress girl. She seemed to be so happy to see him but didn't expect me to be here too' thought Laurier after hearing his answer.

As they made their orders, Syr went to the backroom only to be met by Ryu.

Ryu Lion saw him too, wondering why he was with another girl on the first day that he got invited by Syr. 'How cruel, my little Syr probably is feeling sad right now' thought Ryu as she rushed to console her friend.

"Syr, I saw everything. I don't think you should really take it to your heart." Said Ryu while patting Syr on her shoulder.

"I feel so sad right now, Ryu! He promised to come today, but I didn't think he would come back with another girl! I didn't say that it was a date, but he probably should have guessed that it was supposed to be me and him!" said Syr with a tone suggesting that she was about to cry.

"Syr, from what I heard she is his teacher. Maybe, let's try to give him the benefit of doubt this time if you actually like this guy. He doesn't seem to be the type of guy to purposely hurt anyone's feelings." said Ryu.

"Okay, Ryu [sobs] I think you are right," said Syr while holding elf's hands for emotional support and then coming back to take their orders.

In the meantime, everyone in the tavern looked at the entrance as if they saw how some royalty entered the building. This wasn't far from the truth since it was the day Loki Familia went out to have some fun in their favorite place.

As they entered the building and sat at their table, Riveria instantly saw the newbie adventurer who was saved by Asfi now sitting right in front of them. The angle at which they sat prevented everyone but Riveria and Gareth from seeing him. She was quite surprised to see Bell accompanied by her acquaintance, Laurier, today, since she knew Laurier as an innocent elven girl who wouldn't want to openly go on a date with someone. Riveria then thought that it probably wasn't a date since both of them looked too tense.

As everyone settled and drinks and foods were served, Bete started telling his story of how he saw the same adventurer get saved by girls twice.

"…"

"And then I kid you not that kid didn't even say thank you to Asfi for saving him! Just dashed away like a coward! Ohh, and then I heard that he was seen on level 8. Now, this time he was saved by some elf but still. Such a pathetic loser. I remember even bumping into him at some point, and he said some nonsense to me that I don't even remember." Said Bete as he was having another drink. After inhaling more air, Bete continued,

"HAHAHAA! what a loser. First, Asfi. Second, that elf. He can't do anything!"

As he was saying that Laurier saw that Bell became visibly angry and had his fork almost fly out of his hand.

"Are you ok, Mr. Cranel?" asked Laurier before he did the unexpected.

He stood up and dashed out of the tavern, heading straight into the dungeon with the highest speed that his mind and body allowed him to attain.

As he ran out, Laurier called Syr to pay for their food so that she can follow her new student.

"Sorry for his actions, please," she said to Syr "I will pay for his food."

As everyone was still confused about what just happened, she took the necessary sum out of her purse and rushed out of the building,

"Where did he go?" said Laurier out loud, before charging in one of the possible directions.

In the meantime, Riveria was the only one that understood what happened. She felt incredibly bad for the guy. From what it looked like he was a newbie adventurer, and it was their fault he had to be saved from the Minotaur. She didn't know that why Bell had to be saved on level 8, but he admired his progress for being able to come to level 8 after barely surviving on level 5 just the day before. She scolded Bete for what he just did. In addition to that, she thought that he wasn't that bad of an adventurer if he already went to level 8, even if he had to be saved eventually.

"Is that the guy you talked about, Riveria?" asked Finn.

"Yes, it is him."

"For a newbie, he sure found a pretty girl" joked Gareth.

"Isn't that a swordsman elf from Hermes Familia? What is she doing with a newbie like him?" said Lefiya.

"Lefiya, it is bad manners to make comments like that." Said Riveria while holding 1 finger in the air as if to get her attention.

"Yeah, Lefiya listen to the Moma. This is how you do it: That little bitch probably cried his way into his first date with her only to run away like a damn coward that he is. Such a pathetic loser. Hahaha! Did I do well, mother?" said Bete while looking directly at Riveria's eyes trying to maintain eye contact in his drunk state.

"…" Riveria was only able to roll her eyes since it was pointless to have a direct confrontation with Bete when he was drunk.

"Everyone, just relax. Bete, you drank too much again! Tione and Tiona please apprehend him. You are killing the mood guys." Said Finn

"We probably should say sorry to him. He didn't deserve this..." said Riveria quietly, but everyone at their table heard it.

As Bell ran to the dungeon, one could only hear the sound of his dagger killing numerous opponents.

"No. No. No… I am so pathetic. That werewolf was right. First, I had to be saved by Asfi. Now, I had to be saved by Laurier. Why do I always have to be saved by someone?! All I wanted was to stand by Asfi's side as an equal, but I will never get there if I would continue to be a loser like that." Said Bell out loud as he was slashing through more and more monsters without completely understanding what level he was even at.

"And what about Laurier? I asked her a favor to train me to catch up to Asfi, but now that she saw me run away like a coward… What would she say? She would probably just ask me to leave her alone. And besides, I invited her to the Hostess of Fertility and dashed off without paying. She was most likely forced to pay for my food too. Agghh!" yelled Bell out of frustration.

"Now I also would have to apologize to Laurier! But what do I do?"

As he said that, he kept killing monsters one after another with no end in sight. When he felt like his life was leaving his body, he decided to stop knowing that dying right here would not him in achieving his goals.

When he returned to the abandoned church, he was met by the goddess Hestia. She was extremely concerned.

"Bell, did you go to the dungeon in the night?!"

"I am sorry, goddess. I just want to become stronger… I can no longer keep being so weak…" he said as he collapsed on the floor of their house.

The next morning, Bell went straight to the Hostess of Fertility to pay for his food.

"Heh, you got some nerves to dare to show up here after dashing last time." Said Mama Mia to Bell when she saw him.
"I wanted to pay for my food." Said Bell with an embarrassed face.

"Your girlfriend already paid for your food."

"She is not my girlfriend!" yelped Bell, only to be interrupted by intimidating Mia.

"Look, boy. I don't really care what relationship you are in with that girl. All I wanted to say is that the matter is settled, so you don't have anything to worry about."

"Though, if I would be you, I would treat her to something nice as an apology for running away like that. Not very manly of you, boy…" Said Mama Mia with a look of disappointment on her face.

All Bell was able to do was just to nod and agree with Mama Mia, before leaving the tavern.

Later in the day, he went back to the dungeon only to meet Ms. Laurier again buying something in one of the shops near the Babel Tower.

"Hi, Miss Laurier…" he said as if he wanted to immediately follow that phrase with something important.

"Hi, Mr. Cranel…" said Laurier as she vaguely understood why he approached her.

"I just wanted to say that I am sorry for everything that happened yesterday. I let my emotions run loose and left you alone in the Hostess of Fertility…" said Bell while looking ashamed with his head down.

"Oh. Yeah, that was not really nice of you, Mr. Cranel. I had to pay for our food since you dashed off, so I hope you will treat me next time. I am your teacher now, after all." she said with a smile while Bell was blushing from the embarrassment.

"Yes. Again, Miss Laurier. I am really sorry for what happened."

"It's ok, Mr. Cranel. We still haven't talked about where you would like to meet for training. Did you already find a good spot? I can probably meet with you around noon for an hour or two."

"Yes, I found a good spot not so far away from Traveler's Inn – on the outer wall of Orario."

"Great. I think I will see you tomorrow at noon near that fountain [she said as she pointed her hand] and then you can show me the place where we will train."

"We can probably go out and eat after our training if that's ok with you."

"That works for me."

As Bell and Laurier were about to part their ways, Laurier turned back to him and said

"Ohh, and by the way, Mr. Cranel. Where did you go yesterday? I tried to find you, but you were already gone when I went out of the tavern."

"I went to the dungeon. I got to the level 7 yesterday."

"Wow… Good job, I guess." Said Laurier with a slight note of concern in her voice since she remembered that he had no armor on him at the time.

"Thanks…" said Bell, as both were now awkwardly silent and parted their ways shortly after.

Somewhere above the city of Orario, goddess Freya was looking at the interaction between them, when she called her loyal Boaz to her.

"Ottar, I have something I want you to do." She said coldly.

"Yes, my lady," said Ottar.

…

Well, this is it for chapter 4. I hope you guys liked it. Don't forget that you can voice your opinions regarding the plot development in the reviews. From what it looks like, this will be BellxElf Harem vs Belll x Asfi. Thanks to everyone who helped me to write this chapter.