"Come on, Bell! It'll be easy! And I guarantee it will work!"

"I don't know..."

"Listen to your gut, Mr. Cranell. This could only ever end in tragedy."

Bell was currently sharing a table in a dingy little pub with Hermes and Asfi al Andromeda. It was the kind of place, as Hermes put it, where nobody could hear or would care to overhear sensitive business arrangements. Bell knew Lili would say 'This is where shady crap goes down'.

Sitting back to elegantly sip her drink after delivering the warning, Asfi detached herself from the conversation. Whatever fool notion had gotten into her god's head, she had already advised against it. Whatever happened next was on Bell's head. Hermes leaned in with a manic grin.

"It's perfect!" he said with relish. "You want to get closer to the Sword Princess, right? There's nothing more foolproof than this!"

"I don't know..." Bell repeated, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. "We've kinda got a nice working relationship as it is...maybe I could just go talk to her?"

"Foolish in the extreme." Hermes blocked out his captain's heavy sigh. "Women love round-about, overly-complicated methods of courtship! It cannot fail!"

"Round-about and overly-complicated doesn't sound good at all!"

"Listen, Bell..." the god leaned in closer, feathered cap tickling the boy's cheek as he put an arm around his neck. His whisper could only be called conspiratorial. "I'm a god. You gotta trust me, right?" Hermes shot Asfi a discrete, disgusted glance when she scoffed. "I'm not gonna lead you astray, Bell! I like you too much."

Trapped in Hermes' game, the white-haired boy couldn't find a reason to refuse. "Alright, then!" he declared with youthful enthusiasm. "Let's do it!"

"Excellent!" Hermes clapped his hands. "Asfi, see to preparations at once!"

In a few short days, Hermes would auction Bell off.

It was simple, Bell had been reassured. The money would go to a worthy cause...at least, worthy in a certain someone's eyes. Since Bell's goal was the Sword Princess and she was the notorious enemy of jagamarukun, the winner would get to accompany Bell on a jagamarukun date—samples from every stand in the city brought into one convenient place and dressed up like a fine dining event, courtesy of Hermes Familia. The prize would be announced, Bell would be auctioned off, and he had a date with the Kenki. Too easy.

Across the city, fiery blue eyes positively burned with rage, clenched fists crumpling the page they held with undisguised malice. How dare he! Lefiya would have none of it. So, she thought. That filthy human thinks he can just take Ais, hmm? I refuse! I refuse! The auction was set for the next day...all she had to do was make sure Ais never heard about it. Too easy. Sure enough, the blonde knight had not yet heard about the auction when Lefiya found her. Hurriedly requesting her assistance in the dungeon, the Loki Familia females formed an impromptu expedition, Thousand Elf laughing herself silly all the way to Babel.

Fate, however, had a funny way of screwing with the elf's plans. The other women, while enjoying a more leisurely stroll through the upper and middle floors, did not want to spend the night in the dungeon with no clear goal in mind or without the proper equipment, which their spur-of-the-moment decision denied them. And so it was Lefiya, Ais and the others returned later that night to Twilight Manor. It wasn't a completely wasted trip, though. Ais had found a rare Moly plant. A normal Moly plant could protect one from curses and other ill-effects...this plant seemed to have other undiscovered properties. Ais had given it to Lefiya, who, despite knowing the value it could have if given to study by someone like Airmid, wanted to keep it close as a memento of their little dungeon crawl.

"It's fine," Lefiya said aloud to the room, kicking her boots off as she got ready for bed. "It's so late tonight everyone's going to sleep. The auction is early in the morning. I just need to ask Ais for training and all will be well." Tucking herself in, the elf congratulated herself for coming up with such a great plan. There was no way that human was going to be with Ais. She wouldn't allow it.

Lefiya completely forgot she had a roommate.

"Sorry, Lefiya. We're all going to the auction. Would you like to join us?"

"AH!"

The next morning, 'betrayed' was the only thought repeating in the near-rabid elf's mind. Darn that Elfy Colette, spilling the beans like that! Lefiya couldn't let this happen. "Of course! I'd love to go!"

Tiona nudged the young mage with a knowing wink. "Oooh, eager to bid on Argonaut-kun, yeah?"

"Wha-what?!" Sputtering wildly, all elvish pride went out the window as the girl simpered that it wasn't like that.

"Uh-huh, sure," Tiona winked at her sister, who rolled her eyes.

"It's not!"

The fight lasted all the way to Babel Plaza, the courtyard before the dungeon entrance. A stage had been constructed with signs advertising the Hermes Familia event. Lefiya scowled—a white-haired human was already on stage. Why did her blood boil every time she saw him? He had to be up to something...this kind of showboating just wasn't like him. Impure human, she muttered in the back of her mind. Ais must not be allowed to have him! I mean...AH! He's messing up my thoughts!

The flustered, frazzled girl attempted to get her thoughts in order, but by the time she felt she had a solid grip on her emotions, Hermes was already opening the show.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen!" The orange-haired god was no Ganesha, but still a pretty decent showman, Lefiya thought. Laying out the prize—ha! Like that human could be called a prize!—Hermes wasted no time in opening bidding.

Unsurprisingly, Ais was the first to throw in money.

Smarmy human! Lefiya couldn't believe the low smile on that insolent boy's face. So happy that Ais bet for him...the bids rapidly increased after that, Ais constantly staying at the top of the pack.

"Going once..! Going twice..!"

"Three million valis!"

The crowd oooh'd at Lefiya's wild bid; she had overshot Ais Wallenstein by half a million. Golden eyes pierced her back, but the elf stood firm. Even though the winks and nudges from the Amazoness twins did nothing to sway her from her task. It...it's okay if my cheeks burn a little bit, she thought. Just so long as Ais and that human stay apart!

On stage, Hermes' smile slipped...or grew wider, depending on perspective. "Uhh...alright, that's the spirit! Do we have any other bids?"

"Four million!"

Another loud 'Oooh!' from the crowd as Ais Wallenstein came back hard. Lefiya would not have it.

"Five!"

"Six!"

"Seven!"

"Eight!"

Lefiya growled. She wasn't a fighter like the rest of her friends. Her magic could potentially kill far more monsters than their blades, true, but melee adventurers had far more freedom to dungeon-dive for cash than she. She only got paid a group rate during parties and expeditions. She was alreay overdrawn, hoping the jagamarukun-mad girl would stop...

"Eight...and a newly discovered rare form of Moly!"

Three sets of shocked eyes stared at Lefiya. "Wow..." Ais could barely put her thoughts into words. "Alright, then. I had no idea Bell meant so much to you..."

Lefiya panicked. "N-no! It's not like..!"

"Going once..!"

"Oh, please Loki, no..."

"Going twice..!"

"Ohnoohnoohnoohno..!"

"SOLD!"

Wide blue eyes narrowed at the pale boy on stage. What was he looking so sad about? She was the one who had to pay such an outlandish fee to save her familia member. What was his problem with her...was she not good enough?!

Hermes was shouting instructions to the auction winner. "Go home and pick your finest dress, milady! Tonight will be a fine dining experience unlike anything you've ever seen!" A warm hand graced Bell's shoulder. The human looked like he was going to be sick, much to Lefiya's irritation. "And with such a fine partner! He will pick you up personally when it's time for dinner!"

"Alright Lefiya!" Tiona excitedly clapped her back. "Didn't think you liked Argonaut-kun that much! We're rooting for you!"

"It-it's not..! Bah, what's the use..."

"Come on, Lefiya!" Tiona hooked her arm around Lefiya's, swinging her around to the Market District. "Time to find you a killer dress!"

Dead blue eyes remained passive as the Amazon drug her away...until they noticed familiar landmarks.

"Why are you taking me to an Amazon lingerie store?!"