"You´re not going to your familia´s home today, Haruhime?"
"No, lady Alfia. I will visit someone, Aisha has to give me an explanation. I told Bell about it, he said he would also like to take a day off from the dungeon."
"I understand."
Haruhime bowed slightly towards Alfia, she did that often, Alfia had given up to tell her she didn´t have to do that. But Haruhime was raised as a noble lady and she retained some of these behaviors. In general, Haruhime had a very polite nature.
As usual, Haruhime locked the door after she left the house, but now she went in a different direction. Alfia could understand that Haruhime was troubled, they had told her about the quest with the unicorn.
Just like I thought, there was something really strange about this girl.
No matter what Haruhime said before, Alfia doubted that Haruhime ever shared her bed with a man.
So, I have to go too.
.
.
While Haruhime was on her way, Bell had something planned for the day.
"Ms. Eina, good morning."
"Ah, good morning Bell. You are pretty early, did you look forward to spend the day with me that much? Ehehe."
"Of course I did! I could barely sleep!"
"O-Oh my, Bell...you shouldn´t say things like these to women..."
"I´m sorry, I really don´t try to flirt with you, Ms. Eina."
Alfia had drilled into Bell he should make it clear towards women when he wasn´t trying to be charming. Which was easier said than done, but Eina was a woman that he could easily talk to. He was happy to get such a good adviser, Eina seemed to really care for him and Haruhime.
"I know that, I just wanted to tease you a bit."
Eina wore her usual guild office outfit, but they hadn´t met at the guild. She was too happy when Bell asked her for advice about something. Eina had told him to meet her at the main plaza in front of Babel.
"So, Bell. You are interested in adding something to your equipment, yes?"
"Yes, the armor that I received from the guild is getting in bad shape. Also I learned, since Haruhime is more or less also a supporter, that it is the best to carry extra equipment with us, or rather that she carries one or two things. I don´t really get why she should carry it, but that is what we were told."
Bell had noticed it was the best to be a bit vague about the informations that he got. Eina always looked a bit sad when he told her that his mother gave the information. And he saw fire in Eina´s eyes.
"Then I know the perfect place! You have a bit of money with you, right?"
"Yes, lord Miach said Haruhime and I should keep more money for ourselves, so that we can get good equipment. But for the bit of armor that she wears, she asks the Takemikazuchi familia for help."
Not that she used much armor, but she felt great joy in wearing something that looked similar to Mikoto´s and Chigusa´s armors.
"You don´t need to spend big amounts of money, but protection is important. So let us go to the shops of the Hephaistos familia in Babel."
"Yes!"
.
.
Th-Th-This is the home of her familia?! And the entrance is there of all places?!
Haruhime got deep red when she arrived at the home of Aisha´s new familia. The building was enormous, it looked like a giant statue of an elephant, pretty similar to the god that built this place. It wasn´t the look of the familia mansion, but where the entrance was. Right in the crotch of the statue, between the crossed legs.
She prayed to the gods that there wasn´t an exit on the other side...
The shape of the building wasn´t out of lewd intent, but the only other places for the entrance could have been one of the knees and that would look weird.
IamGanesha. The home of the Ganesha familia, the biggest of all familias in Orario.
And...Aisha´s new familia.
I wonder why she joined this one of all familias.
Haruhime walked slowly towards the guarded entrance. All familias guarded their homes, at least the bigger ones. Many familias didn´t like it when strangers appeared, but the Ganesha familia was different. Due to the sheer size of the familia there were many people that knew one or two of the members.
So she got greeted by the guards before she even spoke herself.
And it was not a guard that greeted her.
"Mwaahaha! What a lovely day! I must greet it! I AAAAAAAAM GANEEEESHAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Wahahaha! Oh! What do we have here for a lovely young lady?"
Out of all the people that could come out of the home, it was the god Ganesha himself. And to her bad luck, the god wore his usual outfit. Which meant dark boots, white pants and a kind of orange tunic. So...most of his upper body was free. And it was a very sturdy, muscular upper body.
Normally this sight alone was able to let Haruhime faint, but with Ganesha she only got flustered. It wasn´t because he was a god, it was because he was Ganesha. She wasn´t disgusted by him, but somehow she just didn´t faint when she saw him. Well there was only one woman in all of Orario that was attracted to Ganesha anyway.
"G-Good day, lord Ganesha." She bowed slightly.
The god was easily one head taller than Haruhime and had way more mass.
"What a polite young lady."
Haruhime took a deep breath and steeled herself, she was here for an important reason.
"Lord Ganesha. My name is Sanyjouno Haruhime, I belong to the Miach familia. I would like to visit a new familia member of yours, Aisha Belka."
"Oh, little Aisha, you know her?"
"Yes, she is a dear friend of mine."
"Then there is no problem, come, I´ll bring you to her."
"You...just let me in like that?"
"There is no lie in you and you belong to Miach, he only has good children from what I know." The god grinned wide, like he did most of the time.
Haruhime got quickly why many people liked this god.
So she followed the God through the...crotch of the elephant...
"How do you like our home? I recently renovated it myself!"
"It sure is...unique."
"Thank you!"
Somehow the mansion was even bigger from the inside than it was from the outside. Her familia´s home could fit in here easily multiple times.
"Wow...you have so many members."
"Gnihi. Of course, we need them to protect the people."
"I heard that your familia did impressive things in the...dark times."
Now Ganesha got serious and nodded with a proud face. "Yes, my children did their best, I can´t say with words how proud I am. But Miach also did his best, as did Astrea and the others."
"Would it be okay to thank you on your familia´s behalf?"
He nodded.
Ganesha got surprised when Haruhime bowed deep down. "Lord Ganesha, then I would like to say my thanks for all that your familia has done for Orario. I know this doesn´t pay you back, but I would like to thank you all. Without all you did, Orario probably wouldn´t be here anymore."
"I accept your thanks, young lady."
Haruhime continued to follow Ganesha, while they walked she noticed something. Many of Ganesha´s followers wore a mask like he did. Not all of them, but many.
I hope...Aisha doesn´t...mmh...
She couldn´t and didn´t want to imagine Aisha with a mask...especially an elephant mask. And Haruhime really hoped that Ganesha was the only one of his familia that introduced himself like that. Sometimes it happened that followers got a bit similar to their god in a few ways. But if she would see Aisha next to Ganesha, both wearing elephant masks and her "big sister" would yell.
"I am Aisha!"
Haruhime didn't know if her heart could take it.
"So, here we are."
Ganesha stopped in front of a room that looked like any other. Haruhime was a bit surprised that Ganesha walked so easily in the part where the women had their rooms. But then again she didn´t know how the Ganesha familia handled things and maybe men and women weren´t separated.
Before Ganesha wished her goodbye, a woman with blue hair appeared at the end of the hallway.
"Ganesha."
"Shakti?"
"I got a message that she comes a little bit later."
"Hah, no problem, the prerogative of women! So young lady, I have things to do."
"Thank you, lord Ganesha."
Haruhime was surprised that the blue haired woman just said the name of the god.
Wait...did he say Shakti? Like in Shakti Varma, Ankusha, the captain of the familia?
But Ganesha´s body blocked any chance for her to get a second glance.
Hah, anyway.
Haruhime took a deep breath and knocked two times.
"Come in."
She carefully opened the door and looked inside.
Haruhime´s heart broke.
.
.
"Eeek!"
"Hm? Oh, little sister."
Aisha had done it, she wore a mask...
"Please no...no...please...no..."
"Hm? What´s wrong with you, Haruhime?"
And thankfully, Aisha took off the mask again.
"Doesn´t suit me, hm? My god gave it to me as a welcome gift, together with this doll over there."
Aisha pointed with her thumb to as desk, a small Ganesha doll stood there.
"If you tap it´s head, it yells out that he is Ganesha."
Aisha rolled her eyes and threw the mask to her bed.
"S-So, you don´t wear this mask all the time now?"
"What? No! I just wanted to take a look in my mirror. I would never wear something like this, well except maybe wh-"
"I don´t want to hear that!"
"Hah, as pure as always I see. So what brings you here today?"
"Aisha, we need to talk."
"Ho?" Aisha was surprised when she heard Haruhime´s tone.
Haruhime´s usual shy and friendly behaviour was gone. From the movement of her tail and ears, Aisha read that Haruhime was agitated, frightened and confused, all together.
"Something bothering you?"
"This."
Haruhime pulled the leather string around her neck and showed Aisha the tip of the unicorn horn.
"And this is?"
"The tip of a unicorn horn."
"Oh?"
"The guild issued a quest yesterday, to find the unicorn that was spotted close to Orario. I went with Bell and another adventurer, we managed to calm it down so that it was led back to it´s forest. As a reward we got the horn, that will grow back for the unicorn."
"So?"
Haruhime took another deep breath.
"During the quest, I stayed behind since a unicorn only allows virgins near it. But suddenly the unicorn appeared from between the trees and came to me."
Aisha sighed. "Really, Haruhime? You are so pure already that a unicorn is attracted to you even from afar?"
"Aisha, that´s not the point!"
The amazon got really surprised when Haruhime yelled out, apparently she had no patience for Aisha's little jokes today.
"You know what they say about unicorns. That they would never get close to someone that is not a virgin. Yet this unicorn came to me and even put it´s head on my lap!"
"Wow.."
"And when I started to cry because of that, it even nudged my cheek and let me pet it."
"I don´t see the problem here."
"Aisha...how could a unicorn ever approach someone like me? There is no way I am pure anymore! I was a harlot! A whore! A slut! I shared my bed with men that I don´t like for money! I am filthy, my body is pure filth!"
Aisha´s expression darkened a bit. "You say that every prostitute is a bad woman, yes?"
"No, of course not. But I never wanted this, I never wanted to offer my body!"
"And yet you never said no or screamed that you didn´t want this."
"And how could I? I thought I have to repay lady Ishtar for everything that was given to me! I thought I would die anyway! That nothing mattered and everything in this world is bad. I cried myself into sleep every night."
"I know that...trust me."
"You know?!"
"Yes, I watched over you every day and when I couldn´t, Lena was there."
"And you nev-"
"I always stopped them when you fainted."
"What?..." Haruhime´s expression went blank.
"Do you think I would let them have their way with you when you were unconcious? Whenever we heard that sound from you that meant you fainted or you threw up, I came inside, apologized to the customers and dragged them to one of the other girls. On the nights that I weren´t there, Lena had this duty."
Haruhime couldn´t believe what she heard. "That...means..."
"You are a bona fide virgin, Haruhime. Do you really think you had the guts to bed a man?"
The fox girl didn´t answer.
"Haruhime?"
"Why..."
"Hm?"
"Why didn´t you tell me?"
"That you are a virgin?"
"Yes...why..."
"Har-"
"Why?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHYYYY?!"
Aisha was taken aback by Haruhime´s outburst, she didn´t yelled anymore, Haruhime screamed.
"Why didn´t you tell me that I am still a virgin?! Do you know how much I hate myself?!"
"Wai-"
"I scrubbed myself with a sponge every night, I showered way longer than a normal person would! I was disgusted by myself, that some man took my virginity and released his filthy semen in my body! I threw up in the shower when I imagined how he moved on top of me and where he touched my body! That he put it in there! I thought about killing myself more than one time before I lost all hope and it didn´t mattered anyway!"
Aisha couldn´t say a word, Haruhime cried.
"You know that I am from the far east! My virginity is more than just precious to me! Only my one true love is meant to take it! This moment is meant to be something holy and loving after we married! And I thought it was gone! And now you tell me that I am a virgin?!"
The tears streamed endless down on Haruhime´s cheeks, her heart felt as if it was getting squeezed.
"I´m sorry, Haruhime. I..."
"You what, Aisha?! You always said I am your little sister and you keep something like this a secret from me? Why?!"
"I had a reason."
"What?!"
Aisha build herself up, she was an amazon, it wasn´t in her blood to make herself small when she got yelled at, not even when it was in front of her little sister.
And yet Haruhime was right to be agitated about that, Aisha knew this day would come.
"I had a reason for not telling you, or more than one reason."
Haruhime´s lower lip trembled, she cried openly and Aisha hated it to see her hurt like this.
"Then tell me now! What was your reason?!"
"I was working constantly to find a way to get you out of the Pleasure Quarter. As sorry as I am, I saw no other way then to not tell you, so that you would be as quiet as possible, so they wouldn´t guard you more or lock you away. I was afraid that when I told you that you are untouched, you would try to flee or something. I am aware that this is something very cruel but there was no one I could talk to and form a strategy."
"*Hic* *Hic* *Hic*"
Aisha could see how hurt Haruhime was.
"And why *Hic*, why didn´t you tell me after I was free?"
"Because...hah...I will be honest, because I was a bit afraid that you might do something dumb."
"What?"
"I know how you longed for a hero and I saw how you looked at the white haired boy when he saved you. It was clear too soon that you were heads over heels for him. I thought maybe because you wanted to thank him so badly, you might give him your purity because your emotions ran too wild. I escaped death more than one time in the dungeon and it is one of these urges that come up in you."
Aisha took a breath to continue.
"And even when he seemed to be nice and a good man, I wanted to be sure that he isn´t a scumbag. I didn´t want to imagine what would happen if you gave yourself to him to thank him and he would dump you then. Losing your virginity after just getting to know that you still have it, that could´ve broken you. Also, I want to make sure that his feelings for you are honest. To fall in love with someone pure like you is easy, but to love you the way he thinks you are, this would be true love. And even when I don´t give much about true love, you are very different from me."
Maybe Aisha could´ve said more, but it wasn´t in her nature to find the right words to show Haruhime how much she cared for her.
"I´m sorry that I hurt you so much...hate me if you want...but I didn´t see any other way. That´s who I am."
Haruhime stood there, tears ran endless down her cheeks, she had listened to Aisha´s words. Her feelings were in turmoil, pure happiness spread in her that her body was still untouched, that she hadn´t lost something so precious. But that Aisha knew about this and kept it a secret, that she suffered so long from it without a need to. She couldn´t say if it was right or wrong what Aisha did, but everything was just too much for her at the moment.
With a desperate cry that Aisha never wanted to hear from Haruhime, she dashed out of the room and ran to the entrance of the mansion.
Aisha sighed, running after Haruhime now wouldn´t make any sense.
"Hah...curses..."
.
.
This mansion is as...impressive...as always.
"~~~Hmmm~Hmmm~Hmmm~~~"
A certain brown haired elf looked to the person next to her.
"You seem to be in a good mood, lady Astrea."
"Hehe, and why not?"
Her goddess smiled geniuenly, Lefiya knew why she did that. Astrea really had a unique taste when it came to men...or rather one particular man.
Whenever the goddess visited the IamGanesha mansion, one of her children escorted her. Lefiya glanced to her goddess, Astrea had asked Iska again to apply a bit of makeup for her, she wanted to surprise Ganesha.
"Ahm, l-lady Astrea?"
"Hm?" Astrea smiled to her.
"How...how does it feel...to be in love?"
"Hah...Lefiya, it is the best feeling in the world. When your heart gets faster and you just feel happiness and joy in you. The weather looks nicer, the food tastes better and your bed is softer. Everything looks more bright, I hope all of you can experience this some day."
Lefiya was as curious about love as most of her familia members. As an elf she believed in the one true love, that a partner was taken for life. But in one way, Lefiya was very different from her familia members, at least she thought so, she had never talked about this with the others. Lefiya...not only liked men. She had noticed this a while ago, Lefiya admired the beauty in women. Sometimes she was as embarrassed to look at a naked woman as she would be to see a naked man.
An amazon would probably say, Lefiya was swinging both ways.
Hm, love.
A quick movement caught Lefiya´s attention. She clearly saw the gold haired fox maiden running out of the mansion.
Oh it´s her a-..why is she crying?
Haruhime had covered her face mostly with her hands, but Lefiya saw how much she cried. It felt really bad to see such a beautiful girl cry.
Who hurt her like this? Was it him? But then why is she here?
Lefiya followed Haruhime with her eyes while she ran into a street. A strange feeling rose in her heart, she wanted to comfort her for some reason.
Strange, I only saw her a few times and did that one quest, well she mostly did the quest.
Astrea noticed what Lefiya looked at.
"Oh, is this the girl you described to me?"
"Yes."
"Oh my, why is she crying?"
"I wonder too."
Lefiya looked to the entrance of the mansion, right now a certan sturdy god appeared there and waved grinning to them...well more to Astrea.
The goddess waved back and smiled.
Lefiya looked back and forth between the entrance, her goddess and the crying girl.
Why do I feel so strange?
"Lefiya."
"Y-Yes?"
"If you want to go after her, go. I am save here."
"But I am your escort, lady Astrea."
"Ehe, do you really want to stick with me the whole day? Just go, I can see that you are troubled."
"Mh..."
Astrea made the decision for Lefiya, she gently pushed her into the direction that Haruhime ran.
"Go."
Not knowing why she wanted to help a mostly stranger, Lefiya followed what her goddess said and jogged after Haruhime.
.
.
"*Hic* *Hic* *Hic*"
Haruhime sat on a box in a side street, her hands covered her face and cried. Everything was just too much at the moment, she would need time to calm down. How she would face Aisha the next time, she didn´t know.
Her heart hurt so much, various emotions hammered down on her.
Only slightly, did she hear gentle steps and someone stopping in front of her.
"Ahm..."
Haruhime lowered her hands just enough to reveal her now red eyes. A familiar elf stood right in front of her.
"Do you...need help?"
Haruhime lowered her hands more, her lower lip didn´t want to stop trembling, she sobbed.
"What ha-!"
Lefiya couldn´t end her question, Haruhime suddenly launched forward. In the next moment Lefiya found a crying fox girl, that was hugging her, the face at her chest. She felt how much Haruhime trembled and sobbed. An urge to protect her awakaned in Lefiya.
To her immense surprise, she had no problem with Haruhime touching her. Slowly, Lefiya put her hands around Haruhime as well and let her cry her heart out.
That someone she barely knew touched her, that she tolerated it, that she wasn´t disgusted... It was a surprise to be sure...but a welcome one.
And so Lefiya Viridis stood in a side street and spent the crying girl comfort. To hold Haruhime, to hold such a beautiful, soft, nice smelling girl...was nice.
What is with me? She is so soft...so vulnerable...it makes me want to protect her.
.
.
"Woah!"
Eina giggled when she saw Bell´s shining eyes. It was his first time in a shop of the Hephaistos familia. He was a bit afraid at first, when he saw the prices in the shopping windows, but then Eina led him to a shop that wasn´t as expensive as the others.
He really looked like a young boy in a toy shop now.
"Do you like it?"
"It´s so cool! So awesome! Look at all these armor parts, the weapons! Master smiths must have forged them!"
"Ah no actually not, this shop here is for the smiths of the familia that aren´t master smiths yet."
"So they are still training?"
Eina shook her head. "They are trained smiths, a master smith or high smith is a development ability that they can learn when they reach level two, but only when certain conditions are met."
"Oh right, I heard about development abilities, but I never thought they could learn something like this."
"There are various abilities, some are even meant for supporters, that don´t have much use for normal adventurers."
"Wow..."
"Ehehe, Bell I see how much your eyes wander around, shall we take a look?"
"Yes!"
He looked at all kinds of armor, the really light ones, heavy armor and even medium ones. Eina gave him tips as much as her knowledge went.
"The ones directly in the front line usually wear heavy armor, like these plates here. I heard about dwarves that use even chainmail under the plate armor and add pteruges."
She showed him the various stripes of hardened leather.
"But I guess this isn´t something for you, Bell?"
"Hmm, no. I´m not the type for a heavy armor, more a light one."
"But you are the front line of your party, right?"
"Well we are only two people."
"Still, how about a medium light armor? You said something about new equipment, right? Something to add to your arsenal."
"Yes."
"What did you think about?"
Bell fidgeted a bit, Eina wondered why.
"Come on, Bell, say it. A second sword to go for a duel style?"
"Where does this come from?"
"I don´t know, just a guess. So what is it that you want to buy?"
"A shield."
"Oho? A shield?"
"Yes, I was thinking about using it from time to time, for some monsters or in some situations it could be useful."
"Hm, how big?"
"I think a medium sized, round shield."
"Hmm, a medium sized round shield, together with your sword, I´m sure it will look great. It has something of an olympian hero, ehehe."
Eina giggled about her joke, Bell´s ears got a bit red, she was completely right with her guess, this was Bell´s intention. Since he worked on his own style of fighting, based on the techniques that he learned from Alfia, Bell was working on something that he called his "Hero-Style".
It should become his very own martial art, and the first heroes that he thought about, where the two olympians, Achilleus and Leondrus, who defended his city together with two hundred ninety nine soldiers, against an sheer endless army of monsters.
Both heroes were known for their excellent use of a round shield, but also the use of a spear. A spear was something that he was thinking about, but not for now. It would grant him more range and was the best weapon against a few monster types.
But even when he wanted to be similar to them, he wouldn´t wear a leather skirt and sandals... Also his sword was a bit too long to directly copy that fighting style, but that only meant he had to further develop his own martial art.
And Bell Cranel was too excited to do that.
Also...with a shield, I can protect Haruhime better.
"Hmmm...Bell, are you thinking about something or someone?"
"Why?"
"Your cheeks are red."
"I-I have no idea what you are talking about!"
Ehe, so cute. I bet he wants to be her knight in a shining armor. Hmm, maybe I should give him a little push.
"Bell, how about you look around a bit until you find something that catches your eye, I want to look for something too."
"Okay."
So he went around on his own.
Hmm, not really my style. Oh this one looks nice, but too heavy. Hmm this one is probably for archers or someone with a really light armor.
His way led him deeper and deeper into the shop. And as if it was fate, his eyes were drawn to a wooden box, filled with parts of a white armor.
Uh, this looks nice.
Since it was allowed to touch the products, Bell took the first piece out, it was a chestplate. The shape was nice and the armor was not too big or heavy. It was in fact still a light armor, but there were more armor parts than his current one had. One by one he took the armor parts out and looked at them, turning them around and holding them to his body, Bell liked it, a lot.
A name was carved in the front of the box.
"Pyonkichi Mk-I"
Is that the armor´s name? Hm.
He never heard about armor getting names, weapons yes, but never armor. But maybe it was the taste of the smith that made it. When he took a look at the chestplate again, he noticed a signature that was carved in.
"Welf...Crozzo."
Eventually Bell looked at the price tag.
"9.900 Vals, that´s a good price."
Due to the money that he made with Haruhime, and Miach insisting of them spending more for their equipment, he had 30.000 Vals with him, but there was no need to spend it all.
"Okay, it´s decided."
"Bell?"
"Ah, Ms. Eina."
"I have something for you."
"Oh?"
"Here, is this your taste?"
What she showed him was a small, green, round shield. It had a diameter of about thirty centimeters. The color matched Haruhime´s eyes. It would be a perfect shield for a beginner like him, not too big, not too small.
"Woah, Ms. Eina, you really have an eye for these things."
"So you like it?"
"Absolutely! Can I take a look at it?"
"Sure, you are the one that wants to buy it."
Bell put down the box with the armor on a nearby table and took a look at the shield. Turning it around a few times and holding it against his left arm. Eventually he put it on his left arm and moved it carefully around.
"Hm."
"Bell?"
"Excuse me!"
He walked to the man that stood behind the counter.
"How may I help you, dear customer?"
"Do you have a sword about this length that I could hold for a moment? I want to see how this shield goes with my sword."
"Of course."
The man handed him a sword from behind the counter, he had more than one weapon that was meant for this testing. He made a few swings, raised the shield and whirled around.
Bell noticed the weight on his left arm, but it was something he could bear with, it just would need training.
"What is the price of this shield?"
"10.000 Vals."
"Irkh, more than the armor...auu...argh whatever, I´ll take it."
The man smiled. "Excellent."
"What is the name of this shield?"
"Huh? It doesn´t have a name."
"Oh."
Eina smiled. "How about, Emerald Protector, Bell?"
"Sounds good!"
"Hehe, so this is my new armor, Pyonkichi Mk-I and the Emerald Protector!"
Eina couldn´t help but smile, even when the man behind the counter rolled his eyes.
"You will look like a real adventurer now, Bell."
.
"Thank you so much for today, Ms. Eina!"
"This was merely my duty as your advisor. I want to be sure that you two aren´t getting hurt and it is the best to be prepared as good as possible."
"I will remember it, thank you so much again."
"Hehe, not for that. So, Bell. I have to go back, more work is waiting for me."
"Then I will go to and show the others my new equipment!"
"Hehe, have fun."
While she watched Bell running in the direction of his familia´s home, Eina made a victorious fist for a moment.
Hah! Take that, Ms. Cranel! Who is the better advisor now?! He got his first new piece of equipment from me! I am Bell´s first and you can´t take that from me!
Alfia really had no clue that she had a rival... And Eina thankfully wasn´t aware about the way she had phrased her thoughts.
But her "rivalry" with Alfia was the reason why Eina gave her absolute best. That she wanted to see Bell and Haruhime becoming a cute couple was another.
.
.
Bell was about to turn around the last corner before he arrived at his familia´s home, when a familiar elf walked into his direction. Even when he didn´t intend to look at this place, he noticed that the cloth at her chest was a bit wet.
"Ms. Viridis, good day."
"Bell Cranel...good day."
"Do you want to buy something at our shop?"
"No, I brought her home, she calmed a bit down."
"Huh?! Did something happen to Haruhime?!"
"You should better go home, I don´t know what happened."
Lefiya saw the rising panic in Bell´s eyes.
"Thank you!"
He rushed past her, Lefiya just slightly backed away so that he wouldn´t bump into her. To meet, hold and escort Haruhime back like that had shaken her a bit.
She rememberred Ryu´s words when they asked her how it was possible that this human man held her hand. That she didn´t slapped or punched him away, but Ryu said she had a feeling inside her, as if she could trust him. And when Haruhime had suddenly even hugged Lefiya, a feeling that was similar was in her.
Hah...so complicated.
The young elf walked back to her home, maybe she could talk with one of her familia members about this.
And while Lefiya walked home, Bell rushed to his home. He nearly ripped open the door and dashed inside.
"Haruhime!"
"Meep!"
The sound that greeted him was beyond cute, but it only came because Haruhime got startled when he burst in like that.
Haruhime sat on the couch in the small living room, Nahza next to her. Miach stood in front of the couch, now turning to the door.
"Bell, we talked about this, Nahza and Haruhime have very sensitive ears. And please don´t open the door with such force, you are close to level two and could easily damage the door."
"S-Sorry!"
Miach nodded with a friendly smile. "As long as you reflect on your actions, I guess you were worried?"
"Yes, I met Ms. Viridis outside and she told me that something is wrong with Haruhime."
While he talked, Bell dropped his purchases on the floor and walked to the couch.
"Haruhime, are you okay?"
He saw that her eyes were red from crying, as was her nose. But when she saw Bell before her, her eyes lit up for some reason. She smiled slightly again.
"More or less, Bell."
"Really?" Bell knelt down in front of her and looked really worried.
Nahza noticed that Haruhime´s tail moved slightly more than before.
"Yes, I had a fight with Aisha. A quarrel between sisters."
"Oh."
He had the feeling that there was more inside of Haruhime, but he wouldn´t force her to say it.
"If you want to talk or just need an ear to listen, I am there for you."
"Thank you, Bell. But this is something I would like to talk with Mikoto and Chigusa about."
"Understood."
After she washed her face and took her bag with her, Haruhime excused herself for troubling the others and left the house. She would return at the next morning, spending the afternoon and night at the Takemikazuchi familia´s home.
"Haruhime..."
Bell looked at the door after she left.
Miach gently put a hand on Bell´s shoulder. "Bell, give her time. I don´t know what exactly happened, but I have enough experience to see that it shook her. There are things that take longtime friends to talk about. Or since she quarreled with her sister, maybe a woman."
"I guess you are right."
Nahza smiled, proud of her god. "Of course lord Miach is right, he is always right."
"I just hope that she will be okay."
.
At the next morning when Haruhime returned, she looked much, much better than before. Her smile was genuine again and she looked forward to go into the dungeon again with Bell. It had helped her to talk with Mikoto and Chigusa, both of her dear friends had cried with her from relief that she wasn´t what she seemed to be. That she still had her purity. But the time in the Pleasure Quarter left mental scars in Haruhime. Scars that would need a long time to heal, with help of her friends. And especially, with help of Bell. And now Mikoto and Chigusa knew that Haruhime was in love with Bell, as the good friends they were, they would help her so that Bell would fall in love with her too.
They couldn´t know that he already was.
"Bell, I have to say, you look really heroic now."
Haruhime smiled while they walked towards Babel. Bell used his new armor and had the shield for now on his back.
"Hehe, thank you. I just hope I get used to the shield and my new armor soon. And that they won´t break too soon, they were expensive after all."
"But like lord Miach and Ms. Cranel said, good equipment is important."
Haruhime was allowed to call her Ms. Alfia, but not in public. For some reason it was forbidden to speak Alfia´s first name outside of the house. Bell knew the reason, but Alfia had not allowed him to tell her about her past. He understood why she did that, knowing about Alfia´s past could mean danger for Haruhime.
In the future, there might come a day when they would tell her about it.
"I am quite eager to test the shield."
"Is there a specific reason why you chose this color?"
"I like this green."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
Haruhime smiled when she heard that.
.
"Mister! Miss! The one with the white hair and the fox maiden!"
.
"Hm?"
"Huh?"
Bell and Haruhime turned around when they heard a voice behind them. But they saw no one.
"Down here..."
"Oh!"
"Sorry."
Both lowered their eyes and found a prum before them, a girl. She wore a white coat with a hood pulled up. Next to her was a backpack that seemed to be even bigger than she was.
She smiled cute. "Sorry to bother you, but are you looking for a supporter?"
Haruhime and Bell were a bit confused for a moment, they hadn't expected to be spoken to so suddenly, so it took them a few seconds to react.
"A supporter?"
"Looking for one?"
The prum smiled again. "It is actually quite simple. A poor supporter who wants to pick through the leftovers of two young adventurers is advertising herself."
Bell and Haruhime looked at each other, they had talked for a few days, that a supporter would indeed be nice. Haruhime wasn´t a supporter, she was what adventurers called a caster, even when she used her bow most of the time. But using the bow was problematic with the backpack they used, and that couldn´t fit much magic stones or dropp items in it.
She hadn´t the strength for a bigger backpack. Also now that Bell had an additional piece of equipment, someone would need to hold it when he wouldn´t use the shield, this was common for parties.
Haruhime looked like she felt a bit unwell. "Please don´t phrase it like that, why pick through leftovers?"
"Because Lily is just a supporter, we are not equal to you adventurers, so all we can hope for is to follow you and maybe get a little bit of the dropps."
Bell´s face darkened a bit. "Who says you are not equal to adventurers?"
And in the perfect moment, a group of adventurers walked past them.
"Oh dear gods, look at these poor young ones, they actually talk to that stupid supporter."
"Looks like she found a new victim."
"Hah! They don´t know what they get."
"Should we warn them?"
"Na, maybe this dumb supporter will finally bite the dust in the dungeon then."
"Supporters are so useless."
Haruhime noticed that the prum, Lily was probably her name, looked as if she wanted to say, "Told you.".
"Don´t you dare talk bad about supporter!"
Huh?
Lily looked surprised up when Bell yelled out. He glared at the four adventurers.
"What did you say, kiddo?!"
"Don´t you dare talk like that about her! About all the supporters! Without supporters we could never explore the dungeon like we are supposed to! They are the the logistical backbone!"
"You wanna talk big?!"
Bell nearly gritted his teeth, the topic supporters was a delicate one for him.
"How far would you get without a supporter, huh? Would you carry all your stuff alone? You would have to constantly go up again and again. Would you carry all the potions and other stuff yourself? They are more than necessary, the deeper you go the more they become the life line!"
Since Bell got a bit loud, other adventurers noticed the quarrel. And some of these were parties with supporters in them. Parties that knew how much a good supporter was worth.
"Tsk, stupid newbie. You have no idea what you are talking about. Let´s go guys, no time to waste with them."
The four adventurers left, but the leader glanced over his shoulder to the agitated Bell.
You gonna regret that, kiddo.
.
.
"Bell, everything okay?"
"Huff, Huff, Huff."
Hah, he is so manly right now.
"Ahm, Mister?..."
"Oh, sorry Ms. Supporter. I can´t stand it when someone talks bad about supporter."
Lily showed him a confused smile. "But why?"
"My father was a supporter and he was neither weak nor useless. No supporter is useless in my eyes, they are indispensable."
What a strange new adventurer.
But Lily wouldn´t get fooled, nice words were one thing, but she had only bad experience with adventurers.
"That is a surprise! Now...do you need a supporter? We don´t need to form a contract right away, how about a trial day? Lily promises to do her best!"
They looked at each other again, Haruhime´s tail moved slightly in a way that Bell knew it meant yes.
"We would gladly do the trial day with you, my name is Bell."
"I am Haruhime."
"Lily is Lily."
They shook each others hands.
"Then, shall we go?"
.
.
.
.
.
Author´s Note: I just had to do this talk with Haruhime and Aisha, it always felt strange for me that she just went on happy with her life after being rescued.
As I wrote before, like in the first LNs, Bell will have a few pieces of extra equpment, but his main weapon will be this sword. The story part with Lily will not go exactly like in the original story, but a bit differnt since Bell knows more and he has a special opinion about supporters due to his father.