Is it Wrong to Live Transmigrated as Bell Cranel in a Dungeon?

Chapter 9.5: Interlude

"Come on, a day at the theater? This is the kind of wacky time wasting nonsense I've been missing!"

— Sokka, Avatar: The Last Airbender

In hindsight, I really should have known better.

"Bell—Belko-chan, are you ready to head out?" Hestia called out in the distance beyond my view, almost calling me by my name.

I pricked my finger on the Hestia Knife. It hurt, I was bleeding. Damn, this wasn't some fever dream but rather it was reality.

Syr, who was fixing my hair (I needed a haircut soon, Belko transformation or not my hair was getting uncomfortably close to my chin) giggled at my actions.

What was I lamenting exactly?

Well, to put it simply, I shouldn't have been surprised when Ryuu blabbed to Syr about my new spell. Or when Syr blabbed to the Hostess girls the next morning.

Somehow in the mix of my getting asked uncomfortable questions, about things like how I liked having boobs or how using the toilet was, the girls decided that I needed a proper wardrobe to go with my 'new' form.

I don't even know how the Hostess girls got into contact with Hestia and Lili, but they were also roped into this excursion to, for lack of better terms, doll me up.

What have I done to deserve this?!

"Chin up, Belko-chan, it'll be fun," Syr assured me as she finished taming my hair.

"For who?" I bantered back, my tone doing nothing to hide my suffering.

Syr just laughed again and pushed me out of my room down towards the first floor of the annex where most of the girls were waiting.

For lack of other feminine clothes (my normal attire was a little too big in my new Belko form) I was wearing the Hostess' green dress without the apron or other workplace accessories. I wasn't exactly an expert on fashion, but even I could agree it was a little plain on its own.

I tried to comfort myself with the fact that having a wardrobe to go with my alter ego would be useful in case I ever needed to go off the grid. My white hair was easily dyeable after all.

…No, this was awful. My pride as a man was being crushed underfoot. The logic in regards to the utility this spell and form could provide failed to do anything against the illogical objections of gender norms.

I found the eyes of Hestia and Lili first. Their eyes were sparkling, like they just witnessed something divine. Which was funny since Hestia was of the divine. Speaking of, her hair was down and she was wearing a comically large hat and a cloak to cover her… assets.

"What's with the disguise?" I asked her, trying to not pay attention to how light my voice was.

"Oh this?" Hestia said, her eyes regaining focus, "I'm not taking any chances like our last outing! This disguise will prevent those entertainment starved harpies out of our business!"

Ah, she was referring to when those Goddesses ruined our fancy dinner date. That made sense. But I also couldn't help but wonder if she was being considerate for how I wanted to keep 'Bell' and 'Belko' separated from each other. She did know how important the Hostess was as a place for me to get away from the stresses of Dungeon crawling.

Not to imply that killing monsters was completely unenjoyable. Just that it was stressful. And I'd rather not go to the Pleasure District to unwind, you know? Not that kind of guy. Or gal.

I don't want to think about that aspect of my second form…

I shuddered momentarily in horror.

And speaking of, why hadn't I tried to preemptively rescue Haruhime yet, you might ask? Mainly because I was nowhere near strong or prepared enough to fight against the Ishtar Familia. However, that didn't mean I wasn't acutely aware of the phases of the moon…

"Can we finally go, nya?" Anya complained, bringing my mind back into focus.

"Oh come on, Anya, relax. We have the whole day off, remember?" Lunoire said with an amused grin.

"Even Mama Mia has to take time off, I suppose," Ryuu said matter-of-factly. I tried to avoid blushing at the thought that out of all of the girls here, Ryuu and I were the only ones matching. Remembering that Ryuu simply didn't have any other clothes besides her adventuring gear sobered me up just as quickly. The girl was punishing herself from having 'luxuries' like everyday casual clothes.

At least Lili had the excuse of being extremely thrifty.

Lili, who managed to recover from being mesmerized by my girlish form, looked suddenly unsure, "A-are you serious about paying for everything?"

Lili, used to being money tight, was clearly uncomfortable about anything 'frivolous' being spent - especially on herself.

I rolled my eyes, "I'm serious, after that drop item yesterday, I'm loaded. And I might as well get everyone something while you guys are… helping me out."

Yesterday, which was the day after I met Welf at his forge, I happened to spot and kill the famous Jack Bird monster on the 1st Floor. So I went from someone who had to be cautious spending 10,000+ valis to suddenly having 1,000,000 valis in my possession.

Half was immediately put into the Hestia Familia account to prepare for tax season (and to help with paying off the Hestia Knife). The rest, Hestia insisted, I should use to invest in myself how I saw fit.

I wasn't exactly thinking of getting a wardrobe for my Belko persona, mind you. But I did see the merits to it. The spying and pranking potential was immense. That still wasn't going to stop me from complaining about it though. Still, it felt wrong to not get a trinket or something for everyone while we were out. Even if I was being coerced into this trip, everyone was going to be helping ensure I got things that didn't look too weird.

Chloe grinned, her eyes trailing downwards, "If you really wanted to help me you could–!"

Chloe was interrupted as Ryuu bonked her on the head. The elf said with a deadpan, "Silence, hentai."

"It hurts, nya!" Chloe complained comically.

Syr walked beside me with a teasing grin, clearly with intentions to say something about how eight girls (including Syr herself) were escorting me today.

My uneasy smile grew shakier at the sight. "W-Whatever it is don't say it…"

Syr's smile grew in tandem with mine.

My eyes shook, dreading whatever teasing words about to come out of her mouth like fire from a dragon. "D-don't…!"

Syr opened her mouth! And said, "Belko-chan is cute today!"

"I'm not!" I instantly deny, but internally I'm confused. She didn't say something scandalous like how I was forming some kind of Yuri Reverse Harem—!

Syr had a knowing look in her eye as she smirked slyly.

T-this minx! She knew she was winding me up!

I swear I will win one of these exchanges someday!

"I'm ready, nya!" May, our residential neko cookstress, said as she descended the stairs as the last person for our little excursion into the city.

Specifically, our group consisted of: Syr, Ryuu, Chloe, Lunoire, Anya, May, Lili, Hestia, and myself.

"Maaay~" Anya complained, "What took you so long, nya?"

May blushed, "I-I couldn't find my left shoe, okay nya?!"

Anya just moaned in disbelief while many of the Hostess girls just shook their heads with knowing exasperation.

"Great! We're all here!" Hestia piped up, really gung-ho about things, "Now let's go dress Belko u— I mean, help get… her? Her a new wardrobe!"

I flinched at the feminine pronoun. I mean, the lack of my little son was very much accurate at the moment. But my pride, that wasn't something that dealt with facts and logic. Like how this was just a temporary transformation from a Spell I had complete control over.

Everyone else, however, cheered at the prospect of finally getting to shop. Did ancient peoples in this world also divide hunting and gathering between male and female roles like in the world Before? That would certainly help explain this behavior that I didn't entirely understand. It was just shopping?

Maybe it was a good thing I didn't understand.

Either way, I was dragged away as our gaggle of girls left for the markets.

Kill me. End my suffering!

Heading up North Main Street, as it was known as a fashion district, I did my best to avoid acknowledging the looks our party was getting. It was almost like the Parting of the Red Sea as people on the streets gave us a wide berth.

Not because they were disgusted or appalled or anything. Rather, I just think that the combination of the Hostess girls' collective beauty and their passive aura of strength put us on a pedestal.

"Whoa, those girls…"

"I'd eat that rabbit right up~"

"Damn!"

The whispers went as we passed. I tried to ignore all the comments about the 'rabbit' of our group.

Speaking of, I'm not sure if it was intentional, but I was in the middle of our formation. Were the girls trying to help maintain the fiction that Belko was sickly? Maybe it was just a coincidence.

"Oh," Syr said, getting her our attention, "What about that store?"

I followed her finger and immediately regretted it as my nose began to bleed.

"Bell— Belko-chan!"

"Belko-sama!"

Hestia and Lili gushed over me respectively. Lili, the trickster she was, seemed to have no problem keeping my names straight.

What had caused my reaction? Well, the establishment Syr had pointed at had more window than wall keeping the inside of the building from the elements. While it made sense for a clothing store to have windows to advertise their product, that much window was a bit much. So why then? Because it was readily apparent the establishment catered to Amazons.

Many races that called Orario home had a variety of tastes and needs when it came to clothes. Short and thin Prums couldn't shop at the same places that short yet robust dwarves would go. Each race had its favorite types of fabric and designs as well. In fact, their preferences were so different that clothing stores had to be careful to tailor to only their target customers. Otherwise, squabbles between races would never end.

That's where the merchants came in.

They built their shops to cater to one specific race and then built up a relationship of trust with individual customers. Several deities had taken note of this and built their familias around the industry. So much so that many people considered Orario to be the trendsetter of the fashion world.

This alone was a factor why most clothes were pretty expensive in Orario. Everyone knew that our local stuff was the kind that people would invest big money into.

Another factor in cost besides the procurement of material was, again, due to the variety of races. To put it simply, standardization was split from just addressing men and women – to men and women from a multitude of races. Without standardization and a single streamlined production line, costs would always be high and inefficient.

But nothing could be done about that without forcing everyone to adhere to a single culture. Which was: One, wrong. Two, impossible to pull off without some dark methods. Three, impossible due to the culture of freedom and self-expression inherent to Orario.

My very serious thoughts had done well to stem the flow of blood from my nose. Only to start up again as I looked through the window again.

"Uwah," May blushed, "I didn't know Belko-chan was so naughty, nya…"

"So this is the type of stuff you like nya~" Chloe grinned mischievously.

"Avert your eyes!" Hestia said, all but climbing over me to blot out my eyes, "I will not allow Bel–Belko's innocence to be tainted!"

"But doesn't Belko-sama already know what… it… looks like?" Lili deadpanned, before getting embarrassed at pointing out how I was very aware of the female form now.

"E-even so!" Hestia retorted, apparently trying her best not to think about those very implications, "We still must protect Belko-chan's innocence from others!"

Lili gasped, "Lili understands!"

I mock-glared over at Syr, who was looking very pleased with herself. I accused her, "You minx."

Syr smiled innocently, "I just want to make sure you can express yourself, however you'd like Belko-chan!"

"Bullshi–" I almost cursed in retort before catching myself.

I glanced over at Ryuu, who was next to Syr, and I had to hold back a laugh at Ryuu's expression. It was some kind of mixture of horror, offense, and embarrassment.

Further looks showed that both Lunoire and Anya were embarrassed at the sight of the Amazonian attire. Something about the others being on a similar wavelength to me gave me strength.

And I got an idea.

I grinned at Syr, "Me too, Syr. I did promise to get everyone something, right? If this store caught your eye… wouldn't that imply something about your own interests? Well? Should I get something for you from here?"

Syr blushed, "Heh?"

Ryuu, meanwhile, was completely mortified at the thought of Syr in such attire, because she immediately yelled, "Unacceptable!"

All of us looked at Ryuu as she looked seconds away from removing the Amazonian store from the face of the Earth. Ryuu ranted, "Syr and Belko-san would never, should never, wear such scandalous attire! Entirely inappropriate!"

Syr grabbed Ryuu's wrist, attempting to calm her down, "Sorry, Ryuu-chan. It was just a joke. Although… I bet Belko-chan wouldn't mind seeing you in something from that store~"

Ryuu's head and elvish ears turned red almost immediately. I could imagine seeing steam come out of Ryuu's ears. I was certainly sympathetic. Even a flash of the thought of Ryuu in some of what could be generously considered undergarments… Let's just say I was glad that my little son wasn't here to oust me to everyone. Though I could tell from how my face and ears were burning hot that I wasn't much better than Ryuu.

My poor nose. I'm never getting those blood cells back…

Scratch that. Just when I thought that, Ryuu suddenly went limp, causing her and Syr to topple to the pavement. Syr yelped as the Level 4 elf fell on top of her.

Our group gasped and started checking up on the pair.

Anya then began to laugh, "Hahaha! She actually fainted, nya!"

Sure enough, Ryuu was totally conked out.

"Now what, nya?" Chloe said, realizing the situation wasn't actually serious, "She'll kill whoever carries her when she wakes up, nya."

"I'd think she'd understand the circumstances…" Lunoire argued, but even she seemed unsure of her position on the matter.

Of course, all the Hostess girls knew that Ryuu only tolerated Syr's touch. But they all knew that Syr hadn't picked up anything heavier than a tray of food in her life. So asking her to carry Ryuu was obviously a hard no.

I sighed, "As the one who regularly gets bea– I mean, trains with her - I'd probably be the next closest she'd be remotely comfortable with."

"That's true."

"True, nya."

Lunoire and Chloe nodded in agreement respectively. They were well aware of how rough Ryuu's training was, which was why they hadn't gone more than a single lesson with my sensei.

Ignoring the lump in my throat, I moved down to pick up Ryuu from atop of Syr. My face was close to Ryuu's as I began to put an arm under the crook of her neck. But that was when Ryuu's eyes suddenly shot open.

"Appreciated but unnecessary," Ryuu said stoically, looking straight up at the sky and refusing to meet anyone's gaze, "I've recovered."

A-amazing! This must be the power of a Level 4 Adventurer to recover from embarrassment so completely and utterly!

My respect for my sensei grew significantly in that moment. I had to know! This power!?

"Is it possible to learn this power!?" I all but demanded in Ryuu's face. I needed answers damnit!

Ryuu slowly turned to look me in the eye, "Not from an Elf."

Ryuu's eyes then glanced over to the silver-haired girl still underneath her.

I realized the implication and paled dramatically, "You… built up a resistance to her shenanigans…?"

Is this even possible?! I can't believe it!

Ryuu's ability has gone up even further in my mind. She's a real heroine!

Syr pouted, "I feel like I'm being unfairly targeted… Also, as much as I enjoy the feeling of Ryuu-chan's butt, could you please get off of me?"

Ryuu froze like a statue before lighting up like a firework and fainting again.

…maybe Ryuu had overestimated her own ability. I hope that's the case.

"SYR!" damn near the entire group complained.

Syr stuck her tongue out with a smile, completely unashamed.

If the dynamic between Ryuu and Syr is my future, it's looking pretty bleak… hehe…. Heh…

We eventually managed to stop causing a scene in front of that Amazonian store (it was called Little Lingerie, nice alliteration I guess) and went on our way to more 'normal' stores.

Ryuu all but dragged us into the first store that was obviously intended for Elves. And then instantly looked lost as it looked like she remembered she hadn't gone clothes shopping in years.

The rest of the girls quickly went about perusing, however, while ignoring the nasty looks the elf teller was giving us.

Seriously, something needs to be done about that elvish racism. I need to really sit down with Riveria sometime when we have more of a rapport to get her to think about doing something about it. I think she'd listen more to a fellow adventurer over a random waitress.

The assortment of clothes was fairly similar. A lot of light colors with lots of blues, greens, yellows, and oranges. It ranged from simple dresses like the Hostess uniform to more complex designs with lace, ribbons, and such like what Lefiya tends to wear. The men's wear was basically just an assortment of suits and tuxedos. Either Elves don't have casual wear, or it wasn't located at this store.

I was forced to try on a couple of the dresses, some of which had corsets built in so Hestia had to 'help' (force me into) me get on. But I vetoed everything aside from the simple dresses like the Hostess uniform.

"I just don't like too much lace," I explained, pointing at a dress shirt that only had a little under the chin where a polo shirt would have buttons, "Something like this is fine, but only to help make the suit jacket pop, you know?"

"Hmm, fair enough," Luniore seemed understanding of my taste.

"Uwah, so dapper, nya," May commented, imagining the combo I had used as an example.

"I guess part of the appeal is wondering if Belko is a girl or a boy, nya," Chloe postulated. Though she probably just wanted me to dress as a man whilst a girl to aid in her shotacon tendencies.

Lili winced while looking at the price tag of the more complicated dresses, "And they cost less…"

After that, the group decided the store was a bust and started to make our way out. But, I spotted something. It was similar to the Hostess dress, but it happened to be the same shade as Ryuu's eyes.

Knowing what size she was from my own Hostess uniform, it was simple to snag the right size and make my purchase in a flash.

"What's in the bag, nya?" Anya asked as I left, drawing everyone's attention.

I winked mischievously, "Secret."

The girls complained at me as we moved to the next store.

"You seem to be having fun," I said to Lunoire. She was looking around the racks of the current store we were in, one marketed for humans. She had the biggest smile I've ever seen her with, so I had to comment.

"Yeah, I guess I am," she responded, almost melancholic.

I blinked in surprise at the sudden change in tone. And I suddenly remembered that Lunoire likes to throw the word 'normal' around.

So I asked, "You're… this happy to do something normal? Clothes shopping?"

Lunoire chuckled, "It does sound kind of weird when you say it like that… Mind if I unload a little bit?"

"Go ahead," I said, gladly taking the opportunity to learn more about my co-worker/friend.

"I was born in The Empire," Lunoire told me, "And if you know anything about that place, then it comes to no surprise that I didn't even know my parents. Lost them to a pointless and forgotten war."

"..." I could kind of empathize with that. Bell never knew his parents either. But even then, Bell still had Zeus.

Lunoire continued, "Needless to say, the power of the Falna was incredibly desirable for someone in my circumstances. Stuff happened, my Goddess was sent back to Tenkai, and I became a roaming Bounty Hunter. Jumping from Familia to Familia."

"Sounds chaotic," I said. The way Lunoire was telling it, she barely had any stability in her life to the point she'd told me.

"Right?" Lunoire said, seeming glad I understood what she was trying to tell me. "Don't get me wrong, I got into all kinds of excitement that got my blood pumping. And there were fun times. But… nothing ever felt right. And I made my fair share of mistakes and regrets."

"That kind of life wasn't fulfilling at all, was it?" I asked her, getting that impression from her words and tone.

"It wasn't," she confirmed, "I was finally strong and capable – could take care of myself. Had all kinds of adventures and excitement. But I hadn't found purpose in it. Just mistakes and a bunch of valis."

Lunoire pointed over to Ryuu who was helping Syr pick some stuff out, "It took one last bout of excitement with that elf and Chloe of all people to have me finally leave that life. I've been happier ever since then."

"I can get that, the Hostess really is something, isn't it?" I said rhetorically. A major reason why I kept working there was because of how it reminded me of the service sector back Before. And all of the girls were just so nice and quirky. Every day was a blast.

"For sure," Lunoire agreed, "So, yeah, I basically just want to keep living peacefully like I have been. I'd like to find a nice place one day and settle down, have a normal family… On that note…"

Lunoire looked me in the eye with sardonic amusement, "...I'm not interested in your harem. Too much excitement and unordinariness for my tastes."

"I-I'm not– I have no such—!" I sputtered in utter embarrassment. What is with these women?! Why do I have this reputation!?

Lunoire just laughed at me, getting us looks from the rest of our party. But, for some reason, one look at me was enough for them to get a look of understanding before minding their own business.

What was that reaction?! My friends are all jerks!

I collapsed into my bed, "I hate shopping~ I'm exhausted~"

I understand all those poor bastards in stories that get dragged along by girls shopping for hours and hours. We only stopped for food and bathroom breaks and we still only made it back to the Hostess as the sun began to set!

We went from store to store, as the girls tried to find things that would both amuse them and get past my veto with minimal success.

Still, I managed to get an assortment of shirts, blouses, pants, long skirts (I've never been a fan of showing my knees, dunno why), socks and shoes. I even got some adventuring attire in the form of a ruby red long sleeved shirt and black combat shorts (AKA functional pockets) with black boots.

A white form fitting cloak finished the ensemble; though it was still big enough that I could even use it in my normal form. By form fitting, I mean the portion around my upper body and arms was relatively close while it got 'poofier' the further down my legs went in the front. It reminded me of fanart I'd seen of Bell, so I had to snag it.

I capped it all off with a fancy black dress with ruby, red highlights should I ever need to go to a fancy party while disguised as a woman.

I wouldn't go into too much detail about what I got for all the ladies with me. But I did get a fancy dress for Hestia, it was a sleeveless dress with dark shades of blue that exposed much of her back. Lili got a new pair of gloves meant for Supporters – not as glamorous, but it was the only thing I could get Lili to accept because of the practicality of it; she reluctantly argued against a fancy dress since was trying pretend she was dead – wearing a fancy dress at a ball-like setting wouldn't help with that.

So Syr instead got a fancy sleeveless (what's wrong with sleeves?!) silver dress with flower-like accents protruding from her waist.

The rest of the girls got various shirts, skirts, and such through it all as well.

I sighed again out of exhaustion and pushed myself off of the bed. I ignored the sting of pain in my finger where I poked myself with the Hestia Knife that morning. The tiny wound had scabbed over, as one would expect.

After shedding my clothes, I closed my eyes and chanted, "Fluid like water. Distortion through the looking glass. Reversal of all things. Hermaphroditus."

I could feel magic consume my entire being as my physical body literally transformed back into my original male self. Atoms dissembling and rearranging as all my memories were stored nice and safely in my soul or something. As the magic faded, I opened my eyes, looked down, and sighed with relief at the sight of my little son.

"Alright, best get situated for bed…" I said as I went to get into night clothes. Only to pause as I grabbed the handle to open my small dresser.

I slowly pulled my hand away and looked at my finger. The wound I had caused that morning, the one that was still scabbing slightly just a moment ago…

Was gone.

The act of transforming had essentially healed me.

"Well…" I said to myself in shock, "That's… something…"

Oh boy, what kind of flags will this development set off?

Authors Notes

Just a short little interlude chapter. The next proper chapter will be released in a couple weeks.

Jokes on everyone who thought nothing of importance would happen in a chapter literally called 'interlude'. Instead, the implications are much higher than one might initially realize. As is, the implications of what can be done with a Spell that completely transforms your entire body in regards to self-healing. The exact specifics of how this works is explained in a future Chapter. The main point I will say here is that there are specific conditions that must be met for this to be a viable healing strategy and it isn't some kind of cure all. It's mostly for being able to heal relatively small cuts/slashes and bruises. Mostly.

The idea for this little interlude chapter came to my mind and I just had to do it. Though it was kind of hard managing an (almost) entirely female cast going about a more normal Dungeon-free adventure in the city. Especially with so many of them, but I wanted to make sure the Hostess girls got some more 'screentime'. Most of Bell's shifts at the Hostess is just mundane pub work – which is kinda the point for it since it's a de-stresser for him.

We got Luniore's backstory. I added more flavor to it, since from what I remember, a lot of her past is left vague. Just that it is obvious that she has her fair share of regrets. I wonder which Hostess girl Bell will learn about their backstory next?

And I didn't forget to bring May along. Bet nobody expected me to bother much with her. Not that I can blame you, there's not much known about her. She doesn't really do much here, but it was nice to see her.

Post Script, I seem to have caught a minor case of The Virus. So I guess I'll have some more time to write now that I'm off of work for a few days, lol