Chapter 16: Welf Crozzo

He was walking through what looked to be the remains of a city. What was once a metropolis full of towers that seemed to scrape the sky was now nothing more than a graveyard.

All around Him was the shape of twisted metal, crumbling stone and the smell of death and charred corpses.

It was a scene of Hell.

He ran around, desperate to try and find some sign of life but all He could find were the dead and the dying, far too gone to be saved.

The nightmare was beginning to weigh down on Him as He desperately turned the corner to see a small boy struggling to walk down the ruined road.

He ran.

He ran harder and faster than He had ever ran before in His life. His arms outstretched the moment He saw the boy fall backwards.

But the boy's body slipped through His arms like He was a ghost and landed in a thud on the ground, their eyes clouding over as their life was slowly leaving their body.

He was begging…screaming out to the world for someone to save the boy, for someone to do something He could not do.

And then, the boy suddenly stretched their arm toward the sky, not to seek salvation, but to simply try and reach for the sky.

He tried to grab the outstretched hand, if only to reassure the boy that everything would be fine, but his hands once against slipped through the boy's arm as it fell…and was caught by someone else's hands.

A man had grabbed the boy's hand, their face filled with so much joy that they were weeping. The man had found the boy…but it looked as though the man was the one who was saved instead.

"I wonder…if I could be happy like that too?" A voice seemed to echo in the world as it began to fade away.

X-x-X-x-X

"…ll…Be…Bell…Bell!"

Bell's eyes struggled to open as he found himself lying on the couch.

When his vision returned to him, he was gazing into the tearful eyes of the goddess Hestia.

"…Goddess?" He managed to croak out.

"Thank goodness…you're finally awake!" Hestia sobbed, tears in her eyes as she grabbed his hand and brought it to her cheek.

"…What happened?"

"You passed out," Saber's voice echoed in the room as the Servant manifested himself beside Hestia.

His reappearance was immediately followed by Caster and then Assassin, the latter of which dived right at Bell's arm and hugged it with all her might as she started crying.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Assassin cried out as she hugged Bell as hard as she could as if afraid he would suddenly disappear.

"I'm all right Jack," Bell said with a smile as Hestia helped him sit up. "I'm sorry to have worried you and the Goddess."

"…Perhaps we were pushing it with Four Servants after all," Caster muttered with a sigh as he produced a Body and Mind Potion from his treasury and held it out to Bell. "Drink."

Bell did so dutifully, the potion going down his parched throat and cleared his mind and seemed to lift heaviness from his body.

"It would seem Archer's battle has come to an end," Caster said. "He will be returning to the surface in the coming days and you should not end up in such a sorry state again."

Though his voice was harsh and cold as usual, Caster's expression was uncharacteristically soft as he explained the situation to Bell.

From what he gathered, Archer was stuck in a situation that required him to use all his reserves. Doing so however taxed Bell's body, already providing the upkeep for three other Servants, to the limit and gave him the rather "novel" experience of Mind Down.

However, thanks to the Mind Potions and Hestia constantly updating Bell's Status to cope with the strain, Bell's body was able to adapt and his life was no longer in danger. His Magic Status grew rather exponentially in the meantime though.

"Really now…" Caster let out a long sigh. "Had you taken the Mage Development Ability, you would not need to have suffered so."

"I'm sorry…" Bell apologized while lowering his head.

"Hey Caster…can you go easy on him right now?" Hestia asked. "I think we're all a bit shaken up from this."

Caster scoffed at Hestia's request but held his tongue nonetheless as he turned to the side and walked away toward the kitchen.

"I will head to the meeting place to let Welf know what happened," Saber said. "We have kept him waiting for a while."

"Sorry about that," Bell apologize again but Saber shook his head. "Give my apologies to Welf too."

"Do not worry, Master. Simply rest for now."

"Oh, and can you drop by the Hostess to let Syr know as well?"

"Of course. Please excuse me."

And with that, Saber left as well.

"Are you okay?" Assassin asked again as she moved her face close to Bell's. "Mommy looks pale…"

"I…think I had a nightmare…" Bell replied as he rubbed his eyes. "I was…I don't really remember actually…"

"Don't think about it too hard," Hestia said as she handed him a glass of water. "Just relax today. No leaving the house, understand?"

"Yes, Goddess."

He wasn't exactly feeling up to moving around either way.

"Good. Then Jackie, I'll leave your other Mommy to you and Caster. I have to get to work and apologize for being late!"

"Okay!" Assassin nodded. "Bye bye Mommy Hestia!"

Grabbing her coat from the nearby armchair, Hestia said her goodbyes and gave Assassin a kiss on her cheek before bolting for the door.

Once she was gone, Assassin hopped off the couch Bell was sitting on and ran up the stairs while Bell's gaze followed her. A few minutes later, she came back down carrying a large blanket which she forcefully threw on top of Bell before squeezing in with him.

"Rest!" She said with a bright smile that seemed to melt away all of Bell's stress and worries.

"Yeah, thanks," Bell said, returning the smile.

Being an only child, Bell wondered if this was what having a younger sister was like. He knew that he occasionally treated Lily like she was younger than him but he knew he relied on her in the Dungeon more than anyone else in the Familia to really consider her like a younger sister. So having a cute smaller girl try to pamper him like this made him unbelievably happy.

Caster came out of the kitchen holding a steaming mug of milk in his hands. He stopped and stared at the couch for a moment as Bell felt his cheeks light up in embarrassment before the king gave an amused snort and disappeared up the stairs to return to his office.

For a moment Bell thought Caster was going to hand Bell the cup of milk before chuckling to himself. There was no way a king would serve someone like that.

"Hmm? When did that get there?"

Assassin's words caused Bell to look at the table in front of the couch where two steaming mugs of milk were sitting there untouched.

Bell then remembered something Archer said to Caster several weeks ago.

"It really would kill you to be honest, huh?"

"Thank you my king," Bell gave his quiet thanks to Caster before Assassin slipped out from under the blanket and handed Bell the mug while taking the other for herself.

The milk was good and warmed Bell's body up to the point that he felt he was overly comfortable and could simply just melt away.

Come to think of it, he wondered where the milk came from. Lately there was always a large container of it bearing the Familia Emblem of two cow horns on the ends of a horseshoe in the storage but he and Lily never think to buy it when they shop for dinner and Hestia tended to only bring back leftovers from her stand for food. It was possible Archer had bought some before he left on the expedition but any that he would have bought before the Loki Familia Expedition would have gone sour already.

That left…

"…It can't be…right?" Bell muttered as he took another sip of his drink.

X-x-X-x-X

Lily came home around dinnertime, having spent the day taking care of her friend who had caught a cold from not drying himself off properly after a bath.

She apologized profusely to Bell for not being around to help but Bell didn't mind. Her friend had fallen ill as well after all. And since they were an older person living alone, it would have been even more dangerous if Lily hadn't been there to help him.

"Still…" Lily muttered as Bell waved off her apology.

"Well, what's done is done," Bell said as a sleeping Assassin had her head against Bell's shoulder. "Did you eat yet? Although I'm not sure if we have any food lying around since the goddess hasn't returned yet."

"Lily already ate when she cooked dinner for Mr Bom so she's not hungry either," Lily replied as she sat down on the couch beside Bell as well. "Did Lord Caster eat yet?"

"I think he left to go investigate those rumors earlier," Bell replied. "At the very least, I don't think he's home right now."

"Is that so?"

A comfortable silence fell between the two with the only sounds being Assassin soft snoring.

"Is…Master Archer all right?" Lily asked.

"I don't know," Bell replied as he rubbed a hand over his chest before staring down at his feet. "But at the very least, I still feel a presence somewhere below us. I'm still connected to Archer and the others after all."

Bell looked at the back of his left hand where two of the remaining Command Spells could still be seen.

"Those are what makes Bell a 'Master' right?" Lily asked as Bell nodded. Lily then took off her glove on her left hand and stared at the back of her hand. "Lily wonders if she could become one too."

"Oh, did you want to summon Heroes too?" Bell asked but Lily shook her head.

"If Lily could take over the upkeep of one of the Servants for Bell then something like his won't happen again, right?" Lily pointed out. "Lily is supposed to be your Supporter so she should at least help support the Servants as well."

"Well, my Magic is growing twice as fast as my other Status so it shouldn't be as bad again unless everyone goes at full strength, something that shouldn't happen so long as we're still on the Upper Floors."

"Lily suppose so…" Lily muttered as she looked to the side. "The Monsters on the surface are all weaker than the Orcs on Floor Eleven as well. Outside of the One-Eyed Black Dragon anyway."

"The last of the three Grand Quests…" Bell said thoughtfully. "I don't suppose Saber could take it on? He did slay a powerful dragon in his Legend."

"Lily thinks sending a single person, Servant or not, to fight that dragon alone is like sending a child without a Falna to fight a Minotaur…"

"Ahaha, I suppose you have a point there. Even fighting a Floor Boss alone is insanity."

And Ais Wallenstein, the Sword Princess, did just that. And a Floor Boss that spawned other monsters to help it fight at that.

She was only a few years older than Bell and yet she could do something like that already. She was already someone who could stand beside Archer and the others. What could Bell do to hurry and catch up to his dream?

Thinking back to some of the old legends his grandfather told him about, he recalled more than a few heroes studied under teachers…perhaps he could find one for himself? No…he already had one in the form of Archer and possibly Saber later on. There was no need to hire an outsider for it.

There was no shortcut to being a hero. Bell would have to find the path himself.

"Come to think of it, where is Master Saber?" Lily asked.

"He went to let Welf know a bit of what happened but he hasn't returned yet."

"Lily wonders if Master Welf is going to ask to look at Master Saber's sword more closely. Lord Caster mentioned that he had the original blade in his treasury didn't he?"

"Huh? He did?"

"Well, not in those words but he was rather upset at how Master Saber called his sword 'Gram' remember?"

Bell did. Caster seemed angry that Saber's sword looked the way it did which meant that Caster knew what the sword 'Gram' looked like before it was reforged to look like that. It most likely meant he had it in his possession or something.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, causing Lily and Bell to look at each other.

"…None of us invited any guests, right?" Bell asked as Lily shook her head.

The bell rang again, causing Assassin to let out a noise of annoyance as she shifted on the couch.

"Lily will go see who it is," Lily said as she hopped off the couch and ran toward the front door.

A minute later, Lily came in with a familiar face in tow.

"Miss Ryuu?" Bell asked in surprise to see the elf waitress from the Hostess of Fertility coming in with a basket in her hand.

"Good evening Mister Cranel," Ryuu said with a bow. "On behalf of Syr, I've brought some dinner for you. Syr would have come herself but she couldn't leave work."

"Oh no! You didn't have to do that!" Bell said quickly as he stood up, only to falter a bit as a bout of dizziness overcame him, causing him to sit back down. "U-uuu…"

"Please do not get up on my account," Ryuu replied. "And it was no trouble at all. Today was my day off from work so I lose nothing from doing this delivery."

"Is that so…? Ah!" Bell asked before quickly turning to his left, having forgotten that Assassin was sleeping against him, only to see that she was still sound asleep, having fallen over on the other side.

"Hmm? Did you have a little sister?" Ryuu asked, looking at Assassin curiously.

"Well, she is family," Lily said with a smile. "Her name is Jack and she joined yesterday."

"I see," Ryuu nodded with a smile. "It's a good feeling when your Familia grows, isn't it?"

"Yes," Bell nodded as he draped the blanket back over Assassin.

As Lily took the food into the Kitchen, Bell offered Ryuu a seat to which she accepted and sat down on an armchair beside the couch.

"Are you feeling better?" Ryuu asked. "I could leave if you think you are straining yourself."

"No, I've been sleeping most of the day so I'm a bit restless right now," Bell admitted with a laugh.

"I see, but are you all right? It's rather rare for Adventurers to catch colds."

"I don't think I've been poisoned or anything but I think I overdid it yesterday in the Dungeon and got Mind Down today. Three Infant Dragons showed up on the Eleventh Floor so it was pretty hectic."

"Three of them!?" Ryuu repeated, her eyes widening. "At the same time? That's…rather unbelievably unlucky…"

"You're telling me…" Bell said with another chuckle. "If Saber hadn't been there I think everyone would have been in a lot of trouble."

Ryuu nodded her head as she stroked her chin in thought.

"You mentioned it to the Guild when you returned, correct?" Ryuu asked and Bell nodded.

"Yeah. Miss Eina, my Advisor, was rather frantic…especially since we just had that Minotaur appear on the Ninth Floor…" Bell muttered before trailing off as Ryuu gave another nod.

"Yes…the Dungeon tends to be unpredictable but this is well beyond anything natural…did someone lure the dragons I wonder…?"

Ryuu suddenly fell silent as she covered her mouth with her hand, deep in thought.

Luring the dragons…Bell couldn't think of anything that could do that…except perhaps a Dragon Slayer…?

Did Saber attract dragons just by being near them? Perhaps between flight and fight, dragons chose to fight in the presence of a Dragon Slayer?

"I'm sorry but I have to check on something," Ryuu suddenly said as she stood up. "Please get well soon, Mister Cranel."

"Huh? Uh…sure. Take care, Miss Ryuu."

As Ryuu stood up and moved to leave, she suddenly stopped and turned back to Bell.

"Mr Cranel," she began. "I have some advice, if you would have it?"

"Hmm? Of course."

Bell wasn't stupid enough to not listen to advice from someone who was obviously a former Adventurer. Especially not when it was freely given.

"The Dungeon is a dangerous existence," Ryuu began. "Each incident that happens there may be small in of itself but they will add up over time. It is a beast that excels at hunting its prey. Whether by striking when their guard its down or by wearing it down physically and mentally before sinking its fangs in. So please be careful."

"…I understand. Thank you."

With that, the elf girl gave Bell a quick bow before leaving.

"Hmm? Did she leave already?" Lily asked as she came back into the living area. "Lily thought she was going to talk with Bell for a while or at least stay for dinner."

"She must have remembered an errand," Bell said as Assassin slowly sat up and started rubbing her eyes.

"…Something smells yummy…" Assassin mumbled.

"I guess it's about time to eat, huh?" Bell asked. "That means it's about time for-"

"I'M HOME!"

"For the loudmouth goddess to come back," Lily finished for Bell as the door was kicked open and for Hestia to rush into the living room and dive toward Bell and Assassin. "I missed you two so much! Oh and you too, Miss Supporter."

Rather than get angry, Lily simply sighed with a wry smile on her face as Hestia hugged Bell and Assassin in her arms.

"Welcome back, Mommy Hestia!"

"Welcome back, Goddess. Did you get in trouble for being late?"

"My boss was really understanding and it wasn't the busy time yet so everything is a-okay! I didn't get paid for the missed hour though…ugh…I'll never pay Caster back like this."

"Lily doesn't think it would ever be possible for Lady Hestia to pay back that kind of debt in Bell's lifetime…" Lily pointed out. "Lord Caster probably doesn't expect to be paid back and is just holding that debt over Lady Hestia so she doesn't just sit around all day snacking while reading books."

"Oh, he definitely is…" Hestia grumbled before sniffing the air. "I smell food. Did you buy something, Miss Supporter?"

"No, one of the waitresses at the pub gave it to us," Bell replied.

"Hmm…is that so…" Hestia grumbled before shrugging her shoulders. "Well, food is food, so let's get to eating!"

Taking Assassin by the hand, Hestia led them to the dining room as Lily let out another long sigh before she and Bell followed her.

X-x-X-x-X

Come the next morning, Bell felt much more refreshed and rested when he came down to breakfast and found Saber sitting at the table.

"Good morning, Bell," Saber greeted him as he lowered his head a bit. "My apologies for coming home late yesterday."

"It's fine," Bell replied with a smile and a wave. "Were you with Welf all day yesterday?"

"Yes. He wished to examine my blades and I saw no reason to decline as it would only benefit you in the long run as well if your personal blacksmith learned another trick or two."

"And what is your professional opinion on him as a blacksmith?"

Bell turned around and stepped to the side as Caster came in as well.

"He has potential but he is holding himself back," Saber replied as Caster sat down in his seat at the head of the table while Bell sat down as well.

"Oh?"

"It feels as though he is avoiding the use of certain techniques known by the mortals of this world and it is the reason he is ostracized in his own Familia for it."

"It's because he can make Magic Swords!"

An interruption came in the form of Hestia as she came down with Assassin and Lily behind her.

"Magic Swords?" Bell asked. "You mean those super expensive blades that hold spells inside them?"

"That's right," Hestia said as she and Assassin sat down beside each other while Lily sat down beside Bell. "I heard about your new party member from Lily. Crozzo's Magic Swords are rather famous in Gekai though I don't know much about the family itself outside the usual rumors and legends. Hephaistos said that they are mostly true though."

"You mean how they can burn the seas?" Lily asked.

"Yep, though the family lost that power for some reason," Hestia said as she folded her arms and tilted her head to the side. "I think it has something to do with the fact that their Magic Swords were always being used in Rakia's war and conquest and ended up burning down the Forests of the Elves and so the Spirits abandoned them or something. Welf however, somehow kept his ability to make those powerful Magic Swords."

"Hoh…to think that there would be another interesting mongrel in this city of mediocrity," Caster said with an interested look.

"Wait…I thought Magic Swords can only be made after you get the Development Ability Blacksmith…" Bell said. "At least, that's what Miss Eina told me during one of our lessons…"

"That's normally the case," Hestia nodded. "But Welf can do so regardless. It must be his family's bloodline or a Skill that's passed down through the family somehow…"

Hestia then quickly shook her head as she was going off topic.

"In any case, even though his family can no longer make them for some reason or another, Welf can. But for some reason, he doesn't want to make them. If he did, his name would be famous and clients would be knocking at his door, but he doesn't. He's so stubborn that he even turned down a chair at the High Smiths' table."

Hephaistos's High Smiths were Smiths who had reached Level 2 and were able to make creations that passed muster from the Goddess and a panel of executives. If it passed, they were allowed to use Hephaistos's signature "Hφαιστος" on their weapon, a very high honor for a Smith.

"I see…" Caster said with a sigh. "What a waste of talent."

And just like that, Caster seemed to lose all interest in Welf.

"I've no need for someone who refuses their own nature and calling. If he wishes to live in the mud instead of somewhere appropriate of his station, then it is his failing."

"Lily can't understand why someone wouldn't want to use everything they have to make money…" Lily muttered. "Lily agrees with Lord Caster…it's such a waste…"

"I see…" Bell muttered.

He finally understood why Welf was acting the way he did the other way. He had the potential to easily join the High Smiths and make all the money he wanted just because he's a descendant of the Crozzo family and squandered it. From the perspective of someone who valued exceptional talent like Caster and someone as heavily money conscious as Lily, it certainly would seem like a waste.

"Well, it's up to you whether or not you want to keep him in the party," Hestia said. "Everyone has a secret or two hidden from others after all."

"…What do you think Lily?" Bell asked, not wanting to make the decision by himself again.

"…Lily thinks that while Master Welf is insane for not wanting to make hundreds of thousands of Valis with a single Magic Sword, Lily thinks that he is at least competent in the Dungeon and Bell could leave the weaker monsters to him."

"And another person to keep Lily safe!" Assassin chimed in for the first time since she arrived as Lily puffed her cheeks at her.

"In any case, shall we enter the Dungeon today?" Saber asked.

"Yeah, we should make up for lost time," Bell said with a nod.

With the meeting done, the Hestia Familia Adventurers stood up, bid goodbye to their Captain and Goddess and headed out to the meeting place.

There, they found Welf waiting for them as usual with a second large sword by his side.

"Yo Bell!" Welf called out. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, sorry to worry you," Bell said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"No problem, I got a lot done thanks to Saber's help yesterday," Welf said as the knight gave a small bow in acknowledgement. "Oh and I got a little something for you."

Welf then handed the wrapped up sword to Bell who took it with a bright smile.

"Ohh, a sword!" Bell said as he examined the large white blade.

"Saber said that you were looking for something with a little more reach and weight to it. It was a thing I made a while back but couldn't sell but…"

"That's fine!" Bell said happily as he returned it to his sheath before Lily took it and hooked it onto her bag. "I'll take it! Ah, do you need any payment?"

"Nah, like I said, it's basically surplus goods. Better it be used than broken down or collecting dust. You're actually doing me a favor taking it. Besides, our contract, remember?"

"Ohhh, right."

"Then, that should be everything right?" Lily asked as she stood back up with her backpack behind her.

"Do you not have any Magic Swords?" Assassin suddenly asked causing Bell and Lily to whirl around at the girl innocently bellyflopping onto what was clearly a landmine for Welf. "Mommy Hestia was talking about how you can make all sorts of cool magic swords!"

"Ahh…" Welf let out a strange sound. "Right…our goddesses were friends, weren't they?"

Bell was worried that Welf might get angry but either because he expected such a question or because Assassin looked to be still rather young that he didn't seem to get angry, simply resigned.

"Well…it's because I don't like them," Welf said honestly.

"Oh," Assassin replied simply. "Okay then."

"…That's it?"

"Yep! Why should you make something you don't like? Right?"

Assassin ended her statement with a nod and a question before tilting her head to the side as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Welf stared at her for a moment before throwing his head back out in laughter as if he didn't expect such a response.

"Yeah…it really should be that simple, shouldn't it?" Welf muttered as he scratched the back of his head. "…What about you, Bell?"

"Umm…I won't claim to understand completely why you don't want to make Magic Swords," Bell admitted as he and Lily shared a glance. "But if you don't want to then like Jack said, there's no reason to try and make you, right?"

"Lily would like a little more reason than that but she won't pry deeper if Master Welf doesn't want to talk about it," Lily said as well.

"Hmm…guess that's fair…" Welf nodded. "Basically…you know how Magic Swords break after a few uses, right?"

"Yes. That's a reason why it makes them so rare."

"Well, that's pretty much the biggest reason. Swords…and all equipment really, shouldn't be something you just use and discard when you're done. They should be something that stays with you as long as possible. Truth be told, although I put out things like that armor and sword out in the shop all the time, even though they don't sell, I still get people coming to me as clients."

"…They do not care for the items you wish to make but are instead after your Magic Swords," Saber said, not as a question but as a statement to which Welf nodded.

"Yep. One after another. It's always Magic Sword this or Magic Sword that…actually… Bell…you were the first person to buy one of my armors and actually come back to request more of it…so…not to get all sappy and all but it made me really happy."

"Hmm? Bell wasn't your first customer period?" Lily asked as Bell looked embarrassed at Welf's words.

"Well…someone bought one of my blades but returned it soon after," Welf answered with a bitter face. "Probably thought it was a Magic Sword or something…"

"I see…" Saber nodded. "But…how did your bloodline come across such a power in the first place? The usual answer would be that you have some non-mortal blood in you like a Spirit or a Dragon."

Bell felt that Saber was speaking from experience, considering one of his skills but Welf let out a dry laugh.

"Got it in one…" he said with a sigh. "The legend passed down in our family is that our great ancestor saved the life of a Spirit at nearly the cost of his own. The Spirit then gave some of its own blood to him as it desperately tried to save his life."

"Then…your Ancestor became a hero?" Bell asked unable to keep his excitement in check.

"Nope. He just got healed and the two went their separate ways in thanks of the other until the old man had a family and died of age. The Spirit's blood remained though as it passed through his descendants…and then to me. Though the blood didn't really do anything until the Gods came down and blessed us with the Falna."

"I see…" Saber nodded. "So it became a Skill after all."

"Nothing gets passed your eyes, do they?" Welf said with a wry grin as Saber responded by adjusting his glasses slightly. "But yeah. Thanks to that we could make those super-charged Magic Swords…until we suddenly couldn't then it all went downhill just like Lil'Ly said. After the swords burned down the forests of the elves I guess the Spirit who initially blessed our bloodline got pissed cuz nearly every single Magic Sword we ever made…ones on the battlefield, ones in a vault, ones fresh out of the forge, they all started crumbling to dust."

It was said that some Spirits were especially in-tune with nature and thus made them friends with the various elven people who made the forests their home.

"Then how come Master Welf could suddenly make them?" Lily asked.

"Hell if I know. All I know is that one day, the Skill appeared and I could suddenly make them, then the old man wanted me to make them and restore our family name. 'Make a tool the king would appreciate,' was what he said but not in so many words. Weapons aren't like that, not even close. Weapons become part of their wielder, something they can rely on. Who can rely on something like a Magic Sword that might break when you need it most…? Who needs something that will guarantee break before its wielder?"

Bell understood now. It was basically a matter of Welf's philosophy.

"Lily understands," Lily said with a nod. "But Lily thinks that Master Welf should at least consider making at least one to keep on hand."

"Why is that?"

"Does Master Welf not remember what happened two days ago? Three Infant Dragons came at us. If there was not a veteran like Master Saber with us, how many people would have died there? It's not as though Bell can fire off spells with that strength in rapid succession and Lily knows that he would not accept running away and leaving everyone else to fight."

Welf doesn't say anything as he glanced over at Saber and Bell.

"Lily isn't saying that Master Welf should throw away his way his ideals, but Master Welf should consider situations where a Magic Sword can be the only thing standing between life and death."

Bell knew that Lily took the dangers of the Dungeon very seriously, probably even more than Eina did. The encounter with the minotaur and the Infant Dragons would no doubt reinforce such thoughts. The idea that they could have something that would allow them to possibly stand against an enemy that would normally be impossible to defeat or one they could only run away from was probably too tempting for her to be silent.

It wasn't as though Bell was completely uninterested either, but…

"Lily, if Welf doesn't want to make them then we shouldn't force him," Bell said.

"Lily understands," she said with a nod toward Bell. "It's the same reason Lily hasn't begged Lord Caster for anything more than her ring." She then turned back to Welf. "But please keep it in mind for the future. The Upper Levels are still fine but it is not unusual for the Middle Floors to have mass spawns in each room."

"…I'll think about it," Welf gave in after a long bout of silence as Assassin raised a hand.

"Umm…do Magic Swords always break?" She asked. "Can't you make a sword that doesn't break?"

Welf opened his mouth to respond before slowly shutting it as he covered it with his mouth, his eyes moving from the Hestia Knife on Bell's waist to the sword on Saber's back as if trying to come up with an idea.

"A question for another time," Saber said as he walked toward Welf and patted him on the shoulder. "For now, the Dungeon awaits."

"Right," Welf nodded suddenly looking much happier, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Can't make anything without any Drop Items after all."

And so, Bell's party of Adventurers entered the Dungeon once more.