Bell dreamed. This time his dream brought the boy in the green and black-checkered garb, entering a forest deep in the night together with the pig-headed Demon Slayer. Bell did not like it one bit. He felt like another tragedy would follow.
He was right. After the two entered the forest, everything felt like a nightmare to Bell. A fellow Demon Slayer attacking the two. Then they found out about the little spiders and the string controlling the Demon Slayers. But it was not a solution at all. Not long after they found where the perpetrator was, the boy in the green and black-checkered garb had to gasp when the controlled Demon Slayer asked him to kill them.
No! Bell wanted to close his eyes, to avert his gaze from the situation. He did not want to see the gentle boy killing fellow humans. But Bell found that he couldn't close his eyes. He was not seeing the dream. He was feeling it.
In the end, the boy rose up. He tangled the string controlling the Demon Slayers into trees, effectively eliminating them without killing anybody. Bell gasped in surprise and cried in relief. That sort of quick thinking under pressure was another thing that he admired about the boy. When the more straightforward option was just to kill them, he stuck to his own value that life was precious and came out of the situation with the least amount of bloodshed.
But all of that effort was for naught as the perpetrator killed all the Demon Slayers it controlled. Bell wanted to scream at the injustice. Why did the Demon do that!? It wasn't fair. The boy did everything he could to prevent life loss, but the Demon trampled over all the effort. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all!
His scream went unanswered. All he could do was watch, feel as the dream continued. He saw the pigheaded boy and the boy in the green and black-checkered garb combined their might to kill a headless puppet. After that, the pigheaded boy threw the boy into the air in the direction of the perpetrator.
Indeed. The boy could see the white-haired Demon controlling everyone with its strings like a plaything. He readied himself to use the First Style. Bell cheered. But then things changed, and it amazed Bell. The Demon did not resist its fate. Instead of fighting to ward off death, the Demon embraced death that was coming towards it.
And so, the kindhearted Demon Slayer changed his stance and slashed its neck.
There was no scream, for the Fifth Style could only be used when the opponent offered their own neck.
A sword strike of kindness.
The boy looked at the flying head in sympathy. There was no resentment. There was no anger. The boy only looked at the soon to be dead Demon with such a gentle look. And that kindness was paid back. The Demon told him that there was a Twelve Demon Moon member, twelve strongest Demon outside the progenitor, as it turned to ashes.
Bell was stunned. He could not tear his eyes from the beautiful scenery—a kind boy who understood and sympathize but did not forgive and a Demon who paid back kindness with kindness. This was what he was trying to achieve, and yet the emotions when the Demon killed all those people still got to him. Without even realizing it, tears began to fall from his eyes.
He wasn't wrong. The path he was trying to follow wasn't wrong. But there was still a long distance before Bell could proudly say he was close to the boy. Bell reached out his hand towards the figure of the boy, but he couldn't grasp the boy in the green and black-checkered garb.
Bell woke up.
"Bell?" Hestia, who was, as usual, slept with him, rubbed her eyes when she felt him disturbing her sleep. "What's wrong? You're crying!"
Indeed. The tears Bell felt falling down on his cheeks in his dream, was also there when he woke up.
"Was it a nightmare? Don't worry, Bell. I'm here. Your beloved Goddess is here." Hestia fussed over him as she wiped the tears off his face. "..was it the dream you've been having?"
Bell nodded. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he then spoke towards his Goddess. "Goddess... I still have a long way to go until I can proudly stand beside him."
"Can you..." Hestia bit her lip. "Can you tell me the dream in detail?"
And so Bell spent the morning before his usual run telling the story of a boy in the green and black-checkered garb to Hestia.
(He had to stop at a certain point because he wanted to go on his morning run, but he promised his Goddess that he would tell all about it later. He wouldn't forget everything he saw and feel inside the dream because he could recall everything clearly.
Even so, Hestia pushed him to write his dream into a sort of personal diary. Bell might do that later after he bought pens and a blank notebook.)
Gasping for breath, Bell sat down on the streets after an intense sparring session with Ryuu as was usual. The area around them was wet from the water Bell conjured from his skill, but Bell did not care. All he cared about was returning his heartbeat back to normal to stop the gasp of breath.
"Congratulations, Mr. Cranel. You're improving again," Ryuu spoke to him after he calmed down a little. "You are a fast learner."
"I... still cannot make you... tired... though..."
"That's simply the difference in experience between us."
Ryuu was her usual stoic self. However, this time Bell felt something different from the usual coming from her. He let out a smile that caught her attention.
"Is there something wrong, Mr. Cranel?"
He was glad that he was so important to her that she would put aside her feeling of sorrow and anger deep inside her to help him get stronger. So he would like to help her back by continuing their training session. Maybe... just maybe... sometimes in the future, she would let go of the sorrow and smile happily.
He learned his lesson, though, so he would not mention anything about it because he was sure if he did, he would just make Ryuu sadder.
"Nothing, Miss Lion. I'm glad I can train with you every day."
There was a sound of gasping coming not from Bell. The two of them looked towards the source to see Syr closing her open mouth with her hand.
"Bell, to think that you're flirting with Ryuu... am I just a stepping stone?" She faked being in tears, but Bell knew her enough that he wouldn't be fooled this time.
"Syr. This isn't what it looks like-"
And, of course, the straightforward serious Ryuu would be fooled by Syr's act.
"-Mr. Cranel. Please convince Syr that you are not flirting with me."
Bell just looked at Syr flatly. "You can stop the fake tears, Syr."
"Ugh, Bell. You ruin my fun~." Syr pouted at him. On the side, Ryuu was gaping at Syr. Did she seriously think Syr was not teasing them?
"It's because I'm starting to understand you, Syr. Also, I feel bad for Miss Lion."
Syr's face reddened in embarrassment. "Oh Bell, you charming Adventurer you."
Bell just scratched his cheek, laughing sheepishly. It wasn't like he was flirting with Syr either. It was just the truth. He was beginning to understand the people around him. His Goddess, Hestia; his advisor, Eina; Syr; his teacher, Ryuu; his Supporter, Lili; the townspeople who greeted him every morning; every person he knew, he tried to understand them all.
Because of that, he knew the fact that Syr was interested in him, and he was really flattered by the interest. Sometimes, he looked at the sky and saw his Grandpa grinning at him, offering his thumb-up as if to say 'Go, Bell!' But he already had a crush on someone else, and it wouldn't be fair to Syr if he reciprocated when his heart was not all for her. And no, whatever his Grandpa was saying about harem, it was an impossibility from the start.
Syr offered two bottles of water for him and Ryuu to quench their thirst and recover their water level.
Still, from his understanding, Syr liked being playful with him and everyone else. That was sort of her... defense mechanism? He was sure if he rejected her, she would deflect it by being playful. And despite the fact that she liked him, she hadn't been aggressive from the start, so Bell concluded that Syr enjoyed the budding friendship they had now.
And besides, as much as he ignored his Grandpa's teaching, some of them were quite logical, such as this one he remembered that was related to the situation at hand.
Do not reject a girl before she confessed to you.
"Here, Bell." Syr offered him her boxed lunch wrapped in a neat cloth. "This is for today's lunch."
"Thanks, Syr."
She then went back towards the Hostess of Fertility, leaving Ryuu and him to continue the morning training.
"Mr. Cranel. I really appreciate you eating Syr's cooking," Ryuu then narrowed her eyes towards him. "You ate them, right?"
Did she think Bell dumped the content in the trash or something? He was not rude.
"Of course!"
"I'm sorry," Despite the apology, Ryuu still had her usually stoic face. "But you must have known how it was from the first time she gave it to you. I simply had to make sure..."
"I understand. I grew up on a farm, Miss Lion. I know how hard it is to raise crops until they grew into ingredients we can harvest to make food. There is no way I would waste food. That said, Syr is improving! You can't see it without tasting it."
"...Are you sure?"
"I'm very sure. The lunch I ate yesterday didn't stop my breath at all compared to her earlier lunch that stopped my breathing for several seconds..."
Ryuu looked stunned at Bell's answer.
"Are you okay?"
Bell blinked in confusion. "What?"
"Please wait here."
Then Ryuu ran towards the Hostess of Fertility.
Why did Ryuu look so concerned about him? It wasn't like he was unwell...
His mind connected the dots. Stupid! He abandoned Ryuu's advice of waiting there and immediately ran following Ryuu.
"Miss Lionnnnnnn!"
(In the end, they cleared the misunderstandings. When Bell said the lunch stopped his breathing, he did not mean he stopped breathing. It was a confusing explanation from a tongue-tied Bell who had to clarify the meanings of his sentences, but in the end, they all got the gist of it.)
Bell met up with Lili before he entered the Dungeon like the past two days.
"What's wrong, Master Bell? You look like you're drained."
Bell just sighed, hearing Lili's question. "Nothing. Explaining things without explaining anything is harder than it sounds..."
The truth of the matter was, Bell did not want to explain how his breathing technique works. He promised himself that he would only divulge it to fellow Familia members. Ryuu and the rest of the Hostess of Fertility employees weren't. So he had to use creative liberty in explaining why 'the lunch stopped my breath' did not mean 'I stopped breathing' without actually explaining how he breathed.
Gods, even that sounded confusing in his mind. Bell shook his head to clear his thought and walked inside the Dungeon together with Lili. This was not the time for reminiscing. One should not lose concentration inside the Dungeon lest the Dungeon swallowed them.
He started using his Breath of Water on the first goblin he saw.
"You're using your skill sooner than before, Master Bell."
"...I want to reach the ninth floor today."
"...At this point, one floor every one day wouldn't be strange coming from you, Master Bell," Lili deadpanned to him.
As usual, Bell prayed for all monsters he killed on the way to the ninth floor. Lili quietly carved out the magic stones from the corpses Bell left behind. There was virtually no trouble from monsters or even from other Familias.
When they set foot on the seventh floor, though, Bell felt something.
Something terrible was in the air.
"Did you feel that, Miss Arde?"
"Feel what, Master Bell?"
So a no. Now that the two were on the seventh floor, the feeling Bell had grown sharper. This was not something that he felt when he entered the seventh floor yesterday or two days ago. Yesterday, everything was normal.
But now, Bell felt dread whenever he took another step forward.
"Master Bell?"
Should he go back now? The last time he felt something like this inside the Dungeon was when he encountered the Minotaur on the fifth floor. Back then, he ignored the feeling, thinking that it was just his fear of the unknown. Now he knew better than to ignore it. Ryuu's advice to always follow it had not proven itself wrong.
"Brace yourself, Miss Arde. Something is going to happen," Bell unsheathed his sword in preparation.
"What thing, Master Bell?"
"I don't know. Anything bad can happen. Just prepare yourself," he replied without looking back towards his Supporter.
He was concentrating on pinpointing where he felt the malice coming from.
A monster or several of them, Bell concluded. There was no doubt about it. No human could ever evoke such a feeling of malice inside the Dungeon. The question was where.
"Miss Arde," Bell spoke when he felt a burst of dread coming towards them. "Follow me."
Still using his breathing technique, Bell sprinted towards a specific direction where the malice and dread coming. Malice from the monsters. Dread from a cornered Adventurers. There was no mistaking it!
"M-Master Bell, wait for Lili!"
Some Adventurers were about to die!
The both of them heard a painful wail coming from the direction Bell was heading to. All inside Bell's mind were prayers, but this time, it was not for the monsters to have peace of mind. This time, it was prayers to his Goddess. To other famous Gods and Goddess name that he knew. He prayed that he would not be too late.
When they arrived, it was to see a lone Adventurer's limp body on the ground. Blood was everywhere around the body. However, it was not the most attention-cathing thing they saw. The thing that caught their attention the most were five bloody Killer Ants hanging around the dead body.
He heard Lili gasped behind him, but he paid it no mind. His prayers went unanswered, but he paid it no mind.
His mind was recalling the dream he had last night up to every detail. He couldn't help but see the dead Adventurer's body superimposed with the dead Demon Slayers in his dream.
And so everything fell into place.
There were two paths that Bell could take. He could lose himself in rage and furiously kill all the monsters in the name of revenge for the dead Adventurer. However, he wouldn't know what await him at the end of that path.
The other path, the one path that he no doubted would take, was mercy and sympathy, but not above duty.
He would not lie and say that he understood why the monsters killed the Adventurer. Still, he would not torture them over killing a fellow Adventurer, nor would he stop praying for their peace of mind upon killing them. But he understood that it was a natural order of things. Monsters killed Adventurers. Adventurers killed monsters. This time, this one Adventurers went unlucky and had to die. In return, Bell would kill the monsters who killed him.
Letting out his breath, Bell prepared himself for a stance.
Breath of Water, Third Style: Dance of the Swift Current!
He danced around the Killer Ants, decapitating two in the process. They realized another threat was coming, and began to call for reinforcement. But Bell put their effor for naught. With a swing of his sword, he slashed two more, killing them instantly. The last one realized that calling for help would waste too much time and ran.
But Bell would never let it go away.
Breath of Water, Second Style: Water Wheel!
A wheel of water struck the last Killer Ants, stopping its run. Bell took no time to close the gap and slashed its neck, killing it.
Sheathing his sword back to his waist, Bell looked around, trying to gauge if more of their kind would appear from the distress call. When after ten seconds nothing came out, Bell spoke to Lili.
"Miss Arde, take out the magic stones and put it on a different sack," Bell requested to his Supporter.
"R-Right."
And then Bell prayed for the five Killer Ants he just killed.
He heard Lili gasped again behind him. "Are you serious, Master Bell!? Those Killer Ants had just killed a fellow Adventurers... and you still pray for them!?"
Bell, who had just finished the prayers, looked towards the fuming Lili and smiled. As he was about to open his mouth, however, Lili cut him off.
"Don't give Lili the crap about 'born that way' or something! They are just mindless monsters! Mindless monsters who had just killed someone in front of your eyes! Do you place monsters above your own kinds!?" Lili looked at him in the eyes, glaring at his slight.
Hearing this, Bell could only laugh.
"I like this fiery Miss Arde more than the usual submissive Miss Arde."
That put a shocked Lili into embarrassment. "Th-That's not the problem here!"
"As for your question... I hope you don't mind ending our excursion for today."
"...Huh?"
Bell then moved towards the dead Adventurer's lifeless body. He was still young. Older than him, for sure, if the slight stubble of beard on his chin didn't spell it, but compared to other senior Adventurers around Orario, he was still young. Probably just about to enter the 20s.
Now he wouldn't even feel the joy of coming back home. Nor could he enjoy the food and drinks he had on the tavern. No families would embrace him and give him thanks for being with them. Nor would a lovely woman be his partner for life. He also wouldn't have a child that he could teach swordsmanship.
This was the end for this stranger that Bell hadn't had the chance to know yet.
"Master Bell? Are you looting the corpse?" Lili asked him as she probably saw him trying to scan for his belongings.
He indeed scanned his belongings, but not for the purpose of looting them. He was trying to find an identifier, a memento from the dead Adventurer.
He found it—a small emblem containing a single Far Eastern character. Bell never had any education on Far Eastern's culture, but he could the character for some reason. 'Ben.' It could mean anything from petals to distinguish. He pocketed it before he took the body and piggybacked it. "I'm ending our delve for the day, Miss Arde. You can take all the stones we've gathered for today, except those from the five Killer Ants. You put it on another sack, right?"
"Lili did, Master Bell. Are you..." Her unasked question was obvious. "Lili is sorry for saying those things!"
He just smiled. "It's fine. Understandable, considering I did pray for the monsters first. But I simply don't want to pray for him before giving him a proper burial above. Let's go."
"Y-Yes..."
The walk back was silent and peaceful. No monsters were attacking them.
"This is strange..." Lili said, breaking the silence.
"What is?" Bell prompted. Their footsteps echoed in the silence.
"This!" Lili pointed out heatedly. "Why are there no monsters coming for us!?"
"Shouldn't you, you know, be grateful instead of complaining?"
"...Ugh, Lili hates that Master Bell is exactly right..."
In the end, they really had not met any resistance inside the Dungeon, to Lili's amazement. When they arrived near the entrance, the people there helpfully pointed out to him what to do when you brought a dead body from the Dungeon. He gave them his thanks and continued towards the Guild.
On the way there, Bell was asked questions from his acquaintances around the city, like where he found the dead body or did he see him dying or not. He patiently answered each of them because he did not want to be rude, but Lili looked at him with a sharp glare for wasting their time chatting instead of going to the Pantheon. So with a sheepish laugh, he excused himself and continued their way.
Inside the Pantheon, Bell and Lili parted ways for the day. As he promised, Lili got everything they gathered today but the small sack containing the magic stones from the five Killer Ants. After she made her way towards the exchange counter, Bell approached a random staff and informed her about a newly deceased Adventurer.
Their responses were quick, just as the helpful Adventurers said to him at the Dungeon entrance. Bell got the information of the dead Adventurer's name and his Familia's name.
Cedric Melo. From Benzaiten Familia, small Familia which was founded several years ago. Bell asked the Guild's staff whether he could be the one delivering the news instead of a representation from the Guild, to which the staff agreed. Bell suspected she just did not want to send her coworker to deliver the bad news. After getting their address, Bell bid goodbye to the staff and made his way towards the Familia house.
It was around the northeast of Orario. On the way there, Bell was thinking about how to deliver the bad news to Benzaiten Familia. He had no prior experience in delivering bad news. However, he knew the feeling of loss. His grandfather left him one day, and the next thing was his neighbor telling him that his beloved Grandpa was dead, attacked by Goblins.
He arrived at the address and knocked on the door, tensing slightly when the door was opened.
The one who opened the door for him was a beautiful figure wearing Far East's kimono.
"Yes? To whom do I owe the pleasure?"
There was no mistaking it. This was the Goddess Benzaiten. Bell opened his mouth but found himself losing his words.
Gods. She was smiling. How could he deliver such bad news to her? No doubt it would ruin her day. Bell gulped.
"Um..."
"Yes?"
He couldn't do it. He couldn't say it. The grief he envisioned she would have when she heard the news was too much for him. But he knew that he had to do it.
"I'm sorry..." In the end, this was the best he could offer. He took out the emblem containing the Far East character and offered it to the Goddess in front of him.
Bell heard a gasp of shock. "My beloved Ced... my beloved Ced..." She reached the emblem and held it on her chest, embracing it tightly, crying for the child she lost.
"His body is still with the Guild, as per the procedure," Bell continued. "I'm sorry..."
"No, thank you for doing this..." She wiped some tears off her face. Despite her tears, it did not mar her beauty at all. "Let me get everyone, and we'll go to the Guild. Thank you... may I know the name of the kind soul who found his body? I assume you found his body, yes?"
She grieved, but it was not as bad as Bell thought. Was this perhaps not her first parting with a Familia member? If so, he underestimated the strength of her heart. Benzaiten was indeed someone worthy of being called a Goddess.
"Yes... My name is Bell. Bell Cranel."
"We are indebted with you, Bell Cranel. Not many would bring up a stranger's dead body above... The usual procedure is usually by fellow Familia members... other people would just loot the bodies. I thank you with the bottom of my heart," she bowed towards him. A Goddess was bowing. She shouldn't have done that, Bell thought to himself.
"Before you go inside..." Bell took the sack containing magic stones from the Killer Ants and offered it to the Goddess. "This is the magic stones from the monsters killing Mr. Melo."
Amidst her tears, she smiled. "A kind soul indeed..."
"Th-Then, I'm off..."
"Mr. Cranel," she called out to him when he was already half a step away. "If you don't mind, would you attend the funeral?"
"...Can I?"
Honestly, this was why he wanted to be the one delivering the news. He wanted to attend the funeral, but coming uninvited was just rude, so he stealthily tried to appeal towards the deceased's Familia.
"We'd be glad for you to be there."
"Thank you so much," Bell bowed towards the Goddess.
The funeral procession was somber. Only some Guild staff, Bell himself, and the rest of Benzainten Familia (Five people, Bell noted inside his mind.) attended the funeral from start to finish. He didn't speak with the other Benzaiten Familia members, preferring to keep his thought inside, but all of them looked like they were decent people.
After everything was finished, everyone went back except Bell, who requested Benzaiten to pray for the dead longer. She accepted with a smile despite her grief, and so Bell was left alone inside the Adventurer's Graveyard, praying in front of the newly buried Cedric Melo's tombstone.
He prayed that Cedric's soul would reach the above safely. He also prayed that Cedric would get a chance to do anything he missed in his next life. He also prayed that Cedric wouldn't hold a grudge against the five Killer Ants he killed. He knew it was a long shot. Not everyone was trying to not hate monsters as he was, but he had to pray. Maybe... just maybe... his prayer was heard by the soul, and he would take it to his next life.
Finishing his prayer, Bell scanned his surroundings; this was his first time going to the Adventurer's Graveyard. He imagined everyone losing their loved ones and couldn't help but feel mournful. This place was the only place they could reach out to those who had left the world. Walking along the path, Bell saw three unmarked and unkempt graves placed far away from the other tombstones.
He wondered whose graves were those as he approached it. Weeds were growing around them, and the unmarked tombstones were full of wild moss. Frowning, Bell came to the graves and began rooting out all the weeds. While he didn't know whose grave these were, it did not sit right with him that such a sacred place was left unkempt.
So it was a surprise for him when somebody greeted him as he was scrapping all the moss on the tombstones.
"I didn't expect to see anyone tending those graves."
Bell looked towards the direction of the voice and saw a blonde-haired man wearing a hat with a single feather tucked on top, three bouquets of flowers in his hands. The divine presence around him obviously telling everyone that he was a God. But this was the first time Bell saw him.
"Good afternoon, Lord God" Bell greeted him back.
"No need for formality. Just call me Hermes," He waved his hand, gesturing for Bell to stop paying so much respect to him.
"I can't do that, Lord Hermes. You are still a God, after all," Bell replied. "Oh, my name is Bell Cranel."
He then continued scrapping the moss. If he paid more attention to the figure, he would undoubtedly see the God widening his eyes and smiling in excitement.
"I have to ask, Bell. May I call you that? As I said, I'm not big on formalities. I have to ask, do you know whose graves are these?"
Bell shook his head, "No. But it's just... seeing these unattended graves... doesn't it feel you with sadness? These were somebody's resting place... and nobody cared enough to clean them regularly."
"Intriguing. What do you gain from cleaning them?" Hermes leaned forward.
"My peace of mind..." Bell then continued a few seconds later. "And theirs, too, I guess."
"Heh, quite intriguing indeed." Hermes then placed each bouquet of flowers on each tombstone.
"Do you know them, perhaps, Lord Hermes?"
"...What if I tell you, they were notorious villains who terrorized the city, killing countless people?"
Bell frowned. "It's hypothetical, am I correct? There's no way a God like you would pay your respect if they are notorious villains."
"If you'd like," Hermes hid his eyes behind the hat.
"Then it changes nothing. But I guess I want to understand why they did those deeds if it was true."
"Why do you want to know?"
"Why? To understand them, of course." Bell looked towards the unmarked tombstone. If it were true, Bell wanted to ask for the reason why they did those terrible deeds. Not because he had the delusion that they could achieve peace if they talked, but because he wanted to understand them.
He would never agree with them. But a notorious villain avenging their fallen comrades by killing the perpetrators, not caring about the collateral damage, and a joker who killed for fun were two different people. They were still criminals. But Bell would be happier fighting the former than the latter.
"Heh. You're really interesting, Bell Cranel. What if I tell you that they were some of the greatest heroes of all time?"
Bell blinked. Now it was on the opposite end? "This is also hypothetical... right?" At Hermes' nod, Bell continued. "Then I'd have to wonder if they were the sort of people who hate noisy crowds."
"R-Really?"
Bell chuckled. "That's just a random thought. I mean, to have requested a God of all people to place their graves separated from others... And those are nameless graves too... I thought it signified them being people who don't like their name to be known to the mass—the heroes who had never been immortalized in heroic tales."
Hermes fell silent after Bell answered, paying all of his attention towards the graves.
"...Bell, would you like to offer your prayer to them?"
"Is it fine? I don't even know them."
"You might not know them, but if they're still around, I'm sure they heard your thought about them and appreciate it."
"Then... here I go." Bell put his hand together and began to pray for the three nameless deceased. He did not know anything about them. But he prayed that they would have peace of mind upon death. Were they remorseless killers, he prayed that they would feel remorse. Were they great heroes, he prayed that they would receive the best treatment after death above. Were they just normal Adventurers who died on the line of duty, he prayed that they would not have any regrets.
"I'm done." To his side, Bell saw Hermes still paying his respect for them.
Now he really wondered who they were, to have gained respect from a God.
"Thank you, Bell, for indulging me like this," Hermes said after he finished praying for them.
"No, no, it's my pleasure."
"What Level are you, Bell. I'm curious. Not many would start gaining respect for the dead early. At least, not until they have a brush with death," Hermes asked him with a little more curiosity than he should have for a no-name Adventurer like him.
But Bell did not feel any malice coming from him, so he answered the question with a smile. "I started three weeks ago."
"Truly?" There was a surprise on his face. "But you look strong already, Bell. Say, would you be interested in joining my Familia? Hermes Familia is quite famous around Orario, you know?"
"No way, no way, I still have a long way to go until somebody can call me strong. Although, I'm sorry, Lord Hermes. I promise I would never leave my Goddess Hestia."
"Aha, I see. You're Hestia's kid, huh? Take good care of her, okay, Bell. She's my friend, and I want to see her succeed."
"Definitely, Lord Hermes."
"Incidentally, Bell. You said you only started three weeks ago, right? What are you doing here before you stumbled upon these graves? I hope nothing bad happened. You look like a good kid."
Bell just laughed sheepishly, being called a good kid. "I found an Adventurer's dead body in the Dungeon, so I brought his body up and helped the funeral procession."
"My condolence... is it someone you know?"
"No," he answered honestly. "But I got the information about him from the Guild, and later I was told of his accomplishment by his Goddess. So I feel like I know him already," Bell smiled, then his expression turned somber. "I couldn't leave him be. So I took responsibility, brought his body back up, delivered the bad news, and helped in the funeral procession."
"I see... would you do this again if you see another dead body? I'm honestly curious, Bell. Not many would do what you did, and I am happy that Orario still has someone like you."
"Of course," Bell smiled towards Hermes. "To me, kindness begets kindness. That was just me giving kindness to Benzaiten Familia. I'm not hoping for something from them, but I'm sure in the future, someone else will help me if I have a hard time."
Hermes frowned. "That's quite naive of you, Bell. I hope Orario's dark side wouldn't touch you. You'd be swallowed."
Bell shook his head. "It's not naivete. I know when to hold myself back..." his mind wandered back to Lili. He knew she was bad news, but he still tried to help her anyway. "Okay, I might not know when to hold myself. But that's why I have my Goddess. Family protects each other."
"Interesting answer, Bell. Thank you for the chat. I figure you have something else to do, so I won't waste your time anymore."
"No, no. You're not wasting my time at all, Lord Hermes. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I must be wasting your precious time telling you all these..." Bell looked apologetically towards the hatted man. "Well, then, thank you for your time, Lord Hermes. See you soon."
Bell bid Hermes goodbye and left the Adventurer's Graveyard.
(Hermes looked at the retreating back of Bell Cranel. Zeus' last legacy. He wondered what would Alfia think of her nephew... That one guess from Bell really surprised him if he were to be honest. Bell would never realize how close he was to the truth, Hermes laughed internally.
So far, he liked what he saw. He wondered how long would it be until all of Orario would sing his name praises. He inwardly smiled. Why would he wait when he could do something about it?)
Bell wandered around. He was in no mood to go back to the Dungeon after the funeral, but just going back home would only make him stew on the thought of Benzaiten Familia. Because he was acquainted with so many people, Bell found himself greeting almost everyone he met on his wandering. However, most of them could tell that his smile didn't reach his face, and they began to ask him if he was okay.
He didn't want to worry everyone, so he just answered with a nod. The truth of the matter was that Bell's mind was gripped because people did die in the Dungeon. Before, he just knew that people died. Now, he realized what it meant. Dying in the Dungeon was not simple. It meant that you left your Familia members.
Suddenly the realization that it could be him next scared him. He wasn't scared of dying itself, but he was afraid that Hestia would be left alone. Benzaiten at least had her other Familia members. But Hestia? She had no one else.
Now he understood why Hestia was always worried for him. She did not want him to leave her all alone.
He needed to get stronger. Not just to follow and stand beside the boy in the dream's path, but also to make his Familia happy.
Without realizing it, his steps had taken him to the Hostess of Fertility. Maybe it was the familiarity of the place, having trained around there every day for the past few days. He entered the establishment and waved towards Syr, taking a seat at the bar counter.
"It's rare seeing you visit this place at this time," Syr sat behind the counter. "Luckily, it's not evening yet, so I'm not busy."
Indeed. While it was late afternoon, the place was not as busy as Bell had visited before. This was probably not the peak hour of this place, as most Adventurers were still gathering magic stones inside the Dungeon.
Bell just nodded and stared at the counter; his mind was still occupied by the thought from before.
"Bell?"
"Ah, sorry. There's a lot in my mind."
Syr just smiled at him, "It's okay, Mr. Serious Adventurer. But what are your orders? Also, how was today's boxed lunch?"
Bell widened his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Syr. Something happened in the Dungeon, and I couldn't eat your lunch today. I'm sorry!" Bell took out the still pristine boxed lunch from his small bag and put it on the counter. "Do you mind if I eat that here? It wouldn't sit well with me seeing the lunch you made uneaten."
Chloe, Lunoir, and even Ryuu looked at him. Somebody gasped, but Bell didn't see who it was. His conversation partner's face reddened in embarrassment. "Well, if you'd like to, Bell."
And so Bell opened the boxed lunch and started eating the food inside. He still didn't understand why Chloe, Lunoir, and Ryuu looked at him the entire time he ate, though. It kinda made him nervous. The food itself was nothing special, but it was definitely an improvement from yesterday.
He finished it without much fanfare. Syr was also looking at him now, "How was it?" She asked with bated breath.
And now, the waitresses also held their breath in anticipation. Was Syr's food that special to warrant their attention?
"You improved again. Next time, please make sure that the amount of salt is proportional to the meat. Yesterday was too much, but today was too little. I couldn't get the salty taste at all," Bell gave his honest opinion.
("That black thing contains meat!?" Bell heard something along the lines coming from the waitresses.)
"Thank you! Tomorrow will be even better, I promise!" Syr took the empty box and went back to the kitchen.
Bell looked around, trying to find a certain someone. "Miss Lion," he called when he saw she was free from any customer."
"Is there something that I can help with, Mr. Cranel?" She said after she approached him, holding the empty tray around her stomach.
"I'm sorry if this brings up bad memories, but... you're a former Adventurer, right?"
Ryuu's stoic expression changed a little. "...Indeed. What of it?"
"Can we... can we talk?" He asked nervously, understanding her sudden cold demeanor. "I-I..."
Bell sighed anxiously. "Something... something happened, and I need someone to talk to."
"Why not Syr?"
"I think this is a problem that civilians won't understand... and I'm reluctant to ask for advice from the others... mostly because I don't trust them..." Bell admitted with an apologetic expression.
"...Very well. Do we need privacy? Or is this place fine?"
"Here is fine," Bell leaned on the counter when he saw Ryuu nodded and went behind the counter.
"Miss Lion..."
"Does this have something to do with you finding a dead body?"
Ryuu suddenly cut him, who was still trying to find his words.
"Ehehe, the news has traveled fast, I see." Bell scratched the back of his head. "It's related, but not directly."
After letting out a breath, Bell continued. "You see. Before today, I never thought about my own mortality. It doesn't mean I don't fear death, but it just never occurred to me that I could end up like that one day. Now I realize my own mortality... and I am beginning to understand why my Goddess is so protective of me. She doesn't want me to end up like that. It's also why Miss Eina, my Advisor from the Guild, always doing her best to help me coming back safely."
Bell looked towards Ryuu's face, whose still did not show any emotion other than the stoic coldness. "Now... after I'm beginning to understand that, suddenly I feel scared of dying. To be precise, I'm not afraid of the pain or anything like that... I'm afraid of leaving all the people that care for me alone."
Bell heard a small gasp coming from the former Adventurer who was listening to his rant.
"...How do you overcome that fear, Miss Lion?"
Ryuu looked at the younger Adventurer in front of her. He was definitely younger than her. And yet... And yet, he already had the maturity to question such a thing. Something that she had never considered until it happened and tore her world apart.
"...That's a hard question to answer, Mr. Cranel." Ryuu looked down, avoiding his gaze. "I have... I have been on both ends. I couldn't possibly burden you with my story, but I have been on both ends. Even so... even so, I still don't have the answer to your question."
She had suffered a broken heart after being left alone by all of her Familia members. To this day, she still didn't understand why Alise and the others saved her and her alone. So she definitely had been on the side of the one being left alone. It was painful. Really painful. It was not a mistake to say that she fell into despair following that tragedy, so she couldn't possibly know the answer to Bell's question because she was on the other side.
She had also broken her Goddess' heart after leaving her alone to avenge her fallen Familia members by erasing Evilus out of existence. In her immaturity and rage at the injustice of it all, she abandoned the one who cared for her the most. So she couldn't possibly know the answer to Bell's question because, by the time she had thought of it, it was too late.
Nobody had cared for her anymore.
Syr and Mama Mia possibly cared for her now. But it was a different type of care from the one her Familia had. A Familia, after all, was Family. She had no family left after Astraea Familia was gone. The Hostess of Fertility employees was close to each other. There was also the feeling of being cared for by everyone, but it was not quite like Family.
So, she couldn't answer, as she could never position herself in Bell's place. Being cared for by his Goddess, his Advisor, Syr, and even the people of Orario. (She had only known about this today when she overheard some civilians talking about Bell familiarly, and she was quite surprised by the number of people who knew Bell.)
She couldn't answer because she had no right to answer the question, abandoning her Goddess like that. She felt disappointed at herself that she could not repay the trust he had in her.
"Miss Lion..." Bell called for her. "I'm sorry. It must be really painful, huh? Your heart... I feel that your heart exudes pain. It's fine. You don't need to answer."
This boy... How could he possibly know? She kept tight control of her expression. This was not the first time he did it. There was also the time when he blurted out his question before the Monsterphilia. He said it was his feeling. Was his feeling that sharp to be able to read her emotion correctly twice?
Ryuu found herself looking at the pair of mesmerizing red eyes radiating warmth. His smiling visage suddenly overlapped with someone else. Someone familiar to her.
Goddess...
"I'll keep looking for the answer. When I found it, I'll share it with you."
Bell Cranel... unbelievable. Truly unbelievable that someone like him was in Orario.
"That way, maybe it can help you alleviate your pain somehow."
It did not sit right with her to just accept the compromise offered by him. Despite having thrown away all her pride for the sake of revenge, she still knew that conceding to him now would mean she was the lowest of the lowest. She wouldn't call herself kind, for she had killed. She wouldn't call herself good, for she had done bad. She wouldn't call herself prideful, for she had thrown it all away.
But.
She was a woman who knew that all debts must be paid, and conceding this to Bell meant that she put herself in his debt.
"...I'll look for it on my own way, Mr. Cranel, but I appreciate your offer."
Bell smiled. "Then let's look for it together. I'm sure it will be faster that way."
...
She'd been had. Bell offered to help, but she rebuked it politely because she did not want to put herself indebted to him. However, it was actually his aim all along because now he asked her to do it together. Well played, Mr. Cranel.
She let slip a smile onto her face. Ah, curses. She immediately put her controlled expression back.
Syr came back from the kitchen and sat beside her. "Hmm, what are you guys talking about?"
"Ah, Syr."
"You looked brighter than before, Bell. Did Ryuu help you with something?"
"Yea-"
"We helped each other," she cut him off. To be honest, she had always buried all her feelings inside and ignore them. But now that Bell dug it up and forced her to think about it without any malice, she felt lighter than before.
The weight of her sins was still there; she could feel it. But Bell had inadvertently lifted the burden without him realizing what he was doing.
"Anyway, was my mood really that visible?" Bell asked Syr, who was just grinning like a fox towards him.
"Yes. I'm glad that two of my favorite people can help each other." After that, Bell and Syr fell into small talks that she had no right to intrude, so she excused herself.
"Huh? Was that decoration always there?"
"Oh, that book? Some customers dropped it here yesterday. We put it there to make sure they see it when they come back."
"How would you know he was really the owner? What would you do if someone claimed it was theirs?"
She didn't find out how that particular conversation ended up because Chloe was asking for her.
"Coming," she answered Chloe and went to an occupied table. "Good afternoon, sir. Thank you for coming here. What will you be having?"
(Later, she saw Bell taking the book with him. She wanted to question Syr but decided against it. It wasn't her problem, nor would she like to involve herself there.)
Bell came back to the Abandoned Church with a book in his hand. Honestly, he didn't understand how his questions led to Syr asking him to keep the book until the owner came back. She said since he was the one who realized that anybody could lay claim to it with no proof, he should be the one keeping it until the owner came to the Hostess of Fertility. But well, Syr was asking for help, so he accepted it. So he came back, taking the book with him.
When dinner time arrived, Hestia saw something placed around the corner of the basement where they lived and asked Bell about it.
"Oh, that book? Apparently, someone dropped it at the Hostess of Fertility, and I was asked to house the book until the owner comes back," Bell gave his explanation.
"What kind of book was it anyway?"
"I don't know. I haven't looked at the content," Bell shrugged and continue eating.
"Eeeh? You agreed without knowing what it is?" Hestia looked surprised at his decision.
"What? It's just a book, right? And besides, taking a look inside, even just a small peek, without the owner's permission is rude," Bell pointed out to his Goddess like he was lecturing a child.
Feeling chastised, Hestia just pouted and continued eating, the book never coming up their conversation again.
(When they finished dinner, Hestia bit her lip in hesitation. She had just gotten the answer about Bell's dream from her fellow deities. What Bell experienced might be some glitch in the reincarnation process. Typically, someone could never recall something from their former life, but Bell somehow did.
She wanted to give the answer to Bell, but she was afraid. If Bell realized the truth, if he realized what his dream meant, he... might not be Bell anymore.)
Bell dreamed of the boy in the green and black-checkered garb. This time, the boy saw a Demon cutting its ally's face using some kind of strings. When the boy questioned its act, it replied, saying that the two were not allies but family. Bell couldn't accept it. A Family would never hurt each other, therefore to Bell, the Demon's claim was fake. The two Demons were not family.
Angrily, the boy corrected it. Family and allies were tied by strong bonds. There was nothing shallow about not being tied by blood. Bell wholeheartedly agreed. He and His Goddess were not tied by blood. Well, technically, her granting him Falna used a little bit of blood, but other than that, the family he had now was not his blood-related family at all. The boy then denounced the relationship between the two Demons. Bell shouted in agreement, fully agreeing with the boy's assessment.
Then a random Demon Slayer appeared, only to be killed instantly by the younger Demon. It shook the boy a little, but he stood his ground. The relationship between the two Demons was fake, and everybody knew it. The boy started his attack, intending to use the First Style, but in an instant, the sword he used was broken by the Demon.
Even after that, the boy never backed down, and he continued to probe his way around the strings. But it was futile, for the strings formed a dome around him before it contracted and struck at him.
It should've sliced him. However, the boy's demonized sister came out of the box at the last second and took his place. Bell... Bell was genuinely touched by the bond shared between the siblings. And it seemed like the one touched was not only Bell but also the Demon.
Suddenly, the younger Demon lashed in anger towards the older one and sliced her head off. The Demon then made a ridiculous proposal towards the boy. It wanted to take the boy's sister and made her its sister. Bell cried in outrage. Families could never be built that way; the Demon was deluding its mind with its own fake family. The boy also felt the same as Bell, as he stood protectively with his sister in his arms, declaring that his sister was not an object that can be traded away.
A confrontation was unavoidable. The boy in the green and black-checkered garb stood, facing the spider-like Demon with his broken sword. It was then that the Demon revealed itself to be part of the Twelve Demon Moons. No wonder it was really strong. It was part of the twelve strongest Demons under the progenitor.
With a single stroke of its strings, it took the boy's sister away from him. Now the situation was reversed, Bell gritted his teeth. The boy had to take her sister back using only a broken sword and nothing else. The boy moved, trying to close the distance, but the Demon manipulated its strings so fluently the boy could not do anything to get closer. Every time the boy thought he was getting closer, he had to dodge the threads, which, as had been shown, could cut someone's head off the body.
The boy's sister didn't do nothing. She kept struggling under the captive, so much that the Demon decided to bound her above them using some of the strings. Bell was happy to see that. It meant that the sister also treasured the bond the two siblings had.
The boy took a deep breath, and using the broken sword, he struck. The Tenth Style. A style that Bell had only seen when the boy was training. He was not confident with the movement just from those training sessions, so he waited until the boy showed more of it, especially in a real battle. And now was the time.
With the utmost concentration, Bell looked at the boy in the green and black-checkered garb running towards the Demon, twisting his body to create a rotational force. With force from the rotation of the body, the boy could cut the Demon's strings. It was now time to counter-attack!
However, it was for naught.
The spider-like Demon reinforced the strings and formed a prison-like dome around the boy.
This was the end.
The world froze as the boy saw his entire life flashed before his eyes, and Bell was brought along with him.
They relived a memory of when the boy was still a child, of when the boy's entire family was still around. The boy and his sister were still but toddlers. They danced happily, being watched by their father.
Breathe. Control your breath, and you would be the God of Fire.
The word triggered another memory of the boy.
It was a snowy winter night. In new year's eve, the boy's family always offered dance for the God of Fire to ward off injuries and disasters. Bell saw the boy looked mesmerized as his father danced without stopping.
Later, the boy asked his father how he could withstand dancing in the cold, snowy winter night with his frail body. The answer was actually breathing. There was a particular way of breathing that would never make you exhausted, no matter how much you moved.
The boy snapped back to reality and fluidly changed his stance, from the Breath of Water that he spent blood and sweat training to improve himself to the Dance of Fire God that he knew all his life.
The strings that formed the prison-like dome were cut, and the boy never once stopped on his way to kill the Demon. On the last rope, the Demon struck, but the boy had resolved himself to continue even if it meant getting sliced by the strings.
At the last second, the strings burned off. Now the boy had free access to the Demon's neck.
With all his might, the boy swung the broken sword. The blood on the sword ignited and accelerated it, cutting the Demon's neck smoothly. The boy shouted with all his heart, declaring that nobody could ever sever the bond between the two siblings.
And Bell woke up.
The next morning, as usual, Bell found himself around the Hostess of Fertility for the spar with Ryuu. For some reason, Syr was there looking at them. Maybe she had a break from preparing the restaurant? Bell didn't know.
"Miss Lion, can I try something new? Please don't be alarmed." Not that Bell had the delusion of overcoming his weaknesses with the new thing anyway. Ryuu would probably mop the floor with him again. He just... Bell looked at the katana on his waist. He just wanted to see if his dream was still as clear as before.
Ryuu looked at him with focus. "You can."
Bell breathed.
Dance of the Fire God: Waltz!
He twisted his body and swung the sword. This time, unlike the water that accompanied his Breath of Water, a stream of fire came out of the sword, forming a trail as it slashed the air.
He stopped his breathing, only to see the wide eye of surprise from Ryuu and a starry-eyed Syr clapping her hands.
"Amazing, Bell! Fire magic!"
Bell scratched the back of his head in embarrassment at the praise. "Uh, not really. I mean, it's the same Skill that manifests water before."
"Huh?" Syr looked confused.
"More importantly, Syr, I forgot to ask. Has the owner of the book come?" Bell asked her.
"Not yet, Bell. I'll inform you when they come," Syr regained her composure and answered.
"Thanks, Syr." Bell turned his attention back towards Ryuu. "Shall we continue?"
"...I know this is a private matter, but I have to ask. What kind of Skill do you possess? No need to answer. I just had to air my thought on the matter." Ryuu shook her head and went on a stance.
Bell just laughed sheepishly. His Skill was Elemental Respiration. Just from the name, Bell could deduce that it would manifest the breathing style he used. Before this, he used Breath of Water, and the Skill manifested the waters. Now, he used Dance of the Fire God, and it manifested the fire. Nothing was surprising about the fire for Bell.
The thing that surprised him the most was that he knew Dance of the Fire God's stance. Just like how his body knew how to use the Breath of Water, it also knew how to use Dance of the Fire God. However, he couldn't recall anything about it before he had his dream last night. Yesterday morning, he didn't even know any stance other than the Breath of Water, but now he knew the entire twelve sequences of the Dance of Fire God. It was as if his body remembered it again for the second time.
As he thought, his dream was not just a dream. There was something more to it. He hoped Hestia had gotten the answer.
"Mr. Cranel?" Ryuu called him, shaking him out of his thought.
"Right!" Bell focused on the present. Time for thinking about it was not now. Now was the time to improve himself.
However, before their blades clashed, somebody interrupted them.
"Oho, I couldn't believe it myself, but I finally found you, Bell."
It was a voice that Bell had only heard yesterday. "Lord Hermes?"
"Good Morning, Bell," behind him, a beautiful woman accompanied him. Her stern look kind of intimidated Bell, coupled with the fact that she wore glasses, it only made her gaze felt sharper. This was not someone he would like to mess up with.
"I couldn't believe it. I was just randomly thinking where I could find you out loud, and suddenly, someone pointed this place to me. Didn't know you're quite the talk of the town, Bell."
Hermes went near the Hostess of Fertility. Syr looked like she forgot something because she hurriedly went inside.
"Ah, not really. I just know most of them. From whom did you get my location, Lord Hermes?"
"I... don't exactly know his name, but I believe he opened a flower shop around the north."
"Flower shop... Ah, Mrs. Estelle's husband! How is he? Last I heard, he had a cold. If he's wandering outside, then he's healthy. That man should have rested his body more considering his age, but he would always deny it and tried to appear tough..."
Hermes looked at him as if he was strange, but then he shook his head and smiled. "Yeah. Moving on, Bell. Are you training here? Can I watch?"
"Sure, but why?"
"I'm interested in you."
"Uh, I'm sorry, Lord Hermes. But I'm not interested in you in that way," Bell took a step backward, distancing himself from the God.
"Wait, no, I didn't mean it that way!"
Bell ignored him to see the stern woman talking with Ryuu.
"Lion."
"Andromeda."
It looked like they knew each other. "I'm sorry about my God."
Ryuu looked towards him. "It's fine. It looks like he's also fine with it."
"You're training the boy?"
Ryuu nodded. "To my own surprise."
"Miss Lion, I'm ready."
Bell interrupted their conversation.
"Right. Prepare yourself, Mr. Cranel."
They clashed blades until Ryuu was called by Mama Mia. As usual, Bell never won, but Ryuu's remark about his new stance being harder to counter than before made him happy. He bid goodbye to Ryuu, Hermes, and the woman accompanying him.
(When Bell was out of their sight, Asfi immediately hounded Ryuu, asking if Bell was indeed a newbie. Ryuu just replied, stating that she also didn't believe it, but it was apparently the truth. Bell Cranel was an unusual Adventurer. But, Ryuu remarked. It did not change the fact that Bell Cranel was a good person, which was the most important thing in her book.
Meanwhile, Hermes was laughing. Zeus never told him anything about training Bell in Far Eastern's swordsmanship. Against all odds, Bell was not an untrained kid bumbling around trying to get stronger. Maybe he'd surprise Zeus with it. Although it was for the near future. In the meantime, though... He looked towards the Hostess of Fertility. It looked like he found something interesting.)
A/N: Freya: Here, a Grimoire. Read it. Bell: Oh, someone lost this book? Better keep it safe and never read it.
Also Hermes interrupt! That part in the graveyard is my favorite because the Alfia IF was the best. I want to finish vol 2 events here but it keeps getting off the rails. Help me.