Bell was looking for Lili in the usual place they met up, but she wasn't there for some reason. Since she did not mention anything about not going to the Dungeon today, Bell was sure she wouldn't like it if he went alone. Lili was, after all, a Supporter, and their share was usually minimal from what Eina had said. While he offered more out of kindness, he knew she was beginning to depend on him for a higher income.
After two more minutes of waiting, Bell asked the people if they saw a Pallum or a Chientrope (if she was still disguising herself, he didn't understand why she kept putting on the Chientrope disguise) with an enormous bag around. He knew many people, so while it was a little bit of a stretch, he hoped they could help find Lili for him.
As he finished talking with the people he knew, he took a small rest at one of the benches. It was then that someone approached him because a shadow covered the sunlight.
"Hey," the unmistakably male voice greeted him. "Heard you're looking for a Pallum girl with a huge backpack. She stole something from you too? Heh, serves you right for playing hero."
Bell looked at the approaching man. It was the same man that he met in the alleyway before. The one he got into a small fight with before Ryuu interrupted. Then Bell processed his question.
At that moment, he understood. He understood why his senses said that Lili was bad news. Lili was a Supporter who stole from the Adventurer she contracted to. When she approached him, she was making him her new target.
And yet, for the past few days they had been together, Lili did not do anything suspicious, nor did she take anything from him. He did not know why, but he was grateful to Lili. She had taught him things about the Dungeon like Eina did, but Lili's was a direct lesson in the Dungeon instead of a classroom lesson like Eina, so it was more exciting.
When he did not answer, the Adventurer looked at him before he clicked his tongue. "Tch, keep playing dumb all you want. Sooner or later, you'd understand."
When the man decided to leave, Bell called out to him. "Wait!"
"What?"
"Maybe she stole something from you because you treated her like a pack mule instead of a person she is," Bell smiled. To him, it was a simple conclusion. Lili was kind to him because he was kind to her. Yet another proof of his personal belief.
The Adventurer gritted his teeth but held himself back from assaulting Bell. Bell replied with a smile, and that only made him angrier. He stomped his way away from Bell.
"What an ungrateful man."
"Master Bell?" He heard Lili's voice calling for him. She was standing away, looking at him thoughtfully. "Lili heard you are looking for Lili?"
"Ah, yeah. I waited for a while, and you hadn't shown up, so I asked the people for you," Bell scratched the back of his head and laughed. "You didn't say anything about not going to the Dungeon today, so if I just go alone, that would be disappointing for you, wouldn't it?"
"...Yes. Thank you, Master Bell. Shall we go?" Lili started to walk towards the Dungeon. Bell followed her but did not take steps to overcame her. He was thinking about the frown that marred Lili's face as she thanked him just now.
He had a bad feeling. That Adventurer... Lili's own demeanor just now... Gripping his sword's sheathe, Bell resolved himself to weather whatever would happen.
(In front of Bell, Lili was contemplating some crucial things. Bell was looking for a Pallum or a Chientrope with a big bag. He knew. All this time, Bell never fell for her deception. Why didn't he say anything? Was he suspecting some things? Also, that guy who approached him, that was one of her previous contractors, wasn't he? She remembered stealing something from him. Why did he come to Bell?
No, she told herself. Whereas other Adventurers always looked down on Supporters like her, Bell never did it. Bell was different. He was different from other Adventurers.
...Right?)
Inside the Dungeon, as usual, Bell was quickly hacking through the monsters on the upper level. However, unlike the usual, Bell did not pray every time he cut down a monster. No. Today, Bell was trying to keep up his guard as much as possible.
Apparently, to Lili was such a strange sight because as she collected the magic stones from the monster's corpse, she mentioned it.
"Master Bell, you did not pray," she pointed it out. "That's unusual."
"That's... well..." He did not want to say the truth, fearing that something would trigger even more bad feelings. After all, it was still flaring even when they entered the Dungeon, and it was still flaring now. "There's not a meaningful gesture, but... I've prayed enough for this week."
Hopefully, this excuse was enough to get Lili off his back about his praying.
They continued to descend. Bell had outlined his intention to go to the tenth floor today, and Lili had agreed. But to be honest, he did not know if they could reach the tenth floor today. Not for the lack of effort, but because with each step, the bad feelings just grew and grew.
It came to the point that Bell had to take a break when they were on the sixth floor.
Groaning, Bell leaned on the Dungeon wall for support. He knew it was a bad idea since the monsters were born from the wall, but he simply had to do it because he couldn't take it anymore.
His breathing wasn't erratic. He was still in control and breathed normally—no interruption to his breathing rhythm. But...
"Master Bell? What's wrong?"
Bell didn't answer. He just gestured to Lili to not approach him.
"Master Bell. Is this serious!?"
He put up his hand to prevent Lili from approaching closer.
The reason was apparent a second later. Bell threw up his breakfast to the cold Dungeon floor.
"Master Bell! Is it poison!? Lili doesn't remember we encounter any poisonous monster today!" Lili rummaged her bag for an antidote.
Indeed. The two hadn't met any poisonous monster today. And yet, Bell threw up. He guessed that this was a form of his bad feelings. It didn't go away and forced his body to react, driving him away from the depth of the Dungeon.
After another threw up, Bell wiped his mouth and stood up.
"Master Bell? Should we go back?"
Bell did not give a visible answer. "I'm sorry, Miss Arde. I don't know why this happened..."
Lili offered a bottle of antidote. "Poison in your food? Anyway, please take this antidote, Master Bell."
Bell nodded and took the offered antidote. After gulping it down, Bell looked back to the path they had traversed before. His feelings flared even more than before. That actually got his attention. Why would go back now more dangerous than continuing down?
"Master Bell?"
"Nothing, Miss Arde. Let's continue."
That surprised Lili. "Master Bell, do you seriously want to continue with your condition?"
He couldn't say that it was the better alternative according to his feeling. No way would Lili trust that. So he presented a stubborn front. "I want to reach the tenth floor."
Lili sighed. "If that's what you want, Master Bell."
No, that was not what he wanted at all. Bell wanted to go back, but for some reason, after his feeling forced his body to react to prevent him from going down, suddenly it changed. Now it was going back up that was more dangerous.
If insisting on going down forced his body to react and threw up, he did not want to think what would happen to him if he insisted on going back to the surface now that his feeling changed.
As they continued, there was no more oppressive feeling going forward. It indeed was the 'correct' choice, although Bell still didn't understand what changed in between their break. Once or twice, Bell stopped and looked back to confirm his feelings again, but it didn't change anymore. Going back was still the 'wrong' choice according to his senses. At least, Bell thought to himself, he wouldn't throw up again today if he just continued following what his feelings told him.
They arrived on the tenth floor without any more incident. But of course, the pair of Adventurer and Supporter had to carve their way through hordes of monsters born from the Dungeon. Bell had to use Breath of Water to skillfully decapitated all the monsters on their way.
When they stepped foot on the tenth floor for the first time, the monster that greeted them was an Orc with a long wood in its grip.
"That's..." Bell widened his eyes in surprise. He had heard about this. The Dungeon made a natural-looking weapon for the monsters to equip. It was another form of the Dungeon arming its monsters to kill humans. Although the imagery shown in the book Eina told him to read was not as menacing as the colossal figure in front of him.
Bell jumped, gaining distances between him and the monster. Taking his swords out, Bell tried a simple Water Wheel to gauge the monster's strength. The circular water hit the Orc, but it did nothing but making it angrier.
With a roar, the Orc swung the makeshift wooden bat it held towards him. Bell dodged it with ease as the monster telegraphed its attack and went for a full counter. Using the wooden bat as a foothold, Bell leaped forward and did a Water Surface Slice to its neck. However...
"What!"
To his surprise, the slicing motion was stopped because of how thick its neck was. His sword stuck on its neck. Roaring, the Orc shook its body in an attempt to get him off, but he persisted and did not loosen his grip. Losing his sword in this kind of situation would be terrible for their chance of survival.
Being shaken in the air, everything was a blur to Bell, including the incoming punch from the Orc. It struck him on his side, but luckily it made his sword came unstuck. However...
"Gah!"
His breathing was interrupted. This was bad. Bell tried to normalize his breath again, but the monster's attack forced him to dodge. He decided to gain more distance to steady his breathing.
After he confirmed that his breathing was back to normal, Bell ran towards the Orc again. This time, he was using a more offensive sword style, the Dance of the Fire God. Exhaling some breathes, Bell jumped as the wooden bat struck the place he was before.
Chance!
He stepped on the makeshift wooden bat and ran along the Orc's arm, using its shoulder as a jumping board. The Dungeon changed sizes for each from since the eighth floor. The 'low' ceilings in the upper floors were turned into 'high' ceilings in the range of ten meters, so Bell's jump did not reach the top at all.
In no time, gravity took hold and drag his body down. Exhaling, Bell entered a stance, ready to slash his sword.
Dance of the Fire God: Blue Heaven!
The circular slash cut the Orc's neck cleanly, with the trails of fire burning the body to char.
"I'm done, Miss Arde."
"R-Right!" Lili approached the blackened corpse of the Orc and began using her knife to harvest the magic stone. In the meantime, Bell looked around for any monsters coming.
In the end, they harvested quite a lot of magic stones, certainly a lot more than usual, before they decided to head home. Although, Bell agreed with a heavy heart, as his senses were still flaring with bad feelings whenever he took a step towards the upwards stairs. But it wasn't like he would spend the day in the Dungeon. There were no tellings if tomorrow his bad feelings would go away or not, and he didn't say anything to his Goddess either. Spending the day here would just unnecessarily worry her.
When they arrived on the seventh floor, his bad feelings were gone. That was weird. Did that mean it was safe now?
Bell looked around and spotted a figure waiting for them.
"Tch. You again?" It was the man who approached him this morning, the Adventurer who clashed with him before. He was waiting for them here on the seventh floor.
Reflexively, Bell's hand went to his waist. That seemed to get his attention. "Hold on, Mr. White Knight. Despite wanting to pay you back for the bruise on my chin, I have no qualms with you right now." The man pointed to Lili beside him. "The one I have problems with is that thief."
Bell looked at the man and straightened his back, his hand leaving his waist. "Is that so?"
He could feel Lili stared at him. He wondered what was on her mind.
But then Bell did something that took everyone there by surprise. He ushered Lili to hide behind him. "What business do you have with my friend here?"
His ears caught Lili's small gasp as his eyes saw the man clicking his tongue in annoyance. "Don't butt in, Mr. White Knight. Or do you really want to finish our fight here?"
Footsteps could be heard as three more people surrounded them. This was bad. If it was just that man, Bell was confident. But with three others... He was not sure he could fight them and protect Lili at the same time.
"Of course, all of it can be avoided if you give us all of your belongings." With a slimy smile, the Adventurer offered him a way out. Of course, Bell felt affronted. The man accused Lili of being a thief, but he was the thieving one, looking at the current situation. To the man, it didn't matter if something in Lili's bag originally belonged to him or not. He wanted them all.
He knew how greedy Adventurers were. Still, he was trying to give everyone he meet the benefit of the doubt. From a simple civilian to a wealthy merchant to Adventurers, Bell gave everyone the same initial treatment; politeness.
But this man honestly infuriated him.
"No," Bell replied. "We might accept your offer if it was originally yours. But you wouldn't get anything less or more."
"Huuh? You're picking a fight?" The man raised his voice, his hand went to his weapon. Alerted, Bell also put his hand on his katana.
"No. But if you're seeking justice, you only need to get your things. Getting anything else makes you no better than her. So why should I indulge you at all, Mr. Thief-in-the-making?"
"Alright, a fight it is."
To Bell, it was apparent, the Adventurer was greedy. When Bell laid his greediness in front of him, he turned a blind eye to it. There never was a chance to resolve things peacefully when his opponent did not want peace.
"Arde," one of the other Adventurers suddenly spoke to Lili. "Come on, give us your money. We know you've got a lot of 'em."
Grimacing for being called into the open, Lili hid behind Bell, not saying anything.
"Come on, Arde. We're from the same Familia. We should always help each other."
Hearing that, Bell gritted his teeth. "What a good Familia member you are, asking help from Miss Arde now of all times. Where were you when she had her own hardships? Same Familia? Don't joke with me!"
To be honest, Bell had no intention to get emotional over being confronted by other Adventurers. However, when one of them revealed that they were from the same Familia as Lili, it made his blood boil. To him, a Familia was as important as a genuine blood Family. Seeing some of the guys that abandoned Lili trying to take advantage of her was just too much for him to keep his calm.
"Whoa, slow down, Mr. White Knight. This is a Familia matter. Also, Master Ged, please sheathe your sword." Another one of the three new Adventurers opened his mouth. "We can resolve this peacefully, can't we?"
Were it any other circumstances, Bell would agree. A conflict between Adventurers was meaningless. Their true enemy was the Dungeon.
However.
He couldn't let that slide. He couldn't let how easy they were intimidating Lili with the shackle named Familia.
"Come on, Arde," the last one urged Lili. That just made Bell frowned even further. Lili was grabbing the back of his chest plate.
Unsheathing his sword with such a sound that it drew attention from the four Adventurers confronting them, Bell spoke.
"Miss Arde. Are they your Family?"
"...Huh?" The one Bell asked did not understand what he meant. "...they are from Soma Familia. The same Familia with Lili."
"That doesn't answer my question, Miss Arde. Are they your Family or not?"
He could feel Lili stared at his back, contemplating his question. After a while, she finally answered.
"No. They are not Lili's family at all! Lili hates Soma Familia! Lili wants to go out! Why does Lili have to be born into this Familia!? All of them are just addicts! Lili wants to go out! Lili hates Soma! Lili wants to go out..."
She gripped Bell's back, using it as a support to keep her from laying down. The adrenaline rush from her tantrum was gone; all that left was just the overflow of emotions crystallized in the form of tears going down her cheeks.
The four Adventurers just looked at him and readied themselves.
Sobbing, Lili tugged on Bell's unprotected shirt. "Master Bell... please..."
Without lowering his guard, Bell put his hand on Lili's head.
"They are not your Family, from what I gathered. Then it is alright if I rough them up a bit, yes?"
"Don't screw with me!"
The Adventurer called Ged launched himself at Bell. However, unexpectedly, the other three did not follow. So he was not their party leader, Bell concluded. Taking a deep breath, Bell pulled Lili towards him and embraced her.
Breathe of Water, Sixth Style: Twisting Whirlpool!
Bell twisted his body with Lili in his arms and slashed, forming a whirlpool around him that stopped the man from advancing. Lili let out a small gasp or surprise after suddenly finding herself in Bell's embrace.
"Miss Arde, can you put down your bag. I promise nobody will be able to ransack it," Bell looked down at the girl on his chest. Her face reddened in embarrassment before she nodded shyly and put down her bag.
Bell exhaled before raising his sword with one hand. His other arm was holding Lili close to his chest to protect her.
"You're going to fight like that? Well, whatever. Bigger chance for me to finish you off!" Ged then leaped towards him. He probably realized that the whirlpool was just water, so the element of surprise was gone. However, Bell still had another surprise on his belt.
Dance of the Fire God: Burning Sun!
As Ged slashed his sword towards them, Bell widened his stance a little and then made a circular slash in the space in front of him. A tornado of fire was summoned from the sword's motion and struck the Adventurer and made him panic.
"Magic Sword!?"
"Impossible! We saw water, and now it's fire!?"
Without wasting any time, Bell ran towards his opponent and swung his katana. However, his opponent was alert enough to recognize Bell's slash and parried it. Seeing his attack parried, Bell immediately run back towards the place where Lili placed his bag. He promised to protect it from the other three, after all.
"There's no other way! We have to use that! Screw the money!"
"We can take Arde any other time!"
"Let's go!"
The other three Adventurers that were with the man facing him ran away, but not before throwing several things towards them.
A gasp coming from Lili caught his attention. "Master Bell. That's..." Lili pointed out the things that were thrown towards them. Bell made a quick glance for a split second to see it; he still had to pay attention towards his enemy, after all. But what he saw in that split second got his attention more than his enemy.
"Half dead Killer Ants. In no time, they would swarm this place!"
"What the hell, Canoe, you bastard!" Ged cursed his former party member and ran away, realizing the danger of the situation.
"We should also go, Miss Arde!"
"R-Right!" Bell could sense Lili behind him, following the path he carved out of the swarm of Killer Ants that were coming.
Without any rest, Bell chained the dances to burn away all the monsters in his path. Waltz to Fire Wheel to Blue Heaven, killing the Killer Ants in front of them so Lili could pass. Then after that, he used Flame Waltz's two strikes, chained into a Waltz to finish another group.
Again, again, and again, Bell used his breathing style without any rest. Their goal was close. The stairs to the upper floor were only a few minutes away!
A human shriek caught their attention.
In that instant, Bell stopped his advance and looked towards the source of the voice.
"Master Bell!?"
"There might be someone else trapped in the swarm!" After telling Lili that, Bell immediately ran towards the voice.
"Ma-Master Bell! Honestly!"
But Bell did not focus on her. He rushed towards the voice. He did not want to be too late to help again.
Ten seconds later, Bell arrived.
Soon, Lili also arrived at the place and saw Bell looking towards somewhere. Lili followed his gaze to see the Adventurer who previously attacked them struggling to face a horde of Killer Ants. His body was full of wounds, and his lower left arm had become a stump.
"Master Bell?"
"Miss Arde..." Bell looked at the Pallum behind him. "Is it wrong of me to not want to help?"
It was not like he was trying to pass judgment over the man's life. He just did not want to spare someone who would commit evil in the future. However, an intention wasn't a crime. There might be a chance that Ged could turn over a new leaf after he was saved, but there was an equal chance that the man would not.
Bell was at an impasse, leaning to not help him. He knew that Lili's answer would be biased. She was wronged by the man. The feeling of resentment might be enough for her to say that leaving the man to die was the correct choice. That was why he asked her. He wanted his selfish decision to be validated by someone else. And that someone else was Lili.
Thinking over the matters for a few seconds, Lili then gave her answer.
"It's not wrong. Lili... Lili also wants Master Bell to not save him. But..." Lili put her arms on his back and pushed him. "Master Bell would not be Master Bell if you do not try to help. Go, Master Bell!"
Bell looked at her, surprised. He really did not think that Lili would say that. He hardened his resolve as he smiled at her. "Thanks, Miss Arde."
And so he ran.
He ran to save someone.
This time, he promised he wouldn't be too late.
This time, he promised...
He wouldn't fail.
As she saw Bell running towards the injured Adventurer, Lili sighed at her own decision. Like she said, she really really wanted Bell to not save the man. In fact, it would be better for the man to be left to die. That way, in the future, that man would never harass her again, for that one time she stole a sword from him.
But.
Once more, Lili looked at the broad back of one Bell Cranel.
Forcing her own view to Bell was selfish for her. Bell truly was a different breed of Adventurer. His kindness, his compassion, those were not something you could find in any other Adventurers. And yet, Bell possessed an enormous amount of them.
He was different. His smile was reassuring. Whenever he smiled, it felt like everything would be okay for Lili. And that time he embraced her... that thought put blush on her cheeks. It was warm, and it made her stomach all weird.
He was pure. And Lili was afraid that selfishly pushing her own want to him would taint that purity.
Bell was different, but different was not bad. And Lili did not want to destroy Bell's Bell-ness by telling him what she wanted. So, she put aside her selfishness and pushed Bell to do what was the most Bell-like option. She did not know if it was the right option. She also did not know if it was the better option in the long run. For all she knew, the better choice for her was to left him to die. For all she knew, the right choice was letting the Dungeon ran its course.
But there was one thing she knew. One fact that she had no doubt was correct.
She knew that it was the best option for Bell.
Honestly, she did not expect things to go this way the first time she approached Bell to become his Supporter.
She shook her head off of the thought. Bell had cleared a path for her. She gripped the straps of her backpack and run towards the downed Adventurer. Without waiting, she took out several bottles of Potion and give them to the delirious Ged.
After several gulps, Ged's consciousness was back. "What... are..."
Lili heard a shout as Bell did a front flip, followed by a burst of fire burning two remaining Killer Ants. Bell then stabbed the place where their magic stones were located, instantly turning it to ashes.
"Save your energy," she told the injured man. Hearing Bell's footsteps, Lili called to him. "Master Bell, please help me walk him."
"Alright," Bell answered after finishing his prayer and immediately helped him to stand up. Huh, she thought he didn't do prayer anymore for this week... was that a cover-up for his lie? How did she not notice?
"You two..."
"Lili said to save it. No need to spend your energy wondering why we helped you. Even Lili is wondering why," she playfully glared at Bell, the accusation clear on her gaze. In response, he just laughed at the situation.
Surprisingly, after the frenzy swarm caused by the half-dead Killer Ants, the seventh floor was empty as they walked back with the injured Ged. She really did not understand. This was nothing like she had ever experienced before. It made no sense.
Suddenly Lili heard a skittering sound. She instantly looked around and found a Killer Ant leaving them. "Master Bell. There is a Killer Ant there."
"...As long as it doesn't attack us, we leave it, yeah? It's more important to go back above."
As they walked, Lili kept glancing at the last turn where she saw the Killer Ant leaving them. One more happening that did not conform to the normal behavior of the Dungeon. That seemed to be the typical case when you were with Bell.
(They left the Dungeon with only one or two skirmishes on each floor. After leaving Ged to the Dian Cecht Familia and then exchanging the magic stones for valis, Bell invited Lili to spend the night at their place. His argument was that Lili was targeted by her own Familia member, so it would be safer if Lili was with him and his Goddess.
This time Lili accepted the invitation with a smile on her face.)
The moon shone brightly in the vast darkness of the night. A lone owl took a rest after flying for a long time on top of an abandoned church. Hooting for a while, the owl then entered the church and took rest beside the stairs. Closing its eyes, it tried to discover something through its hearing.
"So," the owl heard a voice came from downstairs. It opened its eyes and took a peek. There, it saw a woman standing, looking down at two other people sitting down on the ground.
"Explain!"
Satisfied, the owl flew away silently. All the while, the two people on the ground winced, hearing the other woman's tone.
"We-Well," one of the people, which was actually Bell, started to explain. "Miss Arde, here is my Supporter. I've been hiring her since a few days ago. At first, I had a bad feeling around her, but I want to help, so I hired her anyway. My income actually increases because of the presence of a Supporter, so I keep hiring her. We need the money, after all. Anyway, fast forward to today, I've never had any more bad feelings since a few days ago, but suddenly it acted up today. Apparently, we were ambushed by Miss Arde's previous contractor, who wants to take revenge after she stole something. Is that right, Miss Arde?"
Bell prompted the other people there, Lili, to answer with a squeaky "Y-Yes!"
"So they ambushed us on the seventh floor and attacked us, they were not that strong, so I managed to defend ourselves. After that, some of them set loose a half-dead Killer Ants, prompting more of them to come, so Miss Arde and I ran away, killing all the monsters on the way. Before we took the stairs up, however, I heard someone shouting, so I ran towards the shout and saw the same Adventurer who attacked us injured by the Killer Ants, and Miss Arde here pushed me to help him! The rest was quick, we helped him get out of the Dungeon, and then we exchanged the magic stones for money, and here we are."
During Bell's explanation, Lili grew more scared of the frowning Goddess in front of her, clearly holding back her anger. Was Bell really that thick? How could he not see how annoyed Hestia was with him?
"I had to hold myself back from retorting every sentence you uttered, Bell. I'll go to you later. Now, Miss Supporter here, explain your side. Remember that we Gods and Goddess can spot a lie."
Lili gulped in terror. After years of living in a lie, she crafted out of necessity, here she was faced with beings that could see through any lie uttered by her. She glanced at Bell, who encouraged her to do her best with a bright smile. Ugh, after seeing that, she couldn't do anything but do it.
Honestly, it was unfair for a boy to have a smile that pure.
"Lili is from Soma Familia. Lili hates it there. Everyone is just an addict that wants to taste more of the Soma; they would do anything." But she guessed she was the same, although with a different goal. "Lie, cheat, steal, everything was done in order to get one more drop of Soma wine. Lili wants out, but Lord Soma doesn't meet with his Familia members. Everything is controlled by the captain. Anyone who wants out has to give him an enormous amount of money. Lili... Lili did what Lili had to do."
Now that she thought about it again, how many Adventurers died after she stole their equipment? Inadvertently leaving an Adventurer to die in the Dungeon... what would Bell think of her? In the past, she justified it by chanting that all Adventurers were the same. But now that she got proof that they weren't all the same, that a kind Adventurer existed, all those chants became a mindless background voice.
"When Master Bell saved Lili in an alleyway, Lili saw that the weapon looks expensive, so Lili offered her service as a Supporter for Master Bell. Lili had no idea that Master Bell already had an inclination about Lili's true intention, so Lili tried to butter up to Master Bell... but he keeps shattering Lili's expectation of him!"
Some of her true feelings leaked out, but instead of making Hestia angry, apparently, it made her fired up.
"I know, right! Bell could be a little more considerate of us, but noooo, he had to shatter our expectations!" She glared at Bell who only laughed at the accusation. "Anyway, continue, Miss Supporter."
"In the end, Lili is too tired to even continue Lili's plan. The money we got is better than Lili's regular contract for a month, so Lili thought, why not just keep doing it with Master Bell? Eventually, Lili will get enough money to get out. What Lili did not expect was for someone to ambush us. The rest is as Master Bell said."
"I see... I understand. While I would like to discuss something in private with you later, Miss Supporter, I don't fault you at all. The fault lies in Bell!"
That sent Bell's back straight. "Y-Yes!"
"Do you know what your mistake is?"
Bell made a motion of thinking the answer for a few seconds. "I don't know, but there is probably one?"
Hestia's eye twitched. "Was it, by any chance, another of your Grandpa's tips in handling women?"
"U-Um, yes..."
Hestia sighed. "Whatever. Anyway, Bell. I don't care about you helping Lili even when you have bad feelings; that shows that you're still my precious Bell. I also don't care about you helping your enemy; that also shows you are still you. No, your mistake, and what makes me upset is that you don't tell me all of it. I thought we promise to not keep any secrets anymore..."
Lili saw a look of realization on Bell's face.
"Goddess, I..."
"I know I also held back a lot, but in the end, I told you, didn't I?"
Bell looked down. "Goddess... I'm sorry. It's not that I'm keeping this a secret. It's just... not as important in my mind?"
Somehow that statement pierced Lili's heart the most.
"Bell, you can't say that! Look at poor Miss Supporter here!" Hestia pulled her into a hug. Honestly, that made her even more heartbroken. Those soft mounds... why would the Goddess subject her to something that she could never attain? Just why...?
"Ah, I'm sorry, Miss Arde. Not that you're not important, but the fact that I hire a Supporter is the one I think not important to mention to Goddess."
"You need more tact, Bell," Hestia remarked before releasing her from the hug. "Miss Supporter. You said you want to left Soma Familia. That means you don't live in their place?"
Lili nodded. "I've been inn-hoping for the past several years."
"Then you will always have a place within our humble abode," Hestia finished with a smile. "I am Goddess of the Hearth, after all. That said... I'm sorry that our place is like this."
"I-It's okay... This rundown place is already becoming more homely than any place Lili had spent the night before." Lili's eyes wandered to take sight of the decrepit building. Even the cheapest inn she had stayed the night was better than this place, but she couldn't deny that this place had a magical homely feeling. A feeling that she unconsciously longed for since forever. Maybe Hestia's claim as the Goddess of the Hearth was not idle talk.
After that, they ate dinner in relative peace, with the occasional talk between Bell and Hestia and Lili following their conversation before Bell or Hestia tried to drag her into the conversation.
"Speaking of, Miss Supporter. What would you do after getting out of Soma Familia?"
Lili put down the half-eaten Jagamarukun on her hand. "To be honest, Goddess Hestia, Lili had no clue. All this time, Lili always thought of getting out of Soma Familia as the goal; Lili never thought about what comes after."
"Miss Arde..."
"But now Lili thinks Lili had another goal after Lili gets out of them," she finished with a smile.
After swallowing down the food, Bell asked Lili. "If you wouldn't mind sharing..."
Lili smiled. "Lili wants to join the Hestia Familia."
This was not something she said without thinking. She... had done so many bad things under the justification of doing it out of necessity, sacrificing Adventurers just because of her narrow way of thinking. She felt like she did not deserve Hestia Familia's kindness. So she had to atone for her past sins by turning over a new leaf and become as kind as Bell, offering her hand towards someone else.
The one being offered a helping striving to offer her hand in the future. It was poetic in a sense.
She elaborated her reasons to the two of them, but apparently, without explaining anything, they would've accepted her when the time came anyway. Somehow that answer touched her heart.
(After that, they stopped any activity for the night. Sharing bed with a Goddess sounded weird that she couldn't sleep properly, but Hestia actually sleepwalked in the night until she hugged Bell, who apparently slept on the couch. So for the rest of the night, Lili got the entire bed for herself.
She still didn't understand how or why Hestia sleepwalked, but it was not her problem.)
The following day, Bell dragged the sleepy Lili to his morning exercise. Lili complained all the way, but he forced her to follow him, running the circumference around Orario for two laps. On their run, Bell greeted everybody he knew as usual; he also introduced Lili as his new friend to everybody.
When the two laps ended, Bell saw Lili panting while he himself was accustomed enough to only panted for a few seconds.
"When you're ready to continue, you can tell me, Miss Arde," Bell spoke to Lili. He then spent the time waiting for Lili by doing his breathing exercise while sitting in a lotus position, closing his eyes.
Inhale... one two, exhale... one two, inhale... one two, exhale.
He continued following this pattern until his shoulder was poked by Lili. Opening his eyes, Bell saw Lili looking at him. "What are you doing, Master Bell? I'm ready to continue. What will we do next? Also, why do I have to follow your exercise?"
"You wanna join our Familia, right? Take this as preparation. This is not an audition or anything; we'll accept you in the future. I just want to jumpstart a... Familia-exclusive training that I will give to everyone that join."
"Familia-exclusive training?"
"That's right," Bell answered, still sitting down. Patting the free space on the ground beside him, Bell motioned for Lili to sit there. "I said that the fire and water are not magic, but my skill, right? Well, what I will teach you may or may not give you the same skill. I don't know; you're the first one I tried to teach."
"So Lili is your guinea pig, huh?"
"Quite correct," Bell said with a small laugh. Lili grumbled but sat beside him anyway.
"Assume lotus position, Miss Arde," Bell started his instruction. Lili followed and sat, crossing her legs.
"Don't peek, Master Bell!" Lili put her arm to cover the bottom parts of her short skirt.
"I won't! Anyway. Close your eyes. Good. Now inhale, count to four as you do it." Bell saw Lili's upper chest contracting, signaling the end of her inhalation. "Hold your breath, count to four. After that, release your breath also in four counts."
Lili's chest relaxed as she let out the air on her lungs. "Count to four as you hold your breath again. One, two, three, four, now repeat all the steps starting from inhaling the air."
Bell faintly could hear the sound of Lili's breathing fell into a rhythm.
"Good. Keep it up until ten minutes. No need to clear your mind or anything. This is not a meditation, but a breathing exercise to train your breathing."
After ten minutes, Bell called Lili out to stop.
"How was it?"
"It's... weird," Lili replied. "Lili's body feels all warm."
"That's what it does, yes. We'll gradually move to a clearer pattern in the future with longer duration too." He thought that Lili needed a little incentive to continue his training, so he stood up and took out his katana. "In the future, if you master the breathing technique, you might be able to do this!"
Bell took a breath and slashed his sword. Trails of water formed along the sword's arc. He finished the demonstration by putting the katana back on its sheathe.
"Wait, Master Bell, the weird sound Lili heard is actually your breathing?"
Bell replied with a smile, "Yes."
Lili looked dumbfounded by his admission.
"That said, you might not be able to do that before you get a Falna update, so not until you can join us or you get an update from your Patron Deity. I knew I couldn't until I got the skill. Still, the breathing style should increase your physical abilities, so I recommend you keep training on it."
Lili nodded. "Master Bell has trusted Lili with this, so Lili won't let you down."
"Now, come on. Let's go to my usual training teacher."
"You have a teacher, Master Bell?"
"Well, teacher as in someone more experienced in fighting than me giving me more combat experience. My teacher in the breathing styles swordsmanship isn't here," he answered Lili's question.
"I see..."
They walked towards the Hostess of Fertility. As they walked, Bell told Lili to try breathing in rhythm again. She wouldn't become able to do swordsmanship overnight, but it was a small step to learn to harness the power of breathing.
When they arrived, Bell saw the usual scene of Ryuu training on her own. He greeted her with a big wave of his hand.
"Good Morning, Miss Lion!"
"Ah, Mr. Cranel. Good Morning," her eyes went to the figure standing beside Bell. "And this is...?"
"Miss Arde here is my Supporter," Bell answered, putting his hand on her shoulders. For some reason, Ryuu frowned before shaking her head.
"Shall we spar?"
"Yeah, let's! Oh, before that, Miss Arde," Bell focused his attention to the Pallum. "Try to observe my movement, okay? And keep it up."
As Lili went to the sideline in anticipation, Bell saw Hermes and Asfi walked towards them. From the other side, he also saw Ais approaching their place.
"Mr. Cranel?" Bell shook out of his thought of Ais when Ryuu shook his body.
"A-Ah, I'm sorry, Miss Lion. Well, shall we start?"
(Lili couldn't stop her mouth from opening in amazement. Seeing two real Adventurers clashed, both of them capable swordsman with their own styles, captivated her. She held no illusion. She was not talented in combat. But, if she continued to train under Bell, would she someday gain a fraction of those skillsets? A mesmerizing dance of water clashed with the fire that came after it. However, it created such an artistic dissonance that nobody would deny it was beautiful.
She took a look around, and apparently, the Sword Princess was looking at Bell's movement really seriously. On the other side, Hermes and Asfi were commentating the spar with the occasional foolish humor from Hermes.)
(Unknown to everybody there, while Ais' eyes were tracking Bell's movement, drinking every twitch of his muscles, her mind was fixated on something else.
She was too late.
She wanted to spar with Bell, but Lefiya needed her help this morning, so she was too late to approach Bell. She wanted to experience that unique sword style for her own. But today, she had to be satisfied with observing from afar again.
For the first time this morning, Ais turned his attention off Bell and looked towards the elf who was sparring with Bell.
Next time she wouldn't be late.)
Bell was walking towards the Hostess of Fertility with Lili beside him. They made quite a haul on the eleventh floor today, mainly because they had established their trust in each other. Although he had to endure another scolding from Eina after they finished exchanging their magic stones. On their entire venture, Bell asked Lili to keep her breathing controlled even under pressure. She had a hard time doing it, but that was okay; there was still plenty of time for Lili to learn.
Entering the restaurant, Bell and Lili were immediately greeted by one of the waitresses.
"Welcome! Oh, it's White Hair-nya! And... you brought a girl? Playing with Syr's heart? That's awful, Mr. White Hair! Ouch!"
Anya's cheek was playfully stretched by Chloe, "Just call for Syr, you idiot. Don't provoke her. She's been in a bad mood since a few days ago."
"Yes, yes," Anya went to the back to call for Syr. In the meantime, Chloe brought them to their seat at the bar counter.
"You are familiar with the staff, Master Bell?"
"Miss Lion is one of the staff here, so I am quite familiar with everyone," Bell answered Lili's question. "Take a look at the menu. I'll treat you today, Miss Arde."
Not long after that, Syr came out and approached them to behind the counter. "Good Evening Bell, what would you like to order?"
Bell glanced at Lili beside him, "Good Evening, Syr. I'll wait for Miss Arde to finish. Here is the lunch box, empty as usual. Your cooking improved again! Anyway, has the owner of the book come?"
Bell could faintly hear someone shouting, 'you're still hung up on that!?' although he didn't know who said it. 'read the mood damn it!' somebody else continued.
"They have," Syr replied with a smile, taking the empty lunch box from Bell's hand.
"Really!? What did they say?"
"They'll come back here later, so you can just leave the book here."
"I'll take the book now!" Bell immediately run from the Hostess of Fertility back to the church where they lived.
The abandoned church itself was empty because Hestia had an evening shift and would not come home until later in the night. It was partially the reason why they had dinner at the Hostess of Fertility since Hestia did not bring back any Jagamarukun leftovers.
Bell took out the book from the corner of the room and carefully placed it on his chest, gripping it so it wouldn't fall down as he ran. Nodding to himself, Bell ran towards the Hostess of Fertility with the book.
"Here, Syr," Bell offered the book, still in pristine condition as nobody in the abandoned church was presumptuous enough to take a peek. "Give my regards to the owner. None of us read it because we respect his privacy."
Syr took the book, replying to Bell's smile with her own, although Bell felt like there was something behind her smile. "Thank you, Bell. We'll also keep it safe; nobody will take a look. Isn't that right, girls?"
Syr threw the question around to the other waitresses, and nobody was brave enough to disagree.
"See?" Syr flashed another smile to Bell. "That aside, Bell, what would you like to order? Your companion here has ordered her dinner."
"I'll take a bowl of pasta and an orange juice."
"I see. Please wait for your order. It will be ready in fifteen minutes at most," Syr nodded and went back to the kitchen.
"So that's..." Lili trailed off, her eyes trailing the figure of Syr.
"The one that always gave my lunch? Yes."
Lili sighed and mumbled something that Bell couldn't hear clearly.
"What was that?"
"Nothing," Lili replied quickly.
Fifteen minutes later, the meal came, and they ate dinner without any interruptions. After that, Bell bid farewell to the waitresses and went back home together with Lili.
(When cleaning the table where Bell just occupied, Lunoir wondered who the Pallum was and why she was together with Bell. It sparked another gossip between the waitresses. Somebody said they had a friend who had another friend who saw that both came out of some decrepit church. Another said that they heard someone mentioned the two arguing like an old married couple.
The gossiping only stopped when Ryuu told everyone what she knew based on her conversation with Bell that morning. But the damage was already done. The waitresses got punished for gossiping during their shifts by Mama Mia.)
Bell dreamed of a Far Eastern-styled huge estate. He saw the boy in the green and black-checkered garb being carried by black-clothed people. Ah, this was the continuation from the last time's dream where the boy met the Pillars! Bell realized.
They entered the estate, but nobody answered the black-clothed people's call, so they wandered inside. There, Bell and the boy saw someone looking at the floating butterflies. One of the black-clothed people mentioned that she was a direct disciple being taken care of by one of the Pillars, specifically the Insect Pillar.
And then Bell and the boy saw the girl's face. The boy realized that the girl was the same one from the final selection back then. The black-clothed people asked her if they were permitted to enter, but the girl only smiled.
The girl in the white cape responded to the black-clothed people's inquiry with a smile, but the smile did not reach her eyes at all. It was as if the smile was just there, not reflecting any of her emotions. Bell couldn't help but frown. It nagged at him, seeing her smiling insincerely like that. It felt like there was something he needed to realize, but he failed to get it.
The arrival of another resident, a younger girl than her, ended the boy's first direct interaction with the girl. Although... Bell could recall the events after the boy awoken the Dance of the Fire God for the first time, and he felt like he faintly saw the girl, although it was hard to see, the white cape was stuck in his mind.
Technically that was their first direct interaction, right? Did the boy not realize it?
After that, the boy in the green and black-checkered garb was reunited with the blonde boy with the lightning-patterned garb and the pig-headed Demon Slayer, both recovering in bed. Words couldn't describe how happy Bell was for seeing the two boys still alive from their encounter in the mountain.
The next day, they were told to train as they recovered their strength. There were three steps; the first was being massaged, then a game to hone one's reflex, and finally a game of tag. As they progressed, nobody actually could beat the white-caped girl when she got involved in the training. That made the boys felt disappointed with themselves at first. It came to the point where the other two did not want to train anymore, leaving the boy in the green and black-checkered garb to face the white-caped girl alone.
And then an insight came from the children that helped them recover. The boy had to breathe the way he did the breathing styles all the time. It actually startled Bell that the
normal practice of the master of the styles was to breathe like that all the time. He only did it for several hours, but it had strained his body to the max.
Bell began to put all of his attention as the children explained the constant breathing technique and how to train it.
The following days were spent by the boy training all he could to breathe all the time. Apparently, one can tell the level of their breath by blowing a gourd. The more powerful you were, the easier it was to break the gourd, even the biggest-looking one. Bell and the boy had a similar reaction when the children said that the white-caped girl could blow the giant gourd.
After two more weeks of training, the Insect Pillar approached the boy when he was doing a breathing exercise on the rooftop of the estate. They made small talk about his training and the reason why she brought the boy and the others to the estate.
The next thing that came out of the boy's mouth caught Bell off guard.
He was asking if the Insect Pillar was angry, even though she was smiling so much. For a split second, the boy was replaced by him, and the Insect Pillar by Ryuu. Then the overlapping image faded, and the Insect Pillar answered the boy's question. Indeed, she was angry at the demons for killing her kind sister. She wanted the boy to inherit some part of her sister's dream to get along with demons, starting from the boy's demonized sister.
Ten days later, the boy was finally able to get his breathing never stopped. He could even catch the white-caped girl when they played the game of tag and won against her in the game of reflex. All the training bore fruit, and Bell couldn't be happier for the boy.
The other two were finally motivated (by the Insect Pillar) to do better in training. After nine days, they could do it too, so the boy was happy for them. Then their swords were finished being forged and were delivered to them.
Finally, the boy was declared healthy and could be discharged from the treatment. So he decided to thank everyone who helped him, starting with the younger girl who treated him. When he said his thanks, she replied that she was just a coward who was too afraid to fight.
So, of course, the boy said that being a coward had nothing to do with his thanks, and he would take her emotion with him to battle. Bell was glad that the gentle part of the boy did not change even after more hardships; it was one of the things that he admired the most from the boy. When the boy left, Bell was still there to gaze at the complicated expression on the girl as she considered what the boy said.
Next was the white-caped girl. When the boy approached her and said his thanks, she only smiled at him, and then she flipped a coin. Bell couldn't help but think that the girl's smile was very similar to the Insect Pillar. After all, they were a master and disciple, and as the disciple, she probably took it from the master. However, since it was something she picked up, it ended up being so jarring.
Then after the coin flip landed on her hand, she took a look at it and then responded that no thanks were needed. Curious, the boy asked after the coin, and she explained that it was a way for her to decide what to do. The boy was determined and asked why she couldn't decide things on her own, and Bell agreed with him. There was nothing wrong with what she did, of course, but why do something like that for a pointless choice of whether she would talk to the boy or not? Bell did not understand.
The boy borrowed the coin from the girl and made a declaration. If it turned out head, the white-caped girl should live by her own heart's desire. The coin landed and showed its head, so the boy cheerily gave back the coin to her, saying that she did not need it anymore.
The girl asked why it came out head. The boy explained that even if it landed on tail, he would flip it until it came out head. He indirectly said to her that he wanted her to drop the coin flip and decide everything for her own. Instead of forcing it to her, he played it from her perspective, and Bell applauded him for his honest trickery. Could that even be called a trick? Anyway, that was brilliant from the boy.
Bell saw the girl put the coin above her heart before the boy completely left that part of the estate.
As the sight of the white-caped girl faded, Bell finally realized the thing that nagged at him the most as he experienced this dream was. The white-caped girl. With her quiet demeanor and even her way of deciding things with the flip of a coin, she reminded Bell of someone he knew. Someone he admired the most in Orario.
She reminded Bell of Ais Wallenstein, his first and current crush. Of course, it was not a direct one-to-one comparison. But as he said before, from her generally quiet demeanor and her (probably) skill with the sword (she was way stronger than the boy before he trained himself day and night), she reminded him of Ais.
And then Bell woke up.
As his usual morning routine, he pried Hestia off him (how she could sleepwalk from the bed to the sofa he did not know) and freshened himself up. While he would usually step out and did his morning routine, since yesterday, there was something different about his morning; waking Lili up and training together with her.
So he woke Lili up, and she groaned, still sleepy. But Bell dragged her into training anyway. Complaining all the way, Lili grumbled as they ran the circumference of Orario.
After Lili got sufficient rest, Bell told Lili to start doing the breathing exercise like yesterday. But this time, instead of just ten minutes, we'll try extending it to fifteen minutes."
When Lili slowly but surely fell into a rhythm, Bell himself also did the... Full Focus Breathing, if he remembered it, was called in the dream. He wanted to try doing the constant breathing. Would it tax his body more? Would the physical boost he got from it worth the tax it did to his body? He wanted to see.
Because if he could do the constant breathing, that would honestly be the best outcome for him because of a simple thing. No break from the Full Focus Breathing meant that the strain would never bother him unless an attack startled him and stopped his breathing.
Although, Bell shuddered. He imagined going constant breathing for an entire week, and then a stray attack caught him and stopped his breathing. He wondered how many days would it take for his body to work off the strain.
No matter, Bell thought to himself. This was a trial run, anyway. So Bell closed his eyes and started the breathing exercise too. Different from Lili, his was done in two counts while Lili was four counts, and he was standing in a half-stance while Lili was sitting in a lotus position. He instructed Lili to do four as a way to introduce her to rhythmic breathing. Meanwhile, he did it in two because it was shorter and would pump more blood to his bloodstream as the exchange of oxygens was done faster. In the future, he would increase the difficulty of the training for Lili to two counts, but that was still in the long, long future. There were more things he wanted Lili to do with the four-count rhythm.
Inhale... one two, exhale... one two, inhale... one two, exhale.
He continued the rhythm of the two-count breath. After some time, he began to feel the strain on his thigh muscle. Doing it in a full stance is one thing, but doing it in a half-stance was more tiring than he thought. But he persevered. Although, he resolved to rest his thigh after this was done.
After what he felt like fifteen minutes was up, Bell opened his eyes and screamed upon landing his eyes on the first thing he saw.
"Gyaa!"
That shout prompted Lili to open her eyes too, "Master Bell, what happened?"
In front of Bell stood the Sword Princess, Ais Wallenstein, in her casual outfit. Her sword, however, was still dangling on her waist. Her face was really close to his. He did not expect to see the beautiful visage of her crush when he opened his eyes, so Bell screamed, startled by her sudden appearance.
"Oh, it's just the Sword Princess."
"Y-Yeah, sorry if I startled you, Miss Arde. But it's been fifteen minutes anyway, so good job." Bell then turned his attention to Ais. "Miss Wallenstein, Good Morning. Is there something you need help with?"
"We're sparring."
"I see," Bell nodded. "Wait, what!?"
"Follow me."
And then Ais walked somewhere, leaving Bell and Lili to look at each other in confusion. "What are you doing, Master Bell? Let's go! One-on-one training session with the Sword Princess herself!"
"R-Right. I was startled."
And so the two followed Ais to her destination, unaware of the body pain that she would inflict on Bell.
A/N: What's up guys. The end of Lili arc is killing me, but I settled for this course instead. We get to see Lili's perspective who, this time, decided that venturing with Bell is more profitable than just one-time stealing. It happened this time mainly because this Bell can solo the Upper Floors easily. I actually had an alternative with the 'saving your former enemy' scene, when Lili somehow gave her key like in canon to appease Soma Familia members after they threatened them with the half-dead KA bait. Then they used the bait anyway and that would make Bell not spare them after they got attacked because now Bell knew for certain that they would commit more evil in the future even when they promised not to because they had the precedent to break their promise. But I couldn't find any reason why Lili would give the key in the first place, so this is what we get.
Then we got to the best thing. Lili's training! Actually the Full Focus Breathing never got explained properly, so I took a creative liberty and based it on an actual breathing exercise I did (although not routinely) taught by my father and modified it to follow some of the thing mentioned in the manga. I could only do the half-stance breathing for around fifteen minutes before my thighs failed me. Doing it in a proper stance is easier, but in the half-stance it put more strain in your thigh therefore training it too. What is the differences between the full stance and the half-stance? Well, a full stance in martial arts usually had your foot opened wider than your hips and you lower your butt and hips, putting all the weight in the knee, but the half stance is half the distance of the opened foot, and your thigh and butt is higher than the full stance, consequently puttin the weight in your thigh instead of your knees. As for the effect, in the last arc of Kimetsu it is said that when you breathe so hard the marks appear on you, it increases your body temperature; well, it is true. Only fifteen minutes of the count-two or count-four breathing and I sweated, although only a little, and my body felt warm. There was also a weird feeling pressing in my chest, but the good kind of weird. My father could do a one hour long breathing exercise and when he finished his body was always so wet from all the sweat that came out of his body. So yeah, it is unexpectedly based on real life on that part. Although so far, no marks appeared on my father's body.
Now we move on to Volume 3 events! There are so much I want to do, but probably would not be able to cover, and would not be as good as the original but well, let's just see.