One of Orario's specialties is how it never sleeps. In fact, it seems to be more active in the night rather than the day. This is mostly due to adventurers celebrating their efforts, Bars and taverns were packed with adventurers who want to get drunk after a hard day in the dungeon. Besides them, many merchants set up in hopes of running into a drunken person who will buy their products. They mostly have cheap items that cost a ridiculous amount of valis since the adventurers at that time have their decisions impaired from the alcohol. Finally, this is when most thefts and robberies happen. Thugs trying to make a quick buck, adventurers trying to steal better gear, and shady dealers making illegal trades. There truly was a huge difference between day and night.
Though, this meant nothing to a certain goddess. Residing on one of the highest floors in Babel was the elusive and gorgeous Goddess of beauty, Freya. She was a fickle goddess that desire excitement and entertainment. More than often, her definition of fun and means to get it seemed crazy to a normal person. Her familia is one of the most powerful in the city, rivaling Loki's. The difference between the two were their children. Freya's familia are extremely loyal to their goddess. If she asked them to kill themselves, they would do so without hesitation. They all had just one rule to follow, Freya's beauty is absolute. None could compare and anyone who dares claim to be more beautiful or insult her beauty is a dead man.
Freya is all so quite picky to who joins her familia. She chooses them by the color of their soul. An inate ability that doesn't qualify as arcanum allows her to see the souls of people and their potential. Each one of her members have a color that pleases her. Unfortunately, the majority of adventurers didn't have a good color. That is, until she saw him. She was doing the occasional observation of the city when she randomly found a soul that attracted her interest. The color was transparent, something that she had never seen before. It belonged to a boy who looked weak, couldn't stand up for himself, and cried too easily. The only other good thing was how he was cute, with his white hair and red eyes. From that moment on, Freya was determined to make him hers. She would watch him, observe his actions and how he would grow. She was extremely pleased by his accomplishments such as his fight with the Minotaur. Other times, she was angered by him getting close to girls such as the Sword Princess. Overall, her interest still remained. But now, she was extremely angered.
"THAT BITCH!" Freya screamed as she hurled her glass of wine to the floor. It shattered into pieces upon impact. Standing a considerably safe distance from her was Ottar, the captain of the familia and the only level 7 adventurer in Orario.
"Lady Freya, is everything all right?" He asked as this was the first time he seen her this angry.
"No, that slit eyed goddess stole my rabbit!" She exclaimed. A while back, she was shocked to by the death of Hestia. She wanted some way to get Bell out of her familia and this opportunity practically fell in her lap. She would have swooped in and take him, but something was off. His soul became hazy and dark, unlike how clear it originally was. She realized that the event changed him and it would be a bad idea to ask him to join. So she decided to wait until he got over it. Three weeks past and she saw his soul begun to clear up. She was ready to make her move until she saw him with Loki. She was horrified to see he had joined her familia before she could get a chance. She swore a vendetta against Loki for stealing him.
"I shall declare a war game against that wretched goddess!" Freya yelled.
"Lady Freya, it would not be wise to risk challenging the Loki Familia. They are as strong as us" Ottar commented silently.
"Damnit! If it had been any other familia, I would have squished them like a bug" She growled as she began to observe Bell again. She needed a way to make him quit, make Loki give him up, or some alternative way besides taking on the familia. For now, she would watch and wait for a chance.
"Ottar, please bring me another glass of wine" she asked while returning to her throne.
"As you wish" he simply said, bowed, and then walked out. Freya returned her gaze to the city.
"Just you wait. You won't get away with this" she said with an evil grin on her face.
Bell's eyes slowly opened to reveal the ceiling of his room. He sat up, stretched his arms, and got up to begin the day. He brushed his teeth, showered, changed into some clothes, and headed down to eat. After getting his food, he looked around until he saw Aiz and went to sit by her.
"Hey, it's Mr. Argonaut" Tiona said when she noticed him. The group turned and smiled at him as he sat down.
"Are you feeling any better? Aiz asked.
"Yeah, I was able to sleep peacefully" Bell replied. Aiz smiled by how he reminded her of a little rabbit.
"So Bell, mind if we ask you some questions?" Tione asked. Bell remembered how they couldn't ask all the questions last night.
"Sure, what's on your mind?" Bell replied.
"What skills do you have?" Tione asked. Aiz's ears perked a little as she was also curious.
"Well, I only have one skill. It's called Argonaut" Bell began to explain. Tiona almost spat out her food when she heard it.
"Really?! I didn't think I was that accurate when I thought of what you reminded me of" She said in amazement. The rest pondered on that thought. He was like the Argonaut, the legend about a boy who longed to be a hero.
"So, how does this skill work?" Lefiya asked mildly interested.
"I'm not so sure myself. My goddess said that it would allow me to turn the tables against an enemy, something like a Hero's shot" Bell said while remembering what Hestia had told him.
"That sounds pretty cool" Tiona said with a grin.
"What does it do in battle?" Aiz asked.
"As I said, it can turn the tables against an opponent. From what I've seen, it powers up an attack to do massive damage" Bell explained while remembering both the case of the infant dragon and the Black Goliath. He frowned as he realized something. Both Lili and his goddess have had something to do with his skill. He quickly shaked the thoughts out of his head.
"Cool, want to test it out?" Tione suggested.
"Huh?" Bell responded.
"Try using that skill of yours against one of us" Tione explained. The other girls got interested by the thought of fighting him. He, however, wasn't.
"I-I don't thinks that's a good idea. You guys are way stronger and I can't guarantee that it would work" Bell quickly tried to explain. Aiz, Tiona, and Tione seemed disappointed while Lefiya had a smug look.
"That's exactly why he has no reason to get near Miss Aiz" Lefiya thought.
"We can test it out some other time in the dungeon." Tione said with a shrug. Bell sighed in relief.
"Should we just hang out today?" Tiona suggested. Aiz, Lefiya, and Tione nodded in agreement while Bell was a bit unsure.
"Want to go with us, Bell?" Aiz asked. He blushed slightly by the unexpected invitation.
"Um, well… sure" He replied nervously. They soon finished eating and went out around the city. They visited some stores to try on some new clothes. Tiona and Tione picked out some outfits for Aiz to try out. The first was a red swimsuit. They asked both Lefiya and Bell what they thought of it.
"That's way to revealing!" Lefiya exclaimed with her face slightly tuning red. Bell was at a lost for words and his face turned as red as the swimsuit. Tiona noticed this and decided to tease him.
"Hey Mr. Argonaut. Do you like seeing Aiz wear this?" She asked in a mischievous voice. His eyes widened and his face went up a few shades.
"I-I do-Wait I mean I don't-Uhh" Bell stuttered. The two Amazons laughed, Aiz had a confused look, and Lefiya had a look of utter loathing. After a few more outfits and embarrassed reactions from Bell, they left the shop and went to grab a snack.
"We should get potato puffs" Aiz said. The girls knew there wasn't any point to opposing so they agreed. They soon found a stall selling them. Bell was thankful it wasn't his goddess working the stall like the last time. Each of them ordered a different flavored potato. They were eating them as they walked. Suddenly, Aiz extended her puff to Bell.
"Want to try?" Aiz asked. Bell nearly choked on his potato. Lefiya was shocked as she wanted to be the one who Aiz offered a bite of her snack.
"What?!" Bell and Lefiya both exclaim.
"Come on, try it" Aiz said as she pushed it closer to him. Seeing as he had no other choice, he slowly leaned forward and bit into the potato puff. Again, his face turned red when he realized something.
"This is an… indirect kiss!" He thought happily in his head. Tiona was smirking, Tione seemed mildly interested, and Lefiya was in the verge of crying. When Bell thought it was over, he was so wrong.
"Can I have some of yours?" Aiz asked. Now the group was shocked by her asking.
"S-s-sure!" Bell stuttered as he extended his puff to Aiz. She quickly to a small bite out of it.
"It's good" she commented. After a while, they decided to head back to the manor. When they arrived, a familiar squeal met their ears.
"Your back!" Loki shouted as she dived towards the group. By instinct, Aiz, Tiona, and Tione stepped to the side. She almost tackled Bell, but he ducked last minute. Alas, poor Lefiya couldn't move away in time.
"N-n-no!" Lefiya shouted in discomfort as Loki groped her. The girls paid it no mind and Bell tried his hardest to look away. Soon, they each went upstairs, say their good nights, and went to sleep for the next day.
You all may be wondering why I suddenly brought in Freya. The reason was that someone made a review saying why didn't Freya attack Loki for taking Bell. I never thought of that so I finally decided to put it in. So, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to the next update.