Bell was trying to take a nap, but he just couldn't do it. It may have been due to him almost being strangled by Lefiya after she came in. It took the combined efforts of Tiona and Tione to stop her hands from reaching his neck. Thankfully, she calmed down after a few minutes and listened to what Aiz said has happened. At first she was shocked by the reappearance of the tamer, but she had mixed emotions on the fact that Bell nearly died. The four girls left shortly afterwards, leaving him alone.
"Why does this day have to be so stressful?" He asked himself. In this day alone he had three brushes with death. One, the ambush. Two, the lady that left him for dead. Third, Lefiya being jealous. While he was annoyed by her, he couldn't say he hated her. She just seems to be overprotective with Aiz. In some way, she acted very similar to Hestia.
Bell paused on that thought. It has been almost one month since the passing of his goddess and Lili. He has been trying to get over it, but the nightmares still keep coming. If only he had been stronger back then, They may have still been alive. He shocked his head. There wasn't anything he could have done then. They died when he was unconscious. Yet, that just made it even more frustrating.
Trying to get the thoughts out of his head, he focused back on Lefiya. He has never really gotten a chance to talk to her. Partly due to her avoiding him, but still. It would be a good idea to try getting closer with her. As friends, they would be more effective together in combat. Additionally, it would be nice for her not glare daggers at him. Bell made up his mind. The next day, he planned to become acquaintances. Unfortunately, that would have to wait since he still couldn't go to sleep. It was nighttime, so almost everyone should be asleep. He got out of the bed as slowly as possible. A sharp sting appeared and made him wince. Of course the slash wound would still be sore. Ignoring the pain, he tiptoed his way through the manor. As expected, it was dead quiet except for a few noises from outside.
"This place is much bigger than it looks" Bell thought after some time. He never realized how much space the building had and was discovering new hallways with each turn. While it was cool to be exploring such a large place, it was also making him paranoid. Every blow of wind made him freeze up, each shadow made him back away from it. After a few minutes of exploring(and being scared over nothing), Bell decided to go back to the infirmary. However, before he could turn back, a voice was heard.
"Who's there?!" The voice asked. Bell immediately ran as quietly as possible to the infirmary. He bumped into a few objects, but still not enough to wake everyone up. Once he made it back, he silently slammed the door and laid in the bed. He was lucky that he wasn't caught or it would have been awkward to explain why he was sneaking around the manor. Fortunately, the panic and running was just what he needed to fall asleep.
When Bell woke up, he slowly got off the bed. The sting was there, but less painful than last night. He looked around and found a shirt that was laid out for him. Putting it on, he made his way to the great hall to eat. Once he got there and got his good, he sat down at a table and began to eat. He was biting into some eggs when he felt something and turned his head. As he somewhat predicted, he saw Aiz, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya coming towards him.
"You feeling any better?" Tiona asked as she plopped down next to him. The others took the same position that they had last time. He quickly noticed that Lefiya was again giving him a bad look. Normally, he would have chose not to respond to it. But he decided it was better to get it over with.
"Lefiya, is there something wrong?" He asked. The girls looked at her and she gave him a suspicious look.
"No, why do you ask?" She asked suspiciously.
"It's just that you keep giving me a look as though I did something" he explained. She was a bit surprised how he actually payed attention to her looks.
"It's just your imagination" she dismissed as she continued to eat her breakfast. Bell sighed at her response. This was going to be more difficult than he thought it would be.
"Fine, but please tell me if I did anything to offend you" he said in defeat. She just ignored him. All the while, the girls were giving both of them questionable looks. Tiona tried changing the topic.
"So, What are you planning to do today?" She asked Bell. He gave it some thought and just shrugged.
"Well, I'm in no condition to visit the dungeon. I probably should go visit Welf to visit and repair my armor" He said. He had wanted to drop in to say hi since he hasn't seen him in a while. To tell the truth, he actually planned on asking Welf to join him yesterday. The problem was he got selfish and wanted to see how he was able to do on his own. It was a good thing he was or else Welf may have been killed by that woman.
"What about you guys?" He asked.
"Finn asked us to check the dungeon for any other signs of Revis" Tione explained. Aiz and Tiona nodded to that.
"Miss Riveria is asking me to practice meditation exercises" Lefiya said. Quite ironically, Riveria showed up right after Lefiya said that.
"Hi Riveria" Aiz said. She said hello back and sat down next to Lefiya.
"Lefiya, I changed my mind on what you should practice today" She said. Lefiya have her a confused expression.
"What is it?" She asked.
"I would like you to spend the day with Mr. Cranel" Rivera explained. When she heard that, she almost spat out her drink.
"WHAT?!" She yelled, catching the attention of the other members. The others looked quite surprised.
"This is to help us if we go to the Dungeon. I noticed that you seem to have a grudge against Bell. You would just get distracted by it" Riveria stated. Lefiya tried arguing back, but Riveria shot down each attempt. After a few attempts, Lefiya reluctantly conceded. Bell was surprised by how perfect the moment was. It gave him a chance to become acquainted with her. Now, he just had to deal with her giving him a disgusted look. After they finished, the girls left to go do their job and left the two of them alone. Bell started to walk to the forge with Lefiya dragging behind him.
34 minutes later…
They soon arrived at the door to Welf's forge. The entire trip was spent in silence, even though Bell tried to start a conversation a few times. All Lefiya did was grumble and shot him even more bad looks. When they knocked on the door, Welf came and opened it.
"Hey Bell and…Lefiya?" He said with a confused look.
"She has to tag along with me for the day" Bell explained. Welf looked from him to Lefiya and back, but he just shrugged.
"So what can I do for you?"
"I need armor repairs" Bell said.
"Already?! I just did them a few days ago!" Welf said incredulously. "What the heck did you do to them?" Bell answered by pulling out the breastplate. When he saw the dent, Welf was at a lost for words. The dent in the middle made the armor look weak and pathetic.
"How did that happen?" He asked slowly.
"I was attacked by this lady and she did a number on the armor and me" Bell replied with a nervous chuckle. Lefiya, who was in the background, just scoffed. Welf was about to ask what that meant when Bell decided to answer it himself. He lifted up his shirt to show the huge scar. Welf had a look of shock and terror.
"What the hell happened to you?!" He asked.
"Like I said, a lady attacked me" he replied. Bell seemed to be relaxed about it while Welf face turned from shock to grimness.
"Bell, be careful when you enter the dungeon and never go alone. The best I can do is make sure your gear is at its finest to give you the best protection" He said while putting his hand on Bell's shoulder. Bell smiled and nodded.
Right afterwards, Welf began the repair process. Bell and Lefiya stayed since Welf said it should only take a few minutes. True to his word, He stopped after a couple of minutes. When Bell took back his armor, it looked good as new.
"Thank you for doing this" Bell said after examining it.
"Well, it is my job after all" Welf replies with a chuckle. Behind them, Lefiya made a gagging gesture. The two then left the forge and started to walk around the city.
"So...what do you want to do?" Bell asked to try and break the ice.
"Nothing with you. So don't talk to me or look at me" she snapped. Bell shrinked away a little and they continued their walk. The mood was tense and very uncomfortable. He wanted to enjoy a causal trip around town, but her presence ruined any hope of it. The awkward silence remained for a bit, until she spoke up.
"That's it. I've had enough of being near you. I'm going to go somewhere else" she said.
"Huh, but Miss Riveria said.." Bell started before he was cut off.
"I don't care if I was told to. I am going and nothing will stop me!" She retorted as she started to walk away. However, she wasn't able to get three steps away before her foot tripped on a pavement brick that was sticking out. She was to distracted by Bell to even stick her arms out in time. She saw that she was about to hit the ground, then she suddenly stopped. Her face was still facing the ground, but she wasn't falling. She felt an arm was wrapped around her waist and was holding her. She slowly turned around and saw Bell was directly behind her. He had ran forward and grabbed her before she hit the ground.
"Are you okay?" He asked in concern. Lefiya slowly looked at him to his arm and back. Her face was starting to show embarrassment and anger.
"GET OFF ME!" She screamed as she swiftly brought her elbow back. It struck him right in the nose and it caused, him to fall back.
"Ow! What the heck was that for?!" He asked in confusion while clutching his nose. "I was just trying to help!". Lefiya realized what she did and looked away.
"S-Sorry" She said in a quiet voice. It was her fault that she wasn't paying attention and tripped. He had saved her and he got elbowed in the nose for nothing. Even though she didn't want to say it, she knew she had to.
"T-thank you got s-saving me" she reluctantly said. Bell gave a half smile since that was the first time he had gotten some friendliness from her.
"It's fine. Let's just go back home before something else happens" he said. She agreed and they both started to walk back to the manor.
When they got back, they were greeted by Riveria. She walked up to them like a mother about to scold her children.
"What happened with you two? Why is Bell holding his nose?" She asked.
"I…elbowed him in the nose after he stopped me from tripping" Lefiya explained with her head hanging low. Riveria narrowed her eyes and was about to scold her when Bell interrupted.
"It wasn't her fault. I took her by surprise and she hit without realizing it. She also apologized afterwards" he explained. They both look at him with surprise. Lefiya was surprised that he stood up for her. Riveria was surprised that Lefiya apologized to him. She smiled and gave a small chuckle.
"It's good to see that you two have became friends" After that, Riveria walked away, leaving the two alone.
"Lefiya, we should do this again sometime" Bell said with a smile.
"What the hell are you saying!" She yelled. He just sighed on the thought that she still hates him. At least she seems to be getting more friendlier towards him. He quickly left so she doesn't keep yelling at him.