And So, Bell Became a Hero

by IreJasmine

Bell's Grandfather had a more impactful role in the boy's early life until his disappearance. Bell, with his newfound morals and dreams, and the help of an unexpected Goddess, starts his own journey to become a Hero like the one in the stories of his gramps. Tags: Graphic, Mature, Action, Romance[Harem]. Adventure.

29. Ch 22, And So, Present Outshines Past P2

And So, Bell Became a Hero Volume 2

DISCLAIMER: Danmachi belongs to its respective owners. Everything that occurs in this story is of my own creation and the characters abide by the fictional laws in the setting.

Author Note: If you'd like to support me, please consider joining the dis cord server (42SQENPj54) or supporting my Patron (IreJasmine)

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Chapter 22: And So, The Present Outshines the Past [Part 2]

Part 32 [Trigger Warning in first section]

When Bell and Eden hit the streets and walked towards their first destination, Eden noticed the shift of people's attention around them. Earlier, when she walked with Lady Hestia, there were more than a few stray eyes turning for either her Goddess' skimpy bosom, or Eden's own cleavage; however, those kinds of stray looks didn't turn in her direction with Bell by her side, not even when she passed by one passerby she recalled doing so.

"I see what you meant earlier by nobody recognizing you, it feels like we're invisible to the world." Eden spoke beside Bell as they walked through the bustling streets of Orario. "It reminds me of the Shade Ability from Lord Hades' True Blessing."

"Yeah, I thought it was-" Bell's neck whipped towards Eden at those words, "What?"

Eden slowed down to walk closer to Bell, startling him when her fingers wove around his. "Hm, unlike Shade, I can't feel the coldness of the Ability's activation from you, so it can't be that."

There was so much Bell wanted to ask that he didn't know where to start.

"Mm?" Eden noticed his sudden quietness and glanced in his direction, "Is something the matter?"

"No, well, yes, uh, I want to ask you so many questions, but I don't know where to start." Bell frowned, annoyed with himself.

"Is it about my knowledge, my past, or myself?" Eden tried to help him out.

"All three," Bell looked away from Eden's golden gaze.

"Then let's trade stories while we're shopping," Eden giggled. "I admit to being very curious about yourself, too. Would you mind telling me about yourself first?"

"Sure," Bell rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, I was raised by my gramps in Mylvia Town…"

Thus, Bell started with his past, how he'd never known his parents, how his gramps raised him along with the help of Miss Kat, who he didn't know was a Goddess back then, among other details like his reckless training, and his grandfather's crazy antics.

Many of his stories made Eden richly laugh at his expense, yet not even her melodious laughter or sensual recovery of breath when a particular story left her breathless managed to gain the attention of those around them.

Their conversation, mostly one-sided for the time being, only stopped whenever they spoke with an employee from any of the shops' they visited, though it was more of Eden handing them a list of the supplies she needed, rearranging for the delivery towards their new home, and paying everything from her own pouch.

Bell was glad his face was not the only one that turned bright red when she reached into the slit of her dress, over her bellybutton, and pulled out her pouch from within her bodysuit to pay for the supplies.

That's where Bell noticed another similarity between Eden and Rose, which was the ease they both had to tease those around them, and while Bell understood why Rose loved to rile him up since they were in a relationship, it was perplexing him why Eden did the same.

And in a moment of stupid bravery, he asked as much when they were alone, waiting inside another shop for the delivery confirmation.

"Because I find you attractive." Eden bluntly replied with a small, playful, smile. "And I don't mean just your physique. What I find most attractive is how, despite how we both walked through the same thorny path the Gods' tried to construct for our futures, your Determination only grew stronger with every setback, and you maintain control of your life."

The buxom brunette rested one gloved hand above her voluptuousness, right over her heart while giving Bell a paralyzing golden gaze. "The spectacle in the Coliseum was a majestic sight to behold, and to know there was a chance I could stand beside a man capable of breaching into the Gods' domain through his own sheer determination for the wellbeing of others, well… I would be a fool to not be interested in such an opportunity, no?"

Bell forgot what it was like to breathe when, just like Rose, Eden's golden irises manifested an alluring, dark desire within her half-lidded eyes and her voice turned even lower, and more enticing if that was possible.

"Your actions and bravery had my attention then, but now… After learning more about you, about your Determination, and willingness to do anything, and everything, for your loved ones, you have my complete interest, Bell Cranel."

Bell gulped heavily, not once in his life he expected to receive such a straightforward show of interest, even less so from a mature, and incredibly beautiful, woman, but even then, Bell had doubts that needed to be spoken, "But what if I wasn't all you were making me out to be?"

Eden lidded her gaze even further, a dangerous and sinister smile formed on her lips, which made her enticing, velvety, voice all the more petrifying, "Then I would've followed My Lord Poseidon's orders, bore your child, and hated you from the bottom of my heart until the very end of times, and even after."

Bell froze at the blunt admission, and the emotional depth such words carried.

Eden giggled, all airs of danger dissipating with her melodious tone, "I may call myself a toy of the Gods', but that does not mean I consider myself, and my emotions, as such, Bell."

Now that cleared a big misconception he had of the buxom brunette, one that he set to correct the very moment the realization struck him.

"I'm sorry, Miss Eden!" Bell bowed at the perfect ninety-degree angle.

"N-now," Eden quickly straightened him out, and Bell was amazed to see a dash of embarrassment dancing in her eyes," There's no need for t-that, I understand that the way I speak leaves myself open for misinterpretation."

Bell laughed at that, "Ahaha, it's a little bit hard to follow your words at times…"

Eden pouted, and resignedly sighed, "Does my way of speaking bother you that much?"

"No!" Bell immediately denied, "Not at all! It's amazing!" Eden looked at him as if she didn't believe his words, making Bell panic and blurt out, "I like the way you speak and your voice! It's, um, very nice on my ears, and, and, um-"

Eden's face twisted, and she couldn't hold back, "Fufu~ Your reactions really are the best, Bell."

Bell blinked, "Oh, come on, not you too, Miss Eden! Will there be someone who does not tease me for my reactions!?"

Eden patted his head, his face almost getting mushed into her bosom from their height difference, "If it bothers you so much, I will stop just as I've done by not calling you by your God-given epithet. I'm willing to do that much for my interest."

Bell found himself rooted by another direct admission, and statement, and he could only dumbly nod.

Thankfully, the employee saved him at that moment when they returned with the delivery confirmation for the supplies Eden requested from that particular shop, and without Eden's mature and direct approach of showing her interest for him, Bell managed to get his erratic brain back under control.

Yes, my boy, I can understand your feelings too. Nothing's quite as alluring as a mature woman showing her interest in you, less so when they're as gorgeous as that one is. I say you smack that as-

'Not now, gramps!' Bell interrupted his gramps thoughts the moment his traitorous eyes followed his gramps' words and locked onto the hidden backside of the busy woman signing the contract and paying its fee.

Just imagine this, my boy! You have relatives, relatives! That's as close as you can get to the actual twins-dream! That werewolf o' yours on top and that voluptuous woman betwe-

"Bell? Is everything alright, your face's incredibly red." Eden's velvety voice snapped Bell out of his fantasy trance, and he met Eden's inquisitive golden gaze far too close to his own.

"Ah, uh, hai! Are you done?" Bell gulped heavily again and shook his head to clear his mind.

"For this shop, yes. Let's move onto the next one before it gets any later, we still have to visit Lord Miach to deliver the letter to him, after all." Eden stepped back and started walking with Bell following shortly behind her, though she stopped just as they reached the door and glanced back at him with some redness. "By the way, if you could wait until we're back at home t-to look at me with such desire like that, I'd appreciate it."

…

Well shit.

"… Right… sorry." Bell eep'ed out and covered his red face with both hands.

Almost five minutes of pure silence followed as they walked side by side again towards their next destination, and Bell wasn't sure who was more embarrassed between the two. At least he did learn that Eden was like him in the sense that receiving an attack with pure emotions behind it left them flustered.

It was thanks to a food stall on the side of the road that their conversation resumed; the vendor had thrown Bell a knowing grin from the side and offered a 'couple's discount' which led Eden to confirm that she did indeed think of them as a couple, even if it was a contractual relationship, and somehow get three servings of kebab, one with discount and the other two for free when she smothered his arm between her bosom.

After the three servings disappeared, and Bell pondering if all that food went into the softness enveloping his arm, it became Eden's turn to speak of her past while they went into the next few shops, and she started it off with, "My past is heavy, but I trust your shoulders are strong enough to support me through my memories."

[Trigger Warning Section]

"My mother bore me here, in Orario, thirty years ago. As for my father, he died in the dungeon while my mother carried me in her womb. She wasn't in any Familia since our Cursed Skill made it so that she didn't need to join one for Valis, and I never really lacked her love, but it was… tiring growing up."

Eden smiled forlornly, "My mother had a terminal illness, and it was thanks to our wealth that she had enough to pay for her treatment until my eight' birthday, when Death took her in her sleep. It was Rose's mother who came to my aid and raised me along with Rose until my twelfth year."

She stopped when they entered the next shop, a home furniture one, and after repeating the process of giving a list to an attendant, and moving to the waiting area for confirmation with Bell sitting beside her, she continued, "Mundi Divitae fully awakened on my tenth birthday, and Miss Camellia, Rose's mother, did her best to keep it a secret but on my twelfth birthday, a God found out and, well… I became an adventurer."

Eden looked far off, "Goddess Eirene recognized the Cursed Skill because of my eye colors, originally, my irises were as dark red as my hair is, but Mundi Divitae turned them golden. Goddess Eirene was benevolent enough to take me in before any other greedy God found out and helped me obtain my most important Ability," Eden took a ragged breath, "Abnormal Mind Resistance."

Bell tensed at the implications of Eden's words and actions.

"Three years later, I turned fifteen, and two weeks after my birthday, I became level 2 and obtained Abnormal Mind Resistance, then not a day after, Lady Eirene was challenged to a War Game by the Goddess Rán, with myself as the prize… Lady Rán won the War Game, and a week later, the Hera Familia challenged them to a War Game, again with myself as the prize." Eden scoffed at the memories. "The Hera Familia easily won the War Game, there was absolutely no other Familia who could compete with them with the exception of the Zeus Familia, but those two Gods' had an alliance between them…"

Bell filed the various names and Familias into his memories for later questions.

Eden scoffed again, "Not a week after that, the Zeus and Hera Familia went into their final expedition, and The One-Eyed Black Dragon wiped them out, the losses of both Familia were so many, and those left behind were so few and weakened that when the others Familias took the opportunity to dethrone them from power, they did so without any hesitation whatsoever and exiled both Gods from Orario along with anyone remaining in their Familias."

Again, Bell had so much he wanted to ask, but restrained himself from asking until the very end.

"In four weeks, my life was turned upside down, from living with those I cherished, those I cared for, to surviving outside of the city with my Falna deactivated and my Cursed Skill being useless as there was no viable way to use it in the wilderness." Eden's golden gaze narrowed dangerously again, "Then, when I thought I finally found a place where I could regain control of my life… I lost complete control over it and lost so… many… years." Eden growled out.

"I traveled south of Orario, to the far end of the land where I saw the Sea with my own eyes for the first time, and there I met a God, a kind God, who lived on his own tending to his farm and cattle. I saw an opportunity then and asked the God to reactivate my Falna, in exchange, I would help him with his farm for a year before moving on, and he agreed as much." Eden's shoulders hunched slightly, and she looked down at her own, trembling, hands.

"This Cursed Skill of mine was capable of turning such a kind God into a greedy monster desiring nothing but more wealth and luxury after a year of being spoiled by my arduous efforts, and when the year was over, and it was time for me to leave before I completely ruined that God's life… It was too late." Eden shuddered and gave the silent and worried Bell a weary smile. "When I received God Lahar's Falna, Abnormal Mind Resistance was Rank I, and I was foolish enough to accept a final dinner and a toast before parting…"

"Eden, that's-" A finger to his lips stopped Bell from speaking.

"I'm pure, if that's your fear." Eden half-smiled at Bell's sudden relief, her finger moved from his lips to his hair, where she patted him again, her weary smile returned, "Just not as innocent as all young maidens would be."

Bell's eyes instantly widened, and again Eden's finger shushed his lips.

"God Lahar drugged my meal and wine, and for the next four years, I became nothing but an empty, mindless, husk that God Lahar continued feeding drugs and concoctions to crush my sense of self and fulfill his every materialistic desire with my Skill… It was only thanks to his fear of my Cursed Skill disappearing if he took my purity that he never took his abuse that far." Eden scuttled forward to lay her head on the frozen Bell's shoulder, her trembling hands came to rest above his own. "The only good thing to come out of all that misery was my Ability ranking up to Rank D, to the point where God Lahar's drugs were no longer effective."

"On my twentieth birthday, my Fate finally changed for the better," Eden whispered but didn't move away from the still frozen Bell. "I fled, only reaching the outside of the barn God Lahar kept me in, and there I met My Lord Poseidon… That was the time I learned that a dying Gods' blood was the same color as ours. My Lord Poseidon punished God Lahar with the death penalty for his transgression against a mortal, and took me in, rescuing me from the torment I suffered for four years."

Ten seconds of silence followed, where Bell had absolutely no idea how to handle what he'd just heard.

How exactly was he supposed to react to that?

What could he do for her?

Could he even do anything for her?

When Rose was almost raped in the dungeon, Bell hadn't hesitated to kill the transgressors, or at least one of them and he would've killed the other had the Minotaur not appeared and done so for him. It was Rose who held onto him, who opened her heart for him to pamper when she should've feared he could have also taken advantage of her.

But Rose trusted him, and he did his best to properly respond to her every feeling, but he couldn't try the same with Eden.

What if, when he tried hugging Eden for comfort like he did for Alicia, Eden would relieve memories of her abuse and push him away when all he wanted was to help?

What could he say to her that wouldn't seem like he pitied her for what she went through? He was told he was kind; would she fear his kindness turning into the same monstrous greediness the God who abused her had?

Bell wanted to do something, anything, but everything he thought of came up with another possibility of Eden taking it the wrong way and hurting her feelings.

He feared that even holding her trembling hands in that moment could cause her more anxiety, or worse, hurt her.

Suddenly, it became completely clear to Bell where Eden's depiction of herself, a mortal toy of the Gods' and a 'tool', came from.

What is a Hero to you, Bell?

'Someone who is willing to do anything for what he cares.'

And what do you care about, my boy?

'Saving those who need help in their moment of weakness and protecting those I care.'

A Savior, then. Very well, if that is your path, we'll carve it into your very soul!

"Eden, may I hold your hands?"

She nodded into his shoulder, and Bell immediately, but carefully, took Eden gloved hands into his own.

"I can't give you back the time you lost, nor can I give you back the innocence Lahar took from you, but I swear I will do anything so you never have to go through something like that again, I will never allow for anyone to treat you as a toy ever again, even if they're Gods." Bell ground his teeth, blessing burning fiercely on his back from his De?, "I will be here for you, for as long as you need me, for however you need me, for whatever you need me."

If Eden believed he was trustworthy enough of learning about her past, strong enough to carry the weight of her past, then it wasn't a question about what she wanted him to do, it wasn't even a question to start with.

She found him interesting for his Determination to control his own life, and his willingness to do anything for those he cared. She trusted him, and all Bell needed was to prove through his actions that her trust would never be misplaced, nor allow anyone else to steal the control of her life, ever again.

And if anyone had a problem with his decision.

Then Bell Cranel would show them just how far a Hero is willing to do anything for what he cares.

[Trigger Warning Over]

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Obligatory Author Note: No character in AsBBaH, from start to end, will be raped, nor will I write such a scene; however, as Rose's situation in starting chapters and Eden past, it's a theme that I use in this story as its something very common considering the time setting it takes place and how mythology is filled with this kind of tales too, I understand some readers do not like even having implications of such events happening but I find myself wanting to express how this a reality that many people would've lived considering AsBBaH's setting, if you drop the story (or dislike things like this) I will understand.

- 0 - AsBBaH Vol 2 - 0 -

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Bell was thankful that when the employee of the furniture shop reappeared with the confirmation order for Eden's supply list, the attendant paused in their step and gave them a few more minutes alone.

They spent those few minutes in a comfortable silence where Bell continued holding onto Eden's gloved hands while she laid her head on his shoulders until her trembling stopped and her memories no longer overwhelmed her.

"I'm glad I wasn't wrong to trust My Lord's decision," Eden whispered and moved away from Bell with a relieved smile. "Let's continue both, our shopping, and my story, yes?"

"Hai."

That was the cue for the employee to reintroduce themselves to the couple, get the sign and payment from the buxom brunette, and watch as Bell and Eden left the store, hand in hand, then watch at the list and scratch their forehead.

"Twenty beds huh… It's always the youngest ones," The attendant shook his head and went to work on the order.

As Bell and Eden walked towards the next store, Eden continued her story, "My Lord Poseidon took me to Melen where the main Poseidon Familia's manor resides, and there I met again with Goddess Eirene, My Lord handed me over back to Goddess Eirene and with her help, it took me a year to regain both my physique and control of my faculties."

A magical appliances store became their next target, "I decided to repay Lord Poseidon for rescuing me by joining his Familia and using my Cursed Skill for his benefit, but to my surprise, he prohibited me from utilizing my Skill until I could talk to any other male that was not him."

Eden picked up a desk lamp and inspected its quality as Bell waited for her to continue, "Another two years with Goddess Eirene and the Familia's help, I conquered that hurdle, and as a reward for overcoming what would've broken most human's spirit, My Lord blessed me with his True Blessing and appointed me as his personal attendant."

Another shop attendant, another list, another period of waiting, "I took my duty seriously, and researched everything in My Lord's library, both private and public, while also learning how to properly control my Cursed Skill, where it came from, how it worked, along other inquiries I had at the time."

"Is this the time where you met other Gods who granted True Blessings?" Bell asked his first question which Eden was all too happy to respond.

"Yes, since I was My Lord's personal attendant, I went everywhere My Lord went, and I've met several Gods and interacted with their 'Champions'. My Lord also confided in me some of the secrets of the Earthly World, and the rest is the life of a woman slowly regaining control over her life until we met with Lady Hekate…"

Bell made an apologetic face, "And she made a contract with Poseidon where neither of us was asked about our opinion…"

Eden hummed, "Technically, yes. My Lord could have refused the contract, but after seeing your performance, he saw something in you that led to his decision of agreeing to it without any consult…" She spun around mid-hallway to face Bell, "And after your earlier words, I believe his decision has given me the opportunity to live my life the way I've always to, to freely enjoy the wonders of this world with someone by my side who will always keep me safe."

Heavy, extremely heavy.

But he wouldn't be Bell Cranel if he didn't accept Eden's heavy feelings.

Bell would do everything in his power to keep those who wished to be by his side safe, and happy, no matter what. "I will never let you down, Eden."

Eden positively glowed at his words, then swiftly enveloped his arm into her bosom as they started walking through the streets again.

"By the way, that was the last store, all that's left is delivering Lady Hestia's letter to Lord Miach." Eden asked after she paid the employee for the delivery, "Now that you know most of my story is there anything you would like for me to expand upon?"

The obvious answer was 'yes' with a 'quite a lot', but Bell wasn't certain if he wanted to plunge Eden back into her dark memories again, once was enough.

"Worry not for my past, Bell, the past is long gone." Eden read his mind.

"That- I, its…" Bell frowned again at his loss for words.

"You swore something like that would never happen again," Eden closed her eyes and placed more of her weight on Bell's shoulder, "Besides, it's not as if you want to ask me the details of my torture-"

"Never!"

Eden tittered, "Then what is there to hesitate about?"

"… I never thought talking with someone could be this hard," Bell suddenly admitted with a troubled look which made Eden pat his hair.

"It's only hard because you care so much for us, for me," Eden hummed out. "Am I wrong?"

"N-no," Bell bumped those words around his head, and after much deliberation, and with how much trust Eden placed on him, his hesitation was the only factor holding him back, and even then, there was a way to deal with that hesitation, which was; "If I ask something that'll bring you bad memories, then, please, tell me beforehand, alright?"

"If that eases your worries, I will agree." Eden agreed. "So, what would you like to know?"

Bell nodded, and tried to make a string his thoughts together, "How many Gods have you met?"

"Hmm, I've met over a hundred but spoken in length with only over twenty," Eden replied.

"And how many of those have granted True Blessings?"

"Fourteen,"

"Is it common for Gods to grant True Blessings?"

"Yes and no," Eden tapped Bell's back, exactly where their Familia emblem resided, "It is common for those Gods who are already known to always grant True Blessings, such as Lady Hekate or Lord Hades', but for Gods such as Lady Hestia, and most Gods in Orario, they follow Great Lord Ouranos decree and only grant their 'Grace' or 'Falna' as it's now known."

"Eh?" Bell tilted his head towards Eden, "Miss Kat is known to grant True Blessings?"

"Depending on who you ask, yes." Eden met his gaze, "As a Goddess who retains full control of her Arcanum, there's always an assumption that if she were to bestow her divinity upon anyone, it would always be in the form of a True Blessing, the same as Lord Hades' who retains full control of his Arcanum. When it comes to the circles of deities related to Hell, Lady Hekate is known as one such True Blessing giver entity"

Well, there appeared another thing he never knew about his beloved Miss Kat.

"Are there that many Gods who retain full control of their Arcanum?"

"That's slightly hard to answer," Eden admitted, "All Gods have full control over their Arcanum, but under Great Lord Ouranos decree, such control is flimsy sealed by themselves and at their own discretion, but if we consider those who do not have any seal whatsoever, from those I've met, only 9 Gods do, 10 if I were to count Lady Hekate now."

Huh, that was a lot less than he expected, which also brought up the next question.

"Then… How many Gods have 'Champions'?" Bell's face soured at the word.

"You would be the fourth I've met so far," Eden looked far, far away, "Just because a God grants their True Blessing upon a mortal, it does not mean they've become a Champion of that God, what makes a Champion is…" Eden paused reluctantly.

"Is?" Bell pressed.

"A God's hatred."

"Huh!?" Bell stumbled in his step, but Eden quickly caught him, he turned alarmed in her arms with a distraught face. "But Miss Kat-"

"I know," Eden mushed Bell's face into her chest and held onto tightly, knowing very well that her body would distract Bell to some degree from the painful revelation. "There's so much Lady Hekate should've told you herself…"

Even with the wonderful sensations enveloping his face, Bell couldn't distance his heart away from the numbness spreading from his chest to every limb. "Miss… Kat… hatred?"

"A God can only appoint someone they both love and hate as their Champion," Eden caressed Bell's hair, "All three Champions I've previously met, and all three Gods who've appointed them as such, have confirmed hatred to be a requirement, and… considering My Lord could only appoint you as such after both hating, and loving, you for your performance in the Coliseum…"

"Then Miss Kat… is probably the same… but… why?" Bell tried to search in his memories anything that he could've done to make his beloved goddess hate him, but… he couldn't find such a memory…

Maybe Eden was lying- no.

The hastened pace of Eden's heartbeat, the tightness of her arms around his shoulders, the slight tremble in her voice, and how she'd entrusted her safety and happiness in his hands… she had not lied to him, and she would not lie to him…

"That is a question only Lady Hekate can reply to," Eden pulled Bell's gaze upwards where she met it with a supportive one. "And whatever her answer is, know that all of us who care for you will be there, just as you vow to be for us."

Her words and golden gaze reinforced his belief of Eden not being a liar, "Thank you for being so honest with me…"

What else could he say?

Just like the time when the chief of his village told him about his grandfather's demise, Bell preferred a blunt truth rather than a sweet one.

Didn't mean the truth hadn't hurt, which was why he made no action to move away from Eden's hold, nor deny the warm feeling blooming in his chest for how troubled Eden looked by his pain.

He really was lucky to have so many people who cared about him as much as he did for them.

"I will always tell you the truth and… thank you, for trusting me." Eden softly hummed as she continued caressing his hair, the tune doing wonders for his troubled heart with her body warmth soothing the tension in his shoulders.

How curious was life that an hour earlier it was Bell who'd given his support to Eden, and now it was her who gave her support to him.

Bell allowed himself to bask in the voluptuous comfort of Eden, regardless of them being in the middle of the streets where all eyes could see them, eyes that somehow still didn't fall on them at all, so… Bell, simply, let go.

As Eden said, 'The past is long gone', so whatever reason Hekate had for hating him, enough to appoint him as her Champion, was in the past, and he couldn't change that - No, he wouldn't change that, because he wouldn't be where he was.

With so many people he cherished around him, with so many who responded to his De?o?on.

Hekate loved him, Rose loved him, Hestia loved him, Eina loved him, Shakti loved him, Alicia gave an opportunity for their feelings to blossom, and Eden entrusted him with her future, her feelings, her happiness…

It was not time to let past revelations to shake his Determination, he swore he would never allow himself to let his feelings waver ever again.

Because, otherwise, he wouldn't be the Hero he always dreamed of becoming.

And to become that very same Hero, he had to face his fears straight on, even when such fears could completely destroy him, and conquer them. If there was a time Miss Kat hated him, then he would fearfully shoulder such feelings, and use that very same fear to grow as a person, as her Champion, as Bell Cranel.

Bell felt his back burn in approval of his thoughts, and without even realizing it, the tension in his shoulders disappeared, and his body felt lighter, so much lighter, yet he did not sag in relief into Eden's bosom, no.

The lightness allowed him to stand tall, proud, and feel that something had changed within him, something fundamental, and while he couldn't grasp what exactly it was, he knew there was a massive change, because his back was burning, not painfully as it always did in the past, but comforting, reassuring.

Maybe, just maybe, accepting that the World was not exactly as it seemed, that there was more to the people around him than he believed, that casting away that innocent, young, view of the world… was the change he lacked, and now, obtained.

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- 0 - AsBBaH Vol 2 - 0 -

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"I'm telling you, now is not a good time for you to meet him!" Hekate growled out to the three in front of her, two that would've never left their domain had that one not throw into disarray her plans. "Bell is stil-"

Hekate paused and looked down at her chest with wide eyes.

"Hekate?" The third, who was granted a chance, called her out.

"… Never mind, change of plans," Hekate trembled as she covered her mouth with both hands, muffling her anguished voice "…Bell… is ready…"

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- 0 - AsBBaH Vol 2 - 0 -

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Bell took a second longer to enjoy Eden's warmth, deeply breathing in the richly sweet scent overflowing from her bosom before he stepped back from her embrace, his crimson gaze met hers, with a deeper, sharper, gleam in them.

"I think that's enough surprises for the day, right?" Bell smiled and found out that it was not just his body that felt lighter, but even actions such as smiling became a lot easier for him.

Eden studied his face for a moment before replying to his smile with one of her own, and a positive nod, "Yes, I believe so too."

Bell glanced up at sky, noting that the darkness of the night was starting to envelop more and more of the remaining daylight, before looking back down at Eden and taking her hand into his own without a second thought, "Let's get to Miach's shop before he closes."

Eden barely had a moment to nod in the positive before Bell pulled her closer to his side and renewed walking with steady steps towards their destination, finding herself no longer needing to shorten her steps to match his pace from their height disparity.

It was no surprise that, with how long they had been walking before stopping for that heartful moment, and with how fast they resumed walking after it, that they reached the Blue Pharmacy in mere minutes, and taking only a fraction of that before they entered the shop.

"Welcome…" A tired, brown-haired woman greeted them from behind the counter, a woman so tired that the dimmed lights inside the shop did nothing to hide the bags under her eyes when she glanced up. Behind her was Lord Miach rearranging items in a shelf, and he turned around, showing similar dark circles around his eyes.

"Oh, if it isn't Hestia's boy, what can I do for you today?" Miach smiled warmly.

"Hello Lord Miach," Bell approached with Eden to the counter with a worried expression on his face, "You look…"

"Bad, I know." Miach sighed with his warm smile still in place, he glanced at the girl beside him and placed a hand on her back, "I believe this is the first time you two meet, right?"

"Yeah," Bell met the brown-haired woman's gaze, and he noticed her hair moved – no, it was not hair, what moved were dog-like ears, which made her a chienthrope. "Hello, I'm Bell Cranel, besides me is Eden Voluptas, we're from the Hestia Familia."

"Naaaaaa~azaa," The newly introduced Naaza yawned mid-introduction, she smacked her lips together and blearily blinked, "s'… ok to meet you."

Had Bell not been worried about how exhausted both Naaza and Lord Miach seemed, he would've found her actions on the adorable side, as it was, it only increased his worry.

"Sorry about her, we've been busy taking care of a minor problem," Miach rubbed the back of his head, "What can I help you with today, Bell?"

"About that minor problem, Lord Miach…" Bell glanced at Eden who knew better the details of what they were here to do.

"Lord Miach," Eden bowed slightly, one hand covering her chest, while the other plucked out a letter from her hip pouch, "We bring a letter, and a gift, from Lady Hestia for you."

"Oh? Hestia huh, I wonder what it'll be this time." Miach hummed and accepted the letter which made his eyebrows raise into his hairline as he read it before he turned with incredulous eyes at the two members of the Hestia Familia. "You're kidding…"

"I'm afraid not, Lord Miach," Eden plucked an envelope from her pouch, which she placed on the counter, "Lady Hestia truly values your friendship, Lord Miach, and wishes to, in her words: "Repay you for all the times you've helped me.""

Naaza gave an inquisitive gaze at the envelop, then turned said gaze at Bell who looked as intrigued by it as her.

Miach wearily picked up the envelope with the Guild's seal, he pried it apart to pull out the letter inside it, which also contained the Guild's seal and elegantly written on the paper said, summarized, that the Hestia Familia initiated a transfer of from the Hestia Familia's vault towards the Miach Familia's vaults.

All the Guild Contract needed was Lord Miach's signature to finalize the contract and make the transfer official.

"This…" Miach mumbled.

"What is it, Lord Miach?" Naaza perked up

Miach placed down the notice where Naaza could read it herself, and turned to Bell, "Are you sure about this, Bell?"

Bell blinked in confusion and realized that Hestia probably mentioned his name in the letter, and if he was honest with himself, he felt a tad bad that it was his actions that led the Guild to find out that Miach had sold him a stale product.

So, Bell had no problems replying, "Hai, you've been a huge help to us, Lord Miach, and had it not been for your generosity, I wouldn't have been able to save Alicia's life."

"But Bell, its-"

"TWO MILLION VALIS!?" Naaza exclaimed loudly and jumped from her seat behind the counter, her chair crackled loudly as it hit the floor, and she gave Bell what he would immortalize as the singular, most potent, adorable, and hopeful, puppy-eyed look he would ever receive in his life.

But that would come later, because Bell stumbled on nothing upon hearing the exclaimed amount and whirled towards Eden who, seemingly, already knew what he was about to ask and before he could voice his question, she leaned down to whisper into his ear.

"Lord Miach's fine was one million Valis, but Lady Hestia had a previous debt with him, and she wanted to repay him more than what she owed… As for how much we made, my Skill helped a little bit and we obtained around 3 million after selling everything."

Debt?

What was it his Goddesses and keeping things from him?...

"You're not…" Naaza's words stopped his train of thought, and he turned his attention to her, noticing how the hope in her purple eyes dimmed every second he hadn't responded to Lord Miach, that look, coupled with the flattening of her dog ears, was like a sledgehammer hitting his heart directly.

"N-no, it's fine, I just didn't know we had that much to spare." Bell said with both, honesty, and curiosity.

Now, Bell was quite used to receiving tackle hugs from his lovers and he really enjoyed receiving them, however, Naaza leaping from behind the counter and tackling him to the ground as she rubbed their cheeks together, and profusely thanking him, was… another enjoyable experience.

And no, it had nothing to do with the fact that in his attempt to catch her mid-air, his hands found themselves cupping her sizeable chest before they impacted the floor and ended up trapped beneath her weight in the same compromising position.

Not that she seemed to mind.

"You've no idea how much this means to us!" Naaza cried out, arms wounding around Bell's neck and tightly squeezing to the point she was almost strangling him.

Miach chuckled, "Well… This will certainly put us back in a good spot, thank you, Bell, Eden, and please, make sure to thank Hestia on my behalf too."

"We will, Lord Miach," Eden bowed politely again before glancing around the shop, "If you wouldn't mind, Lord Miach, there's some concoctions I'd like to know if you can create, or if you already have similar products to them."

"Yes, of course, what do you need?" Lord Miach stepped out from behind the counter and followed behind Eden towards the special section of the shop, leaving behind Bell still trapped beneath a thankful Naaza.

"Um, Miss Naaza?" Bell awkwardly called her name and tried to move his hands away from her chest, but the angle they fell made it incredibly hard to do so.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Well… There were worse ways of spending his time, Bell reasoned.

Sometime later, a red-faced Naaza was back behind the counter with her tail wagging happily, a beaming smile directed at Bell who carried a wooden box with some products Eden bought from Lord Miach. Said God was standing back behind the counter too.

"Thank you for your generosity, Bell, Eden," Miach signed the Guild Contract and gave it back to Eden, "Know that if you ever need some help, we'll be here to give it to you."

"You've already been a big help, Lord Miach," Bell sheepishly replied, "Let's continue being good business partner, yeah?"

"Yeah," Miach chuckled, "We'll be waiting for the next time you come."

Bell nodded, Eden bowed, and the two left the store without any further preamble.

"So, he was Bell Cranel, huh?" Naaza voiced out.

"Yeah, what do you think of him?" Miach replied.

Naaza glanced down at her fingers that were fiddling together without her knowledge, "He's… interesting, I guess, and kind… I don't think he even knew how much they were going to give us, and he still accepted giving it away…"

"Hmm, knowing him, that might be true," Miach murmured. "I just hope his kindness doesn't get him in trouble with others or is used against him…"

Naaza's fingers stopped, and she looked at the closing doors with a pensive frown, "Right…"

---

- 0 - AsBBaH Vol 2 - 0 -

---

Once Bell and Eden left the Blue Pharmacy, the night stars were already flickering brightly and the last rays of Sun disappearing in the far horizon, which led Bell to detour from going back home directly and instead head towards the Guild in the hopes that he caught Rose, and possibly Eina, so all of them could return home together.

"Say, Eden, what did you buy?" Bell asked, curious about the various fruity smells coming from the box in his hand, they took a turn into one of the alleys that connected with the street that led directly to the Guild.

"Hm~ Soaps, perfumes, flavoring agents, among other household products," Eden hummed in response and grabbed one long lock of her brown hair. "Living for so long on the coast and beneath the sea has damaged my hair quite badly, and I wish to return it to its pristine conditions."

'That explains the nice smell.' Bell thought and was about to ask another question when something triggered Insight and made him pause. 'Where?'

Bell didn't need to glance around, nor did he try to, and trusted Insight to give him the information about his surroundings and was immediately rewarded by the Ability pinpointing the reason it triggered.

Hidden a few meters ahead of them, behind some boxes on the right side of the alley, were two people with one of them holding onto knives coated in something, already prepped up towards them.

Before Bell could finish analyzing those two intentions Eden stepped ahead to tell him something, ending up inside their attack range and they started moving. Insight went into overdrive and the world slowed down around Bell, the Ability flooded him with the information he needed in that exact moment, and not a blink later, Bell moved.

Bell switched his hold on the crate onto one arm, and yanked Eden by her dress's neckline, all the while ignoring her sudden shout of protest and switched their positions which made the man's knives slid down Bell's exposed back instead, the silverback-lined clothing doing its best to protect him from the attack but gave away near the very end of it.

A prickle at the lower end of his back alerted Bell to his clothing getting sliced through, but he ignored the pain for the moment as his hand grabbing Eden's dress traveled inside her bodysuit-like dress down to her waist where he dug around pulled out the dagger she kept hidden inside before whirling around and slashed at both attackers' forearms.

"Gah!

"Urgh!"

Bell didn't recognize neither of them, not that he cared at the moment, before he pressed forward by delivering a kick to the right-one, the knives wielding one, which sent him flying and hit the wall behind with the back of his head, rendering him unconscious while the other jumped back holding onto her wounded forearm.

Bell only had a second to consciously study the woman's darker skin tone and notice how wide her eyes were, almost as if she hadn't known he would be there at all, before she turned tails and escaped by jumping above them, leaping from wall to wall and left the scene through the rooftop of the buildings around them.

"Bell! Are you alright?" Eden's hand pressed against his back, right where the burning sensation on his skin was starting to ebb towards the forefront of his mind.

"The knife was coated in something," Bell trusted Insight's and relayed the ability information as he put down the wooden box with the concoctions, the burning sensation becoming stronger.

"I understand," Eden lifted his clothing, enough that she had a clear view of the slash wound on his lower back before she pressed one hand on it. "This will hurt, please bear with it."

Bell nodded and immediately found out why Eden uttered those words.

"Thrum!"

Bell's face scrunched up as Eden's magic created an air vacuum above her palm, one that sucked the contaminated blood from Bell's wound and brought him even more pain as the vacuum's pull flared his nerves alive, he gritted his teeth and trusted that Eden knew what she was doing.

Seconds passed before the burning sensation went away and Eden stopped her magic by pointing her palm at the unconscious attacker and fired the spell in his direction, Bell would've laughed at the unconscious man groan of pain had his own wound not felt so tender at the moment.

"Don't move yet," Eden ordered and pressed her palm to the wound again, though this time Bell felt Eden's magic wash over him, like the Sea breeze gentle caress, and bring him, and his wound, relief as she worked on healing it to the best of her abilities.

"I didn't know you knew healing magic," Bell breathed out.

"This isn't Healing Magic, only Magic in its base form," Eden gave a short lecture, "If you had no Magic for mine to interact with and use it to boost your recovery rate, then this wouldn't be possible."

Bell frowned, "But I don't have…" He stopped short as he recalled his last update put an unknown mark on his magic, "Huh… I have Magic."

Eden giggled at his dumbfounded expression, "Yes, now stay still because I'm really bad in this branch of Magic Control."

"Hai."

After a few seconds of silence, Eden asked, "Was it Insight that alerted you to their attack?"

Bell glanced at the unconscious man as he replied, "Hai, their harmful instincts triggered it and gave me the chance to react, sorry for pulling you so suddenly."

"N-no, it's fine." Eden coughed. "I believe we both know you're more durable than I am, right?"

Bell chuckled, "Yeah, though it's not like I'm actively trying to build up my Endurance."

Eden rolled her eyes, "Say that after not taking a single hit in a fight." She palmed his back, where the wound was tenderly sealed shut, "I'm done over here, just don't do any strenuous movement for a while, otherwise it'll open up again."

"Thanks," Bell replied as the two stood back to their feet, and Bell waited no longer to approach the unconscious man. "What do we do?"

"Take him to the Guild to be identified," Eden replied and pulled up her wooden box with her purchase. "I'll carry this."

Bell nodded, took off the man's cloak and used it to tie his hands together behind his back before slinging him over his shoulder.

---

- 0 - AsBBaH Vol 2 - 0 -

---

As Bell's Luck would have it, they caught Rose and Eina just as they were leaving the Guild alongside Shakti, amiably chatting amongst themselves before they saw Eden and Bell, the later carrying an unconscious, tied, man on his shoulder, and intuitively knew trouble had found him again.

Under Rose's and Shakti's guidance, Bell took the unconscious man inside the Guild were Shakti ordered him to be identified and taken into custody while Bell, much to his dismay, wrote a report about what happened earlier which Eina filed.

As soon as Eina delivered the report, she and Bell rejoined Eden, Shakti and Rose who were waiting for them at the Guild's lobby, all three women with pronounced frowns on their faces.

"Hey," Bell softly greeted them once he was by their side, "We're done with the report."

"Will there ever be a day where you don't attract trouble to yourself, Bell?" Shakti was the first to greet him with a short hug and a kiss to the cheek.

"I try not to?" Bell sheepishly replied before Rose smothered him into her bosom with her own greeting kiss to the forehead. "Hey…"

"Hey…" Rose greeted back with satisfied smile before stepping back, her smile turned into a scowl, "The man you brought was from the Soma Familia."

"Oh." Bell oh'ed, "That explains some things, I guess?"

"And creates more questions," Eden replied from the back, her frown still in place, "I fail to understand what they were trying to do in the alley."

"From what Bell explained of the other attacker detail's, I believe he was accompanied by someone of the Ishtar Familia." Eina added, but unlike Rose and Shakti, withheld from showing her affection to Bell inside the Guild where all eyes could see them.

"An Amazon and a Drunkard huh, this sounds like the start of a really lame joke," Shakti huffed and crossed her arms.

"Lame joke or not, the fact that they attacked Bell and Eden still stands." Rose replied, mirroring Shakti by crossing her own arms and pushing up her bosom.

"I'm ashamed of getting caught off-guard and not reacting fast enough to help Bell catch the Amazon before she ran away," Eden scornfully added, and just as the other two, crossed her arms and pushed up her voluptuousness.

"Honestly, what were they thinking?" Eina scoffed, and surprise, crossed her arms just like the other three. "Outside of War Games, adventurers should never attack one another!"

Bell looked downwards and went into deep thought as the four women discussed amongst themselves about the incident, which to the perspective of those around their group, it seemed that Bell was comparing the four presented, and pushed up, bosoms of the four women in front of him.

However, that was far from the reality, as Bell was matching more pieces of the puzzle in his brain together.

He knew Ishtar had tried to get Hestia to trade him for one of her higher ranked Amazons, so it was safe to say that he had Ishtar's interest, which would explain why the Amazon ran away the moment she noticed he was with Eden.

It was very likely that Ishtar and the Soma Familia decided to work together to get what they wanted, if he was to trust Eden's prediction of why the Soma Familia threatened Alicia into a War Game, and Bell, after everything he learnt of Eden today, truly trusted her, then…

Maybe… Ishtar sought to weaken the Hestia Familia through the Soma Familia before she delivered her own blow and try to steal him away through a War Game.

Bell's blood started boiling as he realized that the Soma Familia were truly after Eden from the very start, regardless of how they got their hands on her, so long as they captured her and could use her because of her Cursed Skill.

The Soma Familia insulted Alicia.

The Soma Familia threatened Alicia.

The Soma Familia tried to attack and abduct Eden.

The Soma Familia threatened his family, threatened their safety, threatened their happiness!

"A War Game huh." Bell's sharp voice made the four women pause and turn towards him, curious and concerned over his tightened fist.

"A War Game…" Bell repeated again and raised his face, his crimson gaze froze the four women with how much rage was pooled within them.

"Rose, Eina, tell me what I have to do to challenge the Soma Familia to a War Game."

---

- 0 - AsBBaH Vol 2 - 0 -

---

"Welcome back, everyone!" Hestia cheerfully greeted her Familia, and the extended Familia, back inside Rose's apartment.

A chorus of replies from everyone followed with Bell being the last to enter their home, "Goddess, I need to talk with you for a minute."

"Yes, Bell?" Hestia followed Bell towards the stairs where they had a slight bit of privacy.

"We're having a War Game with the Soma Familia because…" Bell walked Hestia through the entirety of what happened to them during the day, along with his thoughts that he hadn't mentioned to any of his lovers.

"If that's your decision, Bell, I will trust you." Hestia squeezed his hands in a show of support, "Thank you for caring so much, my Child, know that you're only making me happier and prouder of you by the day, and I'm certain your grandfather would also be proud of you."

The heartfelt words stirred Bell's heart, almost bringing him to tears which he successfully suppressed with a tight, but grateful, smile. "Thank you, Goddess."

"Now, I know Hekate, and I said that we didn't mind you forming a big family but…" Hestia glanced at the five women exchanging conversation between the kitchen and the living room area, some like Rose and Shakti making themselves a whole lot more comfortable than the Alicia, Eina, and Eden, by wearing skimpier, but more comfortable, clothes. "You really couldn't wait until we had a bigger home to get one, huh?" Hestia teased good naturedly.

Bell sheepishly laughed, his smile became wider as he looked over his loved ones, "Sorry, Goddess, it sorts of just happened…"

"I know, I know," Hestia ruffled his hair, then gave him her own troubled and sheepish smile, "I'm sorry about not telling you just how much I wanted to give Miach…"

"No, it's fine Goddess," Bell waved his hands, "I'm sure I can make a whole bunch more once I return to the dungeon, so really, don't worry."

"Oh Bell," Hestia hugged his midsection, her teary face rubbing against his chest, "Never change, please!"

"I can't promise that. Goddess," Bell replied heartily, and he meant it, because not a few hours earlier, he knew something fundamental within him had changed, and who was to tell that he wouldn't change in the future, yet again.

"Just try to avoid doing anything stupid again, okay?" Hestia sniffed and gave Bell what should be considered a reprimanding glare, but it was more adorable than anything else.

"Hai, hai~" Bell acquiesced with a light chuckle.

"Uhm, Bell?" Alicia's soft voice made Bell turn to find her at the base of the stairs, hands folded together and twiddling her fingers nervously.

Hestia, as naïve as she was, knew when to make herself scarce at the very least, and fled towards the kitchen to get pampered by the rest of her Familia while Bell took care of one of his partners.

Bell softly greeted Alicia, "Hey, sorry, I forgot about the blackberries…"

"No, no, it's fine," Alicia walked up the stairs and laid her head on his chest, "I've heard from the others about what happened, I'm glad you weren't hurt too badly."

"It's going to take a lot more than that to take me down," Bell joked and started caressing Alicia's long golden locks.

"I know." Alicia giggled, "Is your wound fine?"

"I think so?" Bell tried to glance at his wound but gave up since he couldn't see the exact place on his back. "Hasn't really bothered me."

"Do you want me to take a look at it? I know a little bit of Healing Magic thanks to Lady Riveria," Alicia's soft voiced coupled with her tender, honey-eyed look melted him.

"I'd like that, yeah." Bell replied and was rewarded with Alicia's beaming smile before she took him upstairs… and into the bathroom.

Downstairs, almost as if on sync, all members, honorary or not, except the Goddess of the Familia traded looks.

"Hm, it does look to be the exact time for the Familia's tradition…" Rose's wolfishly smiled and received chuckles and approving nods in response. "Lady Hestia, would you mind looking over dinner? You only need to make sure it doesn't burn, alright?"

"Haaaai~" Hestia happily replied, and not a second later, four sets of footsteps all but ran upstairs, leaving the Goddess alone in the kitchen shaking her head, amusement clear in her features. "These Children o' mine… I guess they do know that it's better for someone else to wash your back than doing it yourself!"

… No, Hestia, that's not… you know what, never mind.

---

Bell wondered how he had somehow found himself sitting on the stool inside the shower area of the bathroom with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist while waiting for Alicia so she could 'make sure his wound was fine', and he knew it had something to do with how soft-spoken Alicia made her demands, there really was very little resistance he could put against her.

"I'm sorry for taking so long, Bell." Alicia's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he glanced back to see Alicia fiddling with her own towel, one wrapped around her entire midsection yet doing little to hide her tender thighs and collarbone. "Pl-please don't look so much?"

"Ah, sorry." Bell apologized and directed his gaze back towards the wall.

A few, echoing, footsteps before a finger gently traced the area of his wound. "Mm, was it here where you got hurt?"

"Y-yeah," Bell shivered as Alicia's fingertip continued tracing the area before it suddenly stopped, only to return a moment later accompanied by her other hand setting against his upper back. "Alicia?"

"Hold on," Alicia whispered, and focused her magic, which instantly flooded into Bell's body and somehow reminded him of the Spring's breeze.

Now, after having had a taste of both Eden's and Alicia's Magic, Bell learned that Magic had a 'flavor' if he could call it that, even. Bell lost himself in the flow of magic, thoroughly enjoying the ebbing sensations, and once again, only came back to his senses when a second set of hands started working on his hair.

"E-eh?" Bell glanced up and blinked repeatedly as he found Rose's amused irises staring down at him.

"You should know better than not telling me when you're going to take a bath~" Rose giggled.

"N-no, that's-" Bell tried to explain only for Rose to lean down and seal his lips shut with her own.

"She really wastes no time…" Shakti's awed voice somewhere to his left almost made him jump from his seat.

"Well… She was first…" Eina's timid voice somewhere to his right did make him jump from his seat, though Rose's hands on his shoulders kept him from actually moving away from the kiss.

"I don't believe either Bell or Rose would mind if any of you acted before her," Eden tittered out from somewhere behind him and Bell all but gave up and realized that, yes, everyone besides his Goddess had entered the bathroom while he was lost in thought.

"Bell, please stay still, I can't focus my Magic if you move around so much." Alicia's tone was soft, but her demand became apparent with her nails digging slightly onto his upper back.

Thus, Bell completely gave up on trying to look around him and focused on returning Rose's seemingly unending kiss fully, his choice obtained a throaty moan of approval from Rose in response before she deepened the kiss.

"And it really doesn't take her much to get him going," Shakti snickered while moving closer towards the huddled three, she kneeled beside Bell, "Rose, don't hog him all for yourself."

Rose moaned something and moved back, enough to separate her lips from Bell's and show it was Bell who had her tongue captured between his lips.

Shakti huffed, and with little coaxing, managed to make Bell release Rose's tongue, and claimed his lips for her own before he could utter anything.

The display of affection reminded Eina about her own promise to Bell, a promise that pushed her forward and claim Bell's right side and pepper his neck with kisses while she waited for her turn to gain his affection.

Watching the very same amorous display from Bell's back, Alicia frowned and focused on finishing healing Bell's wound, suddenly she felt a hand gently set on her shoulder and she glanced upwards to see Rose move to kneel down beside her.

"Sorry, I know you wanted to be alone with him for a little bit, but…" Rose tilted her head in Bell's direction where Shakti just had her fill, and it was Eina's turn to claim his lips.

"N-no, well… yes," Alicia wistfully sighed. "I… don't really know what to do in situations like this, my, uhm, books never spoke of such a situation."

Rose raised an eyebrow at Alicia's admittance of reading erotic books, though that didn't change her judgement of the younger girl whatsoever. "I would say that the best to do in moments like this is to follow your heart, and if at some point you feel like its too much for you, know that Bell won't pressure you into doing-"

"-Anything I don't want him to do, I know." Alicia finished, with a knowing smile. "Its just… how do you deal with sharing his affection with… us?"

Rose glanced back at Bell whose attention switched between Eina and Shakti every few seconds, a wolfish grin formed on her lips, "I want Bell, my mate, to be the happiest man to ever live and it helps a lot that all of you are adorable and very easy to love too."

"O-oh," Alicia looked at Bell's back, pensively, and moved her hands away since she finished the treatment of his wound. "To make him happy…"

"Don't think too much about it, remember, just follow your heart." Rose flicked her forehead before she tapped Bell's side and lightly pulled at his body.

Bell understood that someone behind him wanted his attention, and since he no longer felt Alicia's magic washing over him, he turned around to see the golden-haired elf kneeling besides Rose, both with only towels barely clinging to their bodies.

He gulped at the sight and tried to hide the visible towel's tent on his waist much to Rose's amusement, he heard and felt the shower turning on, the drizzle pelted his hair and back, with some droplets splashing on Alicia's pensive face and Rose's expecting one.

He wondered what Rose was expecting before Alicia answered the question by shuffling forward where her chest pressed against his towel, which made it fall off his legs and cling to his vigor, and Alicia continued moving forward until her chest pushed his barely hidden member against his stomach, yet her honey-gaze never left his.

"Bell?" Alicia softly called out his name.

"Hai?"

"I… want your attention too." Alicia admitted and immediately had her face turn red though she made no move to pull away from him, in fact she raised her arms to loop around Bell's neck and lightly pull him down.

He gave no resistance to Alicia's pull, and when her face tilted up to fully look at him, Bell moved forward to capture her soft lips with his own. In that singular moment, Bell forgot entirely about everything that happened during the day, everything except the moments he had shared with those he loved.

From his tumultuous apology with Eina at the Guild which almost drove him insane, to Alicia opening her heart for him, to Eden sharing her past and trusting him with her future, and now, again, to his loved ones showering him with affection he fleetingly thought he didn't deserve.

A fleeting thought that perished with his own reminder that he was always giving it his all for every one of them, and while he shouldn't expect or take their affection for granted, it didn't mean he couldn't selfishly enjoy it.

And enjoy it he did.

He lost himself in Alicia's soft and tender lips, not knowing whether to suck or nibble on them as both options brought small, nervous, noises from the golden-haired elf. Their kiss, unlike the previous ones they shared, shared many new emotions that both slowly experienced and relished in.

For a moment, he wondered why Shakti, Eina, or Rose hadn't pulled him away for his attention, and he chanced a glance at them only to see all three with what he labeled as 'about damn time' smiles on their faces and correctly guessed that they wanted to give Alicia her own, alone, time with him.

Another quiet noise coming from Alicia's made Bell return his entire attention towards her, he slowly placed a hand to her cheek, starting by pressing his fingertips and waiting until she started leaning towards his palm before fully cupping her cheek and pulling her deeper into their kiss.

A prolonged, quiet, moan echoed within Alicia's mouth at his actions, and he sought to bring another similar noise from her by nibbling at her lips until he found the spot that created another such desirable sound. Once he'd found it, he attacked that very same spot with more passion and caused Alicia's breath to fasten, which in turn made her bosom press temptingly against his barely towel-covered rod.

He felt Alicia shift slightly in place when his vigor hardened enough to become noticeable, the minimal movements made by her ragged breathing loosened her towel enough that when she moved to feel more of Bell's affection, the towel fell away and his member lodged itself between her soft, naked, breasts.

He heard someone gasp the moment Alicia's towel hit the ground, but thankfully Alicia was far too lost in that moment to notice it, he glanced upwards and saw Rose and Shakti pull Eina towards the back end of the shower to, probably, explain Alicia's scar.

His view of the three women was blocked by Eden, who unlike everyone else had nothing covering her naked, voluptuous, body, in her hands was one of the bottles he knew she'd brought earlier from Lord Miach, one that she opened and let some of the liquid fall down on Alicia's hair before she kneeled behind the elf and started humming and running her hands through her golden locks, not in the least bothered by Alicia savoring his lips.

Eden noticed his curiosity and gave him a wink before mouthing, 'pay her attention'.

He rolled his eyes but moved his attention back to Alicia who pulled back from the kiss to gather her breath.

"That…" Alicia breathlessly hushed out, "I really liked that…"

"I'm glad." Bell recovered his own breath faster and caressed Alicia's face with his thumb.

"Can we…" Alicia wetted her lips, and he took that as an invitation to bring her into another kiss that made Alicia's honey-eyes flutter close.

Bell tried to rein in the more primal part of his desires, yet he still found himself searching the spot on Alicia's lips that the slightest bit of affection made her softly moan and pull at his neck, silently asking him for more which snapped a bit more of the restraint on his desires.

Alicia's honey irises snapped open when she felt his tongue prod her lips, and after a moment of hesitation, gave him entrance into her mouth where he greeted her tongue for the first time with his with quite the affectionate gesture, a long lick through the very center before his tongue swirled around the tip of hers and made her nails start scratching at his waist from the new pleasurable sensation assaulting her brain.

The sensations coming from her tongue were very much different from the ones of her lips, and she quickly found out why exactly was it that all three women who kissed Bell before her went directly for a tongue-kiss rather than a chaste kiss.

He felt Alicia's breath quicken even more and she tried to respond to his tongue, it was both endearing and attractive how she tried her best to match his pace, but his experience was leaving her far behind, though she was, unknowingly, making up for it with her hastened breathing as it made her breasts deliriously massage his vigor, the towel somehow still keeping it covered from her view.

Such massage helped cracking open the gate of Bell's desires, one that already had several holes made by all his lovers' affections.

In a moment where Alicia sought to feel more of Bell's warmth with her body, she shuffled closer in between his legs where she found the exact place where most of Bell's current heat was coming from, her curiosity about what place was it that smothered her so led Alicia to slowly pull away from Bell's kiss, and glance down at her bare chest.

There, she finally saw, barely covered behind the towel still in place, Bell's hottest part.

He noticed how Alicia stiffened once her eyes locked onto his vigor, most of her excitement from earlier switched places with apprehension, which made him shift backwards slightly and cover his manhood with his hands as best as he could.

"Did… I… ah…" Alicia found herself lost for words, not certain whether to look at Bell's eyes, or his scarcely hidden boner. "That…" She did intend to make him happy; she knew that was a sign of him being extremely happy, however, faced with it… she…

Arms wound up from behind Alicia, and brought her into another warm, and reassuring, embrace, before Eden's velvety voice whispered in her ear, "It's okay to back down now if your heart isn't ready."

"But…" Alicia met Bell's troubled expression, he tried giving her a reassuring smile, but Alicia could still see the barely hidden desire behind those crimson orbs of his.

Yet, as Eden said, her heart, while wanting, wasn't ready for that next step just yet.

"Don't feel bad," Eden whispered again and she, too, met Bell's eyes, "Believe me when I tell you, I know what you're feeling right now, because while I also want to meld my heart and body together with Bell's, my heart is still not ready…" She helped Alicia to her feet, though never stopped embracing her from behind. "I'm sure Bell is willing to wait until we're truly ready, right?"

"I'll wait as long as it takes," He gave an honest response, and stood up, coming face to face with Alicia who glanced away for a second before meeting his eyes again.

"Please wait for me…" Alicia pleaded, Bell smiled and nodded, and she sealed their promise with a short, but powerful, kiss.

"I'll ask the same of you, Bell." Eden spoke from above Alicia's head, though she made no move to give him any sort of affection other than her enticing smile, "Now, I'm not quite done with the treatment of your hair, Miss Alicia, so how about we go over there where I can take proper care of it, mmm?"

"I…" The longer Eden had held onto her, the easier it became for Alicia to recognize that the voluptuous woman truly felt the same way as her when it came to Bell, thus, she responded, "I would like that, Miss Eden."

Bell watched them walk away, closer to the Ofuro where Eden finally released Alicia and sat her down at the edge of the tub and started humming and combing through her golden locks with her fingers again, in that moment he knew that those two would very likely become close friends.

He also finally found a difference between Rose and Eden because he was certain that if it had been Rose who'd been behind Alicia when she saw his desire then Rose would've pushed Alicia forward, just as she had done for both Eina and Shakti.

It was no surprise to him, after learning of Eden's past, that she took a shining to Alicia in that singular moment and moved to support her without making her feel bad for not satisfying him, not that he wasn't satisfied with her kiss or her love, but as a selfish, sinful, man made of dirt, his desires went farther than just loving kisses.

But as he promised them, he would wait for their hearts to be ready before taking that step with them, whenever that was, however long it took, and he wouldn't stop caring for them regardless of whether that time ever came or not, he cared for them for who they were to him, not for what they could do for him.

[Graphic Warning, Lemon. Tags: At this point you really should know what to expect from me, teehe~]

"That's quite the serious face you have there, Bell," Shakti's voice and sudden embrace from his right side snapped him out of his thoughts, and he met her inquisitive azure irises. "What are you thinking about?"

"About how much I love you all," Bell's corny response made Shakti wince, but laugh out loud.

"Pft, you…" Shakti huffed, "I was being serious."

"So was I," Bell shrugged, non-apologetically, "Did you two explain Alicia's scar to Eina?"

"Ah, didn't think you noticed that with how much you were into the kiss…" Shakti murmured, "But yeah, we did. Eina's no adventurer and she wasn't at the Coliseum to know how bad Alicia's wounds was, so it was no surprise she would react like that."

As if speaking of her was a summoning ritual, Eina and Rose appeared with the former glancing every so often in Eden's and Alicia's direction, "Sorry, I didn't mean to react like that, it was a big surprise."

"It's alright," Bell waved his hand and all four sets of eyes locked on the towel said hand was holding.

"That certainly is not alright." Rose amusingly responded after her eyes went downwards toward what the towel had been hiding for the last thirty minutes. "Just how long have you been holding back for it to get that bad, my mate?"

Now, as he'd admitted to himself earlier, Bell was a selfish, sinful, man made of dirt, and adding to that, his dream, bequeathed and support upon him by his gramps, was to obtain the best harem in the world, a big family that he would care for, love, and protect…

Which had absolutely nothing to do with his raging boner proudly standing tall.

What? He was young, teased several times during the day, and while Alicia hadn't done more than just give him some fleeting touches and very emotional kisses, he truly only needed a small portion of that to stir his desires and lit the fire in his heart.

"Longer than I'd like to admit," Bell whispered his response but all three of his partners heard him.

Rose sighed and shook her head, before stepping in front of him and smothering his face between her bountiful breasts, right where she always placed him, his vigor became trapped between their bellies and she leaned down to press a short kiss, "You know, we shouldn't always be the ones starting this…"

"I'm agreeing on this one with her," Shakti affirmed, and trapped Bell's arm between her absurdly soft breast, and she pushed his hands flush against her mound, making sure his fingers felt just how wet her entrance was.

Eina completed the trifecta blow to the cage of his desires by taking his left side, placing his forearm inside her cleavage, and chewed at his fingers, red faced, "I'm… always ready for you…"

Surrounded by what Bell could describe as his own paradise, he had no true way of holding himself back any longer, and if he was completely honest with himself, he really didn't want to hold back any longer.

"I'll, remember that, next time," Bell spoke in short breathes before finally giving in to his desires.

The fingers above Shakti's mound started to actively caress her lower lips, making the blue-haired woman gasp and lean into his touch, her own legs trembled at the sudden surprise attack, and she bit his shoulder, moaning into his skin while asking for more.

The fingers inside Eina's mouth went deeper, and actively started to play with her tongue which made her face flush deeper, enough for her elven ears to turn red too, and start to drool all over his fingers, hand, forearm, and her own breast.

And Rose, who had a clear view of Bell's face in that very second were he finally gave in, she found that something had changed within Bell yet again, something that made him no longer hesitate before seeking what he wanted from them, a certain glint that he only possessed when he was making tough decisions…

A change… That allowed him to actively seek her lips, find her tongue, and conquer her mouth within seconds, she could almost taste just how much he desired them through the passionate, deep kiss, enough that it made her legs feel light.

And ignite her own dark desire to have her mate then and there.

An advantage of Rose being taller than Bell made itself known by Rose's hips moving back and standing on her tiptoes with one of her hands moving Bell's tip until it squelched her flower and, as she moved forward and fell flat on her toes, slowly pried open her insides as it wormed its way up into the entrance of her sacred chamber where his tip snuggly pressed against it and drew out a throaty moan from her.

And there still was a respectable portion outside of her, one that her flower drooled over as she slowly started working her hips, quiet mewls of pleasure disappearing into Bell's mouth as he continued to have his way with her.

It was an exhilarating experience for Bell to have his lovers surround him and seek his affection, the fog that always clouded his mind in moments like this wasn't there anymore, and he guessed it probably had something to do with the change he felt in himself earlier.

A change that he could feel from his back, as it was burning the same as earlier, a warmth that pushed him forward, that set every limb ablaze, flared every nerve alive, every sensation became all the clearer, all the better, all the more arousing.

Shakti's teeth on his shoulder, her nails scratching at wherever she could reach of his chest, how she tried to hide her moans by gutturally rumbling them in her throat… He needed to draw more from her, and he got more from her as he plunged two fingers deeper into her core, effectively making her breath hitch and her hips raise in surprise yet again, and when he wriggled them in search for her preferred spot, her moans became all the louder, all the more wanton.

At the same time, the way Eina switched between submissively licking his left hand's finger and taking them as deep as she could into her mouth, her tongue doing her best effort to show him that she had gotten better with it… Her submissiveness always triggered the more primal side in him, a side that unfolded like traveling static from the tips of his fingers all the way into his head, prickling his need to find out just how much better Eina's mouth became.

If all those sensations and emotions weren't enough, his werewolf was a hot mess of crossed golden irises with a wanton desire brimming from them, desires that her waist did its best to satisfy by erratically moving herself up and down his length that her insides warmly coiled around, a flower that squelched every time his tip pressed against her deepest chamber, and bathed his remaining length with more of her slickness and made it all the easier for her to slide, made her muffled moans into his mouth all the louder.

The barrage of sensations from all three sides drove Bell insane, yet at the same time, his mind kept all rationality, catalogued every sensation, and brought them to the forefront of his mind without discarding any detail of each of his lovers, details his body inherently knew from how many times he'd felt from them, but now, it was as if his mind actively recalled each and every one of them.

Which was why when he bent his knees slightly to switch his position, and Rose's core devoured more of his vigor, that he slid directly into her deepest chamber with an ease he'd only possessed when giving it his all, the bulging of Rose's stomach as he bottomed out inside her, forcing a sudden clasp of her nails over his shoulders as her body shuddered with a silent howl rumbling within her.

Rose's insides positively strangled him, squeezing, and begging for his vigor to mark her inner walls with his seed, the deluge of wetness that dribbled from her flower and splashed over his crotch was both parts warm and cold, the trembling of her legs added even more sensations around his pride.

Pride that grew bigger when Shakti painfully bit into his shoulder since his fingers found her preferred spot, attacked with reckless abandon until her loins could no longer hold against his assault, her insides locked up with her petals splurging their ecstasy on the palm of his hand, a hand that, while its fingers couldn't move, the wrist still could, which was exactly what he did and made Shakti curl deeper into him, bite all the stronger as her muffled groan of approval left its mark on his skin.

Pride that almost blew when Eina focused on his left's hand middle finger with all her passion and desire, wrapped his forearm that passively rested inside her bosom with her heavy breast, and knead her own heaviness to massage his forearm's length, the drool she'd let fall for the better part of her starting actions making the job all the easier, her meek hums and coiling movements of her tongue all the louder, wetter, lewder.

Pride that gave in when Rose buried her face on the left side of his shoulder, a long, wet, lick around the left side of his collarbone before she sank her fangs to renew her mark on him, her insides wound tighter around him, trapping his engorged tip inside her deepest chamber, and the muffled, "Mark me!" into his shoulders finished him.

And started his first copious climax, accompanied by his teeth chewing at his werewolf's shoulder to please her muffled desire. His own legs and shoulders tensed as the rush of his seed surged from deep within him, right into his werewolf's deepest recess, painted her inner walls with his mark and flooded it with his tepid torrent of lust and love.

He could feel everything about Rose in that moment, the raggedness of her labored breath, the perkiness of her rose-colored tips, the seeking fangs drawing blood from his shoulder, the long nails racking her excitement across his skin, her trembling legs that were giving up on her by the second, the wanton squeezing of her insides that milked more of seed and overflooded her womb, her bulging belly growing with how much she squeezed from within and kept trapped through the seal of her gushing flower.

It was an entirely new, exhilarating experience, that continued even after Rose's legs completely gave up on her, the hardness of his girth and her own weight falling over him keeping her standing, lodging his tip deeper where it pressed against the roof of her womb and allowed for his batter to overflow her chamber, squelch through her flower, and trail down her inner thighs along with her own wetness.

A wetness that also fell on his shoulders, since Rose lost control over her mouth and drooled over his shoulder, with rumbling moans accompanying her every body shudder as she savored the high of her mate giving her his love.

But his length could only keep her steady for so long without his hands to help, hands that were trapped by his other two lovers and worked to please them until their own turn would finally come, and Rose slowly slid down across his chest, his steady vigor escaped her flower and belched the last remains of his climax directly onto her distended belly, bountiful breasts, and face when she finally fell to her knees with her face pressed right beside his crotch, his member looming saturated with their combined desires and steadily dropping over her.

The drizzle of the shower on his back did nothing to chill the warmth overflowing from his Skill, did nothing to calm down Shakti whom he turned towards, mindful of not stepping over Rose, nor escaping Eina's arousing work on his fingers and forearm. Shakti's hands went onto his shoulders to steady herself, and just as Rose did when she took him in, he lined up his glossy tip with her entrance before splurging her open.

Shakti's own sleekness from the previous climax he fingered out of her helped with his exploration of her absurdly soft and snug inner walls, and now that he finally had one hand free, he immediately used it to smack her absurdly soft rump, the blow echoed, and he held onto her ludicrous softness with all his might, and both pulled her and pushed himself deeper into her.

Where his massive length was already sensitive from pleasing his first mate, Shakti's loins were barely recovering from her splurging climax, which only made the moment where Bell's engorged tip press against her own snug gate of her inner core all the more deliriously exciting.

And the excitement only increased when he used his hold on her absurdly soft rump to guide her movements into a frantic pace that made Shakti's smaller, but suppler, breast bounce against his chest, her mouth slowly widened open, and her soft noises increase in strength and pace.

Shakti's stronger constitution gave Bell the opportunity to put more strength into his body, and more force into his thrusts, which made her azure irises lose focus and slowly work on creating the key to her inner core's gate. His mind actively guided his movements into making his vigor become the matching key to her inner core's gate, and after matching every of her folds with his girth, he keyed open into her core with one powerful thrust.

"Oooohmmmm yes!" Shakti hissed out before clutching tighter at both Bell's shoulder and his massive length inside her, she could feel her slim midriff bulge with how hard his engorged tip pressed against her, what should be a painful impossibility was instead a prohibited lustrous sin that her body relished in, drove her irises upwards where they almost disappeared into the back of her head, and flared her inside's alive yet again.

The heat of Shakti's linings increased with her sudden gush of elation and switched from a ludicrous softness into a viperous strangling coil around his emboldened length, the unexpected pressure pushed his already sensitive defenses so close to the precipice it only took Shakti a second of a sudden, full bodied, shiver that added even more pressure for him to lose it again.

Bell's eyes crossed when he felt his sack churn in delayed warning, and his batter rise along his length, engorging his member even more for Shakti's linings to snuggly milk, and receive his seed into her core.

Shakti did not put any resistance in her body and completely sagged against him at the very first spurt that splurged against her inner core's wall, her lips sought and found his in a frenzied kiss that continued for as long as it took for him to stuff her whole, and even more, with his copious batter.

What were a few dozens of seconds felt like hours for him as spurt after spurt overflowed Shakti's core, her snug insides doing absolutely nothing to keep the warm seed from dribbling past her petals directly into the bathroom tiles.

It was only thanks to her level's resilience that when Bell pulled himself out of her, she remained standing on trembling legs and running her fingers over her distended belly in awed stupidness yet again as she came face to face with another of Bell's impossibilities.

And then it was finally Eina's turn whose entire body was flushed in anticipation, her chin, neck, breasts, cleavage, and belly, all wet with her drool from how long it took for him to turn his entire attention towards her.

He'd only glanced at her with his extreme desire to make her fulfill her promise to him in the guild for her to fall to her knees and gobble him whole down into her throat to finally show him what she'd learned and practiced for him, even as her mouth and gullet bulged to entrap him, her emerald irises never left his face, they only lidded further as she devoured him down to the base where she smiled up in victory with red cheeks at him.

In that moment Bell all but forgot about having dinner, about his surroundings, about his reasoning and only focused on immortalizing what Eina was going to do for him, that Rose and Shakti recovered and scrambled to make another trifecta blow against him by kneeling at either side of Eina to fight over sack, well…

That was the icing on the cake, really.

…

…

…

"You know, I do believe we made the correct choice of asking him to wait for us, because I don't know about you, Miss Alicia, but I truly am certainly not ready to do what they're doing." Eden watched in unadulterated fascination the scene of Bell melding his heart and body with his official lovers.

Much like her, but very much unlike her, Alicia also watched with wide eyes through her fingers, since she had covered her face with both hands the moment the moans started, her face was as red as Rose's red mane in that moment, and as Eden's hands still ran through her golden locks to deepen their new bond…

"I don't think I'll ever be ready for that."

…

"Actually… I kind of…"

"Mfufu~ Nope, not today, Miss Alicia, not today."

And so, Bell fully lost himself in the present moment where the Past feebly clawed at his renewed Determination to accomplish all his dreams… which included driving his partners into blissful unconsciousness before dinner.

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Author's Note: So, uh… I had fun? Teehee~ Next chapter has the war, then next one (probably) Alicia's shining moment along with some of the commissioned Omakes, and some returning characters too!

- Jas / Shiiva