Chapter 14: Celebration.
Normal POV.
The Hestia familia entered the main entrance to Orario, there they were greeted by familiar faces from Mia's pub and their friends from other familias.
"Bell-san!" Syr was the first to dive straight to the rabbit boy as soon as she saw him enter the gate.
"Umm... Syr-san... Would you please let go of me?" Bell tried to get out of her tight embrace but failed to due to her unbelievable strength.
Riveria suddenly interrupted and separated the gray haired mistress to Bell.
"I know you're glad that he won and so we are but would you please refrain from such actions? We're on a public place after all" The High elf princess said as a vain popped up into her head.
"Ara... Someone's jealous I see..." Syr whispered.
"Anyway, congratulations on your victory and rank up Bell Cranel, if you want to learn something, don't hesitate to ask me okay?" She said while smiling gently to the boy.
"Thank you so much Riveria-san, can I go and see you to learn some other kind of magics in the future?" He bowed which earned a light hit from the green haired elf's staff.
"Don't be so formal, we're both adventurers so you don't need to do that okay?"
"Yes... Can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"How come you don't have a lover even if you are as beautiful as a goddess and as kind and loving as a mother?" All present people had their jaws dropped including Finn and Gareth.
"The kid dropped the bomb unexpectedly..." The elder dwarf whispered to the blonde pallum.
"You see... I think I haven't met the person I want to be my lifetime partner yet... That's what I was thinking until that day I saw that man standing in front of me, I never knew him at that time and never talked to him until recently, I think I like him but I can't really go and tell him because I'm afraid that this man already have way too many women out for his blood and also, I'm way too old for him" The high elf princess smiled solemnly as she looked at the blue sky above.
"Does age really matter?" He muttered.
"What?" Everyone present asked
"Does age really matter? I mean even gods sometimes fall in love with their children and gods already existed at the beginning of time and some mortals actually reciprpocates their love so why do you restrict yourself on something so trivial? I think you shouldn't hold back and go for whatever you want... And I may not know who's the super lucky guy you fell in love with but I think any other women who's also into that man will lose their will if you are the opponent... And I think that man would be more than happy to know that you out of all people fell in love with him... That's what I think" He explained as he gave Riveria a serious look.
Riveria's eyes shot wide because of this, never did the thought of her falling in love crossed her mind. She made up her mind because of his advice to not hold back anymore and just go for it.
"Thank you... I'll try to not bottle up my feelings up for this person and as a gift for your wonderful advice... Please close your eyes" she smiled lightly as she closes the gap between them.
Everyone couldn't believe what she just did and Ryu passed out because she never thought that Riveria would do this kind of bold move to any guy.
Riveria just gave Bell a kiss on his cheek.
"OH SHIT!" Welf exclaimed.
"UWAH!" Lily's jaw dropped as well as Finm's and Gareth's.
Mikoto just smiled happily and Aki's just humming while smiling, Aiz on the other hand looks very serious for some reason and Syr is shooting a somewhat cold look.
"Bell Cranel, the person I fell in love with is you and I hope what you said earlier is all true" She winked and smiled to the white haired tomatoe boy before leaving everyone.
"D-Did Riveria just confessed...????? and... A KISS!!!???" Finn's brain couldn't process what just happened.
Aki on the other hand just smiled before walking towards Bell.
"Looks like you've caught a big one... Congratulations" She teased the rabbit boy who's just standing there while blushing like there is no tomorrow.
"Anyway, congrats on your rank up and victory, should we hold a celebration?" She smiled at the white haired boy who finally recovered from the kiss.
"Probably but I think we should find Kami-sama first"
"You don't need too! I'm already here after all" The short haired goddess appeared with Ganesha, Shakti, Hephaestus, Tsubaki, Hermes, Asfi and Loki with her.
"I'm Ganesha and this is the captain of my familia Shakti Varma! ORE! GA! GANE-Ommp!!" Before he could finish, Shakti's elbow met his ribs.
"Congratulations on your victory Bell Cranel, you continue to amaze me with your achievements and also, I'm here to apologize on what happened to the monsterphilia" She bowed slightly.
"It's okay Shakti-san, I'm glad that no one other than me and the Loki Familia are harmed"
"Thank you, so what are you planning to do now? I heard earlier that you plan on holding a celebration, are you going to hold it in your new home?"
"New home?"
Hestia faked a cough as she still haven't explained the condition if they won the war game.
"You see Bell-kun, Apollo declared that if he win, you'll be converted to his familia and I'll leave the lower world right?"
"Yes."
"You see, I too made a declaration after your victory earlier and I have this on mind ever since we saw his home. I made him disband his own familia, leave orario and have all of their properties given to us even their money" The short goddess smiled smugly.
"Then that means... We're not poor anymore!?" The eastern samurai girl beamed.
"You got that right!" Hestia gave her a thumbs up.
All of them rejoiced as soon as they heard it, even Bell.
"I'm so happy for you guys, congratulations!" Aki smiled and went to Hestia's side.
"What's wrong?" the childish goddess asked.
"I just thought that you made a very smart decision right there and because of it, your familia now became a middle class familia in an instant" The cat girl giggled.
"I-It's not like I'm dumb! Of course I'll do that! I know what we lack the most and it's a decent home and money so I made Apollo gave us all of it"
"Anyway, congrats on your victory and if you're going to hold a celebration, why not do it on your home right now? Since it's pretty big, I don't see a problem on housing more than 5 people"
"You're right Aki-kun! Thanks for the advice! So! How does that sound everyone?"
Everyone agreed on this and since it's a celebration, they decided to invite everyone present.
The whole Hestia familia and their invited guests Ganesha, Shakti, Hephaestus, Tsubaki, Finn, Gareth, Aiz, Aki Hermes and Asfi went to the Sun Fire Manor.
"Let's go inside!"
They opened the entrance and were surprised by what they saw.
A bunch of statue of Apollo were lined up and there is 15 of them in total, all of them were horrified by the sight of it.
"Um... It looks like this place is no good for the time being so why don't you guys just celebrate at the Hostess of Fertility?" The braver suggested, clearly not comfortable by the atmosphere and the sight.
"And I suggest you have Gobniu-sama fix your home" The doll princess suggested.
"I agree to you for once Wallenwhatisit-kun... It's like we're in a totally different world in here..."
"Kami-sama, go ahead with the others to the pub while I talk to Gobniu-sama about the renovation we need" The war game champion said and he was about to go but every Hestia Familia stopped him from his tracks.
"Bell-sama, you should stay with us! We can go and talk to him anytime or just make a list of what we want to be removed and added to the mannor" Lily said.
"Lil'Lily is right, you don't have to do that, just celebrate with us, after all this war game wouldn't be a success without you" Welf added.
"And it wouldn't feel right to not have you there" the beautiful samurai also added.
"Alright, I'll go with you"
"By the way..." Ganesha said while putting a hand on his chin.
"WHY IS THERE NO STATUE OF ME LIKE THIS IN OUR HOME SHAKTI!!!????" The elephant god bursted out.
"Please just ignore him..." The blue haired beauty face palmed.
They went to the pub and saw Mia and all the waitress waiting for them, like they were expecting their arrival and have all the food and place reserved for them.
"Yo kid congrats on your victory! And as a gift for you! I'll let you guys eat here for free tonight!" The retired adventurer said.
"Congratulations Bell-san!"
"Hahh... Let's drop the act for now... Congrats Bell" The green eyed cat girl with black short hair said while smiling gently and this shocked all the waitress including Mia herself.
But Bell noticed something, when she acts like this, she's way too similar to Aki for some reason.
"Congrats White hair nya! I thought you'd be a dead rabbit earlier with your enemy's magic nya! Good thing you're prepared!" The brown cat girl added.
"Yeah, that's very smart of you" Hermes smiled.
"I'm also surprised by that, you did very well Bell-san" Asfi added.
"Thanks Asfi-san, Hermes-sama!"
"You're welcome, NOW! Shall we celebrate our Little Rookie's victory!?"
"""YEAH!!!"""
Everyone in the pub joined the party including the workers and the owner, they drank, eat tons of food and talked about all kinds of stuff until everyone pass out other than Mia, Chloe, Aki, Mikoto, Bell and Asfi.
The others passed out because of either overeating or they are way too drunk.
Ganesha and Shakti on the other hand went home earlier because they have to wake up early everyday to guard the babel and many places including the city entrance and the city walls.
"What a wild celebration this is... Nyaaa... There is way too much to clean tommorow morning..." The black cat waitress sighed.
"Let me help you if you guys don't mind" Mikoto proposed.
"We don't really mind extra pair of hands but be sure to take instructions for them seriously okay?" Mia warned.
"Yes, I'll be in your care Chloe-dono!" The far eastern girl bowed.
"Nyaa... No formalities please, I'm not used to those kinds of stuff" Chloe's ears and tail dropped while giving Mikoto a troubled smile.
Aki and Bell is just having a staring contest right now, neither of them are moving for almost half an hour right now, they don't have any particular reason for doing this, they just felt like they want to.
Mia just stared at the two of them while smiling before going off to her room, leaving all of them on their own.
Asfi on the other hand just face palmed because she's about to carry back a very drunk Hermes back to their home again.
Aki's POV.
"How long can you keep this up? Don't you know, a cat can stare into something without closing their eyes for a very long time?"We stared into each other again and we're doing this for almost an hour right now.
Bell's eyes blinked and it made both of us smile before laughing out loud.
"I guess I can't match a cat person's eye no matter how hard I try" He wiped his teary red ruby eyes.
"So you know, well it's quite fun so I don't really mind but you should take an eye drop just in case, irritated eyes can hinder you in the dungeon you know" I suggested.
"Yeah, thanks for the advice and also... Thanks for supporting me during our training and war game"
He gave me a very warm but serious look. I can see his gratittude.
"You're always welcome Bell..." I smiled at him before looking at the window outside and seeing the beautiful night sky.
"You know, why don't we go out for a bit? Let's take a walk right now?"
"Sure, but where shall we go?"
I can't think of any place I want to go right now.
"How about you decide?"
"I don't know that many place here yet since it's been just half a year since I arrived here... But I know a place where we can enjoy the night sky and breeze" His smile changed in to a sad look a few seconds later.
He led the way and we walk to the now quiet main street, we were waliking just straight towards our twilight manor so I decided to ask him where are we going.
"Isn't this where my familia's home is located?"
"Yes, but we're not going exactly there but somewhere close to that"
I just followed him until we reach the wall that protects the city and from the bottom, Bell princess carried me sudddenly and ran upwards until we reach the top.
"Oh? How manly of you, to give me a princess carry like that while running to a straight wall without your proper boots you use in the dungeon" I teased him a bit even though I can feel my heart thumping.
"Oh! I-I'm sorry! I just did it without thinking!" The cute white haired boy in front of me blushed as he avert his gaze.
"It's okay, thanks for taking me here Bell, it looks beautiful here"
We enjoyed the night sky and the beautiful look of Orario from here, magic stones illuminating the streets and the sky full of stars and a full moon, surrounded by a very comfortable silence while sitting beside each other.
A/N: I don't know how to end this chapter actually, I think the cut there is a little bit axed and sorry for that but I have the next chapter in mind the moment I started writting this one that's why I can't really concentrate on this one because I always think about the next chapter even though I'm still writting this one.
I just hope you enjoyed this even though it feels rushed for some reason(For me, I hope that's not the case for you guys).
Anyway that's it for now and expect some romantic scenes next chapter, good bye for now! Stay safe and indoors! And also if you play Danmaci Memoria Freese, be sure to give Aki lots of flowers and boquet! She loves that and max her out!