The Harnel and Rabbit Chapter 5 - Belle?, a dungeon ni deai o motomeru no wa machigatte iru darou ka fanfic

Bell awoke, with a sharp pain assaulting his head. He pulled himself from under the sheets, taking a quick shower to hopefully clear his head. His stomach growled fiercely, demanding sustenance. He decided to make something to eat for breakfast, or was it lunch? He wasn't too sure what time it was, but made his way to the kitchen.

Unsure as to what he could make, he made for the pantry, seeing a lack of foods. Next, he checked the fridge, finding it not as empty. It was a piece of technology that he didn't have in his old familia. A kitchen appliance invented by Perseus, powered by magic stones that would keep stored foods fresh.

...Let's see... eggs... chicken... leftover rice... green onions... Oh!

Bell reached into the cupboard, taking out a large circular pan with two opposing handles named a wok. It was primarily used in the far east, along with other utensils such as 'chopsticks'. He cracked the eggs into a bowl, whisking it with chopsticks until the yolk broke. For some reason, he felt an odd rush of power whenever he broke eggs with one hand without any pieces of the shell falling in.

He diced up the chicken into small bits along with the green onions. Switching on the fire, he set the wok onto it, pouring oil to preheat it. In the meantime, he seasoned the chicken and readied the leftover rice. Once the wok was moderately heated, he wrapped a cloth around one of the small handles, the whisked eggs poured in and scrambled with the leftover rice following shortly after.

"One.. two!" Lightly slapping his other wrist with the back of his open hand, tossing the grains and eggs. He set the wok down, evenly drizzling it in soy sauce. Bell chuckled, remembering a fond memory.

-"..Listen Bell, whenever you season a dish, remember to always go by feeling... Oh but don't overdo it."-

It was a few years back. He stood next to the large, short red haired man. The rabbit nodded attentively as the larger man took a pinch of salt and sprinkled it over the plated steak from atop.

Returning inside after tending to the garden, a fragrant aroma outstretched through the manor, catching the nose of one goddess of justice.

..I wonder what that smell is...

Astraea went to the kitchen, right as Bell began to plate the dish.

"Maybe I made too much..." He mumbled to himself before turning to the walnut haired goddess. "Oh, hello Lady Astraea."

"Good afternoon Bell." Walking up the boy, she peeked over his shoulder. "I didn't know that you could cook."

"As you can see." He took the finely chopped up green onions, sprinkling them over the golden-brown rice with a small amount of black pepper after.

...Go by feeling!...

"It smells really nice- *GROOOOWL*" She put her hands over her stomach, a pinch of pink gracing the goddess's cheeks.

Bell stifled a laugh. "Don't worry, I made a little too much anyways. Anything left over would just be put in a container so better to eat it while it's warm." Taking out another plate from the cupboard. "Could you set the table? I'll bring it out in a moment."

Astraea nodded, making her way to the dining hall with two spoons. In the meantime, she prepared some tea. Astraea wasn't too sure if tea was the right beverage to be taken along with the unfamiliar dish, but hoped it wouldn't taste horrible. The rabbit didn't take long as he appeared with two plates in hand, setting one down in front of the goddess. The fried rice had a golden color from the soy sauce, small chunks of egg, chicken and green onions inside and over the dish. The fragrant smell of black pepper tingled her nose as she smelled the food.

"Thank you for the meal." Astraea, took a bite. The peppers exploded in her mouth, the rice's smoky flavor enriched by the soy sauce, eggs and oil. "Mmm!.. This is very tasty, Bell." Her eyes widened, holding her cheek.

"I'm glad you like it." He smiled.

"What is the name of this dish?" She asked, having never tasted something similar.

"This is a far-eastern dish named egg fried rice." Bell replied. "Oh by the way, do you know what happened? My memory was kind of fuzzy when I woke up."

Astraea giggled lightly. "You had a very bad case of mind-down, you've been sleeping for three days now."

"*PFF* T-THREE DAYS?!" Spraying out the tea. "*Cough* W-was it really that bad?" The goddess nodded.

"Maybe you shouldn't use that skill so often, seeing how much of your mind it drains."

"I guess so." Looking around. "Is everyone out right now?"

"Yes. Alise went on a quest with Neze in the dungeon quite early in the morning, the rest of the girls are out." Taking another bite, Astraea saw no better moment to ask him the countless questions on her mind. "Bell, If I may ask, who taught you how to cook?" His culinary skill, was not a part of that list but she was curious nonetheless... and it would have been rather awkward if she just thrust the questions onto him.

"Ah that was uncle, his cooking was way better than mine." He smiled in memory.

...'Was'? Not 'Is'?...

She didn't sense any lie from the boy, tilting her head slightly. "But I thought you didn't have any relatives-" Her queries would be interrupted as the door swung open; an energetic, red-haired human entering, and a gray-haired werewolf coming in after her.

"Hey Alise, you done on your end?" The aforementioned turning to the werewolf, after cleaving through a monster.

"Yep, I think that just about wraps it up." She said, collecting the magic stones and drop items on the ground. Earlier in the day, Alise and Neze accepted a guild-issued quest to collect Blue Crab Shells from the Water city, floors 25 to 27 of of the dungeon. They had set off rather early in the morning, so that they could get the quest done earlier. The amount requested wasn't impossible to finish in a single day but both women weren't in a rush so they did it slowly.

"Aight then, let's head up!"

The two began to make their way up the dungeon, arriving at the entrance of the first floor in about an hour. Usually it would take longer if they were on an expedition, but as it was only the two of them, they moved quickly. Climbing the wide spiraling stairway, the werewolf's stomach growled hungrily.

"*Grooowl* Ungg... I probably should've ate more this morning..." Neze grumbled.

"Let's quickly turn in then get something to eat!" Beamed the redhead.

Exiting the alabaster tower, they were greeted with the glaring mid-day sun. Despite having frequently gone into the dungeon, they would always need a moment to adjust to the bright change in lighting as the dungeon was always dimly lit. Alise and Neze made their way to the guild, taking about half an hour. Pushing open the saloon doors, they, they made their way to the exchange counter along with the quest paper.

Quests greatly varied, sometimes it could be collecting drop items, travelling bodyguards, or other miscellaneous requests. Quite often the guild would post quests to deal with any monster outbreaks, investigate rumors in the dungeon, or retrieve drop items. The guild acted as a sort of middle-man between the employer and adventurer, so that neither side could end up scammed by the other.

"I have confirmed that you have collected the specified drop items, please wait here for a moment while I retrieve your reward."

"Could you wire it into the Astraea Familia's treasury? Thanks!" The guild employee nodded, walking away.

Alise stretched her shoulders, sighing in relaxation. "Okay! Let's go home!"

"Could we get something to eat first?" Neze groaned, clutching her stomach. Alise stopped walking, staring her dead in the eyes.

"Neze." Her hair stood on end; gulping at the menacing aura her captain emitted. "...Lady Astraea's cooking is better than anything we can get from a restaurant!"

"..." The werewolf looked at the human blankly. "Fair enough. What are we waiting for? Let's get going!"

"I'll race you back!" Alise grinned, dashing away.

"Agh- Hey wait up!"

"We're home, Lady Astraea!" The redhead skipped into the dining hall, seeing Astraea who was sat opposite to Bell.

"Welcome home Alise." Bell smiled.

"Where's Neze?" Asked Astraea, looking behind her captain.

"Looks like I did make it back before her! Way to go, me!" Alise grinned.

"Would you like to join us for lunch? We just started eating." The rabbit asked.

Neze stumbled into the room soon after her with a growling stomach. "..I hunger..."

The rabbit chuckled. "Haha, alright I'll be back in a minute." He got up as Alise and Neze sat down, the former next to Bell, and the latter next to her goddess. Not that any of them timed it, he ended up returning in exactly one minute, with two more plates in hand.

"Thanks for the meal." Both women said in unison. Taking a bite, they had similar reactions to Astraea. Neze devoured the plate quickly, asking for seconds. She must have been very hungry, Bell thought.

"I feel alive again~" Moaned the werewolf.

"Your cooking is as amazing as always, Lady Astraea!" The redhead gave the goddess a thumbs-up, while still gobbling down on the egg fried rice.

"Mou, don't speak with your mouth full." The captain whistled, avoiding the brunette's gaze. "-And also, Bell was the one who made this."

"Really!? That's amazing! You're really talented Bell." Alise gave him an affirmative slap on the shoulder and a toothy smile.

He smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Bell was under the impression that his cooking was rather average... maybe it was because all the home-cooks he knew were all very good at it.

"Ahaha... not as much as Aunti-" He shivered, much to the confusion of the three women. "..Stepmother,... she was more talented than anyone else, ..and more than I ever could be.. Although she could never cook." Bell held the top of his head, feeling the ghost of a punch there.

...'Was' again?...

Shaking his head. "A-anyways. Alise and Neze I heard you went out on a quest earlier today, how did it go?" Sweating mildly.

"Nothing too interesting, we made some good valis though." Neze said.

They finished eating about half an hour later. Astraea and Neze collected the plates, setting off to do the dishes. Alise wanted to help but was stopped, being told by Neze that she should rest for doing most of the work in the dungeon.

With not much to do with his day, Bell went to his room to get is gear for some light training. As he was about to step out of his room, Alise stopped him at his door.

"Oh, do you need something Alise?" He asked.

"...Could you wait here for a minute?"

"Umm.. sure?" She smiled and nodded, leaving the room. Not knowing what she needed nor how long she would take, Bell set down Vesta and began lightly cleaning his room, dusting the shelves and wiping his desk down. He didn't spend much time in his room so it was rather dirty, most of the time he spent in the past week was either helping out around the house or out in the city. In a handful of minutes, she returned.

"Alise?" Turning to his captain.

The resounding click of his door being locked behind her bounced off the walls. He didn't even know the walls could produce any echoing sound.

...Why did she lock the door?...

"Bell, you remember our bet right?" She walked up to him while looking directly at his rubellite eyes with a flaming determination. Weirdly enough, there were far-eastern looking words coming off of her, roughly looking like 'ゴゴゴゴ'.

"Alise you're scaring me.." His instincts as a rabbit told him that he needed to flee that very moment, as if he did not, he would lose something precious, something irreplaceable. Taking few steps back from her, he felt his back hit the wooden wall, he had nowhere else to run to.

Slam*

"Eep!" He jolted, letting out a very un-manly squeal as she wall-slammed him with her left hand. He remembered his mother mentioning something about the 'Kabedon' event, one in which a woman would be pinned to the wall by a man, except to his good luck.. or was it bad luck? It was the opposite.

Bell was quite literally a cornered rabbit at the moment, being pinned to the wall by the Scarlet Harnel. He made himself small, trying to weasel his way out, but was stopped when Alise pushed her leg in between his own, trapping him in place. The rabbit's face burned as red as her hair, desperately avoiding her endearing jade eyes.

"A-A-Alise w-what are you-" He stuttered. Alise lifted his chin up with her open hand, forcing his red face to look her in the eyes. Their only witness was the golden rays of light seeping through the open windows.

...Too close! Too close!...

"Bell."

*Badump*

"Y-yes?!" His heartbeat thundered in his chest as Alise slowly closed the distance between them.

*Badump badump*

He shut his eyes, bracing for whatever was to come.

"Be my maid for the day!"

"...Eh?.." His rubellite eyes shot open, regarding her jade pair. Alise smiled mischievously, pulling out a black and white maid outfit and white wig from thin air. "You want me to be your-" He shuddered.

"Yup!"

"..and you want me to wear that-" Pointing to the outfit.

"Mhm!"

"...Do I have to?" He asked worriedly.

"Did I stutter?" Bell could not fight back against her smile, it was just too bright.

He sighed in defeat, accepting his fate. Bell was well aware of how headstrong she could get. Alise smiled at his expense, thrusting the dress and wig into his arms, then skipping to the door. Of course, this would be very embarrassing for him, but Bell was not one to go back on his word. Despite his gripes, he felt obliged to humor her... even if he would lose his pride as a man.

"I'll wait for you outside!" Closing the door behind her. Alise definitely could have made him do something else more sensible, but she just wanted to know. Nay, she needed to know how he looked in a maid outfit.

...Well, he does look rather feminine for a 16 year-old male so...

Alise waited by his door for 10 minutes, giggling at the sound of groaning and whimpers from the other side of the door. Having had her very mild patience ran dry, she was about to knock on his door, only for it to open ever so slightly. A pair of rubellite eyes framed by long white hair peeked through the gap.

"Are you done changing, Bell?"

He nodded through the gap, slowly opening the door. "...Yes..."

"...Or should I say Belle now?" She smirked to his crimson red face.

Her expectations were utterly blown away. Long white hair flowed elegantly down Belle's back and over his shoulders. A frilly white headpiece atop his head. He wore a long black shirt with puffy sleeves around the shoulders, a similarly colored long skirt with white frills towards the bottom, and a white ribbon around his waist with with a large bow tie around the back. He was also wearing a black pantyhose under the skirt and brown boots. The outfit clung tightly to his body's... unusually feminine curves, and brought out his chest, padded as a result of Alise.

"*Sob* I can't get married now..." Belle sobbed quietly.

"You look really cute, Belle!" Giving him a thumbs up.

"*Hic* Waaaaaahhh! *Hic*" Her affirmations would only add more fuel to the fire.

Bell- Belle, would spend his afternoon cleaning Alise's unsurprisingly messy room. He kept asking if it was really alright for him to be in her room to which she simply nodded along. The maid outfit was quite restricting, especially having to work in slightly elevated boots too, but he managed to get the hang of it after some time. Belle had a newfound respect for women who could walk in heels.

"Whew, I think that's just about done." Looking around the neat and tidy room. He was about to wipe his sweaty forehead with his sleeves but was stopped when Alise grabbed his arm and put a towel in his hands. "Thanks."

"Ehehe, No problem!"

"So, what else shall I do milady?" Alise pestered him about addressing her properly to which, albeit he was reluctant at first, submitted and got used to very quickly.

"Hmm..." She rested her left elbow on her right hand, holding her chin as she looked out the window. "It's getting pretty dark out so how about you make dinner for us tonight?"

"I thought that we were going to eat at the Hostess today though?"

Every week, the Astraea familia would eat out at the cafe by day, pub by night, named the Hostess of Fertility. Many in the Labyrinth city loved the food... and the beautiful waitresses that worked there. Although Bell hadn't personally been there before, he heard many things about the establishment from his familia members.

Alise grimaced, feeling a metaphorical arrow ran through her back. All the other girls in the familia would also be heading there too so a last minute change in plans would be weird. "True..." Not that she would admit it, she just wanted to taste Belle's cooking again.

"We also have a reservation, so if we didn't go that would be Valis down the drain." Another nonexistent arrow impaled her, feeling the financial weight hit her over the head.

"Gufaw!"

"Oh and there's hardly any food in the pantry, same with the fried rice from lunch since Neze ate most of it." A third arrow pierced her.

"Aaaaah! Ok fine!" She surrendered, "But you're still going to be wearing those clothes!" but not before getting back at him.

"Please no..." A look of exasperation on the rabbit's face.

"Nope, nada. No takesies-backsies. Hmph!"

Bell sighed. "Urk-... Why did I agree with this...?" Hopefully his day wouldn't get any worse. Oh little did he know.

The two made their way to the pub. Seeing as he was Alise's maid for the day, he walked slightly behind her and not directly next to her. Though close enough for any third party to see the two were together. Oddly enough, despite being next to the famed Scarlet Harnel, the 'maid' trailing behind her drew more looks from men and women alike... the majority of looks from the men consisting of a hint of lust.

He- she, radiated this aura of purity that could cleanse the soul, which was quite ironic considering how the city saw Bell Cranel.

"I wish I could be called master by that beautiful maid!"

"Wow... that white-haired girl's pretty."

Since Belle was in fact, not biologically a woman, he didn't have the same restrictions when interacting with people, and it was just in his nature to be polite to everyone. Even the more rough-looking men would double over at the mere smile or wave from her. Unnoticed by all but Alise, his face was incredibly red from embarrassment of being seen by so many people.

"Khhh... Too bright..." Alise shielded her eyes from his thousand-watt smile.

"Did you say something, Ali- milady?"

"Nothing!" She replied defensively.

"Is that so?" Belle tilted his head. "I know it's odd asking this now, but where are Lady Astraea and Neze?"

"Lady Astraea went out for a walk earlier, Neze went along as an escort. They should be at the hostess by now." The albino maid nodded along.

In a matter of minutes, the pair stood in front of the three storied building, attic included. The entrance was towards the left of the building, the light and noise of adventurers returning from the dungeon seeping through the windows and door respectively. As they made their way up the steps, they were greeted by a brown haired cat-person. She was dressed in the Hostess of Fertility's uniform, consisting of a white blouse under a leaf green knee-length long skirt, an orange ribbon around the collar, and a white half-apron.

"Nya? Alise nya!"

"Good evening, Miss Anya."

The cat-girl looked over her shoulder, seeing the white-haired maid. "Is she a nyew meowmber of nyour familinya?"

Out of all the cat-people he knew, none of them spoke with such such...cat-ness? Belle wondered how Alise was able to understand the cat-girl but chose not to ask, since it could come off as offensive.

"Yep, Belle." Putting an emphasis on the female honorific in the rabbit's name.

"Nyice to meowt nyou nya! I'm Anya."

"N-nice to meet you too, Miss Anya." He hoped his hearing hadn't gone wrong and that Alise did in fact call her Anya and not joining in on the 'nya-ing', seeing as she had no strong reaction he sighed in relief.

"Has the rest of the familia arrived?" Alise asked.

"Yep. Meow seating two!" She announced, leading them too the table reserved by the Astraea Familia.

They were sat at a round table: Astraea, Maryuu, Celty, Neze, Noin, Asta, Ryuu, Lyra, Iska, Ryana, and Kaguya were sat around the table going clockwise. There were also two open seats to the right of Astraea, presumably for Alise and Bell. Alise greeted her fellow familia members, before taking a seat to the right of Astraea, Bell took the open seat in between Alise and Kaguya.

The women's hearts collectively skipped a beat at the sight of the stunning red-eyed angel next to their captain. Even Kaguya: the twisted, felt like cuddling with her. Astraea too had a small blush forming on her face.

...I can feel my falna on her...

"So uhh.. Where's Bell?" Lyra asked, looking to Alise. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the white-haired girl shrinking down in her seat.

"What do you mean?" Alise fired back.

"Nonono, what do you mean?"

"He's here."

Lyra rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. "Where?"

"Next to me." Alise pointed to the angel next to her. Bell, looked to the side, blushing at the confused stares from the women of his familia.

"H-hi.." Sh- HE smiled wryly, scratching the back of his head.

No one had any words to say, their entire table was silent in comparison to the rest of the pub. Alise called Anya over, the cat girl too was mildly confused by the overbearing silence.

"I'll have an orange juice, and what about you, Belle?"

"Umm.. I'll have a lemon tea."

Anya nodded, taking down their orders. Before she walked away to the kitchen, she leaned into Alise's ear. "...Are they alright nya?"

"Probably." The cat girl shrugged, walking away. Alise turned back to the rest of her familia. "Are you guys alright?"

The quiet was an answer in of itself. None of them could believe the angel in front of them was the same rabbit of their familia. The goddess decided to break the silence, looking to Bell.

"...Do you like crossdressing?"

"Not really."

"Then why are you..." Astraea scanned his outfit.

"...dressed as a woman?" Kaguya finished.

"Do you remember how I made that bet with Alise?" Astraea, Ryuu, Kaguya and Lyra seemed to connect the dots, as a collective 'ah' escaped their mouths, understanding the odd whims of their captain. Regardless, he explained how he ended up in those clothes to the rest of the familia who were not aware of the bet. Yet, Neze was not fully convinced and decided to bring up the elephant in the room.

"Umm... Bell, I know that those aren't real are they?" Eyeing Bell's chest.

"They aren't!" He shot back, his face burning ever more red. Ryuu looked down at her own chest, looking somewhat dejected.

...I'm not very womanly am I?...

After some time, they began to accept that the beautiful, pure, virgin-snow white haired angel in front of them, was in fact a man. Kaguya and Lyra were the first to take advantage of the situation, teasing the ever loving heck out of Belle.

"It never struck me how adorable you look, Belle." Kaguya poked his cheeks.

"I gotta say though, you really could pass off as a woman if Alise hadn't told us." Lyra nodded.

"Mmnnn..." He whimpered, drawing the laughter from both women.

Stories were shared and food was eaten as the night went on uneventfully... until a certain group of adventurers entered the pub.

"Customers with a reservation comeown through!" At the head was a vermillion haired goddess, followed by a blonde haired pallum, a pair of amazons, a werewolf, a young blonde girl, high-elf and lastly a dwarf. All the attention in the pub fell onto the large party.

"Isn't that..."

"Yeah, Loki familia."

Bell, despite not having ate much, lost his appetite at the sight of the group. "Sorry, I'm not feeling too well so i'm going to head back home first."

"Do you want one of us to come back with you?" Astraea asked worriedly.

He forced a smile. "No, it's fine. Good night everyone." Ryuu eyed the rabbit suspiciously, noticing a growing frown on his face. Just the moment he got up from his seat, he felt a weight on his back, looking down to see a pair of hands groping the mounds on his chest which, of course, were fake.

"Are these what cushioned your fall from heaven?~"

The entire pub was silent, staring at the goddess of mischief with mouth's hung open. If there was one thing that could unite the hearts of the many in that large mess hall, it was that the horrible pickup line was worthy of death. No doubt, the white-haired maiden was definitely an angel. But that one-liner was inexcusably horrible. Even the feared Mia Grand, former captain of the Freya familia and owner of the pub who was wiping down a mug, had to stop and send disapproving stares to the vermillion haired goddess.

Belle turned to face her, unfazed by the goddess's actions. "I didn't know that the goddess of the second strongest familia in Orario molests women."

His cold words and tone contrasted the smile on his face, sending chills down the spines of his familia and the rest of the pub. The former who knew Bell for being a polite young man and the latter utterly flabbergasted that the white-haired angel was able to instill such invisible animosity.

"Now If you'll excuse me Lady Loki, good night." Removing the trickster's hands before leaving the pub. Slowly, the restaurant regained its energy as it's patrons continued on with their nights.

"Goddess Astraea, we apologize on behalf of Loki." Riveria smacked the goddess over the head, hard. After all, the bonk of a level 6 mama was nothing to scoff at.

"Ow! That hurts! Why you gotta hit me so hard mama?"

"Maybe if you don't jump every woman you see, I wouldn't. Also who is a mama...?"

Astraea could only laugh wryly at it. "No, it's fine. I think we all know Loki's... tendencies." The high elf could only give the brunette a dry laugh as she hit Loki over the head once again, drawing another scream of pain to be drowned out by the lively atmosphere.

The Loki familia sat down at a table near the Astraea familia. The two familia were rather close to one another, having fought together during the dark ages against Evilus. Finn Looked to the red-haired captain, asking. "Is she a new member?"

...I feel like i've seen her somewhere before...

"It's kind of a long story." Alise chuckled, "Anyways, you gonna introduce us?" eyeing the new pair of amazons. She mentally made a note to have a chat with Bell later, remembering how he reacted to the name of the Loki familia when meeting with Lady Hephaestus. Hopefully it wouldn't be an issue.

Later that night, both the Astraea and Loki familia departed for their manors respectively. Arriving home, most of the girls retired and went to bed for the night. Alise however, went to check on a certain rabbit. She went to his room, finding him nowhere to be seen. The wig and maid outfit laid down on the the spine of his chair. Although it had gone way past midnight, she decided to go looking for him. She hopped to the top of the mansion to get a better vantage point, finding him laying on the rooftop in his normal clothes, staring solemnly at the night sky.

"Can't sleep?" Alise asked, making her way to the rabbit.

He turned to the voice, watching as Alise laid down next to him. "Yeah... You?"

"Looking for a rabbit." Bell chuckled as she rested the back of her head on her hands. "Bell, could I ask you something?"

"...Yes?" Silently hoping it had nothing more to do with dressing up.

"Do you have something against the Loki familia?" Alise rolled her head over to look him in the eye.

"..." Her gaze would remain unreturned.

His eyes told her all she wanted to know. "Ah don't worry, you can tell us when you feel ready Bell."

"I'm sorry, I know that our familia is close with them but this is a personal thing... I hope you understand."

From the corner of his eyes he could see a smile on her face as she closed her eyes. It was a new side to Alise that Bell didn't know existed. Some time had passed and the soothing quiet of the night sky slowly became unbearable. Bell took it upon himself as being the indirect instigator of the silence, to lighten the mood.

"...Have I told you about that time I encountered a jack bird during my first week of adventuring?"

Alise giggled. The two shared stories of their early days under the many glimmering stars that painted the night sky, both eventually went to bed later in the night...or maybe it was morning?

Day had come once again. Bell didn't end up getting a lot of sleep the night prior, having talked with Alise way passed midnight. His body clock woke him up at 5:00am in the morning sharp. Despite having slept at 2:00am in the morning, the rabbit didn't feel the least bit exhausted, likely due to his high level. It was known among first to third class adventurers alike that the higher level a person was, the less rest or sustenance they would need.

The gods described the Falna system as being granted a very small portion of divinity, giving normal people the ability to break through the limits of a normal body. For example, a level 1 adventurer who had just been given a Falna would always be stronger than a person who did not. For Bell who was a first-class level 5 adventurer, he could go for over two days with only an hour's worth of rest.

Bell got out of bed and made his way to the outside courtyard with Vesta and practiced fighting an imaginary opponent. He continued for another hour before going on a jog on the walls then returning back to the Stardust Garden for another hour of training with his sword, ending with a relaxing cold morning shower. This was how Bell started his days, he didn't actually need to exercise but it ended up becoming a habit to stay fit.

Feeling refreshed from the cold shower, he dried himself and got dressed. As he began brushing his teeth, a very sleepy and hungover looking pallum trudged into the bathroom.

"Ptuh, Good morning Lyra."

"*Yawn* Morning..." She propped herself up on a stool to wash her face.

"..Are you alright?" Bell asked, trying not to look at her too closely. Her 'at home' clothes consisted of a loosely fit black tank top and a pair of shorts.

Lyra washed her face. "I think I drank a little too much last night..."

He laughed wryly. "I'll go get started on making breakfast."

"Aight. *Yawn*" Bell chuckled, leaving the tired pallum to her morning business.

The other members of the familia soon began to wake up, all making their way to the dining hall. Ryuu had to drag Alise from the warmth of her bed to eat breakfast. On the large table, several different plates of foods were laid out. Once more, the rabbit was praised for his superb cooking as they ate, to which he thanked them. He was going to do the dishes but was stopped by some of the other girls, feeling guilty of making him do most of the work. Not that he minded, of course.

"Hmm.. Probably time I get some new armor."

He could make do without using any armor, but in the long run it would have been better. His previous equipment was forged from a smith he had a contract with... though the smith broke it off after learning what Bell had done, saying that it was bad for his business if he was known to make weapons for a killer. Understandingly, Bell did not hold a grudge against him.

As such, he set off to find a suitable replacement and maybe a new blacksmith to contract if he was lucky. Bell arrived at the foot of the pale tower. No matter how many times he saw it up close, he would always be taken aback by the sheer scale of it. He carried a relatively large bag of Valis with him, unsure as to how much he would spend. The higher grade weapons sold by the Hephaestus Familia were on the lower floors, with the lower grade ones sold on the upper floors.

He made his way down. Starting from the 8th floor, Bell browsed through the many stores of weapons to find something that caught his eye. In one of the many stores, he found a crate with a set of light armor with red markings inside. It was priced at 9,900 Valis, well within his price range but not good enough to be used in the middle to deep floors of the dungeon. Bell kept a mental note of it and kept searching.

...Pyonkichi? That's an..interesting name...

Bell went to the plaza on the 3rd floor of Babel. There, he momentarily met eyes with a familiar half-dwarf who was next to a somewhat shorter red-haired guy. She had brown skin, long black hair and red eyes. Similarly to her goddess, she had wore an eyepatch except it was over her left eye rather than her right. She was dressed in traditional far-eastern clothing, a white sarashi around her bountiful chest, red hakama pants and wooden sandals.

She waved the rabbit over. "Yo, Bell. I heard you swung by the familia home the other day, why didn'tcha say hi?"

"Sorry Tsubaki, it slipped my mind." Scratching the back of his head.

"Hoh? No more Big sister Tsubaki?"

"Sorry, someone's taken over that position." It was now ingrained into his mind how... horrifying, Kaguya could be. And although Kaguya believed Bell hadn't caught on, he could tell how happy it made her being called that.

"Aww you're no fun. Well anyways, what brings you to Babel?"

"I was looking for new armor though nothing's caught my eye yet."

"What happened to your old smith?"

"He broke it off after... well you know..." Tsubaki nodded in understanding.

"I see, I see." An idea came rushing to her head. "Well then why don't I form a contract with you then?"

Bell thought for a moment. There were no downsides to this at all, since the half-dwarf was both a high smith and a level 5 adventurer similar to Bell.

"I don't see why not. But are you sure it's ok to have a direct contract with me?" Putting emphasis on himself.

She broke out laughing then slapped him hard over the back. "Of course! If I wasn't then I wouldn't have asked ya." She extended her hand out for a handshake, he was about to take it before she pulled back for a second getting a confused stare from the rabbit and the boy next to her.

"Tsubaki?"

"I got one more condition- no make that two, aside from the normal stuff y'know."

"...Sure, what is it?" He was slightly hesitant at first, his intrusive thoughts kicked in as the memories of a certain red haired captain played through his mind. Bell also heard from a grumbling Lyra that the half-dwarf managed to not only drag the captain of the Loki familia into a tent, but also cuddle with him. So to say he was scared would be an understatement.

"Let this stubborn idiot join your party, and be his first customer." She grabbed the red haired boy to her right into her armpit.

"Hey! What are you saying!?"

"Is that alright? I mean wouldn't you want me to only use your weapons?"

"Don't mind the details! Ah yeah, forgot to introduce you two."

...How absent-minded...

Both thought, but made sure not to mention.

She pointed to the rabbit with her thumb. "This is Bell Cranel, level 5 adventurer and the sole male member of the Astraea familia." At that moment, Bell felt the glares of many jealous male adventurers boring into his back. The boy was dumbfounded at the proclamation made by the half dwarf, taking into account that he was a low level blacksmith and that the guy in front of him who he would party with was a first-class adventurer.

"Could you not put a target on my back?" He said, fake coughing out blood. Sadly, his words would go in one ear and out the other.

Tsubaki turned to face Bell, pointing to the captured redhead. "-And this is Welf Crozzo, a stubborn blacksmith that refuses to use his full talent." Now it was his turn to feel the glares, except it was from the very few elves in the plaza.

"Could you not alert every elf in the area?" The red haired smith too, joined in on the coughing of nonexistent blood.

"Looks like you'll both get along." The smith and albino sighed as the former's words flew over her head. "So what do you say Bell?"

"Well I don't see why not. Nice to meet you, Welf."

"R-right, the pleasure's all mine."

Tsubaki then shook hands with Bell. "I'll be back in a moment, wait here for me." The two watched as the half-dwarf disappeared into the crowd. Bell took a seat next to Welf, starting up a conversation. Somehow, during the small time frame, Tsubaki was able to teleport back with a crate in her hands, handing it to the rabbit. His eyes widened momentarily remembering the armor.

"This is..."

"..Not to your expectations right?" Welf finished his sentence bitterly.

"Ah no, of course not. I came across this armor earlier today." He turned to Tsubaki. "Is this the second part of our deal?"

"Yep. Now i'd love to stay and catch up but I gotta bounce, see ya around." Leaving before the redhead could get a word in.

Bell fished into his pouch, "Here." handing a bag of valis to the smith.

"Thanks, and sorry you had to get roped into getting bad gear for my sake."

"Don't worry about it, you'll get better with time. There are some things I need to discuss with you about our schedule for heading into the dungeon." Welf nodded to his statement, letting him continue. "Since I'm a member of the Astraea familia, I also have to go out on patrols regularly so I might not be able to join you every day."

"Yeah thats fair, I also would need some day's off for smithing."

The two began to explain what their field of combat is, getting to know each other and discuss how they could schedule dungeon dives. Later in the day they would both do a quick dive into the dungeon, for Bell to get used to his new armor and for Welf to see firsthand what the Astrapi was capable of.

Authors notes :

There you have it, maid Bell. In all her glory. I was wondering how I could fit Welf in, and originally he was going to have a contract with Bell but since he's a level 1 smith and Bell's level 5, Tsubaki made more sense. A lot shorter than chapter 3/4 but eh oh well. Next few chapters are more semi slice of life stuff until I figure out what I want to do in the long run, and also hopefully as to not step on my own toes when writing and end up updating a previously uploaded chapter.

Side note - I realized that in chapter 2, I forgot to mention Tsubaki among the level 5 adventurers in Orario.