After the incident in Knossos and the Elegia passing many of the familias involved were taking a much-needed break. From healing the injured to gathering supplies for the next dive into the dungeon, or just celebrating. Not many were braving the dungeon at this time. Except for certain members of the Loki familia.

Aiz, Lefiya, Tiona, and Tione were in the Water Capital. At that moment they were finishing fighting some harpy monsters that attacked them on one of the edges of a cliff. They were trying to gather some money before their weapons that needed repairs, like Aiz's Desperate. As they have all been through here so many times they were chatting as they finished.

"So how much do we need for you, Aiz?" Lefiya asked as she started to pick up all the cores from the monster corpses.

"Another 40 million," Aiz mumbled as she looked away in embarrassment.

"Well of course it's gonna cost a lot, you managed to damage a Durandal weapon." Tione teased as she looked at her sister. "What are you doing idiot?"

Tiona was ignoring them and staring in the distance at the Great Falls. Lefiya who saw this sighed and then continued the conversation with Tione.

"We won't be able to gather that much from just the lower levels."

"True but we can't go too deep today. We still have to get ready for the celebration party tonight."

"Oh that's right, I forgot. We're going to the Benevolent Mistress. But wait, why are we down here then it's not like we need the money now?"

At that question, Tione smiled and looked at her.

"Well, you've been down since the raid so this was Aiz's way of cheering you up before the party." She cheerfully explained.

When she heard that she looked up at Aiz in shock. Aiz saw her and looked away before saying, "I was just a little worried."

As Lefiya was about to respond Tiona interrupted with a shout.

"I knew it!" She shouted. "REI OVER HERE!"

"Idiot," her sister snapped. "Are you trying to get all the monsters to notice us?"

"But look, it's Rei!"

When they heard that name they all looked to where Tiona was shouting. In the distance near the falls, there was a golden harpy who was flying by herself. When the harpy heard the noise she looked around before she saw them. After thinking for a moment she flew in a circle then dived into a nearby cave.

"Let's go guys." Tiona took charge and was heading to Rei.

"Wait, we still have to head back. Why are we going further?" Tione asked even though she was chasing after her sister.

"Rei is waiting for us, let's go say hi real quick." Then remembering everyone else she turns and asks, "Is that fine?"

The other girls all look at each other and sigh, then they follow her to the harpy.

—

After running at full speed they quickly reach the cave and see Rei sitting on a rock. When the harpy sees them she smiles happily. Tiona runs over and crushes her in a hug.

"Hello, how are you all?" Rei greets them after Tiona finishes hugging her. Tione, who was close to her from saving Finn, answered.

"We are fine just killing some time. What about you? I thought the Xenos would have gone deeper into hiding."

"Ah we are, I'm just checking in with the Xeno caretaker of this area before we go to our next village."

As they were talking Aiz was quietly standing to the side. She still didn't know how to react to talking monsters so she was just standing back not saying anything. Lefiya, who had been quiet got curious and joined the conversation.

"Caretaker?" She asked.

"Well since we move around a lot there are certain Xenos who stay in a certain area to help new Xenos when they are born. The caretaker of this area is a mermaid named Mari. Oh, don't tell anyone about this by the way." Rei explained the situation to them.

When Tiona heard this her eyes lit up.

"A talking mermaid I want to see her, can you show us her Rei?"

"Huh."

"Please we won't tell anyone!" She excitedly asked with puppy eyes. The rest of them just looked wearily at her as Rei nodded her head after a moment.

"Okay, I will but you must keep this a secret from other adventurers outside your familia. I can't have them on the lookout for Mari. Understood?"

"Yes!" They all replied.

—

After that, they walked through the cave system making sure to keep Rei hidden in case of other adventures. After a while, they reached a pond and Rei walked to the edge before she shrieked. The others jumped when they heard that and Rei looked at them apologetically. Before she could say something though the water rippled and out came a beautiful mermaid.

The mermaid smiled when she saw Rei but before she spoke she noticed the other and stared. After a few seconds right when Lefiya was about to speak Mari interrupted.

"Rei! Who are the humans? Friends?"

"Yes, they are the humans we were talking about that helped in the fight," Rei responded to her.

"Hello," Tione steps forward," my name is Tione, this idiot here is my sister Tiona. The elf is Lefiya and the other one is Aiz." When they are introduced they nod and say hello to her.

After that Tiona got excited and moved closer to her to ask "Are you the one in the rumor? The one about the singing voice?"

Mari tilts her head in confusion and then answers. "I don't know but I do sing a lot so maybe?"

After that, the girls all start talking to Mari except Aiz who is standing back watching over them. She knows that Mari is good despite being a monster but even so, she still can't take that last step to connect to a monster as she was thinking this the conversation moved on.

"So Mari we will be going into the lower levels for a while. We will still meet up but it will be less than normal." Rei explained everything to Mari after everyone finished talking. As Mari was listening she suddenly started smiling and then asked what she just remembered.

"Rei it's been a while, when is Bell going to visit me?" She innocently asked about the person she wanted to see the most. The others were shocked to hear Bell's name out of nowhere but they realized it wasn't too weird since Bell was associated with the Xenos.

Before Rei could answer, a voice responded first. "Bell? Do you mean Bell Cranel" Aiz talks to Mari for the first time since she arrived. When she heard that boy's name she wanted to know how she knew Bell.

When Mari realizes they also know Bell she gets excited. "Are you also friends with Bell? Is he okay now? When is he coming to visit?" She blurts out one question after another in her eagerness.

"So you know that human too? Why am I not surprised that he's a womanizer to even monsters." Lefiya mutters to herself. Now that she thinks about it he was even trying to protect a vouivre when their familias clashed. As she was thinking Tiona started talking with Mari.

"Ah, you also know Argonaut? Isn't he amazing?!"

"Argonaut?"

"Oh, that's what I call Bell" Tiona says with a grin. As they kept talking Tione moved closer to Aiz to talk to her.

"Looks like what Loki told me might be true," Tione said to Aiz. Aiz didn't understand what she meant and looked at her questioningly. Seeing that Tione grinned and clarified "Well because of the incident with the monsters some people say Rabbit Foot has a monster fetish."

Hearing that Mini Aiz's eyes opened wide while AIz looked at Mari closer. She did have a very beautiful face and had a cheerful personality. 'Is this Bell's type' she thought to herself. It was an uncharacteristic thought for her but she didn't realize that. She was too busy focusing on the emotion that she felt when she realized Bell was going away from her. As Aiz was contemplating that Tiona and Lefiya were asking how she met Bell.

"Bell is my hero! He's the strongest who never gives up! He even beat Mother's monster!"

They were all confused about what she was talking about and looked at Rei for clarification.

"He saved her from some monsters in the dungeon before he got injured. But more importantly shouldn't you guys be leaving soon, didn't you mention a party?" Rei tries to change the conversation so they don't find out the truth. But Mari immediately defends Bell.

"Don't say it like that!" Mari tells Rei. "He fought the strongest monster and even survived the 37th floor!"

"37TH FLOOR?!" The Loki familia members yelled in shock.

"Mari! Fels told us we were supposed to keep that a secret from other adventures." Rei reprimanded her. The girls were still in shock and tried to figure out what the Xenos were talking about.

"Wait wait, I think you mean the 27th floor." Lefiya tries to correct her.

"No, this is the 27th level Bell went even lower." Mari insisted.

"What did you mean by keeping this a secret?" Tione questions Rei about what she just said.

Rei realizes she won't be able to dodge the question of how the sword princess is staring at her.

"I can't tell you anymore, I'm sorry." Rei apologizes to them.

"Why not?" Aiz asked. In any other situation, she wouldn't be able to talk to monsters, but she got over her anxiety if even for a moment. Tiona also wants to know badger Rei.

"Come on pretty please?"

"I'm sorry I would but it's not my place. If you want to know more then you should ask Bell yourself."

"Okay, guys we can talk about this on the way up we need to get going," Tione tells them. "It was good to see you again Rei and nice to meet you Mari but we have somewhere we need to be."

"Nice to meet you. Tell Bell to visit me soon." Mari replies.

"Yes, it's time for me to meet up with the others anyway. I'm sorry I can't explain everything, but I was told by our advisor." Rei apologizes once more to them.

"It's fine we can just ask Bell ourselves," Tiona responded before they all went their separate ways.

—

They were making quick progress on their way to the surface and were already heading back to Twilight Mansion in only two hours. They didn't talk much on the way up, just running at full speed avoiding the monsters. They were all thinking about what they heard from the mermaid. Three of them were wondering whether Rabbit Foot went to the 37th floor or not. Except for the Sword Princess.

'Why did Bell not tell me? Does he not trust me?' She thought to herself as Mini Aiz was pouting in her mind. As Aiz was thinking about this to herself Tione spoke up once they were at the gate.

"Don't think too hard about it, Aiz. We can ask the Captain what he thinks when we get inside."

As she finished speaking they walked inside after nodding to the guards. Tione immediately started walking to Finn's office with the others in tow. When they got close they heard voices inside and walked in without knocking. Inside were Loki, Finn, Riveria, and Gareth. When the girls barged in the room they looked up in surprise.

"Captain, we're back! Here's all the drops." Tione reported before going straight to Finn.

"Ah back already? That was quick of you guys." Gareth commented.

"Well, that's good. Get washed and changed we will be leaving soon." Riveria followed up after seeing how messy they were.

Loki immediately went to hug Aiz and was sidestepped and fell onto Lefiya who was caught off guard.

"So mean Aizu."

"Get off me you pervert!" Lefiya pushed Loki off of her while blushing.

After all this Finn looked curiously at Aiz, "Are you okay Aiz, you seem a bit distracted?"

The whole time Aiz had been quieter than usual, not even saying hello to them when they entered. Tione took a look at Aiz who still was zoning out and explained what happened in the dungeon. After hearing everything, the executives and their goddess were silent. Until Gareth started laughing.

"Always something with the one, eh?" Gareth said with a grin looking at Finn.

"No way Shrimp's brat was able to survive the 37th floor by himself. It has to be a lie, right mama?" She asked Riveria.

"Well, level wise I suppose he can handle himself on the 37th floor. However, with his lack of experience and considering his famillia is mostly level twos, I don't think he could survive down there." She logically explained.

Finn who was listening quietly thinking to himself interjected. "For anyone else, I would have to agree but Bell has done impossible things from the beginning." He paused there for a second to gather his thoughts before continuing. "While I'm not saying I'm certain he did, there were a lot of questions about his expedition. This happened during our first scouting raid against Knossos. So we don't know much. But it was unusual for them to fail a quest to just the 25th level. Also, there were all unusual deaths in Rivira around the same time."

As all of them were thinking about it Loki just clapped once and told them to get ready.

"Who cares about that brat? Right now we need to get ready to go to the Benevolent Mistress. So get ready girls."

After that, the girls nodded and went to get changed. It escaped no one's notice that Aiz was still thinking about the white-haired boy. Once they all left Gareth started talking again.

"First time I've ever seen Aiz thinking so hard about something other than getting stronger."

"Looks like our little girl is starting to grow up and all for a boy too" Finn mischievously said while grinning at Loki and Riveria. Both of them glared at him before talking.

"My Aizu is too good for that puny rabbit. If he gets any ideas I'll hang his head on my wall."

"While I don't feel that strongly I agree this is a good thing for Aiz. With all the business with Revis, I was worried she would go back to how she used to be, but that doesn't seem to be a concern. Also, this matter seems to have distracted Lefiya too so that is also fine."

After talking a bit more they all left the office to go meet up with everyone before heading out. Outside the sun was done setting and it was nighttime now. Waiting for them was the group they were taking to the pub. It was Bete, Raul, Anakity, Cruz, and Narfi, and the rest of the girls.

As everyone was there Loki grinned and began walking to the tavern. Civilians and adventurers stopped and stared in awe as the Loki Familia walked by. Those who were used to this just kept going while talking to each other. Tione was talking to Finn, Gareth was talking to all the other men about who could drink the most, Riveria was lecturing Lefiya, and Tiona was talking to Narfi. Aiz who was standing in the back slightly smiled at this before Loki walked up next to her. When Loki stood next to her and slowed down their pace she looked at her with a questioning look.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm just doing my daily duty as a goddess and looking after my children. No one listening so go ahead, talk to me as much as you want."

"There's nothing to talk about. Just need to repay the money I owe."

"Oh, so there's nothing you want to talk about? Like maybe a white-haired rabbit? And remember you can't lie to a god." Loki asked with a sly grin.

Aiz thought about the white rabbit and all the emotions she felt since she talked to the mermaid.

"Ever since the incident with the Xenos… I feel like Bell and I have been drifting apart. Like he is going somewhere far away. He didn't mention anything about how he got his cast or anything about his expedition. He used to come to me when he was in trouble, but now we don't train as much, and when we do we don't talk as much as we used to. I'm glad he's getting strong but..."

As Aiz trailed off Loki smiled softly as she looked at her child. 'It only took 9 years but she's finally having an interest in someone else, shame it was someone from Shrimp's familia.' She thought to herself looking at the lightly blushing girl who stopped talking. 'Well, not that she realizes it herself.' Many would think Loki would hate the boy for this, but she wasn't so petty. If this would make her Aizu happy then she would be fine. However, if that boy hurt Aiz she wouldn't hesitate to destroy him.

"Well if that's the case then you should just ask him the next time you see him." She recommends right as they get to the front of the Benevolent Mistress. "But for now let's celebrate our victory of the Evils!"

The rest of them let out a cheer, as they walked to the entrance Tione asked Finn. "Is it me or is it more busy than normal?"

"Yeah, I was wondering about that myself," Finn responded. As Tione mentioned there were a lot of adventurers outside waiting to get in. However, there were more women than normal which was weird for this time of night.

"Well, it's fine we have a reservation," Riviera said as she kept walking. All the adventures in line got out of the Loki familias way as they entered.

When they got in they saw it was filled to the brim and was more chaotic than normal. As they all got in and took a look they saw the waitresses moving around bringing people their food and drinks. As they were looking for their table Lefiya gasped and pointed at someone.

"What are you doing here!?" She asked the person who she was pointing at. As if sensing he was who she was talking about he turned around from the table he was at. The person was a white-haired red-eyed boy. It was the same person they were just talking about, Bell Cranel. But what was weird was what he was wearing. He was wearing a green waiter's outfit that looked like the male equivalent of the waitress's outfit.

When he saw them his eyes went wide and blankly muttered, "Eh?"