Is it Wrong to Live Transmigrated as Bell Cranel in a Dungeon?
Chapter 13: Justice and the Huntress
"It is not some great test you require to be what you strive to be. It is only your decision to find the path that matters."
— Kreia, KOTOR II
Main POV
When we officially exited the Dungeon and properly entered Babel Tower, our party — in varying degrees — celebrated.
Lili was praising the sunlight as Welf faux-kissed the ground. Hestia was hugging me as Ryuu and Chloe nodded to themselves for a job well done.
I was just glad that my Mind was starting to clear up. And that I hadn't any weird hunger or chest pains lately, now that I think about it. I didn't need to bust out any of Naaza's potions or anything after heading into the Dungeon.
Tiona and Lefiya, however, were quick to excuse themselves. Tiona seemed to be aware that she was going to get a stern talking to for disobeying orders or something. Her face was the signature look of 'oh shit, I'm about to get yelled at, aren't I?'
My condolences.
Lefiya seemed to be split on whether she should be concerned or amused for her comrade as they left together.
It also did not escape my notice how someone immediately approached Hermes before whispering something in his ear.
And how he then paled, before whispering into Asfi's ear. Who looked at him incredulously before sighing as he laughed painfully and patted her head.
Hermes then spoke loudly in an attempt to distract us from the fact Asfi was suddenly leaving in a hurry, "Well, good job everyone! I have much to catch up on from this little excursion! But please! Stop by my booth during the upcoming festival! I'd love to see you all there! Cheers!"
Hermes waved to us before he too bolted off. But not before being intercepted by a member from the Guild who passed him something.
That same Guild member then approached us and handed Ouka and me a letter.
"…what's it say?" Hestia asked worriedly, considering how obvious it was that Ouranos had caught us in the act of having gods in the Dungeon.
I quickly skimmed the letter and summarized, "…Well, it's nothing bad."
Hestia sighed as I described the contents.
Essentially, it was a gag order. We were to keep quiet about the Irregular that was the Black Goliath and about the Juggernaut, but not in those exact words. They were classified just as 'Calamities'. But it was obvious enough what the letter was referring to.
A 'penalty' was put on Hestia Familia, which in this case was essentially a fine. But it was apparently based on the size of the Familia. And since that was just me, the fine was only 50,000 valis; goodbye remainder of my Jack Bird reward. I'm sure the fine Hermes was about to pay was… much more painful based on the pale, frozen look on his face.(1)
Surprisingly, there was actually quite a bit of give and take that the Guild was utilizing according to this letter.
In exchange for our silence on the matter, the Guild would formally remove the bounty on the Gale Wind — as they had apparently paid off all of those with grievances against Ryuu. Just that there was a not too subtle reminder they could always slap a new bounty on Ryuu at any moment and actually try to enforce it for a change should we not comply.
It was a little embarrassing that the Guild knew that was sufficient a threat to make me comply.
It was essentially the carrot and the stick approach. Taking Ryuu off the blacklist was the carrot. Slapping me with a fine and threatening to sanction Ryuu again was the stick. As far as ensuring my compliance went, they were good motivators.
Ouka and the other Take Familia manners took the opportunity to leave us at that point.
"Well it could be worse," Hestia sighed, giving Ryuu a little stink eye.
Why was she giving Ryuu such a look? I mean, Hestia always does give the girls around me looks, but why was she so hung up over Ryuu right now? Because of the letter?
That didn't seem like something that was enough to—
The memory of what happened before we split up to fight our respective boss monsters finally flashed through my head.
OH MY GOD I'M STUPID.
I'm sure I was cherry red as the memory played through my head on repeat. I could remember the feel of her lips on mine like it happened mere moments ago…
No wonder Ryuu was so awkward around me! Even if I love her, unprompted kissing is still sexual harassment! Especially considering she is an elf!
I'll need to have a talk with Ryuu at some point. No, as soon as possible. I'd need to make sure I was still welcome at the Hostess, because if she would feel too uncomfortable with me around then I would gladly move out in order to give her some space. Finally give Hestia an excuse to stop being so embarrassed about the Church at least.
The thought that Ryuu might just like me back, never crossed my mind, of course. Ryuu was completely out of my league. And I clearly had lots of issues. Overcautiousness being one of the big ones.
Thoughts on why I wasn't good enough for Ryuu were halted. Why? Because another person walked up to us. Except this individual was of the divine, I could feel their aura.
I used neutral pronouns because the figure was cloaked. But as they approached the figure pulled down their hood.
I could hear Ryuu gasp behind me as the Goddess before us did so.
She was slightly above average height for a woman. She had long walnut brown hair that was gathered together behind her head in a dignified manner, along with deep indigo eyes that are reminiscent of a sea of stars.
The gasp from Ryuu and the divine presence quickly had me put two and two together. Only after I deduced who she was did her appearance from the Astraea Record click.
"Are you…?" I started to ask.
"Astraea!" Hestia said in recognition, "It's been so long!"
"Hello Hestia, it's been some time," Astraea said warmly.
…Hermes you bastard! Why didn't you let me know you smuggled Astraea back into the city when we were together?! You asshole!
"I didn't know you were back in the city! I'm so happy!" Hestia said to her, knowing enough about the local gods and goddesses of Orario to know that Astraea hadn't been here in some time.
"Yes, I arrived back a few days ago. Though I admit I wasn't fond of the means in which it was facilitated," Astraea answered Hestia.
Classic Hermes, doing shady stuff. Not that I blame him in this case. Allowing deities into Orario from outside involved much more paperwork than the opposite.
I would know. I still shudder at the thought of the paperwork it took to allow Hestia outside the city walls that one time.
Astraea then said, "But it was necessary in order to answer the letter I had received and to see my last child again."
"So you did get it," I said to her. I had wondered if Hermes would actually pass it along.
I could feel Ryuu staring me down from behind me. I wonder what her expression was. Likely something along the lines of, 'You did what Bell Cranel-san?'
Astraea looked me in the eyes, and said, "Hmm, aside from the eyes you really do resemble her."
"Ah, yes," I said with tension in my voice. So I really do look similar to…
I'm surprised by the pain of loss I feel. And yet not.
Mom and Auntie Alfia…
"What's going on?" Hestia asked, breaking me from my tangential thoughts.
"I sent a letter to Astraea-sama to get her to see Ryuu," I told Hestia and Ryuu by proxy. "Speaking of which, we should probably give them some privacy."
I then turned to Chloe, "I'll probably stay with Hestia for the night. I'll be in tomorrow morning though."
"Roger that, nya!" Chloe said with a grin before her expression slumped, "I just hope Mama doesn't kill us, nya."
"Oh yeah, we're screwed," I said with a laugh.
"I know right, nya?" Chloe said with faux-tears in her eyes.
I then turned to Lili, "You coming with?"
She shook her head, "I need to let the friend I'm staying with know I'm not dead. He better not have sold my stuff off, that jerk!"
"Ah… okay…" I said, not sure how to process that. I was at least aware enough to know that Lili was referring to her Gnome friend.
I looked for Welf, finding him slinking away from us with a goodbye wave. Good call, avoiding the drama.
Everyone accounted for, I attempted to leave only to have Ryuu grab my arm forcing me to partially face her.
Ryuu didn't say a word. Her eyes promised retribution… but they were also grateful. There were other emotions too, but it was hard to place them.
I nodded to her, accepting that I deserved whatever she would do to me.
She nodded and let me go. Allowing me to glance in Astraea's direction. She had a smug-like expression on her face…
Was… was she shipping us?
No, that can't be right. Don't get your hopes up, me.
In any case, I finally headed out into Orario for the first time in almost a week? (Seriously, I lost track of what day it was…)
Which was spent assuring Hestia all along the way to her place that the letter to Astraea was only about getting her to see Ryuu and nothing more.
Other POV, Shortly After Ryuu and the Bell Retrieval Team Entered the Dungeon…
Astraea entered Ouranos' chambers, shirking her minimal disguise as she entered the privacy of the room from where Ouranos' prayers calmed the Dungeon.
"It has been some time," Astraea greeted the other God.
"Indeed," Ouranos' voice boomed through the chamber. A trick of the acoustics, as opposed to a petty use of Arcanum.
"I have an idea as to why," Astraea began saying, before asking, "But why have you invited me here? I hope I have not offended you in the manner I've returned to Orario."
"I can understand your caution and reasoning behind a quiet return," Ouranos assured neutrally, "Truth be told, it was a dark day when you left the city."
Indeed, with Astraea Familia destroyed, the Guild could only rely on Ganesha Familia for maintaining order in the city. Not to say that Ganesha Familia was bad at their jobs, FAR from it.
It was just that Astraea Familia filled a niche in the security sector that hadn't been filled in the five years since. Astraea Familia was a small, yet elite team of 2nd Class Adventurers that easily was able to 'punch above their weight class'. Ganesha Familia has plenty of High Class Adventurers, yet is unable to reliably wield a team of adventurers as skilled as Astraea Familia.
If Ganesha Familia was akin to conventional military forces, Astraea Familia was the Special Ops Unit.
Another factor, partially aided by the Astraea Familia's smaller size, was that they served well for propaganda purposes. Put in a more positive light, the Astraea Familia was a beacon of hope for the average person to look up to and idolize.
While order had been restored to Orario in the years since Evilus' conventional defeat (ironically also due to the skill of a member of Astraea Familia), the Guild had only been able to do so by playing politics and playing Familias like Freya and Loki Familia against each other.
The point being, the Guild was forced to play politics, which resulted in less efficiency in combating criminal elements and slower economic recovery than what might have been achieved otherwise.
All of this was to say that it would be a lie to say that Ouranos was uninterested in a Resurgent Astraea Familia.
"Dark for me personally, perhaps. Yet the world kept moving without me," Astraea said humbly, "It seems that order managed to return to Orario without me, after all."
"Just because the current facade of peace was achieved, doesn't mean it was done well," Ouranos said, playing devil's advocate.
"Nor does it mean my Familia would have necessarily guaranteed a better path to the present," Astraea said negatively.
"I did not call you here to speak of hypotheticals that no longer matter," Ouranos said, ending that line of conversation. There truly was no point in trying to argue whether or not the Post-Evilus Period would have been better or not with or without the Astraea Familia's presence.
Ouranos then said, "You asked me why I called you here. It was to verify a few things, face-to-face."
"You have questions? Ask, and I shall answer," Astraea said, her words implying that she was vowing to tell the truth. Something one might consider to be a pointless statement. A Goddess of Justice and Order lying? It sounds oxymoronic.
"Did you sire any children outside Orario?" Ouranos asked. He was, in other words, asking if Astraea gave her Falna to anyone outside the city.
It was a simple fact that if Astraea had formed ties with another nation, then she couldn't be allowed to return to Orario properly. And if she had formed a Familia outside Orario, it was almost a given that Astraea would have to have made ties with local governments. Look no further than Rakia to see how a single Familia can rule over a small nation; this was the norm in the Age of the Gods, that Familias tended to rule nations directly or via proxy.
"No," Astraea answered, "I admit I was tempted to restart my Familia outside the city. But I never did so. I instead spent the last five years as a wandering arbiter. There were many people and towns that appreciated a neutral outsider to pass judgment and to facilitate compromises."
"I see," Ouranos said, already knowing this much from information passed along by Hermes Familia. He then asked, "Why have you returned?"
"I received a letter from one Bell Cranel of Hestia Familia," Astraea answered, "He convinced me to see my child again."
"You refer to Ryuu Lion, the Gale Wind," Ouranos said. It wasn't a question.
"Yes…" Astraea answered, before asking a question of her own, "Why have you reneged on her being blacklisted?"
Astraea, as part of Ouranos' summon via the Guild, had received notice that Ryuu had been removed from the blacklist. The pardon was not, as Bell Cranel would eventually be led to believe, a result of actions that were to soon take place on Floor 18.
Astraea, of course, would and could not have known that the Guild would also use Ryuu's pardon to be used to help encourage Bell Cranel to keep silent on everything that would occur on Floor 18 – after the fact, obviously. But it was this very conversation that gave Ouranos, and thus the Guild, the definitive leverage to know that Bell Cranel had a vested interest in Ryuu Lion's status.
"The Gale's actions at the time were actually quite useful in rooting out and eradicating the last major remnants of Evilus plaguing the city at the time," Ouranos replied, "However, her attacks hit many merchants and organizations with plausible deniability or had even been unaware they had been supplying Evilus to begin with…"
Ouranos sighed, saying, "It is a shameful fact, but the city was still recovering from the destruction of the Great Feud, both physical and financial. We, the Guild, simply didn't have the means to curb the ire of the many enemies the Gale had acquired."
Put in simpler terms, the Guild hadn't had the money at the time to reimburse damages caused by Ryuu five years ago. The Guild was still trying to recover from the aftermath of Evilus when it was at its height - led by Erebus and spearheaded by Alfia and Zard.
Much of the city had to be rebuilt, and the effort bleed the Guild's coffers dry. It took years for some of the Magic Stone Factories to be rebuilt and return to maximum efficiency once more. The city's, and thus the Guild's, economy had been in a slump in the interim to put it lightly.
Things are different now. The economy of Orario, while inflated, was booming. The Guild, and those Ouranos, could very easily pay off every organization that still had grudges and thus bounties out on Ryuu the Gale Wind.
"But why go so far?" Astraea asked the key question. "I am not complaining that the right thing was done, that Lion-chan can now live in the sunlight without fear. But I am not naive enough to believe it was the easiest path for you and the Guild to take."
Indeed, it would have been very easy for Ouranos to ignore Ryuu Lion's plight. There was seemingly little to gain in exchange for a not-insignificant sum of Valis to be used for quieting the dissent against the Gale's legacy.
"Tell me," Ouranos said, answering Astraea's question with one of his own, "Do you plan on leaving with your child? Or are you planning on starting anew?"
"I see," Astraea said, smiling in bemusement, "You foresaw that I would not want to uproot Lion-chan from her life here. Yes… I suppose restarting my Familia once more is a path I would like to take."
"Then consider it as an investment in your Familia's future," Ouranos said, getting to the point of his decision to pardon Ryuu Lion after all this time. It was bait to help ensure the creation of a Resurgent Astraea Familia.
"I should have realized that you wouldn't have let me go again so easily," Astraea stated matter-of-factly. She wasn't offended, or displeased. She was just commenting on the fact that she 'fell' for this little 'scheme'.
"..." Ouranos had no reply, nor did he need to give one. He was speaking from a position of power, after all. It was only through Ouranos' okay that Hermes was even able to 'smuggle' Astraea into Orario to begin with. And Astraea could be sent away… nearly as easily.
"Well then, if you have nothing else for me, I should start making preparations for my child's return," Astraea said to the other God.
Ouranos nodded, "That was all. Welcome back to Orario."
Astraea smiled, before turning, putting back up her hood, and walking out.
There was a long moment of silence, before Ouraros spoke, "Is that you, Fels?"
Indeed, Fels walked out from behind Ouranos' altar, as he tends to do.
"Was it wise to outright state our intentions as far as Astraea Familia is concerned?" Fels' unnatural voice asked inquisitively.
"Astraea is intelligent enough to have worked it out on her own," Ouranos claimed, "Better that we quickly establish trust than hide behind meaningless platitudes."
"Are you not worried that she has allied with another nation?" Fels asked.
"No," Ouranos answered, "Not only is Astraea not one to lie unless absolutely necessary, but Hermes Familia did extensive investigation to verify her actions since her self-exile. Astraea has not lied to us."
"I'm not certain that she will go about reforming her Familia to its former glory," Fels said pessimistically, "From my observations, the Gale has lost her fire. She will not have the motivation to spearhead a rejuvenation of Astraea Familia like you may prefer."
"And your observations of her training Hestia's boy?" Ouranos asked pointedly, "Are those just an outlier?"
"...It's hard to say," Fels admitted that he was uncertain on the matter. But even Ouranos would agree that Fels' concerns had merit.
"It is, of course, a gamble," Ouranos admitted, "But even if Astraea Familia is not returned to its former glory, at least we have finally paid back the debt owed for the Gale's actions five years ago."
"Indeed," Fels agreed.
And that was that.
Present…
Ryuu found herself sitting in her room at the Hostess with the last person she expected to see that morning.
"It really is a lovely place you've found for yourself," Astraea commented from a nearby bed.
"…it was all thanks to Syr-chan," Ryuu whispered in her response.
Acting as if Ryuu had responded normally, Astraea said, "Then I'll have to be sure to thank her for being such a good friend to you."
Ryuu hummed an affirmative.
Astraea sighed, before giving Ryuu another motherly smile, "You really have such good friends. I was really surprised when I got that boy's letter. Here, take it, I'm sure he wouldn't mind you reading it too."
Ryuu silently accepted the letter and started reading.
Dear Astraea-sama,
I'll apologize for the unsolicited mail here, but don't discount this letter just because you don't know me. In fact, who I am hardly matters. What matters is that Ryuu 'Gale Wind' Astraea Lion is one of my precious people.
I'm sure you've continued to exchange letters with your child ever since that time. I couldn't tell you how much better life has been for Ryuu since then. All I can tell you is that she is still haunted by what happened to her Familia and with what she did afterwards.
Not that those things or my thoughts about them really matter. What matters is that Ryuu is still suffering. I don't know all the answers to help her. I just know I want her to be happy. Call it naive or foolish if you want.
I'm sure you had your reasons for leaving Orario. But I ask that you return to help be part of the support system Ryuu needs in order to have a happy future. And, if possible, to forgive her for the sins she claims to have.
…Just as I hope she will forgive me for looking into her background.
Ryuu felt her lips twitch upward.
Sincerely,
Bell Cranel
Hestia Familia
Nephew of Alfia 'the Silent'
Ryuu's eyes latched onto that last line for a long moment.
…she couldn't unsee it now that it had been shoved in her face.
"Oh, that boy…" Ryuu said wistfully. Not even resisting the blush on her cheeks.
"He loves you dearly. I could see it in his eyes," Astraea said to her, "It makes you wonder if he has anything in common with his Aunt other than his looks."
Ryuu understood what she meant.
Alfia the Silent was entirely different from him. Silence had no hope for a brighter future; where Bell worked day by day for a better tomorrow. Silence was the incarnation of talent; Bell's only real talent was that he learned fast. Silence was looking for heroes, to create heroes, and had given up on being a hero; Bell was trying to become one.
Their only similarity was their desire for a Hero – the difference being on where such a hero should come from.
In a way, they were at least similar in the way they loved the world – even if Alfia's love had become so twisted that it mattered not how many lives she took as long as The Dragon would one day be defeated.
Alfia the Silent was just not that obvious with her love. But even Ryuu had been able to tell that the woman held deep love for her sister who had died from their bloodline curse… who was apparently Bell's mother.
(Was Bell also cursed? Ryuu silently wondered this to herself.)
"You never gave up on Justice, did you?" Astraea asked her, interrupting Ryuu's thoughts on Bell's wider bloodline and its wider ramifications.
"Goddess, I…" Ryuu tried to say, but she started choking up.
"I'm sorry," Astraea suddenly apologized.
"W-what…?" Ryuu gasped, not understanding.
"I only told you to give up on Justice… because I could see how hard it was for you to be it's Paragon all on your own," Astraea told her, the Goddesses' eyes tearing up in guilt, "I'm sorry if all those words did was just burden you even more. I just wanted you to not continue to suffer as you had been. Ryuu, my only child."
Ryuu shook her head, "No, no! It's all my fault! For not being strong enough! For falling into darkness! None of that is your blame to take!"
"Then I'm sorry for running away as I did," Astraea said, soft tears rolling down her cheek, "I loved them all so much… I couldn't stand to be in this city that took them from me so unjustly… I knew you wouldn't follow me. I knew you wouldn't let Evilus go unpunished. You loved them, and Justice, too much to run away like I did."
"It wasn't out of love or Justice," Ryuu denied, "I did all those things for the wrong reasons too."
"We both 'dropped the ball', as the saying goes, huh…" Astraea mused, brushing her tears away.
".. If you insist on taking blame, I'll insist on being more guilty," Ryuu declared.
"Let's agree to disagree," Astraea said with a sad laugh.
Ryuu hummed.
"Still," Astraea said, "You seem to be in rather good spirits. I'm glad."
Ryuu sat there for a moment as she pondered that. She initially thought that she didn't deserve to be in good condition. But then she remembered…
"I am. Doing better," Ryuu said with a small smile, "For despite everything, for some reason, I'm still loved by so many people. I don't have to bear Justice on my shoulders alone. He reminded me… to shoulder righteousness and wrongdoings in order to strive for the future. He reminded me of Ardi's words, that I had abandoned."
With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility.
When one endures, it gives hope to others - and themselves.
Justice comes around!
Ryuu smiled softly, "I'm not done defending Justice. And I know he won't either. Because we have the power to do something, we have a responsibility to act. I won't run from things anymore. Justice will come around, if I have anything to say for it."
"What about your job?" Astraea asked, essentially asking if Ryuu wanted to go back to Dungeon Diving.
"...I will never be passionate about exploring the Dungeon again," Ryuu said after a moment, "And I like it here. Working with my friends, yes, I love this place. Perhaps every once in a while if that boy asks me…"
Ryuu was done hiding from her past. But, it's not like she had a definitive goal as for how to reach the future. That was something that would take careful time and consideration. Continuing to prepare Bell, however, was as good a way as any to continue doing good work.
Astraea smiled, tempted to tease the poor elf, but held off. "Well then," Astraea said, "How about I update your Status then? It has been quite some time."
Ryuu blinked, then nodded, "...Okay."
Ryuu turned and removed enough clothing to allow Astraea access to her back. Astraea laid her hands over Ryuu and updated the Elf's Status for the first time in five years.
"You've fought and endured so much…" Astraea said as the Excelia flowed in front of her divine gaze, "And so much high quality Excelia too. Though, I must say, that much of my favorite Excelia is from just the last few months."
Ryuu blushed, recognizing that as the time when Bell had entered her life.
Astraea finished up the update, copying the contents of the update onto a piece of paper.
"Congratulations, you can Level Up," Astraea said to Ryuu as she passed the status sheet over, "Though I don't think it's too surprising. Mostly."
Ryuu was silent as she reviewed her Status Update with disbelieving eyes.
Ryuu Lion
Level 4 - 5
Alias: Gale Wind
Strength: E: 488 - IVS: 1599
Vitality: F: 352 - IVS: 1599
Dexterity: A: 888 - IVS: 1599
Agility: A: 889 - IVS: 1599
Magic: B: 717 - IVS: 1599
Ryuu couldn't believe what she was looking at. She hadn't even glanced at the rest of her Status sheet due to how incredulous the sight of these numbers were.
"IVS? What…? I don't…" Ryuu stammered out in absolute confusion.
Astraea smiled, "You seemed to have broken past the limits before you even met him. But, after meeting that boy, training and healing him daily… you gained Excelia at an unbelievable rate. I don't entirely understand it myself."
It turns out that laying waste to multiple Familias and organizations on your lonesome would generate a lot of Excelia, much of it being of high quality. Not to forget to mention the Excelia gained by surviving the first Juggernaut.
Then there were the five years of consistent, daily, intense training. Even with most of it being solo training, and the gains relatively small, those points added up over time. Adding Bell Cranel into the mix the last few months had accelerated things. His dynamic and unusual growth doing wonders in advancing Ryuu's own Excelia gain at the same time.
For someone without Liaris Freese, Ryuu had managed to push her Falna to the pinnacle of potential that a Level 4 could achieve.
"I see…" Ryuu commented, still in shock.
"Shall I finish Leveling you up?" Astraea asked, and Ryuu had no reason (or ability) to disagree.
"You seem to have quite a few options for Development Abilities," Astraea reported to Ryuu after a few moments, "You've got: Mage, Chain Attack, Swordsman, Spirit Healing, and Medic."
Ryuu hummed, somehow a little surprised at all the options.
"Mage will improve power, widen effect range, and make mind usage more efficient. Chain Attack boosts attack power and speed the more times you land a hit on an opponent without getting hit in turn," Astraea informed her.
"Swordsman increases your effectiveness with swords; this usually seems to take the form of an increase in strength and precision," Astraea continued to list her options, "Spirit Healing grants automatic mind regeneration; which begins regenerating Mind at a small rate after magic use. Medic makes healing more powerful and efficient; healing spells are more effective and heal more quickly. It should also make more mundane forms of first aid more efficient."
Mage and Spirit Healing, while definitely useful, weren't exactly necessary for Ryuu. Not to say that they weren't extremely tempting, but they just didn't feel right. Her use of magic was more to supplement her swordplay, or to deal heavy damage in a single go. If Ryuu was low on magic, then things had really gone to hell. Having more of it likely wouldn't change anything if her reserves had gotten to that point.
Mage only had pros to it… but another of the abilities was calling more to her right now.
Swordsman was tempting, since swordplay was her main form of combat. However, Ryuu wasn't exactly planning on needing to fight much in the first place. Her primary career was still going to be working at the Hostess with Justice related activities being second.
Which left Medic as the perfect development ability. Especially as it had nothing to do with taking lives, but rather trying to save them. It would likely increase the potency of her healing magic to be able to heal broken bones instead of just more minor injuries and stamina.
"I'll take Medic," Ryuu said to her Goddess.
Ryuu was aware that Mage, Spirit Healing, or Swordswoman would go better with her 'build'. That those were the 'logical' options as an adventurer. But Ryuu wasn't trying to be an adventurer. She was trying to be something else entirely.
"I had a feeling you would choose that one," Astraea said, finishing up the Level Up process.
"So," Astraea said, distracting Ryuu from getting a good look at what was detailed on her Magic and Skills, "When can I expect to see little half-elves running around the Stardust Garden?"
"S-shut up!" Ryuu stammered out as her face lit up like a cherry. What was her Goddess saying?!
"I wonder if they will have his hair color but your eyes?" Astraea said teasingly, "Or would it be the other way around? Oh! Or maybe they'll be little mini-yous!"
Ryuu's eyes swirled as her imagination followed along with Astraea's suggestions. Visions of a boy and girl half-elf with white hair and red-eyes swam in her vision.
Astraea laughed merrily as Ryuu fainted, falling onto her bed.
Astraea looked down at Ryuu's Status sheet and muttered, "Astraea Record… and Astrae Varmas, huh…"
Main POV
"There we go!" I said with a satisfied huff as the last of our gear was organized and put away at Hestia's Church.
"Alright!" Hestia cheered, before patting her bed, "Now come on! Let's update that Status of yours!"
"You're more excited than I am," I chuckled before moving over to the bed.
"Considering everything that happened in the last couple of days, I know this is going to be a big one! I'm so hyped!" Hestia gushed.
It's true, my last update was after Lefiya and I fought that pit-trap monster. I wouldn't be surprised to gain a massive amount of Excelia from the stuff that happened after that.
"Well, I'll need to rest the next day or two anyway, might as well have my body adjust to the boost at the same time," I said, agreeing that the timing would work out. And silently admitting that now was probably the time to just go ahead and finalize the Level Up before I got into even more trouble.
Damn the Bell Cranel Effect.
I laid down on Hestia's bed as she did the familiar act of updating my Status. Before long, Hestia wrote down a copy and gave it to me.
Bell Cranel
Level 2 – 3
Alias: weiẞes Häschen
Strength: A: 801 - SSS: 1232
Vitality: SS: 1010 - IVS: 1399
Dexterity: B: 799 - SS: 1126
Agility: S: 934 - SSS: 1313
Magic: SS: 1029 - IVS: 1599
Magic:
(Firebolt)
• Swift-Strike Magic
(Hiraishin)
• Enchantment Magic
(Hermaphroditus)
• Fluid like water. Distortion through the looking glass. Reversal of all things
Skills:
Liaris Freese - Rapid Growth. Fast growth as long as feelings last. The strength of the effects corresponds with the level of the user's feelings.
Singularity - The user is immune to all mental and spiritual attacks.
Focus - The user's Dexterity is increased when fighting and concentrating on a single target. Use can cause tunnel vision.
Argonaut - Heroic Desire. Allows a charge for a counterattack to overcome insurmountable odds.
Inspiring Leader - Subskill of Liaris Freese. Companions that unconditionally believe in the user grow quickly at a portion of the user's growth rate. Companions are more inclined to listen to the user's words. The strength of effects corresponds with the target's feelings and distance from the user.
Development Abilities:
Luck - I – H
Yeah, I did use a lot of magic. And losing an appendage would generate a lot of Vitality Excelia.
I resisted the urge to rub my wrist.
All in all, asking for more points at this stage was obviously just pushing things. I'll easily be satisfied with what I've got here. Especially since it's hard to say how soon I have until Familia's like Apollo start to move against me. That and I was running low on time to stop Ishtar. I had, what, a month to a month and a half before the next full moon?
The lunar cycle was weird here. Before it was something like 29-ish days? The moon cycle here was a bit longer, something like 33-ish days. Point was, considering how Ishtar hadn't already declared war on Freya, I wasn't too late yet.
Waiting as long as I've had was a calculated risk. Dealing with all those Level 3s and the captain Phyrne wasn't going to be an easy feat.
But I would need to do something before the next Full Moon came up on me. I couldn't risk getting lucky again. And besides, I had enough personal strength at this point to not instantly lose that kind of engagement.
All that prevented me from acting now was enough intel to pull off a rescue and try to prevent retaliation from Ishtar Familia. Though, frankly, utterly dissolving Isthar Familia was my preferred outcome – I just needed to figure out how to deal with the humanitarian crisis that would result from all of those 'workers' being laid off.
Putting thoughts of war aside, I focused back on reality enough to notice that Hestia was shuddering in place on top of me. She was sharply inhaling with her nose to prevent snot from flowing freely. Something wet hit my bare back.
Hestia was crying…!
…Oh, right… Hestia would have learned from my Excelia that my arm had…
Wincing, I kept my eyes closed as I slowly angled to look back. I slowly glanced back to see Hestia's arm slowly and shakily reach for my right arm.
I met her halfway, turning my body around so I was facing her, as I brought my right arm to her hand.
Hestia's other hand grabbed my right. She was still silently shuddering and she rubbed and prodded my right hand. As if she was confirming that it was still there and attached.
I resisted the urge to check my wrist's state myself.
"B-Bell…kun…" Hestia choked out, her eyes crying uncontrollably, "You… you idiot…"
I felt my own eyes start to water. The sheer pain and agony in Hestia's eyes was heart wrenching. It was like watching a mother being told her son was gravely injured from hitting a landmine or IED.
Hestia brought my right hand to her face, crying into it as she bawled in sorrow for the pain I had felt and for the loss I almost had.
I caressed her cheek, wiping her tears with my thumb as best I could. She wouldn't let go of my hand, not that I would have removed it so quickly…
"Bell-kun! Be-ell-k—uuun!" Hestia wailed finally, her despair starting to lower after that outburst.
"I'm sorry," I whispered gently to her, "I'm sorry."
This… this is why I'm so over cautious at times. This is a consequence of facing the Juggernaut. My loved ones, Hestia, suffering from the actions I have taken.
My every action causes echoes that spread and grow before reverberating back to me.
The pain in Hestia's heart right now? That's all on me. Those negative, painful feelings were caused by my actions. A cross for me to bear.
That's why I'm sorry. Because I hurt her. Without meaning to, all the same, I have hurt her. And her pain cuts me like a bladed weapon on my skin.
This is what it means to love another.
Truly, love is as much a blessing as it is a curse.
Hestia sniffled, her crying brought under control.
"…Better?" I asked sheepishly.
Hestia glared, her gaze losing a lot of its intimidation factor from all the tears on her face and the redness around her eyes.
Hestia clearly noticed how unintimidated I was as she sighed deeply. (I shuddered at how shaky and pain-ridden it was.)
Hestia then said to me lightly, gripping my arm like a lifeline, "Just… promise me… If you can help it… Even if you can do… that… please don't get hurt like this again… Please…"
"Yeah…" I answered simply. She was asking that I try to avoid getting limbs dismembered, even if I might be able to reattach them. It was something easy to agree to, if not easy to guarantee I could follow through on.
"…Good," Hestia said, smiling sadly, before giving a pumped up expression as she said, "I'm gonna Level you Up now. No back talk! Honestly, you wouldn't have been in such dire straits if you just learned to listen to me and had gotten your buff already!"
"I still would argue that the adjustment period to my body would have put me in more danger," I pointed out as I flipped back around and she got to work updating my Status.
And if Hestia was able and willing to switch the mood back to something less somber, then I was all the more willing to comply.
Things were going fine with the Update, at first.
At least until Hestia suddenly stuttered, "H-huh?"
That didn't sound good.
"What's wrong?" I asked, wondering what was going on.
"When I tried to pull up your Development Ability options, they appeared before 'Breach' selected itself or something…" Hestia said, utterly confused.
"It selected itself?" I said in confusion. That… didn't sound right, and was really ominous to boot.
"Yeah, it forced itself in, like it couldn't wait any longer," Hestia said, sounding unsure and concerned.
"Well, it sounds like we can't do much about it…" I said, also concerned with the oddity. What the hell was going on now?
"I guess…" Hestia said before quickly wrapping up the update.
"Uhhh…" Hestia said, her tone not sounding good.
"What?" I said, freaking out a little at Hestia's tone.
"Just see for yourself," Hestia said as he handed over the sheet.
Bell Cranel
Level 3
Alias: weiẞes Häschen
Strength: I: 0
Vitality: I: 0
Dexterity: I: 0
Agility: I: 0
Magic: I: 0
Magic:
(Firebolt)
• Swift-Strike Magic
(Hiraishin)
• Enchantment Magic
(Hermaphroditus)
• Fluid like water. Distortion through the looking glass. Reversal of all things
Skills:
Liaris Freese - Rapid Growth. Fast growth as long as feelings last. The strength of the effects corresponds with the level of the user's feelings.
Singularity - The user is immune to all mental and spiritual attacks.
Focus - The user's Dexterity is increased when fighting and concentrating on a single target. Use can cause tunnel vision.
Argonaut - Heroic Desire. Allows a charge for a counterattack to overcome insurmountable odds.
Inspiring Leader - Subskill of Liaris Freese. Companions that unconditionally believe in the user grow quickly at a portion of the user's growth rate. Companions are more inclined to listen to the user's words. The strength of effects corresponds with the target's feelings and distance from the user.
Accretion Disk - Derived from Breach. Energy is consumed to maintain the user's vitality. Gain energy when slaying opponents. Energy in storage increases Excelia gain and Mind regeneration — at scale. Lose health, Mind, and a reduction of Stats when storage of energy is out – at scale.
Development Abilities:
Luck - H
Breach - I
My eyes were locked onto Accretion Disk in horror. Not just because it was another reference to Black Holes. But the implications of this Skill and the Development Ability it represents.
Considering how the life and death system of this universe was reincarnation, that meant this Skill was all but saying it was fueled by SOULS. And the debuff that was the final line, it sounded familiar in multiple ways.
Call it a leap of logic, but I suddenly put together a bunch of puzzle pieces.
Bell's Mother and Aunt both had some kind of incurable disease, one that seemed to have skipped a generation in Bell… in canon. My body now, however, had two souls in it, which was likely not something the body was intended to hold. In the relatively short time period of my soul entered this body, I started getting incredibly hungry that only faded after I went into the Dungeon… to kill monsters. Accretion Disk works by taking 'energy' from slain enemies.
Put it all together.
The stress of having multiple souls in this physical body must have caused enough stress for a version of the genetic disease in my bloodline to activate. Rapid growth of my Falna likely didn't help matters, ironically enough. Hints of it started to appear when the option for Breach first showed up in my Falna. All the stress I've continued to put on my body has just finally exasperated things to where it finally just applied itself.
I almost absentmindedly rubbed my right wrist.
That shock to my body surely hadn't helped matters…
The only upside was that I could fight off the negative effects of the curse by Dungeon Crawling. But, considering how I've been routinely hungry through my usual expeditions with the curse not being as bad (potentially)… and I had a feeling that I'd more often than not be getting the negative effects of the curse applied to me more than the boons. Or maybe I'm just being pessimistic...
It was also tied to a Development Ability. Or rather, the Skill was just a representation of what the Development Ability is – my intuition on the matter revealed this much to me at least.
Point being, it meant that the positive and negative effects would only get stronger over time. Requiring stronger and stronger souls to sustain myself.
Meaning that, eventually, the amount of souls needed to sustain myself would increase and increase. Likely at some point reaching a critical mass that I could no longer hope to meet.
Not to forget to mention the fact/implication that my soul had been already doing a version of what Accretion Disk is doing before now already. If my life had a TV Tropes page, this was sure to be an entry under the NightmareFuel page.
At least the names were huge hints as to how the mechanics worked. Breach was obviously a reference to me. An Accretion Disk is matter that is orbiting close to and - mostly - is falling into a Black Hole (a breach of space-time, if you will). When there is no accretion disk, the black hole is not eating any fuel and so it starts to decay via Hawking Radiation; and in my case, the 'decay' takes the form of my body breaking down - likely starting with my respiratory system. But when there is an accretion disk, the black hole is getting fed with matter over time, effectively helping the black hole grow and avoid decay.
Another way of thinking of it was that I had a new 'fuel' gauge alongside my Mind gauge. As long as I had fuel in the tank, as it were, than my condition will not only be neutralized, but will also increase my Excelia gain and Mind Regeneration proportional to the amount of energy in the 'fuel tank'. But if my fuel gauge is empty, then I will start to suffer increasing amounts of stat debuffs and damage to my body overtime, the longer I go without 'fuel'.
The main concern, of course, was that since this all was tied to a Development Ability, the amount of energy that I would require to be consumed to maintain such a balance might increase to unsustainable levels should it progress far enough.
I had always known factually that I was under a time limit of sorts for defeating the One Eyed Black Dragon. I never thought I'd have such the equivalent of the Sword of Damocles hanging over my head.
If I didn't kill the dragon and save the world in time, I'd either wither away and die at best or become some sort of abomination like Darth Nihilus at worst. (A Sith Lord that devoured entire planets to fend off his hunger…)
Perhaps slaying the One Eyed Black Dragon would provide me enough 'energy' to survive for quite some time… but to assume that it could tide me over indefinitely would be a bold claim. Highly likely? For sure. Guaranteed? That's quite the assumption. I'd rather not delude myself on the off chance that it can't tide me over so I could live a reasonable amount of time.
Heroes do often meet tragic ends. Is this my Greek-style prophecy foretelling my doom? Or am I being overly dramatic and conceited? Who is to say…
Is this what it's like to have a terminal illness?
Every second seems all the more precious.
It's like looking at an hourglass and being able to see the limited amount of grains of sand twinkling away…
The sight of Ryuu, teary-eyed, furiously facing the Juggernaut flashed through my mind.
When one endures, it gives hope to others - and themselves.
…and like that I calmed down, the words I've said to others so many times coming back to save me this time.
There was no point getting worked up about the relatively far future. I needed to focus on the here and now. I shouldn't let fear of tomorrow ruin and rush the present. I just need to remember that the present is a gift.
That is all.
I looked to Hestia then, who was clearly concerned. She clearly saw the implications about my Skill and knew that I knew them too. She said to me, "Do you know anything about this?"
And just like that, those words she uttered to me, so full of concern… I knew I had to come clean to Hestia. Not about everything like how this universe is very similar to a show I watched. But enough to know about my situation. She's long deserved to know.
And maybe I wanted to (almost) completely open up to someone. And if I couldn't trust Hestia, who else could I?
"…I do," I told her. Hestia looked at me in shock, I guess she didn't expect me to actually share with her. That kinda hurt, though I didn't blame her for that assumption either.
"As far as I'm aware, my mom and aunt were born with some kind of incurable disease that led to their early deaths. It's why I never knew them personally," I prefaced, "Gramps had figured that it had skipped my generation. But it looks like unusual circumstances caused my body to deteriorate enough for it to show, I guess."
"Circumstances?" Hestia said questioningly, noting the odd choice of words.
"I'm not sure about all the specifics," I said to her, "Like if I had always been here or if I had only appeared at that moment…"
"Bell, you aren't making sense," Hestia said, not understanding the context of my words yet.
"I remember things," I said definitively, "Things, places, people, technology that aren't of this world. A whole other life. I have known of it ever since I heard word of my Gramps' death."
"That…!" Hestia seemed to understand something.
"I know it's not a life from Genkai or Tenkai. It was somewhere else. I call it 'Before' or the 'Beyond'. It has to be Before because I know I died I just… how it… happened… I…"
I had a splitting headache all of a sudden. Like the Black Goliath was using my head as a punching bag.
I closed my eyes in pain, holding my head in a fruitless attempt to ebb the pounding.
Gunshots rang out in a distant memory…!
"Take it easy!" Hestia said, I could feel her cradle my head to her bosom. "Don't think about that. Just focus on my voice. The feel of my hands on your head. The beating of my heart. There, there… that's it."
Hestia's words were effective.
By drawing my focus to the here and now, the pain quickly faded to but a distant echo.
"Thanks…" I said gratefully, sighing in relief.
"Anytime, Bell-kun," Hestia said softly as she let me go.
Hestia then got serious, "I think I understand a bit now. Those memories, and thoughts related to them, that's what Singularity had been hiding?"
"That's right," I said to her, "You believe me then?"
"It's weird as it is for you to remember anything from your past life," Hestia said, scratching her head, "But I wouldn't call it impossible either. The fact you have memories of different technology and places… that Spider-Man story is from that world isn't it?"
I was surprised and impressed that Hestia made that connection. I clarified, "The tale is fictional there too, but the technology wasn't for the most part."
"Then that is really strange," Hestia concluded, "It's almost like you came up to this world from another dimension like we gods have."
"Considering how the phrasing usually says that you gods came down from Tenkai, you make it like I came up from Hell," I grimly joked.
"Maybe you did," Hestia said innocently before realizing what she'd said. "Er, uh, I mean—"
I chuckled darkly, "Maybe it was hell."
Hestia didn't seem to like the joke based on her expression.
I changed tact, "But I certainly didn't have the power to break through dimensions. Or anyone else for that matter."
"An unknown third-party, huh? Not much we can do if they haven't revealed themselves," Hestia said factually.
"Certainly not to me," I confirmed before asking, "Why do you even believe me, by the way? I know how crazy I sound, and it's not like you can prove if I'm lying or not."
Singularity made it so that deities couldn't detect my lies. Hestia had no built in way of detecting the truth when it came to me — besides viewing my Excelia through the Falna anyway… which Singularity also blocked portions of.
"You wouldn't lie to me about something like this," Hestia said confidently, "And besides, it explains some stuff about you."
"How so?" I asked, curious about her observations.
"You seem to oddly alternate between being really mature and a normal 14 year old boy," Hestia said, "How old were you?"
Hestia was clearly referring to how old I was Before. I'm not sure why she asked though. My small lifespan in comparison to hers shouldn't really be something she could understand or draw conclusions from.
Still, I answered, "Mid to late twenties. And 14 years here."
"You sure don't act like a 30 to 40 something," Hestia said, not seeming to care about my apparent mental age.
"Well…" I started to defend myself before something I hadn't noticed until now had finally clicked.
I… was acting differently. Now that I look back, I was a lot more introverted Before and would always triple check my words before speaking. Now I easily chatted with others with significantly more ease in comparison. I also certainly wasn't so easily embarrassed. In fact, I had always felt like my emotions were muted in comparison to the average person from Before. But now I felt so strongly that it was overwhelming sometimes.
Not to mention the libido.
In hindsight, I guess it's not so surprising that my personality had merged with Bell's since our memories — which are the driving force behind personality — had merged too.
I intellectually recognize that this would entirely be a valid time to have an identity crisis. But… I'd never felt so fulfilled in my life, my purpose, before. I had to be doing something right as I was now. As we were now.
Whatever I may have lost to become who or what I am now, I had gained so much that the price was definitely worth it.
I sighed in relief.
"What's that about?" Hestia asked me.
"I just averted an identity crisis, feeling good," I said to her.
"And yet you still get worked up about genderbending…" Hestia teased.
I blushed, "That's different and you know it!"
Hestia just started laughing her ass off.
I chucked too.
It felt nice, finally telling Hestia the truth. Most of it anyway. Like the last walls between Goddess and Child had come down.
Hestia saw me for who I was in my entirety and accepted me. I will never forget it.
Other POV
Lefiya watched in terror as Tiona bolted out of the main meeting and gathering room for the Loki Familia Executives in tears.
"I HATE ALL OF YOUUUU!" Tiona cried as she ran away.
"W-what was that?" Lefiya stammered as she entered the room for her turn.
"Tiona has been banned from reading her fairy tales until after the festival," Riveria said in a no-nonsense tone.
Lefiya felt the wind in her metaphorical sail vanish, "Ah… I see…"
That was Tiona's punishment for not joining the first group out of Floor 18?
Lefiya wasn't sure if it was too harsh or too lenient. It sure seemed to upset Tiona, to say the least…
"Enough about that," Finn said casually, "How about your report now that you're still relatively fresh from it."
Lefiya nodded, determined, "Not long after you left, a group of adventurers who had been staying in Rivira had kidnapped Hestia-sama, Bell Cranel's Goddess."
"Ah, so that's what she meant," Gareth said.
Lefiya had the sudden impression that Tiona's version of events was lacking in detail and information.
Lefiya continued, "Bell organized her retrieval, asking for my and TIona-san's aid in the effort."
"Why did he leave his party behind?" Finn asked.
"He said something along the lines of securing the route off the Floor in case he needed to run," Lefiya reported.
"What trouble was he expecting for Tiona to not be strong enough?" Riveria questioned, not approving of Bell's logic in that moment.
"He may have not been sure if Tiona and Lefiya would actually help when push came to shove," Finn countered, "We are different Familias. I can understand the cautiousness, considering the safety of his Goddess and party were on the line. He only wanted to put himself in harm's way. And he definitely appears fast enough to run away from his peers considering the terrain."
Lefiya hadn't realized that Bell had thought so deeply. She also thought Finn was overthinking it. Lefiya personally believed that Bell had trusted them to help from the get-go. She also didn't think that an appeal to emotion was something that Finn would believe in its own. So she didn't argue with his observation.
"Continue, Lefiya," Riveria said, wanting this all to move along.
"Bell dueled their leader, quickly making him lose his invisibility item by using his magic against the ground, effectively making it an local area-of-effect spell. Bell won the fight soon after," Lefiya summarized.
"Clever," Riveria said, praising the smart use of magic.
"And the other adventure just took it?" Gareth asked.
"Bell seemed to have talked them down some before fighting," Lefiya said, only knowing that portion from Bell later on. She continued, "It was around then that the cat girl and elf from Bell's retrieval party joined me as we neutralized the adventurers from the rear."
"I see," Finn said neutrally. He clearly wasn't thrilled at the idea of what she did (attacking a Familia that wasn't directly provoking Loki Familia). But he also knew enough from Tiona's tale to know they likely wouldn't hold it against them.
Lefiya continued her tale until Bell had divided the party to take out both Calamities at once.
She had left out how Bell had taught her his magic before the context of her report. As she had promised not to. But this was her Familia…
Lefiya thought long and hard on what to do…
"Lefiya?" Riveria asked, jolting Lefiya back to reality.
"…It was a tough fight. Easily close to Level 5 speed and attack power. It easily cut those adventurers to pieces…" Lefiya said, not having to act nauseous as she remembered the corpses lying on the ground staining the grass red. She pointedly avoided mentioning specifics on the fight and who had done what.
"...Sorry, Lefiya, but do you know why that monster appeared in the first place?" Riveria asked her.
"I'm not sure…" Lefiya said, "Just that the Dungeon had a tremor and that it had come from Floor 19."
Lefiya and the others hadn't yet heard reports that much of Floor 19 had been destroyed. But considering the amount of fire-based monsters on the Floor, large swaths of the Floor burning down wasn't uncommon. The sheer destruction was easy to dismiss considering the relative speed at which the Dungeon repaired itself and since they weren't there to see it for themselves. By sheer chance, the summoning method of the Juggernaut would remain concealed, for now.
Unaware of this, Lefiya continued her report. How the Black Goliath was taken out at around the same time. How they all rested until the passage out of Floor 18 was opened. And how they uncovered that hot spring trap.
"Sounds like you had quite the adventure!" Gareth laughed.
"I could sleep for days," Lefiya chuckled darkly. The past few days were emotionally and physically taxing, and she had already been worked to the bone for the expedition before to the 59th Floor.
"Well, that almost covers everything," Finn said, "That just leaves the fact that Bell Cranel knows your secret. How likely is he to keep quiet as is?"
Lefiya had told Finn that much in person in the Dungeon. Just not what Bell had done with that knowledge.
Lefiya also recognized that Finn was asking whether he should be treating Bell Cranel as a potential ally or an enemy that needs to be silenced ASAP.
So Lefiya said, "I know it's weird of me to speak on his behalf, considering I see him as a kind of rival… but he's the type of person who takes his promises seriously, I think. He says his dream is to be a hero. And he assured me that he wouldn't spread that information around since it wasn't anyone else's business."
"A hero, huh…" Finn said. With those words, Finn's mind had been made up. He already had a positive opinion of Bell when meeting the boy on the 18th Floor. Bell struck Finn as someone who cared deeply about his comrades, but also had intelligence and wit to help him succeed in his goals.
Finn may see plots and calculations in Bell's actions that weren't there. Despite this, Finn still managed to come to the right conclusion, that Bell Cranel was honest in keeping his word to Lefiya.
There was just too much evidence to support that Bell Cranel held members of the Loki Familia in high regard. Both Ais and Tiona had glowing reviews of the boy. Even if the former was more interested in his unusual growth and Stats than anything else. Now with Lefiya all but admitting that Bell was an honorable person, Finn was convinced that Bell Cranel could be an ally rather than an enemy.
Still…
"He has us at a disadvantage," Finn said, pragmatic enough to know that despite his positive opinion of the boy, that the current circumstances were unfair.
Finn had already read the notice that the Gale had been pardoned by the Guild. The 'leverage' that Finn had and never intended to use was now gone.
"While I'd love to trust in his good nature, having his word alone isn't enough. We'll need to find a way to ensure his silence at some point beyond threat of force. In the meantime, we will continue to cultivate positive relations. That way, revealing our information would only harm his own interests as well."
Riveria and Gareth nodded their own approval of Finn's choice of action. Having your Familia's secrets known to another Familia was distasteful no matter how close the relationship.
Lefiya was surprised at how happy she was that Finn wasn't making Bell out to be their enemy. Maybe because of how quickly he trusted in her ability? Even against the Monster-Rex on Floor 13, he called to her first to assist him in battle.
"That concludes things," Finn said then, "Why don't you go see Loki-sama? I'm sure she'll be thrilled to finally get to update your Status."
"I'll do that!" Lefiya said, excited herself to see how much she'd grown, "Please excuse me!"
Lefiya quickly left the conference room, making her way to Loki's quarters. It had just so happened to be the 'visiting-hours' where Loki leaves herself available for her children to come to her for Updates.
Perhaps it was instincts born from the fight against the Juggernaut, but as soon as Lefiya knocked and started to open the door, she knew to duck out of the way.
Which was fortunate, as Loki had dived right over her – the goddess' head hitting the floor instead of Lefiya's breasts.
"It hurts!" Loki moaned in pain, "Why'd you avoid your Goddess like that?!"
"I sensed danger!" Lefiya defended herself, "I'm sorry, Loki-sama! Wait, no I'm not! You were going to grope me again!?"
Lefiya's face and expressions rapidly shifted from defensive, to concerned for Loki's safety, to incredulous for feeling concerned about someone who tried to grope her.
"Foiled again!" Loki complained before picking herself up like nothing had happened, "Oh well, finally back huh? It's good to see you safe and sound, Lefiya-chan!"
"Thank you, Loki-sama!" Lefiya said cheerfully as she sat down in Loki's room before casually but shyly disrobing so the Goddess could reach her back.
After swatting Loki's hands away from her breasts, Lefiya was able to relax as Loki got to work – viewing all of Lefiya's recently earned Excelia like one watches TV.
As Loki finished up, she cursed, "Damn it!"
"W-what? What's wrong?" Lefiya stammered, alarmed by Loki's sudden exclamation.
"That damn rabbit has seduced another one of my girls!" Loki yelled, "I'm going to strangle Itty-Bitty for letting that brat run around like that! I swear, the nerve of them doing this to my girls!?"
Indeed, of all the things for Loki to focus on – the Demi-Spirit, the Evilus Remnant and that Venethes monster, the Black Goliath and Juggernaut…
Loki instead focuses on the part where Lefiya and Bell bonded through their joint battles. Talk about priorities.
"S-s-s-seduce?!" Lefiya's face lit up in a blush full of embarrassment and fury, "We aren't like that! He's my rival, that's it!"
"Lefiya-chan, Lefiya-chan," Loki said chidingly, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Therein lies the path of how 'love-hate' relations are formed. Lots of bickering and competition followed up by the make-up se— Anyway!"
Loki cut herself off, copying Lefiya's stats onto a sheet before handing it over, "Congratulations! You've qualified for a Level-Up!"
"Really!?" Lefiya gasped as she read over her sheet.
Lefiya Viridis
Level 3 - 4
Alias: Thousand Elf
Strength: I: 84 - H: 120
Vitality: H: 121 - G: 201
Dexterity: G: 207 - F: 342
Agility: G: 252 - F: 399
Magic: B: 723 - SS: 1021
Magic:
(Arcs Ray)
• Unleashed streak of light, bow limbs of the holy tree. You are an expert of the bow. Shoot, sniper of the fairies. Penetrate, arrow of absolute accuracy.
• Alio
(Fusillade Fallarica)
• Proud warrior, snipers of the forest. Take up your bows before the advancing plunderers. Answer the call of your brethren and ready your arrows. Tinge them with flame, the lamplight of the forest. Release them, the fire arrows of the fairies. Falling like rain, burn away the savages.
(Wynn Fimbulvetr)
• Harbinger of the end, the white snow. Blow with the wind before the twilight. Closing light, the freezing land. Blizzard, the three severe winters - my name is Alf.
(Rea Laevateinn)
• The flame will soon be released. Creeping war, unavoidable destruction. The horn of battle sounds aloud, the cruelty of conflict will envelop all. Come, crimson flames, the ruthless inferno. You are the avatar of hellfire. Sweep completely, bring a close to the great war. Burn them through, Sword of Surtr - my name is Alf.
(Dio Grail)
• Become a shield, holy grail of crushing evil.
(Dio Thyrsos)
• Sweep, holy staff of crushing evil.
(Firebolt)
• Swift-Strike Magic
(Hiraishin)
• Enchantment Magic
Skills:
Fairy Canon - Increases Magic Power of cast spells. Only affects offensive spells.
Magic Summoning - User is able to call forth magic belonging to other casters. Each new magic grants an additional spell slot. Spell trigger and effect must be known. Magic cannot be summoned against the target's permissions. Mind is expended at a greater rate for summoned Magic.
Development Abilities:
Mage - H – G
Abnormal Resistance - I
Lefiya was stunned. Utterly floored. Completely bamboozled.
"Yeah, I know," Loki said, "Your growth is beyond normal to put it lightly."
Lefiya was aware enough to notice something in Loki's tone, "Y-you aren't surprised? This is insane! Impossible even!"
Her Magic stat went beyond S - 999! That shouldn't be possible right?!
Lefiya couldn't have known that Riveria had noticed Bell's stats go over 999 before already — which meant that Loki knew it was possible by proxy. Loki and Riveria hadn't done anything with that knowledge because they had other more important things on their plate; mainly the Evilus Remnant.
"You aren't the only one," Loki said, sounding annoyed, "Ais-tan and Tiona-chan also had weird Updates. Well, not as weird as your's, but still. The only explanation I can come up with is that you three were the ones who spent the most time with Itty-Bitty's Rabbit."
Indeed, Tiona and Ais also had odd increases to their stats. But Lefiya's was the most prominent. While Ais maybe got a total of 15 unexplained points and Tiona had gotten about 100 unexplained points… Lefiya had something like 300-400 unexplained points, and points with an extremely high Excelia requirement at that.
Lefiya was also the only one to break past the (supposed) limit of S-999.
"A Skill?" Lefiya deduced, unsure of herself, however. It was the only thing that made sense to the elf girl.
"Probably," Loki said, not entirely sure herself of what to do with the information. She was always up for a little mayhem. But if even a fraction of her guess on how Bell's Skill operated was true, then all of Orario would be in an uproar. Loki really did not want to spend the money needed to help return peace and stability to the city!
(Finn would certainly be glad that the Familia had some counter blackmail to work with, that's for sure!)
Which just helped highlight just how little Loki even knew about how that boy's potential skill operated. If it was just proximity to him, then why hadn't the other members of the expedition had any unusual growth? Even if extremely slight? Loki had done enough Updates to know how much growth was to be expected or not. But only those three had it.
And it wasn't consistent either.
Ais' was the least unusual. It was large enough to be noticeably odd, but that was it. Tiona's was more than Ais', even accounting for the fact that Tiona had gotten a lot of good Excelia from taking down that Black Goliath whereas Tiona had to share Excelia from the Demi-Spirit with the rest of the expeditionary forces. But the Excelia hadn't matched up with Loki's expectations either.
It was Lefiya who had gotten the largest boost. More than Tiona and Ais combined, and it was not just because of the Level Gap or the relatively low level of Lefiya's base stats.
Loki also knew that Lefiya didn't love the boy romantically or anything, that was just to tease the poor elf. But she could see from the Excelia that she respected the boy, like an equal. She saw him as someone to test herself against. But also as someone to protect.
Loki had seen in Lefiya's Excelia and Status sheet that Lefiya had learned the boy's spells, promised to keep them secret, and actually did so in front of her superiors.
Loki was proud of Lefiya's willingness to defend a friend, even if it was for someone outside of the Familia. But she was also concerned.
That boy…
When he acts, others follow.
The ones that travel with him for a prolonged period, they follow him without question, without hesitation.
Loki could see it.
Lefiya had followed him against her instincts, and at times against her senses. There is little reason that Lefiya's loyalty to the boy should be SO great so quickly that she is able and willing to hide things from her comrades.
It could just be that the boy was a natural leader. He certainly carried himself confidently (when it really mattered) as she saw him through Lefiya's eyes. But she had a strong feeling that it wasn't the full picture.
Despite her concerns, Loki wouldn't go tattling on Lefiya to Finn. It was too much of an abuse of her position as their Goddess to violate Lefiya's privacy like that. That and the boy did seem honest in his intentions, she would give him the benefit of the doubt for now.
But if that boy ever became a threat, all bets were off the table. Her children were her number one priority.
After all, she also couldn't help but be worried that this was all some ruse. That the boy was somehow involved with the Violas and the remnants of Evilus. It was unlikely, but Loki wanted proof before discarding the potential threat out of hand.
All this to say was that Loki was extremely wary of the young lad for a variety of reasons.
"...Be careful around that boy, Lefiya-chan," Loki warned after a long period.
"Huh?" Lefiya made a questioning noise, surprised at the warning.
"...I'm not letting him take you from me without a War Game, you hear!" Loki said teasingly and disarmingly.
"I-I told you it's not like that!" Lefiya blushed, feeling disgusted on some level, like she was being shipped with her brother or something.
But Loki did not relent in her teasing even. Not as she Leveled up Lefiya to Level 4, equipping the Magic Resistance Development Ability.
And definitely not as Lefiya bolted from the room, almost forgetting to redress herself…
"Eek!"
Just another day in the Twilight Manor.
Main POV
That night, I slipped out of Hestia's secret room and into the Church proper. Was it for a midnight date? Chloe wishes it was.
After spending time with Hestia, I had checked in with Mama Mia and the other Hostess girls. Where I had been promptly sent away to go rest. Apparently I was still pale enough that even Mia didn't want me working until tomorrow.
Since I had still been a bit out of it, physically, I was glad to enjoy the bedrest.
Point being, Chloe had signaled on my way back out that she wanted to talk to me, so that's what I was going to do now.
Sure enough, Chloe was hiding in the rafters of the Church. I suspect I only spotted her presence because she wanted me to.
Upon seeing me, Chloe dropped down. She was wearing a cloak over her adventuring attire. I was reminded that I needed to make sure that Chloe got a replacement Hidden Blade, as I'm fairly certain the Juggernaut broke hers. Probably.
"Yo," I said, greeting my fellow co-worker and Juggernaut Slayer.
"Sup, Bell-kun, nya," Chloe greeted back with a grin, "Sorry for not being the girl you want to spend this time of night with."
I flushed. I shouldn't be surprised that Chloe would never let go of how I k-kissed Ryuu in front of her and so many others…
"B-before we get to whatever you called me for," I said honestly… while also trying to change the subject, "Thanks again for helping out with the Juggernaut, and sorry for putting you in harm's way. Seriously, thank you so much!"
I finished my words with a bow. Seriously, Chloe was pretty clutch in that fight. Without her serving as an agile and slick distraction, the fight would have been significantly harder. I wouldn't have blamed her for dipping after she started getting broken limbs, but she kept out helping despite the risks to herself. It just went to show that Chloe had long since left the life of a solitary assassin long before I even got here.
"Ah shucks," Chloe grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of her head, "You're making me blush, nya. But, for real, I couldn't just leave you and Ryuu-chan hanging, nya. And, I gotta say, your determination and will to fight was pretty contagious, nya. Almost like you were glowing, nya."
I twitched.
Glowing?
That seems to be a sign of Inspiring Leader…
Chloe spoke then, distracting me from my thoughts, "So, what I'm saying is, your welcome, nya."
"Well, still, I owe you one," I said to her gratefully, before adding, "But not for anything lewd."
"Damnit, nya!" Chloe cursed jokingly. She then said, "Fine, nya! That's not what I called you for, nya!"
"How can I help you?" I asked, curious about what this was all about.
"This is about me helping you, and you helping me, nya," Chloe said, "Considering how you've slept the day away, nya, I bet you aren't ready to tuck in for the night, right nya?"
"You aren't wrong…" I uttered. Having slept most of the day away, I wasn't ready to sleep for the night just yet.
"Here, nya," Chloe said, tossing one of her curved knives at me. Thanks to my growing proficiency with throwing knives, I was able to coolly catch it like a badass.
"Training then?" I asked rhetorically. Our last and first session had been mostly about developing my peripheral senses – and I had been given plenty of encouragement to learn quickly to put it simply… I'm sure one could imagine why I had felt an urgency to learn fast considering who my teacher was…
"Got it in one, nya," Chloe confirmed, "Fighting that, etto, Juggernaut, got me thinking, nya. It is pretty important to know all about a person's weak points so you know to not get hit there, nya."
"I see," I said, understanding the point that Chloe was making. She was articulating that concept even something scary like the Juggernaut has weak spots and that those are good places to attack others at, and defend your own. In the case of the Juggernaut, its weak armor joints were obvious targets.
For an adventurer, it would be the locations of vitals, I would assume.
"Believe me, nya," Chloe lectured, "These tips can help out a ton if you are forced to fight high ranking adventurers, nya. Their defenses can get stupid high, nya. But hitting common vitals and even up-close explosives can pierce or blow through their defenses, nya."
Chloe was pointing out that adventurers with high Vitality stats can turn into living tanks if their opponent is too low of a level in comparison. And that said level difference didn't matter if you hit certain weak points.
"So Vitality doesn't matter in certain spots?" I asked.
"More like it's less effective, nya," Chloe explained, "The Falna can only reinforce a person's neck so much, nya."
In other words, even with a level difference a proper stab to the neck can still pierce and kill. Which could, in theory, allow an adventurer to actually deal damage to someone above their 'weight class'.
"If the level gap isn't too big, nya," Chloe lectured, "You can't go wrong with a good stab to the stomach, nya. Lots of vitals there, but it's also unreliable, nya. An unusual amount of people get lucky and only get their organs nicked or something, nya. How annoying, nya…"
Wow, Chloe has noticed how strong and important people tend to avoid getting their organs stabbed. Scary.
Also, she sounds personally offended as a former assassin. Double scary.
"A good slash to the neck like so can do the trick, nya," Chloe demonstrated a path over her own neck, "Even more so if you get the drop on your target, nya. Of course, while this works, managing to get the drop on a high level adventurer is easier said than done, nya."
Excellent point. Just because an adventurer's defenses are lowered when they are unaware, doesn't mean that you'll be able to bypass their survival instincts so easily. Or that you'll be even able to land a hit when they are aware of you.
This premise is likely the only reason that Weine, who was in the Level 2 range, was able to hurt Bell whose Vitality would have been equivalent to a Level 4's. Bell's defenses were lowered in the face of adorableness.
Chloe then walked over to me and poked me as she said, "And a good stab to the spine can totally paralyze your target, nya. Though a high grade healing potion can fix that up if the wound is too clean, nya."
I shuddered, and not just from the feel of a girl's hand on my spine. The amount of experience in Chloe's words was scary. Informative, but scary.
"S-so the main takeaway is to keep alert and protect your weak points?" I asked.
"That, and to attack your enemies' weak points, should they deserve it, nya," Chloe answered.
Scary. Chloe keeps on saying scary things so naturally…
Well, this is counter-assassin training, so I guess that's just how it is by default.
Let's just say that the next hour of lectures and demonstrations continued to be subtly scary with reminders of how the perverted Chloe was also a trained killer.
The next morning, one day before the festival, I got up and headed for the Hostess first thing in the morning. I was still feeling a bit off, but I was safe enough to use transformation magic a few times.
Well, for the most part.
As I waited outside the annex to intercept Ryuu, I coughed into my right hand. After it passed, I looked and thankfully found nothing. I had a feeling, however, that if unchecked it wouldn't stay that way.
Ignoring the slight burning in my chest, I continued to wait, rubbing my right wrist.
I had the feeling that since I hadn't 'properly' unlocked Breach and Accretion Disk until yesterday my… 'energy' absorption had been inefficient until now. Put another way, a lot of the energy I had gained down and back from the Floor 18 Incident had been lost due to poor efficiency. So I had already run out of 'juice' by now.
And I was already feeling the rate of my body's degradation start to increase – also a reflection of Breach activating and representing my body's bloodline curse.
I best start making moves to hide my symptoms or find ways to play them off. There's nothing to be gained by making others worry about me. Hestia is probably going to start smothering me as is. Frankly, in my opinion, my condition was my business and mine alone; no need to be metaphorically shouting it from the rooftops.
At least for the time being. I'd like some more time to talk with a medical professional and come to terms with things before I went about potentially sharing the 'news'.
Well, I had a few ideas in mind to accomplish all of that.
In any case, I didn't have to wait there too long, as I knew enough of Ryuu's schedule to know when she would be up and about. It was actually more surprising that I had beaten her up than anything else.
Ryuu paused as she exited the annex and noticed me, "..."
"Can we talk?" I asked her.
Ryuu nodded and we moved away from the annex a little, in case others started to wake up and come by.
"Are you doing okay?" I asked her.
"I am," Ryuu answered, "I should be very cross with you, you know."
"I know," I said, completely unashamed about contacting Astraea like she was alluding to.
"...But thank you," Ryuu said to me, a soft smile on her lips.
Which made me blush at the memory of us. "Ah, uh…! You're… welcome…"
Ryuu tilted her head, not realizing what had caused my embarrassment.
I stammered out, "A-anyway, uh, I just wanted to say that– I understand if you want me to stop staying and working at the Hostess…"
"Why would I ever?" Ryuu asked in confusion, her eyebrow lifted questioningly.
"Because…!" I started to say, embarrassed that Ryuu was going to make me say it out loud, "Because I– in the Dungeon! I… uh!"
Ryuu's eyes widened before she looked away from me, I guess she finally caught onto what I was talking about.
I mentally prepared myself for the worst.
"...it's fine," Ryuu said softly, "I was acting irrationally and you were forcing me to focus. And I can understand the feeling of wanting affection before going to fight with an unknowable outcome–"
"I love you," I said, cutting her off without thinking. Some part of me just… didn't want to have Ryuu write things off with a misunderstanding.
"...Eh?" Ryuu made a cute noise just now.
"Yes, part of it was to calm you down and just in case I didn't make it out alive," I admitted, "But it's also because I care about you. A lot."
"I… Bell… but…" Ryuu didn't seem to know what to say. Understandable, she's gone through a lot lately, but I couldn't just let her sweep my feelings under the rug anymore, so I had to tell the truth.
"You don't need to answer me anytime soon, or at all even," I told Ryuu, "I never expected to fall for you like I have, nor did I have any expectations of my feelings being reciprocated. As long as you find happiness and purpose like I have, then I'll be satisfied."
Seriously, I hadn't expected this either. When I first met Ryuu, I never really had this sort of outcome in mind. But here I was anyway. Love is weird, I suppose.
"..." Ryuu looked utterly lost. Which is fine, she didn't need to understand. Call it unfair of me, but I couldn't stop myself from laying everything bare. Not because of the sudden timer hanging over my head, but because I just wanted to be a little more honest about myself.
"I know you're going through a lot. I am too," I said to her, "So, if you aren't offended by the sight of me… let's continue to work together!"
I said, offering my left hand to her. I knew that Ryuu's life wasn't all that stable at the moment. She had just faced the Juggernaut again. Her Goddess was back. Either of those things would shake her, but back to back? I'm sure that Ryuu has a lot of thinking to do on how her life should move forward. I can't help but feel bad by adding more to her plate like this.
I too have a lot going on in my life too. I just learned I have a bloodline curse. I've got to prepare for potential attacks from the likes of Apollo Familia. And come up with a way to save Haruhime and crush Ishtar Familia without too much lose of life. And eventually get to work on taking down Dix and his Xenos Hunting operations. I've got a lot on my plate.
Us having a proper relationship? Right now? Like, how in the world would we be able to pull that off right now? I'm clearly a mess right now! A mess that wouldn't be able to prioritize her over everyone else…
Sometimes, striving to be a Hero sucks.
Ryuu looked at me for a moment, before smiling softly, taking my hand in hers, "Please take care of me."
I smiled back.
Well! Looks like Ryuu wasn't mad at me or anything, no need to worry about that. I should consider it a win that I not only managed to properly confess but also didn't get immediately shot down.
The ball was theoretically in Ryuu's court now. It was kind of a relief, really.
We broke off the handshake and Ryuu changed topic.
"I will need help adjusting to my new Status," Ryuu told me, business as usual.
"Did you Level Up too?" I asked. It was hardly surprising really.
"Indeed," Ryuu answered, "And don't worry, I can heal broken bones now. Probably. So there's no risk to accompany the increased intensity in our training."
"You just said something really scary!" I instantly retorted comically.
To which Ryuu, honest to god, started to laugh.
Not giggle or chuckle. Not a huff or twitch of the lip.
An actual laugh.
I gaped in disbelief.
Syr, who had been hiding by the annex door (who else could it be?) fell over or something based on the 'thud' behind me.
As Ryuu continued to laugh softly to herself, I looked over to Syr in disbelief.
I turned over my shoulder and locked my gaze with the disguised Goddess. I pointed with my thumb to Ryuu in disbelief. My facial expression to Syr was the silent equivalent of 'are you seeing what I'm seeing?'
Syr silently nodded back to me. Some kind of mixture of happiness, confusion, jealousy, and joy were swirling in her wide eyes.
"S-syr!" Ryuu noticed our voyeur as soon as she finished laughing, "W-what are you doing here?!"
Ryuu was clearly blushing in embarrassment. This much was without doubt, even with the poor lighting.
"I live here," Syr deadpanned before suddenly declaring loudly, "I confessed first!"
"Huh?" Ryuu said, unaware of this truth or how it applied to her – the dingus.
Syr stomped over to us and pointed her finger at Ryuu in the face, "I won't lose to you! I'll be the head wife, not you!"
Eh? What was that last line again?
"E-eh?!" Ryuu stammered, realizing what Syr was talking about, "I-I don't ever–! I wasn't going to–!"
I did my best impression of a statue as Syr gave Ryuu a good talking to. Why Syr had the need to bring up the nonsensical harem stuff now of all times was beyond me.
Women. Can't understand them.
Syr cut the elf off, "LIES! He totally made your heart go 'doki-doki'! You're my best friend, and that won't change, but I won't lose to you!"
Syr then nodded, as if satisfied she got her point across, before stomping over to me.
I'm not sure what I was expecting Syr to do, but I'm glad what she decided to do was to hug me – wrapping her arms around my neck.
"Thank you," she whispered into my ear, recognizing how much happier Ryuu was now and showing her gratitude in her own teasing way.
"No problem," I whispered back with a grin, briefly returning the hug.
We let each other go after an appropriate amount of time, Syr was looking really satisfied with that grin on her face while Ryuu looked positively baffled. Whether it was because Syr was seemingly okay that Ryuu was 'in the race' for me or because of Syr mentioning that harem stuff again or something else was impossible to say.
Frankly, being confused in the wake of the storm that was Syr was to be expected.
"Alright!" I said, choosing to let Ryuu sort out her confusion on her own, "Another day of work at the Hostess! I'm stepping things up today!"
"Oh, how so?" Syr said, casually accepting the topic change as Ryuu stood there still utterly lost at the change in conversation.
"Well, the story behind Belko is that she is sickly, right?" I said with a leading question, "I'm going to start stepping up my performance!"
Syr giggled, "You are really dedicated to the bit, aren't you?"
"I've gone to great lengths to maintain this bit," I said with a pained grin, utterly serious. I probably could have completely thrown Mord off of his game by alluding to the fact that Bell and Belko were the same person. But that would ruin the potential that having a separate identity had for me.
It was something I was saving for a rainy day, as it were.
"Well?" Syr then, asking for specifics on how I was planning to step up my game.
"I'm gonna start faux-coughing every now and then. I'll make sure to be sanitary about it though," I said assuredly, "I'll even bite my tongue or cheek to bleed a little to top it off."
Syr looked concerned, "Isn't that a little much?"
"I'm really dedicated to my disguise," I said in a serious deadpan, not technically lying. I really was dedicated to maintaining this disguise. I was just also using it as an outlet where I don't have to try and hide potential symptoms of my curse.
"Well, if you're sure," Syr said, shrugging before giving me a cheshire grin, "You do make for a really convincing girl you know~"
I winced, desperately trying to keep smiling.
Ouch. That was a critical hit to my ego right there…
"...All of my precious people are idiots," Ryuu sighed heavily, her brain likely having given up trying to follow mine and Syr's antics.
"But you love us all the same," Syr said with a cheerful smile.
Ryuu's face lit up like a strawberry. She huffed before turning to me and cracking her knuckles, "...You better prepare yourself."
It would seem that Ryuu's solution to our insanity was to silence us with her fists of justice.
I gulped. Somehow the thought of getting even more Vitality Excelia at a faster rate wasn't filling me with anticipation…
"Have fun!" Syr said with a wave before all but running away.
My eye twitched. I will remember this!
The day flew by, and before I knew it the evening hours were upon us. I had quickly run through the sympathy Mama Mia had for my situation in the Dungeon with my acting like a sick person.
I silently wondered how often it would just be pretend. Much of it today wasn't, that's for sure…
Anyway, the day was mostly normal for spending an entire day working at the Hostess. By that I mean stupid stuff was happening all the time. For instance, all of the girls that were there were giving me weird, cheeky smiles and wouldn't explain themselves when I asked. (Syr almost always had such a smile, so she didn't count.)
Add to that, at some point in the early morning, I caught a glimpse of Asfi sneaking around the building. And I hadn't put much thought into it until I noticed that Ryuu had vanished. None of the girls seemed to know why Ryuu had bolted, but Mama Mia seemed happy – and it definitely had nothing to do with the large bag of Valis that Asfi had likely given her.
Hermes has Asfi up to sketchy stuff, I guess…
Eventually, sometime around mid-afternoon, Astraea had pulled me aside during my break to let me know that Ryuu was outside of the city and being herself.
I'm not exactly sure why Astraea chose to reveal what Ryuu was up to me alone, but I had a feeling she was treating me like Ryuu's boyfriend or something… which was embarrassing, but also made my chest flutter a little.
As for what 'being herself' meant, I would assume it would involve something about justice…
But why would she need to be outside the city? And so soon after our return to the surface?
I resolved to ask Astraea if she knew any specifics after my shift.
What was particularly notable though, were the arrivals entering the pub now.
"Well, if it isn't Loki Familia!" I said cheerfully to the main group from that Familia that had shown up, Goddess included. I, of course, was currently Belko since I was working my shift – duh.
"Good evening, Belko-san," Finn said familiarly.
"You!" Loki suddenly yelled out looking over my shoulder and noticing Hestia lurking behind the bar.
"Ah jeez, Flatty is here," Hestia hollered back. She occasionally helped out at the Hostess in order to make some quick Valis. And likely so she could keep an eye on the girls working here. I wasn't too concerned about Hestia linking Belko to Bell because it was well known that Hestia Familia was dirt poor!
And, ironically enough, people tended to not care about Hestia and were much too focused on me as Bell. People trying to investigate me would all but ignore Hestia. I would know, because the Hostess would have been the ideal place for spies to get close to us but none of the staff noticed any such individuals.
Which considering the members of our staff, especially Chloe, was saying something…
"Why you!?" Loki stomped over to the bar to have a fight with Hestia or something.
I casually ignored this and said to the rest of the party, "Follow me to your table!"
"Thanks…" Finn said, his shaky tone revealing his embarrassment at Loki's behavior.
I silently thank my Luck ability for letting me be the first one to interact with this particular group.
I knew in the back of my head that someone would put together that some of the members of my Retrieval Party were from this pub. While Chloe had been wearing a hood, her face had still been very visible.
Recognizing Chloe would make others more aware of the other members of the staff. Meaning Ryuu's public identity would be threatened and my disguise would be under heavy threat.
My white hair and red eyes were pretty distinctive.
Still considering how little the Hostess duo had interacted with others on Floor 18, I was confident that only Lefiya would make the connection. Which was something I could work with.
That and I had prepared for this eventuality.
Without prompting, I brought the Loki Familia party a round of drinks, "I hear some of you folks had a fun time down in the Dungeon the other day!"
Finn looked exasperated but unsurprised, "It spread that fast, huh?"
"Adventurers sure love to gossip," Riveria grumbled in disapproval.
"We did, we did!" Tiona said cheerfully before getting bonked on the head by her sister.
"Idiot! We're supposed to keep quiet about it!" Tione had bags under her eyes, like she was getting some terrible sleep. Did being away from Tiona that long do that to her?
"Well, sorry for prying then," I said, acting like I was reading the mood.
Finn waved it off, "No harm in it, it's clear people are gossiping despite the gag order. You'll understand if I don't feel like breaking it in public."
"Always so serious, you need to relax a little, cherish every moment," I said. I was hoping my words would help prompt Finn to talk more about himself. I was still trying to confirm a lot of stuff about the Loki Familia I had only heard of through other Fanfictions.
"I know how to relax," Finn defended himself, gesturing to the cup of booze in his hand.
"And I've never seen you get more than tipsy," I pointed out, "Doesn't having that perfect image of yours get hard to uphold? What's the motivation?"
"Oh? Interested in my story are you?" Finn said with an amused smile, he seemed to have realized my intentions.
"You guys are regulars and are some decent folks," I argue, "Makes me want to get to know you all better."
At this point, I start taking their orders as Finn says dismissively, "And who's to say that I'm not just in it for the money?"
I scoffed.
"What's so humorous?" Finn asked with a smile.
"If adventurers were so motivated by money alone, there'd be a lot more Level 6s in the city," I said definitively as I continued jotting down everyone's orders.
Gareth laughed, "She's got you there!"
Finn was kind of weird. He had a massive reputation in Orario and supposedly around the world. But all that fame hadn't gone to his head. He sure carried himself confidently, but he also did so without arrogance or conceit. Which made me think that he wasn't trying to be famous for his own ego.
"So what? Are you trying to inspire people? Be the light of the Pallum or something?" I said questioningly.
Finn chuckled, Riveria and Gareth also seemed amused.
I blinked, "What? What'd I say?"
"It's funny," Finn said, "because my name means 'light' in the language of the Pallum."
I blinked again as I quickly excused myself to go pass along their orders. Is this just coincidence, or me being Lucky?
With my random deduction, by the time I swung back by their table, Finn seemed to have no qualms about revealing his intentions, "It's a sad tale. With the beginning of the Age of the Gods, the faith of the Pallum in the goddess Fianna was shattered. Without her, the pride of the Pallum was abandoned, becoming the servants of other races."
"Without that story, that fiction, Pallum lost faith in not just their goddess but in themselves," I clarified. Bell himself was aware of the story of Fianna too, I just hadn't made the connection.
"Exactly," Finn said, "I know the strength of my people. It just manifests itself in different ways that aren't so obvious. Like this meathead's brawn."
"Oi!" Gareth growled jokingly, this apparently a long running gag between them.
I excused myself to go check on their food, using the opportunity to think on what I just heard.
It sounds like Finn had really noble intentions. But something about it struck me as really cold and clinical. The impression I had was that he was trying to turn himself into a living idol — not for his own ego but to inspire the Pallum race. The intentions were good, but something about it rubbed me the wrong way.
I'd need to think about it more.
As I quickly grabbed their meals from May, I could hear Hestia and Loki still arguing. Something about me (Bell) seducing all of Loki's girls…
What the hell?
Even so, I prank them a little, and asked them, "Lovers quarrel?"
"It's not!"
"We aren't!"
The duo instantly retort as they flare at me before bickering some more over being too in sync.
I laughed as I left them and brought the Loki Familia's food over to their table. As I did so, I noticed Lefiya's gaze locked onto Chloe. As suspected, Lefiya was putting two and two together.
I quickly looked for Syr, got her attention, and adjusted my collar.
Syr nodded back, an amused smile on her face as she headed over to Lefiya.
Syr proceeded to get Lefiya's attention before whispering something into the elf's ear.
"W-what?!" Lefiya shrieked, "N-No!"
Syr laughed at Lefiya's embarrassment.
Did I feel a little bad for weaponizing Syr's teasing to distract Lefiya from the fact that I was disguised?
Yes.
Did I regret it?
No.
If owing Syr a date or two is enough to keep Lefiya and Loki Familia off of my scent, then I think I get the better end of that deal.
Loki Familia distracted? Success, mission complete!
Eventually, the Loki Familia left. Finn had left a 15,000 valis tip. I guess I can check off getting hush money off my list of things to experience in life. Not that I had any reason to go spreading around the motivation behind Finn's goal as an adventurer.
Despite the fact they had been arguing the entire time, Loki actually offered to escort Hestia back to her place on their way out. Something I gladly teased the both of them about and received reactions that one could probably guess.
Otherwise, the last bits of the night went about the same as usual. However, instead of heading straight to my room to get some much needed rest, I went over to Ryuu's room.
Seeing a lantern light shine from under the crack of the door, I didn't feel bad when I lightly knocked and called out, "Astraea-sama? Is that you? Can we talk?"
If there was anyone who knew what Ryuu had run off to (almost immediately after I confessed…) it was going to be Astraea-sama.
After a moment, the door opened, revealing the smiling face and form of the Goddess of Justice. Astraea greeted me, saying, "Good evening, Bell-kun… or is it Belko-chan?"
Astraea grinned lightly at her last words, clearly teasing me. I hadn't yet transformed back into my normal form, since I don't do that until I get back to my room so I can change in privacy.
And come on! Are you kidding?! Even Justice seems to think that teasing me is the right thing to do!
Ignoring the heat on my face, I said to her, "Good evening. Are you settling in well?"
"I am," she said to me, gesturing that I should enter her room, "Come, it's hardly polite of me to have a conversation through a doorway."
"Eh? And inviting a man into your room at this time of night, is? I'm from another Familia too, you know…" I said to the Goddess. Logically speaking, a deity inviting another adventurer from another Familia to talk alone was just not done for obvious reasons.
"Well, you are not a man right now, are you?" Astraea pointed out, dealing critical damage to my ego. She then added, "Besides, we both know that you wouldn't do anything untoward or malicious to me."
"You're… not wrong," I admitted. It was just odd, while it was pretty safe to say that Hestia and Astraea Familias were allied, this was more of something unsaid because of the good terms I was on with Ryuu. At least with Takemikazuchi and Miach, Hestia had at least already been on terms with them in the Lower World to some degree.
"Besides," Astraea said as I walked past her into the room, "You love Ryuu-chan too much to do anything like you imply."
I froze as I was about to sit in a spare chair. My face was as hot as a volcano, "I, er, uh…"
Astraea giggled as she sat down on Ryuu's bed. She then said to me, "I assume that you are wondering where your beloved has run off to."
"My-my-my-my–!" I couldn't control my tongue in the slightest. Words failed me, as I found myself uncontrollably stuttering. Was my brain literally overheating?!
"Syr-chan was right," Astraea said to me, a light smile on her face, "You are just too precious."
DAMNIT SYR! No wonder this woman was teasing me mercilessly! Syr put her up to it!
I will remember this escalation. We aren't supposed to use proxies in our teasing war!
"I-I-I wouldn't use those exact words, but yes…" I finally managed to say a proper sentence. My frustration at Syr's antics gave me a foundation onto which I could recover.
"Hai, Hai," Astraea said dismissively, clearly not believing my words as she then finally allowed the topic to get to something more serious. "Andromeda-kun of Hermes Famila stopped by earlier today and convinced Ryuu-chan to go with her on some urgent Quest outside the city. I know little beyond that."
A Quest outside the city with Asfi? That sounds familiar, just off the tip of my tongue…
Giving my brain a few minutes to churn might finally allow a few synapses to connect, and reveal whatever it is I'm currently blanking on.
Maybe having such a packed daily schedule was frying my brain? Who knows.
So, I continued small-talk by saying, "Is that so? I see."
"Don't worry," Astraea assured me, "Ryuu-chan isn't avoiding you after your confession or anything."
If my life had anime-physics, there would likely be steam coming out of my ears or nose or something.
"D-Did… Syr-chan told everyone, didn't she?" I asked, realizing what must have happened since I'm fairly certain that everyone else was asleep. Was this why everyone was giving me those cheeky smiles!?
Astraea hid her smile behind her hand, saying nothing.
SYR YOU BIT—!
Calm. I am calm. Take some deep breaths me…
I took a few cycles of deep breaths to stave off the desire to die then and there from mortification.
Having regained a semblance of composure, I thanked Astraea by saying, "...Thank you for the reassurance, but that wasn't the source of my concern or anything."
"Of course," Astraea said, unable to give me a break in the slightest, but also seemed to be willing to let the topic slide.
"I just wanted to thank you again for coming back to Orario," I said to her, "I… Ryuu is… a lot happier now. Thank you."
"No, thank you for reaching out to me," Astraea said, "And thank you for looking out for her. I may be someone she can find solace in, but I'm not the one who saved her. I'm not the first person she looks up to for salvation these days. That's a place that… Alice once had. And now she's given it to you."
"And yet I am the one who looks up to her," I refuted, "It was watching her that I finally understood 'when one endures, it gives hope to others - and themselves'. She's the one who brought me to my senses when I was failing."
"Sounds to me like you are two halves of one whole," Astraea claimed, "Partners, if you will. She inspires you, you inspire her. As far as feedback loops go, it's a nice one to witness."
Astraea-sama. Could you please cut back on alluding to how you want the two of us to 'link up'? My heart can't take all this teasing!
"I-If you say so…" I uttered, switching topic by saying, "Are you going to be staying here then? Isn't it a little cramped with the two of you?"
The Hostess didn't have any spare rooms in the annex thanks to me. And the rooms were meant for a single person, any more was just going to be cramped. There was a reason that Hestia didn't stay with me besides the impropriety of a man and woman sharing a room.
Astraea gave me a knowing smile before answering, "Just until Ryuu-chan gets back. I still own property in the city, and will be returning to it then. It's an interesting story actually."
"How so?" I asked curiously.
"Almost all of my Familia's assets had been sequestered by the Guild following Ryuu-chan's…" Astraea hesitated to find the right word, "Crusade against the Evilus Remnants. Used to help pay damages and reparations, I would assume."
"Uh, I see…" I uttered, that was kinda awkward to listen to.
"But the Familia Manor, Stardust Garden," Astraea informed me, "Was apparently listed as my personal property, and so was not claimed."
What. That didn't make a lot of sense.
And it must have shown on my face, because Astraea explained, "There is apparently a precedent for a God or Goddess to claim certain things as their personal property that doesn't fall under as belonging to their Familia. It's essentially a way to have certain things taxed differently."
So taxation bullshit? Likely a result of some law for aiding in tax evasion? Not something I'd expect the Astraea Familia to take part in. Then again, if it is following the letter of the law…
"Lyra-chan was the one in charge of our finances," Astraea sighed as she recounted, "I must say it is rather in character for her to have processed the Familia's assets in such a manner. No one else certainly would have given the paperwork a second glance. Alice-chan always left it all to the last minute, resulting in her office being completely filled with paperwork…"
The perks of being a Familia of one member meant that there wasn't a lot of paperwork, so I don't really understand that problem… yet. Alice-san, please accept my condolences from beyond the grave!
"So… basically, you've managed to at least keep your house," I summarized, "...and probably have to find a way to pay for the last five years of property taxes."
Astraea blinked, "...Yes."
She forgot about property taxes. It was obvious from looking at her face that she hadn't even thought of that until I mentioned that.
"Haha…" Astraea laughed, tensely, "Sorry, Bell-kun. It turns out my Familia won't be able to pay for a dowry for some time!"
"Who was asking for one?!" I instantly retort incredulously, my cheeks red like tomatoes. For those unaware, a dowry was a payment from a bride to the groom's family.
Astraea-sama has quite the sense of humor… At least she looks less stressed now, I suppose. Small victories?
"Seriously," Astraea assured me, "Don't concern yourself with my financial woes. Besides, I'm sure that Hermes will be compensating Ryuu well for her services…"
Astraea-sama's smile was kinda scary for a moment…
Part of me feels sorry for Hermes, but most of me doesn't.
Well, at least that problem was potentially solved as soon as it appeared?
"I, uh, should let you get a chance to have some rest," I said, starting to excuse myself.
"I suppose," Astraea conceded, "It was so nice talking to my future son-in-law though… or is it daughter-in-law?"
"Son-in-law! Definitely–!?" I instantly corrected her with a retort before realizing what my big mouth had blurted out.
I'm done. Absolutely done.
I gave no further pleasantries as I got up and headed for the door.
"Bell-kun!" Astraea called to me playfully, "Please don't be mad! I can't help it, you both are just so adorable!"
I try to ignore the implication that Ryuu was apparently giving similar reactions to Astraea's antics. I instead sigh, saying nothing.
"Bell-kuuun!" Astraea pleaded playfully as I closed the door behind me.
Goddesses, am I right? They're all quirky, to put it lightly.
Anyway, with my curiosity on Ryuu's whereabouts sated, I went back to my room and prepared to tuck in for the night. I guess I won't have any training tomorrow morning.
There was nothing left to do but to rest and try to enjoy the festival tomorrow…
Surely nothing weird would happen during the Holy Moon Festival!
I soon went to bed, closed my eyes, and went ahead and tried to fall asleep.
…
…
…
…Holy Moon Festival?
My eyes snapped open in realization.
NO. FUCKING. WAY.
The next day, I left the Hostess after my usual work with one destination in mind. It wasn't a long walk to go to the Blue Pharmacy in the slightest. So much so that I could walk there without really thinking about it too much.
To my slight surprise, there were a few customers in the Miach Familia shop when I arrived. The store even looked to be in better condition as well. Is business booming? Good for them!
I patiently waited for Naaza to finish up with a customer at the counter. Though, based on the tears in his eyes as he left, it seemed like Naaza was still up to price gouging her customers…
Well, that seems to be the norm in Orario anyway… how harsh.
Naaza's smile widened, though her eyelids were still half-lidded as usual, as she gave me her full attention, "Bell-kun… it's good to see you…"
"Likewise," I said calmly with a smile, trying to remain casual, "Thanks for all the help by the way."
"Don't be…" Naaza insisted, before smirking, "Hephaestus-sama was all too happy… to provide funding… for all the potions I provided the rescue team."
"Ah, right…" I said slowly. Naaza was really reminding me of Lili right now with how much they pinched Valis like pennies…
"So… what brings you here today…?" Naaza asked me, "Need to stock up…?"
"I'm here for a different service today," I told her obliquely.
Naaza, without hesitation, responded, "Sorry Bell-kun… but while I'm desperate for coin… my body is the one thing I won't sell…"
I blinked. Then blushed, "...Ah! That's not what I–!"
Naaza chuckled, "I know, I know… Gotcha again…"
I sighed, realizing that Naaza was just teasing me again, and I totally fell for it. Honestly…
"I'm here for your help as a medical professional," I told her specifically. Why did so many women feel the need to tease me? I blame my mom's good looks.
"I see… follow me to the back…" Naaza said, finally getting down to business.
As part of her transitioning from an adventurer to a pharmacist and potioneer, Naaza did brush up on learning about medicines and health. Enough so to get licensed as a healer by the Guild. As such, she had essentially become my official primary physician.
Part of why I was here today was to make that 'essentially' into literal fact.
"What seems to be… the problem?" Naaza asked me, "Can't get it up?"
I blushed, "I'm not here for anything phallus rel—!"
Before I could finish my sentence, my eyes widened as I was suddenly overcome with a coughing fit.
My stomach growled and my lungs burned each time I coughed.
Having instinctively closed my eyes, I forcibly opened them as my coughing fit subsided. The first thing I saw was Naaza's concerned face.
My cheek felt wet. I wiped with my hand, expecting saliva.
It was red.
I clenched my fist, wiping the rest of the life-fluid from my face.
"Bell-kun…" Naaza cooed in concern.
"Forget you saw that for a moment," I asked unreasonably.
"But…!" Naaza was not happy with that request.
"Here," I said simply, pacing over a sheet of fine paper.
Naaza looked confused as she took the paper and started reading it. She then said after a moment, "...This is a contract."
"Indeed," I said with a nod, "this is just to put in writing that you will be my primary physician and will uphold patient confidentiality."
Naaza glanced from my mouth to the paper in her hands, "...I see."
Naaza gave the contract her full attention, but also seemed to be reading it as quickly as possible. It wasn't too complicated really, it was just a legal document to ensure that Naaza promised to not blab about my personal details to others.
It's not that I thought she would do so, per say, it was just that I figured that Naaza was the type of person like Lili who likes these kinds of things in writing.
So, while the contract did have clauses for demanding compensation if she spilled the beans, I never really intended on even using them. It was just standard stuff. And Naaza would know it too.
She even rolled her eyes as she finished reading, saying, "So, that's how it is, huh…?"
"I figured you're the type who likes things like this in writing…" I justified myself, just in case.
"I suppose you aren't wrong…" Naaza said, before adding, "You idiot…"
What on earth did I do this time?
Naaza smiled sadly at me with a shake of her head, like I was pitiful for not understanding her. She then went ahead and signed the contract before passing it back to me.
"Now… will you tell me what is wrong…?" Naaza asked me, sounding a little impatient, but still empathetic.
"Well," I started to explain, "I've been told that my mother and aunt had a bloodline disease that took their lives at a young age."
"Oh…" Naaza said, her ears dropping sadly with empathy.
"Gramps probably assumed it skipped my generation because symptoms likely started at a young age," I said to her. This was me bullshitting a little. Or deducing how the bloodline curse worked, take your pick. There had to be a reason that Zeus thought Bell didn't have the disease, right? It was probably something that showed up really early on if not right away after birth.
"But then you started experiencing… an unusual hunger… with the growth of your Falna…" Naaza quickly connected my words to my previous symptoms.
I passed the written description of Accretion Disk over to Naaza. I said to her as she read, "This appeared on my Status the other day. And you've seen how my symptoms have gotten worse."
"Indeed…" Naaza said, getting something to write things down. "Tell me everything…"
I went ahead and described my symptoms and how they felt. Unusual hunger combined with chest and lung pain and coughing. This had been the first time I had coughed blood.
"Have you tried… taking any potions… or other medicine…?" Naaza asked me.
"Didn't really bother…" I admitted. I didn't think something like a common potion would really change anything, all things considered.
Naaza hummed, getting up and stepping away to grab a few things. She returned with some potions and weird looking tools that had gemstones. Medical tools, maybe?
"Drink…" Naaza commanded, passing the potions over to me.
"Do I want to know what these are…?" I asked cautiously.
"Standard health potion… and an improved Nutrition potion…" Naaza informed me.
I looked at the orange potion like it was poison.
Naaza smiled, "It no longer tastes like death…"
I sighed in relief.
"Indeed…" Naaza said, agreeing with my sentiment, "Business has been booming… turns out that adventurers… like having extremely energy efficient means of… getting calories and nutrients while… deep in the Dungeon…"
"That's good to hear," I said honestly. Sounds like the Blue Pharmacy's finances really were going to be on the up and up. It would still take some time for the full effects to appear, though.
"Enough about that…" Naaza said, "Drink up…"
I rolled my eyes before downing both of the potions in succession. And to my surprise, it did alleviate the pain in my chest… for a few moments before it came back worse than before.
"...Seems like you had gotten… used to the pain…" Naaza informed me, "The damage was healed… and immediately attacked again…"
Naaza had been waving her magic tools over me, apparently able to do some basic scans of my body. Basically, what happened was that the potion did help heal the damage done to my body, but then my body immediately went back to attacking itself and that was what caused a spike in pain.
"Regular potion use can… mitigate the symptoms…" Naaza informed me, before adding, "I wouldn't be surprised though… if at some point… even high grade health potions… will lose their efficacy…"
"What makes you say that?" I asked, it was quite the claim to make.
"Your condition… is unconventional…" Naaza said, trying to find the right words, "I don't entirely understand it… but I have the feeling that… since it is tied to that strange Development Ability… that your condition will get worse… with only the use of conventional means to combat it…"
"So basically, my only real reprieve is the Skill," I asked rhetorically.
"For now…" Naaza said boldly, "I will… see what I can do…"
"Naaza-san, I'm not asking you to research a cure," I told her, "I doubt one exists. And I definitely don't want you spending your own money either."
"There is… still a quite a bit of research… I can do even with… a limited budget…" Naaza claimed, before adding, "That said… while additional funds would be welcome… I can always use some of my personal profits… for the effort…"
"Why?" I demanded, utterly confused. Miach Familia's finances were just as horrid as my Familia's – or had been until recently.
"Did you think… that after saving others… that no one would want… to return the favor?" Naaza asked me rhetorically.
My eyes widened, "You…"
"That said…" Naaza said, smirking slightly, "I know that… you will provide funding… if you know that I… will also be using my own money… for the effort…"
I scoffed, before saying without any heat, "You manipulative minx…"
Naaza chuckled, "Guilty as charged… why… Do you want to punish me for being bad…?"
I blushed at her innuendo, "O-Oi!"
And just like that, I had a partner in crime for helping manage my bloodline curse. Let's just hope I don't have to try anything like that prototype Nutrition Potion again…
Other POV
"..." Hörn, hiding outside the Blue Pharmacy silently snuck away with the knowledge she had just eavesdropped on. She praised Freya-sama for her suspicions on Bell's odd choice to start 'acting' sick now of all times.
It had been customers that had come up with the story that Belko was sickly. The odd work hours and flushed expression was convincing enough. Coughing and such was a 'new' symptom that wasn't strictly necessary. And so Freya-sama had been suspicious.
Not that Freya suspected Bell of lying in this case, just that he was using honest intentions to hide another truth. A truth Hörn had now stumbled across.
"...Honestly," Hörn complained with a wistful smile... and twitching eyebrow, "Why must that human be so annoying…"
Main POV
Yes fucking way…
I internally had this thought this evening as Lili, Welf, Hestia, and I met at the festival.
How had I been off work today, when this would be a great time for the Hostess to make money? Mama Mia closed the place to have a small gathering of her own friends to celebrate privately. And had sent all of the girls out to go have fun, who promptly dispersed to their own activities.
I, of course, had heard about the festival for a week or so at this point. But it wasn't until last night did it click which festival this was exactly.
I thought the movie wasn't canon? No, I know it wasn't. I'm really glad that I liked the movie and watched it multiple times, because otherwise this would have been a very unwelcome surprise. I was still expecting, what, another month or two of foreknowledge to work around? Not cool universe.
In any case, it would have been cool to invite Astraea along too, but I had the feeling she was trying to lay low until the upcoming Denatus or similar so she could properly reintroduce herself to the city.
"Wow! This is amazing!" Hestia said as we entered the festival grounds. They were being held on South Main, along the merchant's quarter. Lamp-like lanterns powered with magic stones were criss-crossing over the street. Stalls lined the streets, from people selling food, to souvenirs, to games.
A lot of the people were already wearing moon memorabilia. Like headbands, cloaks, aprons, masquerade masks and more.
I looked at everything in a daze. I was still processing on some level that this was really happening right now. That the movie was happening despite not being canon.
"This is your first Holy Moon Festival, right?" Lili asked as she was leading us around to spots she claimed to have scouted earlier today.
"Holy Moon Festival?" Hestia asked, not having bothered to read what the festival was about. She was likely too excited at the idea of going to a festival to think to ask what it was about.
"Yes, this is a traditional celebration that dates back before the gods' descent," Lili explained – implying the tradition was over 1000 years old.
"I remember now…" Welf said, "Isn't this about sending prayers to the moon goddess for our protection?"
The blacksmith had informed us that he had actually Leveled Up to Level 2 after our adventure to the 18th Floor. We were just still waiting to give him a proper celebration for the rank up. Using the festival for that just didn't feel right. We were going to have a more personal celebration at some point to yet be determined.
"So this is another Lower World tradition," Hestia said with interest.
"...Well, it's certainly in character for a city like Orario," I commented, referring to how the city was like a melting pot of the world's cultures. I hoped no one noticed my hesitation. There was a cold pit in my stomach, and it had nothing to do with my bloodline curse. It was because I knew what was coming.
"Bell-kun!" Hestia called to me as she dragged me away, "Let's go eat some grilled calamari!"
"Hestia-sama! No need to pull so hard…" I said, internally bemoaning my bad fortune, eating octopus/squid creatures wasn't my idea of a good meal.
Thankfully, Hestia was more interested in some for herself, so I didn't need to damage my appetite just yet.
"Hestia-sama…" Lili whined, "Don't you think this is a great opportunity to sell Jyagamaru-kun (potato snacks)? I'm sure you'll make profits in these conditions."
Hestia immediately saw through Lili's manipulations… or was just more concerned with things beyond money. And she said, "Well, you know the rumor? The rumor says some good-for-nothing thief is trying to seduce my Bell-kun. So I dogeza'd to get my paid leave for today!"
Well, that's a reference to how Lili had suggested we all go together in the first place. Inviting Hestia happened after the fact because she hadn't been present at the initial conversation.
"Who are you calling a thief!" Lili got mad at the reminder of her dark past, or it was just part of her gag of bickering with Hestia. "How could you have the audacity to say that when you abuse your position as his Goddess?!"
"What did you say?!" Hestia yelled back.
I chuckled nervously at the bickering as it got a little too heated, "You two… please don't start that here… Welf, help me out here."
I turned to my fellow man, hoping for democracy and peer pressure to help them get along.
"Alright!" Welf said, ignoring all of us, "Let's go eat some takoyaki! Here I come!"
"Welf, you traitor…" I grumbled good-naturedly.
All of us stopped our antics as we heard the sound of Hermes gathering a crowd, "Friends, lend me your ears! Listen if you stand far. Watch if you stand close!"
It wasn't exactly a coincidence he was nearby, we were planning on stopping by his booth as he asked the other day.
"Call out your name if you think you've got what it takes!" Hermes continued to orate loudly. We all moved closer, until we were able to see Hermes' stage. He was wearing some kind of Victorian-era getup on a stage with a cloth roof overhead. In the center of the stage in front of him was a large silver spear that was trapped in blue crystals.
"Now! Which intrepid hero will pull this spear free!?" Hermes continued.
"What is he even up to?" Hestia wondered, no doubt thinking there was some kind of scam involved. I took the opportunity to drink from my water canteen, which was actually filled with health potions.
"This legendary spear can only be freed by the chosen one, who will be blessed by the very Goddess of Purity!" Hermes declared to the crowd, "Not only that! He or she will also be invited to a grand trip around the world! A trip officially approved by the Guild!"
The whole Guild approval thing was both unusual and entirely natural. The paperwork for leaving the city is far easier than re-entering the city while bearing a Falna. It's all to keep blacklisted people and foreign Familia's out of the city. The approval will make entering and leaving much easier. But the fact the Guild was involved in Hermes' prize was suspicious.
I, however, knew everything. But my mind was still racing on figuring out what the hell to do. I hadn't anticipated the movie at all. Not to mention removing the staff…
Unaware of my deep thoughts, the crowd cheered at the prize being offered.
"A legendary spear, he said?" Welf said, both interested and skeptical.
"Hermes-sama is up to no good… Again…" Lili assumed.
"Don't be so sure…" I warned, "Something deeper might be going on."
"Your head is in the clouds," Hestia dismissed, "Even so, it seems fun. Let's try, Bell-kun!"
I shrugged, "Sure, I don't mind giving it a go."
Internally, however, I was sweating bullets. There was hardly any guarantee I could remove the spear (arrow?). I wasn't sure how the presence of my soul alongside Bell's would affect my ability to be 'pure' enough to remove the spear.
I thought I was a good person, call it conceited if you must, but I wasn't so arrogant as to make the claim that I was a pure soul. I was trying my best to be a good person, but I wouldn't make any assertion that I was a Paragon.
I noticed a pair from the Loki Familia walk up beside us. Lefiya looked at me with fire in her eyes – I guess the spirit of our rivalry was burning bright today.
Lefiya turned to her companion, "Let us try too, Ais-san!"
Ais nodded, "Okay…"
Hestia noticed the Loki Familia duo at this point, "Hah?! W-Wallenwhatsit…!"
"Wallenstein!" Lefiya harshly corrected, "And we won't lose to the Hestia Familia!"
Lefiya was likely getting defensive since Hestia was inadvertently mocking Ais.
Hestia growled, "Come on, Bell-kun! Our Familia's honor is on the line now!"
I laughed as Hestia pushed me closer to the stage as Lefiya stomped along with us – Ais' hand in hers.
We got in line, and watched as person after person failed to remove the spear. The only person I recognized was Mord-san, but he didn't seem too put out at his failure. I should see how he's doing sometime. At least right now he seemed to be in good enough spirits after what happened on the 18th.
After Mord, it was Lefiya's turn. But before she went off, I whispered to her, "Remember, protect your friends."
Lefiya looked at me oddly for a moment, probably since I was 'helping her' during our little 'competition'. But she nodded and went up to the stage.
Lefiya put her hands on the staff and pulled…! To no initial effect.
She looked confused for a moment. But then her eyes widened for a second before she closed them deep in thought. It was then, to everyone's surprise, the spear…!
Nudged slightly before refusing to go any further.
Lefiya pulled and pulled, but it soon became clear that was all she could muster.
"Ah… it won't move another centimeter…" Lefiya moaned in failure.
"What a valiant effort!" Hermes said, his eyes held a little shock that the spear had even moved.
I was a bit shocked too. It was like watching Captain America make Mjölnir move slightly (though the analogy wasn't entirely accurate since it seems implied that he could have moved it in Age of Ultron but he just chose not to).
"Now, next…" Hermes said dramatically as the next person entered the stage, "Oh, that's…! The renowned Kenki! Ais Wallenstein is on stage!"
Ais stood before the staff, took a stable stance before grabbing the weapon. She gave it a single pull as Hermes cheered her on.
"Witness the power of the Kenki! Go, Ais Wallenstein!" Was he wanting her to pull it out? Interesting.
"You can do it, Ais-san!" Lefiya cheered, only to be disappointed as Ais had given up right after her single pull.
"No… I can't…" Ais said, her Level 6 strength unable to bypass the enchantment keeping the spear trapped.
"N-no… it can't be… even by Ais-san, the Level 6 adventurer?" Lefiya said dejectedly. I guess Lefiya was surprised that Ais didn't have pure enough intentions to remove the spear.
"Good!" Hestia cheered, "Bell-kun, pay back time! Prove you're better than Wallenshatsit!"
"Do your best, Bell-sama!" Lili cheered for me more politely.
"Enjoy!" Welf said as he patted my shoulder, a silent reminder to take this all in good fun.
"No way, a Level 2 adventurer will never…" Lefiya complained, but I could tell it was more a comment born out of her hurt pride.
"It's not a test of strength or who is better than who," I said to everyone, "Strength without ideals is just power."
"Eh?" Lefiya said, surprised I was effectively consoling her hurt ego a little by silently chastising Hestia.
Hestia looked at me, her eyes bearing into my soul. I think she realized at that moment that my 'intuition' about this whole thing being more than it seemed was something I was being serious about.
"Now, the next challenger is…" Hermes began to project as I turned away and went up to him.
"Oh… You're next, Bell-kun?" Hermes asked me casually, not over his magic microphone.
"Sure am," I responded, hiding my nervousness, "I did promise to swing by."
"That you did!" Hermes then spoke the rest into his magic-stone microphone, "It's the weiẞes Häschen!"
I put my hands on the spear and took a deep breath, closing my eyes. I had to pull out the spear. If the events of the movie have taken place as they should have so far, then a world ending calamity is already loose and this is the only thing capable of killing it.
If I want to ensure that there is a tomorrow for Ryuu, for Hestia, for Lili, for Syr, for Welf, and so many more…
To protect them! I need this weapon! I have to make sure there is a future!
And then, a voice rang out in my mind, 'No way…!'
My eyes snapped open at the surreal moment. Just in time to see the spear light up completely with hieroglyphs, causing the crystal trapping it to shatter.
I almost fell over as the weight from pulling against the previously trapped spear had gone slack.
The spear was beautiful. I could tell from touch that the silver metal was some kind of Mythril-like alloy. The spearhead was tri-pronged, but all three blades met near the end. The center prong was like a diamond shape with a purple stone embedded in the center – a stone that likely had magical properties. The other prongs were wavy curves, where the second wave near the tip of the weapon met the center prong.
Everyone was silent at the same time as I stared at the weapon, mesmerized. I could swear that I was connected to this weapon. I knew the feeling. It was similar to the Hestia Knife.
"Yippee!" Hestia cheered as she glomped me, "You've done it, Bell-kun!"
The crowd proceeded to cheer for my good fortune. Even Lefiya gave a polite golf clap. Ais' clapping was more normal. I couldn't make out anything Welf or Lili could say from my place, but they both were happy for me. Though Lili did take the opportunity to say something smug to the Loki Familia duo based on her facial expression.
"See!" Hestia said loudly from the stage to the crowd as she got off me, "My Bell-kun is amazing! This is the power of the Hestia Familia!"
If my life really had anime physics, I might have sweatdropped. Hestia, your marketing attempt is a little blatant…
Hermes offered me a handshake, "Congratulations, Bell-kun."
"Uh, thanks," I said, not really having any special words as I shook his hand.
Hermes then addressed me and the crowd, "Let me introduce the sponsor that made this world trip possible!"
I followed his gaze to a figure at the back of the small crowd.
There was a Goddess who had green eyes and long blue hair with two long bangs, two strands on the sides, and a partly braided tail in the back. She wore a white and pale blue outfit, long brown boots with a light brown design, a belt which she kept a piece of white cloth and a dagger in, gold bracelets, and various gold hair accessories.
Her expression… was tense. Like she was trying to keep her composure from yelling out in anger but was about to fail.
Eh?
I remember enough of the movie to know that isn't how Artemis acted in it…
Artemis stomped through the parting of the crowd towards the stage.
"Arte…mis?" Hestia began to greet with excitement before toning down as she noticed the other Goddess' barely hidden fury.
Artemis stopped her march as she was between me and Lefiya. Glaring me down, Artemis pointed at Ais and Lefiya, then at me, and said, "I wanted an Iphigenia, not an Orion! Why did a man – no, a boy – pull out the spear?!"
For a moment, I just blinked in confusion at the undeserved aggression from the other Goddess. So I couldn't help but be cheeky and said, "...I can't answer that. Why are you asking? Didn't you enchant it? You already know the answer. I'm as surprised as you are."
Really. I truly am. It felt a little too easy removing the staff.
Artemis' face turned red with rage, "RAAAAAAA!" she screamed.
Needless to say, the crowd around us was a little disturbed at the turn of events.
"How about we go discuss things somewhere more… private?" Hermes nervously said to us before turning and distracting the crowd.
I turned to Artemis, gesturing to the Loki Familia duo, "Will having, uh, Iphigenia along with be to your liking?"
I would very much like to not get yelled at by a random woman in the middle of a crowd. And Artemis seemed to agree on that much at least.
For Artemis huffed before turning to the Loki Familia duo, Lefiya specifically, "You did manage to make it twitch. Which also might be good enough, please, would you come with me?"
Lefiya looked to Ais, as if asking for her council. Ais nodded back, "There is no harm in hearing out what she wants."
Lefiya seemed to agree with the logic, and she nodded to Artemis who seemed pleased.
I held back the urge to sigh. Forget not planning on what to do for the events of the movie. I had no idea I needed to plan for Artemis hating my guts…
I could already tell I was not going to enjoy this at all…
Other POV
"You are sure of this?" Apollo asked his most devoted follower.
"Completely," Hyakinthos reported dutifully, kneeling before his God, "An Irregular Goliath appeared on the 18th Floor. Adventurers from the town of Rivira engaged it in battle and prevailed. Tiona the Great Cleaver of Loki Familia slew the beast."
"Yes, yes," Apollo said dismissively before showing greater interest in his follow up question, "But what of the other beast?!"
Hyakinthos grit his teeth furiously, for he knew the source of his God's interest.
"…A second large-class monster had also been spotted on Floor 18," Hyakinthos reported tensely, "It's an unknown monster, appearing skeleton-like in nature and was apparently responsible for killing several third-class adventurers of Ogma Familia within moments. Survivors note that Bell Cranel and his allies confronted the monster. Eyewitnesses claim to have seen the monster and Bell Cranel fall from a great height. Only the boy walked away from the encounter. Eyewitnesses report a large explosion having come from the direction Cranel was known to be fighting at. It stands to reason that the boy slew the beast… somehow…"
Hyakinthos personally believed that the boy's allies were behind the kill. But, there were rumors of Bell Cranel unleashing an explosive blast of magic that killed an Infant Dragon in a single hit… so it wasn't out of the question either.
Apollo laughed, pleasantly amused by the series of events… and of Hyakinthos' jealousy. Apollo then said, "Is that so? You have done well, Hyakinthos-kun."
Apollo lovingly stroked his disciple's face, his gaze off to the side at nothing in particular.
"Bell Cranel…" Apollo muttered, his tone full of longing and lust, "He is indeed superb. As Apollo, I shall claim him as my own…"
The deity's lips shifted to a perverse smile, both out of lust for a certain rabbit and amusement from the discomfort he was causing to Hyakinthos.
Indeed, Hyakinthos was silently fuming at the thought of his beloved God once more lusting over another peon when Hyakinthos was right there before him.
Hyakinthos knew that he was Apollo's most beloved. And moments like these did nothing more than to trigger his fury and also his insecurities.
So Hyakinthos asked, "Apollo-sama! Please, permit your servant time to… further explore the Dungeon in your name!"
"Hoo?" Apollo made a sound of interest, amused at the sight of Hyakinthos squirming for his attention. "You wish to become stronger for me? Very well, I allow it. Return to me in a week's time after the festival. It will give me time to go over my next steps."
Hyakinthos grounded his teeth furiously again at the reminder of his deity's infidelity. And yet his loyalty and devotion for Apollo did not wane. Only his anger grew for those who distracted Apollo from loving Hyakinthos as it should be!
That was how Hyakinthos left for the Dungeon for a prolonged period of time. All the while, Apollo plotted a scheme to make Bell Cranel his own.
Lefiya Viridis
Level 4
Alias: Thousand Elf
Strength: I: 0
Vitality: I: 0
Dexterity: I: 0
Agility: I: 0
Magic: I: 0
Magic:
(Arcs Ray)
• Unleashed streak of light, bow limbs of the holy tree. You are an expert of the bow. Shoot, sniper of the fairies. Penetrate, arrow of absolute accuracy.
• Alio
(Fusillade Fallarica)
• Proud warrior, snipers of the forest. Take up your bows before the advancing plunderers. Answer the call of your brethren and ready your arrows. Tinge them with flame, the lamplight of the forest. Release them, the fire arrows of the fairies. Falling like rain, burn away the savages.
(Wynn Fimbulvetr)
• Harbinger of the end, the white snow. Blow with the wind before the twilight. Closing light, the freezing land. Blizzard, the three severe winters - my name is Alf.
(Rea Laevateinn)
• The flame will soon be released. Creeping war, unavoidable destruction. The horn of battle sounds aloud, the cruelty of conflict will envelop all. Come, crimson flames, the ruthless inferno. You are the avatar of hellfire. Sweep completely, bring a close to the great war. Burn them through, Sword of Surtr - my name is Alf.
(Dio Grail)
• Become a shield, holy grail of crushing evil.
(Dio Thyrsos)
• Sweep, holy staff of crushing evil.
(Firebolt)
• Swift-Strike Magic
(Hiraishin)
• Enchantment Magic
Skills:
Fairy Canon - Increases Magic Power of cast spells. Only affects offensive spells.
Magic Summoning - User is able to call forth magic belonging to other casters. Each new magic grants an additional spell slot. Spell trigger and effect must be known. Magic cannot be summoned against the target's permissions. Mind is expended at a greater rate for summoned Magic.
Development Abilities:
Mage - G
Abnormal Resistance - I
Magic Resistance - I
Welf Crozzo
Level 1 - 2
Strength: C: 617 - C: 659
Vitality: D: 521 - C: 602
Dexterity: C: 645 - B: 700
Agility: D: 509 - D: 599
Magic: I: 70 - H: 184
Magic:
(Will-o-Wisp)
• Burn out, dark magics!
Skills:
Crozzo Blood - Ability to craft Magic Swords. Strength of magic is increased at time of production.
Development Abilities:
Blacksmith - I (Acquired on Level Up)
Authors Notes:
EDIT: I've added a more detailed metaphor as to how Accretion Disk and Breach work. Hope that clears up some misconceptions.
Alternative Chapter Title: How Many Status Updates Can I Fit Into One Chapter?
Imma just put this here, Ais isn't coming along for the events of the Movie, she will be ditched. Why? Like hell Ais would use a DRAGON mount, like, ever.
Also a friendly reminder that Bell is an unreliable narrator that is understandably pessimistic upon hearing some bad news for the first time. As long as he learns how to manage Accretion Disk, it can become more of a risky Buff than a constant malus.
(1) Hermes actually got fined and was then immediately paid a ton of money to further help with handling the growing Antares situation in this letter. So he is actually pale because of the first messenger from his Familia combined with what the second letter contained would mean for the near future…
Ryuu gets a Level Up! Bell gets a Level Up! Lefiya gets a Level Up! Welf gets a Level Up! EVERYONE GETS A LEVEL UP! Oprah meme over. Chloe would get a Level Up too if she bothered to go get an update.
I've decided in the end to keep the specifics of Ryuu's character sheet to myself – her Magic and Skills, anyway. Definitely not a blatant excuse to wait for more Volume 18 spoilers to get leaked. That said, I have definitely decided on Ryuu's character sheet. I'm just holding out because I'm waiting for complete translations for certain things to get leaked. On a completely unrelated note, isn't Astraea Record really awesome?
Ryuu shatters the limits of her Falna, not a huge surprise I hope. Depending on the environment, Ryuu's stats allow for her to defeat Ais in combat. Ais would win outside the Dungeon because Ryuu wouldn't be able to use stuff like Luminous Wind in the city without causing massive property damage/potentially hurting a bystander. If Ryuu was fighting in a battleground where collateral damage didn't matter though…
Ryuu also wasn't seeing a vision of the future in regard to what her and Bell's hypothetical kids might look like. I just have the impression that Ryuu would prefer her children to not look like her. Tying in with her beauty complex from her home village on a subconscious level.
Finally, all that hinting of Astraea being back comes to fruition. The legality is weird. It would normally be hard for her to re-enter the city since her Familia 'left the walls' and was destroyed… but it wasn't exactly. With Ryuu's reinstatement, it's enough of a legal loophole that no one will be able to complain when Astraea shows up at the next major gathering of gods. Astraea would have enough legal rights to have been allowed into the city – no matter how clandestine the paperwork had been done by Hermes. The idea/irony of the Goddess of Justice exploiting a loophole in the law is not lost on me. She mainly went along with it all since she loves Ryuu, being one of her Familia members and all. And what's their face that was with Astraea outside of Orario… I'm just gonna pretend they don't exist!
Ryuu doesn't plan on talking to Bell about Alfia unless he brings it up first. She assumes he knows the jist of things (somehow) since he goes out of the way to mention his relation to her in Astraea's letter. Ryuu basically assumes that if Bell wanted to talk about it, he would do so, and since he hasn't she would respect his choice to keep silent on the matter.
Bell finally reveals himself to Hestia! Bravo, bravo! He avoids an identity crisis because he is still high off of the success of defeating the Juggernaut and Ryuu's demons. Excellent timing, if I say so myself. Because the Movie Arc is gonna cause Bell to start angsting over his failures in deviating from canon.
Those odd hunger pains starting in, what, Chapter 8 weren't just for show! It's basically as Bell describes, his body has been breaking down over time and has effectively activated the latent curse in his body's genome. Thankfully, the nature of the protagonist's soul also provides a method for combating the disease as well. But considering how the downgraded version was still giving Bell problems on a daily basis, he will be enduring the consequences more often than the bonuses.
The intent here is less to nerf Bell but more like to balance out the skills, extra spell slots, and such that he's gotten as a result of having two souls in his body. This version of his bloodline curse is the con to all the pros of his unusual situation. And it provides some nice potential for angst.
Bell manages to definitively learn about Finn's goal as an adventurer. Finn only shares about it since Bell happened to guess close enough. Finn still issues hush money though to ensure the 'waitress' doesn't go blabing to everyone.
This is necessary, because while Bell is aware of Sword Oratoria, he never read it. He only knows about some events because of them being mentioned in fanfictions, and even then that knowledge is limited. You can thank 'Creatures and Caverns' by Eon Crow, for example, as for why he knows about Filvis at all.
Bell has also failed to realize he has stopped giving Ryuu any honorifics. Considering how he tends to be overly formal as far as honorifics goes, that's kinda wild. At least with Lefiya he does it on purpose since she is his rival and so being impolite is the polite thing to do.
He confesses to Ryuu! Now, in classic Danmachi-style, we will sit on that confession for several arcs before addressing it because Ryuu and Bell are both dorks that will get into so much trouble they don't have time to think about their feelings or relationship status. The basic idea is that they will continue to get closer and closer without really throwing labels around. For now, anyway.
How does the Guild, or Ouranos rather, know about the Juggernaut and Black Goliath and the fact that Hestia and Hermes and Ryuu were there, but not Freya? Ouranos detected the spawning of the Juggernaut and Black Goliath from his usual prayers being disrupted. And thanks to Fels' surveillance devices, Hestia and Hermes were spotted entering the Dungeon despite their 'brilliant' disguises; so was Ryuu. Freya, however, entered completely cloaked with invisibility items and had an alibi in the form of a transformed Hörn.
Long story short, Freya will be getting away with her actions in the Floor 18 Incident for some time. Likely not until Bell has investigated the Evilus Remnant first, which is his first suspect. He hasn't even thought about who caused it yet, because of the shocks surrounding Ryuu and himself and now the Movie being dropped in his lap.
Bell will have time to ruminate over what brought about the Juggernaut soon though. Gotta think of something to occupy his mind while flying on those dragons en route to the end destination.
Artemis is here! Or her ghost at any rate. It would seem that this sliver of herself was able to maintain a glimpse of her original personality – that of a major promoter of anti-romance with a touch of sexism. Or, that is what it seems like at first glance. In any case… Prepare for more bickering next time!
But yeah, we've arrived at the Movie Arc. This Arc kinda has to hit a lot of the same major beats because Antares can only be defeated one way. Which is kinda the point. This arc is gonna be a big slap in the face for Bell on what happens should he keep on following canon too closely. Tragedy. It's also a way to punish him for having stuck too close to canon thus far in places.
P.S. I have not forgotten about how the refined Udaeus Sword left by Ais and upgraded presumably by Bors is still in Rivira and is not broken. I wonder what will come of that First-Class weapon in the future?