Why doesn't my stack of paper actually feel smaller?

The beautiful half-elf that sat behind the counter in the guild hall and sighed. She had worked the whole morning, but there was just more paper work waiting for her. Eina rubbed her neck and glanced to the side, her co-worker´s stack was suspiciously small compared to her own.

"Misha?"

"Hm?"

"Say could it be that you are putting some of your papers on my stack?"

"Whaaaat? That´s crazy! What are you talking about? I would probably never do that."

"Could you look into my eyes while saying that? Also, probably?"

A male voice could be faintly heard. "Ahm..."

"I-Is there a reason to? D-Don´t you believe your friend?"

"Mishaaaa..."

The male voice again. "Ahm, hello?"

Misha turned her face to Eina. "Are you accusing your best friend of pushing her work to you? That absolutely can´t be! Not in a thousand years!"

"Misha why do you have your eyes closed when you say that?!"

"Ahm, excuse me...hello? Ms. Eina?"

"S-See, Eina? An adventurer wants to talk to you."

"I will get you later for th-KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

When Eina turned her face to the person in front of the counter, she screamed on the top of her lunges.

Bell Cranel was drenched in blood from head to toe, dripping it on the floor.

"Ahm, Ms Eina, is there a shower here that I could maybe use?..."

Another male voice echoed, the superior of Eina and Misha.

"Tulle, Flott! Stop daydreaming! Tulle show your adventurer where the showers are! Flott get a mop and clean up this bloody mess!"

.

.

"Geeez! What is wrong with that filthy human! My skirt is ruined!"

Lefiya growled while she tried her best to dab off the blood that was on her skirt. A few moments earlier after Ryu had saved the human´s life, he had started to scream and dashed off, his sword in his hand. Blood from the minotaur had splattered everywhere, Ryu was fast enough to gracefully avoid getting hit by it, but Lefiya was too surprised and shocked by the screaming human that ran her way.
When he passed her, his jacket brushed against her skirt and left a trail of minotaur blood there.

"Irgh...it stinks! I will get this human for that! How does this look now, I can´t go on like this!"

"Lefiya, we have started our Expedition, you can´t go home now. We will soon be on the 18th Floor, there you can wash your skirt."

"But Ms. Ryu, the Loki Familia is ahead of us! What if lady Riveria sees me like this!"

"If you try to cover your skirt they will think that you did something embarrassing. Also, it will show them what their fault nearly did to that human boy."

"W-We can´t blame lady Riveria!"

Ryu sighed. "I know, but the Loki Familia has to learn from their mistake."

They continued their way until the whole Astrea familias was together again. Alise seemed to be pretty angry and talked to the captain of the Loki familia. Finn looked at her with a serious expression and stated that she was true and it was their fault, he had no apology for that. Alise gave him credit for not dodging the rebuke and taking it. Other members of the Loki Familia looked a bit angry that their captain was scolded by another familia, especially a certain amazon.
Riveria caught a glimpse of Lefiya, who bowed slightly down towards her out of respect. Then she raised her eyebrow in a question when she saw Lefiya´s skirt and the blood on it. But Lefiya shook her head to show it wasn´t her blood, the smell alone told her it was monster blood.

"Phoenix, we are at fault here and I apologize for what we did. You have my thanks for saving this human boy, it would be unforgivable if he lost his life because of us."

Alise nodded. "Alright, I´m sure you won´t make the same mistake again. It´s good to see you lost no one during your Expedition."

Finn nodded. "We won´t and thank you for your care. Stay safe on your Expedition, Astrea Familia."

While they were sometimes not on the best terms, the Astrea and Loki Familia had a deep connection. Something like fighting together in the final battle during the dark times forged bonds. The two goddesses talked to each other when they planned to go on Expeditions, so they wouldn´t get in each other´s ways. That being said, the Astrea Familia didn't went as deep as the Loki Familia in the dungeon.

Eventually both Familias parted and went their ways. Despite the situation, a few of the Loki members couldn´t help but chuckle while they followed the trail of blood up to the entrance of Babel and heard the murmurs about "the tomato boy". Especially a certain werewolf couldn´t help but laugh, even when he got scolded for that by Riveria. The blond swordswoman, Ais Wallenstein, only felt sorry when she saw the trail of blood.

If the elf from the Astrea familia hadn´t been there...he would be dead now...and it would´ve been our fault...

Further down in the dungeon, Lefiya still complained. "That human boy could have at least thanked you, Ms. Ryu!"

"I´m sure he was in shock."

"Shock?! He was nearly drooling into your direction! Argh! That´s why I hate men, especially human men!"

"Drooling into my direction? He was covered in blood."

"S-Still! And he nearly ran you over!"

Alise grinned when Ryu looked at her and slightly shook her head. There was no point to argue with Lefiya when she was agitated like that. Thankfully that only happened when it came to two people, her absolute best friend Filvis, and Ryu...her "idol". Due to Ryu being the oldest among the elves of the Astrea Familia, Lefiya looked up to her.
But it also could just be Lefiya´s fate, that she had so big interest in blond, female, with magic gifted swordswomen. If she had chosen the Loki Familia instead of the Astrea Familia, maybe someone else would have become her "idol".

The Astrea Familia moved faster down to the 18th Floor than intended, they wanted to give Lefiya the chance to wash her skirt before the blood dried.

I bet that human did that on purpose!

Lefiya Viridis had another serious problem...delusions. Or rather, sometimes she zoned out as her imagination ran rampant.

She saw it right in front of her eyes, how the human grinned in a mean way, tried to tackle Ryu to touch her body and when that didn´t worked, he tried to touch Lefiya but only splattered blood on her.
She couldn´t know that yet, but from this day onwards, Lefiya Viridis´ delusions would start to center about this certain boy.

.

.
"You encountered a minotaur on the 5th Floor?!"

"Yes, it was a really close call."

"Couldn´t you run away?"

"I tried to fight it at first when it attacked me."

"You did what!? Bell you know that Minotaurs don´t appear on this Floor! So you had to be aware that this is an irregular and way to strong for you!"

"I´m sorry..."

"Hah...I can´t believe it...it´s always the same with boys that go into the dungeon for the first time..."

"Th-This wasn´t my first time!"

"I know, but your first time wasn´t even a week ago! And why did you already go down to the fifth Floor anyway? Doesn´t your "advisor" teach you properly?"

.

.

When it came to the guild, Eina Tulle was Bell Cranel´s assigned advisor for the dungeon, but they rarely really talked to each other. No advisor wanted to accept Bell at first, so Eina took it on herself to help him. But when she introduced herself to him in a private room, she noticed that Bell didn´t came alone.
A woman so beautiful that it nearly hurt to look at her accompanied him. Well at least Eina thought she was beautiful until she opened her eyes. The expression in her eyes and on her face let Eina gulp heavily.

She had the slight feeling that it wasn´t the fact that she would be Bell´s advisor, but that she was a woman. Maybe the woman next to Bell was jealous or something. On the second look Eina noticed how similar they looked to each other, the hair had nearly the same color and the facial features were similar.

Is she his mother?

That somehow let Bell look cute, coming with his mother to the guild.

And even that thought ended when the woman opened her mouth.

"You are the assigned advisor?"

"Y-Yes!"

The woman looked at her with half closed eyes, she was absolutely not happy. If Eina only knew that this woman was just worried about Bell.

"Good, then we can keep this short. Any advices about the dungeon, the Floors, the monsters and tips will Bell get from me."

"Huh? B-But..."

"Any questions that he has when he is here will be yours to answer, but when it comes to teaching him about the dungeon, I will do that. I won´t risk any mistakes getting made."

Blood shot into Eina´s cheeks and ears.

"I never make mistakes! I take my advising very serious! Every adventurer under my care will receive the absolute best advising there is!"

Alfia looked at Eina for a few moments. "I believe you."

"Really?"

"Yes, but that won´t change the fact that I will teach Bell."

"But why?"

Alfia looked at Eina with dead serious eyes. "Bell is my son, he is my everything, the very reason for me to live. I won´t allow anything to happen to him. Even when you are the best advisor of the whole guild, I was an adventurer in the past and I know the dungeon better than any of you ever could."

"But I-"

"Where are the weak spots of a Killer Ant?"

"Eh?"

"Answer."

"Ahm, if I remember right th-"

"And you are dead."

"What?!"

"You have no time to think in the dungeon, the answer must be drilled in your head. The weak spots are beneath the head and the plates, as well as the inside of the mouth. Also they are weak to twisting their neck."

"And your point is?"

"You would have needed to look it up, I know all of that. I don´t need papers, I will drill everything into Bell that he has to know."

Eina glanced to Bell who had clapped his hands together and bowed down in a gesture that said...please bear with her.

The half elf saw that Bell´s mother was dead serious.

"But why did you search for an advisor when you will do it yourself?"

"So that you can answer all the questions he has when he is here, also to let him keep a low profile. It would look strange if he went into the dungeon and knew all that without an advisor."

"But why do you want him to keep a low profile?"

Alfia looked at Bell and smiled with a love that no one else should expect from her to be shown.

"Because I don´t want my baby to be eyed and targeted by the gods. They always look for entertainment and when they witness how awesome Bell is, they will surely be after him, I will not risk that. They would corrupt him."

Bell looked really embarrassed. "Mom..."

"Your baby?!"

"Is there a problem how I address my son?"

"I just think it is a bit...weird...to call him your baby at his age in front of others."

Alfia raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Ahm, yes it is."

"Hm."

When it came to Bell, Alfia lacked common sense...a lot. Zeus had given up to try to tell Alfia that her relationship with Bell was sometimes not really how mother and son should act. But he was sure Bell would reach an age where he would get embarrassed about this stuff. Also where he would stop calling Alfia beautiful so often, but she was the only women he knew for a very long time and had Zeus´ teachings who told him to speak to women like that.
And since Alfia had reacted happy when Bell called her that on her first evening, he stuck with it.

.

.

"So, Bell. Please explain what exactly happened on the 5th Floor. Also you probably shouldn´t tell your mother about this."

Bell nodded, Alfia would probably never let him go into the dungeon alone again. And that where he just went into the dungeon for four days now...

"I was moving through the 5th Floor to get a better feel of it, while I was busy collecting magic stones, I heard this howl. Before I knew it, the minotaur came charging at me. It really surprised me since I had no informations about minotaurs on the 5th floor."

"Yeah, because there aren´t supposed to be there."

"I raised my sword to defend myself."

"Are you still feeling unstatisfied?"

Bell smiled wryly. "A little bit."

There was a problem for Bell when he entered the dungeon. Due to his high status from training intensively for two years, he was much stronger than normal for adventurers when they started in the dungeon. His first encounter in the dungeon had been a Goblin, he had felt really nervous since this monster was special to him.
When he was a child, a goblin had beaten him and we would have probably died if Alfia didn´t showed up. Her fury had known no end, to see Bell with bruises, sitting on the ground and crying, with her magic she had obliterated the goblin as it tried to run away.

Ever since then Bell was a bit afraid of Goblins, had nightmares about them. So facing one made him nervous, but he rememberred his training and dealt a swift strike. The Goblin probably didn´t even noticed what happened when it´s head was sent flying. Bell had jumped around in joy and ran out of the dungeon, back to Alfia´s house. There he had told her he finally slew a Goblin, she had cheered with him while hugging him, he should tell her everything about his great deed.
Alfia didn´t made fun of him, another person would have probably smirked because it was just a Goblin, but she was happy for him. This small magic stone would be framed by Alfia, with a signature saying "The young hero´s first monster".

After that, Bell returned to the dungeon and made his way through the first Floor. On his first day that wasn´t a problem, even when it was a nasty job to retrieve the magic stone so that the Goblins bodies crumbled and turned to ash. Soon he encountered kobolds too, but it was too easy for him. Most adventurers would be much further down with his status, so he defeated every monster with one strike. Bell was used to a much stronger opponent, Alfia, so he thought about going deeper to get a bigger challenge. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Floor weren´t challenges either. While Alfia drilled into Bell to be carefull, he had to seek a challenge or he would run the risk of feeling a false sense of security in taking down every monster with just one swipe. Eina had told Bell that there was more to dungeon crawling than just fighting monsters, he had to memorize the outline of the first Floors so that he wouldn´t get lost. His goal had been the 7th Floor, but then the minotaur happened.

"But Bell seriously, didn´t your mother teached you that minotaurs normally appear from the 15th Floor to the 17th?"

"She did, but..."

Eina sighed. "Young man, the dungeon isn´t such a happy-go-lucky place that you think it is. I can understand that you feel unstatisfied but you were in serious trouble down there."

Bell looked down. "I´m sor-"

Eina moved quickly and grabbed Bell´s cheeks, forcing him to look in her face. "Don´t apologize all the time! Learn from your mistakes! I´m not your mother, this won´t work with me!"

"Y-Yesh!"

She continued, even when Alfia was more Bell´s advisor than she was, there were still things that Eina would do, no adventurer under her watch would die.

"Bell, no matter how eager you are, no matter how prepared you are or what your goals are, all of that doesn´t matter when you are dead!"

His eyes widened a bit in shock, Eina was right.

"So the next time you see a monster like that, run. Don´t try to fight it."

"Undershtood."

Eina finally let go of Bell´s cheeks.

"So, you said adventurers rescued you, who was it."

Suddenly a smile spread on Bell´s lips that was unfamiliar for Eina.

"The Astrea Familia, it was an elfess with two swords. There was another elfess behind her"

The term "Elfess" instead of just "Elf" or "female Elf" was a bit oldshooled, but Bell learned it from his grandfather and like it.
"Aeola Ventus saved you? You sure are lucky!"

Ryu Lyon´s new alias after reaching level six...one year after Ais Wallenstein did...was "Aeola Ventus", the goddess of wind and light. The gods had laughed a bit about their own blasphemy, but since Loki was against naming Ais "Our Wife", they admired another beauty.
Astrea didn´t knew what to say when the gods cheered, that her beautiful elf was their goddess...all strong, female adventurers had a huge fanbase. Some thought that there was a rivalry between the Sword Princess and Aeola Ventus. Ais Wallenstein didn´t really paid attention to other familias, but for Ryu it was an inspiration to give her best.
Sadly, Ais Wallenstein didn´t even rememberred the past she had with Ryu, that both had fought once against each other over the last potato snack at a stall...and that Ais had won against Ryu.

In the nine years since the big fight against the evil in the dungeon and the dark times ending, Alise Lovell, Gojouno Kaguya and Ryu Lyon had all reached level six. But the Astrea Familia still wasn´t even close to become the Loki Familia´s rivals. Loki´s children had four level six, most of them stronger than Astrea´s, also three children that were close to six and a few more on level four, as well as many more lower leveled.

"Yeah, she needed only one hit with one of her swords to cut the minotaur down, I couldn´t even scratch it."

"That´s how powerful first class adventurers are."

"Yeah she was..."

Bell looked as if he was distracted.

"Bell? Is there something else?"

"Ms. Eina!"

"Y-Yes?" His sudden outburst startled her.

"C-Could you tell me about Ms. Lefiya Viridis!?"

"You mean...the "Thousand Elf? Was she the one behind Ms. Lyon?"

"Yes!"

"But why?"

"J-Just for the f-fun of it?"

Eina saw how red Bell´s cheeks got and how he fidgeted, a knowing grin appeared on her lips.

"Oh Bell...could it be that you fell in love at first sight?"

Bell was unable to look into Eina´s eyes while he squirmed. "M-Maybe..."

He had never before felt like this for a girl, well not that he had seen many before. The moment was burned into his mind and eyes, her sheer elegance, the beautiful, blue eyes, the cute ears...everything on her enchanted Bell and let his heart race.

"Hehe, let me check for a moment."

Eina looked through the official records they had from the familias, everyone was allowed to look them up.

"Here she is. Lefiya Viridis, a young mage from the Astrea Familia. Level 3 and goes by the alias of "The Thousand Elf"."

"I-I mean more personal informations. What food does she like? What is her favorite color? I-Is she seeing someone?"

Eina smiled slightly. "We don´t have these informations, Bell. And even if we had, I wouldn´t be allowed to tell you."

"Thought so..."

She wanted to cheer him up since he looked so down. "I can only tell you the rumors, not one of goddess Astrea´s children were once seen with a boyfriend."

"S-So she never had a boyfriend?!"

"Bell, Ms. Viridis is an elf, they bind themself only to one partner in their whole life. They don´t have multiple boyfriends or something like that."

"S-So there is hope?"

"Hah...young man, you nearly died not even two hours ago, please focus at first on your dungeon tours and don´t get distracted, that could mean your end."

"You are right."

"Also, I think you shouldn´t go into the dungeon anymore today. The extermination team of the Ganesha Familia is moving through the first floors now and you should rest, to calm down after what happened."

"I guess you are right, thank you, Ms. Eina."

She smiled warmly. "Whenever you need advise, Bell."

Bell bowed slightly as he wished her goodbye and went to exchange the magic stones he got at this day for money.

So I really can be of use to him even when his mother teaches him. Ha! Take that Ms. Cranel! I will show you who is the best advisor! Soon Bell will take my advices alone!

Eina just assumed that Alfia´s last name was also Cranel, without knowing it, Alfia got a kind of rival.

She watched him leave the guild house, at first he took slow steps, then he jogged in his usual, excited way. With a far better mood now, Eina returned to her work.

And while Bell Cranel jogged to the house of his Mom before going to the Blue Pharmacy, his familia´s home, a young woman in another part of Orario spent her time before it was time to work.

.

.

Ssssssst...tack!

Ssssssst...tack!

Ssssssst...tack!

"Phew..."

The young woman exhaled slowly and lowered what she held in her left hand, taking the usual stance to end her training. She wore long, red skirt-like pants called a "hakama", it had the same color as the kimonos she usually wore. Her upper body was covered with a coat-like top in white, in addition she wore some kind of west, to prevent the bow string from hitting her chest, even when it was bound down a bit with bandages.
On her right hand was a special glove. The bow she held was a bit over two meters long.

"Very impressive, but I don´t think this kind of archery would help you with monsters."

There was another woman present, this one wore nearly nothing and had wheat colored skin. She leaned with crossed arms against a wooden pillar and watched.

"Kyudo isn´t your usual archery, Aisha. It is meant for mental training and a form of art."

The young woman bowed slightly to end the ritual, put the bow down on a special stand and went to retrieve her arrows. Her golden, fox-like tail moved behind her as she walked slowly over the gras. This training spot was her small sanctuary, where she could find peace, at least for a while.

"I don´t get it, why practice art that no one is supposed to see? Like your...what do you call it when you write with that big brush? Kodo?"

"Shodo. And it helps me to calm down and focus."

"You are really the strangest harlot I have ever seen, Haruhime."

"Please don´t use this word, Aisha. I don´t like it."

"Whatever you say, little sister."

Haruhime carefully took her arrows out of the target and walked back to Aisha. While Aisha disturbed her peace a bit, especially with her outfit in this "holy" place, Haruhime would never ask her to leave. It was thanks to Aisha´s effords that Haruhime got this small area built.
Aisha had argued to Ishtar that this would help Haruhime to develop and give her a more far eastern touch that the customers might like. The goddess didn´t really cared, but it was necessary to keep Haruhime sane, not that she would end up killing herself before the ritual came.

Haruhime had started to do this or her painting technique before it was time to work...to steel herself for what was about to come. Not that many customers chose her, she couldn´t hide her sad expression well. And the only ones that chose Haruhime stopped in the moment that they took their shirt off, when she fainted.
Aisha made sure that no man dared to touch Haruhime after she fainted, not that Haruhime knew that.

But the fox girl also had a normal bow and arrows, used them for a different training. Even when she was carried in a cage into the dungeon and was only allowed to use her magic, Aisha had argued that Haruhime should be able to do something else beside sitting and waiting for the signal.
This also helped Haruhime to increase her strength, her status showed it, since normally only her magic got stronger. The bow required a lot of strength to be stretched. In the beginning she had used a traditional bamboo bow, but it quickly wore out under her slowly growing power. Aisha had tended to one that was traditionally shaped but made of more resilient material. That's why Haruhime had put the target further and further back. Actually, this art wasn't even about hitting the target, but it also needed a little challenge to keep you busy...or rather, distracted.

Aisha had to admit that Haruhime had gotten a really good aim. If she wasn´t as nervous as she was...and more free...she could become an excellent help for every party in the dungeon. Also...since the ritual was getting closer, Aisha worked in secret, but she had to be carefull.

"Is there anything you need, Aisha?"

Haruhime carefully cleaned her arrows, put them back on their stand, bowed down and cleaned her bow, before putting it back too.

"I just came to look after you, you okay, Haruhime?"

"The usual."

Haruhime´s words seemed to be cold and reserved, but Aisha couldn´t blame her for being unhappy, only to Aisha and another amazon she talked so openly. When Aisha didn´t had time, she asked Lena to come from time to time to look after Haruhime. When Haruhime was busy with her Kyudo or Shodo, Lena´s constant questions were very distracting.
But someone who knew Haruhime as good as Aisha did, would read the twitches and movement of her tail, that Haruhime had a bit of fun then.

"I brought a new book for you."

"Really?"

Haruhime turned her face towards Aisha for the first time during their conversation, a small smile on her lips. This smile alone would let many men fall for Haruhime, raise the desire in them to protect or take her, depending on the person. Aisha knew that Haruhime loved her books, it was one of the few joys she had in life.

I have to bring her out of here...

If only a shining knight like in her stories would appear to rescue Haruhime, to help her break out of her shell that held her back...to free her.

.

.
Bell eventually arrived at the house that he was looking for. It was looking like any other house out there, no one would think that someone special lived here, as it was intended. He knocked a few times and waited, a few moments later the door opened.

"Bell, come in."

"Thank you."

The door got closed behind him and locked again. Even when no one was looking for Alfia, she was careful, since there still were one or two people in Orario that knew who she was.

When he turned around to her, a smile bloomed on Alfia´s face. "Hey Sweety."

"Hehe, I´m back, Mom."

Alfia hugged him gently, glad that he was okay.

"How did things go in the dungeon?"

"Mostly the same as usual, I went to the 5th Floor."

"And was it challenging?"

"Most of it not really, I´m used to a much stronger opponent."

"Then where does this smell of blood come from that sticks to you?"

Gulp...

Alfia took the small box from Bell, each morning when he went to the dungeon, he made a detour to visit her. She demanded to hand him a healthy breakfast for the dungeon, Bell wouldn´t complain, it was really tasty.

"Ahm...I ran into a bigger monster..."

Bell really didn´t wanted to tell her about the minotaur, but since she had smelled the blood, Alfia wanted answers...and Bell was really bad at lying.

"What? A killer ant?"

It happened from time to time that monsters went up a floor or two.

"No...a minotaur."

"WHAT!?"

The box fell out of Alfia´s hands and she went pale.

"A minotaur on the 5th floor?! Tell me everything about that!"

He had no other choice, Bell told her what happened. Just sparing the fact that he was close to dying before he was saved, he just went as far to tell her that the minotaur chased him.

"Oh my little baby..."

Alfia wanted to pull Bell into a tight hug, but he tried his best to stop her worries. Also, there was a strange feeling inside him lately when Alfia called him her baby.

"Mom, it´s okay, nothing happened."

"But still...maybe we really should go together."

"That won´t be necessary and would be dangerous for you."

"But you were in danger!"

"How often does it happen that a minotaur appears on the 5th Floor? I heard it was a group that escaped the Loki Familia."

"Tch! Weaklings! To let minotaurs escape and run up to the first floors, someone should punish them all!"

With "someone", Alfia meant herself.

"Mom, I´m sure it was just a mistake!"

"A group like that isn´t allowed to make mistakes like that."

"But I was saved by the Astrea Familia anyway."

Suddenly, Alfia went silent.

"What did you just say?"

"The Astrea Familia, one of them saved me."

Astrea´s children...saved Bell?

Alfia took a deep breath with closed eyes, then she looked up and smiled slightly. Her choice to rescue Astrea´s children from this strange monster got rewarded. Back then she did it because she didn´t wanted all her effords to become wasted.

Is that a reward from heaven? A few lives for Bell´s? Whoever god did this, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Meteria...maybe it was you who convinced a god to let them be there at the same time?

Alfia knew that things didn´t worked like that, but she wanted to believe it for now.

"How did the one saving you looked like?"

"She was an elfess, had hair of green-blond hair and used two swords, one strangely made of wood."

And she was really pretty.

Alfia remembered an elfess that looked very similar.

So it was her, huh.

She slowly put a hand on her body, where the combined attack of this elf and Astrea´s captain had hit her. Alfia rememberred some of the more horrible things they had done to the poor elf, it was all just verbal conversation but Erebus had nearly broken the young woman with almost destroying her view of the world. Looking back it was probably very cruel to do that to such a young person.

"Mom?"

"All good, Bell. And did you see others from them?"

"Only another elfess...she was younger than the first one I think."

"Hm, then it´s goo-"

Alfia stopped when she noticed Bell´s expression when he thought about the other elf, she didn´t knew if she liked the expression in his eyes.

I have to keep my eyes on him...or rather on her, whoever that was.

Every girl that planned to approach Bell had to get past Alfia first.

"So, Mom, I have to go now, lord Miach and Ms. Nahza will be waiting."

"Okay, oh right, Bell take these with you."

Alfia showed him three additional boxes, each a bit bigger than the one he took with him for his breakfast.

"What is this?"

"I made too much dinner by accident, I´m still used to make food for three people."

She knew she shouldn´t pamper Bell like that, but she wanted him to eat healthy, good food.

Bell just smiled, they had talked about how much help Alfia should give him, but it didn´t hurt anyone if she made food for them.

"Thank you, Mom. I´m sure lord Miach and Ms. Nahza will love it."

He leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek, which let her smile. When Alfia had met Bell´s god, she was very fond of him. Miach had a gentle, calm aura around him and he seemed to be a very decent god, even when he was poor, which probably was even better. And his one follower, Alfia was a bit displeased that she was a woman,
because Bell would live in the same house with her. But during their conversation, Alfia had noticed how often this young woman glanced to her god and the way she looked at him. It was enough for her to see that Nahza wouldn´t go after Bell. From all the gods in Orario, Miach was the one that Alfia could endorse.

"Just return the boxes to me in the morning when you come over, okay? Also we have a study session tomorrow morning, about the 6th-8th Floors."

"Yes, teacher!"

Alfia smiled and gave Bell a kiss on his cheek, then they carefully put the boxes in a bag. While Bell looked forward to the study session with his Mom, he knew that Alfia knew no mercy during that.
To study everything was the key to not dying in the dungeon. And she would do her everything to prevent this from happening.

Eventually Bell was ready to go.

"Be carefull out there, Bell. And the food is still hot."

"Thank you, Mom. I see you tomorrow."

She watched how he left and only closed her door when he went out of sight. Alfia wasn´t lonely, there were enough days that Bell would spend with her due to his study sessions and just to spend time with her.
Also she had much to do, preparing the food, thinking about what to make for him the next day, prepare his study sessions...and to watch over the situation in Orario in general. To see which familias had a problem with each other, to see where trouble could awake.

Orario didn´t knew it, but a dragoness had made her nest inside the city...and she would protect her treasure like all dragons did.

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Even before the faint knock came, Nahza´s dog ears twitched as she heard steps approaching. It was getting late and it was unlikely that another customer came at this hour. The door got opened carefully and a familiar young man came in.

"Hello. I´m back."

"Welcome back, Bell..."

Nahza smiled in her usual, slightly tired way. At first she wasn´t sure about Bell, but she started to accept him. It was Miach that reminded her of the fact that Nahza was now the Familia captain and had to look out for Bell too. At first she had thought that Bell wanted to somehow take advantage of Miach, but it was impossible to lie to a god and Miach said his wish was honest.
She also was a bit scared about Bell´s mother at first, but at some point when they had talked, she got a bit more friendly to Nahza. The chientrope just had the feeling that Bell´s mother was incredibly strong, even when she said she wasn´t an adventurer.

"How did it go in the dungeon today?..."

"Good, good. Most of the time at least." He smiled wryly.

After putting down the bag, Bell pulled out his purse. "I made 3.200 Vals today."

As usual, Bell gave Nahza half of the money, she would put it in the familia´s safe...which was actually a wooden box. He really wanted to support the familia, but also needed a bit money for himself. To help him on his trips, Nahza gave Bell small potions that were watered down a bit, so far he had no need of them. She told Bell that the potions were watered down, if he wasn´t part of the familia she probably wouldn´t had.
But they had to save money and they couldn´t give Bell the potions entirely for free. Miach already thought about other ways to solve the problem, for that Bell had to reach the 7th Floor.

"Thank you for your hard work, it really helps us..."

What Bell brought today was worth a bit over three sold potions, but it helped. And as soon as Bell would go deeper into the dungeon, he would make more money.

While she put the coins in the box and hid it under the floor again, Miach came from the room in the back where they worked on their medicine and potions.

"Ah, Bell. Welcome back."

"Thank you, lord Miach."

"Bell, you don´t need to bow every time you see me."

They all still had to get used to each other, but they were on a good way.

"Bell, I´m sorry to ask this of you, but could you go and buy the things for dinner?"

Suddenly, Bell smiled. "We don´t need to, my Mom gave me this."

Bell pulled the boxes out of the bag. "It´s still hot."

Miach and Nahza got big eyes.

The god blinked. "Is this...home cooking?"

"Yes."

Bell saw Nahza swallow, her nose was really sensitive.

"Then we should close for the day..."

Miach smiled and went to do that, he turned around the shield on the door and locked it.

To eat together with his Familia was really nice for Bell, and thanks to Alfia, they saved money like this.

He chuckled when he opened the box, Miach swallowed slightly and Nahza was barely able to stop herself from drooling.

It was chicken fillet baked with herbs in a light sauce. In the dim light of the store, the chicken and sauce glistened slightly, filling the room with the aroma. There were also potatoes, as well as steamed peas and carrots.

Normally they had only a light salad with maybe just a little bit meat in it. On other days, Bell would eat with Alfia, while Nahza and Miach ate by themself, which also saved money.

While Miach smiled, Nahza gulped heavily as the aroma hit her. They wasted no time, set up the dishes and started to eat, there was more than enough for all three of them.

As usual when it came to Alfia´s cooking, the taste was to die for.

"Hah...I can´t...I have no words...what is this taste..."

Nahza´s tail wagged slightly and her ears twitched, a cute sight for Bell. They told him that Nahza´s sense of smell was much stronger than Bell´s, due to her race. And it was very rare that they were able to have such a fine meal.
The chicken fillet was so tender it nearly parted itself under the knives.

Miach smiled. "Nahza, what you taste is a mother´s love for her son."

Bell also enjoyed the food very much, nothing beat his Mom´s cooking. His god and his captain got even more happy when they heard that Alfia said, this might happen to her from time to time and she would need someone to eat the food to not waste it. It was her way of caring for them, she needed to it pamper Bell a bit. Also it would hurt no one or block Bell´s development if he would have at least good food on his plate. They talked about the daily business during their meal, today had been an average day of sellings. Miach and Nahza took turns at the counter, while the other worked in the backroom on the potions and other things.
They had a few experiments going on, Nahza tried her best to create new potions, not only to heal people, but also to strenghten someone over a short period of time, she called this experiment a "buff potion".

And Bell knew very well who would be the one to test them in the dungeon...

Nahza and Miach looked a bit worried when Bell told them what happened in the dungeon today.

Miach made a serios face. "I will go to the Stardust Garden tomorrow and say my thanks to Astrea. She might not know about this incident now, but I want her children to know that I am very grateful to them."

"Shouldn´t I go myself?"

"No, Bell. This is something I have to do as the god. Also I haven´t talked with Astrea for a long time, it will be nice to have a small chat with an old friend."

Astrea and Miach had often worked together in the dark times to help the people in need.

Bell really enjoyed the evenings with his Familia. After they finished their meal, Miach told Bell to go ahead and wash himself first. Since he had brought them this fine meal, it was only fair that they would clean the dishes.
The bathroom of the house was not that big, they only had a small shower. Bell had to be carefull and make it quick, since the magic stone that heated the water wasn´t that strong and he would feel sorry if Miach or Nahza had to shower cold.
It would probably be Miach, since he always let Nahza go first, but he would still feel sorry.

While Bell was busy brushing his teeth after they all showered, Nahza knocked gently at the opened door.

"Bell?..."

"Hm?"

"Could you take over a delivery tomorrow?..."

"Wha ish it?" It was hard to talk with the brush in his mouth.

"A few potions and other stuff, it should be ready when you come back from the dungeon tomorrow..."

He nodded to show his agreement.

"Thank you, that really helps a lot..."

Bell was always fascinated by the way Nahza talked, how she slowly let each sentence fade away, somehow constantly sounding tired. Miach had told him that way of speaking only disappeared when Nahza got angry.

"I will write the name of the place of delivery down for you. It is in the district east of South Main..."

Bell thought for a moment but he didn´t rememberred which district was there, not that it mattered much. But it would be quite the tour. Coming back from Babel he would take the North West Main to his Familia´s home, it was really practical for him that the guild was in the same direction but closer to the center of the city.
Then he would go back to the Main Plaza, turn south and then east. As far as he knew one of the strongest Familia´s had their home in the very south, the name was Folk-something.

After he was finished, he went to the couch in the living room. He had to sleep here since the house was not that big and the only other rooms were the bathroom, the Miach´s, Nahza´s and the work room, as well as the main room of the shop.
Miach had said sorry to Bell, that he wasn´t able to give him at least a bed. Nahza had glanced to Miach and mumbled something about that they could change the room situation anytime.

"But we don´t have enough rooms for us three, Nahza."

"So dense..."

Since they all had a long day ahead of themself again, like every day, Miach and Nahza soon went to their rooms and wished Bell a good night.

He lied on his back on the couch for a while longer and looked at three notes, the light was dimmed with only a small magic stone lamp running.

The first note was something from Nahza, a description of a special monster on the 7th Floor that he planned to visit soon. It was called a "Blue Papilio" and she wrote that this monster had a very important dropp item that they needed for new potions.
She was a bit clumsy about giving him the first order in her role as the captain, Bell had chuckled when he saw that Nahza was a bit embarrassed about that.

Not about the fact asking him to look out for this monster and collect the wings, but doing that as the captain, she wanted to look good as that in front of Miach. So she was more concerned about how Miach saw her, rather than Bell. But he couldn´t expect more since they knew each other for only five days now.
Bell was sure they would grow closer and get along better soon.

The second note had the name of the delivery place.

"Crimson Lotus, City of the Night, hm. Strange name, I thought it was in Orario, why is it called a city?"

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In another part of Orario...east of the South Main, a blond haired fox girl made herself ready for work, since the night had begun. The shop that she sat at had a Far-Eastern touch on purpose, the female workers here wore Kimonos like her, but in different colors.
The windows had woodem frames and all in all the building looked very decent.

The symbol over the shop was a Lotus leaf of a crimson color.

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And the last note that Bell had was one of the most important things in his life. Even when she didn´t wanted to talk to Miach about that, Bell nearly stared Alfia down so she gave in and described to the god the details of her illness.

He wasn´t allowed to use his Arcana, but Miach still had his knowledge as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, healer in all of heaven. Miach told Alfia and Bell that only an elixier of the highest order would cure her.

The god had written down this for Bell, it was his very own grant quest. If he would find all of these things, Miach would with the help of Nahza create this elixier for him. And just in case he found more than they needed, Miach would be happy to store that.

Some of the things were cleare, some a bit vague, not only the ingredients were important, but the stuff they used to make the elixir.

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-A pestle made from unicorn horn

-A bowl made out of wood from a sacred elven tree

-Crushed purity incarnate

-Mermaid Lifeblood

-The tear of a phoenix

-A drop of Spirit blood

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I wonder what exactly crushed purity is, but lord Miach coudn´t describe it better, just that I would understand it when I see it. I guess out of all the things on this list, the mermaid lifeblood is the "easiest" to get.

Alfia had groaned about the things that Miach wrote down for Bell. That unicorns were incredibly rare to begin with, but the thing about the phoenix was ridiculous, it was apparently the rarest of the rare monster that existed. Just in case Bell had asked if he could also use a tear from Astrea´s captain, but Miach had just chuckled and said it wouldn´t go like that, that he needed a real phoenix and not someone named after that monster. If monster was the correct term, unicorns and phoenixes were monsters, but both deemed to be holy creatures. Even inside of the dungeon it was forbidden to kill them, apparently someone who would do that would receive a kind of curse.

Ever since he got the note, Bell carried an onion with him all the time and would exchange it once a week. Just for the chance he would find a phoenix, he still had to make it cry. Miach had laughed genuienly, but told Bell that would be a bit cruel to catch a phoenix and hold an onion under it´s eyes.

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While Bell drifted slowly into his sleep, a young elf deep in the dungeon checked her skirt again and was glad all the blood was gone from it. At the same time when Bell Cranel started to dream about one of his favorite heroes, a lone fox girl that sat in the shop window in the Pleasure Quarter went in her mind through the story of the exact same hero by chance.

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The last picture that Bell saw in his mind before he fell asleep, was the face of that beautiful elf. In his dream he was the very hero he dreamed about and saved her, it was a good dream.

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