Oh no!

"Buhärgh!"

Bell´s body whirled around after taking a hit of Ryu´s wooden sword to the side of his head.

"Mr. Cranel!"

Alise sighed when Bell´s body hit the ground and he went unconcious.

"Leon..."

"It was an accident!"

Alise shook her head and went past her frozen friend.

"Give me your cape."

"What?"

"He needs a pillow now and the only other option would be your thighs."

"Why mine?!"

"They are softer than mine, I think. Geez Leon...you can´t go too far when Lefi isn´t here."

"Why Lefiya?"

"She could catch him again, Lefi is almost like a magnet for him."

While it was a bit embarrassing, Ryu did what Alise said. She took off her cape, folded it and while Alise gently moved up Bell´s head, placed the cape under his head.

"Now take responsibility and-"

"I won´t give him a lap pillow or a wake up kiss! Alise, your teasing is going too far!"

Alise looked at Ryu in shock after the outburst.

"I wanted to say "and heal him"..."

"Eh?..."

Ryu´s face and ears instantly went deep red, she was so used to Alise teasing her, that she assumed it would be something like that.

"Wow...you really have a dirty mind..."

"Aliiiise!"

"Don´t stretch my name like that, go on and heal him, a blow to the head is dangerous."

"I know that...I sing now of a distant forest~~~"

"One would think that a level six adventurer can stop her attacks...but maybe deep down you wanted to punish him for falling onto Lefi so often. Are you by chance jealous?"

Alise winked, Ryu continued her chant while she glared at Alise. The glare alone told her everything, of course Ryu had no romantic feelings for Bell, it was already a miracle that she seemed to have no problem when he took her hand. With the extreme perception of level six adventurers, Alise, Ryu, Kaguya and also their goddess, had all noticed how often Bell glanced at Lefiya and the way he looked at her then.

They didn´t talk about that with each other, they couldn´t be sure from just his glances, also in case Bell was in love with Lefiya, then they should stay out of that matter. The only one that had to say something in that case, was Astrea. But the goddess already told her children in the past, that when one of them fell in love with someone from another familia, she wouldn´t have a problem with that. Astrea would just be sad to lose one of her children when they would convert to another familia in that case.
So far not one of them could imagine doing that, even Iska, the first and only one to have found someone, didn´t leave the familia.

After Ryu finished to heal Bell, both sat down and waited for him to wake up again.

"He's doing really well for being only level two."

"I agree. His fighting style isn´t something you would expect from a level two."

"Mr. Cranel said that he trained fiercly for two years before coming to Orario."

"Then his trainer must be really good."

"It looks like it."

"But you know, when he only joined the Miach familia after coming to Orario, I wonder which god took him in in the two years. Normal or even fierce training without a falna won´t do much. Also the god had to willingly let go of him then."

"Alise, we shouldn´t speculate about his past, that´s impolite."

Alise shrugged her shoulders and stopped with the topic.

"Do you think they have a chance in the wargame? Even with Lefi´s help?"

"I do, I believe in them. You´ve seen his fight, he won´t give up. Lady Astrea believes he is worthy of Justice and I believe in her judgement."

"Yeah, that´s the reason she told us to help them as much as possible without breaking the rules."

"She didn´t say it directly."

"I know, but we two know her quite well. We all do."

Alise winked. "That´s the good thing that gods can tell if you are lying or not. Lady Astrea never told us to help them, but we all know that she expected us to do it."

"It would be better if they didn´t have to fight in the first place."

"I know, but lord Apollo was really sly. If Bell and his friends had a chance to escape and flee into the city, if the Apollo familia would´ve chased them, then we and the Ganehsa familia could´ve done something. But since lord Apollo made him agree to the wargame, we can´t arrest them."

Even when the Astrea familia was in some ways like the police force of Orario and fought to keep the order together with the Ganesha familia, they were now bound by the politics of the gods.

"Things could be so easy..."

"All we can do now is to prepare them as good as possible."

"Nnnngh..."

"Oh, he is waking up."

Alise and Ryu stopped their conversation and went to Bell. His eyes slowly started to open.

"What...happened?"

"Mr. Cranel, I am so sorry for what I did. It is my fault that you got knocked out."

"It´s okay."

"No it is not. Is there any way I can make it up to you?"

"You are already helping us, I think the others will have a hard time as well."

.

.
"Say Lily, how tall are you?"

"Lily is one hundred and ten centimeters tall, why?"

"Hah, so you are seven centimeters smaller than me." Lyra grinned.

"Why is that important?"

Neze sat with them in Lyra´s room, for now she let Lyra explain things.

"Would you stand up for a moment, please? Neze, show her."

Lily did as Lyra told her, she saw thet Neze took her spear, one of three weapons that she owned.

"I will show you something, Liliruca. Don´t be worried, I will move very slow so that you see what Lyra will explain to you in a moment."

Neze moved her spear slowly forward, as if she wanted to stab Lily. But she didn´t aim for Lily, she did it as if her opponent was as tall as she was. The spear went far above Lily´s head. Then Neze moved back and and aimed at Lily this time, but stopped ten centimeters in front of her chest.

"Alright, keep this position."

Lyra waved to Lily to follow her.

"As you see, most people aren´t used to very small opponents. While they fight Goblins, Kobolds or Al´Miraj, we pallums are completely different. A small monster doesn´t wear armor or move smart, we do. You can and should use your height to your advantage. Neze´s balance isn´t perfect right now, you can use that to knock her over, by slicing the hollows of her knees for example."

Lily wouldn´t complain that this was cruel, the wargame wasn´t something fun for them.

"Of course you wouldn´t be able to do that with Neze, she is level five, much faster and tougher than you are. But most of god Apollo´s children are level one, a few level two. All you need are a few seconds, you understand."

"Lily does."

"Good, we will now go outside and train this for a bit. It isn´t good to just sit in the room and talk about theory, we need some exercise!"

Lily nodded, she had to trust Lyra and Neze.

At some point, Lyra and Neze would go into the dungeon with Lily. There was a special room in one of the upper floors, monsters rarely spawned there and when they did it were only a few goblins. Adventurers used to train their magic and other skills there.

.

.

"So, this is my personal trainings area."

"It looks simple."

"I know, why make it look fancy?"

Mikoto had followed Kaguya to the part in the garden that she wanted to show her. Kaguya took her long sword with her and gave Mikoto a simple katana to practice.

"Do you know what makes a quickdraw so dangerous?"

"It is a swift attack, using the full strength and pointed at a very small area."

"Correct. If you use it perfect, then you can cut a monster´s skin that is normally too tough for you. But only when done perfect and even then you won´t defeat it in one attack. But when you are already able to penetrate a monster´s skin or scales, then the damage will increase."

The personal spot for Kaguya to practice her quickdraw technique was a tree stump on which she placed smaller logs. But not only small logs, sometimes she used bundles of bamboo tubes, the more she used, the more difficult it got.

"I will show you how I do it, then you will try your best. The katana you use isn´t the one you will have at the end, but it is enough for training. On your last day, you will get a blunt spoon, a stone pillar and I will cover your eyes. I still expect a perfect quickdraw and that you cut the stone pillar."

"How should I do that? This is impossible!"

"I know, I just wanted to mess with you."

"Mh..."

"Enough fun now, let us begin."

Kaguya placed a log ten centimeters in diameter on the stump. She surprised Mikoto when she didn´t take a stance or even focussed. Kaguya was about to turn halfway to Mikoto, then she pushed her sword just a tiny bit out of the hilt, using her thumb. The following movement was almost too quick to be seen. Kaguya´s blade cut through the log so fast, that it only parted after her blade were through it.

She just cut through ten centimeters of wood...

For a person without a Falna, this would be very hard, for Kaguya it was just a warm up.

"Now you try it, take your stance, focus."

Mikoto did as she was ordered.

"Use another stand, feet further apart."

Kaguya eyed Mikoto´s body, the way she moved and stood told her how she should stand.

Mikoto was focussed on her log, calming her breath down, waiting for a second, then she copied what Kaguya did.

With a wooden clank, the log fell over, Mikoto had hit it wrong.

"Next try."

"Yes."

Kaguya wouldn´t say something about the first try, only figures in stories did it on the first try.

On her second try, Mikoto managed to cut through the first centimeter, then the katana got stuck.

"Take it out carefully, turn the log a bit and next try."

"Yes."

The attempts went on and on. And Kaguya said "Again." over thirty times. At some point, the log broke, due to the many cuts.

"Clean and sharpen the katana, then we will continue."

"Yes."

"You are doing good so far."

"Really?"

Mikoto looked a bit down, since she didn´t manage to do it.

Kaguya nodded with a serious face. "How many martial arts did you master in just two hours?"

"None."

"Correct."

"Ms. Kag-"

"Hm?!"

Mikoto got a bit red. "Ahm...elder sister Kaguya.."

Kaguya smiled. "Better."

Auu, this is embarrassing, but she is my sword master now..

"How long did you take to master the quickdraw?"

"Do you mean Issen, Futaba or Gokou?"

Kaguya had three versions of her quickdraw technique. The first, Issen, was the one when she only used her sword. With Futaba she used a double quickdraw with her short swords. And for the last one, Gokou, she combined Issen with her magic. She had explained this to Mikoto already, but took her vow not to talk about her magic.

"Issen."

"For the simple use, a month of harsh training. But to bring it to real perfection, years. I will drill the simple use into you in eight days, so that you may rest on the last day before the wargame."

"Do you think I will be able to do it?"

"With me as your master? Of course. Now let us continue."

"Yes! Thank you, elder sister Kaguya!"

Even when it was embarrassing to call Kaguya that, Mikoto would give her all to pay Bell´s familia back and protect the honor of her familia. In the approaching wargame, she had to do her part.

Mikoto couldn´t know at this point, that she would play a very important part.

.

.

Haruhime got along pretty well with the members of the Astrea familia that teached her. She apologized that she could only talk about one of her magic spells with them, but Miach told her to never mention Uchide to anyone. It wasn´t that he didn´t trust Astrea or her children, but talking about this unique magic was just too dangerous.

She and Nahza trained most of the time with their bows, together with Laurier. But not only that, both got separated at some point. Haruhime didn´t know what they talked about with Nahza, but Ryana talked with her about magic.

Ryana was able to use fire magic, in the past she was already strong enough to burn level two members of Evilus to a crisp, now she was level four, getting close to five.

"Your yellow flames are really fascinating, to think that they gather on your tails and you can touch a weapon with them to enchant it for a while, impressive."

"Is such magic that rare?"

"Not directly. Our captain can enchant her hands, legs and her weapon with fire. But that is the point, she can only enchant herself, not others."

"Oh."

"And you said you can use it to attack someone directly?"

"Yes, when I use the command word, one of the flames shoots forward and hits the point that I am aiming at."

"How long does it last when you touch a weapon with your tail?"

"Five minutes."

"And how long do the flames last on your tails when you don´t use them?"

"Five minutes."

"Hm, so you can´t enchant a weapon and do it again when the flames vanish."

Haruhime nodded.

"Are the flames hot when they are on your tails?"

Haruhime shook her head. "Not for me. The others said they are pretty warm, but not as hot as you would expect of fire."

"So similar to Alise´s. She also doesn´t get burned by her own fire, well it´s the opposite for her. I wonder if your flames would do the same."

"What do you mean?"

"You know that our captain has the alias Phoenix?"

"Yes."

"As long as her fire enchant burns, her wounds start to heal."

"What?!"

Ryana nodded with a smile. "As long as she has enough mind power, she uses her enchant to heal herself when she gets hurt in the dungeon, to lower the burden for our healer."

"This is wonderful."

"Yeah, but it looks strange when only she gets hurt and we continue to move, with Alise burning."

"This ahm..."

"Yeah, it looks even more weird than you imagine, having a person happily laugh and chat while her arms and legs are covered in fire."

"That´s a level six for you."

"Say, what happens when you enchant your bow with the flames?"

"I didn´t try that."

"You should, come let us try it out."

.

.

The first trainings day was very exhausting for the members of the Miach familia and Mikoto. They returned home in the late afternoon, all of them covered in sweat. Astrea said she normally would let them use the shower, but they didn´t have spare clothes with them. And it would be a bit unfair, since she wouldn´t allow Bell to shower in her home.
Even when most of them were over twenty years old, Astrea´s children were still pure, unexperienced maidens. And to let a man shower in their home, even when he was alone then, was a bit too much for them for now. They had to get used to the thought before she could allow that.

Also, even when she wasn´t really mean to begin with, but Kaguya wasn´t the only one that thought what Bell might do when he was alone in the bathroom, that was normally only used by women. She was the only one that said this out loud to her familia members.

"Lena?"

"Haru?"

"What did you train today?"

"Ah, I talked with Iska about my outfit for the wargame."

"Huh?"

Lena winked. "I want to impress Bete Loga after all."

"You didn't have combat training?"

"I did, afterwards. But the outfit was more important."

"Lena..this is a serious fight, we have to give it our all."

"And we will, but trust me, how you look when you do it is important too. You should also think about your outfit."

"What do you mean?"

"We should change your usual dungeon outfit a bit, so that you look more lika a...how do you call it? A Nito?"

"Miko."

"Yeah, that."

"But why?"

Lena leaned closer and whispered. "It would surely impress a certain someone with white hair."

"L-Lena..."

Mikoto leaned close from the other side. "I agree with Ms. Lena. You will fight alongside sir Bell, you will support him, this is the perfect opportunity to forge a bond with him that will last for your entire life!"

"Auuu.."

Lena grinned. "You chickened out when we were on the 18th floor, so do it then."

"That was only because we went faster on the 18th Floor than I thought we would."

They continued to talk until they reached the point where Lena went to her room and Mikoto to her home.

But Haruhime wasn´t the only one that had a slight problem with her feelings. Lefiya sat in the room that she shared with Filvis and looked out of the window, wondering what all these new, unknown emotions in her heart were.

And Bell, he had it the hardest of the three.

Bell Cranel...felt like scum.

During the training with Alise and Ryu, he noticed something. Focussing on both at the same time was impossible, he had to turn from one to the other. Now he asked himself, was it okay to love two girls at once?
Both, Haruhime and Lefiya owned one equal part of his heart. He wished nothing more than to confess his feelings, but he didn´t know how. Confessing to both of them at once...maybe it would make them angry and they could hate him afterwards.

He wished he could talk to someone about that problem. But his Mom wasn´t the right choice, even with Welf it was too embarrassing. Maybe Miach could help him, but to think about these things when the wargame was approaching, it felt wrong.

Bell would protect Haruhime at all cost, a spark of anger was in him ever since Miach returned from the Denatus. To think how Apollo had talked about Haruhime and his Mom, let him grit his teeth. He would also protect Lefiya at all cost, he didn´t know how strong she was in close combat, but he couldn´t help but worry.

What shall I do?

The answer came when he noticed a certain god on his way home.

"Can you go ahead? I need to speak to someone."

They agreed and went on.

Bell walked in the direction of the god.

"Lord Hermes?"

"Oh, Bell, correct?"

"Yes, do you have a minute?"

"Of course."

"Ahm...how fast can you deliver a letter to "him"?"

"Hm, it would take about four days."

Four days...then four days back...it could work.

"Could you do that for me?"

"Of course, I have a contract with "him" after all. But I want something in return."

"Yes?"

Hermes smiled in a special way. "I want to see a really good show at the wargame. I want to see what you are capable of, Bell."

That you are what I hope you will.

Hermes was still disappointed after Bell had lost against Aisha in the Pleasure Quarter. His mood went up when he heard about Bell defeating an irregular and reaching level two. But Hermes longed to see Bell shine and get acknowledged by Orario. If that wouldn´t happen in the wargame, he had to do something...cruel...by himself. And if it turned out that Bell just didn't have it in him to be a hero, then Hermes would lose interest in him and end the contract with Zeus. If Bell would turn out to just be a normal adventurer, he wouldn't be worthy of his attention.

"Thank you, lord Hermes! I will give my best!"

"I´m looking forward to it."

Don´t disappoint me again, Bell.

And if it turned out that Bell had it in him to become a hero, Hermes would do his best. Not that Bell would become the hero he wanted to be, but to become the hero that the people needed, no matter what that meant for Bell. If he would be brutally honest, Hermes didn´t care about Bell as a person one bit, only what he could become. The only important thing was to finish the third of the great quests.

Hermes couldn´t know that there would be indeed something special about Bell and it wasn´t what he expected.

The only person that expected this at the moment, was an old pervert that was traveling at the moment. This old man cared far more about Bell than he did about the black dragon. Zeus felt that too many people only saw this dark menace in front of them and not the adventures that lay behind it.

.

.

"So goddess Astrea is really helping you behind the scenes."

"Ahm no, Mom. Only her followers, they said she has nothing to do with it."

"Bell, you still have to learn much about politics. Do you think a familia that adores it´s goddess so much would ask her to let them help? You can bet that this came from her, even when some of her followers like you."

"But...wouldn´t this break the rules of the wargame?"

"Gods can be cunning, especially this one."

"Lady Astrea seemed to be very nice."

"And she is, but her blood probably boiles that god Apollo made lord Miach agree to the wargame before anyone could do something. God Apollo knew exactly what he did, otherwise he would get a problem with god Ganesha and her."

"Then why can´t they cancel the wargame?"

"The rules of the gods. Wargames and the rules for it exist longer than goddess Astrea took her role in Orario."

"Isn´t this just more complicated than it has to be?"

Alfia slightly shrugged her shoulders. "Gods have a lot of time, for them this is entertainment."

Bell rolled his eyes. "Very entertaining..."

Alfia put her arm around Bell and pulled him gently closer. Both sat on a hill in the part of Orario where many abandoned buildings were. It was already night and the moon was high up in the sky.

"Do your best, you can do i-*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*"

"Mom?!"

"*Cough* It´s..*Cough*..okay. Don´t worry.."

"Easy for you to say."

Ever since Alfia visited the education district and put her mind power into the special crystal orb there, her condition got worse. Even if she wanted to help Bell in the wargame, she couldn´t. It took most of her strength just to walk to this hill with him.

But it was worth it, to spend some time with Bell.

"I hope I find the other ingredients soon."

He was afraid of losing her, Alfia could see that.

"I´m sure you will, sweety. You can do everything."

"But first we need to win the wargame. I will give my best, I swear it."

"I´m sure you will. But to think that you would one day train with goddess Astrea´s captain and that elf. Is the training hard?"

"They don't hold back very much, but I wouldn't want it any other way either."

Bell smiled slightly. "But, I´m used to a much stronger opponent."

"This is very nice of you, sweety. But you never saw me in my prime."

"I don´t think I would´ve survived the training if you were in your prime and gave your all."

"No, but I could never do that to you."

They leaned their heads against each other, just enjoying a bit of mother and son time.

And then after a while, Bell dared to ask a question.

"Mom?.."

"Yes?"

"Were you...ever in love?"

Alfia´s heart skipped a beat.

Don´t tell me...is it finally happening to him? I´m not prepared for that...

"No, there was never a man that caught my interest."

She had told him in the past that the man she was closest to was Zard. And the two had been something more like uncle and niece, if Alfia had been a few years younger she could easily have passed as his niece.

"Oh, okay..."

"Do you..have a question, Bell?"

"N-No, it´s okay, don´t worry."

Bell lost his courage too fast and Alfia wouldn´t ask him anything if he didn´t want to talk about it.

Who...who is it that is turning my son's head...

Nahza was out of the picture, as well as Lena.

That samurai girl? Liliruca? *gasp* That cunning vixen?! Or one of the justice girls?!

No matter who it was, the girl that wanted to have Bell had to get past Alfia.

Bell and Alfia kept sitting side by side, thankfully it was a warm night and looked up to the moon.

Bell, give it your all, Meteria will watch you too.

.

.

A week passed soon, Welf still couldn´t leave the forge, preparing everything took it´s time. Every morning, the group went to the Stardust Garden to continue the training. They got along very well with Astrea´s children and the goddess was glad that her girls found new friends.

Astrea itself was not idle either. She held conversations with Ganesha and also with Ouranos. There was nothing they could do about the current situation that didn't smell like favoritism, but they had plans for the future. Behavior like Apollo's was intolerable. Astrea argued that they hadn't fought so hard during the Dark Ages, only for hedonism, extortion, and other crimes to plague Orario.

There were things they could never change, or it would look like tyranny. They had enough experience to know what happened when one or two gods had absolute supremacy in Orario. While it was fairly safe under Zeus and Hera, the depths seethed. It was Ouranos who made the decisive argument. Loki and Freya. Her familias were still clearly too strong for Astrea, even with Ganesha's help.

It was unlikely that Loki would ever turn Orario into a battlefield to please a whim or subjugate the others. Even if the goddess wanted this, most of her children would probably not go along with it. In addition, the Loki familia had their job and knew about things that most people in Orario were not allowed to know. The unpredictable factor was Freya. Ouranos didn't want to take the fight to the strongest familias, he had enough to do with his prayers for the dungeon. The problem, however, was that he was so engrossed in prayers to keep the dungeon quiet that he couldn't do much on the surface, he was just too busy.

During most of the talks, a hooded figure in a wide robe was present.

"What we would need would be something like reinsurance. Something or someone that we could draw on. Just in case, of course."

"I agree with you, young Fels. What I plan isn´t absolute control but...Justice."

Ouranos lips twitched in the slightest possible smile.

"Because this is your nature, Astrea."

Ganesha crossed his muscular arms. "But what would that be? Poseidon and his captain are fare away at the sea and they don´t care much about Orario and our problems. Also, these are our problems."

They came to no conclusion, after a while, Fels´ hood turned to Astrea again.

"How is the training for the wargame going on?"

Astrea shook her head. "This isn´t training for a wargame, it is just a friendly training exercise between two familias."

Ganesha grinned.

"You know what I mean, goddess Astrea."

"They are doing well. One of them seems to be...special."

"And who might that be?"

"Their vice-captain, Bell Cranel. Miach told me that Bell is the captain when it comes to the dungeon. He is really strong and there is something special about him, I can feel that."

"Bell Cranel...he defeated the irregular infant dragon."

"Yes, he is training with my adorable Alise and Ryu currently. I´ve never seen a fresh level two that is this strong. Alise said his fighting style is that of a veteran adventurer."

"He is one of the demands that god Apollo made in case he wins the wargame."

Ouranos closed his eyes to focus on his prayers. "Fels, keep an eye on him."

"I already planned to do that."

Astrea looked at Fels. "But not while they train, Ryu will most likely notice you."

"Understood. But to think that he trains with two level six adventurers, impressive."

Not one of the four knew, that Bell was chased by three level six adventurers in the moment.

.

.
"Toooouuuuuuh!"

"Hiiiiii!"

Bell barely evaded when the giant, double sided sword came down on him.

"You are really fast!"

A grinning amazon chased Bell, while Alise and Ryu took a break.

"She seems to have fun."

"Indeed."

"You don´t think she is a spy for the Loki familia?"

Alise smiled wryly. "To be honest, I would believe it if it were any other member of this familia, but not her."

A day ago while they trained and Bell needed to catch his breath, Ryu had whispered to Alise.

"Someone is watching us."

"I had the guess, where?"

"The tower behind us."

"Then we s-"

"Heeeey, could I join you perhaps?!"

Alise and Ryu turned around. Tiona Hiryute sat on the edge of the tower, let her feet dangle down, her beloved Urga next to her.

"Crusher, what are you doing here?" Alise was the one that made a step forward.

Tiona jumped from the tower down to the wall.

"I noticed that you were fighting here for a while. It looks like quite the fun and no one in my familia has time to come into the dungeon with me or wants to spar."

To a certain degree, Ryu´s ears were able to notice it when someone tried to lie, except when this someone was really used to that. But Tiona was just honest.

"Ooooh! Aren´t you the new record holder, who beat Ais´ time by a lot?!"

"Fueh?"

Bell looked up from his place on the floor, he had trouble to get back onto his feet.

Alise shook her head. "We don´t have time for a spar, Crusher. Every moment is needed to train him."

"Then can I join? The more the merrier, right?"

Tiona´s eyes sparkled.

Ryu and Alise looked at each other, but it was Bell who gave the answer.

"Huff...Huff...I will have...Huff...many opponents against me anyway..."

And then something happened, that would mark the start of a strong friendship.

""Just like Leontus.""

Bell and Tiona spoke in the same moment.

"Eh, you know about king Leontus?"

Bell nodded. "Of course, he and his two hundred and ninety-nine men fought against a giant horde of monsters."

"And what about the hero Albert? Or have you heard the name Argonaut?!"

"Of course."

Alise and Ryu watched a bit baffled as Tiona asked Bell question after question and he could answer them all. They had no real idea what they were talking about.

Alise leaned to Ryu after Bell and Tiona talked about the three ancient bards. "Hey Leon, I have heard the name Wishe before somewhere."

"This is the forest that Lefiya comes from, an ancient name."

"Hah."

Tiona whirled around to Ryu and Alise.

"I can help you to train him! You will let me, right? Right?!"

That they agreed made Tiona really happy. The amazon got even more happy when she bumped into Bell at some point, touching his arm with her chest. He squeaked embarrassed and got red, that he reacted to her like that made Tiona insanely happy.

Bell not so much after a few minutes, since Tiona could barely hold back then and went all out.

His grandfather would be really proud, that three pretty women chased him like that.

And no matter how often Bell hit the ground, he always got up again, even when Ryu had to heal him again and again. It was good that Tiona was there, so Ryu could take short breaks and drink a mana potion.

She wondered how strong he would become before the wargame. Ryu guessed that if Bell would be stronger, they would have a hard time against him. His sword fighting style was something else, not perfect, but he was on a good way.

Miach would wait to update the status of his children for the day before the wargame.

And Tiona would´ve to explain to her familia when the wargame started, why the Loki familia received a huge bill for a damaged part of Orario´s wall.

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.

At the evening of the last training day, they thanked the Astrea familia for helping them so much. Strangely, Mikoto thanked two people especially. Kaguya, everyone was surprised that she called her "Elder sister", and the dark elf of the familia. No one had seen the face of the dark elf, it was constantly covered by a veil when they were there, only her mouth was visible.

Bell saw that the lips of the dark elf twitched a bit, she only spoke softly.

"Thou shall use the darkness within thee, young on´. Bring horror and have a good hunt."

Mikoto bowed again. "Thank you so much!"

I wonder what she is talking about?

Bell saw that not only Lily, but Lena too had a giant backpack with her. As well as a few bundles to their feet.

Lyra looked at these two for a moment.

"You have checked the list and everything is there?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Of course you will give it back when the wargame is over."

"Yes!"

Astrea was the last that talked to them.

"I wish you all good luck, do your best. Bell, do you have a moment?"

"Of course, lady Astrea."

Astrea led Bell into the garden, which was quite the sight in the evening, due to the white flowers. She closed the door and made sure that no one could hear them.

"Bell, I am sorry that this all is happening, we should´ve done something in the past, that something like this wouldn´t happen. I know it is too late and won´t help you much, but I promise to you, we will do something about these "loopholes" that Apollo used to force your familia."

"It isn´t your fault, lady Astrea."

"It is in part. I swore to protect Justice and it looks like I am doing a lousy job. Something will change after the wargame, I promise this to you. But...please win."

Astrea bowed slightly forward to show how sorry she was, Bell immediatelly looked away.

"L-Lady Astrea, please don´t bow."

"It is oka-"

"Not in this dress at least!"

"Hm? Oh..."

Astrea got up again and smiled a bit abashed. "I´m sorry, the only man that I am used to is Ganesha. And my girls don´t mind it, I forgot for a moment that you are a growing young man. Are you really that fascinated by my chest?"

Her apology got awkward for Bell pretty fast.

"Bell?"

"Yes?"

"I entrust my beloved child to you, please take care of Lefiya and make sure that nothing happens to her, okay?"

"I will, I promise you that!"

Alise would probably have noticed that Astrea's phrase sounded more like that of a mother whose daughter was about to date a man.

"Bell, there is something I want to tell you...to make up for my mistake a little bit."

"What is it, lady Astrea?"

She moved closer and leaned to his ear, whispering softly.

"Lefiya loves strawberries and grapes that are covered in chocolate."

Then she moved away, smiling so innocent and gentle as always.

"Eh? Why are you telling me this?"

Her smile widened.

"I see how you look at Lefiya."

"Iiiih!" Bell got red instantly.

"I-I-I-I have no idea what you are talking about!"

"Bell, I am a goddess and live in the mortal world for quite a while now. I know how a young man looks like at a woman when he is in love."

"Argh."

"Bell?"

"Y-Yes?"

"Since you two are from different familias, you know the rule, right?"

"Yes..."

"Then I will tell you, as Lefiya´s goddess, I have nothing against it."

"Huh?"

He saw Astrea smiling in a motherly way. "It is okay with me if you want to court her. I don´t know how she feels, but you have my blessing. That you are in a different familia doesn´t matter, all I want for my girls is that they become happy."

Bell didn´t know how to answer. While it was really nice to tell him that, it didn´t help with Bell´s problem.

"Thank you, lady Astrea."

The goddess winked mischievously. "But I will let you have only one of my girls."

"Understood."

After they went inside again, the Astrea familia wished them good luck again when they left the house. The only one that didn´t say anything was Lefiya, she was very quiet at that evening.

Since she didn´t understood what was wrong with her, Lefiya asked Astrea later that evening for advice. When Lefiya got close to Bell or Haruhime after these two had training, her cheeks felt hot for some reason. She didn´t react in any way to the others, only to these two. Lefiya guessed that perhaps she had been repelled by his smell, since he was a sweating man, but she didn´t understood her reaction to Haruhime.

Astrea told her that the whole situation was unusual for her and it could be Lefiya´s sense of Justice, since these two were the target of Apollo.

By herself, Astrea thought something else.

So she already reacts to his smell? Ehehe. But to her too? Oh my, Lefiya...two at once?

Whatever it was that Lefiya´s heart wanted, even if the pure elf didn´t understand it right now, Astrea supported her and wished her good luck.

That a second child of her was slowly falling in love made the goddess really happy.

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And then came the last day before the wargame, not one of them was allowed to train on this day. But Mikoto came over so that they could talk about something important. Miach and Alfia would support the group as much as they could. Miach went every day into the city and bought ingredients for potions. He prepared everything, but Nahza made them every evening. Alfia was more direct, she went to the shop of the Dian Cecht familia and bought potions there. Not of the highest class, that would be suspicious, but an amount of potions that were enough for an expedition of a lower class familia.

Alfia tried to help Miach to prepare the ingredients first, but she was nearly constantly sick. So instead she remained on her couch, while the handsome god took care of her. During that time, Miach learned how dangerous Alfia could be. She had enough time to think, so it was Alfia that formed the strategy for the wargame.

She made the list of things that they would need. After explaining the strategy to Miach at first, the god got a bit pale.

"Isn´t this a bit...cruel? You are aware that all of Orario will watch the wargame?"

"I am aware. They deserve it. Also, we have to use what we can."

Alfia´s strategy was called: "Lowering" the enemy´s status.

She bought one additional item, which she would hand over to Mikoto, she would be the best to use it.

When she heard about the plan, Mikoto looked a bit uneasy. "Lady Alfia, are you sure this is okay to do?"

"Do you have a problem with it?"

"To be honest, yes. It sounds a bit dishonorable."

"And that´s why you are the perfect one to do it. You will make sure that no one gets hurt when you do it, correct?"

"At least that no one dies."

"You are facing an opponent with over a hundred people. Also, this is the perfect job for a ninja, don´t you think. You won´t stain your honor, but you will show how dangerous it is to mess with god Miach´s and your familia."

"Understood."

Alfia handed Mikoto a sealed box.

"Be careful with it."

"Yes."

Mikoto nodded and carefully took the box.

"Liliruca?"

"Yes, lady Alfia?"

"It is your job to make sure that everything happens in order."

"Yes, Lily remembers the whole plan."

Every single one of them had a role to play in the strategy. Not one of them would´ve been able to form such a strategy. Alfia told them that adventurers tended to forget the basic of the basics sometimes.

It was the last time they would talk about the strategy, they should use the day to relax.

But at first, it was Welf´s turn to surprise them with the finished products. Mikoto´s eyes shone when she unsheathed her new katana for the first time. The blade itself was black, only the cutting edge was silvery. Strangely, even the cutting edge didn´t reflect the light, it was the perfect weapon for someone who wanted to sneak around.

Mikoto swore again, that she would help the party as long as necessary to pay her and her familia´s debt back. Her honor forbid her to accept a no.

But what caught everyones attention were Lily´s armor and spear, and Bell´s new shield.

After handing out the new equipment, it was Miach´s time to do his job.

"Mikoto, Takemikazuchi already updated your status?"

"Yes, he did it this morning."

"Good, then I will do my job now for you others."

One by one, Miach´s children followed him to a separate room, to get their status updated. Bell would be the last.

Haruhime was the first to go.

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Haruhime Sanjouno

Belongs to: Miach Familia

Level: 1

Strength: E 401

Endurance: E 404

Dexterity: F 399

Agility: F 350

Magic: S 980 (+30)

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Many jaws dropped when they heard about Haruhime´s magic stat.

"What is this?! nine hundred and eighty plus thirty?! Doesn´t this make over a thousand?! This is incredible, Haruhime!"

Mikoto beamed in joy when she saw how strong her friend had become.

Miach shook his head slightly. "The plus thirty was there ever since she got her tails, I can just guess that they are the reason for it."

The god smiled.

"You really worked hard during your training, Haruhime. With this status you could level up, when you do a great deed."

Leveling up...that means...getting closer to Bell.

Haruhime had worked really hard during the last nine days, practicing with ber bow and fire magic. An idea came up in her after Lena´s words, a battle Miko...that would be something nice.

Lily was the next.

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Liliruca Arde

Belongs to: Miach Familia

Level: 1

Strength: F 380

Endurance: E 400

Dexterity: F 399

Agility: D 520

Magic: E 480

.

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"Woah, Lily! You really got strong!"

Bell looked amazed at his friend.

"Ms. Lily, this is wonderful!" Haruhime clapped happy.

Lily looked with big eyes at her sheet.

"This is, Lily´s status? Wow...such big numbers..."

Miach smiled proud. "You really worked hard, Lily."

"Hehe, it looks like the beating that Lily received from lady Alfia was worth it."

"What did you just say?..."

Lily didn´t shrink back, she turned her face to Alfia and smiled brightly, tears of happiness in her eyes. "That Lily wants to thank you, lady Alfia."

"Ahm..good. We will continue your training after the wargame."

"Thank you so much, master!"

Lily managed to do something that was rare, she made Alfia a tiny bit flustered when she called her master. Alfia "blamed" Bell that he was the reason why she had changed and opened her heart to other people.

Nahza accompanied Miach next.

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Nahza Erisuis

Belongs to: Miach

Level: 2

Strength: G 250

Endurance: G 299

Dexterity: F 320

Agility: F 380

Magic: G 201

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Her status didn´t improve that much, because she was at level two and had other things to do too. But there was something in her status that confused some of the others.

"Ahm, why is it written "Belongs to: Miach" and not "Miach Familia"?" Bell looked really confused.

Nahza smiled lovingly. "Because it is true, I belong to Miach."

She looked amurous at him, leaning a bit forward. But Alfia coughed and Nahza stopped from kissing Miach. It was only a slight mistake with the runes, but this "typing error" made Nahza really happy.

Lena was next.

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Lena Tally

Belongs to: Miach Familia

Level: 2

Strength: E 420

Endurance: E 401

Dexterity: D 500

Agility: A 850

Magic: I 0

.

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Haruhime´s and Mikoto´s eyes went wide.

""Agility 850?!""

Lena grinned. "Hehe, my hard work pays off."

Someone else would´ve called it, chasing the target of her love and preparing like a maniac for the wargame to impress him.

Even when there wasn´t a skill for it, Lena got fired up by the power of love.

And the desire to have Bete Loga´s children...

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Even when she wasn´t part of the familia, Mikoto showed them her sheet after asking Takemikazuchi for permission.

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Mikoto Yamato

Belongs to: Takemikazuchi Familia

Level: 2

Strength: H 151

Endurance: H 194

Dexterity: G 215

Agility: F 320

Magic: H 149

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Mikoto wasn´t that long at level two, but for that time, her status was pretty good.

"Wow, an F in Agility, you really worked hard with lady Kaguya."

Mikoto smiled after Haruhime´s praise. "I still have a long way to go."

Bell smiled. "It still is amazing, Ms. Mikoto. But I thought your first name is Yamato?"

Mikoto shook her head. "When I introduce myself as Yamato Mikoto, I do it in the far eastern way, we call our last name first."

"Oh!"

Haruhime never did that, because she didn´t use her last name anymore. But maybe...there was a chance for her to get another last name one day...like Cranel...

And then...Bell followed Miach.

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The reactions this time were a bit different. It was Bell´s first status update since he went up to level two.

"Ahm..."

"Is this...real?"

"Is Mr. Bell cheating?"

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Bell Cranel

Belongs to: Miach Familia

Level: 2

Strength: G 301 (+10)

Endurance: F 410 (+10)

Dexterity: H 250 (+10)

Agility: H 299 (+10)

Magic: H 220 (+10)

Ability unlocked

Argonaut: Two sided skill, passive and active.

Active: Charging up by using the trigger, use increases attack or ability for a while

Passive: The ship of Heroes (No explanation), Herculean task fulfilled: 1, grants bonus to every status. Allows to break through natural limit.

Swordsman: H

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Most of them were stunned, they had never seen such a jump in status at once.

"Bell...what kind of beating did you receive by Astrea´s children?"

"Ahm...it was quite hard."

All of them looked at him amazed. Alfia was surprisingly quiet.

Breaking through the natural limit? Does that mean...like me?

Her heart felt very warm, filled with pride in Bell.

"Wow, Bell..this is something else. And your swordsman went up to H already." Welf nodded amazed.

"Ahm well, we all worked hard, ehehe."

Bell wondered if the Herculean task was that he got chased and attacked by three level six adventurers for days, with barely any break in between.

One question remained, would it be enough?

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.

They all relaxed as much as possible, Mikoto just practiced with her new katana a bit, while Lily checked if her armor fit as it should be.

And Bell sat alone on the couch in a moment when everyone else was outside, unfolding the letter that he received.

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Hey Bell.

Congratulations on reaching level two, I knew you could do it. And just three months after you came to Orario...this is my grandson!

The news of the wargame is annoying, but I have full faith in you, you can do this.

To your dilemma, what can I say... I'm so proud of you! Not only did you catch your eye on a beautiful fox girl, no, an elegant elf too! That speaks of true taste and you make your grandfather very proud!

Let me give you some advice as someone who has lived a very long time and loved a lot. The heart wants what it wants, don't be ashamed or grieved that you set your eyes on two young ladies.

You're just like your grandfather there, believe me. I don't say you should two-timing them, but try to get closer to both first.

I could give you some advice how I would do it, but you're not me. Besides, your mother would then be chasing me across the country, and I've got enough to do just escaping Hera.

I just want to give you one tip, love is what counts for elves, gender doesn't mean much there. And in the Far East, it's not uncommon for a man to have more than one wife. But the most important thing is that the two have to like each other, heaven if they even had feelings for each other that would be perfect! Get closer to them and get to know them, there's nothing wrong with loving more than one woman, just don't try to form a harem or your mother will send me back to heaven and I'd like to stay here for a while.

Anyway, you have my blessing.

I don't wish you success for the wargame, you don't need that. You are the son of the two strongest familias that ever existed. And since Apollo has his eye on one of your sweethearts, protect her at all costs. And your elf too, of course, don't let anyone touch their hair. A man must protect his lover!

I'll watch the wargame and cheer.

Get 'em down, Bell!

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Bell smiled after reading the letter. It didn´t solve his problem, but he felt a bit at ease now.

Thank you, Grandpa.

He looked at the letter again when he noticed a small arrow in the bottem edge on the right side. Bell turned the letter and read an additional line.

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Ps: Introduce me to the two beauties when you conquered their hearts! And I expect many great-grandchildren in the future!

Hah...this is a bit too fast, Grandpa.

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At the next morning, everyone gathered close to one of Orario´s gates. Lily, Lena, Bell and Welf carried giant backpacks, they really had a lot of stuff with them. Everyone else had normal backpacks, Mikoto´s was a bit bigger than the other normal ones.

Alfia already wished Bell good luck when they left her house.

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It was time for the wargame.

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And it would be a wargame that Orario had never seen before or would ever forget.

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