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Is It Wrong For The Devil To Fool Around In Orario?
Chapter 2
The Salome
Lucifer was no stranger to finding himself in unpleasant situations, the most famous example undoubtably being his failed rebellion and being forced to rule Hell afterword's. However, there were numerous other instances over the eons when Lucifer had gotten himself into some rather awkward situations. Some examples were Adam walking up to him and Eve as they were inventing the reverse cowgirl (the name came later as the two were more focused on getting the position just right than giving it a name), Lucifer attempting to flirt with Cleopatra in front of Caesar during their tour on the Nile, and attempting to set up his own brewery in Chicago during prohibition, a business venture Al Capone had decidedly not appreciated if the hail of bullets sent his way by the Capone's gang was any indication. Yes, Lucifer had gotten himself into some unpleasant situations over the eons but he found himself stumped on how to deal with the little white haired one that had tackled him to the ground that morning.
In the past the answer to these problems was usually to enjoy the fact that he was invulnerable to mundane forms of harm like fists, swords, or bullets, accept that it was time to go and then leave the enraged individuals in the dust with a few flaps of his wings. Unfortunately, Lucifer was prevented from using this tried-and-true method of dealing with his problems as his word prevented him from simply fleeing from the young man who was following him down the stairs as he headed towards the club's kitchen on the ground floor.
As the two descended the stairs Lucifer thought about the events from last night that had landed him in this sticky situation.
/
The night had started off well enough with the two sitting at the bar drinking together while the club had quickly filled with patrons. After Lucifer felt that there were enough patrons, he had taken Bell around to meet a few of the higher-level ones he knew. The meetings had started of cordial enough with the adventurers usually glad to let Lucifer sit and talk with them while they enjoyed the girls' performances, but it seemed that the conversation would always sour when Lucifer brought up the topic of Bell Looking for a familia. The adventurers would scrutinize Bell for a moment before coming up with some excuse as to why they thought he wouldn't be a good fit for their familia or how it wasn't their decision to make on who did or did not get to join their familia and that Lucifer should take it up with their god.
These mostly polite refusals had irked Lucifer and left Bell disheartened and so Lucifer had decided to change strategy and wait for one of his divine patrons to arrive so that he could simply ask whatever god showed up directly to allow Bell into their familia. Unfortunately, that night had been one of the few in memory where no god showed up to spend their familia's money to flirt with the girls so that idea proved fruitless as well.
As the night progressed Lucifer had begun to drink more than usual to deal with his annoyance at being made to look bad in front of Bell while Bell himself had gotten several more drinks to deal with his disappointment. Realizing how their moods were souring Lucifer had tried to distract himself and Bell by ordering more drinks for the two of them and sitting them down to enjoy the girls' dances. The alcohol and swaying hips had done wonders to distract the two and before either of them knew it most of the night had passed and the patrons were either beginning to leave or were taken up to the second floor by one of the girls leaving the two of them to realize they were probably not going to solve Bell's dilemma that night.
With that realization Lucifer decided to show Bell to the third floor "These rooms are for guests and employees to stay in. don't worry about being kept up by the fun on the second floor, I made sure to soundproof the rooms so that those that wanted could sleep in peace. Pick any room you want except the closest one on the left here, that's Maze's room."
With that Lucifer began to stumble up the stairs to his penthouse before stopping to look back at Bell, who had a dazed but disappointed look on his face. This caused Lucifer to sigh before he let out a quick whistle to get Bell's attention and gestured for him to follow. With that he led the boy up into his penthouse and gestured for him to sit on the couch while he wobbled his way over to his private bar to pour two more drinks for them. When he had managed to get most of the two glasses full (and a good bit of the counter wet) he went over and pushed one into Bell's hand while he took a seat in one of the chairs across from the couch.
"I realize tonight has not gone quite according to plan" Lucifer said slowly to make sure he spoke clearly "But I just want to assure you again that we WILL solve your problem by tomorrow night at the latest. I don't make promises lightly and have no intention of breaking one once it is made."
Bell just sat on the couch for a moment and stared into his glass before he began to tear up and had to wipe his eyes with the back of his sleeve "T-Thank you Mr. Lucifer. I really do appreciate all of this. It feels like this is the first time anyone has really tried to help me since my grandfather….." Bell stopped as he wiped his eyes again.
"No no no, none of that, I hate it when people mix tears and good alcohol." Lucifer said as he Shakily set down his own drink on the short table between them. "I have given you my word that I WILL take care of your familia problems! So I WILL find a way to solve this even if I have to move the heavens and the bloody earth to do it! If there is one thing this city will know about me it is that I am a devil of my word!"
Ending his short rant Lucifer sank back into his chair as Bell looked at his with bleary eyed gratitude, slowly swaying side to side as he had trouble maintaining his balance.
"What we need to do is show them that you have what it takes to be a real top notch adventurer! "Lucifer quickly stood up…. Only to fall back into the seat as he lost his balance. "We need them to see that you can back up those big city dreams! Or are they big dungeon dreams? Either way proof that's the key, once we have that they'll be chomping at the bit to let you in!"
"But- but how do we get proof?" Bell said as he continued to sway back and forth. "You're not allowed to go into the dungeon without a falna and you need to join a familia to get one."
At that Lucifer leaned forward and placed his head on his hands "Falna, that's the thing that thing gives the adventurers their powers, right? Goes on the back and looks like a tattoo, right?"
Bell nodded unsteadily "It's a divine blessing that shows the connection between a god and their child, proof that there are now family. The god uses their own divine blood to inscribe it onto their child's back creating a connection between them."
Lucifer unceremoniously blew a raspberry at Bell's description of the gods and their "children" and sunk back into his chair before suddenly bolting to his feet again. He began to stumble his way towards the bookshelf on shaky feet.
"So, to put it simply all you need to make a falna is a bit of celestial power and blood, right? Then why don't we just do that ourselves?"
Bell just stared at Lucifer incomprehensibly as Lucifer began to rummage through the shelves. Seeing Bell's lack of response Lucifer continued. "We just need to give you a falna and wow them with what your able to do with it! We could send you into the dungeon and have you collect a shit ton of those magic stones this city runs on and then just drop them at their feet and go "oh these, this is just what I was able to collect during a short walk in the dungeon, no big deal" and then everyone's going to be begging to have you join them! A quick little test run to show them what you can do!"
Lucifer finally stopped as he found what he was looking for and turned back to face Bell with a small, curved, pitch black dagger in his hand. Bell just leaned back with a worried look and nearly fell of the couch as Lucifer approached him. "No need to worry the knifes not for you. Its just an old present Maze gave me in case I, and I quote, "get tired of dealing with people just by punching them" but don't worry it's not your blood I need to get to. Now if you would kindly take off your shirt and lay on your front we can get started."
Bell was still deeply confused but was to inebriated to really worry what Lucifer was doing after he assured him the dagger wasn't for him, so he did as Lucifer said and laid down on the couch. Lucifer meanwhile walked up to stand beside Bell and pricked his finger with the knife while calling upon his powers as a celestial being.
Lucifer had seen what falna looked like before on the backs of several female adventurers he had become "acquainted" with and did his best to copy what he remembered of the set up onto Bell's back with his blood. Once he finished with the simple things like name and the list of stats he turned his attention to the space above the words were the gods emblem was supposed to be placed. It felt wrong to leave it blank so Lucifer decided to fill it in with a simple pentagram and a pair of flame motifs on either side. With the actual writing finished Lucifer placed his finger on Bell's back and channeled some of his divine energy into the markings he had just made. The blood then lit up with a bright red color and seemed to hover off Bells back for a second before lowering back down onto his skin again.
Pleased with his immensely clever solution to their problem Lucifer Stood up and waited to receive Bell's words of praise. He stood there for a good minute before realizing that Bell had nodded of at some point during the process.
Disappointed that he wouldn't get to be showered with accolades for his idea just yet but still feeling like he had already solved their problem Lucifer left Bell to rest on the couch and went into his bedroom to turn in for the night, confident that his decision would still be the right one when he woke up the next morning.
/
'I was wrong' the now very hung over and very lucid Lucifer thought as he walked into the kitchen alongside Bell 'So, sooooo wrong.'
Oh current Lucifer could see the logic behind drunken Lucifer's decision well enough. Give Bell a chance to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could indeed be a worthwhile addition to any familia by having him prove himself in the dungeon before showing the gods the results. It would also let Lucifer see if Bell had what it took himself so that if it appeared Bell didn't have the skills necessary to be an adventurer then Lucifer could change gears and try to get him into one of the business oriented familia, potentially saving the boy from being smeared across the floor of the dungeon. If it succeeded fantastic and if not then he could steer the boy towards a career path that was less likely to kill him.
What drunken Lucifer had forgotten however was that by placing his own falna on Bell's back he had unintentionally just made Bell the first member of his own familia, his first "child" as most of the gods of the city referred to it. The thought of having a "child" resulted in Lucifer feeling a knot form in his stomach that did nothing to help with his hangover.
Ever since arriving in Orario and learning about the odd little games the gods played with their familia's Lucifer had been adamant in his desire to stay the hell out of all that nonsense. Not only did the thought of having children fill him with a vague sense of nausea but he had little interest joining the perpetual phallus measuring competition that went on between the various familia's. Lucifer had left Hell with two very simple objectives, to flip his father the biggest bird he could and to enjoy all of what the mortal world had to offer. He had no interest in getting caught up in the endless game of one upmanship that all pantheons seemed to suffer from and simply wanted to sit back and enjoy himself.
As Lucifer strode into the kitchen he saw that Mazikeen was already up and sipping on a cup of coffee. The demon turned to look at him and immediately grasping his hung over status poured him a cup of coffee and handed it to him. Lucifer gratefully accepted the cup and took a sip, feeling the warmth and caffeine quickly begin to return some semblance of his usual energy to him. As he took a second sip he realized that Bell was still standing next to him, looking up at him.
"Um Lucifer" Bell said with a questioning tone.
"Yes?" Lucifer replied as he continued to sip.
"I was just thinking about last night and realized I don't actually know who gave me my falna last night." Bell's face scrunched up in a look of concern. "Do you remember which god it was? Did they leave me here to rest or did they leave me here because…." Bell trailed off as the concern in his voice became clearer. This caused Lucifer to let out a tired sigh and put down his cup.
"About that Bell." Lucifer began somewhat awkwardly "It wasn't one of the gods that put the falna on your back. The truth is that mark happens to be my own handiwork."
Bell just stood there looking up at Lucifer as his expression changed to one of confusion "Yours? I don't understand. I know it works and forgive me for saying this but you don't seem like a god to me Mr. Lucifer. I mean I am thankful for everything but you don't feel like a deusdea to me."
Lucifer just sighed and began to draw out his own celestial nature so that it could be felt in the air around him. While releasing his wings or showing his devil face would normally be his preferred method of clueing sceptics in on his true nature they were not the only ways he or his siblings had of letting people know they were a bit more than human. But while the gods of this world were usually happy to walk around with their divinity plain to sense Lucifer and his siblings preferred to suppress their divine aura when they went down to the earth because they were usually there on personal matters and didn't want to be unnecessarily bothered. Besides, both he and most of his brother and sisters felt that their wings made a more impressive display when they wanted to let someone know exactly what they really were.
Bell's eyes began to widen as he felt Lucifers divine aura being released until they were practically bulging out of their sockets as he stared at The Devil. He just stood there stammering for a moment before he reached his hand out towards Lucifer's before he stopped and began to bend his knees before stopping again, evidently unable to decide between shaking his hand or kneeling before him. However, before he could do either Lucifer grabbed him by the shoulders and stood him up straight in front of him.
"I would prefer you not make too much of a fuss out of this." Lucifer explained as he sealed his aura back inside himself. "I keep my aura suppressed because I would prefer to not deal with the hassle that comes with it. So, if we could just keep on like we did yesterday that would be preferred."
"But I cant just do that!" Bell said in a scandalized tone, "Your one of the gods and mortals are supposed to show respect to gods! And more than that you're the god who finally helped me become an adventurer when no one else was willing to give me a chance! How can I not respect you after everything you've done for me?"
Lucifer felt distinctly uncomfortable as Bell praised him and he struggled to think of something to say to calm him down. "Well, I did give you my word that I would help with your problem and I am nothing if not a Devil of my word. Now do you happen to remember if there is anything else that needs to be done before you can become an official adventurer or are you allowed to just walk into the dungeon and begin hunting? I never really bothered to look into the process of how this is all done."
This did cause Bell to calm down for a moment as he adopted a thoughtful posture and took a moment to think. "If I remember correctly all I should need to do is head down to The Guild and register as an adventurer before I can go into the dungeon. They have these little lamp shaped magic items that let them know if someone really has a falna or not so now that I have one all I should need to do is fill out some paperwork." Bell looked up at Lucifer questioningly. "I don't know how long the paperwork is supposed to take so do you think I should go and get started now?"
Seeing a chance Lucifer jumped on it. "Yes, I think that would probably be best. In my experience paperwork always seems to take longer than you think it will and that's not even considering how long the wait is. How about you head down to The Guild and get started. If they have any questions for your god just tell them that I was indisposed, and they can come down to the Salome anytime if they need me to answer some questions."
Bell grinned with clear excitement before he headed out the kitchen door and could be heard running towards the front entrance. Lucifer just stood there for a moment feeling drained before he picked up his colder cup of coffee and began to drink the rest of it while trying to figure out what his next move was. He finished his cup before he heard a few very loud and forced coughs behind him before he remembered that Maze had been in the kitchen for that entire exchange. Turning around to face her he found Maze staring at him with a look that clearly said "What have you done now?"
Lucifer just let out a suffering sigh. "You don't happen to know how adventuring and familia's are supposed to work do you? I never really bothered to pay attention when it came up before."
Maze just crossed her arms and let out a short huff of her own. "Not really but I think some of the girls and patrons are still up on the second floor. You could always ask some of them for an explanation as they leave if you really want an answer."
Lucifer nodded at Maze's suggestion and headed for the front entrance to catch anyone who was trying to leave. As he walked out the kitchen door he heard Maze speak up behind him.
"Just to let you know I would rather burn this place to the ground than cut back to make it more "child friendly". Just keep that in mind before you think about recruiting more brats alright."
Lucifer just let out another sigh "Believe me Maze this wasn't exactly part of the plan. Hopefully I can find a way out of this without breaking my word." And with that Lucifer proceeded towards the front in the hopes of catching anyone with more knowledge on the subject of adventurers than he and Maze possessed.
/
The Guild
Bell could barely keep himself from bouncing from one foot to the other with how excited he was as he waited in line inside of The Guild. Finally, after all his years of dreaming of adventure all that stood between him and beginning was just a few sheets of paper and he would finally be acknowledged as a real adventurer.
He could hardly believe the change of fortune he had experienced since meeting Lucifer yesterday going from the cusp of despair to just a few short steps from realizing his dream. Granted it wasn't all quite as he imagined and he had certainly never imagined his god to be anyone like Lucifer but he was still filled with a supreme sense of gratitude towards the Salome's owner for giving him a helping hand when no one else wanted to.
Thinking about Lucifer caused Bell to begin going over their brief acquaintance in his mind as while he could remember the time from their initial meeting to their first drink with great clarity his memories became more and more hazy after the drink until his awakening on Lucifer's couch that morning. Bell reached back to rub his neck as it had felt stiff all morning and he tried to loosen it up a bit by moving it around. As he craned his neck back he suddenly felt a rush of recollection as the haze in his mind seemed to lift momentarily.
/
A part of Bell's mind knew that him sitting so stiffly with his neck craned up like this for so long would lead to him having to deal with a fair bit of stiffness tomorrow but he could not for the life of him bring himself to care about that fact as he stared up at the dancer on the platform in front of him.
Leyla the elven woman who Bell had met shortly after first entering the Salome was currently occupying the raised platform as she danced for a crowd of eager patrons with Bell and Lucifer seated on some pillows directly in front of the small stage. The elven dancer swayed from side to side, her lips curved into a sensual smile behind the sheer green veil that covered the lower half of her face, the only piece of clothing she still had on.
He was vaguely aware of Lucifer saying something from his place beside him but Bell could not make out a single word he said as his attention was locked onto the elven woman in front of him. Leyla for her part reached one delicate hand behind her head and undid the knot that held her veil in place, letting her full face be seen for the first time that night. Leyla glanced down at Bell for an instant to offer him a quick wink and gracefully tossing her veil so that it landed on the ground at Bell's feet. After removing the last of her clothing Leyla spun around to face the opposite direction and continued her dance.
Bell felt his eyes begin to burn as a part of his mind told him it had been several minutes since he had last blinked but he could not seem to find the will to do so as the view of the elven dancers back was almost as good as the view from the front. So Bell simply decided to let his eyes sting and gradually water until such time as the performance ended.
/
"-cuse me, excuse me!" Bell gave a start as he finally registered the voice speaking from directly behind him. "Could you please move? You're stalling the line."
Refocusing on the present Bell could indeed see that there was now gap between himself and the person ahead of him in the line. Feeling his face flush from both embarrassment and the memory he had recalled Bell quicky shuffled forward to close the gap. Still feeling embarrassed he turned to face the person who had snapped him out of his daze.
The person in question was a girl who looked to be around his own age and had pink hair and pink eyes with pale skin. She was slightly shorter than himself and was clad primarily in pink and red clothing. While not quite as overtly attractive as many of the girls Bell had seen at the Salome he still had to admit he thought she was quite cute and felt a bit of nervousness creep into himself.
"Sorry about that I got a bit caught up in some memories." Bell apologized lamely as he scratched one hand behind his head.
"It's alright to tell you the truth I'm a bit anxious to get to the front since it is my first day and all." The girl said with a nervous smile of her own. "Do you have any advice or are you new too?"
"No, I'm signing up today as well" Bell said as he felt some of his nervousness dissipate as he realized the girl behind him was just as green as he was. "I'm Bell Cranel, the newest member of the Lucifer familia."
Bell extended his hand towards the pink haired girl and she shook it with a friendly smile spreading across her face.
"Emma Flores, first member of the Hestia familia, pleased to meet you." The now named Emma replied. "I don't think I've heard of the Lucifer familia before, is your familia new too?"
Bell started to answer but stopped when he realized that he didn't actually know much of anything about his own familia besides who their god was and that he owned the Salome. He didn't even know if the girls who worked at the club were members of the familia or not, although he got the feeling that the woman in the dark leather clothes was in charge after Lucifer but he didn't know if she just managed the club or if she was his familia's captain.
"….. I'm not quite sure about that myself. I actually applied to a lot of familia's after I arrived in the city but Lord Lucifer was the first person to offer to help me since I arrived so I'm sure it should be a good familia with such a friendly god in charge."
"Are you sure about that? My mother always told me to beware of gods who appeared too nice and spoke with honeyed tongues."
That response did not come from Emma but instead the person behind her who was revealed as Emma turned to face them as well. Behind Emma was a young Elf girl even shorter than Emma and clearly even younger than either of them. The young girl had blonde hair that was tied in twin tails with blue ribbons and had purple eyes and pale skin. She was clothed in various shades of blue and had a staff around the same height as she was in her hands marking her as a mage. The girl looked at Bell with a curious gaze as Emma simply shook her head next to her.
"Primo it's not polite to question the character of a person's god in front of them." Turning back to face Bell she offered a short bow in apology. "Sorry about that, Primo can be a bit blunt at times."
Primo looked mildly offended at Emma's remark "I'm not blunt! Everyone back home always said I was very smart! And it's not just Primo but Vice-Captain Primo Libera of the Hestia Familia! You need to remember to tell people you're the captain too when you meet them, Emma." Primo placed her hands on her hips and puffed out a bit after she declared herself the Hestia Familia's vice-captain.
"…. Is it really that important when its literally just the two of us and Lady Hestia?" Emma asked the younger girl with an embarrassed look on her face.
At Emma's statement Primo seemed to visibly deflate in front of them, like a balloon with a hole in it before perking up again and trying to regain a bit of her previous confidence.
"W-while that may be true it does not change the fact that we are the captain and vice-captain of our familia, just like Braver and Lady Riveria are for the Loki Familia!" at the mention of the high elf Primo became noticeably more excited. "Just you wait Emma! Soon all of Orario will be talking about us and how amazing we are, and how talented a mage I am, and how Lady Riveria herself has been praising me and wants to meet me herself!"
After that last bit Primo seemed to get lost in her own little world for a moment as she hopped from one foot to the other with a huge grin on her face as she imagined the praise Riveria would shower upon her when they finally met. Both Bell and Emma could not help but chuckle together at the excited young girl before a voice called out behind them.
"Excuse me could the three of you please move you're holding up the line!" That caused all three of them to stop and turn towards the counter to see that there was now no one in front of them and several guild employees were standing there looking impatient as they waited for them to approach. All three of them felt their faces heat up in embarrassment and they quickly shuffled forward toward the counter.
"Good luck" Emma offered as she and Primo separated from Bell and walked towards another receptionist.
Bell offered a smile toward the two at the encouragement "Too you as well" and he turned to the receptionist in front of him and began to explain why he was there.
/
The Salome
Lucifer sat at the main bar of the Salome and stared down into the drink in front of him. There had indeed been a few stragglers from last night's revelries that had not yet left before Lucifer came down and he had been able to question these groggy adventurers before they left, though the answers he received did little to improve his mood.
Apparently, there were three ways for an adventurer to Leave one familia to join another. The first was conversion were two gods agreed to let the adventurer switch from one familia to another voluntarily, with the two gods using their blood to change which of the gods the falna drew its power from. The second was the adventurer's god being sent back to the Heavens, which caused the adventurer to lose their power until they were accepted into another familia. The third was that the adventurer had been claimed as the spoils of victory after a war game and was forced to convert to the victors familia per the demands of the victorious familia's god. After going through all his options Lucifer could say with absolute certainty that none of these options appealed to him in the slightest.
The second option was an absolute no go as he had no intention of being forced to leave either Maze or his club behind. The third was no better as it would require that he be humiliated in front of the entire city and have all that he had be available for the taking by the victors, something he was not going to risk. That just left the first option and while Lucifer admitted it was preferable to the other two there was still one rather sizable drawback, the fact that conversion could only take place after a year had passed since the adventurer in question had joined his previous familia.
This meant that instead of the brief trial run he had imagined last night he would be unable to convert Bell to another familia until a full year had passed, a thought that filled him with no small amount of unease. Now Lucifer could say that he had no real problems with Bell on a personal level. Sure, he was much younger than the people Lucifer preferred to interact with, but he had proven that he could be alright enough company once you poured a few glasses of alcohol down his throat. However, it also meant that he would be responsible for Bell for the next year and that he was at risk of being pulled into the grand game the gods played between one another using their familia's.
Lucifers main desire was to simply enjoy himself without much in the way of responsibilities to hold him down. Oh, sure he was responsible for the Salome and its employees but he did not consider them that much of a bother and realized that a well-functioning establishment staffed by happy and eager employees generally led to better and more enjoyable parties each night.
However, starting a familia would mean that his workload would likely increase exponentially. He would now be required to register with The Guild and pay taxes depending on what rank they decided his familia was. It could mean that he would have to deal with petitioners looking to join his familia. It would mean having to attend that meeting the gods had every three or so months at Babel, he believed it was called a Denatus. It would mean he would be a viable target for war games if anyone decided they wanted to take the Salome away from him, something he swore that any god who attempted to would profoundly regret once Lucifer was done with him. It even meant he could be required to launch expeditions into the dungeon every so often if The Guild decided to designate his familia an exploration type. All in all, it seemed like a great deal more work for a very small payoff.
"So how are you going to get rid of him?"
Lucifer looked up from his glass at Maze, who was standing on the opposite side of the counter and was leaning forward on her hands towards him.
"We both know you don't want to deal with the kid or any of this familia crap everyone else seems so fixated on. So how do you want to deal with the kid? Or are you just hoping The Dungeon will swallow him whole on the first day." Maze shrugged her shoulders at the last part. "It's not impossible, we both know he doesn't seem like the type to have a lot of experience in a fight so maybe you're worrying over nothing."
While it was true that The Dungeon dispatching Bell would likely solve their current dilemma Lucifer could say with absolute honesty that he hoped it didn't come to that. Because while the thought of being the head of a familia sat poorly with him, the thought of hoping for Bell's demise in the dungeon sat even worse with him. Lucifer could not exactly explain why that was but he had an idea. The gods of this world enjoyed referring to their adventurers as their "children" and the thought of a parent sending their child down into a dark and dangerous labyrinth just so they wouldn't have to deal with them sat very, VERY ill with Lucifer.
Seeming to pick up on what Lucifer was thinking Maze decided to try a different approach. "We could just tell him to leave. With the falna he should be able to make a living in The Dungeon so its not like he needs to move in if he has the money to find his own place. And when the year is up you could just go back to the original plan and introduce him to a god that would actually want him."
"It's not that simple and you know it." Lucifer said as he finally spoke up. "He can't grow stronger unless I update the falna and he will have told The Guild that he is a part of my familia before he is allowed in the dungeon so we will end up on their radar regardless."
Maze just continued to stare at Lucifer for a moment. "Why do you care about what happens to the kid? We both know you're not exactly fond of children and this one looks like he could come with more hassle than most. So why am I the only one trying to think of solutions while you just sit there and stare into your drink?"
"I gave him my word Maze." Lucifer said with a bit of heat entering his voice. "You know damned well what that means. I gave him my word that I would help him become an adventurer, find somewhere he could belong in this city. Not just slap a magical tattoo on his back and send him on his way. I will not cheapen my word just because it is slightly more convenient than the alternative!"
Lucifer took a deep breath before continuing in a calmer tone. "I am sure there is a solution to this that will leave both Bell and I pleased, with no one feeling like they have been cheated. I just have to think about it a bit more and I'm sure- "
Lucifer was interrupted by the sound of the front door to the club suddenly being opened, something that surprised the two of them as it was still to early for either the patrons or employees to begin arriving for the night. As he stood from the bar and began to make his way towards the door he heard the patter of running feet and say a blur of white rush towards him. Before Lucifer had much time to think he saw Bell standing in front of him with an overjoyed look on his face.
"Lord Lucifer I did it!" He said practically shouting in joy. "I went down to The Guild, filled out some forms, Got to meet this really nice and pretty half-elf named Eina who talked to me about being an adventurer and The Dungeon, got some beginners equipment from The Guild!" At that point Bell took a deep breath and continued before Lucifer could interject. "Then I went to Babel and went down onto The Dungeon and found a goblin on the first floor and fought it and beat it and then harvested its magic stone then I came back so I could show it to you!"
And with that final bit Bell's hand flashed towards Lucifer's face so fast he put up his guard instinctively before he noticed Bell's hand had stopped. Held between his index finger and thumb was a small purple stone so small that it was barely fit to call a pebble. It took Lucifer a second to realize it must be the magic stone Bell had taken from the goblin. Lucifer just stood there for a moment feeling bewildered while Bell stared up at him with barely contained anticipation.
After a moment had passed an awkward smile made its way onto Lucifer's face and he reached out a hand to give Bell a few quick pats on the shoulder.
"Good job, nice to see that you're taking to the adventuring life so eagerly." Lucifer managed to force these words out through his forced smile as his mind frantically tried to figure out what he was supposed to do next.
For Bell's part he just stood there and accepted the praise, looking less like the rabbit everyone was always comparing him to and more like a puppy that was receiving a good petting.
From behind the bar Maze just lowered her head to the surface of the bar and let out a long sigh, realizing that she would likely have to put up with the boys Prescence for a while yet.
Finally thinking of something to say Lucifer said "If I remember correctly, you never picked out a room for yourself on the third floor did you? How about I show you what's available and you can decide which one you like best?"
Bell perked up even more (a feat that Lucifer had honestly thought was impossible) and joined him as the two strode towards the stairs. Behind him Lucifer could feel Maze glaring into his back but kept his attention on maintaining his smile in front of Bell while on the inside he desperately tried to think of some way out of the predicament he found himself in.
Unfortunately for Lucifer no good plan seemed to form during Bell's tour of the third floor, or for the rest of the day for that matter.
/
There are two main things I would like to mention here.
The first is that yes Hestia will indeed be getting some members to start her own familia with so that she is not completely forsaken. Some of you will likely recognize the two girls in her familia as being from the danmachi Orario Rhapsodia game. I have had an interest in that game since first hearing about it but unlike Memoria Freese Orario Rhapsodia never received an English release so what little I know about the story and characters comes from the Danmachi wiki and what I have come across in other people's fanfics. If anyone happens to know were I can find more information on Orario Rhapsodia I would appreciate it since I am not a fan of having so little to draw from.
The second thing is Lucifer's reaction to starting a familia. I think it is pretty clear to anyone who has seen just one season of the show that Lucifer suffers from some very serious issues when the matter of family arises, given his less than stellar relationship with his own. I think he really would struggle in this kind of situation of being caught between his word and his issues and would probably be very slow to warm up to the idea of having a familia. That does not mean that he is simply going to ignore Bell and wait for the year to pass as he's just feeling very conflicted about being forced to take up a role he never planned for or wanted. He will try to take care of Bell to the best of his ability while still trying to find a resolution to his dilemma that leaves both himself and Bell satisfied.