A month had went by, Freya had a lot to prepare for the party, but she used the time for that to also bring Bell and Ryu closer together in all kinds of ways. At least now the party was coming closer, it was only a week away now.
"Haaaah~~~ This is super cute!"
"Nya, it´s alright meow guess."
"Meow...hmm."
"Hm, well I guess it´s alright."
"I can´t wear this! I am an elf! This is shameful!"
"Why do I have to wear this too? I only work here part time..."
Syr, Chloe, Anya, Lunor, Ryu and Heith stood in the changing room of the pub, the other staff members had already seen their outfits. May, Mia and the assistant cooks would wear their normal uniforms. In front of the waitresses hung several maid uniforms, meant to wear for the banquet.
As usual, Syr beamed all over her face. "It´s super cute! Chloe, Anya, look, there are holes here for your tails and ears!"
Chloe looked not so happy for some reason, mostly because the chest part of Anya´s uniform was so much bigger than hers. Lunor looked up and down at her uniform, while Heith kept a neutral face.
The only one that looked really displeased was Ryu.
"Why do I have to wear this? This is shameful."
"Ryu, there is nothing shameful to this, see how long the skirt is? This is elegant and chaste, you will look wonderful."
"But becoming a maid as an elf...ugh..."
Syr shook her head. "And here I thought you don´t like the usual behaviour of elves."
"My pride is a completely different topic!"
"But you are a waitress in a good restaurant. Is that so different from being a high class maid for one evening?"
"Syr..."
"And remember the other day when the vice captain of the Loki familia, lady Riveria, came to eat at the pub together with her maid?"
"It was her former chamberlain."
"And now explain the difference to me, Ryu? Wouldn´t it be alright for you to serve someone like lady Riveria?"
"True...but she is a high elf."
"And at the party there will be gods. Or do you want to imply that a high elf is above the gods?"
For a moment Ryu looked at Syr, her eyes said everything. Ryu indeed had much more class than many of the gods in Orario, but mostly because many gods didn´t care much about their dignity and just came to have fun.
Syr smiled. "Ryu, I know from a very reliable source, that the one that will accompany lady Loki, will be lady Riveria."
"Teehee~ My source is a secret. But that source also told me that Bell will be the one to accompany lady Hestia."
Then Syr turned her face to Lunor. "And a certain young man from your familia will accompany lady Demeter."
"Who do you mean?"
Syr grinned in a special way. "Oh Lunor, you know who I mean."
"No, I don´t."
Lunor didn´t sound very convincing, lately and especially during the storm that hit Orario, she came into contact with a member of her familia. A pretty charming young man.
Then Syr held a pamphlet up. "And in the pamphlet here is written, that flirting with the maids at the banquet is allowed, except for the gods."
The others looked surprised or shocked.
"Why flirting?!"
"Nya?!"
"Meow?!"
"Hehe, because it is called the "Banquet of Love"."
Freya was a Goddess of Love after all. There were runes of the gods on the pamphlet too. She made clear in these runes, that the gods weren´t allowed to flirt with the staff members and the maids surely weren´t open to "serve" someone. Freya knew how perverted some gods were and she feared for something to happen if one of them tried to get flirty with one of her friends. She also knew that in case Ishtar would still be around and would throw such a party, there would be all kinds of sexy maids, who would offer services over, on, behind and under the tables.
And with this party, Freya would once against prove why she was superior, because it was all about class.
Syr continued to smile. "Maybe this is a chance for us to find boyfriends?"
Now Chloe looked like she was more into the maid stuff and Anya seemed to like the idea too.
Ryu´s expression darkened. "I knew it, this is shameful, I would never f-flirt with someone there."
Lunor grinned and winked. "And what about Bell?"
Ryu said nothing, but her ear tips got a tiny bit red. "B-Be quiet..."
Heith looked confused. "Who is Bell?"
Chloe smirked. "A hot adventurrrer, likes to chase Ryu, Meow. Awesome, almost perfect butt."
"Chloe!"
Anya tilted her head after Ryu´s outburst. "But Chloe is right, Nya."
Chloe looked happy. "About the almost purrfect butt, Meow?!"
"Not that..."
Syr giggled. "Oh I know already that this will be a fun evening. Maybe you will find someone too, Heith."
"My heart belongs to lady Freya."
"And do you really think she doesn´t want you to find someone and start a family? I heard enough about you from her to think you would be a great mother."
Heith went silent when she heard that and just looked at Syr, not knowing if she made fun of her or not. When Syr walked past Heith, she mumbled so softly that only Heith could hear her.
"I actually know this very well...Heith."
With just a few words, Syr wouldn´t be able to convince Heith, but she managed to crack open the stone shell around Heith´s heart and let her start to have thoughts. It was a start.
Syr looked at the pamphlet again. "Oh it looks like there will be a tombola, there will be a lot of prizes to win for the guests."
The Banquet and the tombola was all part of Freya´s plan and to have a lot of fun. Freya actually knew that there was a man that belonged to a certain familia, who looked at Anya in a special way. Anya never noticed that and the man probably came only to eat at the pub to look at her and gather his courage. So Freya had acted in secret and made sure that the god of that man would bring him to the party.
The Goddess of Love loved her friends very much and she thought it was time for them to find their luck and their love. And as a Goddess of Fertility, seeing children of them in the future was also something she longed for. Plus...it would be a really pleasant fun to see Grandma Mia one day!
Now Freya just had to make sure that Allen wouldn´t be too overprotective of Anya. Since he would be one of the secret guards, watching the party out of the shadows, she knew he would keep an eye on her and Anya. And if Allen noticed to which familia this young man belonged, he probably wouldn´t remain quiet.
There was a lot to do for Freya and the evening promissed to become a great fun!
"Oh I also heard there will be a special one time staff member for this evening."
""""Huh?""""
"Oy, stop blabbering all the time, get back to work."
"""""Yes, Mama Mia!"""""
"Syr, Chloe take out the garbage."
The others got orders too, Syr and Chloe went to the kitchen to take the garbage bags to bring them outside.
"Say, Chloe?"
"Meow?"
"Don´t you have someone that has caught your interest?"
"Meow...not really."
"Hehe, I´m sure there will be someone in the future."
Chloe sighed. "Meow..."
Syr knew Chloe´s taste, it wouldn´t be that easy to find someone to...
She stopped.
"Meow?" Chloe turned around when she noticed Syr stopping for a moment.
When she turned around, Chloe noticed a figure crouching on a rooftop nearby, looking at the pub. It was a cat man with black hair. Chloe had seen him before at some times, he always watched the pub when he was there. But now...he stared right at her!
Meow?!
It wasn´t really Chloe that he looked at, but rather Syr, since it was Allen´s duty today to watch over her. And as usual, to keep an eye on his little sister. Syr always knew where Allen was or one of the others, not matter how well they hid. Their soul light was like a bright arrow pointing at their location.
The goddess in disguise looked at her follower, her eyes wandered over his body for a moment, now she got something! Judging by Chloe´s reaction, the pulse in her soul orb, Allen´s body was absolutely Chloe´s taste! Allen was just perfect or purrfect for Chloe! She noticed how Chloe tilted her head slightly, shifting her hips in her usual way, that showed the outline of her body. Chloe did that subconsciously, since she felt like losing against her friends when it came to curves...except against Ryu of course.
And Syr saw how Chloe looked with interest at Allen, before she threw away the garbage bags. Then Chloe looked up to Allen again, more curious why he was there. She knew that he was Anya´s brother and Syr had told her in secret that he often watched over Anya, despite pretending not to like her. For Anya´s friends, this behaviour was kind of sweet.
Just for a moment, both black haired cat people looked into each others eyes. Allen had his usual glare, but a nice, petite body. He was a few centimeters taller than Chloe, which Syr knew was important to him, since he had a complex about his height.
After throwing away the garbage bags and standing behind Chloe, Syr showed Allen some secret gestures with her hands, pointing at Chloe.
She. Alone. No Partner.
Normally this were meant as secret combat gestures, but Allen got what his goddess meant. He clicked his tongue and vanished out of sight, not wanting to get dragged into something.
"Meow..."
"Chloe?"
"What a butt..."
Chloe had of course seen Allen´s behind when he turned around. But Freya saw in her soul that Chloe wasn´t aroused, she was enchanted by Allen´s body. And since Freya knew that deep down, Allen was actually a caring softy, she was sure that Chloe might like Allen the way he was! After all, Chloe also liked bad boys a bit. And Freya knew very well that Chloe´s body was actually exactly Allen´s taste!
Syr´s eyes sparkled, Freya felt really excited! Not only taking care of the lonely women in Orario to clear the way for Ryu, but also helping her friends would bring her lots of joy and fun! Chloe and Allen surely would make an excellent couple!
"Hehe, fallen in love at first sight?"
"Nya?" Chloe raised an eyebrow and looked a bit confused, she wasn´t the type to get flustered so easily.
"Come~~ We have work to do."
"Right."
While Chloe followed her inside, Freya added new names to her lists, her shipping crusade would become bigger and bigger.
Allen x Chloe made it to her personal top spots on the list!
Now she just had to think how to bring these two closer together, maybe the upcoming party could help?
Maybe using Allen as an open guard, but this might startle Anya...then again she also had to work to bring Allen and Anya closer together again, so that the siblings could one day talk openly about their feelings.
Freya wondered how Anya would react if Allen actually started to date Chloe... Or what Loki´s face would be in case her idea of Hedin and Riveria wouldn´t just be an idea.
The next days promissed to become interesting and funny for Freya!
.
.
"Master Bell, can you put these books in the upper row there and these over there in the next row?"
"Alright."
Bell spent the day with his familia members, in the evening he would accompany Hestia to the banquet. Even when it was called a banquet, it was more an open party, similar to the one that Apollo helt. But Freya liked the name Banquet of Love, so she called it like that.
Currently Bell was with Lily inside the small library of their home. Actually the library was quite big, but they had sold many, many books that were here in the beginning. Those that belonged to Apollo. Someone like Mikoto wasn´t even able to look at the books after she read the titles and Hestia took Bell´s and Welf´s oath to get rid of them, without looking into these books! Hestia said they would corrupt both, especially the innocent Bell! And she couldn´t allow that.
Later when Haruhime joined the familia, they even found a secret, hidden shelf. The books there were even more risky and perverted. Some even were of the far eastern style, erotic stories about ninjas, samurais, priestesses and more. Haruhime had fainted when she discovered them and the familia got rid of them all. Little did they know...Haruhime had secretely kept a few of them. Maybe Aisha and Lena were right about Haruhime after all.
Lily was more than happy that Bell helped her and both were alone in the library. It wasn´t a problem for her that Hestia would go to the party with Bell. The god of the familia had to be there and who else should accompany her? Haruhime was busy in the evening after all, in fact she would be at the party. As well as Mikoto and Chigusa.
Two days ago, they had heard Chigusa´s surprised shreek from the door of the mansion. There was a visitor and she was the closest to the door. When she opened the door, a man that was even more muscular and taller than Ouka towered over her.
Freya´s captain, Ottar.
Freya had asked Ottar if he could deliver a message to Hestia, they would need more staff for the upcoming party, Freya would pay very well. And she wanted to add some far eastern dishes to the menu, since Mia wasn´t able to cook that, she asked this way if Takemikazuchi´s children could help. Since Mikoto would accompany Takemikazuchi to the party, Chigusa would then help Haruhime in the kitchen. Meanwhile Haruhime would also act like the head maid and show the waitresses how a maid had to behave.
Bell took a morning shower before hanging up his clothes to dry, they would later be washed. He had helped Welf a bit in his forge and did a mistake, so he got covered in soot from head to toe...
After the shower Bell joined his familia for breakfast, the other two familias had settled in well. Sometimes they would all eat together, sometimes the familias among themselves. Today was such a day with the exception that Haruhime ate with Takemikazuchi familia as well as Mikoto who had rejoined the other familia as promised after the one-year-trade expired. They had no new members until now, there were a few applicants but Hestia was not satisfied with any of them.
Lily had really made herself up as the supporter leader of the familias...well they were only three supporters but it counted. Welf was satisfied with his life right now, he had much to do in his forge with that many party member. And Hestia was happy, she was promoted from part time worker at Jaggarmaru-kun to full time.
Right when Welf wanted to say something they heard the door bell ring.
"Who comes this early ?" He went up to check.
Between the bites Bell looked to Hestia. "Goddess, today will be your first as full time employed?"
Hestia puffed her chest. "Thats right ! Just wait, in the future my face wil be the face of Jaggarmaru-kun !" She was in really good mood.
They continued a moment before Welf came back. "Yo Bell, there´s someone waiting for you at the gate."
"Hm? This early?" Bell went up.
"Better hurry, looks important."
"Oh?"
The one who waited for him at the gate was Syr. "Mr. Bell!"
"Syr? What brings you here?"
"Please hurry and come with me! Something happened with Ryu, we need your help!" She had a pleading expression on her face.
"What happened?!" Bell was alarmed.
"She shut herself in her room, whe don´t get her to talk to us." Syr turned around.
"Then we should hurry!" Bell ran into the mansion for a few moments, comming back with his jacket on.
"Syr...I beg your pardon, you can get mad at me later!" He looked at her.
"Huh? Wha-Kya!" Syr yelped when Bell stepped to her, reaching down with his left hands to her knees, the other to her back and lifted her up in a princess carry.
Before she could protest Bell dashed off, as a level four adventurer he could run much fast faster than her. But Syr didn´t protest, even tough she was worried about Ryu, she enjoyed the moment.
Next you should do that with Ryu!
After a few minutes they arrived at the Benevolent Mistress again. Lunor opened the front door for them.
"She´s still upstairs..." Lunor closed the door.
They climbed the stairs fast and went to Ryu´s door. Mama Mia had told the girls to leave Ryu alone for the moment and start to work. Syr pushed him to the door.
"Ryu...won´t you talk to us? Mr. Bell is here to." She knocked softly.
"Bell?" They heard her through the door, she sounded glum. "Okay...come in you two.."
Syr looked at Bell, nodded and opened the door, closing behind the two. Ryu sat on her bed, legs drawn up, her arms crossed on the knees, her forehead resting against the arms.
"Ruu...whats wrong?" Syr went over to her, placing a hand softly on her shoulder.
"I..I´m..." Ryuu sounded insecure.
Bell went to the bed and saw a letter lying on the ground. He picked it up. "Is it because of this?"
Ryu shifted her head a bit, one of her eyes became visible, it looked like she had cried...a lot. They could see her lower lip trembled as she nodded.
"May we...take a look at it?" Syr asked her carefully, while caressing Ryu´s back.
Ryu only nodded again while sobbing.
Together Syr and Bell looked at the letter, only four words were written there.
"She is in Solingen."
And at the bottom was a symbol drawn...a sword with wings at the sides...the symbol of Astrea Familia...
When they finished reading Syr and Bell looked at each other, both had heard from Ryu about her past. They had a clue what these words meant. Actually, Syr was fuming inside her mind!
HERMES! You shouldn´t deliver the letter to Ryu immediatelly! I wanted to do that when the time was right, after the party! You will pay for this!
It wasn´t because Hermes ruined Freya´s fun, it was because just receiving the letter like this before preparing Ryu emotionally would hurt her...and of course it did!
"Does...does that mean..." Bell watched at Ryu.
Ryu sniffed before raising her head. Her eyes were red from crying. "Syr..." She looked at her friend who hugged her wordless.
Then she looked at Bell, it nearly broke his heart to see her crying. The situation was strange and Bell didn´t know what to do. Ryu started to cry heavily in Syr´s arms, Syr told Bell with her eyes it would be better to wait outside until Ryu calmed down.
It took much longer than Bell thought it would, so long that he went home to not disturb them.
.
It was late that evening when Bell still sat in the living room and talked with Familia members.
"Mmmwaa...good night..." Lily dragged herself to the stairs.
"Good night, Lily."
Only Bell and Hestia were still awake, but the small goddess was slowly dozing off. Bell thought about carrying her into her room so that she could sleep, when he heard a soft knock from the door.
A visitor? At this hour?
Bell went quietly to the door and opened it a crack.
"Huh? Ryu?"
"Bell...good evening..."
Ryu wore a for her unusual robe, similar to the ones that Riveria wore. It was Bell´s first time seeing Ryu like this. Even at night she looked incredibly beautiful, but the expression was what caught Bell´s eyes. In the backround at the main gate, he saw a familiar woman with short, brown hair, Lunor had accompanied Ryu and waited for her now.
"What is wrong?"
"May I come in?"
"Oh, of course."
Bell closed the door after Ryu came in and took her shoes off.
"We have to be quiet, most of the others sleep already."
"I´m sorry for disturbing you this late."
He smiled slightly to show her it was okay.
"Chhhrrrr..."
Hestia was snoring in the living room, curled up in her big armchair.
"Oh...maybe we should talk upstairs."
Ryu followed Bell as quiet as possible, she had awaited a second living room...but not this.
"Is this...your room?"
"Is that a problem?"
"No, of course not."
If Ryu weren´t this worried, she would probably scold herself for coming late at night to another house and go with a gentleman into his personal room. Bell closed the door behind them, his room was tidy, as always. He had a new large table on the side, where he had put his weapons and table on top.
The two knives were side by side.
"I would offer you tea, but I only have water."
"It´s okay..."
"Ryu, what is wrong?"
"Hah...would you please listen to me for a moment?"
Never before had he seen her so worried...it awakend the urge in him to protect and help her.
She looks so...vulnerable...
Ryu always seemed to be strong, but there were things that made even her weak.
Bell got a water jug and two glasses for them, they sat down at a small table on the side, with two chairs. His room was set up for two people ... for a reason. She took the glass in her hands and drank a little.
"First, I´m sorry for...my appearance this morning."
"Don´t aplogize for that, I could see you were hurt."
"It was still unpolite to ignore you like this, so I´m sorry."
Her pride as an elf demanded it to apologize to Bell.
"Also, thank you and I´m sorry, that you had to come to the dorm and then went back again without hearing what happened."
He didn´t interrupt her, Bell had experience with elves that had trouble with their pride. If they wanted to or not, elves tended to behave in certain ways.
"The letter...was from my goddess, in a way."
"Lady Astrea?"
Ryu nodded. "Yes..will you listen to me for a moment?"
"Of course."
Ryu started to tell Bell about the letters she wrote for Astrea, but never sent them. She didn´t have the courage and also didn´t know where Astrea lived now. Hermes would know something like that of course, but Ryu was too afraid to ask him.
And now she got a letter that told her where Astrea was. After Bell helped her to find her justice again, Ryu really wanted to see her beloved goddess again.
Bell nodded, he could understand Ryu. She had told him a bit about her homeforest, why she left it, her trouble with her family. Astrea had become in a very serious sense like Ryu´s mother.
Ryu started to talk faster and faster, her hands cleched more around the glass, but not to the point that it was breaking. Bell noticed the smallest tears gathering in the corners of Ryu´s eyes. He really wanted to take her hand and gently squeeze it to show her that he was there for her, but he didn´t dare to touch her.
It was something completely different with Hestia, Lily or Haruhime. While Bell really, really liked Ryu, he couldn´t just touch her hand. That would feel rude and maybe ruin the moment, making her upset.
"I went to the 18th floor...to talk with my familia...but...I don´t know what to do. Do I even have the right to see her?"
Bell´s eyes widened when Ryu started to sob, small tears ran down her cheeks...that she showed him her vulnerable side...she had to be very desperate.
"Syr and the others did their best to help me calm down, tried to talk to me...but..."
Ryuu looked out of the window for a moment.
Bell said nothing, just watched Ryuu from the side as she continued.
She took a deep breath. "I don´t know...what to do...I want to see her...but...do I have the right?"
"What would my "sisters" say...Kaguya and Lyra you would scold me, why I´m not already running to her." Ryu smiled a bit.
"Neze...you also wouldn´t understand why I´m hesitating...I´m sure you would be more than happy to go to her and see her greet you like a newlywed wife." Now her smile was a bit embarassed.
"But...I´m afraid...what if she doesn´t want to see me?" Her smile faded.
"What if she can't stand what has become of me..." As she whispered Bell felt a little touch against his fingertips. Unconsciously Ryu moved her fingers over to his, maybe seeking comfort.
"Alise...what would you tell me?...Probably "Let´s go togehter, hurry hurry!"..." Ryu let her head hang down.
A few moments passed in silence, then she looked up, seeing her and Bell´s fingers entangled. He had said nothing, just moved along with her hand, spending her the comfort she needed right now.
At first she looked surprised at Bell, as if she had forgotten he was there. "Bell..."
He met her gaze. "Bell...what do you think...am I worthy...to go and see her?"
Bell thought for a few seconds what to say. "I do, you´re the last member of her familia...you should go see her...I´m sure she wants to see you too."
"But...I did so many...harsh things...I betrayed her justice..." Tears dwelled up in the corner of her eyes, Bell had never seen her so vulnerable.
"That may be...but you saved so many...you took all that on yourself...to free Orario and bring peace to the people...she will not blame you...and...I´m sure she misses you." He carefully considered his words.
"But..." She didn't sound convinced.
Bell squeezed her hand lightly. "Do you want to see her?"
"Yes..." Ryu looked into his eyes.
"Then go...go and see her...talk to her." He spoke from his heart. .
"And if you are afraid, I'll go with you." Her eyes widened a bit.
"You would do that...for someone like me?" .
"Not for someone like you...only for you." His voice was serious. .
Bell felt her fingers move a bit...after sitting for another ten minutes in silence.
On the 18th floor, the Astrea familia´s banner moved a bit in the night wind, showing its symbol...a sign?
"Bell..." Ryuu whispered.
"Hm?" They kept looking at the hill.
Now Ryu really raised her head for the first time, she had looked down to her glass the whole time. Bell´s heart broke when he saw that she was crying...Ryu the proud, strong, elven warrior of justice...tried her best to not burst into tears openly, fighting for her usual calm, dignified expression.
Syr, Anya, Lunor and Chloe had told Bell so much about Ryu´s usual behaviour, that she only showed such weakness to someone who had her complete trust. To show herself to him like that...elves didn´t do that often. It was more than just a vote of confidence.
"Please Bell...help me..."
"What can I do? I´ll do anything."
There was no way he would refuse Ryu.
"You..."
Ryu looked pleadingly into his eyes. "Bell...I know this is a selfish request...but would you come with me and search for my goddess? I can´t think about a better person."
"When do you plan to start."
"Tomorrow."
"How much...I mean...time..."
"Solingen is on the eastern edge of the continent, between the Empire and Altena."
"Oh..."
"Yes..."
Bell took a deep breath. "I will help you."
"Really?"
"Yes, I can´t just say no after what I heard."
He heard Ryu sigh from relieve. "Thank you, Bell."
Bell drank a bit water. "But we can´t just go tomorrow morning, we have to inform the guild, I have to talk to my goddess and Familia...and a few other people."
Ryu nodded, slowly getting her old expression back. "Of course, we have to prepare for the journey, just rushing won´t help."
Bell got up from his chair and searched for something on a shelf, it was a world map.
He put down the map on the table, both looked for a moment before they saw the marker for Solingen, it was pretty far away. This journey would at least take a week just to get there, maybe longer.
His calm manner helped her to calm down more too, concentrating on the journey was a good thing.
"I planned to move to the east, then north along the royal forest and past Wishe. I...don´t want to go past Ryumilua."
Ryu´s homeforest...
"We could maybe sleep in the outskirts of the forests."
"But...will the elves let me enter their forests?"
"They will, we won´t go too far inside." She nodded determined.
He saw that Ryu was pretty exhausted and tired. "We should probably continue tomorrow, I will walk you home."
"You don´t need to, Lunor is waiting outside."
"I can´t and won´t let two young women walk through the city at night without further guard."
A tired smile came to Ryu´s lips. "Okay."
She didn´t tell Bell that there was no real danger for them, Lunor eyed Bell as they walked to the pub in silence.
When they arrived at the pub, Syr pulled Ryu into a gentle hug. Then she explained to her friends what she intended to do together with Bell.
All of them thanked Bell for helping Ryu like that.
Freya was glad that Bell was there. While now her plan for the party was ruined, this situation in itself brought possibilities. And of course she intended to do another party in the future. Her plan would come to bear fruits.
And she was sure that one day Ryu would bear these fruits in her belly, cute half elves!
.
.
.
"And this is why I want to accompany Ms. Ryu on her journey."
The Hestia alliance sat in the big living room of the Mansion and listened to what Bell had told them right after breakfast.
"She hasn´t seen Astrea in five years?"
Bell nodded.
Everyone looked serious, this was no laughing matter.
"Godde-"
"Don´t ask if I let you go, of course you can." Hestia wished away his question with her hand.
"Thank you!"
"Not for that Bell, this is a serious situation, when she is suffering so much. How long will you two be gone?"
"Ms. Ryu said we need at least a week to get there. So I would assume three weeks up to a month. I don´t know the exact time."
"A few weeks...uff."
"D-Do you need more company?"
Haruhime looked...hopeful.
"I´m sorry, it´s...a delicate matter. And she said when she will sleep in the outskirts of the forests, the elves might tolerate just one non elf. When I travel with her they will let me in according to her, but no one else."
"Oh..." Her ears and tail dropped.
Ever since she read the stories, Haruhime wanted to visit an elven forest at least once, see the magical world there with her own eyes.
"I will come back to you all, I promise." He smiled.
"I just wonder..." Hestia looked like she was in thoughts. "What will happen..."
"Goddess?"
"You being alone with a single woman for so long..."
"G-Goddess!"
"You know that elves can be dangerous, Bell! Especially this one!"
Hestia guessed for a while now that Ryu liked Bell very much, her behaviour to him spoke of trust.
"I-It isn´t like that..."
The women present all raised an eyebrow and looked at him...with one exception.
"Ah Bell, you sure? I mean that elf surely is something, she would be perfect for you! I´m sure you two would have lots of strong babies!"
Haruhime´s friend Lena had come for a visit and the amazon wasn´t really what someone would call...sensitive.
The talk went faster and easier than Bell had thought, everyone helped him to prepare for the journey. Naza and Miach produced a few potions, just in case they would be needed. Lily lend Bell one of her giant backpacks and helped him to pack it correctly, also she explained to him how he should move around with it.
Bell thought for a while about the equipment he would take with him. His full armor or just travel clothes? It wouldn´t be as dangerous as in the dungeon, so he thought about to just take his knives and bracers with him.
In the end he would take his light armor with him and everything that fit in the backpack.
After he had prepared his part, Bell went to the guild, carrying a letter with Hestia´s sigil with him. He still needed permission from the guild to leave the city for so long, and just hoped it would work.
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"Aprroved, here is your permission."
The female guild employee was an incredible beauty, she had long red hair and golden eyes. Out of her hair poked two equally red wolf ears with white fur inside them, on her backside was a long tail.
She was a werewolf, named Rose Fannet. Normally Bell would ask Eina to help him, but she had a day off and visited her parents.
"Just like that?"
"Yes, I got an order to grant you permission for such a request."
Rose looked at him with slight curiosity, the order came from Royman. And Royman got the order from the highest position. After the Xenos and Juggernaut incidents, Fels had argued to Ouranos that they should give Bell something in return.
"Could you give Ms. Eina a message from me?"
"Sure."
She handed him a sheet of paper and a pen, waiting for him to finish the letter. Without looking at the contents of the letter, Rose folded the letter and put it under the counter. Bell thanked her a last time and left, it was rare to see an armed adventurer going away from the dungeon after they came to the guild.
But Bell really had to hurry, at noon he would meet Ryu at the eastern gate and he still had to visit one more destination and his home again.
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"Bell...I trust you to be a nice gentleman to Ryu, yes? Don´t do anything rude or lewd."
It was hard to escape Syr´s arms, when she heard that Bell would leave Orario for weeks she looked so sad...now she clung to his right arm, looking at him with special eyes.
Freya had to make sure that Bell would do his best on this trip! He would surely be able to make a huge step forward!
The pub wasn´t opened yet, which was a good thing. The other employees had talked to Bell too, especially Anya, Chloe and Lunor.
Anya told Bell to feed Ryu lots of snacks, this should cheer her up, it worked for her. Lunor told Bell to spar with Ryu during the trip, this always helped her. Chloe´s tip was something that Bell would ignore.
But all of them told Bell if he would dare to do something to Ryu or take advantage of her vulnerable and emotionally weak condition, they would hunt him down, no matter where in the world he would hide.
They cared very much for Ryu.
"Syr...I have to hurry..."
"Bell...weeks...so long...*sniff*"
"I will come back to you all, I promise."
Syr glanced up to him with her puppy eyes, Bell had to gulp, that look would make any other man weak.
"Promise?"
"Of course."
Syr beamed all over her face. "Bring me lots of souvenirs!"
"S-Sure..."
Anya raised her hand. "And special snacks frrrrom Solingen, Meow!"
Chloe smirked. "I want perfume."
"This isn´t a shopping trip!"
"I will go and help Mama Mia in the kitchen with your rations!"
A few employees startled by these words, Lunor and Chloe caught Syr before she could reach the kitchen and tried to lure her away.
"Why does everyone tries to stop me from cooking for you...mou..."
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Bell put the giant backpack on a table in the kitchen of the pub and started to pack everything inside. Mia had insisted that Bell bought food for the travel at her place, so that he and Ryu would eat healthy.
It had to be enough for a week and he didn´t care about the cost. Mama Mia had prepared cheese, a few eggs in a special wrapping, flour and all kinds of things, together with notes how to make the food.
There were especially many seeds and vegetables, elves didn´t generally disliked meat, but Ryu didn´t eat much of it. A fact that Syr would try her best to change in the future!
Recently Freya had noticed how much the body of one of Loki´s elves developed. Asking a few innocent questions, Freya let Loki brag about how beautiful and curvy her Lefiya got, just by eating lots of meat!
Freya was shocked to hear that. Shocked! Well not that shocked, the beauty of elves was a cheat to the world anyway, so of course they would only grow in all the right places. And she knew that Ryu was a bit sad that her body wasn´t more womanly.
So she already made plans to help Ryu get a nice chest, butt and thighs! This would also help Bell to fall even more for Ryu!
Freya just wandered what a big intake of meat would do to Hogni or Hedin...maybe she should try it to see how they would change. Then again...they might turn out like Ottar in the end. Seeing Hedin and Hogni all muscular and buffed up would most likely break Freya´s heart. She could imagine Hedin throwing away his glasses, Hogni his cape.
""We don´t need this anymore, we have muscles!""
"So boy, here is your "Travel with an elf" food set for one week." Mia grinned.
She got the idea a while ago, now Mia´s "Travel Food sets" were a big thing in Orario, while expensive and not meant for a very long journey, many bought her food to have something fine to eat on the road in the first week. Most adventurers that traveled to fulfill quests and jobs didn´t get really good food, when they had to camp in dangerous territory, they couldn´t even make a fire and had to eat cold.
A shop that sold small magic items got the right idea for that and produced small heating plates that were powered by a magic stone. Those were also a bit expensive, but it was a surprise how much adventurers would spend on these things to have something good to eat.
The heating plate got another variant with just a stone that would become really warm, many women liked to heat their blanket before going to sleep...not everyone had the luxury of a partner to cuddle with under the blanket.
"Ms. Mia, thank you so much for preparing it so fast."
"Ah it´s okay, just make sure you return before the girls here get heartbroken that Ryu will be gone for so long. And I hope she won´t return with a growing belly from your travel, if you know what I mean? You surely will take responsibility and jump in when she has to stop work...right?"
"W-W-What are you talking about?!"
Mia really wanted to make sure that Bell would treat all of her girls nicely...he was the only man that they had often contact with. She was always worried about them even if she didn´t show it.
When the backpack was finally filled, Mia handed Bell a pan and a pot, both with handles, he would bind them on the outside of the backpack.
Being a high leveled adventurer had it´s benefits, the backpack was bigger than Bell´s upper body and weighed more than his whole body.
"Make sure you two come and eat here when you return."
"I will tell Ms. Ryu."
"Good, now go we have to work."
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They were able to leave the city with the emergency permission and they set off. The street ended after a few hundred meters and went into another direction, so they had no choice but to walk cross-country. Thankfully the weather wasn´t too cold and the sun shone, the further they got away from Orario, the less people they saw.
After an hour they were completely alone, only a few trees and grass before them, with the alv mountains further away. At first both didn´t say much and just kept walking, Bell didn´t really know how to start a conversation.
He noticed that Ryu sped up a little bit, Bell just followed her, after some time calmed down again to get slower, only to speed up after a few minutes. Since both were adventurers, they walked faster than normal people could, someone without a Falna would probably need two weeks to reach the mountains.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Bell glanced at Ryu, her expression was calm, but Bell had experience with her...she was troubled.
"Bell."
"Yes?"
"It is rude to stare at someone from the side."
"I´m sorry...I just..."
"What is it?"
Ryu sounded more upset than she intended to.
"I will be honest...I´m worried, since you are worried."
She raised her eyebrow and looked at him without missing a step, it was a self defense mechanism what she did, falling into her usual calm behaviour.
"Explain."
"I dare to say that you look...restless. Almost like...you will start to run at any second now."
"I am not a child anymore, Bell."
"This wasn´t what I meant."
Bell tried his best in his own way to let Ryu vent her worries.
"Are you telling me I need to calm down?"
"No, I just want to tell you, I will do anything to help you to find and talk to your goddess."
Ryu understood what Bell tried to do, even if he wasn´t that great with words. For a few minutes she remained silent and thought about her behaviour since they left the city.
Ryu felt restless, she was looking forward to see Astrea again, yet she was afraid...what if her goddess would be upset and angry with her? Maybe...even hate her now?
"Thank you...Bell..."
A light smile graced her lips. Ryu felt strange again around Bell, not directly because of their journey. That Bell treated her so normal was a blessing for her, whenever she was on a journey with people, it were mostly other elves, like when she, Lefiya and Filvis had accompanied Riveria to an elven forest one time, for a special event.
Now she would...could let herself go a bit. Which didn´t mean she would be carefree or change her behaviour...it was more the mental equivalent of relaxing tense shoulders. A little bit...a tiny, little bit...Ryu relaxed her body more...Bell probably wouldn´t notice it but she felt better.
"Please don´t be so worried, I´m sure she will be happy to see you again."
"Huh?" Ryu blinked surprised.
"Your...ears..." Bell smiled slightly abashed.
"My...ears?"
She didn´t touch her ears but looked confused.
"I...noticed for a while now...you frowned...and...your ears...were twitching slightly."
"And?"
Bell scratched his sheek slightly, looking abashed tot he side. "I saw that more than a few times at you in the past. Syr also told me you tend to do that when you´re upset."
His honest, pure, friendly smile stopped Ryu from a harsh answer, her cheeks and ears still got very red. She didn´t even know this habit herself...and it seemed to be something that probably not only Syr knew about her.
He really has good eyes...
What surprised her more was that she allowed him to speak to her like that. Yes she had feelings of affection for Bell, currently unable to say the word "Love" in her head. But normally she would still lash out by having such an embarrassing habit exposed!
But with Bell...it was different from normal.
It was quite the opposite, Ryu enjoyed the way he talked with her. Friendly...respectful...polite...yet..normal. She enjoyed it how they could be around each other, it made her heart jump a bit.
"I-Is that so..."
Bell smiled apologetically
Ah...this smile...this friendly smile...
They went quiet for a few minutes again.
"Ryu?"
"Yes?"
"Say, while we travel. Could you maybe teach me a bit elvish?"
"Why would you want to learn that?"
"You fascinate me."
"Huh?!" Her face went hot again.
"I mean elves, the few times I heard your language, it was like music in my ears."
"Hm...it might not be a bad idea. Give me a few minutes, I need to think how to start."
"Alright."
Bell smiled again. This would distract Ryu from her troubled thoughts.
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On the 18th floor, Revis stood in front of the grave again, looking at the banner. She didn´t know why she came here again, but she stood there for a very long time, strangely her eyes leaked clear liquid again.
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Author´s Note: Hello everyone. Thank you a lot for these kind words. I will do my best to make this a really nice Bell x Ryu story. Some may be confused why I teased the party, then went into a different direction immediatelly. This was planned like this, there will be another party in the future, you will see.