Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

"Waaaaah... Please don't say that...!"

Lily, sniffling constantly, looked at Belle with a very sad expression.

No matter how much she wiped away the tears with her little hands, they wouldn't stop flowing from her chestnut-colored eyes.

Bell looked at Lily, who was now in tears, and said in a voice loud enough for Eina and the others to hear:

"However—something far more terrifying than punishment awaits in the near future, and not only you, Lily, will have to face it, but I will too."

"!!"

Lily opened her eyes wide.

Welf and the others also looked surprised.

Bell lowered his eyebrows and smiled with a slightly humiliated expression, saying:

"I have absolutely no chance of winning the next challenge by myself, so... I hope you can help someone as useless as me."

"Lord Bell..."

"So, you don't need to apologize to me... but I hope you can face this with me."

Please, Lily.

Please help me.

Facing Bell's deep red rubellite eyes, which seemed to radiate utmost sincerity, the chestnut eyes gradually welled up with tears for reasons different from before.

Lily roughly wiped away her tears with her hand, nodding vigorously while sniffling.

"Yes...! Lily is willing to help Lord Bell! She's willing to support you! To make up for the hurt she caused you before... no! From now on, she will work even harder to repay you, forever!!"

"...Thank you, Lily."

Bell smiled at Lily, who was loudly swearing.

Upon seeing this, Lily burst into tears and hugged Bell tightly.

Belle gently patted the girl's back as she watched the girl wrap her arms tightly around her neck, then looked around.

"Welf, Miss Mikoto, Miss Haruhime... and Miss Eina, and everyone else, please, please help me!"

Bell spoke to Welf and the others, who had wide eyes, in a somewhat joking tone:

"Think about how often I cause trouble for everyone, right? So... let's just consider this 'equal treatment' this time."

--On the contrary, I owe more "favors" than anything else, and that alone is not enough to wipe them clean.

As Bell spoke, he scratched his cheek with his fingers.

Welf and the others finally smiled again.

"...These are the leader's orders, so everyone should just do as they say."

"Yes...we, even we lowly servants, will assist Lord Bell!"

"Haruhime will surely repay your kindness! Even if it means being shattered to pieces!"

Welf laughed heartily like an older brother, while Ming answered with utmost seriousness. Haruhime wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes with her fingers and made a vow.

Thus, "Bell Crane of the Freya Familia" has finally returned to being "Bell of the Hestia Familia".

Bell couldn't help but think that at that moment.

"Bell... I'm going to make a bunch of potions... and I'll also try to make the elixir that I haven't been able to make until now."

"Thank you, Ms. Nazha!"

"I will try my best to keep sleeping, no matter how much pain I'm in, until I see a good precognitive dream!"

"Please don't push yourself, Miss Cassandra!"

"Bell! I'll leak all the information from the guild to you!"

"This...this isn't quite right..."

At Bell's urging, Naza and the others finally shook off their guilt, looked up, and offered to help.

As everyone almost rushed to extend their goodwill, Bell felt large beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead—

With a loud bang, the front door was pushed open forcefully.

"Ugh... It still didn't work! We still couldn't convince Loki and the others to join the war!!"

First came that helpless voice, then Hestia walked into the living room.

"Meow~!" She let out a strange cry after returning from the Conference of the Gods, threw the documents she had brought back into the air, and then pounced face down on the sofa.

"The Loki Familia is banned from participating in the war... As expected..."

Bell picked up a piece of parchment that had fallen to the ground, glanced at its contents briefly, and couldn't hide his unease.

Since the decision to hold the War Games was made, Hestia had been attending the Conference of the Gods for several days in a row. Bell understood that she was trying to gain favorable conditions for her side, and the situation was becoming increasingly unpredictable as time went on.

"Freya didn't attend the entire Gods' Conference, and from beginning to end, she acted as if she was willing to accept any form of competition..."

"The problem is that the difference in combat strength between the two sides is too great. If Loki and the others don't participate in the battle, the other Familias that originally intended to join will probably all withdraw."

Mih and Takemiya followed Hestia into the living room. When Hephaestus followed at the back, everyone present looked solemn.

"In that case, how about deciding the winner through a competitive eating contest...?"

"How many people do you think would accept deciding the outcome this way...?"

Sakura was troubled by Daphne's silly suggestion, but she could understand why she would say that.

After all, the reputation of the Freya Familia is so great that fighting against them means despair.

"Regarding the Loki Familia's decision not to participate in the war, there has been opposition within the guild, but the guild's higher-ups seem very worried that the Loki and Freya factions will end up weakening each other as a result..."

After Eina finished speaking, the living room fell silent.

Why agree to host a war game?

No one at the scene made such accusations against Bell and Hestia.

Everyone understands that if this battle isn't overcome, the problems with the Freya Familia cannot be eradicated, and the unrest will not subside.

Having finally calmed down and stepped away from Bell, Lily looked at Welf with the expression befitting a strategist.

"Lord Welf..."

"I know... I just promised Bell that I would forge a huge number of 'Krozo Demon Swords' if time allowed."

"Welf, but if this happens..."

"The 'Welf (my) Demon Sword' will always depend on the user's own abilities. If you want to defeat an opponent who is stronger than you, the only way is to use the 'Krozo Demon Sword', which will be destroyed after use."

Faced with Bell's concerned gaze, Welf shook his head.

The "Welf Sword," created after the "Expedition," will no longer destroy itself. However, its effects and power will depend not only on the creator (Welf) but also on the user's stats.

If Lily, currently at Lv.2, were to use it, she would only be able to unleash the power of Lv.2.

If you want to have the powerful firepower to take down enemies instantly, you must use the "Krozo Demon Sword".

They would even go so far as to imitate the practices of their homeland (Lachia) – the Familia of Ares, known as the "Invincible Myth".

For Welf, who was extremely wary of the clan's (Krozo) magic sword, he was already prepared for this.

Everyone present, including him, understood that they had to resort to any means necessary to defeat their opponent.

"...Then let's devise a battle plan. Let's carefully and thoroughly explore all possible methods, otherwise we will have absolutely no chance of winning."

Lily's serious voice had barely faded—

Aisha, who had remained silent until now and had not previously joined in apologizing to the boy, finally spoke:

"Actually, I've only had one thought from beginning to end: instead of bowing my head and apologizing to Bell Crane, I'd rather beat up Freya and her gang, regardless of whether the Loki Familia participates in the war... Isn't that what you all think?"

Regarding the Amazon warrior's provocative and belligerent words—

Only at this moment did it receive unanimous approval from all the adventurers.

"Sister Aisha is right! I'm going to beat them all up, beat them all up, beat them all up!"

"Lord Bell has been fighting alone until now; this time, it's our turn to go all out for him!"

Chunji and Ming both spoke up.

Sakura and Chigusa responded to their childhood friends' words with "Okay!" and "Mm!"

Aisha's inspiring words dispelled the gloom, and then, under Lily's leadership, everyone began to discuss strategies for the war game.

"……Very good."

Looking at the energetic and determined Lily and the others, Bell couldn't help but smile.

This is a smile of joy and relief at seeing Lily and the others finally free from their guilt.

Bell, who had been squinting with a look of satisfaction, soon looked worried again.

He quietly slipped away from Lily and the others and went to the window, where he discovered that the sun had given way to the moon.

(I wonder what that person is doing?)

The events that occurred in the "wilderness" during that false time, and the various unknown aspects of "her" that she revealed to him, gradually emerged in the night sky.

Bell gazed up at the dreamlike, bright moon and whispered the name of a girl in a voice so soft that no one could hear it.

*

The deep darkness of the night is strikingly similar to that of a murky river.

The twinkling starlight shimmered on the water's surface.

The moon, missing a corner, resembles a phoenix-tailed boat.

Sailing through the misty clouds, it exudes a hazy glow.

It's as if the moon is searching for someone who has already gone far away from the ship, but because the search has been fruitless, it sighs deeply.

If that's the case, then who is the moon searching for?

The goddess wanted to ask a question, but immediately dismissed the idea.

She felt that she was being ridiculous, so she pulled away from the sea of ​​sorrow and simply called out the boy's name softly.

"Bell..."

Volume 18, Chapter 7: Let's get married after this war is over.

Lv.4

Strength: SS 1033 → SSS 1379 Durability: SSS 1218 → 1501

Dexterity: SS 1041 → SSS 1383 Agility: SS 1089 → SSS 1442

Magic Power: S 965 → SSS 1251

“…………”

“…………”

The deity and I watched the updated [Ability Values] – Lv.4's final ability values ​​– without uttering a single word.

"...Bell."

"……yes."

Our gazes remained fixed on the piece of paper we held together, which only contained updated ability values. The deity calmly opened his mouth to call out, while I, shirtless, listened intently.

"How badly did you get beaten up by Freya?"

"I'm sure this was the worst time of my life. Back then, I was getting hit and pounded every day..."

No, in terms of the peak of the sheer devastation at that moment, it felt like the "deeper" aspect was more dominant...

But if we compare it to the concept of Avici Hell... I think this "baptism" wins.

After I answered in an extremely stupid way, the deity didn't say anything more.

Instead, he closed his eyes and hugged me tightly, like an old father seeing his son return safely from the war.

She wrapped her arms around me and gently patted the back of my head.

Even though I had buried my face in the goddess's ample bosom, I still maintained a serious expression.