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

The loud and boisterous Lily is obviously a negative, while the bewildered Miss Haruhime seems to be neutral, though if one had to say, she might lean more towards negation.

When opinions were divided, the deity looked at me with anticipation.

"Bell, what do you think!?"

"this……"

"Well, let's put it this way... If I were a chief god from another faction... no, no, no, no!?"

The immortal blushed and shook his head vigorously from side to side, then coughed dryly with a "humph".

Then, she stared at me intently.

"If another goddess were to woo you... what would you do?"

The question from the immortal caused the living room to fall silent for a moment.

Everyone was waiting to hear my answer. Lily held her breath and watched intently from the sidelines. Welf and Miss Fate also seemed very interested, while Miss Haruhime was busy wagging her tail.

Like Lily, the fairy held her breath, her mysterious blue eyes looking back at me.

The atmosphere made me a little flustered, so I said:

"Uh, I would refuse..."

Without much hesitation, I answered.

The immortals froze.

Lily and Haruhime were stunned on the spot. Perhaps it was just psychological, but Welf and Miss Mei also seemed surprised.

The reactions of the crowd made me inexplicably uneasy, so I spoke up about my own thoughts.

"How could I possibly date a goddess... Although I'm very happy, I really don't dare, I'm not good enough for her."

The other party is a being beyond existence, a "god race" from a different dimension than us.

To be honest, the values ​​of Welf and Miss Fate really shocked me... but I still feel that way.

The gods are beings that must be revered, loved, and respected.

We are fortunate to be welcomed by the gods as relatives, children and family members... but I still feel that I cannot cross that line.

"...Bell, Bell, what are you doing...?"

The immortal's dignified face revealed an expression of shock, as if one could hear a loud "boom."

She first lowered her head and trembled all over—then suddenly stood up from the chair.

"Bell, you idiot!!"

"Gods, immortals—!?"

The deity shouted as he rushed toward the door of the living room.

She covered her eyes with one arm, forcefully opened the door, and rushed out, eventually bursting through the main entrance of the mansion.

I lifted my waist off the chair and screamed in astonishment, but to no avail.

"Bell... I didn't expect you to be so stubborn."

"Huh! But... but! The gods are gods...!"

I saw the gods rush out of the headquarters from the window, and as I hesitated whether I should chase after them, Welf walked over to my side from the table.

Lily and the others came over too, I called out awkwardly.

"Indeed, there are people who, like Lord Bell, revere the gods..."

"Yes, but most of those people seem to be devout believers..."

"Miss Mikoto said in a complicated tone, and Miss Haruhime also looked puzzled. Just like them and Welf, they were surprised—they didn't understand why I was so insistent—and found my attitude towards the gods unbelievable."

They weren't criticizing me, but even with such criticism, I still just panicked.

"If...it really is just a hypothetical,"

As I stood there frozen, Lily looked up at my face.

"Lily, to give you an example that's absolutely impossible, what if Goddess Hestia had a secret crush on someone in the mortal realm... Lord Bell's words just now would probably hurt her, wouldn't they?"

Lily started with a long opening speech, then lowered her eyebrows and told me this, which made me widen my eyes.

"...I'm telling you, Bell."

Welf, who had been staring intently at my profile, then spoke:

"What exactly are you afraid of?"

"...!"

I can't breathe.

My hands unconsciously stiffened as Welf stared intently at the question I posed.

After a while, I couldn't answer anything and just looked away from Welf and the others.

"...I'm going to find a deity."

As if to escape this place, I left the living room.

Everyone stared at my retreating figure, but no one tried to call out to me.

"...Riko, is that really okay? Saying things like that."

Bell chased Hestia out of the room.

The group members stared at the living room door, except for Welf, who looked down at Lily.

"...It doesn't matter. Goddess Hestia is our patron goddess, and if she keeps acting up, it'll be a real problem for us. ...Besides, that person always meddles in Lily's affairs, just like last time..."

Welf asked Lily if it was appropriate to help her rival in this way. Lily whispered the last sentence and then turned her face away to answer.

Seeing her dishonesty attitude, both Ming and Chunji smiled wryly, looking at her with a smile.

Welf smiled too.

"So, we're pausing our maze exploration for today?"

"That's right."

No one objected to what Welf had said.

In order to welcome the goddess and boy back, who would surely reconcile and return as before, they stayed at headquarters.

*

I went out into the streets to look for the immortals.

The road was bustling with adventurers heading to the dungeon. Ordinary people without family ties were preparing to open their shops, and carriages came and went in a steady stream.

The sky over Orario remains clear today, though gray clouds can be seen to the north. As I run along the road, I think that perhaps it will rain in the mountains north of Orario.

I can't guess where the immortals who left headquarters went. Searching aimlessly in the vast city like headless flies isn't going to solve anything.

The words Lily and the others had spoken, and the expressions on the faces of the fairies as they rushed out of headquarters, resurfaced in my mind, causing a sharp pain in my chest. I asked passersby everywhere if they had seen the figure of the little goddess.

"Hmm...? Oh, isn't this Bell?"

"Really? Hey, little Bear Grylls!"

"Ah... Mihemiah, and Hermes?"

While walking on a street in the western part of the city, I unexpectedly encountered two male gods.

It was Mihe, pushing a four-wheeled cart laden with elixirs and other goods, and Hermes, wearing a wide-brimmed hat with feathers. Hermes seemed to have ditched his attendant, Miss Asphie, again today, and was without any guards.

Upon seeing the two ethereal figures with flowing turquoise and orange-yellow hair and perfectly proportioned features, I greeted them with "Good morning," naturally finding the combination quite peculiar.

"Uh, what are you two doing by the roadside?"

"Yeah, he just got me. This guy is trying to use my faction's products to make a quick buck, and I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of him."

"Hey, Mihe, how could you say that!"

Although Mih said this with a smile, there was no hint of malice in it. And Hermes was also smiling; the two were probably just joking. I've heard that the Hermes Familia handles everything as long as there's profit to be made, whether it's dungeon exploration, delivery, or trade. I guess he was probably trying to do business with Mih.

I couldn't help but laugh, and then I suddenly remembered the matter of immortals, so I tried asking the two of them.

"Hestia? Uh-oh, sorry, Bell, I didn't see her."

"Me too, sorry I couldn't help you."

"No, no! Please don't say that! Excuse me, let me..."

The two deities apologized to me, and I bowed my head in apology, intending to take my leave.

However, at this moment.

"Bell".

Mihel, who had been staring intently at my face, called out to me as I was about to turn and leave.

"If you're not in a rush, why don't you tell me what happened?"

“Eh…?”

"He's saying he's willing to give you advice, little Bell. You must have something bothering you, right?"

I was taken aback. Mihel smiled, while Hermes squinted.

...My bewildered heart seems to have been seen through. No, perhaps I'm just too easy to understand.

Seeing the way Mihe and the others looked at me like they were protecting a child, I hesitated for a long time before finally asking the question directly, but I didn't mention what happened at the mansion.

I asked the two gods about their views on love... no, what kind of feelings we have for children.

"Mih and Hermes... will the gods take a liking to us children? I mean, as lovers, or as husband and wife..."

My gaze lingered on the stone slabs as I said, “Mih and Hermes looked at each other.”

Then, the two handsome men seemed to understand all my troubles just by listening to that, and began to say to me:

"I think so. I would say we are particularly attracted to children."

"Yeah... To give a simple example, think back to Apollo, little brother Bell? That guy just fell in love with every girl he saw, didn't he?"

Apollo...the god we defeated in the war game.

He is a passionate god also known as "Farce of Sorrow and Love," who even proposed to the goddess Hestia.

"Once Apollo takes a liking to a child, he will love him widely, deeply, and completely."

"Mich is right, that guy will love, love and love and love... and then when the child dies, in our words, he'll cry way too much."

The words of Mih and Hermes terrified me.

"Exceeding, surpassing..."

"Yes, and then he would be filled with sorrow. If the child left any belongings, he would always carry them with him, and if a tree grew from the grave where the child was buried, he would regard it as his sacred tree."

"No, it can't be that exaggerated..."

"Yes, I can."

Hermes laughed and asserted to me, who couldn't help but doubt.

"On the other hand, if it were Takemikazuchi, he would probably uphold the attitude of a father god. Even if he is deeply attracted to that woman and receives her love, he would probably draw a line, since we cannot give her the happiness she deserves as a woman."

"Hephaestus, I don't know. Perhaps she can't let go of her feelings as a mentor and will instead watch over the artisan's child as he grows up. She'll probably spend her time with the child with a mix of goddessly affection and womanly love."

Mihe spoke of the god of war, Takemikazuchi, while Hermes laughed as he talked about Hephaestus, the goddess of forging.

The two told me that gods cannot have children with the people of the mortal world. Some gods value loyalty and hope to become the father of children, while others have the nature of craftsmen. The personalities and values ​​of the gods will form various kinds of divine love.

"Affection, a whim, parental love for children... every god's love for children takes different forms. Some gods will cherish their interactions with you as eternal memories, while others will forget them immediately. Conversely, there must be some goddesses who would chase after ascending souls to claim children as their own."

Hermes squinted and glanced at me sideways.

"Our love is twisted in a sense. I'm afraid that's how it is in your opinion, Bell."

“How, how could this be…”

When I saw Mihel smiling at me, I panicked.

Although they panicked, they couldn't firmly deny it.

"...What would Mihe and Hermes do?"