Chapter 547 - 547: The Tavern

The scent of alcohol filled the air. Some patrons kept their heads down and focused on their meals, while others paused what they were doing to watch the two Goddesses argue, treating it as entertainment to go with their drinks.

"Ugh..."

Whenever Loki recalled the conversation from before they left, a wave of grievance welled up inside her.

They had originally planned to discuss it later, but naturally, she had been unable to wait.

Loki had gone to Riveria, and the Elf princess had shown no coyness or hesitation. She openly admitted that she and the boy had become lovers in private.

In a place beyond the reach of divine will, the Elf princess had embraced her own love.

Loki dearly loved the children of her Familia, so aside from offering Riveria her blessing, there was nothing else she could bring herself to say. Even teasing her as usual would have felt like trampling on the Elf princess's pure feelings.

The love dwelling within those emerald eyes had already become that unwavering.

"That damn Bell Cranel! I'm going to settle this with that shorty!"

Loki had made that fierce declaration before leaving.

Reality, however, had ended with Hestia insulting her until her face turned bright red.

Left with no other option, Loki dragged the boy into the argument, hoping to reverse the situation in a single blow.

"One of my girls can't even sleep because of Bell Cranel!"

Of course, Loki knew exactly how far she could go and deliberately avoided mentioning Riveria or the others directly.

No matter how Bell's relationship with the Elf princess developed from here, their relationship absolutely could not be made public yet. That was not only to repay the boy for everything he had done, but also to protect Riveria's reputation.

Loki had already learned the entire story from Finn and the others. She had no intention of picking a fight with Bell after he had risked his life to save her children.

Everything she was doing now was simply meant to knock Hestia down a peg.

Seeing that shorty suffer for a moment would be enough to satisfy her.

"Hah?! There's no way my Bell would do something like... something like that..."

Just as Loki had expected, even without explaining any details, the phrase "can't even sleep" was enough to shake Hestia's confidence and send her imagination running wild.

"..."

Suspicion crept across Hestia's youthful face.

What would happen if Bell Cranel spent two whole weeks around girls?

Something indecent was absolutely going to happen!

Hestia immediately reached her conclusion.

"Bell! Don't tell me you slept with one of Loki's girls in the Dungeon?!"

Hestia turned and demanded an answer.

"That's the Dungeon, Goddess-sama. It's dangerous everywhere. How could I possibly do something like that?"

Bell replied with righteous conviction.

"Guh... Damn it! That's a lie!"

Loki grabbed the wine glass on the table and drained the entire thing in one gulp.

"That's what I was about to say! Why are you acting so upset?! You big idiot, Bell!"

Hestia also picked up her glass and emptied it at once.

Loki only knew what had happened during the expedition. She had no idea what Bell had actually done with Riveria.

Now that she had unexpectedly learned the truth, she immediately lost all desire to keep arguing.

Sleeping together in the Dungeon?

Her own Elf princess could actually accept something like that?

Wasn't that way too strange?!

On the other side, Hestia had also taken a harsh blow from reality.

She neither wanted nor dared to keep asking, so she could only numb herself with alcohol.

She had worried so much about the boy's safety, and he had actually been sleeping with girls in the Dungeon!

Had they gone even further than that?!

"Another!"

"Another!"

Before anyone realized it, the two Goddesses had stopped arguing.

Their drinking, however, never slowed.

Now united as fellow "victims," Loki and Hestia shifted their seats together and moved to the spot where drinks could be refilled the fastest.

"Poor Loki."

Tiona said that sympathetically, but at the same time, she boldly grabbed a roasted chicken leg and showed absolutely no intention of going over to comfort her.

If their Goddess ever found out that every girl sitting here had slept beside the boy at least once, she would definitely burst into tears.

Riveria glanced at the Adventurers watching from nearby, then deliberately raised her voice.

"Lefiya, how could you do something so improper with Bell Cranel in the Dungeon? Secretly sleeping together behind everyone's backs, then deliberately hiding it afterward, is completely unacceptable. Reflect properly on what you've done."

"Huh? Huhhhh?!"

Lefiya had never expected the conversation to suddenly turn toward her.

She had been using the excuse of serving herself soup to sneak glances at the neighboring table. Seeing the Moon Goddess acting so intimately with the boy had made Lefiya puff out her cheeks, and she had been just about to complain under her breath.

Instead, Riveria destroyed her composure with a single sentence.

The ladle slipped from Lefiya's hand and dropped into her bowl.

Before she could defend herself, Finn followed up.

"Lefiya, don't make excuses. Even if you and Bell Cranel are already more than lovers but not yet husband and wife, that sort of thing should wait until you've returned. You shouldn't be flirting during an expedition. Since this is your first offense, we'll let it go, but from now on, you need to behave appropriately."

Finn deliberately blinked, signaling the golden-haired Elf to play along.

"Um... I-I understand..."

Lefiya lowered her head dejectedly.

The topic had already spread throughout the tavern.

So who exactly had Bell slept with in Loki Familia, to the point that she couldn't sleep afterward?

Riveria's situation could not be exposed, so naturally, the answer fell to Lefiya, the girl everyone already regarded as his acknowledged romantic interest.

The moment the golden-haired Elf nodded, the other Adventurers in the tavern visibly lost interest.

Bell and Lefiya had already openly hugged and clung to each other during the War Game. Even if they had slept together, that was hardly exciting enough to become gossip.

"..."

Lefiya couldn't shake the feeling that she had somehow gotten the worst end of the deal.

She had not actually done anything, yet she had still become the center of attention.

At this point, she might as well have really slept with Bell Cranel...

Lefiya looked toward the boy at the neighboring table, and a silly smile appeared on her face as she drifted into fantasy.

In her blue eyes, Bell was enjoying the banquet together with the other girls.

"Bell-dono, I still think lying is wrong. I'm not questioning Bell-dono or anything, it's just..."

Mikoto spoke nervously.

"Hehe. Gods can tell when someone is lying. If Orion doesn't want to answer, the best option is simply to avoid the question. So he deliberately said it that way to make Loki and Hestia stop arguing."

After Artemis explained with a smile, she nestled against Bell like a kitten waiting for praise.

"Artemis really is clever."

Bell gently stroked the Goddess's blue hair, then scooped up some food with a spoon and held it in front of her lips.

"..."

Although Artemis's cheeks flushed with embarrassment, she still leaned forward and ate from the spoon.

Many people saw it.

Mikoto blushed as though she were the one being fed, while Lili and the others did their best to pretend they hadn't noticed. The girls from Artemis's former Familia quietly cheered her on.

At Loki Familia's table, Riveria glanced thoughtfully at the Moon Goddess, while Lefiya puffed out her cheeks with obvious displeasure.

Amid all those tangled thoughts, no one noticed a Catgirl's tail swaying slightly as she seemed to make up her mind.

Chloe pulled her gaze away from the boy and walked toward the back.

When she passed through the corridor, Syr stepped in front of her.

"Chloe, what are you planning to do?"

"Move... This has nothing to do with Syr, nya."

Chloe's usual gentle demeanor was gone, replaced by something sharp and tense.

"How could it have nothing to do with me? You're planning to do something to Bell, aren't you?"

Syr showed no intention of moving.

"If I say yes, what are you going to do, Syr? Call Ryuu and Mama Mia over to stop me, nya?"

Chloe did not want to say anything more.

What she intended to do would undoubtedly hurt the boy.

But it was Chloe's only wish.

No matter what, she had to fulfill it.

"If something's troubling you, you can talk it over with everyone. Bell would definitely be willing to help too."

Syr gently tried to persuade her.

"This is my problem. I won't drag any of you into it, nya. Sorry, Syr."

Chloe tried to force her way through.

For a brief instant, however, it felt as though her consciousness had cut out.

The next moment, Syr stepped aside on her own.

She watched Chloe walk away and sighed softly.

"Are you really fine with letting that little stray cat walk away right in front of you?"

Mia spoke from nearby.

"It's her choice. I don't intend to interfere."

Syr answered without hesitation.

"But that girl's in pretty bad shape. The others told me she's already packed her things and is planning to leave Orario."

Mia replied with concern.

"Mm, I know... I just hope she can have one warm night..."

Syr looked away.

A faint silver gleam flashed through her beautiful gray eyes.

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