Ais Wallenstein. The Sword Princess and fastest growing adventurer in Orario. Ever since she had joined the Loki Familia, Ais had obtained countless accolades and praises. A calm and collected warrior. A cold young woman who was always composed.

But at that moment...

'What... did I just feel?'

She watched the mysterious man with white hair and crimson eyes dash away carrying that goddess. As she did, she reflexively glanced back down at her sword.

It was a masterpiece blade, but it wasn't unbreakable. In that moment where she reflexively acted, Ais channeled both her mana and Avenger to attack. A move that should have cracked the blade to its core.

But it was fine.

Not only that, but...

She tightened her grip on the blade.

'How?'

She saw the sword cut through. But in an instant, it had vanished and reappeared in his hands.

Was he that much faster than her? Stronger? Was that how he could tell?

No. More than that...

Ais narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips.

She was sure of it.

For a brief moment, she felt a monster's presence overlapping with that man's form. Not only that, but she felt *that* presence as well. The one who had slain her father and taken away her mother...

"Geez, Ais! I told you that you've been spending too much time training!"

A familiar voice broke Ais out of her thoughts. Lefiya's voice.

Ais blinked and then saw that the half-elf was standing in front of her.

Lefiya sighed and then grabbed Ais's hand. "This is why I said we should have some fun."

Loki stepped forward and nodded. "Lefi's got a point, you know? We can't have our cute Sword Princess attacking any old couple just because they're so disgustingly sweet."

Lefiya gave a serious nod and said, "That's right. Even if they should get a room."

Ais blinked and tilted her head. "...I don't understand?"

Loki laughed and patted Ais's head. "Don't worry about it. Now, let's go try out some more cute dresses. We got one for Lefi so now it's your turn, hehehe..."

Lefiya gave Loki a blank stare and said, "If you do anything weird, I'm going to tell Lady Riveria."

Loki straightened and saluted Lefiya. "Understood, Ma'am!"

"..." Lefiya shook her head and then started walking off, tugging Ais with her. As she did, she muttered, "Maybe Captain Finn was right. We might all need a break from all of these events happening..."

xxx

Loki smiled and watched as her two cute children walked off together. But then she turned back to look at where Hestia and that 'Bell' had gone off.

'A naive demispirit, huh?'

That Shrimp didn't know anything about Ais. And she wasn't like Freya who had her scary eyes that could see through everything, so that information didn't come from the Shrimp.

And Loki saw it too. The Shrimp didn't expect that comment, even though she went with it... Which meant that her 'Bell' figured it out by himself.

'...Just who is that guy anyway?'

A man who Hestia loved enough to lash out with her Arcanum because he could have been hurt. A man who could avoid Ais's attack while disarming her. And a man who put Ais on guard enough for her to reflexively attack him...

"...Meh." Loki laced her hands together behind her head and started walking off after Ais and Lefiya.

Even if that guy was weird, he was someone that Shrimp chose. And while Loki hated to admit it, the Shrimp was definitely a better judge of character than her.

So for now, she'd ignore it. That man didn't mean anything by saying what he said, and the Shrimp didn't want anything to deal with them.

Although...

Loki cracked one of her eyes open a bit more as she watched Ais glancing back towards where Hestia and Bell left.

'...This might be messy later.'

xxx

"What did you do that for, Bell?!"

I set Tia down on the ground while I adjusted my shirt. "What was what for?"

Tia huffed and said, "Pulling me into your arms and then running away like that! N-Not that I didn't like it, but that was a serious situation!"

I brushed down my pants and then smiled. "All the more reason to get us out of there then, right? We're on a date, and we can't have a good one while other people are bothering us."

Tia covered her face and let out a deep sigh. "I can't believe you sometimes, Bell..."

"That's because I'm unbelievably awesome."

Tia swatted my arm and said, "You're just lucky you're handsome."

I chuckled and said, "Should I tell that to Fina? Seems like her Mommy's the sort to judge on looks."

Tia rolled her eyes and then started adjusting her dress. After that, she looked around and said, "Did you have plans here in Daedalus Street, Bell?"

"Not really. But it's a good place for a stroll, right?" After saying that, I took a look around.

A haphazard and winding street. Uniform buildings that looked the same in every direction... and when they didn't look the same, they hid countless alleyways.

In short, the sort of place that a person could easily get lost in without a proper map or directions.

Of course, I didn't need that since I was me and could mark places with mana.

While we were on the move, I had perfectly mapped out the entire area. Although...

I glanced towards a powerful mana signature that seemed to be radiating from the depths of Daedalus street and frowned.

Tia noticed and said, "What's wrong?"

"...Nothing." I sighed and said, "Just have a feeling that life's going to get more complicated soon."

Tia rolled her eyes and then wrapped herself around my right arm. "If you were worried about that, you should have listened to me and become something other than an adventurer, Darling."

"And you need to try a bit harder than that if you want to be seductive Tia. Though you don't have to be." I gave Tia a warm smile and said, "I was already enchanted the moment I met you, my dear goddess."

"Hmph." Tia huffed and leaned her head against my arm. "Don't think you can get off that easy. I'm still upset about what happened earlier." Tia frowned and said, "That cutting board..."

"Calling another Goddess a cutting board is a bit much, don't you think?" I paused, remembering how Tia roasted Loki.

...Well, there was a reason why she was considered a goddess of fire too, I guess?

Tia rolled her eyes and said, "I've called her worse and she's called me worse. It's fine. Now." Tia tugged me along and looked around. "Where are we going, Bell?"

I started walking, taking the lead, before saying, "Easy there, Wifey. There's plenty of daylight left. Besides, there's a lot we don't know about each other, right?"

Tia swatted my arm again and said, "Stop with that silver tongue of yours. It's because of that thing we're in trouble with Freya."

"Right. Sorry." I frowned and said, "Force of habit."

Not mine though. Maybe accelerating Bell's growth was bringing out his natural tendencies? And maybe he was meant to be a playboy?

I mean, Bell was the MC of a harem manga or something, right?

I thought I was keeping it in check, but I might need to do dedicated speech therapy. Maybe start scolding women instead-

Ah, wait. That would just draw the weird ones to me.

...

I decided to set that issue aside for the moment and focused on Tia. "Anyway... You like reading, right, Tia? Is there a reason for that?"

Tia paused to consider it and said, "...Not really? I enjoy stories, but I guess it just became a habit? Back in Heaven I didn't really have many friends, so stories and books became my companions."

"...You know I love you, right Tia?"

"You do?!"

I blinked.

...Oh yeah. Haven't said that outright yet.

I coughed and said, "I-I do. I mean, isn't that obvious?"

Tia looked away and blushed. "N-No. I mean... I guess so...? You're always flirting with other girls, but you draw the line pretty harshly, so... Gah." She shook her head and glared at me. "You shouldn't say these things so casually, Bell!"

"Right, right. I'll remember to say it in a more serious setting next time, Tia."

Tia's face turned a darker shade of red and said, "Y-You don't have to..."

"But I want to. And it'll be more fun seeing you squirm then."

Tia was already cute, but seeing her embarrassed was even cuter.

"S-Squirm?" Tia looked at me and then I caught her eyes flicking down for a second.

I blinked and then did my best to ignore my face heating up. Instead, I stared at her and said, "Tia."

"W-What?! I didn't look at anything!"

"...Sure."

Yeah. Let's play along for now.

Today was meant to be a wholesome and romantic date, not one where we end up in a hotel room or something doing the loveydovey.

Yet.

...Though I probably should start working on that before Freya starts trying to work Tia over for a threesome or something.

But first, cute and romantic date.

xxx

Damned Einstein. The passage of time passing entirely on where you're standing, the theory of relativity... It really was true.

Chatting with Tia about various things. Getting to know each other a bit more, like favorite colors, foods, and activities. Discussing various stories and what sorts we liked...

Speaking of which, I learned that Tia adored happy endings, but couldn't help herself from reading tragedies since she thought those were more realistic. That, and she felt that those stories deserved to be remembered so that the people who suffered didn't do so in vain.

*That* raised a big red flag. Paired with the fact that Tia had apparently risked getting sent to Heaven by using her Arcanum before meant that I'd have to be extra cautious about things.

I had a feeling that if push came to shove, Tia would do a heroic sacrifice to keep everyone safe.

For the record, I despised tragedies and exclusively read happy endings. And when I came across a story without one, I tended to either retcon it in my head or retcon it in writing to fix that.

But anyway, time passed by in a flash. And before either of us knew it, the sun had fallen and gotten replaced by the moon.

Then, to top off our date, we shared a long and sweet kiss while staring at the starry skies from the edge of a clock tower balcony.

It was sweet and unforgettable. Romantic and precious.

And yet...

"...It's already time to get back to work, huh?"

It was now the morning after my date with Tia. And on that morning, I stood in front of the Freya familia building and did my best to ignore the pointed glares from all around me. Glares that were coming from people that were absolutely stronger than me.

Not that I'd lose just because they were stronger though. Right now, I was coming up short in pure stats, but in terms of lethality, I'd developed quite a few trump cards due to the realization of my precarious situation as an MC and the inevitable troubles coming my way.

I sighed and then pressed the strangely modern doorbell next to the imposing iron gate before me.

A soft chime echoed in the distance.

The glares on me became sharper.

And then...

"...You are brave for walking alone into enemy territory, Bell Kranel."

...A firm and powerful voice echoed from the distance. Shortly after, the gate opened on its own, revealing the speaker. Ottar.

I chuckled and waved at him and said, "I've gotta do this much to take responsibility, right?"

Killing intent. Enough to cause any ordinary person to faint.

But to me, killing intent was just another energy.

Apparently.

Huh. That was a new one.

I quietly gathered up the killing intent and stored it away in my inventory for later.

Ottar smiled and then walked forward, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Yes. You must do at least that much. Then... Let us depart. The sooner we accomplish our task for Lady Freya the better."

"Right. That task." I glanced back at the mansion, tracking a few people glaring at me with pure malice. After that, I looked back at Ottar and said, "...You'll give me pointers along the way so I won't die a stupid death, right?"

"Of course." Ottar's smile widened and he said, "Lady Freya mentioned that you have great potential. I will do my best to draw it out along the way."

An imposing aura. Ottar was being completely benign in both his speech and mannerisms... but why did I feel like I was going to regret asking that?

And why was the infamously aloof and cold Ottar staring at me with burning passion in his eyes?

"...Go easy on me?"

"No such words exist for a hero. Now come, there is work to be done."

"Hah..."