INTERLUDE
GROWTH, THE PRESENT, AND RYE BREAD
Bell Cranell
Level 4
Strength: I0 -> C676 Defense: I0 -> B701 Dexterity: I0 -> B724 Agility: I0 -> B718 Magic: I0 -> C55 Luck: G -> F Immunity: H -> G Escape: I
Magic
Firebolt
• Swift-strike magic
Skills
Liaris Freese
• Rapid growth
• Continued desire results in continued growth
• Stronger desire results in stronger growth
Argonaut
• Charges automatically with active action
Ox Slayer
• When fighting minotaurs, all abilities are exponentially enhanced
“Bell, what did you do?” were the first words out of Hestia’s mouth as she updated Bell’s Status. She wore a severe expression as she regarded the boy’s back, but her question came out in a baffled monotone.
Because he was still wearing the cast, Bell was forced to sit in an uncomfortable posture and winced awkwardly as he underwent the Status update.
They were in an unoccupied room on the first floor of Hearthstone Manor, the home of Hestia Familia . There had been much to do since their safe return from the expedition, and Hestia was only now administering an overdue Status update. Or more accurately, she had been.
Since the Status update required the follower to be shirtless, the two of them were alone together in the room. Hestia paused her work and laid her hands on her knees.
Hestia was tempted to throw on her usual cheerful smile and make a show of wiping her forehead like she usually did after a Status update. However, that would have been nothing more than refusing to come to grips with reality.
Bell’s ability score total was over 3400.
That was unmistakably a personal best for the boy. It might even have broken a public record.
If some god’s follower had wanted to—say, by saving up a bunch of excelia over time by forgoing regular Status updates and then cashing in on a really big one—in that kind of scenario, it wasn’t impossible to hit similar numbers, so it had probably been done at some point…But there wasn’t any point in making that comparison because with such a dramatic number, saying “Check out how much my follower grew in a single adventure” didn’t even count as a brag.
Why? Because the amount was proof that the adventurer in question had survived a series of utterly brutal encounters, and if any of them had gone badly, they wouldn’t even be around anymore.
“Uh…” said Bell, accepting the Status update paper with a tremendously awkward expression. “…I almost died like eight times.”
I figured as much.
Hestia had heard all about the expedition. The moss huge alone would have been bad enough, but they’d faced other exceptional opponents like the lambton and the Juggernaut, not to mention how they ended up being chased into the deep levels and nearly dying in the process of wandering around down there. Just hearing about it made her nearly pass out. Actually, she had passed out.
And now, as she looked at the numbers on Bell’s Status that corroborated that harrowing story, she couldn’t help but cradle her head.
“…Bell, would you tell everyone else that I’ll update their Statuses another day? I’m sorry, but I’m seriously tired today…”
Hearing Hestia speak in such a lifeless tone, Bell immediately looked very apologetic.
“Oh, sure…I-I’m sorry…”
When Bell’s Guild adviser eventually heard about this, she’d probably slam her head into the table, Hestia thought. I sure sympathize with that , she thought. Next time she checks on Bell, the two of us oughtta go drinking . Hestia stared into space, distracted by the daydream.
The truth was that Bell seemed on the verge of leveling up, but Hestia kept that to herself.
It was just a hunch of hers, after all.
Maybe she was wrong.
He’d only just hit Level 4, and it hadn’t been long since the last Denatus, and if she were to conveniently omit the fact that Bell was ready to level up again after such a short period of time, it certainly wasn’t because she was worried the other gods would go into utter robe-wetting convulsions at such an unheard of revelation. It wasn’t, honest! Honest!
As Hestia argued with herself internally, she heaved a long, deep sigh. “…You’ve really grown, haven’t you, Bell?” Then, summoning her confidence, she continued. “From the time we met until now, you really have grown so much.”
The boy only blinked in response as she smiled at him, the very first person to ever join her familia.
“I’ll be back soon.”
Having finished my Status update with Hestia, I head out from the manor. My plan today is to take it easy and go on a walk to nowhere in particular. It’s true that I need to rest, but before anything else, I want to deal with this reaction to being on the surface after wandering the deep levels for so long. It feels like my body’s saying it wants to bask in the sunshine.
Given my immobilized left arm, I probably shouldn’t move around too much, but I figure it’ll be all right as long as I don’t push it.
Plus, this is my chance to take a leisurely stroll around town.
“Man, feels like it’s been a while since I’ve walked around town with you like this, Bell.”
“Yeah, I don’t think we’ve done much of anything with just the two of us in a long time.”
Welf’s taken it upon himself to watch over me while my arm’s in a cast. He came along even though he only just finished repairing both my weapons and Mikoto’s. Lilly wanted to come along, too, but since the deadline to submit the report detailing our expedition is coming up, she’s gone to the Guild instead.
Given the list of Irregulars we’d faced, and the fact that we’d ventured into the deep levels, Lilly had strongly resisted being the one to deliver the report to the Guild. Her reasoning:
“If it becomes public knowledge that we made it to the deep levels, it’s quite possible that our familia rank will go up. And if that happens, don’t you suppose our Guild dues will rise accordingly? Because they will, you know. And what if the Guild is like, ‘Okay, your next goal is the thirty-eighth floor!’ Huh? The most obvious goal for our next expedition mission will be ‘reach a deeper level,’ which will only be even harder, and Lilly’s not Mr. Welf, but it’s still tempting to say ‘You gotta be kidding me!’ Even the lower floors are still dangerous for us without Aisha or Lyu supporting our party. Forget about the deeper floors! But it’s possible that we’ll get stuck with a truly punishing mission or quest, so the clearly, obviously, and unmistakably superior choice is to hide the fact that we ever reached it in the first place!…Also, we’re still totally in the red after the forced march of the expedition we just finished.”
—is what she said in so many words.
No one, not even a god, would casually dismiss the words of a trusted adviser who said that much without taking a single breath from start to finish.
I also noticed that when she got to the part about being “in the red,” a darkness deeper than the thirty-seventh floor filled her eyes. Haruhime and I could only shiver in fear at her outburst. Welf and Mikoto didn’t seem to have anything to say back to her, either.
Although to be honest, since Ouranos and Fels knew about what had happened, my guess was that she didn’t need to be quite so worried about reporting to the Guild what happened…
In any case, we ultimately decided that Lilly would go and say that our expedition ended in failure and that Hestia Familia would accept the according penalty, keeping us a middle-tier faction in the eyes of the city for a little while longer.
The truth was, there hadn’t been time for us to collect the required drop item after our encounter with the moss huge, so we technically did fail our mission. If I close my eyes, I can still see Lilly’s grumbling form as she set off for the Guild headquarters, carrying a purse holding the not-insignificant amount of money we owed them. As a side note, she also forced Haruhime to go with her so she could at least familiarize herself with Guild processes.
In the meantime, Mikoto’s minding the manor with Ouka and the others from Takemikazuchi Familia , who came by to check in on how we’re doing. Hestia’s at her part-time job.
“Hey, Bell. Ever since we’ve been back, you’ve been jumping out of bed in the middle of the night, yeah?”
“…How did you know?”
“I mean, my room’s right next to yours. So…is it because of how long you spent in the deep levels?”
“Yeah…We couldn’t rest for more than five minutes at a time down there, and we never knew when monsters might attack. I think my body’s still sensitive, even though we’re back on the surface,” I explain to Welf as we walk side by side down the street.
Welf shoots me a sympathetic look, probably worried about whether suddenly getting thrown into the deep levels has left me with some kind of deep-seated trauma.
“That’s rough, buddy. Does that mean you’re not getting any decent sleep?”
“I-I’m fine! Really, it’s nothing! Anyway, I guess Haruhime must have noticed because whenever I wake up, she’s been coming to my room to check on me.”
“…Hmm?”
“I mean it’s probably also because she’s an animal person, but apparently in the Night District, they’re taught to be very sensitive to whether a client isn’t sleeping well, so…!”
“…Hmmm?”
“So she’ll hold my hand until I can fall back asleep, or we’ll read heroic epics together…It’s sorta like what I imagine it would’ve been like to have an older sister, I guess? It’s really nice…er, I mean…Well, anyway! I’m fine, so don’t worry about me!” My face is burning after I reveal that Haruhime’s been visiting my room at night. I only brought it up to keep Welf from worrying too much, but his expression has become unreadable. Wait, why’s he making that face?
“…You better never, ever let Hestia or Li’l E hear about that.”
—We’ve been fighting so much recently. It’d be nice to release some of the tension that’s been building up for a while now.
That was my thought process.
This is just my guess, but I bet that top-class adventurers like Aiz make it a priority to spend some time on the surface without a specific goal or destination whenever they get back from an expedition. Wandering around just like I am right now, staring up at the sky, mingling with the crowds.
Maybe it’s a kind of ritual to reclaim your sense of self…Somehow, after being in the Dungeon for too long, the surface becomes a harrowing place. What should be a relaxing time becomes tense and stressful. It’s like everything just feels off.
I guess the best example is how I’ve been overreacting to even the slightest sound by leaping out of bed. You could call it an occupational hazard: Dungeon Sickness.
If you can’t get used to feeling safe, can’t convince your body and mind to relax, then even restful things provide no rest.
That’s why I think times like this are important for adventurers.
“Hey, isn’t that Little Rookie…? I mean, Rabbit Foot?”
“Ignis is here, too.”
“Hey there, boy! Not headed to the Dungeon today?”
“Got some fresh fruit in today. How about taking some home?”
“Hey, bro with the white hair! What happened to your arm?”
“Get hurt in the Dungeon?”
“Wow, that’s gotta hurt!”
I’m drawing attention as I walk through the town with Welf. A couple of humans—also adventurers—regard us from a distance. An older dwarf man and animal-person lady minding the front of their produce store call out to us. A couple of demi-human children innocently bump into us, too.
Is this the proof that I’ve reached Level 4 and become a second-tier adventurer? Hestia’s well-liked so that probably has something to do with it, but I’m hearing encouragement like “hang in there!” from people I don’t even recognize now.
We pass two gods, and I happen to overhear their conversation. “If only I’d let him into my familia way back when!” “Salivating over Bell, eh?” “Argh, I wanna rewind time!”
I have no idea how I should feel about that.
“You’re a bit of a celebrity…no, a full-fledged man-about-town! How’s it feel?” Welf teases.
“I—I mean, I’m happy, but…also confused,” I answer honestly, embarrassed.
I think back to Wiene, and everything that happened with the Xenos. Back then, I was the focus of the city’s despair and malice. To go from that to where I am now, with the townspeople looking at me with smiles on their faces, makes me realize how much I’ve been through.
That’s right.
So much has happened.
Then, just as I indulge in some sentimentality for once—I hear a surprised voice from in front of me. “Ah…”
When I look, I freeze in my tracks. It’s a human man wearing slightly shabby clothes. He looks to be maybe twice my age. His black hair is long enough in front that it almost reaches his eyes.
As the two of us study each other, unmoving, Welf’s face becomes wary. This encounter’s so sudden that my mind has completely blanked out, and I can’t explain why.
The man looks like someone you might run into on any street corner. He makes a terribly awkward expression, then turns on his heel and tries to escape.
“E-er!” I quickly exclaim to his back. “Thank you for the rye bread!” I cry out and give a hearty bow.
I immediately sense his surprise. When I look back up, I see him turn around, wide-eyed. As I straighten, we stare at each other for another moment.
Then he finally exhales and smiles at me. “Look at you…You’ve really gone and turned into an upper-class adventurer. And you’re just the same as ever.”
“…”
“Far as I can tell anyway.” The man scratches his nose, then narrows his eyes as though something’s occurred to him. “Ah, listen…you might not want to hear this from me, but…” He casts his gaze downward and scratches his head, seemingly having trouble finding his words. Eventually, he decides on “You hang in there, lad.”
“…I will!” I immediately reply with a huge smile.
I’m so happy.
I have no idea how many people have seen me and given me words of encouragement today, but the support of this one person makes me unreasonably happy.
The man seems a bit flustered at my smile, and this time he succeeds in escaping.
“You know that guy, Bell?” Welf finally asks, after having silently watched the exchange.
I search for an answer to give to my friend, now wearing a curious expression as he wondered about the unfamiliar individual.
“Yeah…he did me a favor a long time ago.”
It’s true.
Before I met Lilly or Welf, or even Hestia. Back when I’d just arrived in Orario and didn’t know up from down. Back when I was trapped between my own hopes and fears.
Back then, could I have even imagined the person I am now? Someone who’s met so many people, gone on so many adventures, and surrounded himself with such a familia—such a family?
…There’s no way.
Like most people, I’m sure my past self could never have predicted this future.
It’s because I can’t see the future that I push forward with everything I have as the present steadily becomes past.
I look up.
Overhead stretches a beautiful blue sky.
Orario’s sky, too, seems changeless even as it changes.
Back then, when I still had so much to learn, the spring sky was warmer than it is now.
In the present, the weather makes it clear autumn is just around the corner. A pleasant breeze ruffles my hair as my thoughts are drawn toward the boundless sky.
I let myself fall into the memory of that first day.
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