Chapter 40: 40 – Is it wrong to wish the genre was slice-of-life?

"Are you sure that it's fine for us to leave everyone at home like this, Bell?" Tia tugged her shirt and glanced back towards the church. "I'm worried about everyone..."

I placed my right arm around Tia's shoulders and smiled. "Don't worry, Tia. Welf can handle anything that pops up. And now as an official member of the Hestia familia, it's part of his job as my sorta kinda blood brother."

Even though it might be temporary, Welf was family now. Plus, he needed to get a taste of being a responsible adult sometime too. Better now in this brief calm before everything exploded.

Which would probably be soon considering that Ganesha's banquet of the gods was tomorrow.

Tia said that she, Freya, and Hephaestus were going to have a battle plan meeting in the evening to sort that out though, so things will be fine.

...Well, even if they weren't, I had escape plans stored away as well as a 'break in case of emergency' trump card too.

Being self-aware meant being always prepared.

Anyway, that wasn't important right now. What was important was enjoying a proper date with Tia.

...Though maybe I should have did a bit of research and planning on what exactly to do on this date of ours.

At the moment, Tia and I were walking along the eastern Main Street of Orario, heading towards the commercial district.

Since it was early morning, the sun had just peeked out over the horizon, leaving a few hints of orange still in the sky. And also because it was early morning, there weren't that many people out yet, mostly just adventurers coming out after a long night in the dungeon, or adventurers heading in for a long day.

Like that lewd blonde swordsman and her elf friend I could see in the distance there.

...And the fact that I noticed them for a second time meant there was definitely going to be a third, huh? Need to put a mental pin on that development there...

But that aside, it was a beautiful and peaceful morning.

Tia was wearing her usual white one-piece dress. Instead of her blue ribbon though, she was wearing a crimson one that Fina made for her last night.

It was a simple outfit, but considering how beautiful Tia was, it was enough. Especially since she had decided to skip the twin-tails today and let her hair trail behind her.

In comparison, I was kind of underdressed.

A black long-sleeved shirt paired with a black leather belt and gray jeans. A set of combat boots... It was a really colorless outfit.

Well, I was muscular and tall, so I guess it didn't matter too much what I wore. Handsome guys could wear whatever, and that was doubly true for muscular guys.

I was objectively both, so... yeah, probably fine.

Still, I was a bit self-conscious about ruining the mood too much by having a dark color scheme going, so I grabbed Tia's blue ribbon on the way out and tied it around my wrist.

The plan was to put it around my arm like a certain first class soldier, but I underestimated the gains I got...

Tia sighed, drawing me out of my thoughts.

I glanced over towards her and saw that she was looking a bit... sad? Frustrated? Upset? I frowned and said, "Did I do something wrong?"

Tia shook her head. "No. It's just..." She leaned against me a bit and said, "...Everything is happening so fast. I'm worried about what the future holds for our family."

Ah. That was a good point.

Tia held up her left hand, staring at the orihalcum ring around her ring finger. "It's been like a dream since I've met you, Bell. And it's one I don't want to wake up from. But..." She lowered her hand and looked at me. "...Can we keep going like this?"

I didn't give an immediate response. This was serious, so I didn't take it lightly.

Objectively, we were in a bad position. Because my skill was an absolute cheat, things spiraled out of control pretty fast. Having Fina, Freya, Welf accidentally creating Pyrrha with Hephaestus, Freya, rescuing a missing goddess who had somehow turned into a mortal... and Freya.

For the short term, our greatest source of trouble would be our greatest ally. Since Freya was somehow deeply in love with me and not in a crazy yandere way, we had a strong umbrella to weather the upcoming storm.

But in the long term...

Freya and her familia might be the strongest in Orario, but it was also the most unstable. After all, the majority of her 'children' were people that were madly in love with her. And from the reports I read on the familia, it was common for fights to break out even among Freya familia members due to Freya favoring one person or another.

The only one who didn't get involved with that was Orario's current strongest adventurer, Ottar.

...But considering that the bulk of the Freya Familia were around level 4, 5, or higher...

I knew my plot developments. Ain't no way I wasn't going to get hunted down by a horde of powerful jealous men at the rate things were playing out, even if the affection there was one-sided.

...ESPECIALLY if the affection there was one-sided.

Then there was the fact that there definitely seemed to be some crazy shenanigans happening in the background what with that variant War Shadow on the loose, the entire situation revolving Artemis, and that ominous story/poem thing that Misha had me evaluate...

Yep. If this was a light novel or anime, we would be right around the climax of the arc where the big bad revealed himself after ruining everything. In a game, this would definitely be around the part where the boss showed up and nuked the starting town to force the player to go explore and hunt the guy down.

I wasn't about that life though. Unlike Bell who originally wanted to gain fame and be a hero, I just wanted my cute daughter and goddess to live happy and carefree. Being an adventurer was just a 9-5 job for me.

...Unfortunately, I was apparently the MC and life was telling me to go earn my happy ending.

So...

I hugged Tia tight and said, "I won't lie, Tia. Things are going to be rough."

Tia sighed and lowered her gaze. "...I thought so."

"But don't worry." I grinned and said, "Unlike most hapless adventurers, I'm a genre savvy MC. This story of ours will have a happy ending."

I bit back the urge to promise that. Had to be extra careful with my words in case something was listening and decided to turn me into a liar.

Tia tensed and then looked up at me again. After staring at my face, she laughed and then said, "It's not fair, you know? I'm the goddess here." She leaned away from me and lightly tapped my chest. "I should be the one comforting you."

"Well, every day with you is comfortable, so I think you're doing a great job, my beloved goddess."

Tia blushed and then reached up to pinch my cheek. "You shameless flirt, you!"

"Owowow! Fine! I'll tone it down!"

"Hmph." Tia lowered her hand and then said, "You'd better. It's too easy for you to make girls misunderstand when you talk like that."

I rubbed my cheek and then nodded. "I know. But I'm being perfectly sincere when I'm talking like that with you, Tia."

"...Hmph." Tia slipped away from my arm and then turned back to look at me. As she did, she let out a deep sigh and said, "Where did that cute Bell I met disappear to? This roguish man who took his place is going to be the death of me..."

I laughed and said, "Well, this 'rogue' already stole your heart, so it's a bit too late to complain, right?"

Tia stuck out her tongue.

I smiled back and then held out my hand. "Come on, Tia. Let's go have a bit of fun before things get too wild."

Tia rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand. "You're going to jinx it, you know?"

"That's the point."

Had to make sure to get as much of a proper date in as I could before life dragged me back into whatever plot was brewing in the background... And also because if I did that, I could direct the plot.

Because if I knew my tropes, then the end of this date should get pretty exciting.

Or annoying.

Now to keep thinking positively and win that coin flip.

xxx

A tiny forge in the back of the rundown church that the Hestia familia used for their home. One that Bell had recently created for Welf's personal use.

It wasn't very large. For the most part, it was just a small shed with stone walls and a few open-air windows. There was basic forging equipment inside that Bell personally made for Welf, along with some interesting materials for Welf to experiment with.

Stuff like bits of adamantium, random enchanted ores, and shards of what looked like broken magic swords.

As always, Welf had a lot of questions about his friend... even more now that they were in the same familia, but he put them off for later.

Right now he had to focus. And the reason for that...

"Good morning Papa..." Pyrrha rubbed her bleary eyes and then walked into the forge.

Welf paused in the middle of surveying his surroundings and then smiled. "Good morning, Pyrrha." He walked over to his daughter and then kneeled down to hug her. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mm." Pyrrha nodded and then snuggled against Welf. "Fina's bed is comfy."

"Y-Yeah. I bet it is..."

Considering that Fina got inspired by making Salamander Wool when Welf was babysitting her, he had a feeling that she might have made some more ridiculous things in her room while nobody was watching...

Wait.

Welf blinked and then peered past the entrance, searching the area. "Where is Fina anyway? Is she still sleeping?"

Pyrrha shook her head and said, "Fina is talking with Miss Artemis and Miss Ryuu." Pyrrha yawned and said, "I wanted to watch Papa work though. Can I?"

Welf shifted his gaze back to his daughter.

Pyrrha looked up at him with her mismatched eyes, hesitant.

It was a question with an obvious answer. Even if Welf didn't expect Pyrrha to enter his life, he wouldn't turn away from her.

But he could see how Pyrrha doubted herself. How she thought that she might be a bother.

Seeing that made Welf feel a giant stab of guilt in his heart.

Because he was rash, Pyrrha was born when neither he nor Hephaestus was prepared. And because Welf had rushed to prove himself to Hephaestus, both he and Pyrrha were forced out to Hestia's familia.

It wasn't with malice. Welf knew that Hephaestus... that Faefae was too kind for that. Instead, it was just out of consideration.

So as to not breed resentment between the rest of the Hephaestus familia and Welf. So that the familia Hephaestus so carefully nurtured wouldn't collapse and disappear overnight.

Welf could understand that. And he knew why she told them to leave and to not come back until he could stand on his own two feet against all of Orario.

But Pyrrha didn't.

To her, it must have seemed like Faefae had abandoned her. That Pyrrha was someone she didn't care about.

Thankfully, Bell was a smooth talker and managed to convince Pyrrha that Faefae was just really busy. But even then, it seemed like Pyrrha subconsciously thought she was being a burden on her parents.

And that was probably worse when seeing Fina happily go around with Hestia and Bell all the time like a proper happy family.

"Papa...?"

Pyrrha's soft voice broke Welf out of his thoughts.

He let out a bright smile and hugged Pyrrha close. "Of course you can watch me work, Pyrrha. Even if I'm busy, I'll stop it for you. So... don't feel like you're a burden, alright?"

Pyrrha tensed and then quietly said, "...Is it okay, Papa? I'm really not being a bother?"

"Of course not." Welf leaned back and placed his hands on Pyrrha's shoulder, staring into her eyes.

It was like seeing a younger Hephaestus. Pyrrha looked almost exactly like her mother. But that expression...

Welf remembered when he was younger. All the struggles his father and grandfather went through by failing to use the Crozzo blood. How he wanted to do everything to help them out. And how their gazes on him changed when they learned he could create real Crozzo magic swords.

Pyrrha looked just like he did back then. Lost and not knowing how to make her parents happy. Filled with love, but not knowing if her parents felt the same.

Welf let out a soft smile and then said, "It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or what you do. Papa will always love you and support you, okay? You're the most important thing in the world to me, so don't be afraid to hug me or watch me work if you feel lonely."

Pyrrha's eyes started to tear up, but she smiled and nodded. "O-Okay Papa..."

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Welf brushed away Pyrrha's tears and then grabbed her hand. "Here. Why don't I teach you how I do my work? You're still a bit too small to blacksmith, but I can teach you about the different materials." He led Pyrrha over to a pile of ores and started pointing them out. "This one here is iron. It's the most common material, but it's a bit harder to work with starting out. This one here is copper, which is the easiest..."

xxx

"...And that's how I met Mommy and Daddy!"

Ryuu gave Fina an awkward smile and said, "You have a very... colorful imagination, Fina."

Fina turned to smile back at Ryuu and said, "Thank you, Ryuu! Mommy always says imagination is important! Oh! And Daddy says so too!"

"I'm sure they do."

Especially Bell. That man seemed to be a terrifyingly powerful alchemist or magician, so Ryuu didn't doubt his emphasis on visualization.

Fina giggled and then walked off to the side, dancing on the grass and just enjoying the sunlight.

Ryuu watched Fina play a bit before shifting her gaze to her surroundings.

Since Bell was gone for the day to take Lady Hestia out on a proper date... and since it was starting to seem that the Hestia familia had more secrets and potential enemies than even she did, Ryuu delayed returning to work.

Miss Mia and the others were already insistent on Ryuu taking a break regardless, so a little longer shouldn't be too much trouble.

...Although Ryuu could already hear the other girls pestering her about where she spent the night.

It would be a bit embarrassing and annoying to clear up, but Ryuu was willing to go through that to keep Fina and the others safe.

That was the least she could do for Bell considering the trust he had shown her.

...Ryuu still thought that Bell was insane though. Honestly, trusting an elf like her to protect him.

Well, that was probably why Syr liked him so much. And it likely helped that he was an objectively handsome man with a trained body.

But that aside...

Ryuu turned her attention to the other person out there in the church courtyard with Fina.

Sitting on a rock was a beautiful woman with green eyes and flowing light blue hair. One that Ryuu clearly recalled meeting at least once while roaming around outside of Oraria with the Astraea familia...

Artemis noticed Ryuu's gaze and then tilted her head. "Is something wrong, Miss Lion?"

A polite tone of voice. Also unmistakable for the goddess of the hunt that she had met in the past. But...

"...It's nothing, Lady Artemis."

"Lady Artemis..." Artemis furrowed her brow and said, "...I still find it hard to believe. Myself? A goddess?" She shook her head and said, "Hestia keeps insisting, and while I feel that she's telling the truth..." A pained smile crossed her face and she placed her hand over her heart. "...I just can't accept it for some reason."

Ryuu was quiet.

She didn't know the circumstances, but she could guess. The Artemis familia's disappearance, the terrifying monster in that ancient ruin that was only destroyed because of Bell's magic items...

It was pitiful seeing Lady Artemis like this. Having forgotten everything but the fact that Lady Hestia was her friend, having lost her divinity and turned into an ordinary mortal...

If something like that had happened to Lady Astraea. If back then the Nightmare had defeated them and then continued onwards, would Lady Astraea also...?

"Hey, Miss Lion!"

Ryuu blinked and then realized that Fina had grabbed her hand.

Smiling, Fina said, "Let's play a game! You too, Auntie Artemis!" She tugged Ryuu and led her towards Artemis.

Ryuu let out a sigh, but then put on a smile. "What do you want to play, Fina?"

Artemis stood up, brushing the back of the retailored white dress she wore and then smiled. "Yes. What is it that you wish to play, Fina?"

"Heehee..." Fina winked and then said, "Let's play hide and seek! I'll hide first, kay? Count to ten!"

And with that, Fina vanished in a white blur.

Ryuu blinked, looking at the spot where the young girl had just been standing. And then she let out a deep sigh.

...It seemed like Bell's entire family was outrageous, wasn't it?

xxx

'I knew something like this was going to happen.'

A cozy and wholesome atmosphere. Idle chatting and getting to know each other. Walking around Orario hand-in-hand after getting some jagamarukuns from Tia's friend Take... We were having a great time. And the mood was slowly turning more pink as well so I was prepping for the perfect moment to kiss the girl like in the Little Mermaid.

It was a perfect plan. I had scoped out a place earlier and saw that there was a giant clock tower open to the public. Considering the view, it would be the best place to close out the date before we headed back and Tia got ready for her girl's night out with Freya and Hephaestus.

Unfortunately, on the way there we ran into a wall.

...Well, a figurative wall.

"What?" Loki held out her arms and said, "Did you get so caught up in your loveydovey time that you didn't see me, Shrimp?"

Tia narrowed her eyes and said, "Shut up, you cutting board! No one asked you to butt in! And like you're one to talk!" She pointed to the pair of girls standing behind Loki and said, "Taking out your familia members and making them wear lewd dresses like that... Don't you have any shame?!"

"Says the Shrimp who's showing off those lumps of meat all the time wearing that thin white dress! Isn't a virgin goddess supposed to be modest?"

"Hmph." Tia leaned back and crossed her arms. "Isn't a 'goddess' supposed to be female? I don't see anything up there that makes you seem like one."

Loki's eyebrow twitched.

...Hah. Well, this was definitely another way to get Tia's mind off her worries...

Though.

I shifted my gaze and stared at the two girls standing behind Loki.

One was that blonde female knight who had been wearing that lewd armor outfit.

The armor was gone now, but that really didn't help resolve the lewd problem. She was just wearing a thin one-piece dress that left nothing to the imagination... especially since the sleeves were cropped off to give a clear side view of her assets.

As for the other girl, she was the same elf that had dragged the knight away after I bumped into her.

...Although now that I had the time to look at her up close, she seemed more like a half-elf than a regular elf like Ryuu. Her ears weren't quite as long and pointy, plus her mana felt a bit impure in comparison.

Though, that didn't mean it was bad. Instead, it kind of felt... fluid? Like it could turn into a bunch of different things?

Whatever the case, she was strong. ...Although she didn't seem like it at the moment since she was wearing a dress that was way too much white lace and conveniently showed way too much skin while only covering the essentials.

The elf girl noticed me staring and then shifted behind Loki. "U-Um... Lady Loki..."

"Hm?" Loki blinked and then glanced back. After that, she turned towards me and said, "Oho?" She grinned before turning towards Tia and saying, "Well, even if I might lack feminine charm, it looks like you do too, Shrimp. Your date's already checking out my girls."

Tia snorted and said, "Bell's probably just wondering how to report that harassment to the guild." She turned to me and said, "Right, Bell?"

I gave a serious nod, considering it. "Yeah. That half-elf doesn't seem too fond of wearing that dress. Plus, I'm fairly sure that it's against the laws to take advantage of a naïve demispirit like that by making her wear such a revealing dress."

Silence.

I blinked, wondering why everyone got quiet.

And then I realized why.

...Oh yeah. Didn't Tia mention something about gods and spirits not being able to have children?

Since that was the case, it was probably a big secret, so-

A gust of wind blew towards me, paired with a flash of gold.

"BELL!"

Tia screamed and tugged me to the side.

"AIS!"

At the same time, that elf girl screamed and reached out towards the knight.

Loki's eyes, narrowed the entire time she was talking to Tia, widened in shock and surprise.

As for the knight... No, 'Ais', she was rushing towards me with... Anger? Desperation? Worry? A mix of emotions, but none of them good. Especially since she had drawn the sword at her side.

A dangerous situation caused by my big mouth.

But I figured something like this might happen.

The blade swept across my body.

Tia screamed again and flickers of crimson started showing up in her hair. But before things got too out of hand, I pulled her close and said, "Relax, Tia. I'm fine."

Ais stood in front of me, her hand still outstretched. But her sword was gone. For a moment, she stood there, confused. But then the half-elf dragged her back and said, "What are you doing, Ais?!"

Ais blinked and bit her lips, staring at me with an unreadable expression. "I..." She shifted her gaze back to her now empty hand and frowned.

I pulled out her sword from my inventory and handed it over, hilt first. "Good reflexes, but you should be careful Miss Ais. You could seriously hurt someone like that... And get your familia into a lot of trouble for attacking another adventurer in broad daylight. Isn't that right, Lady Loki?"

Loki stared at me with sharp eyes and then shifted her gaze towards Tia.

Tia stared right back, her blue eyes flashing with crimson sparks...

Wait. That wasn't a trick of the light.

I tossed the sword on the ground in front of Ais and then pulled Tia into a full embrace. "Relax, Tia. I'm fine."

"...It's not fine." She glared at Loki and said, "Your child just attacked my Bell for no reason. How are you going to answer for that, huh?"

Loki pursed her lips and stared at me again. But then a relaxed smile crossed her face and she closed her eyes. "My bad." She stepped back and wrapped her arm around Ais's shoulders. "Ais here is still a bit immature. She gets all prickly about her private information being let out, you know? I'm sure that your date there would be the same, right?"

Tia growled.

Seeing that, I decided it was time to change things up before things escalated further. So...

"Up we go." I swept Tia into a princess hold and spun around.

"B-B-Bell?!" Tia blushed and she turned to look at me. "W-What are you doing!? Put me down!"

"Nah." I started walking away and said, "I still owe you a kiss and cuddle time. Plus, daylight's burning, so I think it's time we sped things up."

"B-Bell?"

I smiled and said, "Hold on tight, Tia."

"W-Wait. Hold on, I'm not- Kyaaaa!"

Alright. So Daedalus street had a lot of hideaways, right? Time to go do the rounds, set up some checkpoints and then cheekily warp back home so that Tia can get ready for her meeting.

Although... Sheesh. Looks like I need to bug Eina soon about some general knowledge about the world. Being from the boonies is really setting me up for some dangerous flags these days...

But that's later. Right now, it's time to spoil Tia a bit.

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