Chapter 56: 56 – Is it wrong to get along?

I had a headache.

Well, I already had a headache after talking with the Bell Cranel from another timeline who was living rent free in my head and who was currently on timeout in my inventory.

Then there was the headache from the fact that Tia, Freya, and Hephaestus were going to be fielding questions left and right from the emergency Denatus happening...

But I had another headache at the moment. And for once, it wasn't because of all the flags that I had raised. Instead...

"...And like that, we can make a lot of coins to help pay for rent!" Fina gave me a bright smile after finishing up her little presentation about the <Fina's Delivery System> venture she and Pyrrha made.

I let out a wry smile and stared at the impossible sight in front of me.

A glowing shop screen that looked straight out of an MMORPG. Some boxes where you can put coins in to exchange for the items that were being sold.

While the item descriptions were a bit silly, the system was definitely far from it.

"...That's a great idea, Princess." I glanced over at Pyrrha who was shyly standing behind Fina and said, "And you're okay with it, Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha nodded and said, "Y-Yes. I... I want to help Papa and Uncle Bell too..." After saying that, she blushed and lowered her head, trying to hide her eyes with her bangs.

Gah. Kids were too cute. And I definitely needed to start planning with Welf on what to do in the future when the girls grew up.

I set that thought aside and then looked at the last person added to this group venture. "And you want to be a part of this too, Bella?"

Bella shifted in place and looked up at me through her white bangs. "I-If it isn't too much trouble, Papa. Big Sis and Pyrrha are nice, and I want to play too..."

Glistening crimson eyes that were tinged with a bit of violet. An innocent face with trembling lips that pulled at the heartstrings...

Yep. Bella definitely took after her mom. I didn't even want to think about the mess she'd cause in the future when she grew up yet. Especially since she was already being sly like this.

I wasn't sure exactly what my youngest daughter wanted, but I could sense that she was plotting something. Call it a father's intution or the fact that Bella took after her mother a lot. Either way, I sensed that Bella definitely had her own plans for getting involved with Fina and Pyrrha.

Especially since...

"...And you want to be the speaker?"

Bella grabbed the hem of her skirt and said, "I don't know how to make things like Big Sis and Pyrrha, but Mama said that I'm cute, and cute things mean more people will like it, right?"

Fina hugged Bella and said, "Yeah! Bella's really cute, Daddy! Right, Pyr?"

"A-Ah." Pyrrha nodded and said, "Y-Yes. Bella is cute."

I resisted the urge to take a deep sigh. And I was starting to regret asking Welf to go with Artemis to pick up some groceries. It'd be nice to have some other adults to try and sort out this situation.

Wait. Did Welf count as an adult? I think he was eighteen, right?

...Close enough.

In any case...

I saw why Eina was always sighing when she met me now.

Ridiculous things were par for the course for me since I was the MC. But I didn't think that anyone else would do stuff like that either.

Of course, I should have expected my daughters to inherit at least a part of the MC aura. Especially after seeing their statuses.

But no use worrying over spilt milk.

Considering that Fina and Pyrrha had gone off to develop something like this on their own... motivated mostly by the offhand comment I made to Fina a while back, I definitely needed to be more careful in how I acted.

Especially after the three ran around farming monsters for drops in the middle of all that craziness during Monsterphilia.

Right now...

I could approve of the idea and try to get the girls to channel their energy into it. That way, I could at least somewhat contain the chaotic creative energy they had.

But it was dangerous. This was *definitely* unprecedented. Not only did it give people an inventory like me, albeit limited, but it also meant that people could get resources they wouldn't be able to get deep in the dungeons.

Considering that the major bottleneck on dungeon exploration was resources, this would flip Orario on its end if it got out.

...Then again, so would everything else I had, but we weren't talking about me.

It was innocent enough, and well-intentioned, but I could practically see all the red flags sprouting all over the place if I let it be.

On the other hand, if I crushed their dreams here and said it was too dangerous, that would be bad too. It wasn't like they did anything wrong. And this wasn't anything inherently bad either.

Crushing their good intentions and fun would be bad parenting. And I had plenty of experience with having dreams and ideals crushed when I was younger. I swore off doing that to my own kids, so I wasn't about to start doing that now.

Not to mention that while Fina and Pyrrha might stop, I had a feeling that my youngest daughter would drag them into some other troublesome venture.

No. Better to contain it. So...

"Alright. But let me check any upgrades you make, okay?"

The three girls looked at each other and then let out a cheer.

Well, Fina and Bella did. Pyrrha just shyly raised her hand.

And then after that, Fina and Bella ran up to hug me.

"You're the best, Daddy!"

"Thank you, Papa!"

I smiled and patted their heads. "And you two are the best daughters I could hope for."

Fina's smile brightened.

But Bella paused and tilted her head. "...But who do you like better, Papa?"

...

Fina looked at Bella confused. "Hm? Daddy just said we're both the best."

Bella looked back at Fina and nodded. "Yes. But Papa has to have a favorite." She looked at me and said, "Right, Papa?"

Fina frowned and said, "Why would Daddy have a favorite?"

"Well, Papa spends more time with Mommy Tia than Mama..."

"Eh? But isn't Miss Freya busy? Daddy's busy too, so it's hard to meet, right? Just like the knight and the princess in the books!"

That time, Bella frowned. "...But if you love someone, you should always be with them. That's what Mama said."

Fina blinked and said, "Huh? But if you love someone, it's fine as long as they come back to you, isn't it? Even if it's just a little bit, if you have a lot of fun for that little bit, then that's fine, right?"

Bella's frown deepened.

I cleared my throat and said, "Pyrrha's looking a bit left out, girls. How about we play a game for now while we wait for Uncle Welf and Auntie Artemis to come back?"

Pyrrha blinked and tilted her head. "...I'm fine?"

I quickly dragged Fina and Bella over and said, "No. It's not good to leave you out like this... Let's see..."

Okay, think fast. What's a fun game that can keep kids distracted that I can make right now. Simple and not too complicated...

Ah. That'll work.

I quickly crafted a pile of small rectangular blocks and started stacking them in piles of three. "This game is called Jenga. The goal is..."

xxx

Welf shifted the bag of groceries in place, doing his best to ignore the pointed stares on him from the adventurers he passed.

"Hey. Isn't that the Crozzo?"

"Red hair and that equipment... Definitely!"

"Do you think it's true that he made an unbreakable magic sword?"

"It's gotta be. I've got a pal in the Hephaestus Familia and he said that their Goddess was all loveydovey with him."

"For real?"

"Yeah! And you know how cold and professional that goddess is, so if she picked somebody..."

"Damn. Looks like Rakia lost big."

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An idle conversation. One that he could only hear now that he had leveled up.

It made him wonder how Bell dealt with this... Or if this was what Ryuu felt like? They were definitely out of earshot of a normal person, but Welf could also definitely hear them as if they were next to him...

"Don't mind it too much."

Welf blinked and looked over to the person next to him.

Artemis smiled and then adjusted her hair.

It was different. Maybe since Bell became conscious of it after Welf pointed it out, he decided to take extra measures to conceal Artemis's identity.

The brilliant blue hair had faded out a bit to be a pure silver. The source of that was a little moon hairclip placed on Artemis's hair.

Bell explained that it didn't actually change the color of the hair, but Welf didn't follow the explanation. He mentioned something about waves, light, and color... but Welf didn't understand what water had to do with light, so he just smiled and nodded.

Artemis adjusted the bag of groceries she carried and said, "People are interested in what they don't know, so they will constantly question what the truth is."

"...Yeah."

And Welf had to get used to this. After all, he was about to be tossed in the spotlight.

Leveling up, showing off his Magic Swords, flaunting this equipment...

The whole point of it was to do exactly what Artemis was talking about.

A Crozzo showing up in Orario who didn't only make Magic Swords, but whose caliber of blacksmithing was enough to woo the goddess of Blacksmithing herself...

It was definitely a bombshell that would get the rumormill stirring and distract from a few other more important things.

Like the fact that Pyrrha, Fina, and Bella existed. And also the fact that Bell was a literal one man army with practically unlimited magic powers as a level one. An all SSS ranked level one.

Seriously. The longer Welf knew Bell, the more he felt his worldview breaking apart...

But anyway...

There were still people looking at Welf from the distance. Quite a few people were looking at Artemis as well and gossiping about who she might be.

He decided to ignore them though and talk with Artemis instead.

"So... Arte-"

Artemis quickly interrupted Welf and said, "Arty is fine. That or Selene."

Welf cleared his throat. "R-Right."

Didn't he just realize that people could hear futher away with higher stats? Come on, Welf...

"Selene then."

Arty was just a bit too weird for him. Too informal for a goddess... even if just a former goddess.

"How do you like it at the Hestia Familia? We haven't had a chance to talk, so, uh... How've you been?"

Artemis smiled. "It's been wonderful. Spending the days with the children and enjoying the peace has helped me a great deal."

"Don't you miss your Familia though?"

Artemis's smile faded.

Welf blinked and then let out a nervous laugh. "D-Did I say something wrong?"

He didn't, right?

It was just an ordinary question, so-

Wait. Artemis was a 'former' goddess. Bell emphasized that. And she had been hanging around the Hestia Familia this entire time without anyone coming to visit her and without going out...

Then...

"Oh."

Artemis let out a faint smile and shook her head. "It's fine. You've been busy so you haven't heard all the details."

That was true, but even then...

"I'm sorry."

"Like I said, it's fine." Artemis looked up at the sky and said, "I would be lying if I said I didn't miss them. Though I can't recall their faces, their voices, or even their names..." Her smile dimmed and she placed a hand over her heart. "...It still feels like something is missing."

"I... kind of know how that feels." Welf muttered, recalling his first goddess.

He would never be able to see her again or thank her for what she did. And while he knew that she was still alive and well in Heaven, since he would never meet her again while he was alive...

Artemis spoke up and smiled. "Even so." She looked at Welf and said, "I'm sure that they would be happy right now. Wherever and whoever they might be... the fact that I am here and now living beneath this brilliant sky is proof that they existed. So it's fine."

"...Yeah."

Welf looked up at the sky as well, imagining his former goddess watching over him.

It was a bit ridiculous on how things turned out, but living up to his full potential like this, facing his blood and past head on and then going forward...

'You'd be proud, right?'

Was it just his imagination? For a moment, he felt like someone was staring back at him.

Welf smiled and then shook his head, looking back at Artemis. "Sorry about getting all serious like that."

Artemis shook her head. "It's fine. If you ever need someone to confide to, think of me like your big sister."

Welf laughed. "I'll do that. But anyway... You use a bow, right Ar- Selene? Did you need any other equipment? I noticed you didn't have any armor."

"Ah. I suppose I *am* short on belongings..."

"That's no good. I'll grab Bell when we get back to help make you some stuff. And come to think of it, we're kind of running out of rooms at the church... We might need to do a bit more renovation."

That could be a fun family project.

...And Welf had a feeling that he might need to install a few defensive measures. Just in case-

Oh, who was he kidding? Knowing Bell, it was bound to happen...

xxx

I sneezed. And the moment I did, the tower of wooden blocks in front of me collapsed to the ground.

Bella giggled. "We win, Papa!"

Fina ran over to hug Bella and said, "Good job, Sis!"

"Heehee!"

Fina let Bella go and then ran to hug Pyrrha. "You too, Pyr!"

Pyrrha blushed and then hugged Fina back. "T-Thank you, Fina."

I watched the kids celebrate with a smile.

It was good that they were happy. And it was great that they were having fun.

But...

I glanced off towards Babel and frowned.

Now, I wasn't one for superstition, but wasn't a broken tower supposed to symbolize terrible luck coming your way...?

...It's just a coincidence.

Yeah. Let's just keep thinking that.

At least until Welf and Artemis gets back.

When they do, it's time to start speeding up project Munchkin...