"Knock knock knock knock!"
Asfi paused her work and rose from the lab bench to answer the door.
But just as she stood, Hermes grabbed her arm.
Asfi froze for a split second before instantly realizing what was happening. Her hand shot toward the Molotov cocktail hidden beneath her cloak.
"I know we need to be careful with how things are lately, but this is our own Familia's domain. You should at least trust your Familia's strength a little."
The familiar voice from outside made Asfi hesitate. Her hand stopped mid-motion, and her eyelid twitched—she recognized that voice.
Lowering the Molotov cocktail, she stepped around Hermes to open the door. This time, Hermes didn't try to stop her.
When she opened it, the person standing outside was exactly who she expected.
"Mr. Cranel, could you please stop scaring me like that every time?"
Asfi's irritation was plain to see. She already had to endure Hermes-sama's constant antics every day—she didn't need another person adding to her stress.
"My apologies, but I think your complaints should really be directed at those troublesome folks out there."
Asfi understood what he meant, and her annoyance quickly subsided.
"Mr. Cranel, please come in."
"Thank you."
Bell stepped inside, lowering his hood, and immediately met Hermes's amused gaze—the look of someone watching a show. His expression tightened slightly. To be honest, Hermes was the second person he least wanted to deal with, right after Freya.
"Good evening, Hermes."
"Oh~ Out so late, and not spending time at home with Hestia? Wandering the streets instead?"
Hermes's teasing smile carried a suggestive tone, but Bell, unbothered, steadied himself mentally before replying.
"Honestly, I'd rather not be out this late either. But after today's investigation, I realized that if I didn't come ask for help, my growing workload would eat into what little training time I still have."
Hearing that, Hermes immediately understood what Bell was referring to.
"Evilus is moving again?"
Bell shook his head with mild frustration.
"If they were actually taking action, it'd save me the trouble of chasing them around. But right now, they're like rats hiding in the sewers, too afraid to show themselves. To gain the upper hand, I can't move against them before they act, which means I've been wasting a lot of time just keeping an eye on them."
"Of course, in a way, I'm fine with that. The time they're wasting on this nonsense is far more than what I'm losing. Compared to them, I can afford it."
It was the truth.
Until his ability values reached their peak, Bell didn't need to worry about pursuing the 'Excelia' required for advancement. He could afford to use this time for steady growth.
In the end, the one who could endure longer would win—and Bell was sure Evilus couldn't keep up.
Even a force of Level 5 adventurers needed numbers to become a real threat—to scatter Orario's balance of power. Evilus wouldn't dare show up with just thirty-odd Level 5s.
While Orario's top adventurers were mostly concentrated in the Freya and Loki Familias, other Familias also had their share of high-level members. Altogether, Orario might not even have forty Level 5s, but thirty was an easily achievable number.
That's why, from the moment Bell began closing in on Evilus, he already knew—they couldn't afford to play the long game.
This standoff with Evilus was nothing more than a waiting game—to see who would blink first.
"If you're so happy, why come looking for help? You must've found something else, right?"
Hermes easily caught the implication behind Bell's words, though his curiosity was more focused on what exactly Bell had discovered.
"It's nothing that needs to be kept secret. I just found one of Evilus's surface-level exchange points.
I went to check it out earlier and came across something rather interesting."
Bell couldn't help but laugh as he said it—no, more accurately, he had already started laughing.
"For the first time, I found someone in Evilus who's just as cautious and paranoid as I am."
…They've got someone as crazy as you?
Hermes almost said it aloud but barely managed to restrain himself with sheer willpower.
"Bell, with all of Orario hunting down Evilus right now, isn't it natural they'd be on edge?"
"True, but I get the feeling their operation this time followed the same kind of principles I'd use. They built their traps layer after layer, so precise it's almost unsettling. I thought they might've gone overboard with the preparations—but after seeing what they were guarding, I realized their caution was completely justified."
The mention of "what they were guarding" immediately caught Hermes's attention. Whatever Evilus was trying so hard to conceal had to be important.
"Flame Stones. A huge stockpile. From what I saw, they're planning to blow Orario sky-high."
"!?"
Hermes's look of curiosity instantly turned into one of alarm. This was no trivial matter. His mind sharpened in an instant.
"Where exactly is this place?"
"Main Street, right next to the 'Hostess of Fertility.' There's a tavern called 'The Freelancer.' To its right is a large warehouse—that's where they're hiding it."
Hermes's face darkened immediately.
Asfi's expression grew equally grim—almost terrified, as if she'd seen a ghost. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.
"Isn't that in the very center of Orario?"
Exactly. That street was the closest thing to Orario's core—aside from the Tower of Babel itself.
And now, that very heart of the city was being used to store a massive cache of Flame Stones—enough to threaten the entire city's safety.
"I'm guessing that's one of the main reasons they chose that spot as their storage site."
"Once war breaks out, if they ignite those Flame Stones, Orario will be left with a crater. And if the city's geological structure collapses, monsters from the Dungeon could burst up to the surface. That might very well be part of their plan."
Bell spoke his theory with calm precision.
But the chill that ran through the room made it clear—his words had struck deep.