Chapter 32 – Full of Doubts
The Silverback Ape was dead.
When Bell directly attacked its magic stone and shattered it, the monster's body dissolved almost instantly into a mist and vanished from the scene.
After delivering the decisive blow, Bell was violently thrown back by the recoil. He spun once in midair before crashing hard onto the ground.
"Ugh!"
Lying on his back, the intense pain left Bell momentarily dazed. For a moment, he wasn't even sure what he had just done.
Only when he heard the sound of the monster's body fully dissipating—its massive form turning to dust and carried away by the wind—did he finally realize the miracle he had just performed.
"Did I… kill it?"
Bell slowly got up from the ground in a daze.
At the same time, the people of Orario who had witnessed the battle came rushing out from the roadside, erupting into wild cheers.
Moments ago, they hadn't dared make a single move when the monster attacked, hiding in their homes. But now that Bell had defeated the creature, they ran out to celebrate.
Seeing the surrounding crowd cheering and encouraging him, a smile finally bloomed on Bell's face.
However, he didn't take all the credit for himself. His eyes immediately turned to Shirou, who stood not far away.
After throwing the dagger to Bell, Shirou had remained by Hestia's side, guarding her, and had left the monster-fighting responsibility to Bell.
This was clearly Shirou's way of training Bell, helping him grow through actual combat.
And the results were just as Shirou expected—Bell overcame his inner fear, faced a far stronger enemy in the Silverback Ape, and launched a decisive attack that ended in victory.
However, despite the favorable outcome, Shirou couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
Why did the Silverback Ape suddenly appear?
Why did the monster relentlessly pursue Bell and Hestia?
Most importantly, why was Bell still alive and in the middle of a battle when Shirou arrived, instead of being instantly killed by the Silverback?
While Shirou did have expectations for Bell, he hadn't believed that Bell could hold his own against a monster close to level 2.
At the very least, before receiving the dagger Shirou had forged, Bell shouldn't have had the power to fight such a creature.
With that thought in mind, Shirou questioned Bell about the battle in detail, hoping to learn exactly what had happened.
Although Bell didn't fully understand the reason for Shirou's inquiry, he nonetheless recounted everything he knew.
After listening carefully, Shirou immediately noticed a key detail—just as the Silverback was about to attack Bell, it seemed to have been tripped by some unknown force.
Using that clue, Shirou searched the battlefield and soon discovered an arrow embedded in the ground.
The arrow looked ordinary, nothing unusual about it, but there was no doubt—it had appeared at a critical moment and saved Bell, buying him enough time to delay the Silverback until Shirou could arrive.
"A coincidence? Or intentional?"
Shirou examined the arrow for a long while but found nothing conclusive, so he temporarily set the matter aside.
Regardless, the fact that someone had stepped in to protect Bell at a crucial moment meant that, at the very least, they weren't enemies of the Hestia Familia.
Elsewhere, both Hestia and Bell were still shaken after the close brush with death.
Hestia, in particular, was very curious—how had Bell, when facing the Silverback Ape, not been blown away by the monster's magic, and even managed to pierce its core?
"It's probably thanks to the weapon Shirou gave me."
Bell took out the dagger Shirou had handed him.
It was entirely black and appeared unremarkable, but during the fight, Bell had clearly felt that this was no ordinary blade.
While using it, he felt significantly more agile. And for some unknown reason, he was also able to ignore the raging wind generated by the monster.
"A weapon? Shirou, you made this?" Hestia asked, full of curiosity.
Seeing this, Shirou quietly explained, "Yeah, this is technically the first real weapon I've ever forged. It's called 'Hassan's Dagger.'"
"Hassan's Dagger?"
"That's right. The dagger has two abilities—Presence Concealment and Wind Protection Blessing. The former enhances agility and suppresses the user's presence, while the latter allows the user to ignore any wind-based attack—even in a typhoon, they'd remain unharmed. With enough skill, the user might even turn the enemy's wind attacks to their advantage."
After hearing Shirou's explanation, Bell and Hestia finally understood.
But exactly because they now understood, Hestia exclaimed in shock, "This is the first weapon you ever forged? This thing could easily be considered a third-tier weapon! Considering its special effects, it might even rival second-tier weapons in certain situations!"
"I'm not really sure myself."
Since Shirou didn't have an appraisal skill, he hadn't even known what effects the weapon had at first.
Only after Bell used it in actual combat did Shirou realize that the dagger had managed to replicate Hassan's skill Wind Protection Blessing.
This meant Shirou's forging didn't just project weapons—it also reproduced some of the heroic spirit's skills.
It was forging of an almost supernatural level.
Even so, Shirou didn't let it get to his head.
Hassan's Dagger was still a low-level weapon—just happened to have some useful effects.
If Shirou wanted to further confirm the extent of his forging talent, he would need to challenge himself to recreate even more powerful and unique weapons from heroic spirits.
As the Hestia Familia discussed and reflected on the battle, adventurers from various other Familias arrived at the scene, having been dispatched in response to the monster attack.
Upon hearing that the one who defeated the Silverback Ape was a level 1 adventurer from the Hestia Familia, the assembled adventurers were all shocked.
Especially the Loki Familia—they hadn't expected to cross paths with the Hestia Familia at all, let alone discover that Bell was the one who killed the Silverback.
"Seriously?"
Loki Familia's vice-captain, Riveria, stood at the scene, incredulous that Bell had defeated the monster alone.
"Heh… the Hestia Familia really is something else," Loki said with a smile. "But rather than fuss over how a level 1 rabbit boy managed to defeat the Silverback, I'm far more interested in the mastermind behind this incident."
"The mastermind? You mean someone caused this monster riot on purpose?" Riveria asked, surprised.
"I don't know yet," Loki replied, "but it's obvious this wasn't some simple incident."
Her eyes instinctively turned toward the coliseum, then slowly shifted toward the Tower of Babel, as if contemplating the true culprit behind it all.
Of course, very few people were actually concerned about the deeper truth.
Among the Loki Familia and others, most were far more focused on Bell—the boy who, despite being a newcomer, managed to defeat such a powerful enemy in single combat.
As a result, the reputation of the Hestia Familia saw a notable boost across all of Orario.