"Little brother, little brother, why are you here? Did you see Ais in danger?"
Tiona bounced over, hugged Ais, and stuck out her tongue at Takatsuki.
"I was just cleaning up the monsters that appeared in Orario. Are you also cleaning up these monsters?"
Ais, held by Tiona like a doll, allowed herself to be embraced as she said, "We were attacked while out shopping."
"That's really bad."
Takatsuki nodded, as they had also been attacked on the road.
"I think you've probably realized these monsters are under the command of that Corrupted Spirit. Do you have any clues?"
Takatsuki hadn't forgotten that the Corrupted Spirit had been constantly watching Ais. Although she called her Aria, it was clear to anyone with eyes that her target was Ais.
"Hmm, we went to twenty—"
"Ahhh! Ais! You can't say!"
Just as Ais was about to say something, Tiona and Lefiya, who were beside her, covered her mouth.
"..."
"Can't say?"
"Of course you can't say!" *2
To Ais's oblivious question, Tiona and Lefiya answered loudly in unison.
Tione sighed from the side: "Simply put, this is a secret mission from the Guild. Please don't ask too many specific questions."
"I see. In that case, no problem. Since that's the case, you all go about your business. I still need to clear out other monsters."
Takatsuki was also aware of the Guild's secret missions. Although some smaller Familias might not know about these things, Takatsuki, having read the story, knew that while Ouranos was nominally absolutely neutral and didn't interfere with anything, he would actually secretly issue some secret missions under various pretexts to change positions.
"Wait a moment… Teacher."
Ais called out to Takatsuki, who was just about to leave.
"Teacher, when are you returning to the Familia's residence?"
Then she asked a strange question.
"Eh? Today? I should be back tonight. What's wrong?"
Ais's question was a bit odd, leaving Takatsuki puzzled.
"I went to look for you before, and no one was ever at the residence. Will you be back today?"
"?"
"That's not right. We've been at the residence for a while now, and we haven't gone to the Dungeon. How could no one be there… Uh…"
Halfway through his sentence, Takatsuki suddenly realized something and looked suspiciously at Ais: "You didn't, by any chance, go to that small house from before, did you?"
Seeing Ais nod, Takatsuki sighed and slapped his forehead: "We moved out a long time ago. Didn't you watch the War Game before?"
"I did. Teacher's archery was amazing."
"Then you should know we won, right? We've now moved to the former residence of Apollo Familia, but it's now called Hearth Manor."
Takatsuki pointed in a direction towards Ais and asked, "But what did you need me for?"
"I want to continue training with Teacher."
"Training, huh."
"Then come over tomorrow morning. We probably won't be going to the Dungeon for the next few days. We'll be doing morning exercises in the courtyard at 5 AM every day."
Hearing Takatsuki's words, Ais nodded: "I understand."
Ais just stared blankly as Takatsuki left, while Lefiya, standing nearby, looked at the dazed Ais, wondering what she was thinking.
The man-eating plant disaster in Orario didn't spread for long. After all, it was a city with a majority of adventurers, and with people specifically clearing them out, Takatsuki quickly resolved all the monsters within his perception and returned to the black market.
When Takatsuki returned, they had clearly finished their negotiations. Bronya held four Grimoires and handed them over: "Bronya has fulfilled her mission."
"Good work, Bronya."
Although they were still Grimoires worth hundreds of millions, these few books were clearly not as good as the Grimoires given by the Loki Familia.
The distribution of the Grimoires still needed careful consideration. Takatsuki thought that he should at least allocate one to Bell to compensate for the magic he should have originally obtained.
And the others didn't express any dissatisfaction. Not to mention that this money was earned by Takatsuki exploring the Dungeon, they had already gained enough from Takatsuki.
Moreover, the reason there were only these few books was simply due to insufficient funds. At their speed, they could quickly earn more money by entering the deep levels.
Orario's economic system was very problematic, but it was also subtly controlled by the gods, so Takatsuki wasn't worried that bringing a large amount of resources from the Dungeon would cause Orario's economic system to collapse.
As he had said before, the resources of high-level adventurers were completely separate from those of ordinary people and low-level adventurers, and their value was also different.
"I want to allocate one Grimoire to Bell. He's currently adventuring with his own formed party. Although he has his own ideas, as a senior member of the Familia, I think we should still take care of him. What do you all think?"
On the way back, Takatsuki expressed his thoughts to the others.
Kiana: "I think that's fine. Bell's current strength is too weak."
Mei: "Hmm, I don't mind either."
Bronya: "Bronya also thinks this is the most stable approach right now, and it can greatly increase Bell's self-preservation ability."
Fu Hua also nodded.
Hestia, however, shed tears.
"?"
"Lady Hestia, what's wrong?"
Hestia wiped away her tears: "I'm just so touched that Takatsuki-kun is taking such good care of Bell."
"Isn't that normal? Lady Hestia, you also said that we are companions in a Familia, and can even be called family."
Hestia nodded: "But from what I know, within Familias in Orario, even if the relationship is very good, they wouldn't just casually give away things worth hundreds of millions. Takatsuki-kun truly treats the Familia as his home, and I'm very happy."
…
Of course, Takatsuki wouldn't say that he felt a little guilty towards the original protagonist, but it seemed Bell was now on a path of steady growth, which relieved him a bit.
Although he couldn't be called a saint, when he usually did things, he still wanted to have a clear conscience, plus this was just a small effort for Takatsuki.
He had already planned that once the title came down, he would start the monster-grinding plan in Orario. Not to mention emptying Orario's Grimoire inventory, at least he had to arrange magic for all of them.
Upon returning to Hearth Manor, just like Hestia, Bell was overwhelmed with gratitude when he received the Grimoire and repeatedly tried to refuse it.
"This is too precious, I can't accept it."
Takatsuki firmly pressed the Grimoire into Bell's hand: "Listen, Bell, we are companions, and Mei and I will leave here sooner or later. During the time we are gone, the Hestia Familia will depend on you to protect it. Do you think you can stand on your own now?"
"I…"
"You can! From the moment you defeated the Minotaur, I knew you had such talent and aptitude, but you are still too weak!"
Takatsuki changed his tone and continued: "So you need to become stronger faster. You wouldn't want to be powerless when Haruhime needs protection, would you? Moreover, this Grimoire is not a gift to you, but an investment, an investment in a promising junior. In the future, the Hestia Familia will rely on you. Become a hero."
Ultimately, Bell accepted the Grimoire and, just like in the original story, awakened Firebolt. However, the charged Argonaut did not appear, perhaps because the time was not yet right.