"Ugh... Argh...!"
'What on earth happened...?'
Bell felt a searing agony radiating through his body as he struggled to piece together his fractured memories.
"The Ishtar Familia...!!"
'I was kidnapped! By Aisha and that giant woman in the Dungeon.'
After hearing from Hermes that prostitutes could be bought out with enough gold, Bell and Mikoto had immediately recruited Welf and Lilli to raid the Dungeon. They had been hunting monsters relentlessly to amass the necessary funds.
Hope had shone on their faces—the hope of rescuing Haruhime. They were pushing deep into the Dungeon's Pantry when the ambush struck.
CLANG—!!!!!
"A-Aisha!? Why...?"
"...If you want to resent someone, resent my fickle Goddess!"
Whir—!!
CLASH—!!!
"!!"
'She's fast...!? And her strength is on a different level...!'
The Ishtar Familia had sprung a clinical ambush. Bell found himself forced into a lethal dance against Aisha's massive scimitar. For some reason, her entire being was shrouded in an eerie, golden glow.
BOOM—!!!!!!
'We should both be Level 3... how can there be such a devastating gap in raw power!?'
"Guh!!"
'I can't fall here!'
CRASH—!!!!
"You brat...!"
Despite being sent flying by a heavy kick, Bell's indomitable spirit forced his battered body to move. He ignored the throbbing pain in his ribs and aimed a desperate counter-kick at Aisha's head as she swung her blade downward.
Aisha, currently wielding the sheer output of a Level 4, parried the blow, but the unexpected weight of the impact forced a moment of genuine surprise into her eyes.
"Lord Bell!!!!!"
Swoosh—!
"Oh? You're quicker on the uptake than I thought."
CLANG—!!!
Mikoto surged into the fray, her katana singing as she kept Aisha at bay. She joined forces with Bell, attempting to suppress the veteran Amazon through a two-on-one assault.
Clink—!!!
THUD—!!!
"Gah...!?"
"But your body is still too slow."
Whir—!
"Chiyaaaat!!!!"
CLANG—!!
CLASH—!!!!!
The sheer kinetic transfer of Aisha's strikes was too much. Mikoto, still a Level 2, was hammered backward, her body slamming into a stone wall before she slumped into unconsciousness. Bell lunged forward with his twin daggers, his movements a desperate blur, but he didn't even have time to mourn his comrade's fall.
CRACK—!!!!
"Cough!!"
SLAM—!!!!!
BOOM—!!!!!
The pure statistical disparity combined with Aisha's honed technique as a Familia executive was insurmountable. Bell was systematically dismantled.
Thud—
"...Everyone, grab [Little Rookie] and this woman. We're heading back."
"....."
"Haruhime, move it. Now."
"Our targets... were these people...?"
".....It's the Goddess's command."
The last thing Bell saw before passing out was Haruhime looking down at them, her eyes hollow and devoid of light. Now, he found himself imprisoned here.
"Wait, where am I...?"
'This is a place Big Brother and I didn't find the last time we were here...'
Bell immediately tried to assess his surroundings for an escape route, but—
THUMP—!
"Looks like you're awake, Gek-gek-gek-gek!"
"....UWAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!"
The moment the grotesque visage of the Toad appeared before him, Bell's composure shattered. He let out a blood-curdling scream of pure, unadulterated terror.
Meanwhile, the Ishtar Familia home was in a state of chaotic frenzy.
"Find that Toad right now!!!!!!!!"
"If that bitch devours [Little Rookie] without permission, it'll be a total catastrophe!!!"
Stampede—!!!!
'Master Cranel...!'
Rattle—!
As Aisha and the other members scrambled in a panic due to Phryne's rogue actions, Haruhime realized the gravity of the situation. She snatched a set of keys and began to run through the corridors.
**
"I can't believe I'm mixed up with such a vulgar place."
'First [Little Rookie], and now that damn brat Akumo!'
"Do they have no idea how much our Goddess desires them?"
Allen Fromel, the Level 6 powerhouse of the Freya Familia known as [Vana Freya], stood on the upper floor of a butcher shop at the edge of the Pleasure Quarter. He was currently conducting surveillance on Bell Cranel's status as per his Goddess's decree.
Creak—!
"Allen."
"Don't say my name so casually, Akumo."
"This isn't the time to be nitpicking."
"Tch. You and that brat should learn how lucky you are!"
Allen responded to Akumo's arrival with a sharp, irritated tone. Despite his distaste for the situation, he followed his Goddess's orders to cooperate and waited in the room for their informant.
"Allen!"
Shortly after, a beautiful prostitute entered the room.
"Ah... T-The [Pioneer]!?"
"Save it. Give us the report."
"Y-Yes, right... As expected, [Little Rookie] was dragged to the Home, but he vanished suddenly once they arrived. The entire Familia is out searching for him."
"Caught by a bunch of whores. Pathetic piece of trash."
"Allen, I told you. The circumstances were highly irregular."
"Hmph! He was caught because he's weak. Simple as that."
'Good grief... he's even pricklier than usual...'
Akumo rubbed his temples. Allen's verbal venom was a different brand of exhausting compared to Bete's.
"Allen, I worked so hard! Can I finally be your woman now!?"
Thump-thump!
"Or... maybe even with the [Pioneer] too...?"
The prostitute, her face flushed and her eyes moist with poorly hidden desire, pressed herself against Allen, her voice dropping into a seductive purr.
Allen's response was a gaze as cold as the abyss. He shoved her away with lethal indifference.
"Get lost. You'll soil Her favor just by being near me."
"W-What...?"
"Filthy wenches like you should learn your place."
"...."
The absolute contempt and loathing in Allen's eyes shattered the woman's heart. She had gone as far as betraying her own Familia to feed him information, risking her life in the hope of gaining his love.
Driven by a hunger for power, love, or perhaps a primal instinct for a strong man, she had pinned everything on him—only to be met with soul-crushing scorn.
"B-But... surely..."
Step—!
"If you touch my body one more time, I'll kill you."
".....How cruel."
Drip— Drip—
"I really... truly loved you..."
The woman's legs gave out, and she slumped to the floor. Tears welled in her eyes, her voice hollow and defeated.
"A parasite that offers its body to anyone has no right to speak of love."
"....!!"
Stride— Stride—
Allen didn't even flinch. He spat out those final words of genuine malice and turned to leave. That statement completely broke the woman, filling the void left by her heart with a monstrous rage.
CLUTCH—!!!
"YOU DAMN BASTARD!!!!!!!!!!"
Swoosh—!!
Swoosh—!!
Even as tears streamed down her face, she began hurling everything within reach at Allen. Without slowing down, Allen unsheathed a dagger from his hip, sliced through the flying debris with a casual flick of his wrist, and lunged the blade directly at her throat.
GRAB—!
"...Ah."
'He was... really going to stab me...'
Thud—!
The sensation of the cold steel brushing against her neck caused her legs to buckle once more. However, the blade hadn't pierced her. It had been stopped midway.
She looked up in confusion.
"Allen."
"Hmph. You have a problem?"
"I know you weren't actually going to kill her, but learn to temper yourself."
GRIP—!
"That unnecessary aggression hardly seems like a fitting way to repay your Goddess's love, does it?"
"....Tch!"
Akumo, feeling the onset of a massive headache as he watched Allen use and discard people like tools, held the dagger firm while delivering a sharp lecture. Allen clicked his tongue, withdrew the knife, and indifferently tossed a small pouch of gold coins next to the woman before walking out.
"Sob...! Uugh...!"
Drip— Drip—
"So mean... so heartless...."
"Sigh...."
'Leaving me to clean up your mess... you damn stray cat!'
Looking at the wailing woman, Akumo realized Allen had intended for him to handle the emotional fallout from the start. A vein throbbed in his temple, but he approached the woman nonetheless.
"I apologize on his behalf."
"T-The [Pioneer]?"
"I'm not trying to console you. Many people hold your profession in low regard, not just Allen."
"But... I truly loved him...!"
Akumo offered no cheap comfort. He knew it was the woman's mistake to lose her heart to a devotee of Freya known as the [Vana Freya], but since he had no personal stake in her life, he remained pragmatic.
Sway—
"Even so, it's never wise to give your whole heart away so easily. You only end up being the one who bleeds."
"..."
Stride— Stride—
'Come to think of it, why do all these guys make me do the cleanup? Except for Hogni.'
Akumo leaned down, pressed the pouch of gold into her hand, and calmly walked out of the room. He mentally noted that he really needed to pay a visit to Folkvangr sometime—most of the Freya Familia executives seemed to leave the human decency aspect of their operations entirely to him whenever they worked together.
"...He's dreamy...♡"
'So strong... and yet so kind....'
"[Pioneer]...♡"
She had forgotten his advice within seconds. Akumo walked away, blissfully unaware that the woman was currently melting from the intensity of her new obsession after seeing the 'gentle' light in his eyes.
Meanwhile, unlike the smoothly departing Akumo, Bell was currently writhing in a state of absolute terror, trying to escape his bindings. By some stroke of luck, Phryne had left the room to retrieve drugs to 'break' him, and Bell was pouring every ounce of strength into his escape.
Creak—!
"!!!!??"
Shiver—!
Bell's body began to tremble violently at the sound of the door opening. Assuming Phryne had returned, he was prepared to cast a spell point-blank, even if the resulting explosion consumed him too. But then—
"Master Cranel?"
".....HARUHIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"S-Shh! Please be quiet...! Master Cranel!"
Like a goddess of salvation, Haruhime appeared before him. She had already freed Mikoto and had come to do the same for him.
Click—!
"You're free!"
Grab—!
"Aaah!?"
As soon as the shackles fell, Bell—whose mind had been drowning in horror—collapsed against her. He clung to her like a terrified child, tears streaming down his face from the sheer relief of having survived a brush with 'death.'
Sniffle—!
"I-I was so scared...!!!"
Tremble—!
"M-Master Cranel....."
"Sob...!!"
"....Hehe."
Flutter—!
Haruhime gently wrapped her tail around his back, offering him the warmth of her comfort. However—
'To think Master Cranel would be... because of me...'
"I'm sorry.... I'm so, so sorry...."
Crushed by a mountain of guilt, she whispered apologies over and over, her voice so soft that the sobbing boy could not hear them.