Danmachi: Is It Wrong to Be the Main Character in Orario?

"Well, we'll be going now."

With business wrapped up, Hermes didn't linger—he had a delivery to make.

He also needed to report Bell's findings to Ouranos as soon as possible.

Even Loki didn't stick around. After everything that had come to light today, she needed a quiet place to sort it all out. Otherwise, the chaos would just keep piling up.

Once both gods had left, Bell finally let himself relax.

"Phew... I finally made it through."

Dealing with gods was certainly stressful, but what truly exhausted him was the endless investigation and research he'd been doing these past few days.

The conclusions he presented had come from his own deductions, but his understanding of the whole picture wasn't that deep—it only provided a general direction. Getting to this level of clarity had drained him immensely.

He'd barely gotten any rest during his time in the Dungeon.

The adrenaline had kept him going earlier, but now that the tension was gone, the mental fatigue hit him all at once.

His eyelids felt impossibly heavy.

Still slumped on the sofa, he nearly drifted off.

But his head slipped from the backrest and landed on something much softer.

That familiar scent mixed with traces of charcoal—he didn't need to open his eyes to know who it was.

"It's rare for you to stir up such a commotion."

"I didn't want to cause all this trouble, but the 'Sword Princess' is a key asset of the Loki Familia. For the sake of what's coming, I couldn't let her die."

Bell wasn't overflowing with righteousness. He hadn't gone out of his way to get involved with the Sword Princess, nor did he want any connection with her. But her power was essential to his plans.

Given the situation, he had no choice but to take a serious risk.

"The Sword Princess is crucial to your plans, so you chose to save her even though it was dangerous... If Hestia hears about this, she's definitely going to get jealous."

Bell let out an awkward chuckle. Yeah, if he said it like that, Goddess-sama would absolutely get jealous.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked into Hephaestus-sama's.

"Then... won't Hephaestus-sama be jealous too?"

At his question, a faint smile curled the corner of Hephaestus's lips—but a trace of jealousy also appeared on her face.

"If the child I like is getting close to another girl, what god wouldn't be jealous? If it weren't for the fact that you saved that child, Loki would probably be drowning in envy."

"Uh... Loki-sama really likes the 'Sword Princess', huh?"

"Well, Loki's always had a thing for kids who are cute and interesting. And the 'Sword Princess' just happens to be both. It's only natural she'd get Loki's attention. Besides, Loki's had her eye on that kid for a long time."

It wasn't exactly a secret among the gods that Loki favored her ace. But it wasn't unusual either—gods liking cute and capable children was par for the course.

If not for Loki's dominance, plenty of gods would've made a move already.

Well, whatever.

Bell had a clear understanding of Loki's yuri tendencies, but it didn't surprise him.

If Apollo could swing both ways, why couldn't Loki be into girls?

Come to think of it, it didn't seem strange at all.

"You're like that now too."

Bell was caught off guard by Hephaestus-sama's sudden words.

A moment later, a hand gently covered his eyes.

"You're always so quick to talk about others, but when it comes to yourself, you forget everything."

"You're loved by two goddesses and constantly watched by one with an overwhelming possessiveness. Right now, you're even rarer than the 'Sword Princess.'"

"I don't think being targeted by such a possessive goddess is anything to be happy about," Bell replied with a wry smile.

It was already enough to be loved by Goddess-sama and Hephaestus-sama. Adding Freya into the mix was just a troublesome complication.

"It's the pressure from that possessive goddess that wears me out sometimes. I really don't want her setting her sights on me."

He might still be a fledgling, but he wasn't clueless—he knew exactly who the eagle was. There was no way he'd throw himself into its beak.

Right now, his only goal was to rise to Lv.10 and, as a demigod, face the love of Goddess-sama and Hephaestus-sama head-on.

Anything beyond that wasn't even on his radar.

A wave of drowsiness suddenly swept over him, and Bell couldn't help but let out a yawn.

"Get some proper sleep."

"We'll deal with everything else after you wake up."

His vision was still covered by a warm hand, and his head rested against Hephaestus-sama's soft thigh. Surrounded by that familiar scent and warmth, an overwhelming sense of peace washed over him. His eyes closed naturally, and sleep quickly overtook him.

Physically and mentally exhausted, Bell soon drifted off into a deep slumber.

Hephaestus had been watching him closely and could tell he was truly asleep.

'You actually managed to drag Hermes into our camp—made that old neutral finally pick a side.'

Knowing Bell's hidden identity, Hephaestus never thought Hermes was playing tricks. That old neutral simply wanted to see how far Bell could go, and that curiosity was what pushed him to finally choose a side.

But judging from the shock on Hermes's face, it was clear he had no idea Bell had awakened an Authority.

If he had, there's no way he would've agreed so easily.

'And that investigation… I can't believe you uncovered so much while still clearing the Middle Floors, even guessing the Guild's "private force."'

'To have accomplished all that in such a short time...'

In a city full of gods and powerful Familia, none of them knew these secrets—yet a boy who had just cleared the Middle Floors had managed to uncover it all on his own.

It was nothing short of incredible.

Then there was the severed arm of the Spirit Guardian.

Hephaestus had witnessed the entire encounter and fully understood how perilous it was.

To not only survive in such chaos but intercept everything the enemy intended to take—if Bell hadn't been holding back powerful trump cards, he never would've managed it.

'You really push yourself too hard...'

...

(100 Chapters Ahead)

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