Chapter 557 The Trial

Inside the Hestia Familia mansion, the two virgin goddesses stood with their arms crossed, glaring resentfully at the boy.

In the room occupied by only the three of them, aside from the breathtaking beauty of Hestia and Artemis, the most eye-catching sight was the thick, black, lace-trimmed pair of panties that had once belonged to the Catgirl.

To explain how things had come to this, one had to go back to when Bell returned to the mansion.

After talking with Syr, Lunoire had not continued fighting Bell. Instead, she hurried back to the dormitory to prepare for the journey.

Because of Bell's offensive behavior, [Black Fist] was supposedly furious and planned to chase him to the ends of the earth to deliver her fist of punishment.

Of course, that was only an excuse.

In truth, Bell had already realized that Lunoire herself wanted to follow Chloe's trail. Now that she had confirmed Bell's resolve and strength, all she lacked was a reasonable excuse to convince Syr and the others.

This journey was fraught with danger. It was nothing like the ordinary disputes and scuffles that happened around the tavern. If Lunoire set the precedent by leaving to search for Chloe, Anya and the other employees might follow her example. For a tavern whose members only wanted to live peaceful lives, that was naturally an outcome they wanted to avoid.

So even if Lunoire used the flimsy excuse of chasing Bell, as long as Mia accepted it, there would be no problem.

Bell tacitly accepted Syr's kindness and did not point out that Lunoire would actually be traveling with him. After saying goodbye to the two girls, he quickly returned to the mansion to tell Hestia and the others about his plans.

However, the moment Bell stepped through the door, what awaited him was Hestia's judgment, filled with both worry and dissatisfaction.

"Bell! Not only did you leave in the middle of the banquet, you even brought back something this indecent! Even I'm going to get angry. Throw it away right now!"

Hestia immediately discovered Chloe's parting gift.

Her black twin tails swayed as she glared fiercely at the boy.

"Goddess-sama, are you a cat or something? You found it the moment I came back... But they're just ordinary panties. They may not be as cute as Goddess-sama's white ones, but another girl gave them to me as a gift, so I can't throw them away."

Bell deliberately ignored the lingering scent of the Catgirl's desire that clung to them.

"Something this lewd is not ordinary at all! And why do you know the color of my underwear?! Also, you actually weren't lying about it being a gift, but who would give someone a present like this?!"

Hestia sputtered out her complaints, nearly out of breath.

"I happened to see Goddess-sama bathing before, so I remembered."

Bell answered one of her questions.

"Don't remember something like that so clearly!"

Hestia retorted, her face bright red. She shot the boy an unhappy look and added, "Seriously, I don't care which thieving cat you were with, but you could at least have told me before leaving. You had me worried all night."

There was a trace of hurt in the goddess's complaint, but before Bell could comfort her, Artemis cut in first.

"No. Hestia was completely drunk last night. You had no idea what was happening with Orion at all, did you?"

The Moon Goddess mercilessly exposed her best friend's lie.

"Ugh... I may have been drunk, but I was still worried about Bell..."

Hestia's confidence weakened considerably.

With Loki beside her complaining about her own troubles, the rivalry between the goddesses had somehow turned into a contest over who could drink more. Thanks to that, Hestia had forgotten almost everything about the banquet.

"So you drank until you reeked of alcohol, babbled nonsense, and even had to be carried home by your Familia members. Then after sleeping it off, you woke up with a hangover and learned from a friend that Orion had spent the night away from home... Is that what Hestia calls worrying about Orion?"

Artemis laid out Hestia's disgraceful behavior without mercy.

She had learned a little about the situation from Syr. The boy would never allow himself to be blinded by desire and make the other girls worry without reason.

Something must have happened to that Catgirl for Bell to disappear so suddenly.

Even if the two of them had spent an unforgettable night together, Artemis would not change her mind.

She would feel jealous. She would complain to the boy. But she had no desire to take things too far. If Bell had his reasons, and she refused to support him as his lover, then who else would stand by his side?

Because of that, Artemis did something rare when it came to such embarrassing matters and openly rebuked her best friend.

"Hestia, you have absolutely no right to criticize Orion."

"Guh..."

Hestia let out a defeated groan.

She had never expected to be betrayed by the friend she trusted. More importantly, everything Artemis said was undeniable. Compared to the completely drunk Hestia, the other girls in the Familia might actually have cared more about Bell staying out all night.

"A-actually, when you think about it, with someone as lustful as that tavern Elf around, giving him a gift like this isn't all that strange... Anyway, Bell! Remember what we agreed on? We were supposed to go on a date after coming back from the expedition, so let's go right now!"

Hestia deliberately changed the subject.

"What? That's far too shameless. The moment things stop going your way, you immediately try to brush everything aside."

Artemis criticized her best friend.

"This has nothing to do with Artemis! Bell promised to go on a date with me, so I'm definitely not letting you tag along!"

Hestia decided to remain shameless to the very end.

"A d-date? It's not like I want to walk around the streets holding Orion's hand!"

A faint blush spread across Artemis's cheeks.

"I already told you this has nothing to do with you!"

"Orion is my lover. Hestia is the one who has nothing to do with this!"

"..."

Right in front of the boy, the two goddesses started arguing again.

"Goddess-sama, I still have something important to take care of, so our date will have to be postponed."

Bell seized the opportunity to reveal that he was preparing to leave Orario.

Hestia and Artemis immediately stopped arguing and asked him for the details.

"If you're going outside Orario, then I suppose we can't treat this as a Familia outing, can we?"

Artemis frowned as she spoke.

"Yeah. Negotiating with the Guild is easy enough, but considering how unstable the surrounding situation is, the fewer people who leave the city, the better."

Bell answered honestly.

This was not an expedition into the Dungeon, but a journey into the dangerous outside world. Bell had [Luck] on his side, so he did not need to worry too much about himself, but if an emergency occurred, there was still a limit to how many people he could protect.

"Hmm... In that case, who are you planning to take with you?"

Hestia set aside her childishness and asked as the Familia Goddess.

"..."

Bell thought for a moment.

Hestia and Artemis definitely could not leave, and searching for someone did not require a supporter. What Bell needed was someone skilled at concealing herself and gathering information.

He quickly reached a conclusion.

"I'll go talk to Mikoto and ask her to come with me."