When Charles and Stella erged from the Dungeon, they were practically overflowing with loot. Charles had gotten his hands on the Udaeus Sword, just as he'd hoped.
Of course, that was thanks to Stella—who, despite wearing suppression bracelets, had soloed a presud Level 6 boss. She also gained enough achievent to upgrade—she just needed to max out her stats now.
The rest of the dropped materials and magic stones were just a bonus.
By the ti they left Babel Tower, it was already evening, so Charles and Stella decided to find a place to eat.
They'd spent nearly three days in the Dungeon and had consud all the food they'd brought—enough to feed a full expedition team for a week. With that, they wrapped up their training session.
As the two were wandering the streets looking for dinner, they ran into three familiar faces.
As soon as they saw Charles, the trio hurried over to greet him.
"I heard from Lady Hephaestus that you were back! Geez, why didn't you co say hi?" Welf grumbled with a bit of frustration.
He had assud Charles would co looking for his old friends right away, but instead, he'd gone straight into the Dungeon upon returning.
Charles replied, "Oh, quit it. You sound disgusting when you talk like that. And hey, Bell, Lili—long ti no see!"
Bell smiled warmly. "It's been a while, Mr. Charles!"
Liliruca's eyes, however, quickly shifted to Stella beside him. "Mr. Charles, who's this young lady?"
Charles took Stella's hand and introduced her. "This is Stella. As you can see, we're together. Stella, this is Welf, Bell, and Lili."
Then he gestured to Welf. "Welf's also part of our Familia. He's a… decently talented smith."
Welf imdiately flared up. "What do you an 'decently'? I am a talented smith, thank you very much!"
Stella chuckled at their banter. Even though they were bickering, it was obvious they were close. So this is that strange friendship between guys, she thought.
Ignoring Welf's protests, Charles went on. "Bell is with the Hestia Familia. Lady Hestia is good friends with our goddess, so our two Familias are on very friendly terms."
Bell scratched his head. "I've received a lot of help from Mr. Charles. I hope we can get along, Miss Stella!"
Stella smiled and nodded to Bell. Even though it was their first eting, she could tell he was a genuinely good person.
"And this is Lili," Charles added. "She's Bell's supporter. Smart and tough."
Lili blushed at the praise. "You're too kind, Mr. Charles!"
Stella quickly noticed that Lili's attention was completely fixated on the white-haired boy—clearly no threat. She smiled and replied, "Lili really is adorable."
Lili blushed even deeper and reflexively tried to hide behind Bell.
Suddenly, Bell said, "Oh, right! We were just heading to Hostess of Fertility for dinner. Mr. Charles, Miss Stella—would you two like to join us?"
Stella instinctively looked at Charles. She hadn't forgotten what he told her—that Syr, the waitress there, was more than she appeared… and likely had her eyes on her.
Charles gave her a reassuring nod.
They'd already t Syr, so avoiding her now wouldn't help. If that goddess really had plans, there'd be no escaping her short of leaving this world.
So the group headed to the Hostess of Fertility.
…
"Then, let's raise a toast—to the return of Mr. Charles and to Miss Stella's arrival in Orario!"
Everyone clinked their glasses, and the mood turned lively.
Charles took a sip of his drink and asked, "It's been a while—have you all gotten stronger?"
Welf put down his glass. "Of course! I've been working hard. My stats have improved a lot since before. Even Lili's just about ready to level up."
Charles didn't doubt him. The main cast all had good potential. It was only natural for them to grow.
He already knew from Hephaestus that the Monsterphilia incident involving these three had still happened in his absence.
Although the tiline had changed a bit—Welf leveled up earlier, and Charles had given them stronger gear—they still ended up being chased down to the safe zone on the 18th floor in rough shape.
Then ca the attack from the black Goliath variant. It had taken help from all the adventurers on the 18th floor to finally bring it down.
Add that to the earlier Spirit corruption war, and they'd all accumulated quite a lot of "XP."
Lili rolled her eyes at Welf's boasting. "It's Bell that's grown the most. He's almost ready for Level 3."
Bell gave an awkward laugh but didn't deny it. He really was just a step away from leveling again.
"Tch."
"What Level 3? There's no way anyone levels up in a month. He totally cheated."
"Exactly! Calling himself the 'Fastest Rabbit'? More like a shaless cheater."
Just as things were getting warm and cheerful at their table, Charles picked up on the discordant tone of a nearby conversation. He turned his head and saw the voices ca from a group in the corner.
They were all wearing identical uniforms—clearly part of the sa Familia. And only a few in Orario had the leisure and resources to issue matching uniforms.
The distinctive military-style uniforms were unmistakable, and the symbol on them confird their identity.
A golden bow and sun—that was the mark of the sun god Apollo.
Honestly, with a nickna like "Tragic Love," there was no need to explain Apollo's reputation among the gods.
But no one could deny the strength of his Familia. While not on the level of Loki's, Freya's, or Ganesha's, the Apollo Familia was a mid-tier force with over a hundred combatants.
Their captain, Hyakinthos Clyne, held the title "Sun's Favored Emperor" and was a seasoned Level 3 adventurer.
He was the one who led the Familia in fulfilling their god's "hobby"—claiming any adventurer Apollo took a liking to.
Charles spotted him now, sitting quietly off to the side. A captain hiding in the background while his lackeys stirred up trouble? Definitely suspicious.
Ever since Bell had started making a na for himself in Orario, there'd been rumors about him.
The main reason was jealousy. Most adventurers spent years—sotis more than a decade—before reaching Level 2.
Even top-tier adventurers like Finn and Ottar had remained at Level 1 for a good while.
Ais had already been viewed as a monstrous genius for leveling in a year—so Bell doing it in one month? That was off the charts.
Of course people hated him. But mostly because they didn't have the sa "cheat."
That's how jealousy works. Rather than admit their own diocrity, people would rather believe others had unfair advantages.
So had accused Bell of falsifying the tiline of his achievents to look more impressive.
But after his involvent in the Spirit corruption war and the black Goliath battle, most adventurers now acknowledged Bell's real strength. Hence the nickna "Fastest White Rabbit."
Charles figured that was the origin of his future title, Rabbit Foot of Lightning.
He could feel it now—Apollo's people weren't just jealous. That wasn't it.
They were picking a fight. Deliberately.
And the mont Charles realized that, he rembered what happened in the original tiline.
He gave Bell a sympathetic glance. Kid, you're in for so pain…
Still, considering Apollo was about to bet his mansion and lose it all… maybe a little pain wasn't so bad.
(End of Chapter)
[Get 20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Mutter"]
[Every 50 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]
[Use Code D8986 for 33% Off on All Tiers — Valid Until October 5th]
User Comments
0 comments from readers