4 BELL-O-EMON HELPED THE GUILD AND HAD TEA PARTY

It was a beautiful day in Orario. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming, and adventurers were heading to the Dungeon. On a day like this...

BOOOOMM

Explosions were heard from Twilight Manor. To those who lived near the manor, it was nothing out of the ordinary since it was the home of the Loki Familia. Explosions, battle cries, and sounds of general destruction were a normal daily occurrence here. As one of the top Familias in Orario, it wasn't weird for the members to spar with each other for training, which was usually followed by all that ruckus.

This was especially true for a certain Amazoness who had a penchant for not holding back in a fight, including sparring. But today was different.

Ais thrust her sword, and a gust of wind came out from it. Behind her, Lefiya cast several colorful spells. Both the wind and spells rushed towards the same target. In front of them, a calm Riveria stood with a red cloth in her hands.

Riveria swayed the cloth.

WHOOOOOSHH

BOOOOM

BOOOOM

BOOOOM

The wind and various spells that rushed towards her were instantly reflected by the cloth and sent out towards their surroundings.

"S-Seriously, what is that cloth!" Lefiya shouted indignantly, frustrated that not even her strongest barrage of spells managed to hit it.

"A very interesting cloth," Riveria simply smiled as she fluttered the cloth around her, feeling giddy like she hadn't in a long time.

Ais understood Lefiya's frustration. She, too, was a bit miffed but also awed at the same time. Bell possessed this powerful cloth and just casually pulled it out as if it were nothing special. Heck, he even let them borrow it just like that.

Imagine what you could do if you made a robe from this cloth.

It would guarantee full-body protection from physical and magical attacks with minimal to no drawbacks for the wearer. If they had this back then, their Dungeon exploration campaigns would have been significantly easier.

Maybe Bell would let her borrow it again if she asked nicely?

Or perhaps he had more useful items like this in his possession?

But what if he found her annoying if she asked for too much?

They weren't even in the same Familia after all.

Uhhhh...

While Ais was busy pondering, on the side, Finn and Gareth were watching the "experiment," as Riveria called it.

"Aye, that's some bullshit cloth, alright," Gareth huffed.

He had tried to hit Riveria while she had the cloth, and boy, he never even dreamed of getting thrown several meters away by a mere piece of fabric.

"Yes," Finn nodded, "and apparently, this isn't the only strange... magical item the boy has. I asked around and found out he had one for flying, a door that can take you anywhere, and small toy-like creatures that he uses for physical labor."

"Gods..." Gareth's eyes widened. It was the first time he had heard about this.

Flying? That would help them a lot on the deeper floors.

A door that can take you everywhere? They could use that to retreat back to the surface in a flash without having to retrace their steps.

And those creatures? They might help them carry provisions around, reducing the need for supporters.

"The more I hear about him..." Finn scratched his chin, "the more I want him to be part of our Familia."

"Well, ain't that the truth," Gareth sighed, "Shame he is already in another Familia."

"Yes... shame indeed," Finn wryly smiled as he saw Lefiya's spell reflected back at her, resulting in the young elf panicking.

...

Eina sighed as she put a report down but saw a whole stack more waiting. This wasn't supposed to happen, but one of her coworkers screwed up so bad that the domino effect also affected her and the rest of the staff. The weekly reports for the last three months needed to be redone from the start, and that also meant they had to make three months of thick monthly reports too.

Adventurer identification and new registrations. Monster stone exchanges. Guild-issued weapons and armor sales. Familia taxes. General accounting. It was a lot of work! She and the rest of the staff didn't get paid enough to do this!

What's worse was that the upcoming Monsterphilia was coming soon. The preparation for it and the paperwork it needed were enough to make the Guild busy in normal situations, but under their current one? It was hellish now.

Eina glared at the stacks of paperwork in front of her.

Should she quit and find another job?

She was pretty sure some mid to upper-rank Familia still needed a personal staff to handle their taxes, accounting, and reports. She could do that. The pay might not be able to compete with her current salary, but the work would be significantly easier.

Umuuuu...

"Good morning, Ms. Eina!"

Eina was snapped back from her pondering. In front of her, she saw a familiar white-haired boy with a miniature windmill on top of his head.

"Good morning to you too, Bell," she greeted back while trying her best to turn her frown upside down. "What can I help you with today?"

Bell reached for his pouch, and Eina thought he would pull out another mind-blowing item. However, Bell only pulled out some papers and a small bag, most likely containing Valis.

"I'm here for my Familia tax reports," Bell put the papers and the bag of Valis on the counter. "My Goddess and I have already written down the necessary forms and counted the Valis we need to pay."

Eina's smile faltered as her eyes twitched wildly. Another one?! She hadn't even finished with the stacks over there yet?!

"Um, Ms. Eina?"

"Y-Yes, Bell?"

Bell narrowed his eyes. "Are you okay?"

No!

"Um, yes, just a little bit tired, hahaha," she tried to laugh it off.

Bell glanced at the stacks of paperwork near Eina, and he understood. "I see, that's... a lot."

Eina sighed. "Yes..." Then she coughed weakly, clearing her throat. "Here, let me see your tax report."

Professional – she had to remain professional! Even with a mountain of work still needing to be done, she also needed to do her best at the desk service with the adventurers who came to her. Ah, stress.

Eina sighed again as she took Bell's papers and bag of Valis. She skimmed through the papers and counted the Valis in the bag. Everything seemed to check out, and the Valis was the exact amount needed.

"Um, Ms. Eina?" Bell called her, and she turned her head up.

"Maybe I can help with your work," Bell suggested.

Eina stared flatly at Bell before the realization struck her. For most adventurers, she wouldn't expect them to know much about paperwork, let alone understand it enough to help her with it.

But this is Bell!

Bell Cranel, the well-known white rabbit with various strange items for every situation!

If there was someone who could help her right now, it was Bell.

Her body reflexively stood up, she grabbed Bell's hands, and she stared at Bell with desperate eyes. "Yes, please!"

In hindsight, shouting that at the top of her lungs while grabbing a young boy's hands in front of a busy public place wasn't her best moment. Almost every adventurer turned their attention towards her and Bell. She even felt her coworkers also glancing at her; she heard their whispers.

"Marriage proposal?" That's what her coworkers whispered.

Eina's face turned red, blushing. "A-Ah, this...I'm sorry, Bell." She let Bell's hands go.

"Hahaha don't worry Ms. Eina," Bell reassured her with a laugh. He then reached for his pouch. "Computer Pencil!" and pulled a pink-colored pencil with something attached to the rear of it.

"It's a pencil?" Eina asked.

"Not just an ordinary pencil," Bell said, giving the Computer Pencil to Eina. "This will automatically fill anything you need, making your job easier and faster. Come on, Ms. Eina, try it."

Eina nodded; so far, everything Bell said about his items was always true. She grabbed one of the papers from the stacks of paperwork. Then, while holding the Computer Pencil, she tried to write something, and...

SWIIIIIISSSH

To Eina's surprise, her hand suddenly moved itself. No, it was more accurate to say that the pencil she held moved her hand. It took only a few seconds before Eina finished a task that usually took several minutes.

She held up the paper and checked it. "I-It's done! And everything filled in correctly too!"

This pencil she used somehow knew everything she needed to fill and did it with absolute accuracy and precision. Every report was worded perfectly, and every number was correct down to the very last digit.

She grabbed another paper and tried it again. It worked.

"W-Whoa..." Eina turned her gaze towards Bell. "This is amazing, Bell!"

"I'm glad, then you can borrow it until you're done with your works, Ms. Eina."

"Are you sure?" Eina asked. "I'm thankful, but this looks like a very precious item..."

"Don't worry, I just want to help," Bell smiled at her. "Besides, Ms. Eina, you've always helped so much; this time, I want to be of help to you."

BA-BUMP

"B-Bell..." Eina's face became flustered again.

It was not fair to give her that cute, innocent smile!

Not fair!

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him smiling at her.

Dangerous, Bell was a danger to her... and perhaps to every woman too.

"Okay then, now it's time for me to go. Bye-bye, Ms. Eina," Bell said before heading into the Dungeon.

Eina mindlessly waved at Bell, her mind still replaying Bell's smile from a moment ago. Misha then approached her.

"So..." Misha nudged Eina. "When's the wedding date? Heh, can't believe our Eina's type is actually a young cute boy," she grinned.

"It's not like that!"

...

"Ehehe, sorry about that, Rabbit," Tiona sheepishly smiled.

Bell was currently being led inside The Twilight manor by Tiona. Just a moment ago, he was being held at the front gate by the gatekeeper of Loki Familia. He tried to explain to the two men there that he was invited by Riveria and Finn yesterday. They didn't believe him, and to make things worse, they recognized Bell.

Around two weeks ago, Bell was new to Orario and tried to join whichever Familia would welcome him. Most Familia said they didn't accept any new members, and some even outright mocked him because of how harmless he looked. At first, Bell tried to avoid the bigger Familia, knowing they would most likely reject him.

Well, he wasn't wrong.

An adventurer from Freya Familia glared at him and told him not to come near them again. The Freya Adventurer intimidated him so much that he just wordlessly nodded and left... well, more like ran. Then he tried to ask Loki Familia, only to get a similar treatment, albeit less threatening.

The gatekeepers didn't even glance at him for more than a couple of seconds before telling him they didn't need someone like him. They also told him that he would be better off being something else other than an adventurer.

Thus, poor Bell was rejected by almost all Familia in Orario. He even considered just packing everything and going back home until he met Hestia, who let him join as her first Familia member.

No words could describe how grateful he was to Hestia. When no one else even bothered to take him seriously, she noticed him and extended her arm to him.

Back to today, The Twilight manor gatekeepers didn't believe what Bell said. They thought he was trying to trick them into letting him in. Bell kept saying he was invited, but the gatekeepers didn't budge. This happened for quite some time until Tiona, with a bag of snacks, came to see what happened.

Tiona then confirmed what Bell said, that he did get invited by Riveria and Finn.

"We're going to have a talk with those two later," Tiona meekly smiled. "...uhh, so no hard feelings?"

"Sure, no hard feelings," Bell replied. "They were just doing their job after all," he continued.

Bless him and his kind heart.

"Hehehe, I like you more now, Rabbit."

Both of them then walked towards the Twilight manor garden. When they arrived, Bell saw Loki, Ais, Riveria, and Finn sitting around a table with snacks and cups of tea on top of it.

"Heya!" Tiona waved to her fellow Familia members. "I brought the Rabbit."

Loki frowned. "Tch, so you came—Ouch!"

"Behave," Riveria lightly chopped Loki's head.

"Good afternoon, Bell," Finn politely greeted. "Do you want to join our afternoon tea party?"

"Uh sure?" Bell replied, not so sure.

"Here's," Tiona put the bag she brought. "I brought more snacks!"

Bell then sat right between Ais and Finn. He glanced at Ais and gave her a polite smile. "Good afternoon, Ms. Ais."

"Ah, um, good afternoon... Bell," she greeted back.

Loki stared at Bell and Ais with judging eyes.

Riveria cleared her throat. "Here's your cloth," she gave Bell the Reflecting Cloth already neatly folded. "I must say, it's a very... interesting cloth."

Bell accepted the Reflecting Cloth back and stored it in his pouch. Finn saw this and raised his brows.

"The cloth fits in that small pouch?" Finn asked.

Bell nodded. "Yup, many things fit in here."

To everyone except Ais, what Bell said confused them.

"Okay, now that you have your cloth back, can you go back now?" Loki grumbled.

Riveria looked at her Goddess with a disapproving stare. She then turned to Bell. "...please ignore her."

"W-What?" Loki was shocked. "B-But he's here to just get the cloth back. Right Ais?" Loki turned to Ais, expecting some agreement or at least a nod.

But what she got was Ais silently staring at her... coldly.

"Hiek?!" Loki shrieked.

"There, there..." Tiona chimed in, patting her Goddess's back. "It's okay for Rabbit to join our little tea party." She then turned to Bell, cheekily grinning. "I mean, at least until he shows us some more interesting things."

"Oh, you have more?" Riveria perked up hearing Tiona's words.

"Well, you do have that strange item that shocked Bete in one hit," Finn added, remembering what happened last night.

Out of all the people there, Ais was the one whose eyes sparkled at the mention of more of Bell's strange items.

"Hey, Rabbit," Loki called out to Bell, slightly annoyed. "If you do have strange items inside that pouch of yours, then just pull out some booze or wine."

"Loki, it's still early for drinking," Riveria chastised.

"Booo," Loki pouted while booing Riveria. "There's no such thing as too early for some booze!" She turned back to Bell. "So did you have it or not?"

Bell merely weakly laughed at Loki's antic. "Well, I don't exactly have that. But I have this..." He reached inside his pouch.

"Yoro Snacks!" Bell pulled out a jar filled with small cookie-like snacks.

Bell offered Loki the snacks. "Try it, Goddess. Eat one and immediately drink something," Bell told her.

Loki was staring at him weirdly while the rest of the people there were curious. Finding no reason to refuse, Loki shrugged. She picked one Yoro Snack and threw it into her mouth. She tasted nothing particular, but everything changed after she picked up her cup and drank her tea.

Loki's eyes widened as what she tasted was not the expected tea, but the taste of the finest wine she had ever tasted. She immediately looked at her cup; it was still filled with tea. Then she drank it again, and it tasted like top-quality wine again!

Loki was dumbfounded by this.

H-How was this even possible?

She tasted so many alcoholic beverages throughout her immortal life, and she could confidently say that what she just drank could easily be placed in the top five.

Noticing Loki's confusion, Bell then explained, "Yoro Snacks is a snack that, if eaten, will turn every beverage you drink later into a fine alcoholic beverage for some time."

"Really?" Tiona asked before leaning forward and grabbing one for herself. She then immediately ate it and drank her tea. "Holy... it really turned the tea into wine!"

Curious, Finn and Ais also tried the snacks and were also surprised by its strange wine-converting use. The only one who didn't grab one was Riveria, who simply said she didn't drink.

"Well damn, Rabbit," Loki grinned after she chugged a whole teapot worth of tea. "If you have something like that laying around, why don't you just bring it up first? Tell me what, how much for this? I'll buy it from you."

One small snack could turn something like a gallon of water into this absolute quality wine if she drank fast enough, and he had a jar full of it?

She wanted all of them.

"Oh, this is a gift for you, Goddess," Bell smiled. "No need to pay me."

Loki was stunned for a second before a wide grin bloomed on her face. "Rabbit, I thought you were annoying at first, but..." She giddily took the Yoro Snacks jar. "I guess we can be friends, a really, really best friend hehehe."

"First the cloth, then that item that stunned a level 5 adventurer in one hit, and then these... snacks," Finn muttered. "You're full of surprises, Bell."

Finn then pondered about something before opening his mouth. "Say, would you mind if we borrow the cloth and that stun item if we need them? We're even willing to pay the rent for borrowing those."

"Sure," Bell agreed. He found no reason to refuse, and the extra Valis wouldn't hurt.

"It's a deal then," Finn smiled.

"Man, it would be nice if you just join our Familia," Tiona joined the conversation, with Ais nodding at her words.

Bell tilted his head. "But back then, I tried to join this Familia, though?"

"Eh?"

Loki and her Familia members were shocked by this revelation.

Bell continued, not noticing the surprised looks of the people around him. "Well, around two weeks ago, I guess, I tried to apply to join this Familia. But the gatekeepers said you didn't need someone like me."

Bell then sheepishly smiled. "Well, I couldn't blame you guys, haha. I'm not exactly looking like adventurer material at a glance."

Finn smiled strained as he tried to keep his internal anger at his fellow Familia members at the front gate for wasting a potential high-value boy for their Familia. Riveria looked sorry and tried to say something to Bell, but she couldn't form any words. Tiona awkwardly smiled as she accidentally brought up a possible sore spot. And Ais...

Well, Ais was usually famous for having a stoic, calm, and borderline expressionless face. But now, her eyes were so cold. She looked like she was ready to punch someone repeatedly.

She could spend more time with Bell and his strange items! But noooo, the gatekeepers turned him down, and now she couldn't.

Hmmmm... She made a mental note to find whoever rejected Bell from applying in her Familia.

Beside Ais, Loki's eyes twitched after hearing Bell's story. A golden goose of a boy walked to her Familia, and he got rejected?!

T-This is absurd!

Even after only knowing Bell for a short time, she already could see how much worth the boy had by simply having those strange items around and ready to use.

If the other Gods heard this, she would be a laughingstock.

Loki chugged her tea-turned-wine in one gulp before turning her head to Bell. "So, which Familia are you in right now then?" She asked, genuinely curious about who was the lucky bastard who got this boy.

"Oh, I'm now in Hestia Familia," Bell answered with a smile.

CRACK

The cup Loki held was shattered by her own grip. Loki's jaw dropped before gritting her teeth in frustration. Out of all the Gods in Orario, she was the one who got this rabbit?!

Damnit Itty Bitty!

-[Chapter 4 END]-

Computer Pencil: A 'smart' pencil that, when used to write something, will produce the correct 'answer' no matter what. However, it has no effect on blank papers.

Yoro Snacks: A snack that, when eaten, transforms any beverages the user drinks afterward into high-quality alcoholic beverages. It can also cause the user to get drunk.