Chapter 45: A Mystery, Revealed

Lars and Alfia were running like the wind. With Lars creating a tailwind and a barrier in front of them so they won't burn due to friction.

"You're pretty useful, aren't you? We're at least two times faster right now." Alfia teased him.

"Hmph, the days of the Alfia express are over." Lars huffed at her.

"So you don't need me anymore? Should I turn into a villain and be your enemy?" Alfia chortled.

"Bring it on, I'm planning on having a secret training program to gain as much excelia as possible." Lars smirked.

"If it's you, then it's going to be ridiculous." Alfia believed him. After all, he can pump out level ups in normal people easily.

He's just preserving their motivation so they won't burn out.

"We're almost here, do you know the person taking care of Bell?" Lars looked around.

They were traveling through forests for a while now. And Alfia told him that Bell's village is deep inside the mountains.

"I can sense noise nearby, we're here." Alfia jumped on a tall tree for a vantage point.

Lars followed her and they found a pretty small village.

"Looks like a perfect place to hide someone." Lars nodded.

"I do not know who is taking care of Bell. But it sure as hell isn't his deadbeat supporter father." Alfia squinted her eyes.

"Chill... You might try to gouge his eyes out if you see his eyes." Lars sighed.

"Hmph, you are correct. I will restrain myself." Alfia furrowed her brows.

They then changed their clothes to make them look like ordinary travellers.

"Hello, do you know where Bell Cranel lives? We're his relatives you see?" Lars went into action.

As Alfia was notoriously bad in talking to people.

"Ahhh, Bell huh? The young lady does kinda resemble him. Just walk straight and go to the middle of the village, you'll see him help people there." A villager instructed.

"Thanks old man." Lars tossed him a gold coin and Alfia raised a brow.

"Can they even use valis here?" Alfia doubted that peddlers would go there.

"They still go down the mountains Alfia. They're people, not savages." He rolled his eyes.

After getting instructions, they went towards the middle of the village.

And they saw a kid that was hauling some sacks of produce.

He had bone white hair and red eyes, making him look like a rabbit.

"He's like a rabbit, does Meteria have white hair?" Lars chuckled and Alfia nodded slowly.

The last time she saw Bell was when he was just a little baby. But now, he's growing up bit by bit.

Lars noticed that she was in a daze, so he tapped her lower back.

"Come on, let's meet family." Lars smiled softly and she nodded.

"Oisho, hah. That's about it." Bell finished hauling the sacks and he saw someone walk up to him.

"Hello! Pretty lady, I haven't seen you here before." Bell greeted and Alfia nodded in satisfaction.

"Hmm, I'm Alfia. You can just call me Alfia." She didn't know what to say next.

"We're a part of an S rank familia, Bell. And we have some business with your caretaker." Lars patted him on the back.

"Uwaaah! An S rank familia? And with jii-chan? Why though?" Bell tilted his head.

"Yeah, want to see my cool weapon?" Lars took out his ruinous decimation. Though he was missing the left gauntlet now due to Rudra.

"Waaaa~" Bell looked at his weapon with awe as it shone under the sun.

Lars then saw Alfia pout at him for interacting with Bell more than her.

"Heh, how about I tell you more stories? As a 1st class adventurer, I have a lot of it in the dungeon." Lars smiled at him.

"Really!? Yatta!" Bell led them immediately to his home.

"You scammer, you're just a level 2. I'm the one who's 1st class." Alfia huffed at him.

"Yeah, but who'd want to listen to your monotone ass." Lars roasted her.

She then iron clawed him on the face. "Not the face! Not the face!"

After a little fighting, they entered Bell's ordinary house.

"How about I make the story a bit more exciting as well? Ravage; Gale." Lars controlled his magic.

He started showing Bell his very first major battle in the nightmare of the 27th floor.

The fight with the goliath, and the mysterious monster that killed off most of Astraea's children.

"Uwaah! Lars nii-chan you're so cool!" Bell's eyes were shining and Alfia was jealous as all heck.

"I'm the aunt here, it's not fair that he's scamming my nephew." Alfia mumbled.

"Bell! Jii-chan's home!" A voice resounded as the door opened.

"Ohh? You have a friend over? Nice... To... Meet you." The old man saw Alfia and he suddenly changed his tune.

Alfia's eyes narrowed at him. "Zeus..." She said softly and Lars heard her.

"This is interesting..." Lars smirked and he gestured for the old man to sit down.

"Say Bell, meet your aunt, Alfia is actually your mother's sister." Lars pointed at Alfia and she was put on the spot.

"A-Alfia..." Zeus was flabbergasted, immediately dropping the sack of vegetables he brought.

"M-my aunt?" Bell was stunned. As he thought that his grandfather was the only person he had left.

"Yeah, why don't you bring him all the presents that you've missed?" Lars chuckled.

Alfia was put on the spot. She didn't really bring any gift for Bell.

"Hah, you know... Aren't you a crap aunt? You could have at least brought him some books about the dungeon." Lars sighed.

"Shut up..." Alfia's retort was weak and she did thought that she was a bad aunt.

Lars noticed her depressed expression. "Here, Bell. I'll give this to you. It's a knife that's made by Hephaestus you know?"

He gave him a dagger and it really was a knife that was forged by the goddess.

A little sample she made for him to copy and he took it. It just needed a little polishing.

"A knife that was made by a goddess..." Bell held it with trembling hands.

"Un, isn't it great? You'll just need to sharpen it a few times in its whole life." Lars ruffled his hair.

"Go on, test it outside for now. We'll have a little talk with grandpa." Lars smiled at him.

Bell then nodded and he ran outside in excitement.

Lars then sighed as he crossed his legs. "Now, how about we talk about what's happening here?"

Zeus froze as he felt a really ominous aura from Lars.

"I didn't expect that Alfia would still be alive... You look as healthy as a horse, that should be impossible." Zeus frowned.

"Ha? You saying that I should keel over?" Alfia glared at him like a gangster.

"Now, now, he just didn't expect it. You were in pretty bad shape." Lars pacified her and she huffed.

"K-kid, who are you? Alfia doesn't listen to anyone. Not even her own captain and goddess..." Zeus was shocked out of his mind.

"Me? I'm nobody special, old man. Why don't you tell us why you're the one taking care of Bell?" Lars asked and Zeus frowned.

"I'm the only one left that can..." Zeus sighed and Lars nodded.

"Tch, damn that Loki. Maybe I should try to poach Riveria, Ais, and Gareth from her? Finn doesn't seem the type to leave her." Lars wanted a little payback.

"No... Loki and I had a deal." Zeus revealed and they looked at him with interest.

"Loki and I talked with each other before I left Orario." Zeus sighed.

'I never expected that I'll tell someone this except Hermes.' Zeus was still in shock that Alfia is still alive.

And she was healthier than ever. Meaning, she's at her absolute prime. And that made him tremble in fear.

"So, spill the beans." Lars was getting impatient.

"I made Loki promise that she'll use her familia to protect Orario. Raise them to be the bastion against the black dragon." Zeus looked down as he began sweating.

"The black dragon... It was much, much stronger than anyone expected. Even Hera's empress was killed without putting up a fight." Zeus shuddered.

"Then won't Loki's familia just be fodder against it?" Lars asked and Zeus nodded.

"But they'll be the hope of Orario. Hera and I's familia have already been annihilated. We can't raise adventurers like Maxim and the empress anymore." Zeus frowned.

"So you'll use them as inspiration for the adventurers to raise their levels huh? Naive." Lars sighed.

Zeus and Alfia were shocked at his viciousness.

"It's the only thing I could've done in that situation!" Zeus shouted in anger.

"That's what you think. Did you even leave the guild the information about the deeper floors?" Lars raised a brow at him.

"It's impossible to raise a level 9 by just going to the 50th floor." Lars snorted.

"That... We didn't leave everything behind." Zeus didn't think of that.

"Then you're a goddamned idiot, old man. People don't need just adversity to grow. You can make artificial challenges to do so." Lars sighed.

"Won't it result in weaker adventurers? You don't know what you're talking about, boy." Zeus glared at him.

"Hmph, shut up you old coot. Alfia knows it, I raised a normal, middle-class girl into level 3 in just a few months." Lars rebutted.

Zeus went wide eyed and he looked at Alfia in shock.

"He's right, I'm even raising my excelia with his method. And I'm gaining a lot." Alfia shrugged.

A few points every week for a level 8 like her is actually a massive amount of excelia. And she's been amassing them slowly to level up to 9.

Zeus went quiet and Lars knew he was right. "So, how about Hera? What's she doing now?" Lars raised a brow.

"She's using her arcanum to seal the north. The dragon valley. Where we fought the black dragon." Zeus revealed.

Alfia and Lars were shocked and Lars finally knew why it wasn't rampaging around.

After all, it destroyed the largest country in a day. It should be causing mayhem everywhere.

"And in a few years, I must join her to strengthen the seal." Zeus sighed.

"You're going to leave Bell behind..." Alfia glared at him.

"In 4 to 5 years, yes... Now that I think about it, it's actually a very good thing that you appeared. I'll send Bell to Orario." Zeus laughed.

He was worrying about what to do when the time came. And now, he can just send him to Orario.

"Hah, I guess that's fine." Lars sighed and Alfia didn't want him to become an adventurer.

"Absolutely not." Alfia squinted her eyes at him and he stared back at her.

"Don't be daft, Alfia. The kid's obsessed with heroes and adventures." Lars pointed outside the door and Alfia heard him shout out Jupiter while raising his knife.

Copying the Argonaut's usage of his spirit contract with Jupiter. A spirit of Zeus.

Alfia clicked her tongue and she glared at Zeus instead.

"Y-young boys love stories of heroes and adventure." Zeus reasoned immediately.

"You can't do anything about it now, Alfia. He's set on that path, don't limit him." Lars chided her.

"Fine... But I'll make him as strong as possible." Alfia clicked her tongue again in dissatisfaction.

"Wow... You definitely have her in your palm, kid." Zeus definitely didn't expect a boy to control Alfia who's like a loose cannon.

"I guess we'll accept him into Orario when the time comes." Lars put an end to that topic.

"I'll leave him into your care." Zeus bowed at them and Lars waved his hand.

"It's no problem, the kid's Alfia's nephew. He's practically family. And he seems like a good kid too." Lars listened to Bell shout that he's going to beat the minotaur.

"It should also be my responsibility as his last remaining relative too." Alfia frowned.

"Meteria would be happy that you'll take care of him, Alfia." Zeus smiled at her.

"Shut up, do not forget that I do not like your noise, Zeus." Alfia huffed and she watched Bell play around.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.