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

After returning home with Goddess-sama, Bell went over what Freya-sama had said earlier that day.

"Huh?"

"Doesn't that mean nothing would've changed regardless of whether I accepted Freya's terms or not?"

Faced with her questioning gaze, Bell could only nod helplessly.

"Freya-sama clearly plans to take me by force, but she's waiting to confirm something first. That's the only reason she hasn't acted yet. Once she gets that confirmation from me, she'll have a legitimate excuse to make her move."

"Ah..."

Hestia suddenly recalled what Freya had said—her interest in Bell-kun stemmed from being unable to see his soul. So once Freya confirmed what his soul was like, she'd ignore all pretense and just take him?

The realization made Hestia's face flush red.

"She... she's completely shameless!"

"To be honest, Freya-sama is shameless."

Bell knew Goddess-sama had her pride and found Freya-sama's behavior disgraceful. But projecting her own standards onto others wasn't realistic—some people simply had none.

"Freya-sama's goal is very clear. To put it bluntly, she wants to figure out my situation. If I match what she's looking for, she'll resort to outright force. If I don't, she'll probably tell you it was just a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding, my ass!"

Hestia couldn't hold back anymore—there was no way Freya was joking around. She was seriously trying to steal Bell-kun away, and with the worst possible methods.

"Freya's completely violating the rules of the game!"

Bell gently shook his head.

"Goddess-sama, Freya-sama commands the strongest adventurer in Orario. She has the power to do something like this. That's why she's never cared how others view her. When she sets her eyes on something, she'll stop at nothing to get it."

Yeah...

Just thinking about it made Hestia deflate a little.

"Ugh... but if this keeps going, Freya really might take you away from me. Am I just supposed to accept that?"

Bell only smiled and shook his head.

"Goddess-sama, even though Freya-sama seems aggressive, she still follows her own principles. Like she said herself, acting by force goes against them. Think about it, Goddess-sama—why hasn't Freya-sama made a move yet?"

"Of course, it's because she... ah!"

Mid-sentence, Hestia suddenly exclaimed.

"Because she can't see your soul's color, Bell-kun. She's not sure if you're the one she's looking for."

"Exactly."

Bell snapped his fingers—that was the key point of this whole conversation.

"Goddess-sama, I'm always very careful when I'm out. Nowadays, I even use Stealth to hide my presence. So Freya-sama must've seen me before I learned Rune magic. But in the Adventurer circle, I'm not exactly someone who stands out. There's only one time I can think of that might've caught Freya-sama's attention."

"When was it?"

"It was the time we had dinner at the 'Hostess of Fertility.'"

Hestia remembered that day. She'd been in a great mood, excited by Bell-kun's progress, and dragged him out to treat themselves.

"I remember we ran into Loki at that tavern."

"Yes. The Loki Familia had just returned from the Dungeon and happened to be there too. Loki-sama saw us and came over to greet us. That day, I wasn't wearing my hood—so that must've been when Freya-sama noticed me."

It had been a mistake on Bell's part. If he'd been more cautious, Hestia wouldn't have taken him to the "Hostess of Fertility." Without that misstep, he might never have ended up on Freya-sama's radar.

"But Bell-kun, we didn't even see Freya that day. Only she has the ability to see the souls of children in Genkai. If she wasn't there in person, she couldn't have made that kind of judgment, right?"

Hestia thought Bell-kun's reasoning was sound, but she was certain they hadn't seen Freya that day—only Loki, at most.

"That's exactly the issue. I clearly remember the only time Freya-sama could've noticed me was that day at the tavern. Aside from that, she never would've paid attention to someone as insignificant as me."

"What's going on?"

Hestia trusted Bell-kun's judgment, but it was still a fact that Freya hadn't been there in person.

"There's only one explanation. Freya-sama has a pair of eyes planted in the 'Hostess of Fertility.' Through them, she saw me and confirmed that my soul has no color."

"But if that's the case, doesn't that mean the 'Hostess of Fertility' is basically Freya's territory?"

"That's probably the most reasonable conclusion."

Bell had already figured that out some time ago, so it was easy for him to think along those lines. And judging from how things had unfolded, the earlier reasoning still held. The only opportunity Freya had to see him was at the 'Hostess of Fertility.'

"Freya actually has spies like that..."

"That's not so strange. Goddess-sama, if Freya-sama didn't have those eyes watching, do you think she could've found so many outstanding Familia members?"

"You mean, Freya found all those gifted children through that one pair of eyes?"

"After all, Freya Familia has tons of top-class adventurers. It's not like Freya-sama personally scouted all of them. Doesn't it make more sense that she'd search in a place filled with all kinds of people, Goddess-sama?"

"...Yeah."

Hestia thought about it and realized it made perfect sense.

Freya had lived atop Babel Tower for years—she couldn't just stroll around Orario freely, not without drawing a ton of attention. But if she had someone watching from a place like a tavern, then it would explain how she managed to discover so many promising children.

Bell chuckled lightly.

"Goddess-sama, in a way, this is actually the best news for us."