The mermaid girl swam up to me from the rock she was on and popped up right in front of me, her chest fully exposed.
"What's your name?" She asked
"Bell. Could you maybe put a shirt on? Or something of the sort,"
I wasn't blushing or anything but it was just rather uncomfortable to have a normal conversation like this
"OK! Wait one moment,"
She then dipped under water, then resurfaced with Seashells covering her breast a minute later.
"Nice to meet you Bell! I am Marie!"
"Cool. Do you know where Lido and the others are?"
She then shook her head slowly "I can't leave since I can't walk, so I have to stay here. Lido and everyone went down some more,"
"I see, what floor are we on right now?"
"The..." Marie then put a finger to her chin and started to think. She seemed, not like the sharpest tool in the shed, plus she had a super bubbly voice that lacked any seriousness once so ever "The 26th!"
"Thanks, tell Lido and the others I said hi when you see them next,"
I started to walk off when she called out to me
"I can help you! You want to find other adventurers right?"
"Well, yea but only my party,"
She nodded "What do they look like?"
"One is a prum with brown hair, another is an Amazon, and one is a Renard,"
She nodded and then started to sing, after around 30 seconds it finally stopped.
"Ok! Follow me!"
She then went underwater but was close enough up so I could see her. We went running/swimming around for around 45 minutes before She finally spoke up again.
"Ok, go forward a little more and you'll see them! Thanks for saving me back there too!"
Marie was attacked more times than I could count since she kept on trying to ask me questions while we were going, I had to save her each time.
"No worries, thanks for your help,"
"Umm...Bell?" She called out to me for the last time "We'll see each other again right?"
It reminded me a bit of Wiene
"I'm sure we will," I reassured her, and she left with a smile
I ran forward a bit and sure enough, there was my party, it also seemed like another group had joined them.
"There he is," Aisha stated as she was the first to notice me.
"Did ya kill that bastard?"
There was a dwarf there I had never met, he seemed completely worn out.
"Well, the seeds are gone right?" I responded
"Thank you so much...Prodigy," The elf who we saved earlier was now walking and his comrades despite missing a few limbs were alive.
"Don't worry about it, any problems Lily?"
"None, we should take the elves and dwarfs up to the 18th floor first then continue our mission afterward,"
I nodded.
We then started heading back up, we had a few run-ins with monsters but still nothing serious.
When we reached Riveria the lodging as per usual was super expensive but we paid for our own things and the dwarfs and elves put their medical supplies and whatnot on a separate tab connected to their familia
I was sitting on the cliff I sat at when I was down here with Hermes last time. I wasn't really doing anything just lost in thought.
In truth, it was still about what happened with Freya, a taboo put on them by the gods above.
'What could that be?'
As I was thinking someone sat down next to me, it was Welf.
"Yo, you got your new nickname, I don't think you're gonna like it too much though..."
As I took a look at the paper slip he handed me I felt a tick mark appear on my forehead.
(A few hours ago, Hestia POV)
I showed up to the Dentaus a bit early, I had to scope out the competition and make sure Bell got a good nickname.
Gods that lost their members from Bell protecting Wiene would not be happy and would likely try and give him a terrible nickname.
I had been thinking of some cool ones he would like so I was tuck between 'The Human god' or 'God Destroyer'...Now that I think about it those are too cringe to give him.
As I was stuck in this contemplation everyone else started to show up, last like usual was Freya, and it didn't take a genius to figure out she wasn't in a great mood.
"Ok let's get this party started!" Loki yelled from across the small area we were in.
We went over all the boring stuff like regulations and taxes and then we got to the nicknames.
The Gods seemed harsher than usual today with their naming, when it was Welff's turn he almost got Red Apple as a nickname because of his hair.
Luckily thanks to me and Hephaestus we were able to secure the nickname Ignis for him.
Just like last time, Bell's name came up at the very end.
"I PROPOSE THE NAME MONSTER LOVER!" One of the gods yelled
"NO WAY DUD! DO THE TRAITOR OF MORTALS!"
As people went back and forth I couldn't really find a spot to intervene, but then someone else did.
"Silence,"
Those words sent everyone there to silence except Loki who kept on snickering as she listened to the nicknames.
None other than Freya herself was the one who spoke up, she completely had the floor.
"I say we give him the name The Foolish Genius,"
"HUUUUUUUUUUUH?!" I screamed as I sat up
'BELL'S GONNA KILL ME IF HE GETS THAT!'
"What? Is there some issue with that Hestia?" Freya's gaze was pressuring
"O-Of course there is! Give him something cool like last time!"
"No,"
"...Please?"
"No,"
"..."
"No objections then?" She looked around, everyone except Loki again was too scared to speak out against it. "Then it is official, The Prodigy is now The Foolish Genius,"
At the very end, I swear I saw a little smile emerge on her face for all but a moment.
(Bell POV)
'The...Foolish Genius?'
It was only one of two people who wanted that, Freya or Hermes. I know Hestia would have fought and some other gods as well if it were Hermes though, so it was more likely to be Freya who had arguably the biggest influence in all of Orario.
"Sorry about that Bell, but, hey it's better than Monster Lover or something,"
Welf tried to crack a joke but the conversation immediately died after
"...What nickname did you get?"
"I got Ignis!" Welf said confidently
"Whatever, just buy me some drinks," I said as I got up, it was nearly nighttime in the dungeon now so bars were open.
"Haha, you got it!"
We went to the bar that was the most popular, there were tons of people there but Welf and I managed to snag a spot.
"So, Bell. Have you thought about getting a girlfriend?" Welf asked with his cheeks slightly blushed from drinking.
We had already been here for 45 minutes so I was feeling it a little too.
"Well, it would be easier to do that if I actually knew what romantic love felt like,"
"It's simple! Who would you want to spend the rest of your life with? For me it's Hephaestus,"
'Who would I want to spend the rest of my life with?'
I didn't know the answer myself.
Hestia was a goddess but she wouldn't be a bad choice, Lily was my right hand and helped out a lot, Haruhime felt like the little sister I never had. Eina felt like a big sister that tried to keep taking care of me.
But there were two more people that arose from the back of my mind. Ryu being one of them, I was still a little nervous to go talk to her since I've killed innocents, but...If anyone could help me from this storm in my mind it was her.
Then the other was Freya, she was an enemy no doubt but having her around would keep me on my toes, I would never really get bored with her around.
"Aha! I know who it is!" Welf said loudly "It's Ais!"
"Don't make jokes like that," I said as I took a sip of my drink.
In truth, I hated Ais. I absolutely detested her. She was the hero that I hate the most, the hero who only goes by others' expectations.
If I hadn't manipulated her since coming to Orario and getting her involved with the Xenos before the major battle then she would have sided with the other people.
She just does what other people tell her to do, and that is the kind of person I hate the most.
Just then the door slammed opened
"IT...IT'S A MURDER! THE GALE WIND KILLED SOMEONE!"