There was a thunderous sound.
Like a silver cord snapping.
Like the groan of a parched throat.
With a splendorous, desolate tone, it made everything tremble.
It sounded like the roar of the ocean consuming whatever lay within reach.
Or perhaps it was the rumble of boots marching in thunderous lockstep, so unified it
could be mistaken for the footfalls of one giant creature.
It was the sound of subjugation.
It was the sound of domination.
It was the sound of the ultimate beauty that outshone everything.
A truly terrifying, miserable thing.
The die was cast, rolling on the ground, surely soon to be crushed underfoot.
And then…
Something flares up.
The burning sensation flowing across my back feels like it's trying to protect my body
from some terrible threat. After a great clash, that looming presence pulls away.
The sound of a yearning burning.
The sound of resistance against a divine will.
A fight against domination and intrusion, like a golden flower blooming defiantly atop
the tallest peak.
There is no kindling.
There is no ash.
Sparks are flying.
But in the depths of the hearth, a golden hope is still burning strong.
In the impenetrable darkness, my body is embraced by the eternal flame within me.
And yet…
Why am I so uneasy?
Why does it feel like I'm the only one who's been left behind?
I'm standing all alone in a boundless darkness.
I'm surrounded by people who refuse to turn and look at me.
The warm flame crackles and burns in solitude.
My consciousness, firmly in the grasp of fear, slowly begins to surface—
"Ugh…"
A terribly raspy groan escapes me.
Opening my eyes and blinking several times, the first thing I see is a high ceiling.
A slender ray of light touches my cheek, slipping in through a small gap in the curtains.
My head is still hazy as I sit up, letting the sheets slide off my upper body.
"Where am I…?"
The room is massive. There's a table and chair with intricate curved legs, as well as a
big closet, and a magic lamp resembling a sconce. The bed I've been sleeping in is
incredibly comfortable, and I can tell the rug running across the floor is soft and
luxurious by just looking at it.
This almost feels like a high-class hotel—the exact sort of place you'd never find me
in as a member of a familia shouldering a crushing amount of debt.
But even so, something is…
I can't explain it, but… there's a sort of lived-in feeling to the space that convinces me
this isn't actually a hotel.
It feels more like someone's personal room than a guest room. I take another look
around, still disoriented.
Why am I in a place like this? I desperately try to remember, searching for some kind
of clue.
"…! Right, I was…!"
I was attacked.
Lyu and I encountered the city's most powerful adventurer. My breath catches as a
sudden burst of tension seizes my body.
But then where am I now?
Was I kidnapped?
Is Lyu safe?
Tamping down the rush of questions that welled up, I silently slip out of bed. I'm
dressed in nightclothes I don't recognize. There are no restraints, and I can move
freely, but I can't find any of my gear. Or the Hestia Knife.
Realizing that my gear probably got seized, I grit my teeth and carefully check to make
sure there's no one else inside the room. Then I stealthily approach the window, where
the morning sun is lancing in.
"…A field…?"
Peeking out ever so slightly, I see an enormous lawn… a great field.
Beneath the expansive blue sky is a sea of green, and in the distance I spot a stone
barrier that resembles a castle wall.
…I don't remember ever seeing a place like this.
It makes me wonder if I'm even still in Orario.
There are no bars or anything on the window, and there doesn't seem to be a lock on
it, either. It's almost disturbing how easy it seems to be to get out. But I can see what
look like a couple of adventurers milling outside the window. I would definitely get
caught trying to leave that way.
I quickly give up on escaping through the window.
"That just leaves…"
I look at the one and only door leading out of the room.
After staring at it for a long moment, I make up my mind and walk over to it. Putting
my hand on the doorknob, I exercise extreme caution and open the door silently.
"…Where in the world is this?" I murmur in shock as I step out of the room.
The wide and long hallway is an elegant white, the sort of magnificent corridor that
belongs in a literal castle.
While I'm still wondering what sort of crazy place I've been carried off to, someone
suddenly calls out.
"What are you doing?"
"!"
The voice scares me so badly, I forget how to breathe for a moment. Reflexively
spinning around, I see a figure standing there that has become incredibly familiar over
the past few days—a blond white elf.
"M… Master…"
Hedin is standing there by himself. I assume he emerged from one of the branching
passages. I didn't notice his presence at all—though I guess that is only natural, since
he is a Level 6 adventurer. He can easily slip out of my sight whenever he feels like it
and pummel me into submission with a casual punch or kick. He made that painfully
clear more times than I care to remember during our lessons.
And there's no chance that he would help his pupil out of the goodness of his heart. I
mean, he is utterly cruel and tyrannical, but more importantly, he's part of Freya
Familia!
"Guh…!"
Am I going to be caught? Does this mean I'm going back to that room? Also, why was I
abducted in the first place?
I can feel sweat already coating the back of my neck as we stare at each other for a few
moments… Then with a glance like he's looking at sewage, he breaks the silence.
"Wash that dirty face of yours at once. We're going to breakfast."
...… Huh?
At first, I simply don't understand what he's saying.
"…Wait, breakfast? Wh-why…?"
"What are you talking about? Does there have to be a reason for the sun to rise? Eating
in the morn is a given."
"E-ehhh…? Pardon me, Master, but what are you talking about? Did you hit your hea—
"
"Are you mocking me, you foolish rabbit?"
"Ngh?!"
He suddenly closes the distance without a noise and hits me with an all too familiar
kick.
I mean, yes, it's true that eating breakfast in the morning is perfectly normal, but…!
Even as I groan in pain, I'm also a little bit relieved. I mean not that I'm happy to be
kicked or anything… but Master hasn't changed at all.
At the very least, there's no sign that we're enemies now. I still have no idea what's
going on, but this has helped my uneasy heart feel a little better.
…I still can't shake the feeling that something is off, though.
"Finish your preparations and let's get going."
Master's coral eyes stare at me through his glasses for a long moment, and then he
turns around.
All I can do is purse my lips and quietly follow him.
Then another kick comes my way as Master says, "I said to finish your preparations,
you waste of space," before having my entire head dunked in a tub filled with water.
He doesn't let go of my head until he's done.
I get dressed in something that resembles battle gear and generally cleaned up before
following after Master.
Hestia Familia's home, Hearthstone Manor, is easily luxurious enough to be called a
stately mansion, but it can't even begin to compare to this place. It goes without saying
that the interior is spacious, but the silver-and-gold decorations are breathtaking. My
feet sink into the lush carpet, my jaw drops when I see the enormous chandelier
dotted by magic-stone lamps, and my eyes shoot open as we come to the broad,
palatial staircase. While I'm preoccupied with taking in the scenery, we reach our
destination—the sort of magnificently huge hall that exists only in stories.
"Did you just wake up?"
"You ought to be ashamed for sleeping in."
"Coming late like some bigshot, rabbit boy?"
"You've been getting cocky lately, rabbit boy."
The interior is filled with lines of long tables set together, measuring maybe fifty
meders long. Sitting there with their legs high off the floor are four identical prums.
Bringar, the Gulliver brothers.
By this point, I'm at a loss, not to mention shocked to run into first-tier adventurers of
the city's strongest familia.
"Hey, finish the tomatoes, Dvalinn."
"Come on, Alfrik, tomatoes for breakfast is torture. You take it."
"Quit screwing around. And, Berling, quit copying him!"
"No, I'm trading mine for your dessert."
"That's even worse! Hey, don't even think about it, Grer!"
"Pass, pass, pass."
"At least make up an excuse!"
"""Pleeeeeease, Big Brother Alfriiiig."""
"I'll kick all of your asses!"
The identical brothers are passing around a plate full of red vegetables while arguing
in identical voices.
If I didn't know any better, I would've assumed this mundane morning scene was
playing out between clones.
…Wh-what's going on…?
This is like that cozy, at-home feeling deities are always talking about…
I start to doubt my eyes at the odd and unexpected scene of those terrifying first-tier
adventurers.
"Screw it! Bell, you eat it! Punishment for sleeping late!"
To top it all off, Alfrik calls me by name.
"""That's not right, Big Brother."""
"I don't want to hear that from you guys! And you're pissing me off with that tone!"
Ignoring that I'm frozen in my tracks, the four prum brothers continue their
rambunctious, childlike argument.
"Four sons of fate, shared of soul, 'tis inevitable that breaking morning's fast would
descend into a furor…"
"H-Hegni…"
"A fine aurora, is it not? Will you not abrogate thy prohibition of gluttony?"
The dark elf left a single seat's gap between himself and the prums, and he is primly
eating with a knife and fork.
Hegni lightheartedly addresses me, as if the furious battle that unfolded the other day
had never happened—no, it's more than that. This makes it seem like he's not shy
around me anymore.
If I had to guess, he's probably saying, "Good morning. Won't you have something to
eat?" or something like that…
"The hell are you standing around for? Finish your food and get your ass out on the
field."
The last to speak was a cat person with black fur.
Vana Freya, the man named Allen Fromel… is glaring at me, ordering me to sit with his
piercing gaze.
Master doesn't say anything as he takes his seat at the table.
"…?"
I'm befuddled.
Just absolutely dumbfounded. It's so bad that any nervousness I might've had before
has been totally blown away. That surreal feeling is gone, too. For a brief moment, I
just stare at the maids gracefully passing out the food before one pulls out a chair
clearly meant for me.
Are you telling me to eat at the same table as you? A rival familia?
Of course I'm shocked.
"Oi, what are you doing?"
"What's with that look on your face?"
"Do you hate the idea of eating breakfast with us that much?"
"It's a bit late to feel weird about it now."
"Ye heretic who knows not fear, thou who art heralded as Record Holder."
The four prums and the dark elf all chime in together.
This is wrong.
Something about this is terribly wrong.
The way they act as if it were totally natural that I would sit at the same table as them.
"Wh-where—!"
My shout echoes loudly in the hall.
The first-tier adventurers all turn to me. I'm on the verge of being overwhelmed by
the pressure as my voice almost cracks.
"…Where is this…?"
When I ask that question, a flurry of dubious stares home in on me.
The ones who answer are two of the prums… I think Alfrik and Dvalinn.
"Our home, obviously."
"What would you call this hallowed realm other than Folkvangr?"
Folkvangr…?
Then this really is Freya Familia's home?
I was kidnapped and taken away to another familia's base?
But… But still… even if I understand the situation now, I still can't get rid of the weird
feeling that's been plaguing me.
I feel a slight chill as I wrench my lips open, and questions pour out.
"Why was I taken away?
"Why did you attack me?
"Is Lyu safe?!"
Silence.
Quiet.
Hush.
Sound recedes from the hall. I'm the only one who's been shouting. The mood in the
room makes it feel like I'm the one who's losing his mind. Everyone is looking at me
weirdly.
"Thou art not a princess held hostage, nor is there any need to abduct you."
"Are you still half asleep, dumbass?"
Hegni and Allen rattle off their replies.
"And who is Lyu?"
"I think I heard somewhere once that's another word for dragon."
"A dragon? You friends with a monster or what?"
"Training aside, we haven't attacked you at all."
The three younger brothers cock their heads in confusion while the eldest brother
addresses my questions directly.
"Your doubts don't make any sense. What have you been talking about?"
And I can feel Master's piercing gaze again.
"You are a follower of Lady Freya and fell for her at first sight. That makes you a
member of Freya Familia."
Time stops.
My heart forgets to beat. It feels like everything's slipping away.
I don't understand what he's saying. Why would he say such an absurd joke?
"Wha… what are you talking about…? I-I'm part of Hestia Familia! I'm not Lady Freya's
follower!"
As I lose my nerve and shout reflexively, the mood changes in an instant once more.
"The hell'd you say?"
"That's an insult to Lady Freya… Is this an act of insubordination?"
Allen and one of the prums look ready to kill.
"No, wait. Something's off."
"As stupid as the rabbit is, he isn't fool enough to not pay our goddess the proper
respect."
Two more prums quickly speak in restraint.
"There is confusion in this one's eyes… a tyrant of the outer realms has visited. Signs
of upheaval gleam in the night sky."
"That almost seems comprehensible without making any sense at all. Translate,
Hedin."
"He is saying perhaps the boy's memories have been corrupted. He may be in a state
of confusion because of a powerful external shock."
Hegni, Alfrik, and Master are debating about my seemingly strange behavior. But
they're the ones openly saying absurd things, so why don't any of them doubt
themselves?
Why do they all think I'm the strange one?
What are you even saying?
What in the world is going on here?!
"I-I was picked up by my goddess, Lady Hestia! I haven't converted or anything!"
"Don't be absurd. Isn't Lady Freya the one who granted you your blessing when you
came to this city?"
I stop breathing after Alfrik answers my shout with a quick counterargument—the
only one who has ever granted Bell Cranell falna is Lady Freya. There is no trace of
fabrication or doubt in his eyes as he states it like an immutable truth. I feel like I might
keel over at any moment.
"Did you hit your head while training too much?"
"Or did some other familia cast a fearsome spell on you?"
"You're the one in charge of watching after him, right, Hedin? You have any idea?"
"As if I can keep an eye on this fool around the clock."
The younger prum brothers and Hedin are bickering as I subconsciously back away a
step. An alien fear rises from the pit of my stomach.
These people are scary!
"Call Heith. She should be in Babel right now. Get her to check if there are any
abnormalities." The moment that order is given to the stunned maids, I give in to the
terror overwhelming me and start running.
"!"
I can hear voices calling me back.
But who cares?
Ignore them. Don't listen.
They're first-tier adventurers. They can catch up and capture me in an instant if they
feel like it.
So I have to run. Run away fast and escape this nauseating place as soon as I can!
I sprint out of the hall in search of an exit. Rushing through the palatial home,
searching for the outside, I burst through the doors of the massive entry hall.
"Ngh…?!"
The first thing I see are warriors battling.
The top of the hill where the palace stands provides a commanding vantage point to
look across the field. In the sea of green where rings of flowers sway in the breeze,
there are dozens of adventurers clashing. The battle cries and weapons intertwine and
split the blue skies.
I've heard of this place. This… is where Freya Familia conducts death matches day and
night at their familia's home! Their grueling internal struggle, the process of pushing
themselves to ever greater heights in an attempt to earn the favor of their goddess.
It was one of the reasons why Freya Familia stood at the very top of the city to this day.
Gender, race, age—none of those things matter here. Everyone's blood flows freely,
their fighting spirit firm and unbowed as their blades meet again and again.
I'm overwhelmed by the sheer intensity and almost stop dead in my tracks.
What should I do?
I can't escape without reaching the walls surrounding the training field. Is there some
way to get out without being seen? No, it's impossible.
And there's no telling when Master or the others might catch up with me!
I sprint down the hill, hoping to force a breakthrough.
"Bell! Wandering out here so late! And unarmed to boot?! Are you looking down on
us?!"
"…?!"
As I cut through the field past where they are fighting, a half-prum pulls back from the
scrum to slash out at me. Wielding two blades, he calls out to me with the familiarity
of someone who knows me very well.
"Don't get ahead of yourself just 'cause you're Level Four now! I'll still go a few rounds
with you and leave you begging for mercy like old times!"
I just barely manage to evade his attack as I break out in a cold sweat.
It's terrifying to be treated so familiarly by someone I've never met before. Rather than
face him head-on, I almost take a tumble as I slip past.
I pump my legs as hard as I can and make a break for it.
All of a sudden, the other warriors clashing nearby notice me and charge with their
weapons in hand.
Fight!
Fight!
Fight Bell!
Feeling their eyes and rage focus on me, I shake my head, rejecting them even as they
call my name. "I don't know you! I don't know you at all!"
I launch myself forward and leap over the imposing gate, where guards stand at the
ready, clearing it in a single jump.
"Haggh, hagh, hagh…!"
I'm sprinting through the shopping district.
After breaking out of Freya Familia's home, I find myself in the south of the city.
It seems like the Goddess Festival ended without a hitch, and members of the Guild
are starting to help people clean up by carrying away the trolley carts packed full of
harvest goods and taking down the street stalls. Seeing the vibrant and bountiful
decorations disappearing evokes an emptiness befitting the end of a festival… but this
isn't the time to be dwelling on that.
I still haven't caught my breath after escaping from the top-tier adventurers. Because
I forced my way through, my clothes are torn here and there. I almost look like an
escaped convict.
My heart is still pounding, and I can't stop sweating. This slithering unease rising from
the pit of my stomach makes my skin crawl.
I want to reassure myself as soon as possible. I want to forget this disgusting feeling
as soon as I can.
That's why I'm running to find the goddess and everyone.
To my home…!
"Agh?!"
Rushing forward in a desperate attempt to escape this unease and anxiety, I don't look
where I'm going and end up ramming into a passerby on the street.
I stumble a bit but catch myself.
The sturdy person I ran into also managed to avoid getting knocked down. Before I
have a chance to frantically apologize, a very familiar voice raises a complaint.
"That hurt! Where're you lookin'?!"
Mord!
Seeing a familiar face, I feel an inexplicable wave of relief wash over me.
The gruff-looking veteran adventurer is glaring at me just like he always does—right
up until he recognizes me.
"R-Rabbit Foot?! From Freya Familia?!"
Fear seeps into his voice.
" "
I started to smile in relief, but my expression freezes in place. My cheek twitches
awkwardly.
Not noticing my internal chaos, Mord collapses into apologies.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't realize it was you!"
"Mord, money! Your money!"
"Give him whatever you have on you and convince him to forgive you!"
His usual companions, Scott and Gyle, fly into a panic as well.
The reason is simple.
They're scared of me—or rather, they're scared of drawing the ire of the city's
strongest familia!
"Y-you've got it wrong! I'm not Freya Familia!"
"Wh-what are you talking about?! I-I'm begging ya here, please forgive me!"
"It's not a matter of forgiveness or not! It's me, Mord! Don't you remember all the times
you beat me up? All those weird things you taught me? And all those times you helped
me?"
"I've never, ever done anything like that! Please don't try to pick a fight with me!"
When I see how they're looking at me like I'm a complete stranger, I start to lose it. I
step forward, grabbing Mord's stout shoulders, but no matter how much I plead,
everything I say is misunderstood. In fact, Mord is whimpering as if to say that I'm the
one who is misunderstanding things.
I can see in his eyes that he is well and truly terrified of me, a human significantly
smaller than him. He's barely holding himself together.
"Please forgive us!"
Gyle and Scott are doing their best to stop me while clearly getting more and more
unnerved.
The people around us start to notice, and my position is getting more and more
questionable.
"What are you doing?!"
As I stand there petrified like someone who wandered into the wrong neighborhood,
a voice suddenly reaches my ears.
A single half-elf coming over to us.
I don't how to react.
"We're in the middle of cleaning up after the festival! What exactly is going on here?!"
She's wearing a suit with black pants. Her glasses sit atop the familiar wellproportioned face, just like always. She steps away from the rest of her coworkers with
a dignified air. She is the very model of an earnest Guild employee as she attempts to
do her duty and bravely mediate the adventurer street dispute.
"Miss Eina!"
I shout her name.
If it really is her, then…
Miss Eina, who has watched over me from the moment I became an adventurer…
Surely she of all people wouldn't believe the crazy idea that I'm part of Freya Familia!
Her emerald eyes widen when I call out to her, and she flashes an awkward smile that
instantly puts my heart at ease as she replies with a question.
"Pardon, but have we met somewhere before?"
Crack.
This time there's no mistaking it.
I can almost hear the weak sound of something giving out, like glass cracking. My
world has been turned upside down. My eyes can't see clearly anymore.
Everything and everyone around me is twisting and turning.
"...Y-you… don't know me…?"
"Of course I do! There's no one in this city who doesn't know the name of the record
holder. It's just… I was surprised you knew my name."
She smiles.
There's no mistake. This is Miss Eina.
That's the same smile I know so well. But she's saying that she does not know me.
"…Mord and them, were messing with me… even though I'm a member of Hestia
Familia, they…"
"…? I was not aware that you had converted, Mr. Cranell."
She doesn't call me Bell.
No, it must be because we're out in public. She's just maintaining her professionalism
as a member of the Guild.
That's all.
That has to be it…
"…You are my adviser, right?"
"Eh?! How could I possibly advise you?! In fact, Freya Familia makes a point of not
using the adviser system…"
She denies it.
It's a total rejection of what I know.
And she's sure we've never met before.
"M-Mr. Cranell…? Is something the matter…?"
Mord and his friends catch their breath after I let him go. The people around us,
including Miss Eina, are all looking concerned as I turn pale.
I don't understand.
Why is my voice trembling?
Where am I?
What is this terrifying dungeon I've somehow stumbled into?
I don't know. I don't understand anything.
"... Wh… who am I?"
My mouth goes dry.
Like diving off the cliff, or stepping up to the noose, or casting aside my weapons in
the face of an unbeatable monster, I finally ask the question that I've been avoiding
this whole time.
Miss Eina has a confused look on her face as she replies like it's obvious.
"You are Mr. Bell Cranell of Freya Familia."
It feels like I just slammed into the canyon floor after taking a leap of faith.
"You received the blessing of Goddess Freya and achieved the world's fastest level-up,
demonstrating your heroic potential to all."
The rope tightens around my neck. I stop breathing.
"As you stand on the verge of entering the ranks of the first-tier adventurers after half
a year, no one would deny that you have earned the title of einherjar."
Fearsome fangs and claws tear into my body, consuming every bit of me.
—And just like that, Bell Cranell came to a stop.
Who am I?
Where am I?
When am I? What happened? And why am I so cold?
Even with so many eyes watching, there isn't a single person who knows me.
Not even the woman standing right here who's always helped and supported me like
an older sister.
The sacred flame covering my back crackles, burning in solitude.
"Well?" Alfrik asked inside the great hall Sessru mnir, located deep within Freya
Familia's home, which Bell Cranell had recently fled.
Allen was tracking the boy, keeping him under observation. Alfrik and his brothers
were sitting in their chairs, looking across the table at the white elf.
"…It's proceeding more or less according to the goddess's divine will," Hedin
announced as he adjusted his glasses. "Aside from that foolish rabbit, every person
and deity has been charmed and had their memories altered."
The three younger prums concealed a shudder at his emotionless response.
"Scary."
"Yes, truly terrifying."
"She is our goddess, but it's dreadful still."
And then they spoke in unison.
"""Because she could not twist Bell Cranell, she twisted the entire world instead."""
That was the whole of it.
That was the source of what was isolating the boy, and the true form of the aggression
that Freya had carried out.
"It's understandable that Bell Cranell would be confused."
"The entire last six months have effectively been erased."
"Hestia Familia's Bell has been erased from the memories of the populace and
replaced with a version of him that is a member of our familia."
That was the dominion of beauty, the culmination of its power. At times, it
manipulated, at times it led to destruction, and at times it puppeted the enthralled.
Beauty alone could transform the entire mortal realm even without resorting to using
arcanum. It could even grasp people's very souls.
Extreme beauty was said to be a thing that could bewitch with its mere presence.
"More precisely, it's not so much altering memories as using charm to wish those
memories into being. 'Don't acknowledge the human who was a follower of Goddess
Hestia,' 'believe that Bell Cranell has always a member of Freya Familia'…the people
and deities who have been enslaved by Lady Freya are merely following those orders."
Alfrik shuddered as well as he corrected his brothers.
The charm of the goddess of beauty did not have the power to transform people, let
alone the world. However, it could create loyal servants out of all those who had been
enthralled.
Mortals and deities alike were deceiving not only Bell, but themselves as well in strict
obedience to Freya's royal decree.
It was essentially a form of autosuggestion.
But while the logic and process were different, the results were the same.
It was very much like every resident of Orario had their memories altered.
"Those friends with whom he shared joy and sorrow, those benefactors who had
supported him from the shadows… they have all forgotten those eternal bonds and
killed the boy who resides in their memories."
Hegni, the only one standing, closed his eyes as he murmured.
"The hare has fallen into a wondrous land… a lonely world where no matter how far
he might run, no one will come looking for him."
"Ghhh?!"
Bell sprinted away from Eina and the group that had gathered around him.
Unable to face the reality before him, he gave in to a primal fear and was consumed by
panic. He surrendered himself to the impulse to find someone, anyone, who knew him.
However…
"Look, isn't that Freya Familia's—"
"It's Rabbit Foot!"
On every street, corner, avenue, and alleyway… the mood of the bustling city was
distant and cold.
"Ghh…?!"
Whispers rippled through the crowd, like echoes in a forest.
Bell recognized the feeling.
He was now the focus of the same sort of attention that the masses often placed on the
Sword Princess, the flower that bloomed so far out of reach. It was not remotely the
sort of gaze that the Little Rookie had ever experienced before no matter how popular
he got.
It wasn't simply fear. Envy and excitement were also present.
The word for it was awe. The sort of unexaggerated awe that came with being one of
the strongest followers.
No it's not!
I'm just imagining things!
Screaming back at himself, Bell averted his eyes from the pedestrians, shopkeeps, and
even adventurers who opened the way for him as he ran.
"Bell Cranell's fate was decided from the moment Lady Freya decided to use her
charm."
Alfrik's voice filled the Sessru mnir.
On the final day of the Goddess Festival—yesterday—Freya felled Orario with her
beauty.
"Her charm extended to all of Orario."
Every person in Central Park who saw her, every person who heard her voice via the
magic-stone speakers—they were all charmed. Those who were asleep or
unconscious were not spared. The voice of the goddess of beauty could slip into their
bodies and shake them to their core whether they were conscious or not.
The vast majority of people did not even realize they had been enslaved by beauty and
were going about their lives none the wiser.
"I'm sure this must be a nightmare for him."
"The entire world changed around him in the span of a single night."
"It would be fair to feel just a little bit of pity for him."
Dvalinn, Berling, and Grer spoke in the same voice.
"""After all, he doesn't know a thing, so there's no way to find out the truth or even
begin to understand what's going on around him."""
"Why… why?!"
As expected, Bell could not control the bewilderment and unease eating away at him
as he kept running.
A mere mortal incapable of fully understanding a deity could not begin to imagine a
goddess bending the entire world to her will, transforming a whole city without even
using arcanum.
Bell Cranell possessed an unblemished soul, but no matter how pure he was or how
much he strove to grow, he would never be able to plumb the depths of a deity.
"Ah, Bell. What are you doing in a place like this?"
"Eh…? Wh-who?"
The person who finally managed to stop Bell was an unfamiliar, beautiful woman. Her
hair was a faint red, and she was wearing a white outfit that resembled battle gear in
design. Confused, Bell realized who she was.
"Who…? It's me, Heith. You know, the healer who always heals those injuries you're
always getting. I'm out on an errand at the moment."
There was a valkyrie emblem embroidered on the shoulder of her white outfit.
Freya Familia.
He turned pale, and her beautiful face took on an almost doll-like appearance in his
eyes.
"I bought some sweets while I was out. Would you like one?… Wait, you're not a fan of
sweets, right? I should have bought something salty, too."
Someone he did not know at all knew intimate details about him.
The terror that came with that realization far surpassed what he had felt earlier.
"Ugh, ahh…?!"
He involuntarily backed away and started running again.
The woman watched without emotion as the boy ran away from her.
"The power of charm that can overpower even other deities… We were prepared to
fall under her charm as well, but…"
"More precisely, we were charmed. And then it was undone, thanks to Lady Freya's
ichor that resides within us."
Freya's charm was almost entirely indiscriminate.
Any who beheld her or heard her voice would fall under its sway. There was no method
for limiting the effect or choosing not to target certain people.
That was why before they attacked Hestia Familia, when they heard Freya's divine will,
all of her followers had accepted their fate. They had demonstrated their loyalty and
would not begrudge being twisted to her will if that was what their mistress so
desired.
However, right now, the members of Freya Familia were able to recall information
from before the change.
Hedin attempted to explain the process to Alfrik, asserting that their goddess must
have activated her ichor, releasing them from her thrall using her divine power.
"But thanks to that, we can share in the setting our lady desires, so that's convenient,"
Dvalinn mused.
They had been charmed, had the setting Freya devised input into their memories, and
were subsequently returned to their senses. Because of that, Freya Familia was
perfectly capable of performing the role that Freya demanded. They could all act as if
Bell Cranell were always one of them without having to expend any energy getting their
stories straight.
"'Bell Cranell came to Orario half a year ago.'"
"'There he was picked out by Lady Freya, quickly grew in strength, and has currently
reached Level Four.'"
"'And both inside and outside our faction, Rabbit Foot has been the subject of
speculation that he is under consideration to become one of the core members of
Freya Familia.'"
That was the current story in Orario and the ordeal assailing Bell Cranell on all sides.
The young adventurer would be unable to confirm anything as he was tossed about
by the world around him.
"Ghh… Lord Miach! Nahza! Daphne! Cassandra!"
In his rambling dash, he encountered the precious comrades with whom he had fought
alongside many times. A certain healer god was out with his whole familia to assist
with the cleanup now that the festival was over.
"Mhm? If I recall, you are…"
"Freya Familia, Lord Miach… Also known as the record holder, this is Little Rookie…
no, it's Rabbit Foot now, isn't it…?"
"What business does a candidate for the top tier of the city's most powerful familia
have with us?"
"—?!"
Miach cocked his head as if it were their first meeting.
Nahza looked at him the way she would at a stranger.
Daphne did not hide her wariness.
Bell had been battered by despair, leaving his whole body twitching as he set off at a
run once again. In his rush to get away, he never noticed Cassandra, who turned pale
and went speechless, as if seeing an impossible dream come true.
"Lord Takemikazuchi! Ouka! Chigusa!"
It wasn't long before he found the war god and his familia intervening in an argument
between the members of two familias. Bell ran over to them and frantically grabbing
Chigusa's shoulders.
"Eep?!"
"What are you doing?! Get away from Chigusa!"
"…One of Freya's children? You seem to be behaving rather familiar. Have we met
somewhere before?"
"…?!"
Chigusa recoiled from him.
Ouka swatted his hands away irately.
Takemikazuchi looked at him dubiously, observing him carefully, clearly on guard.
Even here Bell tasted despair.
He was gasping for air, and his heart was racing.
No one.
Not a single person knew the Bell Cranell who was part of Hestia Familia.
The reality was that even deities, supernatural beings, did not remember him.
The seed of doubt that he, a mere mortal, might be the one who was wrong began to
sprout, cornering him even further.
Despite being a mortal, Bell alone had managed to resist the authority of Freya's
charm, and because he maintained his normalcy, he was branded a heretic in a world
that had gone mad.
"This the first time I've seen the true power of her charm."
"Lady Freya had always hidden such great power, never using it."
"Naturally. It's a deformation of the world, the same desecration of the mortal realm
that the sublime empress so despises."
Hegni firmly answered the younger prum brothers' comments.
Freya Familia could easily crush ten thousand armies on the field.
However, their Goddess Freya could bring those same armies under her control
without ever fighting them.
She could quite literally end everything if she was of a mind to do so.
Steal a throne, construct a paradise, rule over the whole of the mortal realm.
Everywhere her gaze or voice could reach, that was her domain.
The force of her charm could even ensnare her fellow deities, and it truly frightened
them.
—A world-commanding witch beyond any beauty who ever brought a country to its
knees.
That was the true form of Freya, the goddess of beauty.
However, despite possessing absolute power, Freya did not attempt to trample the
world beneath her in order to amuse herself, but more than anything, out of a respect
for the mortal realm.
She understood that her dominion was hollower and more boring than anything.
What value was there in things that were gained through no effort? And just how much
emptiness was that worth?
A charmed world that merely moved as she wished was a dead world.
That was why Freya had never attempted to bind the mortal realm to her will before.
It was taboo for her.
"…However, she broke that prohibition. That is simply how much she desired that
fool… Bell Cranell."
There was a certain piece of information that she had received from a former follower
of her fellow goddess of beauty Ishtar.
"Charm does not work on Bell Cranell."
He was unmoved by Syr, nor would he submit to the love of the goddess. Because of
that, instead of changing him, Freya changed everything around him.
She twisted the world to isolate him.
In order to claim him. To make him hers in both body and mind.
The Sessru mnir fell silent at Hedin's words.
The predominant feeling in most of the warriors' eyes was jealousy. The rest displayed
only unwavering loyalty.
The elves were silent, eyes closed as the four prums responded in unison.
""""All shall be as the goddess wills it.""""
"Goddess! Everyone!"
The boy finally met Hestia Familia for the second time.
"Nghh!"
Bell!
The moment he appeared before her, Hestia, who remembered everything, wanted to
shout to him.
Hestia Familia was walking along the spiderweb of streets that branched off from the
main road in the southwest part of the city.
Lilly, Welf, Mikoto, Haruhime, and Hestia were helping out with the cleanup after the
Goddess Festival, just like so many others—or rather Hestia was using that as a cover
to investigate how the world had been rewritten, and she was falling deeper into
despair the more she learned.
That was when Bell appeared before them.
As if drawn to each other, like two lonely sparks of sacred flame, they succeeded in the
worst possible chance meeting.
"White hair, red eyes… Freya Familia's rookie star?"
"Wh-what does the city's strongest familia want with our tiny one?!"
Welf looked suspicious, and Lilly's voice betrayed her agitation as she responded
cautiously. Bell looked pained, as if a spear had just been thrust through his heart.
Hestia also felt a sharp pain in her heart, as if she had been cut by a sword.
Bell's red eyes wavered, as if crying unseen tears while desperately searching for his
place in the world. All he wanted was to return to the family that now looked at him
like an enemy.
"E… every… one…"
Ahhh, I have to rush over to him.
I have to hug him close.
He's trembling like a lamb.
This must hurt him so much!
But—she could not.
"L-Lilly…! You remember when you became my supporter, right…?"
"Lilly would never have become your supporter!"
The prum girl rejected him, not understanding what he was saying at all.
The boy's heart was grievously wounded by the words of his first comrade, the partner
with whom he had first formed a party.
"Welf! You made weapons for me…!"
"Sorry to say, I don't recall ever taking a request from you. And I doubt you've ever
held something I've made."
The blacksmith pushed back coldly as if being sold a bill of fake goods.
The boy instinctively looked down at his body, but he did not have any of Welf's
equipment on him.
"Mikoto! During the war game… when you helped me…!"
"…I don't remember Freya Familia ever having a war game…"
The rigidly dutiful Far Eastern girl expressed bewilderment, certain that there was no
reason she would have ever interacted with him.
Even though he had helped her save her old friend standing beside her, her bluishpurple eyes didn't contain even a trace of recognition.
"Haruhime…! All the times we talked about heroic epics…!"
"P-perhaps we met in the pleasure quarter…? However, I'm no longer a prostitute…"
The renart girl was clearly scared.
Possibly because of the pain and repressed memories of her time as a prostitute, she
trembled and hid behind Mikoto, scared of a man she was meeting for the first time.
With every word and action, they were badly hurting Bell.
Hestia wanted to vomit.
Her familia was hurting that precious boy so terribly.
She felt like she might slump to the ground and scream until her voice gave out.
Stop already!
Please stop!
Please don't hurt that boy any further!
Hestia desperately wanted to cry out.
But even so—she could do nothing.
"Ghh…!"
Her eyes alone beheld two shadows.
Perched atop a nearby building and positioned in a dark alley to the side respectively,
the boaz warrior and the cat person who was violence incarnate were even now
watching Hestia.
—Hestia was in the exact same situation as Bell.
She alone had not fallen to Freya's charm.
She, one of the three vestal goddesses of the heavens. As a deity of purity and chastity,
like Athena and Artemis, she had the power to reject the goddess of beauty's control.
The reason that Hermes could so confidently state that she alone could resist in the
moments before Freya subjugated the city was because she was the virgin goddess
Hestia. With great exertion, she was capable of neutralizing the power of Freya's
charm.
And because of that, she was being watched.
They're watching… no, they're telling me! If I try to reveal anything to Bell, they're going
to kill everyone…!
The city's strongest and fastest adventurers were revealing their presence in a way
that only Hestia would notice.
The former had been watching Hestia all morning, and the latter had been tailing Bell
since he left Freya Familia's home.
Their cool, placid eyes were a warning and a message. If Hestia broke her promise
with Freya, they would kill Welf, Lilly, Mikoto, and Haruhime without hesitation.
Allen was especially dangerous.
While he had sworn loyalty to Freya, he clearly had no patience for the farce he was
being forced to endure. Even if killing Hestia Familia broke Bell and guaranteed that
his soul would never truly become Freya's, that was no skin off his back.
Hestia wasn't allowed any contact or communication with Bell, public or otherwise.
Until Bell's conversion or until his heart willingly turned to Freya, she would always
be under watch.
"...…"
She desperately wanted to walk over to Bell and hug him, but she could not allow him
to realize that. Hestia stared at Bell, who was deep in his own struggle.
He looked like he was on the verge of losing what little strength he had left. No matter
how much he asked or how much he pleaded, everyone would reject him. The very act
of reaching out would only harm him further, and his mind was already near collapse.
There was not even a shadow of the powerful and reliable Level 4 adventurer left.
His fight with the minotaur, the deadly struggle on the eighteenth floor, the war game,
the conflict with Ishtar Familia, the Xenos incident, and the excursion to the deep
levels—he could never have overcome all those adventurers, trials, and tribulations
by himself.
Bell Cranell had overcome them with the help of his comrades.
Even now, everyone spoke of how miraculous Bell's growth had been and heaped
praise on him for his accomplishments.
But that was all wrong.
One look past the adventurer facade, Bell was still just a fourteen-year-old boy—a
human like any other. And Hestia was the only one who understood that.
He could be hurt and confused when he had no one to turn to. Abandoned and alone,
he would become truly vulnerable.
Bell was terribly scared of losing the people in his life after having been separated
from his grandfather. The reason Bell had stood back up no matter how much he
suffered was because of the support of so many irreplaceable people.
Because of all the people he had met along the way.
And having those same connections rejected at such a fundamental level without
explanation was making Bell emotionally unstable.
"…Goddess…"
There was only one place left for him to turn to in the end.
His red eyes were looking at her.
He was pinning his final hope on Hestia. His gaze seemed so fragile, so weak, that it
might shatter if anyone so much as breathed on him.
Her hands were trembling, hidden behind Welf and the others.
Everything inside her withered, like a bone-dry desert.
The five members of Hestia Familia clustered together and stood apart from the boy
wearing battle gear—Freya Familia's uniform, leaving a deep and impassable line
between them.
"…Let's go… everyone…"
What expression was she making right now?
Had she managed to erase her emotions, successfully hiding her feelings from Bell and
wounding him even more in the process?
"You shouldn't get involved with Freya Familia…"
Had her performance been enough to satisfy Freya's followers?
"Ahhh—"
Thud.
She could hear the sound as the boy slumped to his knees as if the last few threads
holding him up had finally snapped.
But Hestia failed to notice as she was already walking away.
She was too focused on making sure her mask did not slip as Lilly and the others
followed, obeying their patron goddess's will.
"Goddess… Goddeeeeess!"
The boy's sobbing voice pierced her. Haruhime and the others turned back in shock,
but Hestia did not dare.
Her trembling fists were drenched in sweat.
No—what she assumed to be sweat was blood. Her nails had broken the skin. She did
not know how long she had been bleeding, but she did not care.
Hestia believed she had no right to cry.
As a feeling of disgust welled up within her, the goddess of the hearth had turned away
the hand of a supplicant for the first time ever.
She had rejected the hand of the child she loved more than any other.
I don't remember anything that happened after that.
Barely conscious, almost like a mindless puppet, I only just realize I've been brought
back to Freya Familia's home at some point. The only thing the vague jumble of
memories can tell me is that Allen took me by the hand.
I'm filled with this emptiness I don't know how to describe. It's like… a hole opened
up in my heart. By the order of Master and the others, I get my body checked.
"This is a curse."
That's the first thing I'm told after a long examination.
"…A curse…?"
"That's right. You've been implanted with false information and are experiencing a
sort of confusion."
I'm sitting in the chair I was put down into as the healer explains her diagnosis.
I can barely squeeze out a hoarse voice, my head still not really moving.
My body goes cold… and unease numbs my limbs, like a warmth spreading through
my body.
"Wait… Wait a second… that's…"
I can't accept it.
Of course I can't.
No one would be able to just nod their head and quietly agree if someone told them
that all of their memories were fake and that they had forgotten their real self.
There's no way I'm a member of Freya Familia…!
"Considering you are cursed, it might be a little harsh to say this, but… it would be for
the best if you accept reality sooner rather than later. I'm sure you experienced some
painful interactions with a lot of people, right?"
"Th-that's…"
"There are many examples of curses that disrupt and disturb memories. And without
some specific ability, there is no guarding against curses."
I can't respond.
There's nothing to say.
The healer is closing off every escape route I might have in a kind and gentle voice, but
she's right. No one knew me.
No matter how much I tried to assure myself that what I know is real, everyone I met
rejected me.
And if the world has decided to deny me, then even if I actually am right, I would still
be wrong. If everyone in the world agrees, then white is black, light is dark, and sanity
is madness.
I can't breathe. My chest hurts.
The healer's red hair shifts as she shrugs kindly.
"All that being said, having false memories of someone else implanted in you is
particularly cruel. Where did you get such a nasty curse?"
Curse…? Is that really what this is…?
My memory, my time with my goddess, all the people I had met… that was all a lie?
I can hear a limp sound of something slumping over as the world in front of me grows
dark.
No, it's not the world. It's my vision.
My eyes.
My heart.
"For the moment, we have to report this to Lady Freya."
"Yes, we must uncover whatever villain would make a fool of our familia and make an
example of them."
"Where is Lady Freya?"
"Babel, I'm sure. With the boar."
We are in an infirmary room like the reception hall of a castle. Along with me and the
healer are all the first-tier adventurers of Freya Familia from this morning.
Master, Hegni, Allen, and the Gulliver brothers.
While I'm losing my mind, the prum brothers are talking with each other. Their gaze
turns to the healer.
"Heith, hurry up and fix it."
"If it's a curse, then breaking it is a healer's job, right?"
"Please don't be so unreasonable. My specialty is treating wounds. Curses are well
outside my wheelhouse… And I doubt this curse can be broken by your average healer.
I don't know if even Dian Cecht Familia would be able to handle it."
The healer, Heith, answers with a grudging shake of her head.
Their conversation almost seems like it was planned out in advance, but there aren't
any inconsistencies. It doesn't look like an act, and it doesn't feel like a lie, either.
If anything, it's almost like they had shared their memories before this conversation
currently taking place around me.
"Dian Cecht Familia… Dea Saint, huh."
"I don't like the idea of owing an outsider any favors, but there's no other way."
"I don't like the idea of going to that much trouble for a rabbit that screwed the pooch,
but there's no other way."
"And he's Lady Freya's favorite."
""""Argh, who asked you?""""
These people are saying whatever they want about me, but I can't respond. I still want
to reject the reality in front of me with every fiber of my being.
Master and Hegni are watching me silently, while Allen looks like he might snort in
annoyance at any moment.
Finally, the healer… Heith reaches her hand out to me.
"It's my responsibility if I can't heal you, so I'll be the one to go make the request. We'll
get Dea Saint to examine you and pray she can break the curse."
I stare at her hand reaching out to take mine.
…If it's broken, then what?
I absolutely don't want to believe it, but if, hypothetically, I really am cursed right
now… would I forget everything if the curse was broken?
Goddess, Miss Eina, Lord Miach, Nahza, Aiz, Syr, Lyu, Mia Ahnya Chloe Runoa Lilly Lady
Demeter Lady Hephaistos Welf Tiona Tione Bete Finn Riveria Gareth Mikoto Ouka
Chigusa Lord Hermes Asfi Lefiya Mord Gyle Scott Bors Lord Takemikazuchi Lady Loki
Daphne Cassandra Haruhime Aisha Ruvis Dormul Rai Fina Ruu Mother Maria Winne
everyone everyone everyone!
If I found out that everyone I've ever known and everything we've done together is all
fake… if that was all a lie, then…?!
No.
No!
NO!
Before I realize it, I leap out of the chair, swatting away her outstretched hand.
"Oww…"
"Ah… I-I'm so… sorry…"
I reject her, out of fear of getting my real memories back—no, out of fear of losing my
memories.
I'm sure that's how it looks to Alfrik and everyone else around me.
Heith, who is looking at me carefully as I stand there petrified, finally sighs.
"This is a serious case."
The corridors of the home really are elegant and ostentatious, just like a royal palace.
From the windows that rise taller than I stand to the pillars embedded with rich
statues and a beautiful inner courtyard that looks like it might've actually been cut out
of the heavens, the interior design is based on a grand and magnificent white color. It's
almost like I'm wandering through a dream I can't wake up from.
After leaving the infirmary, I'm walking down empty halls, unable to speak, and my
expression still lifeless.
"This is your room."
"...…"
"Stay here until Lady Freya returns."
Master stops at the door and turns to look at me.
My room is the same room that I had woken up in earlier.
I have no choice but to go into the room he led me to. I don't have anywhere else to go.
Even if I went back to Hearthstone Manor, no one would welcome me in.
No… the real reason is actually…
This isn't your home.
Get out!
I'm scared of being told that.
I wouldn't be able to stand back up again if I heard that.
"…Master…"
I look up, pleading for some sort of support from the elf.
But he does not say anything to me.
His coral eyes looking at me through his glasses seem to be saying "I have nothing to
say to you if you've lost your memories."
My head hangs weakly as I look at the ground, walk past Master, and enter the room.
"...…"
There is nothing missing. It's the sort of room that might be expected for a member of
the city's largest faction.
The room's interior is spacious, of course, the ceiling unnecessarily high, and it's hard
to even imagine what might be missing among the furnishings. To have a room like
this after being a member of such a small and insignificant familia… there is no way I
can relax. The picture inside an extravagant frame on the dresser contains only me.
But at the same time, I notice something.
I felt it when I woke up this morning, that the room has a lived-in feeling to it. There
are traces of someone living here.
It's fairly well kept, though not perfectly tidy.
There are items retrieved from the Dungeon displayed with pride on a shelf.
Several heroic epics that I told someone I loved.
There are all sorts of clues strewn about, as if a copy of me lived here once.
Is this really where Bell Cranell lived…?
"Ugh…!"
I stagger and press both of my hands to my mouth, fighting back a wave of nausea.
After retreating a few steps, I look up, greeted by the figure of an adventurer in Freya
Familia's uniform reflecting back at me from the mirror on the wall.
"Ghh…"
I'm deathly pale, and my lips are twitching as I turn to the closet.
Grabbing the doorknob, I slowly open the door.
"…My gear?"
There are clothes stored there along with several pieces of equipment.
A knife, a baselard, a shortsword, and a greatsword.
For protection, there are light armor, gauntlets, greaves, and various spirit cloths.
…All the sorts of gear that I've used.