If Bell had been a girl, what would the future have looked like?
In Alfia's mind, an image gradually formed—herself leading a little white-haired girl by the hand.
If nothing unexpected happened, it would probably be something like the two people in front of her, right?
Holding hands, chatting and laughing together.
But...
There was nothing to envy about that. Alfia had already held Bell's hand long ago.
In fact, at night, she would even treat that shy little rabbit like a pillow, pressing him against her chest and kneading him until he couldn't sleep for several nights in a row.
Although Zeus would shout from the side, "I want to sleep with Bell too!" and other nonsense, there was no way Alfia would indulge that lecherous old man.
"Gospel!"
Along with Alfia's cold voice, Zeus was instantly slammed into the wall, embedded there until he fainted, only to be pulled out the next morning by Zald.
"But no matter what, Bell is still a boy. Sooner or later, he'll reach that age..."
She had to properly educate him while he was still young!
He absolutely couldn't be turned into something like the rest of that Familia by Zeus!
"It's getting late. I should head to the church."
With that, Alfia turned to leave, but the commotion behind her forced her to stop.
"Hey, Elise, opening the shop again today?"
"Yeah, and you even brought little Ais along. The more I look at you two, the more you seem like mother and daughter!"
"But there probably won't be many customers today, right? Most adventurers in Orario already have Stigmata. Elise-chan, that's kind of pitiful."
"What are you talking about? Even if she doesn't have many customers now, when she does get one, she earns big! It's the kind of business where you stay closed for half a year and then make enough to last another half year!"
"Is that so? That's impressive!"
The surrounding crowd chattered endlessly, not holding back at all when talking about the girl.
Even if Alfia didn't want to pay attention, she couldn't ignore it anymore—because she had heard the name she came to Orario for.
Elise!
So it was her?
And the one beside her wasn't her daughter?
Her tightly closed eyes opened slightly as she carefully observed Elise in the distance.
From her appearance alone, she was indeed excellent—well-proportioned features, an outstanding temperament, and an indescribable charm.
If Bell were to find a woman in the future, she would have to be someone as outstanding as himself.
This one seems quite suitable...
No... better forget it.
Just as Alfia had begun to think well of Elise, she suddenly remembered Bell's situation...
Bell was only... a little over six years old, wasn't he?
But Elise was said to be fifteen... or was it sixteen? Alfia hadn't paid attention to such details.
Normally, a bit of an age gap between a couple was nothing unusual—but a difference of ten years was a bit too much, wasn't it?
But someone like Elise probably wouldn't appear a second time...
That left Alfia quite conflicted.
"Forget it. I should go to the church first."
"After I pay respects to Meteria, I'll come back and see whether she has the qualifications."
With that, Alfia left only her back to the crowd, quickly disappearing into the sea of people.
At that very moment, Elise noticed the departing figure, a hint of surprise appearing on her face.
"Elise, what's wrong?"
Sensing the change in the person beside her, Ais immediately grew alert, glancing left and right, but found nothing.
"It's nothing. I just noticed a very dangerous person."
In Orario, hair colors like silver or white were actually quite rare.
Even in the original story, there weren't many. The most representative example was the rabbit family.
Just now, Elise had clearly seen that the woman leaving had silver-gray hair, along with tightly closed eyes and a fleeting glimpse of heterochromatic pupils.
There was no doubt—she was Bell's aunt from the original story!
But that also raised a new problem. Right now... it wasn't supposed to be the time of the Seven Days of Death yet, was it? Why had Alfia come to Orario ahead of time? Could it be that Erebus was preparing to advance the Absolute Evil plan?
Or was it that... he had set his sights on me?
In the original story, the one targeted by Erebus was Ryuu. Disguised as Erlen, he questioned her.
What is justice?
Ryuu's answer was: acts of good done without expecting reward, an unshakable and unique value no matter the circumstances, and... to slay evil people and punish evil deeds.
So Erebus chose to use great evil to oppose the kind of justice Ryuu described.
In a sense, the occurrence of the Seven Days of Death was directly tied to Ryuu!
But just now... Alfia had been observing me?
In other words, the target had changed to me?
If that assumption was true, then it wouldn't be long before Elise encountered Erebus.
This really is...
"So the trouble's already starting again so soon..."
"Honestly, at a time like this, they still won't let me have any peace..."
...
Inside a room in the Guild, a black-haired male god had already taken a seat, waiting for a certain goddess to arrive.
"You're a rare guest. I didn't expect you to come looking for me..."
"Erebus!"
The moment the door opened, an exquisitely beautiful goddess appeared before him.
Unlike certain male gods with peculiar tastes, Erebus wasn't like Hermes or Zeus, who would pounce on any woman they saw.
In the game's Seven Days of Death, when he disguised himself as Erlen, it was probably to avoid exposing himself, so he imitated Hermes and said those rather distasteful lines.
Overall, Erebus was still a relatively proper god and wouldn't do anything that outrageous...
"Well, well... looks like those certain people were absolutely right. You're completely different from how you were in Heaven, Astraea!"
Upon seeing who had arrived, Erebus revealed a gentle smile, followed by a knowing, mischievous grin.
"You've become more feminine... and even more charming. If you had been like this from the start, I would've fallen at your feet immediately."
"No—even if you only became like this now, it's not too late. So... will you accept me, beautiful goddess?"
Not only that, Erebus even dropped to one knee, somehow producing a bouquet of flowers and offering it to Astraea.
Alright, I take that back.
The reason he seemed so proper back then was probably just because he wanted to become Absolute Evil, so he deliberately put on that act.
"You can do whatever you want, Erebus."
Faced with the man whose behavior was strikingly similar to Hermes, Astraea did not reject him outright. Instead, she smiled and drew a longsword from behind her back.
"You just need to lower your head a bit... and when you scream later, make sure you scream louder."
As she spoke, Astraea had already raised the sword above her head.
"Wait!"
"Why are you pulling out a sword, Astraea?!"
"I haven't done anything heinous!"
This scene frightened Erebus so much that he hurriedly retreated.
Are you kidding me?
I came here to negotiate with you. Look how sincere I am—I didn't even bring any attendants and came alone.
But what about you? You actually brought a sword?
And judging from the power emanating from it, that thing could probably kill a god!
"Hey, hey! You're not seriously trying to kill me, are you?"
Erebus shrank into the corner, terrified. With his divine power sealed, a god's physical strength was no different from that of an ordinary person.
The main door was blocked by Astraea, and there was no way he could break through the walls. If Astraea really wanted to kill him, there was no escaping.
Damn it!
This must be Ouranos' decision, right?
Trying to use Astraea's hands to eliminate me, the god of the underworld?
"Don't do this, Astraea! I really haven't done anything unforgivable! I'm truly thinking for the sake of the children of the lower world!"
Looking at Erebus acting so pitiful and weak, Astraea couldn't help but sigh.
"This is just punishment for you teasing me earlier. I only brought this sword for self-defense. I have no intention of killing you."
"Just like you said earlier, you've changed a lot as well, Erebus."
Back in Heaven, Astraea had been famously wild. Now, she had become a refined and elegant beauty.
Erebus, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of how he used to be—now a timid flirt. If others hadn't seen it with their own eyes, many gods would have believed the original Erebus might destroy the lower world.
"The current you feels more like Hermes and the others..."
"Haha, it can't be helped, right? The lower world has so many interesting things. If they were gone, I'd be very sad."
"In that case, we can officially begin negotiations!"
Astraea sheathed her sword and sat down across from Erebus. He also returned to his earlier serious demeanor.
"So, what business does the god of the underworld have with me?"
Judging from his divine authority, it was difficult to imagine what Erebus intended to do.
"I'm here to realize justice, Astraea!"
"You know about the Black Dragon, don't you?"
The Black Dragon...
The moment those words were spoken, Astraea's eyes instantly sharpened, and her gaze toward Erebus was no longer friendly.
"Of course."
"It's one of the Three Great Quests for adventurers. But unlike Behemoth and Leviathan, which were already defeated by Zeus and Hera, the Black Dragon destroyed Orario's twin pillars at that time..."
Many gods were aware of how terrifying the Black Dragon was. Even Level 8 and Level 9 adventurers had fallen before it.
"What do you mean by bringing up the Black Dragon? Have you found its location?"
Such information could not be taken lightly. In Astraea's eyes, her Familia had already reached the peak of Orario, and in the future, they would inevitably face such a monstrous enemy.
Although she had confidence in Elise, she did not dare underestimate the Black Dragon. Gaining more information to increase Elise's chances of victory was something she had to do.
"The Black Dragon is currently unable to escape from its valley due to being sealed. But Astraea, you should understand that any seal will loosen one day."
"And that day won't be far off..."
Erebus' face was filled with seriousness, and the surrounding atmosphere instantly grew tense.
"So what do you intend to do?"
Astraea stared at Erebus. If he dared to suggest helping the Black Dragon escape, she would kill him on the spot.
"Don't misunderstand, Astraea."
Erebus raised his hands in surrender before continuing, "I have no intention of helping the Black Dragon escape. I'm here to help you—to help Orario's adventurers!"
"Originally, I planned to conduct a grand trial for all Familias in Orario. But the condition of those two is too poor—they simply can't sustain such a battle."
"So I could only choose one among them..."
"And the one I chose is your child—Elise Holiness."
The moment those words left his mouth, a cold, sharp blade was pressed against Erebus' neck.
"What are you planning to do to Elise?"
Now that Elise was involved, how could Astraea remain calm?
Without hesitation, she drew her sword again and held it to his throat.
"Oh? I didn't expect the goddess of justice to show such a side. Quite the eye-opener."
"For you to care this much, that child really is special."
Clearly sensing Astraea's emotions, Erebus' lips curled upward. There was no trace of the frightened figure who had cowered in the corner earlier.
"Answer me!"
A faint surge of energy began to radiate from Astraea—divine might.
The sword in her hand moved forward slightly, leaving a thin red line on Erebus' neck.
"This is a trial, Astraea!"
"To allow the children of the lower world to defeat the Black Dragon, I made this decision!"
"I will have members of Zeus and Hera's Familias help Elise level up!"
"!"
This answer was completely unexpected. Erebus had actually managed to persuade them?
Yet after hearing it, Astraea did something unusual—she withdrew her sword and quietly sat back down.
"Tell me everything in detail, Erebus."
"Of course!"
...
At the back entrance of the Guild, a figure in a black cloak stood there, waiting silently. When a black-haired god stepped out, he immediately approached.
"That was quite dangerous just now. I was about to step in myself, but luckily it worked out in the end. Still, I didn't expect you to make that kind of expression—quite enlightening."
"What does it matter, Zald?"
Erebus ignored Zald's teasing and simply replied with a smile.
"If I hadn't acted that way, they would never have believed me."
"'They' refers to Astraea and Ouranos. During the negotiations, that old god had been watching Erebus the entire time.
The moment he judged that Erebus was lying, there would have been no need to continue the negotiation.
"In the end, it's because my past in Heaven left too deep an impression..." Erebus waved his hand helplessly. "It can't be helped."
"Ah..."
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