And whether it was an illusion or not, when her gaze fell on Fron, the corners of her lips instinctively curved into a faint smile…
-----------------------------------
This familiar voice entered his ears, and Fron naturally smiled. Looking up, his gaze met the other's eyes.
In that instant, an indescribable emotion passed between them, making Fron understand. Quietly, he reached out and held the girl's small, fair hands, which were crossed in front of her.
"Of course, no problem. It's not really anything serious. Sit here. I don't think Mama Mia would mind lending us Ryu for a while, right?"
The latter half of his words were clearly directed at the bar's owner, who was pretending not to care and was busily wiping down the counter.
Without changing her stern expression as the bar's mistress, Mama Mia's movements froze for a moment. She cast a sharp glance at the overly respectful Fron and snorted coldly: "Taking away my lovely girl isn't fair to the others, don't you think?"
"..."
"Fron…" Ryu wanted to persuade him, but he cut her off with a raised hand.
"Mia-san, bring us two barrels of your signature fruit wine!"
In that moment, the atmosphere shifted.
"Heh, interesting. Anya, Syr, Lunoire, Chloe, you all heard that, right?"
"Ehehe, we heard it! Handsome guy, coming right up!"
The Signature Fruit Wine was the flagship product of the Hostess of Fertility.
Not only among adventurers, but even common folk and traveling outsiders knew it well.
Such wine, being the signature and only sourced here, naturally came with a "beautiful" price tag. A whole barrel cost a small fortune.
"Here, let's drink first. You guys rarely come here to drink, right? Try the specialty here. This fruit wine isn't very strong, adventurer girls like it a lot. Ais, Ryu, Lefiya, they all love it."
Tione curled her lip.
"What's so good about fruit wine? It's nothing compared to rum or mead!"
"..." Watching the Tione and Tiona sisters down huge mugs in one go, Fron was dumbfounded, even if he'd seen it before.
Everyone knew taverns used large oak mugs, about the size of a bottle of wine.
In other words, the two sisters had just downed an entire bottle of mead in one gulp!
"Gulp, " Welf's throat bobbed as he stared wide-eyed at the bold sisters, completely stunned.
Even Fron's eyebrow twitched violently.
Mead wasn't low in alcohol. For the sisters to drink it like that, without even reddening their faces or losing breath, their tolerance was… terrifying.
Thinking of his own goddess's temperament, Fron couldn't help but feel a small sense of relief.
"Ais, what are you drinking?"
While Fron was chatting with Ryu and the others, Lefiya leaned toward Ais, peeking curiously into her clear cup.
Faced with her junior's question, Ais answered bluntly:
"Water."
"..." Lefiya's little face went blank, as if she had just heard something unbelievable.
"W-water?"
Unusually, her cheeks flushed slightly, and she felt embarrassed, her gaze darting nervously.
"Hehehe, Lefiya. You can't let Ais drink alcohol. Back in the day, some god tricked her into drinking, and she nearly tore down the whole tavern!"
Tiona, chewing loudly on roasted meat, spoke around her mouthful.
"..."
"Tiona!."
"Hehe, but everyone who should know already knows."
Lefiya was utterly dumbstruck. In her fantasies, the flawless Sword Princess she admired like a goddess actually… had such a black history?
Wasn't that basically saying she turned into a drunk troublemaker after just a sip?!
Sensing Lefiya's reaction, Fron's lips curved upward.
Did you really think Ais was always a well-behaved girl?
You're gravely mistaken. When she was young, she was a complete little menace, otherwise how would she have earned that infamous title later?
"Alright, let's get to the main point. Tell me the details about Bell."
By now, everyone had eaten and drunk a little, so it was naturally time for business.
At Fron's words, Yamato Mikoto, serious and meticulous, and Lili, the group's most socially skilled and intelligent, exchanged a look. Finally, Mikoto spoke:
"Lord Fron, Bell… he's gone missing."
"?" Fron was slightly stunned. He had thought maybe the Hestia Familia had run into some trouble, which was why Bell wasn't here.
Or maybe Bell had hit some obstacle in training and gone alone into the dungeon. But neither, he was… missing?
Thinking back to the recent War Game against the Apollo Familia, Hestia Familia's strength had already been revealed to all of Orario. With their current reputation, who would dare provoke the goddess of the hearth?
Wait, the War Game?
As if realizing something, Fron rubbed the oak mug in thought.
"The so-called Fastest Rabbit is missing? Judging from that War Game fight, he's already at the level of a first-class adventurer. With that strength, nothing on the surface should be a threat. Even deep dungeon monsters wouldn't take him down so easily. So… how long has he been missing?"
Rione frowned deeply and calmly asked Lili.
"Two days and two nights! Uuuhhh… Lord Bell, please don't let anything happen to you! What will Lily do then?!"
"..." Even Tione and Tiona put down their knives and forks, gulped down mead, and said bluntly:
"A first-class adventurer vanishing without anyone noticing in the city? Impossible. The Ganesha Familia, the Adventurers' Guild, and all those other familias and merchant networks have eyes everywhere."
Tione dabbed her lips with a napkin, continuing her sister's thought.
"If someone managed to do it silently, there's only one place where it's possible."
Everyone immediately understood the implication.
"The Dungeon!" But Lili instantly denied it.
"Impossible. Recently, Lord Bell's been training alone in the dungeon after his level up, but he never goes deeper than the fifth floor."
"So, being attacked by monsters can be ruled out. Then who is targeting your Hestia Familia?"
Everyone looked bewildered.
Meanwhile, Fron narrowed his eyes, sipping his fruit wine calmly.
It seemed the trap that had been laid earlier had finally sprung.
And with a certain scheming god's failed plan, they must have set their sights on Bell Cranel instead.
"Heh… since you've chosen death yourself, don't blame me for giving you a little push."