"Humans really are fragile."
Bell sighed again, lowering his gaze.
"I left the village with nothing and headed for Orario, the place my grandfather once spoke of. But I wasn't searching for some fateful encounter. I just didn't want to live with fate tightening its grip around my throat. I wanted strength—at least enough to protect myself."
His original intent was simple: to gain power.
While others became adventurers for fame, wealth, or even women, Bell's goal was far more straightforward. He had come to Orario, the center of the world, purely for strength.
"Power, huh? True, many children choose to become adventurers in pursuit of it. But most who seek strength end up discarding their principles, throwing away everything for the sake of power alone."
Freya had seen it many times—children who sacrificed everything, even their very humanity, just to grow stronger.
"There are definitely those who would give up everything for power. But just because I seek strength doesn't mean I'm willing to become like them."
Perhaps abandoning everything for power is the path most people end up taking. After all, ordinary people at the bottom have to make extreme sacrifices just to grasp what they desperately desire. That is the fate they must accept.
But Bell was one of the lucky few among the masses.
He possessed the unique irregularity of a reborn soul—a "System." Thanks to the System, Bell didn't have to give up anything to gain power.
To gain what would be impossible for most with only average effort—it could only be described as an "abnormality."
Because he understood this about himself, Bell never believed his strength came purely from his own hard work. Anyone in his position might have obtained the same power. He simply grew stronger as a natural result.
"And because gaining strength came so easily to me, I've always understood the importance of staying low-key."
Bell knew all too well what could happen to someone who drew envy.
"So that's why you've chosen to live this way?"
"Yes."
Seeing the unshakable resolve in Bell's eyes, Freya understood that this part of him was deeply rooted. No one—not even Hestia—could easily change that about him.
"You really are a strange child."
Freya sighed softly. To her, he hardly seemed to have any desires at all. But maybe it was exactly because he lacked excess desires that he could chase power without sacrificing everything—because, for him, strength came too easily.
In less than half a year, he had already reached Level 4. Freya even suspected that, after the expedition, Bell had reached Level 5.
To climb from nothing to Level 5 in just half a year... it was absurdly fast.
Gaining power that easily often made people arrogant, leading them to make reckless choices. Yet in Bell, Freya saw someone who always held to his principles—someone who consistently acted with caution and restraint, never once showing signs of arrogance.
"You crave power, yet you're so cautious about how you act. If only you desired strength a little more... maybe you really could've become my child."
Freya made no effort to hide her possessiveness toward Bell. But in the face of that possessiveness, Bell only felt troubled.
"Freya-sama..."
"Yes, yes, I know—you're not going to leave Hestia. I'm well aware of that."
Freya cut him off with slight annoyance. She already knew what Bell was about to say—just another rejection. So she also understood that getting this child through normal means was impossible. And with Hestia and Hephaestus making things even harder, it only frustrated her more.
"If you know that, then why keep testing me?"
Bell couldn't understand Freya-sama's thinking.
She already knew he wouldn't abandon Hestia or Hephaestus, yet she still kept trying to test him in every way. She'd even gone as far as using her Authority—just to get an answer?
Unable to comprehend her, Bell watched as Freya crossed her arms on the table, her legs gently tapping beneath it.
"Isn't that just how gods are? After spending so long in Genkai, this is the first time I've encountered the one fated encounter I've been seeking. How could I possibly let it slip away so easily?"
"...Even if you already have your answer?"
"It doesn't matter. It won't change anything."
Freya shook her head with a smile, laying bare the essence of the gods.
"Gods, from beginning to end, are unchanging. That's why we seek the kind of transformation that can alter us at our core. That's why Hephaestus told you—when a goddess falls in love, it's something truly unique. Because there's only one person who can bring about that kind of change in a goddess."
So in the end, there was no changing Freya-sama's mind. Once again, Bell felt helpless.
"I'm not some miracle ingredient meant to change a goddess, Freya-sama."
"Oh my~ If you were, Hestia would be the first to explode. Still, I'm certain you and Loki wouldn't react too dramatically."
"Loki-sama, huh..."
To be honest, it was hard to imagine ever reacting that way to Loki. Once you got to know her, it became difficult to even think of her as a woman. If anything, treating her like a guy you could hang out with was a lot easier.
"Personally, I prefer goddesses with a bit more feminine charm."
Freya glanced down proudly at her own chest.
"If Loki heard that, she'd go ballistic."
A flat chest—that was Loki's greatest taboo.
She hated her figure more than anything. And it was exactly that weakness that Hestia constantly poked fun at. Loki couldn't even argue back, which only made it worse. Freya couldn't resist teasing Bell a little more with that thought.
"Ahem, I didn't mean that Loki-sama lacks the charm of a goddess... just that her charm takes... a bit more effort to notice."
Bell coughed awkwardly, trying to shift the conversation. Even he didn't want those words reaching Loki's ears. Otherwise, she'd absolutely glare at him with that bitter, resentful stare.