The other end of the passage led to a room Freya had chosen long ago.
It wasn't on the second floor, but the third.
Hestia and Hephaestus lived together in a shared room on the second floor of the treehouse, while Loki occupied a room toward the back of that same floor.
Incidentally, Bell's room was on the outer edge of the first floor. This wasn't for any special reason—he simply needed an underground space to store some of his things.
Beneath that room lay a hidden chamber filled with experimental materials, and even the Divine Core once belonging to the god Ikelos was stored there.
"Ah..."
Freya nodded with satisfaction as she looked over the room she had selected.
Breathing in the vibrant spiritual energy around her, she almost felt as though she had returned to Tenkai. The atmosphere here was unique—even the breach in the divine power seal had widened considerably.
"'Beyond the World,' huh... I have to say, it's impressive you could think of such a place."
Even though she had visited this space once before, Freya couldn't help but feel a sense of awe upon seeing it again.
"The space was constructed by attaching itself to the world's outer rim—connected to it, yet existing outside of it. Even if gods know about such a place, they can't enter.
This space lies on the world's outer membrane, while the gods can only move within the inner membrane. That's the fundamental difference.
Tenkai itself also exists within the inner membrane of the world. The outer membrane isn't a place gods can freely tread."
Freya had watched the entire process as Bell set up the passage earlier.
An opened passageway like that was practically a gallows.
Without the 'key,' even a god who entered would be instantly shredded by the spatial turbulence.
The passage existed at the boundary between the inner and outer membranes—if a god died there, that death would be absolute.
For most gods, such a place was truly a 'lawless zone.'
"This is also to prevent invasion from outside forces."
Bell had made this choice out of concern for precisely that.
"Orario isn't a safe place, and I don't like staying somewhere unsafe."
"If I didn't have this ability, maybe I'd settle for less. But since I do, I'll take precautions before anything happens."
No base is ever completely safe.
Just as humans seek to build fortresses underground—for that enclosed space gives them a sense of security deep down—Bell had followed that same instinctive desire for safety, constructing his base in a place nearly impossible to infiltrate.
Freya understood exactly what he meant.
She knew better than anyone how unsafe Orario could be.
Just last night, something had happened to one of her children—and if an ordinary person had experienced the same thing, they wouldn't have survived unscathed.
"Freya-sama, please handle the rest of the arrangements yourself."
"If I don't go down to find Hestia soon, they might just explode."
In the room on the third floor, Bell could already sense the two volcanoes below about to erupt.
Freya glanced downstairs, shaking her head with a helpless smile.
"Honestly, how can they get jealous over something like this when we're all going to be living together from now on?"
Bell felt a heavy weight pressing down on him.
'Which goddess could possibly stay calm about something like this?'
Putting himself in Hestia and Hephaestus's position, he doubted he could have remained composed either.
But Freya gave Bell no chance to respond, wrapping her arms around his and pulling him along.
"???"
Freya smiled and rested her head on Bell's shoulder.
"The moment a goddess makes her choice, her heart is already bound to that one person.
Hestia and Hephaestus feel this way—and so do I."
"Bell, don't disappoint a goddess's love."
Those words instantly erased any resistance Bell had left.
How could he refuse?
Could he really turn away a goddess's affection?
No. To be precise, a goddess's love simply couldn't be refused.
A goddess's love was absolute—often extreme—and to show it, she would go to any lengths.
Bell couldn't help recalling the Freya from the original story—the mad Goddess of Beauty. Compared to being loved by that version of her, the current situation might actually be better.
Still, when he thought of Hestia and Hephaestus, Bell couldn't help feeling awkward, unsure of what to say.
'I really am not a jerk.'
That was probably the only thing he could say about himself.
If he were one, maybe he'd know how to deal with this kind of situation.
...
In the main hall on the first floor, three goddesses sat with their legs crossed, waiting silently.
Loki crossed her arms, looking visibly impatient.
"This is taking way too long. What the hell are that guy and the love-struck girl doing up there?"
As someone who had moved before, she knew exactly how long the process should take.
When she'd moved in, she hadn't brought all her belongings—doing that would've given everything away.
She hadn't even brought a change of clothes.
The whole point was to avoid revealing how often she wasn't at her own Familia.
Freya wouldn't have brought much either. Loki pursed her lips, a touch of mischief in her thoughts. Was something this simple really worth taking so long?
...
"That love-struck girl isn't clinging to that guy and getting all lovey-dovey, is she?"
"!?"
Both Hestia and Hephaestus faltered slightly at those words.
But they had known Bell the longest. Freya wasn't the type to stoop that low, and Bell wasn't the kind to act so shamelessly either.
After agreeing to Freya and Loki's involvement, they had both sensed a trace of guilt in Bell.
It wasn't even his fault—Loki and Freya hadn't been seduced by him. Those two foxes had gone after him themselves.
Given Bell's personality, they were certain he wouldn't secretly do anything indecent with Freya.
After all, he had always gone out of his way to avoid her before.
"What nonsense is that flat-chest spouting? Bell-kun would never do something like that."
Once she calmed down, Hestia was the first to fire back.
"Theoretically speaking, Bell wouldn't do something like that."
Hephaestus gradually relaxed too, arriving at the same conclusion as Hestia.
Their reactions told Loki all she needed to know about Bell's situation.
'So the key lies with the shorty and Hephaestus.'
"Exactly. How could that child ever do anything inappropriate with me?"
Just as Loki thought that, Freya's voice drifted down from the stairs on the second floor.