"I wonder how Ryuu is doing now, meow."
Though Anya couldn't quite grasp what was on Ryuu's mind, given Syr's current state, it was best not to bring up anything else for now. Knowing Ryuu's situation took priority.
"Her condition isn't good."
"!?"
The sudden voice startled all the waitresses present.
The four turned toward the sound and saw a figure in a white cloak seated at the far end of the bar.
'When did someone sit down?'
The first to realize who it was wasn't anyone else—it was Syr.
"Bell-kun, why are you here?"
"...Even if my relationship with Freya-sama is a bit special, you don't have to dislike me this much, do you?"
Syr's pupils contracted slightly. She had spoken with a smile, so how could he possibly know what she was thinking?
"Because your feelings are written all over your face. I have an unusually sharp sense for ordinary people's emotions and desires—and that includes how someone feels about me."
Perhaps it was because of the Seven Deadly Sins. Otherwise, Bell wouldn't have been able to perceive emotions like "dislike" so clearly.
Still, he could understand why Syr felt that way. After all, she was Freya's chosen half-self—almost like a daughter in her eyes.
With his close connection to Freya-sama, it was only natural that Syr would see him as the one who "stole her mother." How could she not dislike him?
If he were in her place, he might have felt the same.
Bell didn't linger on the subject. He tapped his fingers twice on the counter, and a faint figure appeared atop the bar—Ryuu, barely clinging to life.
"Ryuu!?"
The girls cried out in shock, rushing over at once.
But they couldn't sense any trace of life from her. Ryuu seemed completely lifeless.
"Go get the elixir. Otherwise, she won't even hold onto her last breath."
Anya didn't hesitate. She turned and dashed into the next room to retrieve the elixir.
Meanwhile, Mia, the proprietress, kept her eyes fixed entirely on Ryuu.
She noticed that all of Ryuu's injuries had strangely stopped worsening. Even the torn wound on her calf had ceased bleeding, as if time itself had been frozen.
'A special kind of magic? No, it should be a barrier.'
Magic that manipulated time? She had never heard of such a thing.
It must have been barrier magic—one that merely kept this foolish girl's body from dying.
But even such a barrier was beyond anything Mia had ever encountered.
Then there were all the other people in the tavern.
Yet when Mia looked around, not a single customer's gaze turned toward the bar. That confirmed it—the rest of the patrons couldn't see what was happening here.
'So, it really is barrier magic.'
'Freya-sama, your eye for people is still as sharp as ever.'
Although she was semi-retired, Syr sometimes told her about internal matters within the Familia.
Since Syr essentially served as Freya's voice in the mortal world, whatever she said was, in truth, Freya-sama's will being conveyed.
Because of that, Mia was one of the only two people besides Syr who knew Freya-sama's current state—and even what Freya-sama had been doing.
"That bunch of idiots in the Familia..."
Just thinking of those fools made Mia cover her face in exasperation.
'Not a single one of them realized that Freya-sama, a deity, was being casually pushed around by mortals from Genkai?'
Yes—Mia was one of only two in Freya's Familia who knew her true nature as a virgin goddess.
But because Freya had told her, "Don't tell those children. I want to see if they'll figure it out themselves," Mia chose to stay silent and watch from the sidelines.
Ever since then, she'd never had high expectations for that group of blind fools.
No matter how she thought about it, the people Freya sought were definitely not that clueless bunch who couldn't even see through something so simple.
From Mia's perspective, Freya had already given them more than enough time to react. Yet up until the secret was exposed, not one of them had even considered the truth.
That could only mean one thing: 'Those idiots were never the ones Freya was looking for.'
All their efforts had been completely pointless.
In contrast, this boy standing before her...
He had been in Orario for less than a year and had already risen from an absolute beginner to a Lv.5 adventurer. And with just a single sentence, he had pierced through Freya's greatest secret.
The result was clear as day.
Mia believed those fools no longer had any reason to compete.
"Here it comes!"
Anya soon returned, clutching a bottle of Elixir.
"Snap!"
Bell flicked his fingers, and the barrier surrounding Ryuu's body dissolved. Time, which had been forcibly halted, began to flow again.
Blood started seeping once more from the wound on her calf.
Anya froze, staring blankly, until Bell's voice pulled her back.
"She's barely hanging on."
"Ah! Ryuu, don't you dare die on us!"
Hearing that Ryuu was on the verge of death, Anya hurriedly uncorked the bottle and poured the Elixir into her mouth.
The potion's effect was remarkable. Ryuu's deathly pale complexion regained color almost immediately after she swallowed it.
The missing chunk of flesh on her calf began to mend, rapidly knitting itself back together.
Other wounds on her body also started healing, and fresh skin grew over the smaller cuts.
"No wonder it costs five hundred thousand Valis a bottle—the Elixir really lives up to its name."
Bell couldn't help but let out a word of praise.
If the potion trade weren't already such a massive enterprise—one that could stir major trouble if he interfered—he might have been tempted to get involved.
But now, with his financial situation stabilized, there was no need to build other sources of income.
After carefully checking Ryuu's condition, Bell confirmed she was no longer in any immediate danger.
"Pass a message along for me."
"Don't step into the traps laid by the Evilus unless you have the strength to handle them. Next time, you won't be this lucky."
Leaving those words behind, Bell didn't linger. He turned and left the tavern.
He'd been struggling in the Dungeon for half a month straight. Now, he needed rest—and time for an update. There was no point wasting any more time here.