章 3: BELL-O-EMON DEFEATED A LEVEL 5 ADVENTURER?!
Bell slowly descended in front of the Hostess of Fertility pub after his flight with the Take-copter. Being the good boy he was, he intended to keep his word and eat here for tonight. It was a shame that his Goddess couldn't come with him. She had mentioned meeting her friend for advice and work. Well, he could always order takeout for her later.
Entering the pub, he was immediately greeted with a bustling crowd of customers enjoying their time. If their happy faces were any indication, the pub's food must be really great. Bell couldn't wait to try it.
"Ah, Bell, you're here!" Syr came towards him with a tray filled with food, smiling cheerfully and waving her free hand. "We're a bit full tonight and also had a reservation, so I hope you wouldn't mind sitting at the bar?"
"I don't mind, as long as the food is good," Bell gave her a friendly grin.
"Well, in that case, you will not regret coming here," Syr exclaimed. "Mama Mia and May's cooking never disappoint!"
Bell walked to the bar and took a seat. Unbeknownst to him, the adventurers around him started muttering.
"Is that him?"
"Holy shit, the rabbit is here!"
"What? I thought he was bigger, hahaha."
"Hah, the rumor really said to beware of him? What a joke."
"Ssssshhhh, don't let him hear you."
"Dude, I don't get why you get so worked up over that boy."
"Just, just leave him alone. Trust me, bro."
The muttering continued, but Bell paid no mind to it. He was too busy scouring through the menu. The first impression was that the menu looked awesome and delicious, and he couldn't decide on one dish. His stomach rumbled, and he realized it was time to order.
"Today's recommendation, please!" he called.
Not long after, Bell was staring at the most intimidating bowl of pasta he had ever seen. It was stacked almost to eye level, simply monstrous.
"So, you're Syr's friend, huh?" a tall woman, Mia Grand, or Mama Mia as everyone called her, said as she put down the monstrous pasta in front of him, giving him a smile. "For an adventurer, you sure are cute, hahaha."
Bell could only scratch his cheek while laughing weakly after hearing the praise. Deep down, he prayed to his Goddess and every God out there for strength to finish the meal.
"Oh, we're not done yet!" Mama Mia returned, now with a massive fried fish. "Here, eat it up! You're still young, you need to eat more."
"Hahaha..." Bell needed all the strength he could muster to finish this meal now.
After another silent prayer, Bell slowly started eating his food. Syr then approached him.
"Did you have fun, Bell?" she innocently asked.
"Well," Bell eyed the food in front of him, "the food is delicious."
"Hehehe, see? You'll love our food."
"Are you okay with spending your time here?" Bell asked as he ate a spoonful of pasta. "Don't you still have to work? This place looks busy."
"It's fine, it's fine," Syr said with a reassuring smile.
"No, it's not," Mama Mia chimed in, frowning. "Syr, get back to work. If May couldn't take a break, so can't you." She lightly tapped Syr's head.
"Booo," Syr pouted, "I still want to talk with Bell here."
"No means no, girl," Mama Mia huffed.
Bell silently watched as Syr tried to convince Mama Mia, which she seemed to fail spectacularly at. Well, Bell could understand Mama Mia; the pub seemed to be bustling and needed all hands on deck.
Bell took another spoonful of pasta. Should he help them? Why not? They had treated him nicely so far, Syr was friendly, and the food was good.
"Mama Mia!" Bell called.
"Hmm, yes? Do you want to order more?"
"No," Bell shook his head, "instead, I want to help. Which work needs help the most?"
Mama Mia raised a brow. "Well, that's unexpected. Let me think..." She hummed for a second. "Well, we pretty much have everything covered except for the cooking part. The kitchen is pretty much handled by May alone, while I occasionally help her if needed."
Mama Mia continued, "So, unless you know how to cook, we can't let you help in the kitchen. But the thought is appreciated, though."
Bell nodded. "Don't worry, I have this..." He reached for his pouch. "Copy Robot!" and pulled out a small featureless humanoid doll.
As usual, Bell pulled out something from his pouch without paying attention to how people around him were either confused or shocked. Syr stared at the doll with curiosity.
"It's a doll?" Syr tilted her head.
Mama Mia nodded. "It's definitely a doll, alright."
Bell smiled. "Not just a doll. Can I have, uhh, May here? She's the one who cooks the food, right?"
Mama Mia narrowed her eyes. "Yes, you wanted to call her here?"
Bell nodded.
"Okay, as long as you're quick. We still need her back in the kitchen."
Bell gave Mama Mia a reassuring smile. "Don't worry."
Mama Mia then asked Syr to get May. After waiting for a while, Syr came back with a short-haired catgirl wearing a chef uniform and a cap.
"Yes, Mama Mia?"
"This boy here wants to meet you. He said something about helping you," Mama Mia explained.
May looked at Bell, who was holding a small doll in his hands, with confusion. "I see?"
"Here," Bell showed May the doll. "Press the nose."
May was a bit weirded out but reluctantly did it anyway.
CLICK
WHOOOOOOOP
"What the?!"
"Heh?"
"B-Bell?!"
As May pressed the doll's nose, the doll slowly released a unique sound as it grew in size, surprising Syr, Mama Mia, and May. At the same time, it gained some colors and turned into a life-sized copy of May herself.
May's jaw dropped as she saw essentially herself in front of her. Her face, her body, her outfit, even her cat ears too.
"Copy Robot will copy whoever presses the button on its nose!" Bell explained to them. "It will copy the appearance, thoughts, and skills of the one it copies!"
"I-Is that so?" Mama Mia regained some of her composure.
"Yup, with this, May will have someone to help her in the kitchen, right?" Bell said.
May snapped back as she heard her name being called. "Y-Yes, I think?"
May was still in shock, unsure of what to make of the situation. She hesitantly walked back to the kitchen, with her doppelganger following behind.
"Well, that's not what I expected," Mama Mia said, a bit dumbfounded.
Syr wryly smiled at Bell. "You sure are full of surprises, Bell."
Unheard and ignored by Bell, the people in the tavern strangely quieted down after Bell pulled out the Copy Robot. The waitresses like Ryuu and Anya looked a bit shocked by the appearance of their friend's copy. Meanwhile, the adventurers who already knew Bell were growing numb at this point, throwing a "I told you so" to those who didn't know the famed Rabbit.
...
In the kitchen, May watched nervously as her copy skillfully cut the vegetables, stirred, cooked, and performed other tasks just like her. It was more than a bit unsettling how the doppelganger flawlessly copied every single skill, movement, and even her habits.
In fact, it seemed as if the copy didn't slow down at all and kept going with a stable and relentless pace.
Could it be that her copy was even better than her?
She couldn't help but notice how the doppelganger's efficiency might easily outcook her, as she still needed to take occasional breaks to catch her breath.
No way!
This wouldn't do!
May's determination surged, and she now stared at her copy with fiery eyes. She rolled up her sleeves and lightly slapped her cheeks, steeling herself. There was no way she would let a mere doll outdo her in cooking.
She was going to show her copy who the real master in the kitchen was.
...
"The reservation is here!" Anya, one of the catgirl waitresses, announced.
Followed by a group of people, a Goddess entered the pub. Those who lived and spent enough time in this city would easily recognize them—The Loki Familia, one of the top Familias in the world, only rivaled by a handful of others.
The sight of Loki Familia members around the city wasn't unusual, but it was a bit uncommon to see most of their well-known members, like the executives, gathered in one place. Surrounded by her children, the members of her Familia, was the red-haired, infamously mischievous Goddess, Loki.
"Bring out the drinks!" Loki shouted.
Tonight was the celebration for her Familia's successful deep Dungeon exploration campaign. She wanted to drink, get drunk, and preferably also have cute girls around her arms. But a certain Elf from her Familia most likely wouldn't allow her.
The Loki Familia celebration party went with cheers and laughter among them. They traded stories, reminiscing about their experiences back in the lower floors, and mourned the loss of their comrades. All in all, it was a good party.
Sat at the table with other Loki's executives was Ais Wallenstein, who silently sipped her juice slowly. She watched as the other members of her Familia slowly got drunk.
If she were being honest, she didn't get the appeal of getting drunk.
What was the fun of losing control of yourself, honestly? Thus, she preferred more non-drink inducing drinks like this juice.
"So, Ais," a drunk Bete approached her. "Tell me about this...white boy again, hahaha! No way in hell some level 1 nobody could beat a Minotaur, hahaha! Just admit that you saved him."
"Bete, cut it out," Riveria Ljos Alf, one of Loki's executives, said, her tone slightly harsh. "In the first place, the Minotaur's accident was our fault to begin with."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Still think he wasn't the one who beat the Minotaur. Tch, just admit that you lied to cover up for him, Ais." Bete spat. "Level 1 trash is trash, that's the reality."
"Bete, you're drunk," Finn tried to calm the situation down.
Ais then stared as Bete leaned forward to her. "Why do you even lie for him, huh? Do you like him or something? Surely it wasn't something corny like that, right?"
Bete leaned back, scoffing. "Hey Ais, between him and that boy, which one are you willing to mate?" Bete smirked smugly. "A nobody trash like him doesn't deserve your attention."
Ais's eyes twitched a bit, her fists slowly tightening.
Her and Bete?
No.
No way.
Hell no.
Even if the two of them became the last two people on this world, she would sooner end herself before accepting Bete's advance in any way, shape, or form.
Ais ignored Bete's rambling and tried to turn her attention elsewhere. She sipped her juice again while glancing around. Then...
PPFFTTT
She did a legendary, out-of-character spit drink.
"Ais?!"
"A-Ais, are you okay?"
"Did you choke on something?"
She coughed a bit before turning her head back to what she saw. The boy, Bell Cranel, was here. There he was, sitting at the bar, chatting with one of the waitresses.
S-Should she approach him?
Maybe say she was sorry about the Minotaur or something like that?
Urghhh.
Social interactions, her worst enemy.
"Hmm?" Her pondering seemed to take Loki's attention as she turned her head towards Bell. "Is that the boy you talked about, Ais?"
Loki slightly pouted at the sight of this boy. So, this is the kid who stole her Ais' attention. The other executives then also turned their attention towards Bell.
"Hmmm, he's cute. You picked a nice one, Ais," Tiona gave Ais a thumbs-up after eyeing Bell for some time.
...eh?
Ais was stunned for a moment. "Why?" she asked, wandering.
Tiona gave her a cheeky grin. "Well, clearly, you are interested in this boy, right? Maybe it's even a developing crush. Oh, our Ais is a grown-up."
What?
No!
She didn't have that kind of feeling towards the boy.
...maybe.
"Well, by how much you talked about him yesterday," Finn joined the conversation, "it would be strange if you didn't have some sort of interest in the boy." He grinned.
Noo!
She was just curious about him, yes, just that!
Tione, who had silently eaten her food and watched, then noticed something. "Hey, where's Bete?"
The other executives widened their eyes as the silver-haired werewolf was nowhere near his seat.
"Hey, you!"
Ais immediately glanced at Bete's voice and saw him now standing near Bell, scowling, and completely wasted from the drinks.
...
"Yes?" Bell was slightly confused as to why this guy approached him while scowling.
Was he drunk? Yeah, most likely he was.
"I heard you slayed a minotaur yesterday..." the man said.
"Yes, I was?" Bell replied.
The man scowled even harder. "Don't give me such bullshit!" he shouted.
The pub's attention turned towards Bell and this man. Even Syr, who had been chatting with him before, was now silent, frowning at this rude man.
"But that's what happened though," Bell gave the rude man a questionable look.
"Oho, so you still don't want to admit it, huh?" The rude man cracked his knuckles. "Fine, have it your way."
The rude man threw his fist at Bell. Behind him, many other people who were with him rushed towards him, trying to stop him. Bell immediately reached for his pouch, pulled out a simple red-colored cloth.
"Reflecting Cloth!" Bell exclaimed.
He then spread the cloth open in front of him. If this were an ordinary cloth, it would do absolutely nothing to stop or block the rude man's punch.
But this cloth was from Bell's pouch, so it was no ordinary cloth.
As soon as the rude man's fist touched the red cloth, he felt all of his momentum's power gone, instantly transferred in the other direction and stronger. The rude man was thrown a good couple of meters behind, bumping into several guests on his way.
"W-What?" The rude man showed a clear shocked face.
This feeling was shared by most people inside the pub, including the rude man's fellow Familia members. Some of the adventurers also jaw-dropped seeing the rude man easily being thrown behind. Unlike Bell, they knew who the rude man was. Bete Loga, Loki's level 5 executive, who no way should be easily thrown off like that.
Bete pulled his body back up and lunged back at Bell, but Bell was ready and swayed the red cloth around. As Bete's fist met with the red cloth again, his power and momentum were gone again, and a powerful force pushed him downward.
THUD.
Bete was now dropped onto the floor as the red cloth fluttered slightly above him. Bete was pissed about to get back up, but he stopped as Bell already pointed some strange object at him.
"Shock Gun!" Bell shouted as he fired off his gadget.
BBZZZZZTTTT.
A strong light hit Bete before he suddenly stopped moving altogether and fell to the side in a very awkward frozen position.
Silence dawned upon the pub, even Bete's own Familia members and Loki were perplexed. They had just seen the rabbit casually stop a level 5 adventurer with a cloth of all things and stun him with one attack.
"The hell...?"
"I'll take my words back, damn rabbit scared the shit out of me just now."
"Holy..."
"See? That's why I told you not to mess with the rabbit."
"...yes, I see now."
...
"Again we're sorry for what our friend did to you," Finn bowed to Bell.
"Uh, ah, it's okay really. In the end, nobody got hurt. So it's fine, really," Bell replied with a smile.
After Bete's outburst and consequently his current unconscious state, the rest of Loki Familia members were making apologies all around. They apologized to Mama Mia for causing trouble in her pub, to Bell for disturbing his dinner night, and to the rest of the guests. To make it up, Finn as the captain then announced that Loki Familia would treat them drinks for this night.
A chorus of cheers and joy soon followed. All in all, the atmosphere was changing for the better. Then in the middle of this, Ais Wallenstein was trying to talk to Bell. She walked towards him.
"Umm, excuse me…"
Bell noticed her. "Yes, can I help you, miss?" He replied with a smile.
Outside, Ais had her usual stoic and emotionless face, but deep down, she was a bit panicking as she tried to form the right words. Curse you, social interaction!
"Uhh..." She fidgeted a bit. "..I just want to say, sorry. The...minotaur was our fault."
There!
She said it!
Would he hate her for it? Well, if he did, then it was a shame, but she hadn't expected any less.
"Ah, that," Bell said. "Don't worry, it wasn't a big deal, and I didn't get hurt too."
Wasn't a big deal, he said.
Sure, if you were a high-leveled adventurer, but certainly not when you were a level 1 newbie. Even she wouldn't dare to fight a Minotaur when she was at level 1.
"Oh, by the way," Bell extended his hand. "My name is Bell Cranel. Just call me Bell," he introduced himself.
...oh, she forgot to introduce herself, didn't she? Why did she forget?!
Ais immediately grabbed Bell's hand with hers. "Uh, A-Ais, Ais Wallenstein. Nice to meet chuww.."
...?!
D-Did she just accidentally bite her tongue just now?!
Bell chuckled lightly.
Look! Even the boy was laughing at her right now.
Aaaaaahhhhh! Her cheeks slightly turned rosy red.
But then Ais heard something. As a level 5 adventurer, she had way above average hearing than ordinary people. So when Bell muttered to himself, she heard it.
"...cute."
That was what she heard.
Awawawawawa!
"Okay stop!" Loki appeared and separated Ais and Bell. She weakly glared at Bell while pouting. "No! You can't take away my Ais! Never! Over my dead body, mister!"
Bell could only wryly smile as he was getting glared at by the red-haired Goddess.
...
"You sure we could borrow this for a day?" Riveria asked as she held the Reflecting Cloth.
"Yes, as long as you don't use it for bad things and return it back," Bell simply said.
Riveria, just like her other fellow Loki Familia members, was curious about the red cloth Bell used against Bete. She wanted to ask Bell more about the cloth. Then a grumbled and sour-looking Loki muttered that she should just ask him to borrow it, which she did.
On which he agreed and lent it to her.
Riveria had already lived a long, very long life by now. She had seen many things, and only a few could surprise her. This boy, Bell Cranel, apparently was one of those things. Normally, under no circumstances, an adventurer would willingly let go of such a precious item like this without thinking about it for a while.
Either the boy was so naive and trusting, or the world's values and views changed a lot...
Hmm, it must be the boy.
Riveria wouldn't admit out loud, but she found Bell's pure kindness and naivety refreshing and dare she say, slightly charming in its own way. It awakened something maternal inside her.
Must protect the boy, must protect his smile.
"Then how about this," Riveria offered. "Tomorrow you could come visit our Familia manor. We will treat you as a guest as an apology while also returning this cloth."
"Is that okay though?" Bell asked. "I mean, I don't want to inconvenience you guys..."
"It's fine," Finn chimed in and answered Bell. "Not only one of us just caused a problem with you, but you also let us borrow the cloth. It's the least we can do."
"I see, then yes, I would love to come."
Ais, who heard this, was happy. She even cracked a small smile. Bell coming to their manor meant she could spend more time with him and his various unique items. Loki, on the other hand, pouted even more.
Her Ais was taken from her!
Damn you, rabbit!
Just like Loki, the other adventurers around also noticed how Ais looked at the boy. Thus another rumor was born. "Beware of the lady-killer rabbit, hide your wife, hide your daughter, hide the women, or he shall steal their hearts."
...
Meanwhile, in the kitchen of the pub, a battle was ensuing. Catgirl against machine, the original against her copy. Stoves were blazing, sizzling reverberated the room, spices and herbs smelled everywhere.
May was sweating as she worked as fast and hard as she could.
Plates after plates were sent out. Menus after menus were made. Every dish that came out was cooked with precision and care. Not a single mistake was made. May really outdid herself tonight.
Yet, as she glanced to her side, she saw the familiar body of her. The copy made by pressing a weird doll. A copy of her that was outright keeping up with her even after she went full speed.
H-How?!
No, this wouldn't do! She wouldn't get beaten by some mere copy of herself!
Uuooohh just watch!
May increased her cooking intensity again.
At the end of the day, May was left panting as she used all of her energy for today's work. It must be her new record time and quantity-wise. Yet to her dismay, she found out her copy still managed to keep up, and they ended up in a draw.
G-Godamnit.
-[Chapter 3 END]-
Copy Robot: It can mimic multiple attributes of its target, from appearance, skills, and physiology to psychology and sentience.
Reflecting Cloth: Manipulates force to deflect anything, physical or non-physical, from the user. Can be used to send the attack back to the opponent.
Shock Gun: A gun that shoots a laser beam capable of shocking and stunning all living beings.
週次パワーステータス
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