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The dark, quiet streets of Orario felt very peaceful as the three of them continued their walk home.
But as they passed by a narrow, empty alleyway, a small shadow suddenly jumped out right in front of them.
"Excuse me, kind adventurers!"
A high, sweet voice called out.
Standing in the light of the streetlamp was a very small girl wearing a dirty, oversized hood.
She had animal-like ears sticking out from her brown hair, and she was carrying a backpack that was almost bigger than her entire body.
"Oh!"
Bell blinked, completely surprised.
"Hello there."
"My name is Liliruca Arde!"
The small girl smiled brightly, giving them a very polite bow.
"But you can just call me Lili! Are you looking for a Supporter? I can carry your heavy bags and pick up your magic stones! I am very cheap to hire!"
Bell scratched his cheek, looking a little helpless.
"A Supporter?"
Bell asked kindly.
"That sounds really helpful. But we are just beginners. We only made a little. We really cannot afford to pay you."
"That is completely fine!"
Lili lied smoothly.
Her large brown eyes looked sad and desperate, trying to make Bell feel sorry for her.
"I just want to help! I am all alone, and I just need a nice party to let me join them."
Lili hid her hands behind her back. Inside her head, she was already making a cruel plan.
*This white-haired boy is so stupid and trusting,*
Lili thought bitterly.
*I will join their group tomorrow. When they are busy fighting monsters, I will steal all their items and run away.*
But before Bell could say another word, Dee suddenly stepped right in front of him.
Dee bent down so she was eye-level with the small, hooded girl.
Lili kept her fake, sweet smile, but she felt a sudden chill when she looked into Dee's dark, bottomless eyes.
"You are a very good actor, Lili-chan,"
Dee said softly.
Lili froze. Her fake smile twitched.
"A-Actor?"
Lili stuttered, taking a nervous step backward.
"I do not know what you mean, Miss. I am just a poor, lonely helper."
Dee did not look angry.
Her face was full of deep, genuine sadness.
Because Dee knew the story of this world, she knew exactly what terrible things this little girl had survived.
She knew Lili belonged to the cruel Soma Familia.
She knew Lili was beaten, starved, and forced to steal just to stay alive.
Dee gently reached out and held Lili's small, shaking hands.
"You do not have to lie to me,"
Dee whispered, her voice full of pure warmth.
"I know about the bad people who hurt you. I know they treat you like garbage. I know you only steal because you are scared."
Lili's heart completely stopped. Her breath hitched in her throat.
*How does she know?!*
Lili panicked inside her mind.
*I didn't even do anything yet! Are they going to turn me in to the Guild?!*
Lili tried to pull her hands away and run into the dark alley.
"Let me go!"
Lili yelled.
Her fake, sweet voice was completely gone.
Her real voice sounded broken, bitter, and terrified.
"You don't know anything about me! Leave me alone!"
But Dee held on gently.
She did not let the small girl run back into the dark.
"I decided!"
Dee announced suddenly, completely ignoring Lili's panic.
Dee looked over her shoulder at Elias with a massive, determined smile.
"Eli! She is way too small and sad to be living on the streets,"
Dee declared loudly.
"I am going to adopt her! She is my new little sister now!"
Lili stopped pulling.
She stared at the pale girl in absolute shock.
"A-Adopt me?!"
Lili gasped, completely confused.
"Are you crazy?! I just tried to trick you! I am a thief! I hate adventurers!"
Elias let out a slow, warm chuckle.
He walked over and stood right next to Dee, looking down at the terrified little girl.
"Dee has a habit of collecting strays,"
Elias smiled gently.
"And when she makes up her mind, I cannot stop her."
Elias crouched down to Lili's level.
He looked right into her scared brown eyes.
"We do not care about what you did in the past,"
Elias told her in a calm, serious voice.
"If you are tired of being hurt, and if you are tired of running away, you can come home with us right now. No one will ever hit you or force you to steal."
Lili stared at the tall man.
Her mind could not process his words.
For her entire life, adults had only ever used her and thrown her away.
"Why...?"
Lili whispered, her eyes filling with hot tears.
"Why are you being nice to a dirty thief?"
Bell finally understood what was happening.
He walked up and gave Lili his brightest, kindest smile.
"Because you look like you really need a family,"
Bell said honestly.
"And our church always has room for one more."
Lili looked at the three of them.
The heavy, cold wall around Lili's heart finally broke.
She dropped to her knees right there on the stone street and started to cry.
She cried out all the fear and anger she had been holding inside for years.
Dee immediately dropped down and wrapped her arms tightly around the small girl.
"It is okay,"
Dee hummed softly, rubbing Lili's back.
"You are safe now, little sister. Let's go home."
Far away from the quiet streets, high up inside the Tower of Babel.
The roaring fire inside the grand workshop was finally put out.
Hestia and the strange, pale girl had already left to go home.
Goddess Hephaestus stood completely frozen in front of her heavy steel anvil.
She was staring down at the finished weapon.
"Lady Hephaestus?"
A tall woman with dark hair and an eyepatch walked into the quiet room.
It was Tsubaki, the captain of the Hephaestus Familia and a master blacksmith.
"I saw Goddess Hestia leave,"
Tsubaki said, walking closer.
"Did you finish forging the weapon for her child?"
Hephaestus did not look away from the anvil.
"Yes,"
Hephaestus whispered. Her voice was very dry.
"It is finished."
Tsubaki stood next to her goddess and looked down at the knife.
She immediately frowned.
The dagger was completely black.
From the handle to the very tip of the blade, it was as dark as a starless night.
It did not reflect the light of the workshop lamps. Instead, it seemed to swallow the light entirely.
"That is a very strange blade,"
Tsubaki noted, her sharp eye studying the metal.
"It does not shine. And the room feels... freezing. Did you use ice magic on the steel?"
"No,"
Hephaestus answered softly.
"I used my strongest divine fire. But the fire was not enough to warm it."
Hephaestus slowly raised her hands.
Her strong, skilled fingers were actually shaking.
"Tsubaki,"
Hephaestus asked quietly.
"Have you ever forged a weapon that terrified you?"
Tsubaki looked at her goddess in complete shock.
"Terrified?"
Tsubaki asked.
"You are the God of the Forge. You make the greatest weapons in the world. How can a piece of metal scare you?"
"Because this is not just metal anymore,"
Hephaestus explained, her voice dropping to a heavy whisper.
"That pale girl... She touched the hot steel right before it cooled."
Tsubaki tilted her head.
"Did she ruin it?"
"She changed it,"
Hephaestus corrected her.
"She poured the literal concept of the end into the blade. I made the physical shape, but she gave it a soul. A very dark soul."
Tsubaki reached out her hand, wanting to pick up the black knife to inspect it closer.
"Do not touch it!"
Hephaestus yelled sharply, grabbing Tsubaki's wrist to pull her hand away.
Tsubaki gasped, taking a quick step back.
"If you touch that handle, your heart might stop beating,"
Hephaestus warned her seriously.
"It is not a normal magic sword. It is a curse wrapped in steel."
"Then why did you let her do it?"
Tsubaki asked, her eye wide with deep concern.
"Why let someone put a deadly curse on a weapon meant for a beginner?"
Hephaestus finally looked away from the black blade.
She looked out the window, down toward the dark city streets.
"Because it is waiting for its true master,"
Hephaestus sighed heavily.
"Hestia said her boy has a completely pure soul. That knife is a test. If anyone else tries to hold it, the blessing of Death will reject them. But if his heart is truly kind..."
Hephaestus looked back at the freezing black dagger.
"Then he will be the only mortal in history who can hold this weapon in the palm of his hand without breaking."
Inside the large, fancy mansion of the Loki Familia, the halls were mostly quiet.
Loki, the goddess with bright red hair and sharp eyes, was sitting on a soft couch in her private room.
She was drinking a glass of expensive wine.
The heavy wooden door slowly opened. Aiz Wallenstein walked inside.
"Welcome back, Aiz-tan!"
Loki smiled cheerfully, waving her glass.
"Did you go for a night walk? You missed a very boring meeting with Finn."
Aiz did not answer right away.
She walked over and sat down on the chair across from her goddess.
She did not unbuckle her armor.
She did not take off her sword.
She just stared quietly at her own open hands.
Loki noticed this immediately. She put her wine glass down on the table.
Her playful, silly smile completely vanished, replaced by a very serious, observant look.
"What is on your mind, Aiz?"
Loki asked quietly.
"You look like your entire world just turned upside down. Did something happen out there?"
Aiz slowly closed her hands into loose fists.
"I talked to him,"
Aiz whispered.
"The tall man from the tavern. Elias."
Loki almost jumped out of her seat.
Her red eyes snapped wide open.
"You did what?!"
Loki gasped, her voice full of sudden panic.
"Aiz, Finn gave a strict order to the whole Familia! That man is an absolute disaster! He could have killed you in the middle of the street!"
"He did not want to hurt me,"
Aiz explained softly, looking up.
"I apologized for Bete's rude words. And then... I asked him a question. I asked him how he became so incredibly strong."
Loki took a deep, shaky breath.
She forced herself to sit back down and calm her racing heart.
She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands.
"And what did the monster say?"
Loki asked carefully.
"He said I only fight to destroy,"
Aiz murmured.
She slowly pulled her silver sword out of its scabbard just a few inches.
She stared at her reflection in the cold, sharp metal.
"He said wanting to destroy makes me a very sharp blade,"
Aiz continued.
"But a blade can easily break."
Loki frowned deeply.
She knew Aiz better than anyone else in the world.
She knew Aiz fought because of a dark, painful sadness in her past.
Since she was a little girl, Aiz only cared about killing monsters and getting revenge.
"He told me he fights to protect,"
Aiz whispered, her golden eyes looking confused, but also full of deep wonder.
"Loki-sama... have I been doing it wrong this whole time?"
Loki felt a sudden, sharp ache in her chest.
She hated seeing her strongest, most precious child look so completely lost.
Loki reached out across the small table.
She gently placed her hands over Aiz's, slowly pushing the silver sword back into its resting place.
"No, Aiz,"
Loki said in a very gentle, motherly voice.
"You have not been doing it wrong. You survived a very hard life. You fought hard to stay alive, and I am incredibly proud of the warrior you have become."
Loki looked out the large glass window, thinking about the terrifying man with the glowing eyes.
"But,"
Loki admitted quietly,
"That strange man is right about one very important thing. Hate and anger are like a roaring fire. They burn very hot, and they make you swing your sword very fast. But eventually, the fire runs out of wood. You will just burn yourself to ash."
Aiz looked up at her goddess, listening to every single word.
"Protecting someone..."
Loki smiled softly, reaching over to gently poke Aiz's cheek.
"That is like a deep ocean. It never runs out. It just gets deeper and stronger. Maybe it is time you try to find something you want to protect, too."
Aiz touched her own cheek.
She thought about the warm, gentle way Elias had patted Bell's shoulder.
Aiz slowly nodded.
For the very first time in her entire life, she did not want to wake up tomorrow just to go kill monsters.
She wanted to understand what it felt like to have a heavy, unbreakable soul.