Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.3] Quest 266.5- A Love Goddesses Confession

After the evening they had Syr took Bell to a nearby inn. After a nice shower, the two sit awkwardly next to each other in new dry clothes kindly provided by the inn.

Bell’s heart began to beat faster in his chest as Syr was sitting next to him.

“Bell…” her voice was quiet and shy. “You asked me what I am correct?”

“… Yes.”

The feeling in the room grew slightly tense.

“Well, before that, let me ask you something. If I were to tell you, how would you feel? Would it change how you see me? Would you get angry at me, betrayed, heartbroken? Maybe even excited?”

“… No… I think I would still see you as Syr, a kind girl who treated me with kindness when I was starting out and needed help.”

“Fufu you still are Bell.”

He made a small smile.

“Yes… so.” He turns to her with confidence in his eyes. “I am ready to listen.”

Syr turns around as well to meet his gaze.

“… Fuuu~” she let out a deep breath with closed eyes and when she opens them again, her eyes shimmered like silver under the light. “My name is—“ she snapped her fingers and steam came off her and cover her body, showing a much taller and fuller form until eventually, the steam cleared to reveal herself. “—Freya.”

Bell would have expected her to be like something close to that spirit he met in the Knossos and not a goddess of love and beauty.

He quickly regained his composure from the revelation.

“A goddess…” he takes a deep breath. “Can I ask why you disguised yourself?”

“It was to find my Odr, my true love. I have longed to find them, but none seemed to fit.” She sits back down.

“And you think I am that?”

“Hopefully, yes, you do not seem to be affected by my charm.” She said with a slight smile.

“H-how do you know that?” he said, nervous as he looks away.

“Oh? do you not like what I’m wearing?” she said as the clothes she was wearing before were now tight on her. “If you want, I can turn back if it makes it easier. Unless you want to see me…” she slowly started to take off her clothes.

“B-back, please! Y-your beautiful but um, this is an important conversation!”

“Fufu very well.” She snapped her fingers and, like static, she took on the appearance of Syr. “There! Much more moveable!”

“S-so you didn’t answer my last question…” he said slowly, looking back.

“Right, well, I’m sure you found it odd how Ishtar didn’t charm you, correct?”

“Y-yes um… she tried to, but I escaped.”

“From our conversation, before she… returned to Heaven, she told me it was because of a skill you have, one that lets you have an immunity to a goddess's charm.”

“I do!” he said, surprised.

“How cute you really didn’t know, did you?” Freya said, looking at the surprised look on his face. “Well, if Hestia didn’t tell you, then she must have her reasons.”

“So… because I have this skill that makes me immune to your charm? And that makes me your Odr?”

“Not quite that, but it helps.”

“W-what about Cirrus? He kissed your hand during the banquet, and he seemed fine?”

“Cirrus is… also shall we say an Odr as well, but he does not possess a skill to grant him immunity to a goddess charm. He simply grew a sort of tolerance towards it, hardening his will to resist it.”

Bell seemed to have a newfound respect for Cirrus to be able to do that. But if Freya knows this, then wouldn’t she have confessed to him as well as he is an Odr?

“Then did you also confess to him?”

A slightly sad expression grew on her face.

“I did, and he rejected me in such a way… I gained more from it than I would have thought.”

“Like what?”

“Like learning that my existence as a goddess of love and beauty hinders my goal of finding my Odr. With each new child or person I meet, they quickly fall to my charm and gain their affection. Cirrus found this to be my problem. I was gaining love, yes, but… not true love. He then asked me what my feelings are for him. I replied as an intense love which I have mistaken for true love to be infatuation. I didn’t know who he was, what his favorite color was, what food he liked, drinks, sleep, or just about anything but his name and appearance.”

“That’s when you come to a realization?”

“Yes… I wanted true love! One where I would know all the good and bad of them and still found it in me to love them wholeheartedly and put in the effort. What I never truly have done… a relationship where I have to put in the effort, and not be a single person constantly showering me with praise and surface-level affection. That is what I came to… and I truly want and crave more than the world and you…” she looks him in his ruby eyes and scoots closer to him. “You who are immune to my charm and possess a beauty and innocence that caught my eye, much like the one who rejected me has.” She made a sweet smile at Bell.

Bell felt something hot in his heart. Her confession came from her heart and soul. A goddess who only ever knew the surface of love for so many years was actually as inexperienced as him in relationships.

Bell kept his deposition.

“… So you say you didn’t want surface-level affection, but you said you loved my beauty and compared it to Cirrus? Does that not go against what you were saying?”

“I could say the same for you and the Sword Princess, no? would you have eyes for her if she was not beautiful?” She said with an eyebrow raised.

“I guess that is true…”

“Fufu… if it makes you feel any better, Bell, it was not your appearance that drew me to you or even Cirrus it was—“ she moved her hand down him to the center of his chest. “Your innocently white soul.”

“M-my soul!?” He said surprised.

“Yes, most don’t realize that I am not just a goddess of love and beauty, but one of magic and death as well.” She took back her hand. “I can see your purest forms with my eyes and yours was one I had never seen before.”

“R-really?”

“Yes, yours is like a holy white, so innocent it is like a fire in the dark of night.”

“That… makes it better, I guess?”

“So… have your thoughts on me changed?”

Another silence fills the room as Bell thinks about it.

“… No, it was still you who gave me that necklace for the Wargames and who gave me free food that you cook yourself, right? I see your hand with bandages every now and again when you make something new.”

She lays back, placing her head on the pillow, making an impish smile.

“I’m embarrassed you noticed it, but I tried to cook. I am glad you found it to your liking."

“Was that why you go to the orphanage?”

“No, that is to honor a goddess who fought bravely but was ultimately forced out of the city. The children taste testing the food was simply a bonus I didn’t plan.”

“… That’s kind of you to honor a friend like that… is she still in Gekai or…”

“She is. Ryuu is still in contact with her.”

“T-then the goddess is Astraea!?”

“Yes… she was a kind and beloved goddess… but that’s enough about her. If you really wish to know more about her, I suggest asking Ryuu or Cirrus. Tonight it is about me and you. Are there any other questions you want to ask me?”

“Yes… Regarding the Spoon Aqua.”

“Oh that. Please accept my deepest apologies. My children are… overprotective, as were the girls from the pub. I will have a stern talk with my Familia about this. Anything else?”

Bell closes his eyes and lands on a question he wants to be answered. He builds his courage and asked her.

“… Do you really wish to try and build a relationship with me?”

“Of course, but I know you already have eyes for the Sword Princess, the same eyes Cirrus had for Ai, so I have a proposal.”

“A proposal?”

“Yes.” She got up and leaned against Bell’s shoulder. “We can have a relationship much like what Artemis has with Cirrus and Ai. We could be one big, happy family. Don’t you feel the same?”

“… A bit, but… I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings if I can. The bond Lady Artemis, Cirrus, and Ai share is something I dreamed of having, one where they have been through battles and situations.”

“That is why I wish to have a bond like theirs.” She rests her head on his shoulder. “The proposal is still up to be taken. I will not force your hand to choose now, but I hope you consider it as a viable option.”

“… This feels surreal… I still haven’t given my goddess an answer to her.”

“If you wish to have Hestia as a lover, I will join you.” She linked her arms with his. “So long as we build a relationship together, I don’t mind if you share your love with others.”

“Mmmm….”

Bell thinks long and hard about it when his grandfather’s words came to mind, but Cirrus’s also popped up.

‘I really don’t want to be a someone who cheats… Hmmmm….’

“You look tense.” Syr leaned over him and they both lay on the bed.

“W-what are—"

Syr put her finger to his lips.

“Shush, sleep. You have plenty of time.”

“B-but—"

“You are cute when you're all flustered, I told you.” a nice smile grew on her face. “I will win a place in your heart, so for today will you stay here with me, sleeping next to one another and nothing more? Is that fine with you?”

Bell contemplated it and accepted it.

“So long as it is just sleeping… I am fine with that.”

“Thank you.” She holds him close, and Bell did as well.

The two would sleep comfortably throughout the night, resting in each other’s comfort.