"You saw it with your own eyes?"
Ais could hardly believe what she was hearing. Was it really possible to run into something like this so directly?
What shocked her even more was that Bell had apparently been walking this kind of dangerous edge the whole time.
She couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you worried that while spying... while gathering intelligence, a god might notice you?"
Bell only smiled, sounding completely relaxed and utterly confident.
"Of course not. I only acted after running all kinds of tests to make sure my scouting wouldn't be detected. After all, the first Development Ability I gained after leveling up was related to spying. That's what let me go a bit further down this path."
Ais didn't quite know how to respond. It seemed to her like a very dangerous direction to develop in.
"But doesn't that mean you'll see some... less-than-pleasant things?"
"Oh, you mean 'privacy,' right?"
Seeing how serious she looked, Bell almost laughed and quickly waved his hands.
"I'm only interested in valuable intel between Familia, and the secrets gods hide to use as bargaining chips. Private matters don't interest me that much.
"Also, I basically exclude things like goddesses' private rooms or public bathhouses from my scouting range."
"And my own Goddess is pretty jealous. If she found out I was peeking at other goddesses' bodies, she'd probably smother me to death."
Thinking of a few goddesses' figures, Bell had to admit that aside from Loki being a difficult case, the others definitely had the ability to smother him if they wanted.
Ais couldn't help thinking about Hestia's figure as well.
'Aside from being a little short, Hestia-sama really is perfect.'
She often acted together with Loki, and had seen Hestia get bullied by her many times, but overall, Hestia was still a very admirable goddess.
Ais watched Bell closely as he said all this.
'Bell must like Hestia-sama.'
'But Loki said romances between gods and children of the Genkai usually end in tragedy.'
That thought made her worry whether Bell and Hestia might meet the same fate.
But she couldn't say that out loud.
Even though it was just the two of them here, the moment Bell referred to himself by his codename, Ais understood: being alone didn't mean no one else could be listening.
Which meant she absolutely couldn't bring up Hestia. Doing so would expose Bell's identity.
So changing the subject was the safest choice.
"So, Zero, what other intelligence have you found?"
"Intel, huh..."
Bell rested his chin on his hand, thinking for a moment. Most of the information he'd gotten from the "story," after verifying it himself, had already been sold to Loki.
"Well, I did pick up quite a lot of intelligence, but the amount that's actually useful is still limited. And most of the valuable parts have already been traded to Loki."
"Traded with Loki?"
Ais hadn't expected Bell to have been making deals with Loki.
She hadn't been present for most of those transactions. Finn had handled them, so it made sense she didn't know the details.
"Finn handled most of the discussions, so it's normal you didn't know. But if I remind you a bit, you should remember."
"Cassandra and Daphne from Apollo Familia."
"Sanjouno Haruhime and Aisha Belka from Ishtar Familia."
"Ring a bell now?"
With Bell's reminder, Ais finally understood—those people had joined because of Bell's deals.
"Mhm."
"But how did you know about their special abilities? Especially Cassandra's. Isn't that something no one would believe?"
Cassandra's ability was extremely unusual, like "prophetic dreams," allowing her to glimpse fragments of the future.
Even though Cassandra said she couldn't see entire scenes, only scattered fragments, Ais knew that without those glimpses during their battle with the spirit, they would have suffered heavy casualties.
Cassandra's ability was crucial—critical enough to change the outcome entirely.
And because she understood how important Cassandra's power was, Ais was even more confused as to how Bell had known she possessed it.
"Yeah, plenty of people don't believe Cassandra. Even Daphne, who's closest to her, thinks she's just spouting nonsense. But that's a misunderstanding."
"Cassandra's Skill guarantees she won't be understood. She saw a corner of the future."
"!?"
Up in the Tower of Babel, Apollo shot straight up from his seat, eyes wide.
He'd planned to just sit there and enjoy the show, but somehow the show had turned on him instead. "Cassandra had that kind of ability!?"
Even Apollo, her former Familia God, hadn't known.
He'd always assumed Cassandra was just a gloomy child who muttered strange things.
Her somber temperament and quiet nature had caused Apollo—who had initially brought her into his Familia out of curiosity—to lose interest in her quickly.
He preferred more entertaining children, not ones so gloomy they could barely say a cheerful word.
So after losing the War Game back then, he hadn't cared when Loki picked Cassandra and Daphne.
At the time, Apollo had assumed Loki, that pervert, had simply taken a liking to his kids and grabbed those two on a whim.
He remembered even feeling relieved that Loki chose Cassandra and Daphne instead of his Captain.
Who would've thought Loki had a clear target from the very beginning? She hadn't come for his money at all—she came specifically for Cassandra. Even the money he lost had been a distraction so he wouldn't block Cassandra's conversion.
Now that he knew the truth, Apollo felt completely robbed.
He'd actually handed Cassandra to Loki so easily.
Clutching his chest, Apollo felt as if a knife had been driven straight into his heart.
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
[email protected]/PinkSnake (100 Chapters Ahead).
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.