Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

"Mr. Bell, ahhh~"

"what?"

"Ah~~ Let me feed you."

Miss Seele suddenly tore off a small piece of bread and handed it to me.

Beneath that smiling face, there was a subtle air of wanting to play a trick on someone.

—She actually made her move so quickly!

Seeing the other side launch an attack, I secretly tensed up.

No problem, after all, I have personally experienced how to deal with "feeding people"!

Speaking of yesterday, after Miss Cassandra woke up, she still stayed with me to practice "feeding people" until she developed a high fever. So I can't let her sacrifice go to waste!

I naturally took Miss Seele's outstretched hand and took a bite of the bread.

"what?"

"Mmm, delicious. Miss Seele, would you like to try some?"

"What?"

Come on, ah~~

I responded in kind to Miss Seele, who was still dumbfounded and confused about what was going on.

She looked at my perfect smile, then at her own hand being held, clearly quite shaken.

"...Ah, ahhhhh..."

Then she took a bite of the bread.

Because of this action, my gloved fingers gently touched her cherry-like lips.

She covered her mouth with her right hand and kept chewing. I maintained my smile and asked:

"how?"

"...The bread...is delicious."

Miss Seele couldn't help but cover her face with her hand, but her flushed cheeks could still be vaguely seen.

"Great!" I said, looking at Miss Seele who had looked away, and then finished off the rest of the bread.

"...Huh? Huh?"

Seeing Miss Seele's puzzled expression, I gave her a slightly triumphant smile, took her hand, and continued walking forward.

The main road on the south side where we were was also selling goods other than agricultural products, with the most eye-catching being the flower and fruit ornaments unique to the Goddess Festival. Many vendors simply laid out carpets by the roadside and hawked their various ornaments on the spot. There were even puppet shows being performed in a corner of the road, seemingly with magicians involved, making the performances quite impressive. Looking into the distance, we could see an archway resembling a wheat stalk erected at the end of the road leading to the central plaza.

Although it is a bustling area with large entertainment facilities such as casinos and theaters, it has now been integrated with the characteristics of the Goddess Festival.

(For this reason, this place is packed with people...)

Even though I rarely come to the "bustling area", I can feel that it is more crowded than usual.

Although it wasn't so crowded that it was impossible to move, it was still easy to bump into other people, and occasionally children playing would suddenly dart out in front of you, so you had to be vigilant at all times.

(However, well... that's not the best analogy, but it's still much better than a maze where hordes of monsters could attack at any moment?)

With an extremely natural movement, I shielded Miss Seele from the crowd.

For example, holding Miss Seele's hand with a firm but not awkward touch, sometimes pulling her closer,

Sometimes I would keep her a little distance away. Whenever a burly orc or dwarf passed by, I would protect her by my side, anticipating the route to avoid having to drastically change direction. If a carriage passed by, I would temporarily let go and chat with her as I circled around to the side closer to the road.

After all, I am already a Level 4, Level 2 adventurer.

Predicting trends in society seems easy to me—but it's not actually that simple.

This method of choosing a good position to protect my female companion was also taught to me by my master.

"If Lady Seele is harmed in the slightest, I will kill you."

You can tell from his master's eyes that he meant what he said.

Terrified, I desperately learned how to be a protector of a flower.

That's why I was able to protect Miss Seele and keep her safe.

I tried to do it as irrelevantly as possible, but it seems Miss Seele still noticed. Just as I was thinking this—

“…………”

She kept looking at me with her pale gray eyes as she walked.

"What’s wrong with you?"

"Ah, it's nothing, really it's nothing..."

I met those pale gray eyes.

After regaining her senses, Miss Seele wavered, which was unusual for her.

"How did this happen...? I should be the one making Mr. Bell blush and his heart race, but why am I the one whose heart is racing...? Hmm... This is so strange..."

Miss Seele placed a hand on her flushed cheek and tilted her head repeatedly in confusion.

Um... does that mean my performance satisfied Miss Seele?

Seeing her puzzled expression, I quickly reached out my hand.

"Um...stealing is wrong."

"babble!?"

I pulled the startled Miss Seele into my arms, while simultaneously grabbing the man's wrist with my other hand to prevent him from reaching into Miss Seele's handbag.

"You're more likely to encounter pickpockets during festivals than usual"—this was the master's warning.

In addition, Lily would often sharply remind me, "Lord Bell, you're always too lax. Please remember to be vigilant at all times! If Lily were a pickpocket, she would have succeeded more than forty times by now!"...

It's probably because Miss Seele was distracted that she was targeted by pickpockets.

Not used to dealing with these kinds of things, I could only offer my earnest and kind advice.

This pickpocket, who should not have joined any faction, seemed greatly surprised by personally experiencing the advanced adventurer's dynamic vision and physical abilities, and turned pale with fright.

Not long after, he was taken away by two military police officers who noticed something was wrong.

"Um... Mr. Bell?"

I scratched my cheek with my finger and watched the pickpocket being led away disappear into the crowd. I only came back to my senses when I heard this faint, mosquito-like call.

I quickly released Miss Seele, who seemed shy from my embrace, and looked directly at her.

I felt embarrassed by my own unusual behavior and laughed awkwardly.

"Excuse me, are you alright?"

Miss Seele's cheeks flushed crimson once again.

"That adventurer brother is really something!"

Lunova expressed her appreciation frankly.

She, Anya, and Chloe hid in a side alley, peeking out from around the corner to secretly observe the boy and girl in front of them.

"I think the white-haired guy looks much cooler than usual, meow!"

"Yes, yes, it's not just the appearance that's changed!"

"When did this boy become such a ladies' man...! His handsomeness index is 800, 900, 1000...! And it keeps rising!?"

The group that slipped out of the "Abundant Mistress"—thanks to Anya tracking her down by her perfume—were hiding nearby, observing Bell and the others' date. No, they were indulging in the festival without restraint.

As a result, passersby mistook her for a suspicious person. The reason was that Anya was eating a crepe and a steamed potato in her hands.

"And look! He's always in the perfect spot, meow...!"

"What does that mean, meow? Koroi."

"He was protecting Seele from the crowd the whole time! Such agility... no one but a cat could have seen it, meow!"

Facing Bell, who had been protecting Seele without leaving a trace, Kroy spoke with a smug expression for some reason.

"The boys of today are not unfinished boys, but gentlemanly boys, meow!" Chloe's declaration caused Anya and Lunova to exclaim in surprise, "Oh~!"

"..."

When Ryu saw this scene, he simply pressed one hand to his chest.

We exchanged our food, chatted happily, and then sat on a bench to rest for a while.

During this time, Miss Seele and I thoroughly enjoyed the festival in the bustling area.

Miss Seele would occasionally sneak a peek at me along the way, but whenever I looked at her, she would quickly cover it up with a smile, looking somewhat flustered.

"Miss Seele, is there anything else you'd like to eat?"

"Um... I need to control myself, because I've eaten a bit too much..."

"After all, you just ate a lot of berries."

"Mr. Bell is naughty!"

"Haha!"

Miss Seele glared at me angrily after I teased her, but she quickly put on a smile.

The atmosphere felt great.

Just walking around the neighborhood is enough to make me very happy.

As time went by, I felt myself gradually relaxing.

—Therefore, I decided to officially move on to the main event of the "date".

"Miss Seele, is there anything you'd like to do today?"

"what?"

"Please don't hesitate to tell me if there's anything you'd like to do."

The first principle my master taught me was that men should always know how to take the lead in a date.

However, it is also important to ask women what they want to do and to confirm their opinions.

"Dating" is an interaction between men and women, and should never be treated as a "job".

To ensure the other person has a happy time, you need to be sincere, not calculating.

This is the goal that should be pursued during a date.

"Um... basically not..."

"There's a place I'd like to go. Could you come with me?"

The second principle is to say as much as possible what you think of, and avoid hesitation.

Even if the other party doesn't mean it that way, you should always treat it as a test and never be careless.

You must learn to be confident and courageous, and treat others with kindness.

"There is only one thing you must abide by, and that is that you must personally make the arrangements for the day."

Mr. Hedin gave me this advice.

He said it would make sense for me to arrange the date itinerary.

"I will impart knowledge to you and help you cultivate the right mindset, but that's all I can do for you. I won't interfere with the actual itinerary of the date."

"Huh!? No, no way..."

"Fool, whether it's others, books, or oracles, they are all just knowledge. If you can't use this knowledge yourself and think about how to make the other person happy, you can't make Lady Seele feel genuinely happy. The reason is that what's missing is your subjective element."

"!"

"Dating, in essence, is about exploring the extent to which men and women can share joy with each other."

Of all my master's teachings, this sentence resonated with me the most.

Although I initially accepted this date to protect the Hestia Familia, I wanted to make Seele happy and repay her kindness—this was my true intention.

Miss Seele would always prepare lunch for me and would always greet me with a smile at the bar.