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

The wounds caused by the fingernails quickly oozed red liquid, dripping onto the lawn.

“Eh…?”

"Lord Bel!?"

I stood frozen in place, while Winnie stared blankly at her bloodied hand. Miss Chunji screamed in pain when she saw my scratched arm.

Seeing that I was bleeding profusely, she shouted, "I'll go get the first aid kit!" and stood up and rushed toward the mansion.

"Oh, wait, no way... Belle! Will it hurt?"

Winnie blinked her amber eyes and reached out to me, but stopped a moment before she could.

She quickly withdrew her blood-soaked red claws.

Seeing my squinting expression and my injured arm, Winnie looked at her own hand and her face fell.

"I... I don't want to... I'm sorry, Belle..."

Tears streamed down her face, and her weak voice trembled with emotion and sorrow.

She desperately hugged her trembling hands to her chest.

He wanted to touch me, but he didn't dare.

I was afraid of hurting you again, so I didn't dare to reach out.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

Winnie apologized repeatedly.

The girl was afraid that her hands could hurt others so easily.

The heartbreaking scene struck my eyes.

"..."

Seeing the tears sliding down my cheeks, my hand moved on its own.

Ignoring Winnie's astonishment, I stretched out my scratched right arm and wrapped it, along with my fingernails, around her red-stained hand.

My fingernail dug into my palm, causing a wound and bleeding, but I didn't care.

"It's okay, alright?"

Just like when we first met, I smiled at her.

I didn't care about the pain in my wound at all, and I gripped my hand even tighter.

"—Bell!!"

Winnie sobbed and hugged me tightly.

She threw herself into my arms, buried her face in my neck, and soaked my skin with her tears.

Really... he's just a little kid.

She is afraid of getting hurt and hurting others, yet she yearns for warmth; she is just a lost child.

As I listened to the sobbing of a young child, I thought to myself.

I held her slender body in my arms, and like soothing a child, I stroked her long, silvery-blue hair with my left hand, which was unstained by blood. I noticed Winnie, her shoulders trembling, squint her eyes in comfort.

She rubbed her nose against my ear like a cat.

A warm feeling welled up inside me, and I gently patted her head.

"—?"

As I stroked Winnie's back to comfort her, I felt L.

Following my heightened senses for some reason, I looked up and saw a bird on the roof of the mansion.

(owl……?)

Seeing the bird's white feathers and vertical stripes, I had a question.

Aren't owls nocturnal? ...No, really, how did it end up in a metropolis like this? A lone owl, far from the forest, stared intently at me, and one of its eyes did indeed light up for a moment.

Immediately afterward, before I could get a good look at it, it spread its wings and flew away from the roof of the mansion.

"..."

As I watched the owl disappear into the horizon in the blink of an eye, I fell silent.

Even though the other person was an animal, I couldn't shake the unpleasant feeling of being stared at. I couldn't help but hug Winnie tighter—but soon I noticed a new gaze. Startled, I turned around to look behind me.

"...Ugh!"

Miss Chunji was standing there, holding a first-aid kit in both hands.

For some reason, she looked at Winnie, whom I was holding tightly, with envy.

"..."

"..."

"Bell, Bell!"

I broke out in a sweat listening to Winnie's cheerful voice and seeing Miss Haruhime gently wagging her tail.

The sun sinks behind the city walls that surround the city; night falls.

When it was completely dark, the gods and Welf returned to headquarters.

"I'm back~"

"You're back, deity, and everyone else too. Uh, so... did you gain anything?"

"No, there are no clues."

"Some problems have arisen, involving people and things directly related to the 'talking monster,' and Lily is also..."

"Mih and Takemikazuchi... as expected, they both said they didn't know."

Hestia, exhausted after finishing her work; Welf, scratching his head; Lily, looking inexplicably tired like a goddess; Miss Fate, hesitant to speak… all walked through the mansion gates with sorrowful expressions.

It's only the first day of the operation, so it's naturally not going to go smoothly. But judging from everyone's expressions, things are indeed going to be difficult to resolve.

As I went out with Miss Haruhime and the others to greet everyone, I couldn't help but think this.

"So, how's it going on your end?"

Welf looked up and asked me in return.

The eyes of the fairy and Lily also focused on Winnie, who was hiding behind me.

The dragon girl clutched my clothes, carefully avoiding using her nails, fidgeting shyly; Miss Chunji smiled and bent down, whispering to her, "Please try it?"

Her long, silver hair swayed up and down as she nodded.

"...You...you're back."

She peeked out from behind me with only one eye showing and whispered.

The gods and Welf were all stunned. Winnie quickly hid behind Miss Chunji from my side.

Miss Haruhime and I exchanged wry smiles and gentle smiles.

"She...is very clingy to you guys."

Lily and Miss Fate were stunned, and Welf said to us with an indescribable expression.

He was right; Winnie had completely opened her heart to Miss Haruhime. She pressed her forehead against Miss Haruhime's back, her golden tail patting her pale, bluish body.

The dragon girl squirmed, ticklish, and laughed along with the fox girl.

Lily was still dumbfounded, while the fairy beside her crossed her arms in dissatisfaction.

"It seems Haruhime has a knack for being a mother? I'm sure of it."

The goddess, who was rejected last night, said this somewhat unwillingly.

"So delicious...! Life, you're amazing!"

“Thank you…”

After changing my clothes, I sat at a table in a large restaurant.

Winnie took a bite of her dinner, and the first thing she said startled Miss Ming, who was in charge of cooking that night.

On the large dining table were barbecue dishes, mainly fish and meat. Since this was also for Winnie, Miss Ming pondered for a while before deciding to preserve the original flavor of the ingredients as much as possible, seasoning only with salt. There were pork chops cut into small, easy-to-eat pieces, a whole grilled fish, and vegetable soup. Only the Far Eastern-style fried egg was rather refined; perhaps because it was made sweet, Winnie seemed to quite like it.

"Haruhime, did you say that? She said that life, the rice she cooks, is delicious."

"N-No, not at all! I'm far from good enough, or rather, I need to improve..."

Miss Fate was flustered—or rather, embarrassed—under her sparkling gaze.

She fidgeted, her black ponytail swaying back and forth, her face flushed.

Calling it feeding wild animals isn't quite right... Anyway, Winnie ate the delicious food and was quite excited, her voice louder than usual. Sitting next to her, Miss Haruhime, "Ah—" fed her a hot, thick fried egg with charred marks, and the dragon girl looked very happy.

Not only her amber eyes, but even the red stone on her forehead seemed to be shining.

"Waaah... I'm so worried about how to get along with her, I've become a laughing stock..."

"My Lord! She's a monster! Don't open your heart to her just because of that!"

"You're so stubborn, Miss Supporter. The most important thing at times like this is to go all out... no, I mean, to think flexibly?... So, I'm going to go and get closer to Winnie right now. This time, I have to succeed."

"Please don't compare yourself to Lady Haruhime!? Why are you gods all so carefree?!"

Miss Fate seemed too surprised to see the dragon girl's innocent attitude, and became dejected. Although Lily reminded everyone to be careful, the fairy walked to Winnie's side without any sense of urgency. "This situation is undoubtedly an emergency for the faction!" she couldn't help but shout, but it was too late.

Miss Chunji smiled and invited Miss Ming to join them, and the fairy wanted to communicate with Winnie. Lily tried to stop her, and the dining table became lively with Winnie at the center.

"So she's already gotten along well with everyone, right? I don't want to talk like Riko... but is this really a good idea?"

"Uh, Welf, you're also wary of Winnie, um...?"

"Honestly, I was quite surprised."

Welf was eating away from the chattering women, and by some divine intervention, I gave up my seat next to Winnie and sat down next to Welf.

When I asked him what was wrong, he just smiled wryly and shrugged at me.

"Well, it's a good thing you can finally put down that burden. Weren't you two inseparable before? Or are you feeling lonely because Winnie was taken away by them?"

"Welf!"

I made a sound of annoyance when Welf teased me. But my cheeks turned red, and I couldn't really be angry.

At first, Winnie was a little scared, but as long as she knew that the other person had no intention of hurting her, she would become very clingy to him.

The scene at the dinner table was the best evidence. Winnie had heard beforehand that the gods wouldn't harm people, so her wariness had eased considerably. I think this was also thanks to Miss Chunji's help.

As if trying to make up for her previous loneliness, Winnie seemed eager to communicate with us—with people.

The men and women sat separately, enjoying their pleasant meal. Winnie, who was eating and sharing with the fairies, had a smile on her face.

"Lily, Lily."

"Please, please let go of me!? Why are you leaning against Lily!?"

After a dinner that was more lively than usual, we cleared away the dishes and went to the living room.

During this time, Winnie seemed to take a liking to Lily, who was even smaller than herself, and kept teasing her.

"Oh my, Winnie has become quite familiar with Miss Supporter."

"Who do you think caused this?!"

Lily had initially intended to distance herself from the world, but Winnie, witnessing her amusing conversation with the deity, seemed to completely lower her guard. Hestia, the goddess, stroked her silver hair nearby, while Lily, hugged by Winnie, blushed and yelled at her.

"And...and you smell like animals!? Lily's been thinking about how strong the smell is!"

Lily finally managed to break free from her arms and started yelling...

Winnie looked a little lonely, and Miss Mikoto and Miss Haruhime beside her nodded.

"indeed……"

"Although I wiped her body with a damp cloth this morning..."

Vinnie hasn't had a proper shower since yesterday in the dungeon. Her fire spirit protective suit must be smelling of sweat and all that. ...Yeah, I've been with Vinnie the whole time, and haven't even taken a shower yet.

I'm only now starting to notice my body odor. The deity seemed to be considering something, and then said, "Alright!" with a smile.