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

"Everyone likes Bell...everyone likes you all."

Then she closed her eyes and smiled like a flower.

"So warm..."

Seeing her intently experiencing a certain emotion, everyone was startled, and then Winnie threw herself into my arms.

She put her hands behind my back and pressed her ear against mine, wanting to hear the pounding of my heart.

Seeing her happy expression, the fairy, Lily, Welf, Miss Mikoto, Miss Haruhime, and I all unconsciously broke into smiles.

I placed my hand on Qingyin's hair and inadvertently looked up.

The view from the living room was vaguely reflected on the windowpane.

Humans, demi-humans, gods, and monsters.

Even though we are different races with different postures, appearances, and skin colors, this scene revolves around a young girl...

It remains a heartwarming family portrait.

After the alien girl joined them, they spent a short time together.

[Hestia Familia] When it was time to go to bed, Bell and the others went to their respective rooms.

One by one, the magic stone lights on each floor went out.

"Lady Haruhime, please tell me. Lady Haruhime, about Lady Winnie..."

"Yes, I share the same sentiment as Lord Bell. I am unwilling to give up that... though perhaps it is merely out of pity..."

In the darkened double room, Haruhime and Mikoto lay down side by side on the bedding.

The two lay on their sides, their emerald green and bluish-purple eyes gazing at each other as they spoke in hushed tones.

"Perhaps seeing her only reminds me of my past as a prostitute... Separated from you, my lord, I was all alone. I only did this for my own pleasure..."

"No such thing. Lady Haruhime is as gentle as ever, she hasn't changed."

Just like how they used to give food to us strangers back then. Life, immersed in memories, smiles.

Hearing her say that, the fox-girl, who had originally looked melancholy, smiled.

"What are your thoughts on Lady Winnie, Lord Ming?"

"I... to be honest, I haven't been able to reach a clear conclusion yet."

"However," Fate continued.

"To me, Lady Winnie's smile is no different from ours. If possible, I hope to cultivate a friendship with her... like family (clan)."

"...Thank you, my life."

Bathed in moonlight streaming into the room through the gaps in the curtains, Mikoto and Haruhime squinted.

Just like when they took a nap in the narrow shrine when they were children, the two of them were close enough to breathe, their foreheads touching, and their eyelids closed.

"Goddess Hestia... those gods really do know something about the dungeon."

They were all ordered to leave the dimly lit living room.

When the wall-mounted magic stone lamp was lit like a candlestick with only one lamp lit, Welf was tidying up his nail-fileting tools when Lily spoke to him.

"The same thing happened when that black floor master (Goliath) appeared. They clearly knew certain things about the dungeon... or the true nature of some being, but they kept it from the people of the lower world."

"I think so."

"Although she knew about it, she was terrified by the existence of that monster."

Lily sat in the chair swinging her legs, while Welf continued to answer her with his back to her.

"This is also a very unusual situation for the gods... No mistake, we are now facing a very difficult problem."

"When Bell said she wanted to bring her back, didn't you accept it? Why are you bringing it up again now?"

"Lily didn't accept it, she just gave up... because Lord Bell is an extremely kind person."

The leader (Bell) and the faction (Family) of the little girl talk to the human youth.

"If her presence poses a danger to this [familia]... then..."

"You mean you're going to kick her out and abandon her?"

"...if necessary."

Welf, who was listening to Lily's opinion, looked up and turned to look at her.

He spoke to the girl who was worried about the future of the faction that the other members were switching sides, and who was willing to play the bad cop:

"Go look in the mirror. Look at your expression; you look completely unable to accept it."

"..."

Lily's expression was distorted, and bitterness appeared in her chestnut eyes as she looked down at the floor.

She lowered her head and spoke as if squeezing the words out of her throat:

"We can't be too emotional... If everyone opens their hearts to that girl, one day they'll make the wrong judgment."

"..."

"It can't go on like this forever, it can't always be like this, we can't always laugh together..."

Because the girl is a "monster".

Hearing Lily whisper in an almost inaudible voice, this time it was Welf's turn to refuse to answer.

"Then let's sleep together as a family of three tonight!"

"A family of three?"

"This... is a deity...!?"

In Bell's private room on the third floor of the mansion.

In this room, which was nothing special except for the adventurer's equipment, there was a wardrobe that had been converted into an armory storage room, as well as armor with repair marks. Hestia proudly tucked her personal pillow under her arm.

Taking advantage of Winnie's insistence on sleeping with Belle, she went along with it... or rather, to fulfill the duty of the main god, and barged into the room to check on the boy and his friends.

And they kept it a secret from Lily and the others.

"So first of all... Winnie, from now on you will call me 'Mother' and Belle 'Father'."

"Mommy, Daddy...?"

"What are you trying to teach her, you celestial being?!"

Hestia stroked Winnie's head, and Bell made a strange noise at her.

The dragon girl was being lovingly stroked by the goddess, who was shorter than her, and tilted her head slightly in disbelief.

"Bell, in situations like this, we should follow the laws of the lower realm and start with the form, okay?"

"This is the first time I've ever heard of such a rule!?"

In contrast to his terrified family, the chief deity gave a hearty thumbs-up with a cheerful smile.

"Besides, my room only has one bed, so it just won't work!"

"What's wrong, Belle? Didn't you just snuggle up with Winnie yesterday? She can, but I can't?"

"Th-that's...! No, but! I still feel it's too presumptuous of me to sleep with a deity...!"

"Besides, didn't we sleep on the same sofa in the church basement?"

"Huh! That's strange!?"

Wasn't it because the gods were half asleep that time?! Bell was confused.

Ignoring the boy who was holding his head in his hands, Hestia gave Winnie a gentle smile.

"Is it okay, Winnie?"

"……Um!"

Winnie smiled shyly at her and said, "Even the gods are here."

As a result, Bell couldn't win the argument, and the three of them ended up lying side by side on the single bed.

"Won't it be a bit crowded?"

"Hehe! That's exactly how it should be, so crowded!"

"It's so warm!"

The three of them were so close that even the slightest movement would cause them to touch each other's skin, making Bell blush. Hestia smiled, while Winnie happily swayed her shoulders.

Centered on the dragon girl, the gods and humans lay supine in a V-shape. Physically, Hestia should have been lying in the middle, but she seemed quite content with the arrangement.

In the room where the magic stone lights were off, the rustling of blankets could be heard incessantly. Beside the nervous Bell, Hestia and Winnie initially joked and laughed with each other, but as the clock ticked by, they began to breathe softly as they slept.

Soon, all the lights in the rooms went out, and the mansion fell into slumber.

"...?"

Belle, who was in a light sleep, felt someone moving beside her and opened her eyes.

Looking up, he saw Winnie facing him and leaning closer.

Just like he has done many times before, he hugged Bell's right arm tightly.

"Can't you sleep?"

"No...it's alright."

Bell murmured in a low voice, her amber eyes narrowing.

A faint glowing red stone adorned her forehead, and strands of her bluish-white hair rustled softly. The girl's pale, bluish neck peeked out from her pajamas as she pressed her face against the pillow with a gentle smile.

Bell, whose eyes met hers, inadvertently looked away, only to see Hestia snoring and turning over. He glanced at the goddess, who had turned her back to him and Winnie, thought for a moment, and then changed his position to face Winnie.

The dragon girl approached him with a calm expression.

"...Where did Winnie come from?"

Bell nestled close to her like he was sleeping with a child, and slowly began to speak.

He asked the alien girl, who had let her guard down, a question that had always bothered him.

"have no idea."

"No companions... won't the monsters bully Winnie?"

"I don't know either..."

When Bell asked her questions, Winnie answered that she didn't know, her eyes lowered.

She said that when she came to her senses, she was already alone in the dark maze.

"but,"

At that moment, Winnie lifted her head in his arms.

"I dream."

"dream……?"

"Yeah, I dreamt about attacking Bell and your group... attacking people."

Upon hearing this, Bell's eyes widened.

"I scratched a group of strangers, bit them, tore them to pieces..."

In the vast, rock-covered space, there are several intricate passageways.

She bared her teeth and claws at the group of people who were swinging their swords, tearing them to pieces.

Ignoring the irritating screams, she repeatedly pierced the fleeing creature's back with her horns.

"So many things turned red... What a terrifying dream."

My gaze drifted down to my hands, where I saw blood-stained red claws.

As long as you close your eyes, the dream will expand before your eyes. Winnie told me that she has seen this scene several times.

"In my dream, I was always angry... but gradually I became very cold."

“Eh…?”