Chloe kept her footsteps quiet as she walked ahead.
Bell noticed something in the catgirl's teasing smile, but he did not put up any extra guard.
Chloe would not cause trouble for him. Even if she was planning a prank, she would surely take Astraea's status as a Goddess into account and keep the result within acceptable limits.
With that in mind, Bell followed Chloe up the stairs, then walked straight toward the room where the Goddess was.
"Excuse me, nya~"
The moment Chloe spoke, she struck the young man with a "surprise attack."
Caught off guard by the sudden assault from a Level 4, Bell was instantly shoved into the room.
What entered his sight was an Elf girl with her upper body bare, her chest covered only by her arms and a towel.
Against that fair, soft skin, the towel faintly outlined the beautiful curves beneath it.
"Nya? Looks like the timing wasn't great, nya?"
Chloe stood outside the door, a sly smile tugging at her lips.
"..."
Bell was momentarily speechless and quickly thought through what to do.
The curtains blocked out the sunlight, leaving the room somewhat dim, but Bell could still see Astraea and Ryuu's faces clearly.
The Goddess stood behind Ryuu, one hand resting on the girl's bare back. Judging from the situation, she was clearly in the middle of updating Ryuu's Status.
As for Ryuu, who stood at the center of his gaze, it was as if time had frozen around her.
Ryuu kept her arms over her chest and stared blankly at Bell for two seconds. In the next instant, the Gale descended, dyed in the flames of embarrassment.
"Cranel-san?!"
Ryuu instinctively tried to grab her wooden sword, but her weapon had already been placed on the table in the corner.
"Ryuu, I'm still updating your Status. Don't move."
Astraea glanced at the young man, then focused all her attention on the Status Update.
"Ugh..."
Ryuu bitterly regretted not having a weapon with her.
The only thing she could do was send him an icy glare.
Of course, Bell had already taken everything in before gentlemanly turning around.
"All done."
Astraea spoke gently.
Everything had happened in only a few short seconds, and Bell, who had been pushed into the room by Chloe, had not even had time to escape.
The moment the Goddess finished speaking, a fierce gust of wind swept through the room. With a sharp whistle through the air, a dagger stabbed into the floor beside Chloe.
"Nya?!"
As the one responsible for the prank, Chloe had not run away immediately. After all, if she had left, that dagger would definitely have been aimed at the "innocent" young man.
"That was aimed at my forehead just now, nya?!"
Chloe stated the terrifying truth.
"With your speed, you could have dodged it easily anyway, couldn't you?"
Ryuu stood in the corner of the room, wearing a cloak to cover herself.
In the current situation, she really did not have the courage to slowly put on her underwear.
"I didn't expect you two to be updating her Status either. I'm sorry, nya!"
Chloe quickly begged for mercy.
"Astraea-sama, is she telling the truth?"
A faint blush colored Ryuu's face. If the young man had not turned around immediately, even she did not know what would have become of her.
Even though Bell's gaze was no longer on her, Ryuu's mind was still in chaos. But with the Goddess present, she could stop thinking and accept Astraea's judgment.
"Mm. It's a lie."
Astraea's expression was extremely gentle, but to Chloe, she looked like a demon wearing a Goddess's skin.
"I'm sorry! I was wrong, nya!!"
Chloe felt a wave of chills wash over her and instantly realized things were bad.
Normally, in a situation like this, Ryuu would definitely have turned useless.
Was it because something had happened between her and the young man that changed her mindset?
Or had the Goddess's presence helped her overcome her embarrassment?
Or had her embarrassment exceeded the threshold of uselessness and reached an entirely new realm?
Chloe had no time to think about the reason.
At this rate, she was definitely going to be killed.
"Play around."
"Feles Cruz!"
The ultra-short chant left her mouth.
The instant Chloe turned around, her figure overlapped with two phantoms.
Even Bell could not tell which one was the real body.
The three catgirls ran in different directions, but the Gale was far faster than any of them.
Ryuu did not bother trying to figure out which one was real. She simply rushed out and pursued them at an unbelievable speed.
The phantom running deeper into the corridor vanished into foam in barely a second.
"Nya-nya?!"
Before Chloe could create any distance, Ryuu caught her real body.
"Do you have any last words?"
Ryuu swung her wooden sword once and stared coldly at the catgirl.
"I was wrong, nya! I'll give you the doll that smells like Bell Cranel, nya!"
Chloe lowered her tail and apologized over and over.
"W-who would want something like that?!"
Ryuu's icy beauty visibly wavered.
Her tone was cold and angry, but in her heart, she had no intention of doing anything too cruel.
Before the Status Update, the two members of Astraea Familia had been out dealing with arrangements after the trip, so Ryuu had asked Chloe to keep anyone from entering.
This catgirl, who had worked with her for so long, must have known about the ambiguous relationship between her and the young man, and that was why she had pulled such a prank.
Ryuu was only embarrassed by the result and had no intention of blaming the young man. But the fact that Chloe had seen through the depth of her relationship with him left Ryuu deeply conflicted.
Chloe should only have seen her ordinary self and should not know the details of those incidents. Could it be that she usually made it that obvious?
She was clearly Syr's lover, so what on earth was she thinking?!
"C-Cranel-san."
Ryuu called softly.
When she saw Bell following them, she immediately lost the will to act.
"Ryuu-san, please don't worry. Although it is very unfortunate, I didn't see anything especially private."
Bell replied honestly.
"Ugh..."
Ryuu's face turned bright red.
What did he mean by "very unfortunate"?
How was that supposed to make her feel relieved?
She had only fled last night because of the golden hair, and now something like this had happened again today...
"Speaking of which, Ryuu-san, have you gotten even faster?"
Bell did not keep staring at Ryuu's body and instead gentlemanly changed the subject.
"It may be because my Status was updated..."
Ryuu smoothly picked up the topic.
Since rising to Level 5, she had experienced several battles together with the young man. Training for the War Game, the battle in the Spirit Land, the Goddess of the Moon incident, the battle at the Pantry on the 24th Floor...
All of those experiences were Excelia for growth, so it made sense that her Agility had increased.
"That is true, but it is not the most important reason."
Astraea slowly walked over.
Her gaze moved between Ryuu and Bell for a moment, then she smiled and said,
"Ryuu, congratulations. You have gained a new skill."
***
...
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
[email protected]/PinkSnake (70 Chapters Ahead).
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.
***