Chapter 50 – Pages That Shine
1. Hestia Familia – The Night Before
“Al~riiiiight! Line up, children!”
Hestia clapped her hands and spun once in the middle of the living room, hair and oversized sleeves swishing. The tiny hearth behind her glowed warm orange, pushing back the chill of the coming expedition.
Bell stood at attention automatically.
Haruhime sat seiza on a cushion.
Mikoto knelt even straighter.
Lili crossed her arms like a tiny general.
Welf leaned against the wall, trying to pretend he wasn’t secretly excited.
Cassandra stared at the ceiling, pale and haunted. Daphne nudged her with a sigh.
“Why does this feel like an execution…?” Cassandra whispered.
“Because you keep having ominous dreams about paper,” Daphne shot back.
Hestia planted her hands on her hips. Her divine blood was already humming with anticipation; tomorrow she would carve new stories onto their backs.
“Five days until the expedition,” she declared. “We check where you all stand now so I can brag about you forever later. First up—”
Her finger shot forward.
“Bell!”
“Y-Yes!” Bell jumped.
Lili groaned. “Of course it’s him first.”
“Obvious,” Welf muttered. “He’s the mascot.”
Haruhime smiled softly. “Bell-sama is the flame at the center, after all.”
Bell’s cheeks reddened, but he obediently turned around and pulled up his shirt, exposing the Falna etched into his back—Hestia’s blue crystal script, faintly gleaming.
Hestia knelt over him, fingers hovering an inch above the blessing.
For a moment, the room went quiet. Only the crackle of the fire remained.
Her smile softened. “You’ve really been through a lot lately, huh?”
Bell swallowed.
Images surged up unbidden:
The Peluda’s roar splitting the sky.
The poisonous miasma eating at Mikoto’s lungs.
Welf’s sword shattering in his hands.
Haruhime’s voice cracking mid-chant.
Ryu throwing herself forward.
Alise screaming her name.
Astraea’s flower warm in his pocket as he ran.
His hands tightened around the sofa’s edge.
“I… did my best,” he said quietly.
Hestia’s expression turned a little sad, a little proud. “Yes. You did.”
Divine blood stirred. Blue script flared under her fingertips.
“『Status Update』.”
Light flowed.
2. Bell Cranel – Level 4
Bell felt it—the familiar, overwhelming rush of numbers moving somewhere he couldn’t see. Like someone was rearranging the stars just under his skin.
Hestia’s eyes widened.
“…You really don’t know how to slow down, do you?” she whispered.
He turned his head slightly. “Goddess?”
Her lips curved into a grin.
“Congratulations, Bell. You made it.”
He blinked. “Made…?”
“Level Four.”
The room exploded.
“What?!” Lili shrieked.
“Seriously?!” Welf’s jaw dropped.
Haruhime clapped her hands over her mouth, eyes filling with tears.
Mikoto bowed so fast she almost headbutted the floor. “As expected of Bell-dono!”
Cassandra whimpered. “Oh no… the future is accelerating.”
“Hey, don’t make it sound like an omen,” Daphne groaned.
Bell just stared.
Level Four.
His legs trembled. Not from fear, but from the weight of the word.
He remembered being that trembling boy on the first floor, running from a Minotaur.
He remembered wanting to be a hero but being too weak to stand his ground.
Now…
“C-Can I… see?” he stammered.
Hestia laughed and slapped the paper down on the table in front of him.
“Feast your eyes, my hero.”
【Status – Bell Cranel】
Affiliation: Hestia Familia
Level: 4
Strength: I → B (779)
Endurance: I → B (732)
Dexterity: H → A (803)
Agility: H → A (828)
Magic: H → C (512)
Development Abilities
Argonaut
Hunter
Perseverance (F) NEW – Greatly increases resistance against fear, poison, and despair when protecting allies.
Skills
Liaris Freese – Rapid growth through emotional stimulus.
Hero’s Resolve (I) – When defending a chosen person, all parameters temporarily rise. Effect strengthens with mutual trust.
Bell’s heart pounded as he read.
Hero’s… Resolve?
He remembered the Peluda’s jaws closing around them. The poison creeping up his throat. His legs refusing to move until he thought of Haruhime’s hands shaking, of Welf biting back a scream, of Alise’s lantern trembling.
He’d moved then.
Even though everything hurt. Even though he wanted to collapse.
Perseverance.
Resolve.
“Bell-sama…” Haruhime whispered, voice trembling with awe. “This… is you.”
He swallowed hard.
“It’s because everyone was there,” he said. “If I were alone, I would have fallen. Over and over.”
Hestia smirked and flicked his forehead lightly.
“Don’t be stupid. That stubbornness is all you.”
Bell laughed weakly as the others crowded around, poking his stats, arguing about which letter was more impressive.
For a moment, the fear of the upcoming expedition receded.
The numbers didn’t feel like power.
They felt like proof that none of it had been meaningless.
3. Haruhime – Foxfire Pages
“Next!” Hestia sang. “Haruhime!”
“Y-Yes!” Haruhime jolted, tails fluffing out in panic. “I-I am ready…”
She knelt where Bell had been, kimono sleeves folded neatly, golden hair spilling over bare shoulders as she exposed the Falna.
Hestia’s playful expression gentled again.
“You really scared me that day,” the goddess murmured. “Trying to chant through poison…”
Haruhime flinched. “I should have been stronger—”
“You were strong,” Bell said firmly, before he could stop himself.
Haruhime’s breath caught.
Flashes:
Her voice shaking as she forced the chant out anyway.
Bell’s fingers, icy, gripping her sleeve.
The world tilting as the Peluda’s roar ripped through the clearing.
Praying that, just this once, her power would be enough.
“『Status Update』,” Hestia whispered.
Green-gold light pulsed.
【Status – Sanjouno Haruhime】
Affiliation: Hestia Familia
Level: 1
Strength: I (118)
Endurance: I (122)
Dexterity: I (131)
Agility: I (129)
Magic: F → E (287)
Development Abilities
Mage
Skills
Uchide no Kozuchi (Level Boost) – Temporarily raises a selected ally’s Level.
Addendum: Chant stability increased when target is in mortal danger. Duration slightly extended with selfless intent.
Reverent Heart (F) NEW – When protecting cherished people, Magic power increases and spell misfire chance is reduced.
Haruhime stared at the paper.
“My… heart…?”
Her fingers trembled over the words.
She remembered the moment she’d almost fled. The urge to run, to curl into herself and vanish. To not watch Bell suffer.
She had stayed.
“You didn’t just give him power,” Hestia said softly. “You stayed beside him. That’s what the excelia remembers.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Bell smiled across the table. “I… always feel calmer when you’re chanting, Haruhime.”
Her cheeks burned scarlet.
“I-I shall strive… to be worthy of this blessing,” she whispered, eyes bright with unshed tears.
“Good girl,” Hestia said, ruffling her hair gently.
“Welf!” Hestia called.
“Yeah, yeah.” He pushed off the wall, rolling his shoulders. “Let’s get this over with before Bell’s head gets any bigger.”
Bell made an indignant noise. Lili snorted.
Welf sat, tugged his shirt off, and leaned forward.
Hestia traced the faded outline of the Falna with her gaze—the pattern warped where old burns and scars crossed it. Marks of a craftsman who insisted on standing on the front line.
“Your sword broke,” she said quietly.
Welf’s jaw clenched. “Yeah.”
He saw it again:
The blade he had poured his pride into.
The Crozzo fire he had sworn to bend his way.
Snapping against the Peluda’s scales like brittle glass.
He’d felt useless for a moment. Like the curse had finally caught up.
“I’ll make a better one,” he muttered.
Hestia smiled. “You already started to. 『Status Update』.”
Red light flickered.
【Status – Welf Crozzo】
Affiliation: Hestia Familia
Level: 2
Strength: G → F (312)
Endurance: F (289)
Dexterity: F → E (351)
Agility: G (245)
Magic: H (98)
Development Abilities
Blacksmith
Forge-Soul (F) NEW – Weapon durability and performance increase when wielded to protect comrades. Compatible items may inherit traces of Welf’s will.
Skills
Crozzo’s Flame – Allows the creation of magic swords without consuming the user’s Magic.
Welf whistled low.
“Forge-Soul, huh…”
He thought of Bell holding onto a broken handle and still trying to swing. Of Haruhime wrapping her arms around it like it was something precious instead of scrap. Of Mikoto apologizing to the blade as if it were a comrade.
“Guess I don’t make them alone anymore,” he said.
Bell grinned. “We’ll swing them properly, I promise.”
“You’d better,” Welf grunted, but there was a faint, pleased flush on his cheeks.
Mikoto, Lili, Cassandra, Daphne – Glimpses
The updates rolled on.
Mikoto’s turn—she bowed with almost painful formality, recalling the poison clawing through her veins, the shame of collapsing, the fierce relief of waking up to see everyone alive.
Her Endurance and Agility had both risen sharply. A new Scout (G) development ability glowed on her sheet—reflecting every risk she took to leap forward and draw enemy attention.
“I-I must not waste this again,” she vowed, fist to her chest.
“Maybe also rest sometimes?” Bell offered.
“Rest is for the dead,” she replied solemnly.
“Please don’t say things like that!” Haruhime cried.
Lili’s status showed a subtle but meaningful shift: Dexterity and Agility creeping upward, and a new, small development ability—Tactician (H).
She stared at it much longer than she meant to.
“Tactician, huh,” Daphne said, peeking over her shoulder. “Looks like the excelia recognizes bossy goblins.”
“I am not bossy,” Lili snapped, hugging the paper against her chest. “I am efficient.”
But when no one was looking, she smiled.
Cassandra’s status had barely changed numerically, but the Falna script around her skill shimmered with faint, ominous light.
Prophetic Dream – clarity marginally increased after direct confrontation with future.
“…I don’t like that phrasing,” she said in a hollow tone.
“It’ll be fine,” Daphne insisted, thumping her back. Her own sheet boasted an Endurance and Strength bump from standing firm in front of the Peluda.
“You say that now,” Cassandra whispered. “Until the sky bleeds tulips.”
Everyone chose to ignore that.
By the time Hestia rolled up the last sheet, the table was a chaos of papers, ink, snacks, and half-argued strategy.
The goddess looked over them all, warmth centered in her chest.
They’re growing, she thought. Not just stronger. More themselves.
“Five days,” she said aloud. “In five days, you’ll step into the Dungeon together as the heroes you’re becoming.”
Bell met her eyes, then glanced down at his sheet again.
Somewhere in the numbers and letters, he could almost see the faces of the people who had brought him this far.
He folded the paper carefully.
“I won’t waste any of it,” he whispered.
6. Astraea Familia – Wine and Fear
On the other side of Orario, night deepened over a quiet street.
A small, rented house glowed from within—warm lamplight spilling out through thin curtains. The emblem above the door had been carved by hand: a simple, stylized scale and star.
Astraea Familia.
Ryu Lion stood frozen just outside the door, holding a bottle of wine like a bomb.?
Her fingers were white-knuckled around the neck.
“This was a terrible idea,” she muttered.
Beside her, Alise snorted. “You were the one who suggested bringing a gift.”
“I suggested tea,” Ryu hissed. “You said, ‘Let’s get the one that made Astraea’s cheeks pink last time.’”
Alise’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “And was I wrong?”
Ryu’s ears burned.
The last time they had shared this wine with their goddess, the night had been filled with laughter and half-drunk confessions… just before the world fell apart.
Now, the same bottle felt like walking back into a memory she wasn’t sure she deserved.
Alise reached over and gently pried the glass from her fingers.
“Hey,” she said softly. “We’re here. She’s here. And we’re not the same as back then.”
Ryu swallowed hard.
“I am… afraid,” she admitted, voice small.
Alise smiled, gentle and sad. “Me too.”
She knocked.
“Come in,” Astraea’s clear voice called from inside.
The door opened.
Their goddess sat at the low table, long hair loose around her shoulders, a single candle burning between neatly stacked parchments. The room smelled faintly of ink and fresh bread.
For a heartbeat, Ryu saw another place—the old home, crowded with familiar faces, hands reaching for cups, voices overlapping—
Then the vision faded. Only the three of them remained.
“Welcome home,” Astraea said.
Ryu’s chest tightened.
Alise laughed a little too loudly, holding up the bottle.
“We, uh, brought a peace offering?”
Astraea’s eyes twinkled. “If this is about the last time you drank and then tried to duel the sky, I forgive you.”
“That was a perfectly reasonable duel,” Alise protested.
Ryu covered her face with both hands. “Goddess, please erase that memory…”
Astraea smiled. “No. It’s precious.”
The goddess’s gaze softened, taking them both in—the new lines at the corners of Ryu’s eyes, the steady flame in Alise’s.
“You came for updates,” she said quietly.
The lightness in the room settled.
“Yes,” Ryu whispered.
“And because,” Astraea added, “you want to see whether the pages say you have truly changed.”
Alise exhaled. “…You always see right through us.”
“I am justice,” Astraea said with a small, self-deprecating smile. “And your goddess. Sit. Let me witness what you’ve become.”
7. Alise – Lantern’s Oath
Alise went first.
“Of course,” Ryu mumbled. “She always throws me in front of the dragon.”
“You fought the Peluda, I think you’ll survive,” Alise said, flashing a grin she didn’t quite feel.
She sat and turned, exposing her back.
Astraea’s fingers hovered above the Falna—no, not just a mark, but a story written in starlight. The script pulsed faintly, responding to her touch.
“There was a time,” the goddess murmured, “when your letters were bright but shallow. All surface, all bravado.”
“I was very cool, you mean,” Alise said.
“You were very loud,” Astraea corrected.
Alise chuckled, then closed her eyes.
Memories rose:
Her first meeting with Bell, the boy who looked at her like she was a real hero.
The journal warming in her hands as she pressed it into his.
The way his name had etched itself into her Skill.
The horror of her own power overflowing, tearing his armor apart.
His whispered, pained smile: I’m glad it was you, Alise-san.
Lantern’s Echo blazing out of control in the Peluda’s shadow.
Ryu’s hand catching hers.
Holding on.
Astraea inhaled softly.
“『Status Update』.”
Red-gold light shimmered, like a lantern flame seen through tears.
【Status – Alise Lovell】
Affiliation: Astraea Familia
Level: 5
Strength: B → A (821)
Endurance: B (788)
Dexterity: A (834)
Agility: S → SS (982)
Magic: SS → SSS (1,003)
Development Abilities
Argo
Abnormal Resistance
Leader
Skills
Crimson Star – Lantern’s Echo (EX)
When fighting alongside chosen allies, synchronizes magic, tempo and intent. Power increases with mutual trust, but risks catastrophic overflow.
Addendum: “Kindled Vow” – Overflow is reduced when acting to protect, not punish. Excess power redirects into defensive barriers around allies.
Justice’s Rally (B) – Inspires allies within range, raising morale and slightly increasing parameters for a short duration.
Alise opened her eyes slowly as Astraea set the sheet before her.
“Kindled… Vow,” she murmured.
She remembered standing over Bell’s collapsed body, hands shaking, terrified she’d become a monster by trying to be a shield.
“Goddess…” Her voice cracked. “Is this—”
“You have learned,” Astraea said quietly, “that justice without mercy is cruelty. The Falna simply reflects that choice.”
Alise swallowed the lump in her throat.
“So now,” Astraea continued, “when you raise your lantern, it no longer burns only the guilty. It also shelters the innocent.”
Ryu exhaled softly behind her. Alise looked down at the numbers, then smiled—a small, trembling thing.
“I won’t misuse it again,” she whispered.
“I trust you,” Astraea replied.
8. Ryu – The Wind That Survived
“Your turn,” Alise said, spinning around on her cushion. “C’mon, Lion, let’s see it.”
Ryu’s stomach twisted.
She sat in front of Astraea with the stiff poise of a knight about to be sentenced.
Her back felt suddenly too bare.
“What are you afraid of?” Astraea asked gently.
Ryu stared at the floor.
“That I do not deserve to move forward,” she said.
Silence.
Images tried to claw up from the depths:
The burning of the old home.
Her familia’s bodies in the fire.
The rage that had consumed her afterward.
The years as Gale Wind, drenched in blood.
Bell’s hand reaching out.
Syr’s quiet patience.
Alise’s laugh.
The sound of her own heart, still beating despite everything.
“You stood in front of death again,” Astraea said softly. “For others this time. Not to punish. To protect.”
Ryu’s throat tightened. “I still… hesitate. I still doubt.”
“As you should.” Astraea’s fingertips brushed faintly over the Falna. “Doubt is the weight that keeps justice from swinging too wildly.『Status Update』.”
The script blazed emerald.
Ryu gasped, feeling the surge like a storm catching her body, wind filling sails she hadn’t known were raised.
【Status – Ryu Lion】
Affiliation: Astraea Familia
Level: 4 → 5
Strength: B → A (808)
Endurance: B → A (795)
Dexterity: A → A (842)
Agility: S → SS (973)
Magic: A → S (901)
Development Abilities
Hunter
Abnormal Resistance
Guardian (F) NEW – When defending comrades or innocents, defense and reaction speed increase.
Skills
Ariel – Controls wind for enhanced movement and attacks.
Addendum: Can now partially shield allies within close range.
Luminous Wind – Astraea’s Mercy (A) – Focused, high-speed wind attacks.
Adjusted phrase: Less collateral damage when acting out of protection, more power when striking to end suffering.
Ryu stared at the paper.
“Level… five,” she whispered.
The words felt wrong in her mouth. Too large. Too bright.
“I am not— I don’t—” Her vision blurred. “I killed so many—”
Astraea reached forward and took her hand.
“You atoned,” the goddess said, voice firm but aching. “You learned. You grieved. You chose to live. Justice is not a ledger of kills, Ryu. It is how you bear the weight of them.”
Ryu’s shoulders shook.
“I am… afraid,” she admitted again.
“Good,” Astraea said. “Never stop being afraid of your own power. That fear is what keeps you kind.”
Alise slid in close, wrapping an arm around her.
“Welcome back to the front, partner,” she murmured.
Ryu let out a shaky breath that might have been a laugh, might have been a sob.
“…Yes,” she whispered. “I will stand beside you. This time… without running away from myself.”
The candle flame flickered, casting three shadows against the wall—goddess, knight, and lantern-bearer.
For the first time in a long time, they all faced forward.
10. Loki Familia – Eyes on the Rising Flame
Elsewhere in Orario, chaos of a different flavor ruled.
“Oi, line up, ya mutts!”
Loki’s voice carried through the main hall of the Twilight Manor, where members of the Loki Familia shuffled, grumbled, and—occasionally—obeyed.
Aiz Wallenstein stood quietly at the edge of the room, watching.
When her turn came, she moved forward without changing expression, unfastened her armor, and sat.
Riveria updated her Falna with practiced motions, lips pressing together thoughtfully as the numbers rearranged.
“Your parameters are steadily improving,” the elf said. “As expected.”
Aiz glanced at the page.
Strength: SS. Agility: SSS. Magic: S.
Tiny increases. Enough to matter. Not enough to feel like change.
Her eyes lingered for a moment on a different part of the script—barely visible, like a scar.
“Desire for Strength.”
She thought of Bell Cranel, standing shaky-legged against monsters that should have crushed him. Of Alise’s wild, blazing magic. Of Ryu moving like a green streak through the battlefield.
Of the way Bell had moved in front of the Peluda, despite knowing how weak he still was compared to them.
He had been afraid.
And he had done it anyway.
He’s growing again, she realized.
Something stirred in her chest—a tangle of admiration, curiosity, and a quiet, frustrating ache.
“I want to train with him again,” she said suddenly.
Riveria blinked. “With Bell Cranel?”
Aiz nodded.
Loki, who had been pretending not to eavesdrop, grinned.
“Oh ho~? Our little sword princess has a rival now?”
Aiz tilted her head. “…He’s just fast.”
“Mm-hmm,” Loki sing-songed, unconvinced.
Across the room, Lefiya’s ears turned scarlet.
Lefiya’s own update reflected sharp growth in Magic and Dexterity, a new refinement on her casting speed. She traced the letters with trembling fingers.
I have to keep up, she thought. With Aiz-san… and with that fox-girl… and with everyone.
Bete grunted at his sheet, frown deep as he took in the bump in Strength and Agility.
“Tch. Numbers,” he muttered. “Brat’s are probably skyrocketing again.”
But his teeth clenched as he remembered Bell’s back during the fight, the way the kid had refused to fall.
Don’t die, he thought grudgingly. You’re not allowed to die until I decide you’re strong enough.
He crumpled his paper a little too tightly.
Loki watched them all, lips curling.
Orario, she thought.
You’re starting to simmer again.
11. Astraea – A Goddess’s Quiet
Later that night, Astraea sat alone at her table, the stack of updated status sheets before her.
Alise’s page.
Ryu’s.
She laid them out in a fan and ran her fingers over the ink, feeling the echo of divinity humming in response.
“Justice,” she whispered, “is not the strength to punish.”
The candle flickered.
“It is the courage to protect what is fragile… even knowing you may fail.”
Through the network of Falna threads stretching unseen across Orario, she felt them:
Hestia’s bright, stubborn little flame, wrapped around a boy who refused to stop moving forward.
Loki’s chaotic, sharp-edged blaze, orbiting around a girl who chased strength like chasing the horizon.
Her own lanterns—once nearly snuffed out, now burning again. Bent and cracked, perhaps. But burning.
In the distance, the Dungeon pulsed—a vast, sleeping heart under the city.
“Five days,” Astraea murmured. “And my children will walk into your depths again.”
She closed her eyes.
“Please,” she prayed—not to the heavens above, but to the stubborn, wayward world itself. “Let them come back with more stories, not less.”
The candle’s flame straightened, steady and unwavering.
12. Orario – The Night of Pages
Across the city, under the same cold stars, papers glowed briefly as divine ink dried.
On Hestia’s table, Bell carefully folded his sheet and tucked it away like something sacred. Haruhime traced the words “Reverent Heart” as if memorizing them. Welf stared at “Forge-Soul” and quietly envisioned a new blade.
At the Astraea home, Alise and Ryu sat shoulder to shoulder, comparing numbers and laughing weakly at each other’s attempts to downplay them.
In the Twilight Manor, Aiz looked at her modest increases and thought, I will catch up to him. Lefiya looked at hers and thought, I will not be left behind. Bete pretended not to care and thought, Don’t die, rabbit.
All of them, in their own corners of Orario, read the same silent message written between the lines of their Falna:
You have grown.
You can still grow more.
The story is not over.
Five days remained until the expedition.
The Dungeon waited.
And above it all, unseen, the city’s invisible web of blessings thrummed like strings on the verge of a new song.
Pages had been written.
Hearts had been tested.
The next chapter of their legend was ready to begin.
