At this very moment, a village thousands of miles away was displaying the same projection as Orario.
Farmers from all around the village had gathered in the central square, watching the grand assault unfold together.
"Whoa! That kid actually had the guts to call the gods dogs! He sure didn't dare say stuff like that back when he lived here. He's been in Orario for less than a year and he's already that bold?"
"Yeah, he's gotten pretty bold."
If Bell were here, he would have been just as shocked.
This was the village where he had grown up. Everyone here had watched him mature since he was a child, and while he lived in the village, they had taken care of him often.
"And the speed he's growing at is way too fast."
Everyone present knew exactly how long Bell had been gone—barely a year. Yet now he had already grown to the point where he could stand on his own. He could face a strong Spirit without losing ground, and he could even command those terrifying "Spirit Soldiers."
"Did Alfia have this kind of growth rate back then?"
Alfia, known as "Silence," was considered the most talented Adventurer in all of Orario. Even in an era overflowing with heroes, she was still the greatest prodigy. But comparing her to Bell's current growth, he was outright surpassing every adventurer in history.
The villagers looked at one another, unable to make sense of it, then turned to the Familia God sitting at the front.
"Old pervert, what do you think of Bell's growth rate?"
The white-bearded old man sitting at the front stared at Bell's figure in the projection with a trace of unfamiliarity.
"Hmm… that child's growth is definitely abnormal."
Strange. He had checked Bell himself before. The boy's talent shouldn't be anywhere near this level. This white-bearded elder was Zeus, one of the few ancient gods still remaining in this world.
"Although I knew the kid had some talent, judging from his personality alone, he shouldn't have been able to grow this quickly."
"To be honest, based on what we're seeing now, that child is at least Lv.5, and he might have already reached the depth of Lv.6. Even Alfia, hailed as the most gifted of her time, needed nearly ten years to get there."
Reaching Lv.6 from Lv.1 in ten years was already considered lightning-fast. But Bell's growth wasn't just fast. It was approaching the level of ascending to godhood.
"Hera, what do you think?"
"…What do you expect me to think?"
Sitting beside Zeus was a mature woman with an overpowering presence. Her figure rivaled any goddess in Orario, and the noble aura she carried radiated effortlessly, enough to put nearly every goddess to shame. This regal woman was also a goddess—one of the rare ancient goddesses: Hera.
Her eyes shimmered as she looked at Bell in the projection, a faint smile of satisfaction appearing on her face.
"This child does share his aunt's talent."
"But since we left, Loki and Freya still haven't managed to keep this era under control."
Her words brimmed with contempt for those two.
Even with Alfia helping them so much, those two could only manage this level of incompetence. They even let a bunch of clowns make fools of themselves.
Hera's voice carried a hint of contempt.
"In the end, it falls to the child we pinned our last hopes on to handle things. What a waste."
This left Zeus at a loss for words, for since their departure, Orario seemed to have produced few children worthy of note. Even this current campaign against the Evilus—as we just heard—was entirely orchestrated by that kid, Bell.
Not a single soul in all of Orario possessed the capability to handle this matter. They even needed Bell to plan it out. Frankly, Zeus felt ashamed of Orario's incompetence.
"Old man, did Hermes fill you in on anything?"
Zeus shook his head helplessly.
"Hermes doesn't know much either."
"He only told me that Bell kept a low profile during his six months in Orario, acting cautiously in everything he did. Only a handful of goddesses in Orario know his exact Status."
"A handful of goddesses? Like who?"
Hera's eyebrow shot up, instantly zeroing in on the key names in Zeus's words.
"Hestia, Hephaestus, Loki, Freya, and Artemis, who recently got involved."
This string of names left Hera momentarily stunned.
"Loki and Freya are involved too?"
"As for Loki, it seems that kid was dealing in some rune stones and needed someone to lend credibility, so he approached Loki. As for Freya... you know, her eyes have always been pretty sharp."
...
Truthfully, Zeus hadn't been too surprised when he first received this intelligence. Freya setting her sights on Bell made perfect sense. It was Loki's involvement that felt slightly unexpected.
"It seems Hestia had only descended from Tenkai less than a year ago when that boy approached her. She'd been under Hephaestus's care the entire time..."
Hera's mouth twitched. Somehow, that word felt perfectly suited to Hestia. Though her relationship with Hestia wasn't bad, sometimes she did find Hestia's personality a bit too reclusive.
"According to Hermes, that Bell kid originally intended to join Hermes Familia. But he happened to run into Hestia, who was staying with Hephaestus at the time. Hephaestus was only too happy to facilitate things, so he just dumped Hestia out there."
"...Somehow, this kind of thing happening to Hestia feels all too ordinary."
"...Yeah, I agree."
Zeus and Hera both wore expressions that screamed "speechless," yet whenever Hestia was involved, they found such incidents strangely plausible.
Zeus shook his head, about to continue, when something in the scene caught his eye.
"Damn! That kid's being so careless!?"