It turned out all of Bell's predictions were right.
As Bell and Artemis continued strolling through the streets, snacking as they went, the wary gazes around them gradually faded. In just ten minutes, not a single extra pair of eyes remained watching them.
Artemis, nibbling on her snack, naturally noticed.
"Darling, it looks like they've all lost interest."
"They actually held on for quite a while—staring at us for ten full minutes before giving up."
From the length of the surveillance alone, Bell could tell just how desperate the gods were to flush him out.
"They probably repeat this kind of operation dozens of times a day, keeping an eye on whoever looks suspicious."
Bell paused for a moment and shook his head.
"Looks like I really rattled them. To think they'd mobilize such an intense search for me."
Artemis wasn't surprised at all.
"Who told you, Darling, to go revealing so many secrets about the worlds?"
"In the past, gods descended to the Genkai just for fun, according to you. But now there's a blade hanging over their heads. Turns out they're the biggest joke of all. With their pride, how could they just sit back and watch?"
Bell couldn't deny it.
With the crises of the world and the gods laid bare, those who knew the truth wouldn't easily give up a chance to learn more.
Some of them probably had even bigger ambitions.
All these factors pushed the gods to hurry and find him.
Right now, he was the only one in this world who held that piece of knowledge, making him their only possible breakthrough.
Naturally, the gods would urge their children to search for every trace of him.
"Pointless efforts."
Bell didn't care at all about their attempts. He knew every one of them was doomed to fail.
He was cautious by nature.
And a cautious man always understands exactly when and where his actions might be observed.
The reason cautious people are cautious is because they think constantly about the possibility of being followed, and they prepare countermeasures for every scenario.
A cautious person always plans thoroughly before acting.
Even though today's outing was a little unusual, it still fell well within Bell's usual level of vigilance.
"Everything is within my expectations. I've prepared a lot of ways to counter tracking and surveillance. But compared to controlling their minds, letting them fall into their own mistaken perception is far more effective."
"It may seem like buying time, but that's exactly what I need most right now."
In three months—no, in less than a month—Bell had already raised his stats to the brink of the growth limit.
Next came the path toward Level 8.
The one fortunate thing was that Bell no longer needed to consider reaching Level 10.
Level 10 was the apex created by the Falna System—a demigod with a divine nature.
But such a thing was meaningless to Bell.
Now that he knew his path, he simply needed to keep moving forward. He didn't need to consider useless branches—only the one true road ahead.
Only two obstacles remained in Bell's way.
Once he crossed them, he could finally declare that he was walking the path beyond the gods.
So during this critical period, he absolutely couldn't afford to be disturbed by any god—or influenced by them in any way.
But none of this was on Bell's mind at the moment.
He reached back and took Artemis's hand.
"Everything behind us is handled. So let's just enjoy our walk."
"Mm."
Artemis, completely at ease now, followed Darling as they continued their stroll.
There were plenty of places worth visiting along the streets of Orario.
As the central hub of a world filled with gods and Familia, the city naturally housed neutral churches as well.
Some of them even had viewing decks where one could overlook all of Orario.
After eating so many snacks that they were completely full, it was time to look at the scenery.
Bell led Artemis up to a high platform.
This platform was connected to a church.
Churches generally weren't places adventurers frequented. Adventurers spent most of their time in the Dungeon. It was ordinary citizens—those who weren't adventurers—who came to churches to pray for blessings and divine protection.
After all, ordinary people were different from adventurers. For them, meeting a god out in the world was nearly impossible.
So churches were places where their voices and prayers could be conveyed to the gods.
Yes, in this world, churches truly could transmit the voices of ordinary people.
Whether the gods chose to respond was another matter entirely.
But as long as the prayers weren't excessive—wishes for health, good business, things like that—most gods were willing to grant them. These requests were easy, and they also strengthened the gods' faith.
Of course, faith wasn't the only thing gods desired. Faith was only the foundation. There were other, more material benefits layered above it.
After all, you couldn't exactly pray to a god without offering anything in return.
So churches were places where ordinary people regularly came to give thanks and seek blessings.
And this particular location, built atop high terrain, offered a perfect view of Orario.
"Oh!"
Leaning on the railing, Artemis looked down over the city with fascination.
"Seeing it from this angle, the city really is enormous."
"Because in ancient times, this was a place where monsters constantly emerged from deep underground pits. Those monsters were huge. Naturally, to suppress that pit, the structures built above it had to be even larger."
Bell gave a brief explanation of the labyrinth city's origin.
It was called the "Labyrinth City" because of the unfathomably deep chasm suppressed beneath it.
"Even so, I really think—being able to build such a massive city on top of a place this dangerous… the gods and adventurers of the past were unbelievably bold."