Before transmigrating, Renjiro had once heard a rather ridiculous joke:
"I treated you like a brother, but you actually wanted to—!"
"Wanted my ass!"
As the main character of today's banquet, Renjiro let out a sharp CRACK, crushing the wineglass in his hand.
"Uwah~"
Tiona, who was beside him, jumped in fright.
Dodging the splashing wine, the little angel asked with concern, "A-Are you okay?"
"Ah, yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine."
Renjiro laughed it off. "Probably because I've 'accumulated' quite a lot of [Basic Ability] points today. I'm still not fully used to the extra strength—I couldn't hold back."
"Ohhh~ As long as you're fine."
Simple-minded—ahem, no—pure-hearted Tiona accepted the explanation without a second thought.
As for everyone else nearby…
"Feeling discomfort just from being in the 'accumulation' phase?"
Riveria frowned slightly, thinking to herself, Isn't that something that only happens during a 'level-up'…?
Or is Renjiro's growth really that terrifying?
Well, as expected of a high-tier mage—her ability to fill in the blanks on her own was truly impressive.
Meanwhile, on Renjiro's side…
"Excuse me for a moment."
After wiping his hands clean, he walked straight over to Syr.
"My most revered goddess," he said calmly, "there's something I'd like to ask."
"Eh~?"
Seeing how formal his tone was—and how terrifying his expression looked—Syr subconsciously took half a step back, her gaze darting away in avoidance.
"Is… is it something important?"
"Upstairs."
The moment she heard that—
"Th-This… being alone in a room with a man, I'm not mentally prepared for that yet…"
"Up. Stairs. Now."
"H-Hii~!!"
Rare. Truly rare.
Leaving aside Freya's usual queenly demeanor—this was the first time Syr had ever been so obedient, not daring to joke around even a little.
There was no helping it. At this moment, the ominous "black aura" radiating from Renjiro was painfully obvious—something only gods like her, could clearly perceive
Normally, Renjiro's soul radiance was in a state of being completely unobservable.
Yet right now…
[Aiya~ my poor, pitiful host…]
"Shut uuuuuup!"
[Oh!]
At that instant, even the suddenly popping-up wisely chose to avoid provoking him.
Syr, meanwhile, very sensibly followed Renjiro upstairs.
Once the two entered a private bedroom—
Paimon suddenly appeared and, while remaining invisible, phased straight through the wall to stand guard outside the door, sealing off any possibility of eavesdropping through the walls.
Then—
"THUD~"
After being abruptly kabedon'd against the wall, Syr's heart skipped a beat.
The girl—no, goddess—blushed bright red, looking utterly adorable.
To be honest, under normal circumstances, Renjiro's own face would have already turned red.
But right now…
"Care to explain properly," he said softly, "my dear Frigg-sama?"
Renjiro wasn't stupid.
Combining Bell's condition earlier with Syr's frequent hand-covering giggles over the past few days…
"When exactly did Bell's skill, Liaris Freese, awaken?"
His tone was sickeningly sweet.
And the smile on his face was impossibly—dangerously—gentle.
Syr instinctively shrank her neck.
Then…
"Ah, ah? Renjiro-nii, didn't you already know that? It was that night—"
"What I want to know is… the EXACT—TIME—!!!"
As he emphasized those last words, his merciless iron grip unknowingly tore a layer of plaster off the wall.
Five clear claw marks were left behind.
Instantly, Syr's heart stopped fluttering.
Instead, it felt like a gorilla was piloting a helicopter on top of the Empire State Building inside her chest.
Not long after…
"U-Um… actually, Bell had already awakened that ultra-rare skill the very first time he received Falna from me."
As Syr obediently told the truth, Renjiro subconsciously leaned back in a tactical retreat.
The next moment—
"Heh~ hehehe~ hehehehe… hihihihi~"
Syr shrank into the corner, trembling violently.
Someone was broken. Completely broken.
A seven-foot-tall manly man, yet he was letting out a yandere-like, high-pitched laugh.
Worse still, there happened to be a magic stone lamp on the bedside table.
Under its illumination, the shadow on the wall looked like a monster with sharp fangs and claws.
His bristling hair even resembled a demon's horns…
Syr's teeth chattered uncontrollably.
After a long while—"..."
Suddenly, someone clapped his hands and wore an eerily serene, enlightened expression.
"Oh, right!"
Renjiro tilted his head mechanically.
"I can just turn Bell into 'Belle'… then there won't be a problem."
As he spoke, his unfocused pupils reflected the sword, a blade capable of invoking the power of the world itself.
With his left fingertips, he gently—tenderly—stroked the blade's edge.
Seeing this—
"Yaa—me—rooo!!!"
Syr forgot all about fear and threw herself at Renjiro's leg.
"Bell… Bell is still just a child!"
"Yes, just a child…"
Renjiro tilted his head, wearing the expression of a certain slothful bishop whose brain was trembling.
"So I can't go easy on him… hehehe."
"THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM!!!"
The two—no, one man and one goddess—became hopelessly entangled, locked in a desperate tug-of-war.
At the same time…
"Wow~"
Outside the door, Paimon was supposed to be standing guard.
But once the most critical lines inside were spoken, she… she straight-up abandoned her post.
Because standing at the doorway now were the Tavern F4, the HiRyuute sisters, and Lumine…
A whole crowd had gathered to eavesdrop.
From inside came a chaotic CLINK-CLANG-BANG of noise.
"So he's actually this 'wild'?" That was Tione.
"Syr… she'll be okay, right?" That was a certain useless elf.
As for Lumine—
Cough cough.
For reasons unknown, she was one of the few bold enough to directly probe the situation inside.
After learning the truth—
"Hoo~"
She sighed in relief, yet couldn't help but laugh wryly.
She then moved to the staircase, looking down at the rabbit boy below—still in a spiraling-eyes state, his face so red it looked ready to emit steam, with Lili standing beside him fanning frantically.
"So that's the kind of Liaris Freese it is~"
"Well, whatever."
A mischievous grin spread across Lumine's face.
"I already have two 'older brothers'. One more obedient 'little brother' sounds fun too."
"A pure little bunny…"
"Mm~ should be very entertaining."
The silly little sister wore a devilish smile—one that practically needed a musical ♪ at the end.
…..
Completed version available on [P]atreon.[c]om/Veltoria [remove brackets]