After Hestia gave a brief explanation, Loki gradually calmed down and started piecing together what had happened during the past week.
"He really couldn't resist digging into where his power comes from. That curiosity of his is something else."
"Ah, I don't think it was curiosity," Hestia replied. "It was his overly cautious nature pushing him."
Thinking about Bell's personality, Loki realized it really wasn't hard to imagine.
Sometimes, Loki genuinely wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shout, "Stop! There's nothing careful or cautious about what you're doing!"
Exploring the inner depths of one's soul—and letting Freya guide him through it—was practically a death wish.
Never mind whether Freya had the intention to cause trouble. Just sinking one's consciousness into the inner soul was something almost no one could do safely.
That place was the deepest core of the soul. Once someone descended into it, there were countless cases—far too many—of people who never returned.
Taking such a massive risk just to probe the nature of his own power—Loki could only call it foolish.
Yet Bell had gone ahead and done it anyway.
Loki truly didn't know what to say.
Her eyes swept across the four goddesses present, and she sighed helplessly.
"So… none of you tried to stop him?"
Hestia shot back immediately.
"How would we? That's just how Bell is. When he wants to understand what's happening to him, there's no stopping him. Did you really think he'd just let it go?"
"And if we did stop him, what if he went behind our backs and did it alone? Wouldn't that be even more dangerous?"
That was undeniably true.
No one else would handle something this reckless. But if it were Bell… Loki had no doubts he absolutely would.
Cautious, huh. Loki couldn't help rolling her eyes. At times, Bell was anything but cautious.
A truly cautious person wouldn't dive straight into danger the moment it appeared.
Bell only seemed cautious on the outside. Internally, he was a bold risk-taker—sometimes so bold that even gods were left speechless.
Loki shook her head.
"Although it was extremely dangerous, at least the outcome turned out well."
"Bell now understands what the black and white powers represent. And he even cleared away the soul remnants that were lodged deep inside his inner soul…"
She paused, looking seriously toward Freya.
"You checked everything completely this time, right?"
Freya would never joke about something like this. Bell's inner soul had to remain absolutely pure; otherwise, future problems were inevitable.
"Of course."
"With Bell cooperating, it took me three full days to examine every part of his inner soul. I confirmed the soul remnants were indeed there before—and that they truly dissipated on their own that day."
Freya wasn't dragging it out intentionally. Examining the inner soul simply demanded immense time and effort.
"That's good."
Hearing Freya's confirmation finally put Loki at ease.
Bell's body had no lingering issues, and he now had a clear direction to move forward.
The exploration had been dangerous, yes, but the knowledge gained made the risk worthwhile.
"So, given all this, Bell probably feels a sense of urgency now. He wants to reach the end of the 'Blessing System' path as soon as he can?"
"Mhm. Bell hasn't said it outright, but that's what we suspect."
"Well, I can't blame him."
Loki could understand the feeling.
A little urgency wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It could push Bell to keep growing.
"But he's definitely hiding more things, isn't he?"
Regarding Bell's gains, Loki felt he was still withholding something.
And she wasn't alone in sensing it—Hestia and the others had realized this long ago.
"He didn't continue talking about that sphere," Hestia said.
She knew it had to be extremely important, but Bell had dropped the topic entirely.
"He also didn't elaborate on the power system," Freya added.
"In short, anything he hasn't fully processed yet, he didn't speak about," Hephaestus summarized—not covering for Bell, but stating things as they were.
There really were quite a few things left unsaid. Loki found herself no longer feeling impatient.
Some matters could wait. By the time Bell returned next, many of those unanswered questions would probably be much clearer.
"Loki, stay here tonight. But you'd better go back tomorrow—those people still need you to deal with them."
Hestia stared straight at Loki. She hadn't forgotten that her job right now was to push Loki out as a distraction.
"Tch."
Loki clicked her tongue in irritation. The gods of Orario were becoming more and more contemptible in her eyes. Still, she didn't argue. In a couple of days, Zeus and Hera would be visiting her home. She could avoid the others, but she had to meet those two.
With that thought, her tense shoulders relaxed slightly.
"I really want to slaughter those useless idiots."
"All they do is interfere with serious matters and poke their noses where they shouldn't. They don't have a shred of capability themselves—just constantly ask me for information. If they're so bold, why not go bother Hera and Zeus?"
Freya shook her head gently.
"I think Hera and Zeus wouldn't refuse a visit at all—they returned specifically for that purpose. But our divine colleagues aren't stupid. What we know, they know too."
"Zeus and Hera's return has drawn a lot of attention, but at this stage, those gods aren't going to ease up on their investigation into Bell."
This wasn't yet the time for Hera and Zeus to step in.
Three months had already passed. In another three, the frenzy to hunt for Bell would begin to wane. Once they ran out of leads, the gods would eventually shift their attention toward Zeus and Hera.
Freya looked at Loki with a sympathetic expression.
"So until they start giving up in intervals… I'm afraid the job of drawing their attention falls on you."
"Ugh…"
If she could choose, Loki would much rather Freya hadn't asked her for this favor.
But right now, she didn't have any choice at all.