It was a cloyingly sweet scent, a fragrance that did not suit the upright, determined boy at all.
Lefiya frowned as she caught a faintly lewd scent.
She immediately remembered where she had smelled it before.
It was the scent that had clung to a certain male member of the Loki Familia during his trial.
[High Novice] Raul had been seduced by women from a brothel, deliberately falsified the accounts during an expedition, then spent the money he embezzled on prostitutes.
Lefiya had happened to be present when Finn passed judgment.
There was no doubt about it. The scent on the boy was exactly the same as Raul's back then.
"Is that musk?! You permanently horny rabbit, did you just come out of a brothel?!"
Lefiya questioned him.
"..."
Bell had not expected his worry to come true after all.
His schedule had been too tight, and he had not had time to deal with the scent on his body. Daytime was the best time to sneak into a brothel. On the other hand, practice for Concurrent Chanting had no fixed end time and might very well drag on until evening. Considering all of that, Bell had deliberately arranged this matter last.
As a result, he had dug himself a deep pit.
"That's filthy! Y-you must have been hugging multiple women, taking off their clothes, and d-doing that kind of thing! That's so filthy, aaaaaah!"
Lefiya's face flushed bright red. Her own imagination had clearly made her lose all composure.
"Lefiya-san, please listen to me explain."
Bell tried to calm the golden-yellow-haired elf, who was clutching her head with both hands.
"Don't call my name! It's filthy. I'll get dirty too! And... the girl whose first kiss you stole is just too pitiful, aaaaaah!"
Lefiya continued condemning him loudly, completely caught up in herself.
The pointed ears peeking out from her rich golden hair turned red along with her cries.
"..."
Bell realized she had sunk into a strange mood and could not hear a word he said.
All he could do was glance at the surrounding crowd and use a cold, intimidating presence to stop passersby from gathering to watch.
Lefiya's outburst continued.
"Idiot, pervert, permanently horny rabbit! I was wrong about you!"
The girl's words wove themselves into sharp arrows that pierced Bell's body.
Unexpectedly, Bell neither continued defending himself nor tried to stop her. He looked at the golden-yellow-haired elf's flushed face and broke into a bright smile.
"You're really cute when you're like this, Lefiya-san."
"Eh?!"
That unexpected response cut off Lefiya's attack.
She pouted and said angrily, "W-what are you talking about, you permanently horny rabbit?! You still haven't dealt with the musk on you!"
"Really? But Lefiya-san doesn't actually blame me, does she?"
Bell looked into her jewel-like blue eyes and voiced his guess.
Lefiya was only venting her emotions. She was not truly blaming him.
"Eh? How did you know?"
Realizing her thoughts had been seen through, Lefiya's voice softened a little.
"Because even though Lefiya-san said all that, you didn't move away from me at all."
Bell explained softly.
When Lefiya was searching for the musk scent, she had been only one step away from Bell. If she had truly thought the boy was unbearably filthy, she would have instinctively backed away.
But from beginning to end, Lefiya had kept that close distance.
"Ugh..."
Lefiya had not expected her own movements to give her away.
What she had done just now was not some clever act. She had merely been venting her dissatisfaction.
In a sense, it could be called a prank of revenge. After all, Bell was surrounded by so many cute girls and had formed romantic relationships with them...
"Lefiya-san, the musk on me is..."
Seeing that she had quieted down, Bell tried to explain the situation.
But Lefiya casually waved a hand and cut him off.
"I know. It's definitely like that time with the Apollo Familia. You got dragged into trouble again, right?"
Lefiya thought for a moment, then added, "And it's probably something you can't talk about."
A breeze stirred her rich golden hair, and worry rippled in the elf girl's eyes.
Lefiya might not be especially quick-witted, but she was not stupid or slow either. She had seen what kind of person the boy was all along, so naturally, she would not really make a scene and blame Bell for no reason.
"Mm... Could it be that Lefiya-san is actually surprisingly smart?"
Bell put on a thoughtful look.
"You're basically saying I was an idiot before, aren't you?!"
Lefiya reacted instantly.
"I just didn't expect Lefiya-san to still remember what happened back then."
Bell answered with a smile.
When the Apollo Familia had come looking for trouble, Bell had been forced to flee into the Pleasure District and had not returned to the Hestia Familia until the next day. Lefiya had found out about it then too, and burning with anger, she had ended up chasing Bell around.
"So annoying... I just happened to remember your business, that's all."
Lefiya blinked, then asked, "So, is this trouble serious? It won't be like last time, where you have to fight another War Game, will it?"
The boy was always surrounded by trials.
He had only just returned from a series of abnormal events in the Dungeon a few days ago, yet Bell had already run into new trouble.
Lefiya could not help feeling worried.
"It's a little troublesome, but you don't need to worry, Lefiya-san. I'll take care of myself and the people around me."
Bell answered honestly.
"W-who's worried about you? Don't misunderstand!"
Lefiya quickly retorted.
Her beautiful, captivating expression shifted in an instant. First it was flushed red, then clouded over, and now a different blush appeared.
"Hm? Just now, Lefiya-san trusted me unconditionally and didn't suspect me of doing anything lewd. Isn't that worry?"
Bell exposed what the golden-yellow-haired elf had done earlier.
"Ugh... So annoying! What do you mean unconditionally? That was obviously the result of careful thought. No, it was just a coincidence. No, that's not right either... Ugh, you permanently horny rabbit, you're so annoying!"
Lefiya's words were a complete mess, with no logic to be found.
If she said it was careful thought, it made it sound as though her head was full of thoughts about the boy.
If she said it was a coincidence, it sounded too cold and cruel, as though she had no heart.
Lefiya could not think of a proper answer at all, so she simply kept repeating "so annoying" to avoid the topic.
"Lefiya-san, I didn't eat lunch today. Would you mind putting up with me for a while?"
Understanding the girl's embarrassment, Bell changed the subject.
"I don't mind. Babel is some distance away anyway, so we can look around on the way."
Lefiya pinched the hem of her pink skirt.
Only after the words left her mouth did she realize it.
This...
Wasn't this just a date?