Steam rose around them, and the hot water drove away the fatigue that had built up in their bodies.
Finn clearly had something important to discuss, so Bell naturally accepted the opening he offered and went with him to the bathhouse.
Wrapped in towels, the two sat at opposite ends of the bath.
"Finn-san, about Lefiya..."
Bell's voice trailed off.
Because Lefiya's clothes had dissolved during Concurrent Chanting, he had brought her back himself. For the sake of the golden-haired elf's reputation, Bell really could not explain the details.
"I know. Loki may grumble a little, but she won't keep hounding you just because you snuck into Twilight Manor."
Finn spoke frankly, showing his trust. "Besides, judging from Lefiya's attitude, there's probably some reason she can't say out loud."
Lefiya had always been shy. She would never invite a boy into her room for no reason. Even after the situation was exposed, she still stood behind Bell with a red face, holding back her embarrassment as she prepared to defend him.
With just a little thought, it was obvious there had to be some hard-to-explain secret behind it.
"Talking with you really is easy, Finn-san."
Bell smiled as he spoke.
Although several meters separated them, the two were now being honest with each other in a sense. Built on mutual trust, there was a friendship between them unique to men.
"So, how are things progressing between you and Lefiya? I was even thinking of pushing your marriage along as thanks for those incidents."
Finn asked about their relationship.
Of course, Bell understood that Finn would never treat a member's marriage as a thank-you gift. It was only a joke.
After thinking for a moment, he answered, "I do like Lefiya-san, but my relationship with her hasn't reached that point yet."
Just as Lefiya had said, once matters of love were brought out into the open, it would only trouble her.
"I see... Then what about Riveria?"
Finn calmly said something startling. "She was the one who incited Bete to get beaten up. You must have had something to do with that, right?"
"I won't apologize for what happened to Bete-san. His personality is a little too twisted."
Bell answered honestly.
"Oh, so you noticed Bete's [true nature]."
There was a note of admiration hidden in Finn's voice.
"After all, ever since the attack on Rivira Town, Bete-san hasn't opened his mouth to pick a fight with me again. And besides, he was beaten up because of me only yesterday, yet today he left without saying a word. He must have gone off to temper his body and mind, right?"
Bell gave his view.
With an order from the Familia Goddess Loki and a grudge that had drawn blood, Bete could easily have attacked him in the hallway.
The reason he did not act was naturally tied to that awkward personality of his.
"Hahaha. If Bete heard you say that, he'd definitely curse you out."
Finn laughed as he shifted the topic. "That matter is interesting too, but what I want to know is how you feel about Riveria."
"....."
Bell froze for an instant at Finn's directness.
Was he testing him for his companion's sake?
Or did he have some special intention?
Just as Bell hesitated over how to answer, Finn spoke first.
"Sorry, prying into your private life like this isn't exactly proper, is it? To be honest, Bell Cranel, I support you. After all, I'm pursuing a harem myself."
Realizing his question had crossed a line, Finn revealed his own thoughts first.
To revive his race.
To carry on the light of the Pallum.
To overturn the fate of a weak race sunk in despair.
Finn had long since resolved to offer up everything he had.
He told Bell of his determination. Though both of them were pursuing harems, Finn and the boy were both extremely unusual cases.
The former, for the sake of the Pallum, was determined to stand at the top of the world, leave behind descendants as a hero, and revive his entire race.
The latter, for the sake of the girls' smiles, wanted to create a different kind of heroic tale, one where no one cried and there were no tragedies.
The path was unbelievably twisted, yet both of their goals were surprisingly pure.
"Now that I've said that much, you understand, don't you? Bell Cranel, what you've been doing has truly helped me a great deal."
There was no distance in Finn's tone. He genuinely saw the boy as his friend.
"I see..."
Bell nodded thoughtfully.
Finn's gaze was fixed far into the distance. Whether as the world-famous [Braver] or as the captain of one of the strongest familias, those were all just identities he used.
Finn's true goal lay much farther ahead.
If one day, in order to revive the Pallum, he had no choice but to take multiple wives and concubines, his reputation would inevitably be affected. People who had not received any real benefit from Finn would surely think that Finn was relying on force to make women enter his harem.
After all, only a minority of people accepted harems. And the stronger someone was, the more easily they became the center of attention and criticism. When that time came, Finn would definitely be troubled by it.
Bell's appearance, however, would change the direction of the future. The boy was walking the harem path without wavering, and he had already gained many supporters. Bell was like a sailboat sailing through unknown waters, enduring countless waves and storms.
The boy's voyage would become a reference for Finn, and might even change the way people viewed harems, paving the way for Finn's future.
Precisely because of that, Finn fully supported Bell's dream of a harem.
"Finn-san really is cunning."
Bell sighed with a smile.
Viewed rationally, Finn was using the boy's harem dream to lay the foundation for his own path of revival.
But his support was sincere. Even when it came to his own friends and members, Finn would cast aside pointless attachment and sadness to help Bell form romantic relationships with them.
Of course, Finn's first love was a Pallum. To revive his race, his standards for choosing partners were also limited to Pallums. He had never held any romantic feelings toward Riveria or the others.
"Cunning, am I... Not a bad way to put it. I'll take that as praise."
Finn understood that the boy meant no harm.
Aside from Loki, there were few people he talked to about these things.
Ever since their first operation together, Finn had deeply admired the boy's intelligence. Leaving aside the debt of gratitude for saving Ais, Lefiya, and the others, the matter of harems had placed Finn and Bell on the same side.
Bell understood his position.
Finn asking about Riveria and the others was not a test or gossip. He was looking rationally at the changes in Bell's relationships with the other women.
If necessary, this "cunning" Pallum would probably lend a hand from the shadows as well.
Bell did not press the issue any further and honestly stated his thoughts.
"Finn-san, how Riveria-san and I came into contact, and what we went through together, are things I have to keep secret. But as a woman, I like her very much. As for how it turns out, I think it's best to let things take their natural course."