After answering a few of Hera's gossipy questions, Bell slipped away without hesitation.
In front of Hera, he always felt like a kid being grilled during New Year about how things were going with his "girlfriend." He had no talent for dealing with gossip, so he grabbed the first excuse he could think of and ran.
"Tsk~ He actually ran at the most crucial moment."
Hera, her curiosity completely unsatisfied, couldn't help but complain.
"That kid is only fourteen in the end. Even if his mind is mature and he thinks deeply, in some ways he's still no different from any ordinary fourteen-year-old."
Zeus also enjoyed a bit of gossip, but he still paid attention to the real situation behind it.
For a boy Bell's age, love was a strange kind of candy. It could be sweet or it could be sour. For Bell, it was clearly sweet. But the one eating the candy didn't intend to share the taste—even through words.
Stories about Bell and the goddesses could wait. The real issue now was the sphere. Zeus steadied himself; just recalling the feeling it gave him was enough to make cold sweat gather.
"Hera, that brat's creation is… troublesome."
"No kidding. Who wouldn't think that thing is troublesome?"
Hera's teasing smile vanished, replaced by genuine fear. The moment she remembered looking directly at that sphere, she felt again the illusion that darkness was about to swallow her whole.
"Hestia and the others have probably already seen how terrifying that thing is. Even that brat must have sensed something."
"Hm? You're saying he didn't realize it before?"
That didn't make sense to Zeus. Bell was always overly careful with anything dangerous. There was no way he wouldn't notice something like that.
"Yes. I watched his eyes the entire time. He was cautious, alert, even deliberately hiding things… but he truly didn't realize just how dangerous that thing is."
Hera had noticed this the moment Bell revealed the sphere. That was why, aside from studying the sphere, she'd also carefully observed Bell.
Staring at the sphere had made her feel as if she were being swallowed by darkness.
Thankfully, it wasn't complete yet. Escaping that illusion wasn't too hard—just looking away was enough to break free.
After failing to interpret the sphere, Hera shifted her attention to Bell, focusing on what he hid behind his gaze.
And what she saw made her sigh.
"That brat is too cautious. Even I can only see the surface. If he weren't less guarded around me than usual, I probably wouldn't have seen even that much."
Caution wasn't a flaw for an adventurer, but when taken too far, it became a serious problem.
To Hera, that boy definitely carried some sort of deep-rooted psychological issue. Otherwise he wouldn't constantly be disguising himself in everyday life.
"But precisely because he wasn't too guarded with me, I could see it—he really has no idea what that sphere is. Otherwise, with his personality, he'd never be this unconcerned."
"That's true." Zeus found Hera's analysis quite accurate. Given the level of caution Bell had always shown, if he truly knew, he would never choose to ignore something like that.
"It must be because we perceive it differently."
After thinking for a moment, Zeus voiced the conclusion he'd reached.
Hera nodded slightly.
"To us, it carries a terrifying threat, but to its creator it shows no hostility. That part makes sense."
"But how long can this 'lack of hostility' last?"
Bell might be safe for now, but would that power remain harmless forever? Hera couldn't imagine it.
This wasn't a matter of probability—once even one possibility came true, it was 100% reality. There was no room for luck.
...
Only after returning home did Bell finally relax a little.
'I really can't get used to all that gossip.'
Bell had never been good at gossip. At best, he could quietly eavesdrop from the sidelines. But actually being the topic—and answering questions—was a different matter entirely. Especially when the gossip involved him directly.
'Hera kept staring into my eyes just now… was she trying to read something from them?'
'Is this because of that thing's influence?'
Bell hated that kind of scrutiny. Being looked at as if someone were about to see straight through him felt awful. Luckily, Hera's gaze wasn't strong enough to penetrate everything. And Bell quickly realized what she was trying to find in his eyes.
Emotions.
Both Zeus and Hera had felt fear when they looked at the sphere—Hera had even felt a touch of despair.
Bell didn't know how those emotions were formed, but he did know one thing: the gods' reaction to the sphere was completely different from his own. Knowing this, he relaxed himself, maintaining only the minimum defense without hiding his emotions.
That brief test told him everything.
He summoned the sphere again.
Bell stared at it… and felt nothing.
'So my perception of this sphere is completely different from the gods'.'
'And it seems the corruption and contamination it causes in gods has grown stronger.'
That might be something worth documenting.
Bell let out a helpless sigh.
'But it's still incomplete. If it were whole, I might be able to test it on more races and see how they respond.'
But doing so would risk exposing his whereabouts to the gods sooner. So Bell decided to abandon the idea for now.
Even if he planned to study the sphere seriously within the next year, that would have to wait until the very end.
This year was already tight enough—Bell had no desire to make it even tighter.