Sleep sneaked in while he was thinking about Astraea Familia and the situation of Goddess Astraea Along with all the problems, risks and uncertainties involved in trying to join her Familia.
...In a deep sleep, Bell found himself wandering into a space full of darkness, as far as his awareness stretched. The only thing visible in the unending darkness around him was an eight spoked wheel, radiating a golden glow while being suspended in the darkness.
Curiously though, the wheel was bound by chains made up of condensed darkness, with their ends dissolving into the darkness surrounding them.
Just by looking at the bound wheel, Bell felt an unknown impulse rise from deep inside him.
He started to unconsciously walk closer to the wheel....closing in with each of his footfalls.
But, just before he could touch the wheel, it sent out a pulse of gentle light towards him, pushing him away from itself.
Bell felt a violent tug from the push...and woke up with a start. Morning sunlight falling across his face from the window adjacent to the bed.
What was that?
He questioned after suddenly snapping out from his sleep... Yet, the encounter with the wheel was rapidly vanishing from his mind like sand slipping through his hands.
...His stomach protested from hunger while he was trying to remember what he had seen or dreamed?
I'll investigate this later. My hunger comes first.
Bell concluded and opened the door of his room. Walking out with slightly eager steps, and went down the stairs while his thoughts now consisted of stuffing his empty stomach with food.
"I'd like a light and nutritious breakfast, madam." He spoke to the inn keeper lady from yesterday night. His steps taking him to the a free table. He sat on the wooden chair a moment later while waiting eagerly for the food.
The Astraea Familia was a Familia which checked all of my boxes.
A Familia with not many children, so the Goddess would focus on the limited children she has.
A Goddess that really cares for her children, and with at least some backing and connections with most Gods of Orario.
But the problem was twofold, first of all, Astraea Familia only accepts women, as far as he knew from the *Danmachi* anime, since he'd not watched the *Astraea Records* nor *Sword Oratoria*.
Second was that the Goddess Astraea was not even in Orario at the moment, she was in Sword-Smithing city Solingen around this time, due to the incident that happened around five to seven years ago by the trap set up by Evilus.
Among those two problems... The first was not really much of a problem.
Would a Goddess of Justice discriminate due to gender and not accept a male into her Familia?
No... because that would contradict her very nature.
As for the second...that was the real problem.
Especially with her trauma of loosing her Familia.
Hot food was served to him while he was lost in his thoughts. The palette being nothing special, just some soft bread along with boiled eggs and boiled vegetables accompanied by a tankard of orange juice.
Bell's thoughts were all over the place as he ate the food amidst the chatter coming from people sitting at the tables surrounding him.
He remembered his current savings, which were a measly 100 valis, only enough to spend one more day at this inn.
Bell knew he had to make a choice quickly if he wanted to get anywhere with joining a decent Familia. The quicker he gained a Falna, the quicker he'd get a true backing in Orario.
As he was now...if some bloodthirsty adventurer attacked him in an alley, he wouldn't even be able to scream for help before being send back to reincarnate in another world.
Even though, he knew there was a negligible chance that he'd be accepted by Loki Familia. He still wanted to give it a try, because to join the Astraea Familia, he'd have to travel to Solingen and then further try to convince Goddess Astraea to let him join, which too had no guarantees.
It was better to try joining the Loki Familia before even thinking about going to Solingen, even though his chances for being accepted were not looking too good.
Bell finished his breakfast while being lost in thoughts. He took a moment to compose himself and went back to his room to grab his sachet, leaving the Graceful Swan Inn behind.
...
..
.
He asked people along the way about the path leading to Twilight Manor—the headquarters of Loki Familia—and reached it after thirty grueling minutes.
It looked similar to how it was shown in the anime. An imposing entrance, followed by a huge manor, along with guards wearing pauldrons with Loki Familia's emblem etched on them guarding the gates.
"Hello...is the Loki Familia recruiting? I came here to try to apply to join." Bell stopped in front of the manor guards and spoke with basic respect.
Who knew if I acted like a jerk and these guards steamroll me in moments right at the gates?
One of the guards with a burly build looked him up and down. A flash of disdain crossed his face after taking in his village cloathing.
"Kid. You better not dream big. Joining the Loki Familia is hard even for veterans with dungeon hunting and martial arts experience." The guard spoke, his disdain palpable.
"With your posture and temperament, it's easy to infer that you're a total newbie with nothing particularly special about you, so better quit early instead of getting humiliated by others." The burly guard continued with a dismissive wave, assessing Bell as worthless from his unrefined posture and temperament.
Excuse me?
Bell was bewildered for a moment. His mind blank. Followed by a surge of shame and anger. But, he didn't protest, since he didn't want to take a beating from these guards at the main gate.
He nevertheless imprinted the face of the burly guard berating him in his mind, starting to walk away a moment later.
It went just as he expected it to go, being held up at the gates like some Chinese protagonist just after coming down the mountain to a city.
Though his rational mind exposed the fact that...what the burly guard had said was indeed true, he didn't have any qualities which would make him unique, he was not even sure if he could awaken [Liaris Freese] like the original Bell.
...
While walking away, a tuft of golden hair flashed past the corner of his eyes. Yet, he was too focused on his thoughts to take note of it.
The sword princess, Ais Wallenstein glanced at Bell as he walked away from the Twilight Manor, her steps taking her closer to the Twilight Manor after coming back from an errand. Her face as expressionless as always.
She and Bell passed each other by. Bell buried in his thoughts, and Ais considering Bell as just one of the many newbies trying to join Loki Familia like others.
Nothing remarkable about him.
Ais thought.
Sometimes, the most remarkable things... are those which are considered unremarkable.
He was nothing right now...
But, would he always be nothing?
Each failure and and stumbled steps would pave the way...
For his path to save this world.