Beneath that light green outfit was a slender, toned body.
If one did not know who the blonde girl was, anyone would think she was a delicate, lovely young woman.
But now, those shining golden eyes held the determination to catch the white rabbit, staring fixedly at the boy.
"Bell, where do babies come from?"
Ais stepped in front of him and asked the question with utter seriousness.
"Ais-san, that's very complicated to explain. Let's go outside first and talk."
Bell had no idea what the mercenary's wife had said to this airheaded girl, but the fact that Ais was no longer dwelling on what happened in the tavern was at least a good thing.
That said, this topic was far too dangerous now, so he needed to secure himself an escape route first.
Bell had already decided that, to avoid ending up covered in injuries like Bete, the moment things started going in a bad direction, he was making a run for it.
"Mm..."
Ais stepped aside and followed close behind him.
"You're leaving already? Why not stay for dinner?"
"Those two must have something important to do. We can't hold the boy up."
The mercenary tried to persuade them to stay, but his wife tugged on his sleeve.
Bell politely said goodbye and left the mercenary's family behind.
"Wasn't Big Sister going to have a baby with Big Brother?"
The little girl asked reluctantly.
"Mm..."
Ais blinked.
The little Ais in her heart started hopping up and down in delight.
If she and Bell were playing together with a cute little child, it would definitely be fun...
"If we can... next time, let's come play with the child too..."
Ais softly made the promise.
"Okay! Big Sister promised!"
The little girl's face lit up with a smile, and that warmth spread to Ais, leaving her immersed in the joy of the promise as well.
Watching all of this, Bell felt a bead of cold sweat run down his forehead.
What exactly was Loki Familia doing?
Was there something seriously wrong with their approach to education?
Bell kept the complaint to himself and walked on with heavy steps.
Dusk had fully fallen now, with only a crimson streak left on the horizon.
Ais's footsteps echoed over the cobblestones, light as if she were stepping on a breeze.
"Bell, tell me..."
Ais latched right back onto the earlier topic and refused to let it go.
"Um... Ais-san, haven't Riveria-san and the others told you about this sort of thing?"
Bell looked over Ais's condition.
Her steps were light, and there was even a smile on her face. She looked exactly like an eager child ready to try something new.
She used to blush when giving him a lap pillow.
If things got even a little too intimate, Ais would even knock Bell unconscious out of embarrassment.
And yet now, with the subject of having a baby right in front of her, there was not even a trace of shyness on her face.
In the blonde girl's mind, children probably just appeared out of nowhere.
That was how absurdly natural Loki Familia's education of Ais had become.
"I asked before... Riveria hit me....."
Ais replied pitifully.
Why did all the people called "Mama" have children, but Mama Riveria did not?
That was what Ais had asked.
The result had been a merciless lightning-fast staff strike.
After that, Ais never asked again.
"I see..."
Bell smiled faintly, as if he could picture Ais getting hit.
Riveria did not even have a romantic partner, so asking her about something like that would definitely end with force shutting the conversation down.
Still, judging from Ais's usual behavior, Riveria had not neglected education about body and mind.
Ais was not as carefree as the Amazons. When it came to physical contact, while she was not quite at the level of an elf's cleanliness obsession, she still treasured her own body very much.
"Then what do you think, Ais-san? Where do babies come from?"
Bell did everything he could to avoid answering directly.
If he could make Ais realize that the question itself was very embarrassing, that would be ideal.
"Babies come out of their mother's stomach, obviously."
Ais answered without hesitation.
"..."
So you do know that...
Bell smiled helplessly and continued, "Then how are they born into the world?"
"Mm... It has to be magic."
Ais answered with complete certainty.
That was what Loki had told her too.
Bell felt he was getting close to the answer, so he asked the final question.
"Ais-san, do you know what a brothel is? The magic for making babies is doing the kind of thing they do in there."
"..."
Time froze for Ais.
She had no real knowledge of it, but she still understood what sort of place a brothel was.
A man and a woman together, casting aside their shame, giving in to beastly desires, stripping each other naked, and then...
That was as far as Ais's knowledge went.
That was the magic used to make babies?
The little Ais in her heart turned red all over and started screaming.
Ais quickly realized exactly what kind of promise she had just made....
The little Ais in her heart would not calm down at all, crashing wildly around inside her mind.
That turmoil spread to the blonde girl herself, and wave after wave of blush rose across her face.
"I didn't know... so what I said before doesn't count..."
Ais decisively cut ties with the happy, excited version of herself from just moments ago.
To actually say something so shameless, the Ais from before must have been bewitched by a witch.
"Don't worry. I'll keep this a secret for you, Ais-san, so you can't tell anyone else either."
Bell made the promise aloud.
If the members of Loki Familia found out that he had discussed having babies with Ais, and had even made that kind of promise with her...
They would definitely see Bell as some criminal tricking children.
Just imagining it, Bell could already feel the icy stares from Riveria and the others.
"Mm... I understand..."
Following the shyness in her heart, Ais agreed at once.
The little Ais inside her was crying out "Waaah. Waaah," as if urging the Sword Princess to hurry up and knock the boy unconscious so she could escape this unbearable embarrassment.
But Ais simply could not do that.
She could no longer accept giving him lap pillows the way she had before.
At this point, even the slightest brush of skin would probably make her panic and run away...
That was how helplessly flustered Ais felt after the topic they had just discussed.
"..."
Ais walked silently beside him, trying to suppress her embarrassment through thought and forget everything that had just happened.
Now that part of the answer was laid out before her, Ais's world had grown a little wider.
Bell had refused to answer because the topic crossed too many boundaries...
Riveria had hit her because she herself had never done anything shameful either...
No.
Wait...
How did Bell know?
Because he had done this and that with the girls from the tavern...?
Then what about the brothel...
At that moment, the young Ais and the current Sword Princess stood on the same side.
Her golden eyes shimmered, as if they wanted to see through every lie.
"Bell... have you been to a brothel?"