“Lightning?” The voice was high, slightly feminine, and most importantly, shaky. The grip around Light’s wrist was also moist, reaffirming the other party’s nervousness.

  Coincidentally, they were not the only one.

  Light paused, refusing to turn around until she regained her composure. Her mind raced as she tried to comprehend the situation. From behind, she undoubtedly resembled the character Cire Farron, also known as Lightning. Her attire, hair colour, and style all matched perfectly.

  However, the only way someone could recognize her as such was if they possessed knowledge beyond this world.

  Taking a deep breath, she put on a fitting mask and turned to face the other party. The moment she did, her thoughts nearly spiralled into chaos for the second time. She had expected to see a small young man. Specifically, she thought it would be Bell. Or rather, the reincarnator now walking around in his body.

  After all, who else could possibly know of Lightning?

  However, that was not the case. Or was it?

  Gripping her wrist was a young woman about a head shorter than her. She had long white hair, crimson red eyes, and an adorable face. Her body was well trained and athletically toned despite her petite stature. Though her brown coat, bck shirt, and pants did little to enhance her appearance, she was undeniably a beauty. Not in the seductive way of Freya or Light, but more akin to Hestia. Her charm leaned heavily toward the cute side.

  “You are Lightning, aren’t you?” the white-haired woman asked again. After seeing Light’s face, a flicker of uncertainty crept into her voice.

  [Warning. Someone has cast the spell Appraisal on you. Would you like me to block the spell?]

  'No,' Light shouted internally before quickly adding, 'Instead of blocking it, create a fake profile. Keep my name and stats accurate but hide my skills. Can you do that?'

  She knew that blocking the spell would only make things more suspicious.

  In this world, skills like Appraisal were not common like in other isekai stories. Very few had access to it, if any at all. Blocking it at level one would raise far too many questions. As only gods or goddesses might detect and have the ability counter such spells. A regur adventurer like her should not be able to.

  [Consider it done.]

  [Warning. A dey in the spell’s results has occurred due to the creation of the forged profile and the time required to have this conversation. The caster, identified as Bel Cranel, will almost certainly notice the dey.]

  While handling the Appraisal and listening to her system, Light took another moment to study the other woman.

  Everything from her clothes to her features screamed Bell. Yet the st time she checked, the young hero had an Adam’s apple, not two clearly visible perky breasts.

  Also, this girl appeared a little older than the canon version of Bell.

  Now that she thought about it, Ais, Tiona, and Tione all seemed slightly older too.

  Was this reted to one of the reincarnator’s wishes?

  Thankfully, the moment her system provided the caster’s name, her suspicion was confirmed.

  ‘System, what the hell is happening?!’ Light shouted internally for a second time.

  [Did I not say? All the worlds you have access to fall under the Goddess of Yuri’s domain. This means the majority of important male characters will be female, especially the main characters.]

  ‘No, you most definitely did not say! So all the reincarnators I come across will be female too?’

  [That will be the case for all main characters, yes.]

  ‘Wait… does this mean all the heroines are also…’

  “Hello? Can you understand me?” the reincarnated Bell, no, Bel, asked as she waved her pale hand in front of Light’s face. Standing on the tips of her toes, Light had to admit she was quite cute. Even the way she slightly pouted from being ignored was endearing.

  On the surface, Light remained perfectly composed, her smile seamless and calm. Even she was surprised by how well she was currently acting. Her performance was so convincing that Bel could not tell whether she had been paying attention all along.

  “I can. I was just trying to pce your face somewhere.” Light expined with a slight shake of the head.

  “Oh. I thought you might have been… no, never mind. So, do you recognise me?” Bel briefly dropped her earlier question. When she noticed the other girl freeze, as if lost in thought, she suspected Light was talking with a system. After all, Bel herself had done that mid-conversation more than once, earning wary looks from others.

  Although she was getting better at managing the presence of another voice in her head, especially when around others, she would still slip from time to time.

  Fortunately, her assumption seemed to be wrong anyway.

  Also, the more she observed, the less confident she became that this girl was actually Lightning or a reincarnator. The outfit matched exactly, but she cked Lightning’s natural sternness. With the structure of her face differing greatly. Her weapon was also a standard iron sword, not the iconic gunbde. And most importantly, her instincts told her that the person in front of her wasn’t a reincarnator.

  After all, wouldn’t they be shocked to see the protagonist of this world approach them? Especially if they didn’t know that Bell was now Bel. Also, that Goddess had never mentioned anything about this world having more than one reincarnator. Granted, she never said it wouldn’t either, but that’s neither here nor there.

  It seemed more pusible that after her death, the DanMachi mobile game and Final Fantasy XIII had a crossover event. That could expin why a costume from another game appeared in this world.

  However, with all that said, caution was necessary. Bel would need to gather more information before believing such a convenient expnation.

  “I cannot say I do,” Light lied, thankful that this was not another encounter with a goddess. Noticing the other girl’s guarded posture, she raised her hand and gently ruffled her hair, patting her head with a doting expression. “I don’t think I would forget someone this cute.”

  If there was one lesson she had learned from Yuri in her st life, it was this: why fight someone when you can get them to fight for you?

  Yuri had been a master maniputor. Her charm and goddess tier beauty could wrap anyone around her finger. More importantly, she knew exactly when to use those tools and when to hold back.

  Light had seen her do so first hand.

  Back in Highschool, one of the school bullies had targeted Light for dating Yuri, ciming she was far out of her league. That she should break up with her if she knew what was good for her. Bh bh bh, it all came down to one thing. The bully was jealous of Light and had fallen under Yuri’s spell like many before her.

  Instead of confronting the girl, Yuri further seduced her with ease and turned the bully into her personal piggy bank for the next three years. She ended up paying for all of Light and Yuri’s dates, doing so with a frantic and adoring smile, proof of just how far gone she was. Just remembering her lifeless eyes that only had Yuri in them was unsettling to say the least.

  Although Light remembered the event clearly, and the many others just like it, they were not fond memories. Witnessing how easily Yuri maniputed others left an uncomfortable echo in her mind.

  A voice that often whispered: "Is she doing the same to me?"

  Light hated that she could even doubt the love of her life. But the only comfort she found was the fact that she had nothing Yuri needed. She was not rich, stunning, or particurly exceptional. So why would someone like Yuri waste her time?

  Bel blushed slightly, caught off guard. Light’s face, now so close to her own, was overwhelming. Despite being reborn as a female version of a harem protagonist, Bel had no real experience with women. So much so, in her previous life, she had died before even dating anyone, which had only fuelled her obsession with becoming a harem protagonist in this world.

  Light, who was now studying Bel carefully, immediately recognized her weakness to flirting and smiled inwardly.

  When she thought the reincarnator was a man, she had feared a physical confrontation. And with how reincarnators were apparently given full-blown wishes with limitless potential, she was absolutely not looking forward to it.

  But now that she knew the other reincarnator was a woman, everything changed.

  If the other party was to her liking, why not seduce her instead? And the woman before her was definitely to her liking. Cute, innocent, and full of potential. What was not to love?

  “Wait, don’t tell me,” Light said, her voice pyful and sultry. “Was getting my name wrong an icebreaker so you had an excuse to talk and hit on me? I didn’t realise I was dealing with such a smooth operator”

  Lowering her hand, she cupped Bel’s cheek with a teasing touch and leaned in closer. With perfect mimicry of Yuri’s old tone, she whispered near her ear. “And here I thought you were a good girl~”

  Turning into a blushing mess, Bel quickly retreated several steps, putting distance between them. Clutching the spot where Light’s hand had been moments ago, she stammered, trying to regain her composure.

  Watching her, Light could not help but find the girl endearing in a cute way. Even the way she gestured wildly, waving her hands in a frantic attempt to clear up the misunderstanding, was amusing.

  Her reaction closely mirrored how the canon protagonist would respond, making Light wonder if living as Bell for so long had influenced the reincarnator’s behaviour. Or maybe they had always been this innocent, even in their previous life.

  ‘If Freya got her hands on this girl, she would not stand a chance,’ Light mused.

  She was aware that her own attempts at seduction were just imitations of Yuri. Compared to a natural seductress like Yuri or Freya, the gap in ability was massive. The downside of having been in a retionship most her life was that she had no experience actively chasing someone.

  Raising her hands in mock surrender, Light smiled. “Sorry, it looks like I was mistaken.”

  “Thank God,” Bel sighed in relief while pcing her hand over her heart, grateful that the misunderstanding had been cleared up.

  “Anyway, I didn’t quite catch your name. I’m Light, so you were close with Lightning,” Light chuckled. “One of the newest members of the Loki Familia. Gd to make your acquaintance, cutie.”

  Although there were still traces of shyness on Bel’s face, she had calmed down considerably. “Light… Light… I’ll remember it. I’m Bel Cranel of the Hestia Familia.”

  Unfortunately, despite her earlier efforts to erase Bel’s suspicions, the moment Light introduced herself with a name so simir to Lightning, a seed of doubt that had nearly faded found new life. The fact that she belonged to such a plot-important familia and did not recognize Light only made things worse.

  No matter how one looked at it, Light did not have the appearance of a background character. If she were an elf, her beauty might be understandable, but a human? No chance.

  On the other side, Light had considered using a fake name, but she decided against it. If it were ter discovered that she had lied, it would open an even bigger can of worms.

  “Goddess Hestia, was it? I didn’t even know she had a familia.” Light said with feigned ignorance.

  “Well, I say familia, but I’m the only member,” Bel answered awkwardly, a hint of embarrassment in her tone while she crified.

  Unable resist teasing her a little more, Light cooed, “So, you’re the captain of a familia? I didn’t realize I was speaking to such a big deal~”

  Light and Bel continued to banter, blissfully unaware that two important events connected to this world’s plot had occurred, and that they were at the centre of the storm. One came in the form of an unassuming waitress; she had stormed out of the Hostess of Fertility after spotting a familiar pure soul sprint past.

  For the first time, she could finally pce a face to the second soul that had caught her attention.

  Goddess Freya watched the pair, her two current favourite souls, interact. She fully intended to leverage her retionship with Light to introduce herself to this new girl. However, the moment she saw Light pce a hand on the other girl’s cheek, she stopped in her tracks.

  For reasons she could not expin, a strange discomfort surfaced in her chest as she watched the two openly flirt in the middle of the street. Her two small hands curling into fists by her side.

  However, remembering how Light had told her she pnned to build a harem, the discomfort seemed to ease. Unfornately this discovery only seemed to annoy her.

  Meanwhile, the second significant development was something Bel quickly became aware of. As she and Light pyfully conversed, her cheek still warm from where Light had touched her and her heart racing, Bel’s system resounded in her mind:

  [Congratutions, Host! Skill Liaris Freese has awakened! Target of skill has been assigned to individual known as “Light”.]