“And where exactly is this confidence coming from, hm? There’s absolutely no basis for it!”
“But there is, Miss Filvis! There is! Even Loki herself said it. You may be cold and calculating on the outside, but on the inside, you have so much heart. So much, Miss Filvis!”
“What are you even talking about?!” Filvis shot back, her anger rising. As if a joke from Loki of all people could possibly reveal any truth about her!
This girl has no evidence! No justification! she thought to herself, face red with indignation. She tried to turn away, but Lefiya wouldn’t have it.
“And…and what about me? You won’t allow yourself to be near Lady Riveria, but I’m okay?!” Lefiya snapped back. “What exactly am I to you, Miss Filvis?!”
“I-I never said anything like that!”
Filvis had turned her head away when she realized she wasn’t getting anywhere, but at Lefiya’s question, she whirled back around to face her.
Her eyes met Lefiya’s, though the other elf had shrunk away a little in shame.
Filvis was quiet for a moment, face still flushed as Lefiya’s azure eyes stared through her, then she dropped her gaze awkwardly.
“I-I’m going back.”
“No.”
“I’ll do what I want!”
“I won’t allow it!”
“Let go of me!”
“I will not!”
They struggled, their heavy breaths loud against the quiet of the surrounding trees. The forest leaves sheltered them from the sounds of the outside world.
At long length, Filvis shook her head as if admitting defeat.
“Are you this high-handed with the other members of your familia…?”
Lefiya stared at her blankly for a moment. Then…
It was her turn to look away awkwardly, at anything but Filvis.
“I, erm…n-not really? I would never be able to…to behave like this with Miss Aiz and the others. Just…just you.”
“Just me?! Why?!” Filvis screamed, face pointed toward the sky.
The tension was starting to become uncomfortable. But even as Lefiya averted her eyes, she refused to release Filvis’s wrist.
Filvis cursed under her breath…but even the curse itself came out strained, the words directed to somewhere down by her feet.
“Ever since I met you…I’ve felt more and more strange,” she muttered, sounding altogether very lost, her face still a brilliant shade of pink.
Lefiya stilled, her own face heating up. She smiled.
Perhaps the other elf would never be able to forgive herself.
And as one who didn’t even fully understand how she felt, perhaps Lefiya would never be able to do anything to assuage her pain.
But the way Filvis was changing was quite possibly one of the sweetest, most noble things she’d ever seen.
“…Why are you smiling?”
“Hee-hee-hee…”
Even under Filvis’s vindictive glare, Lefiya couldn’t keep the smile off her face.
Filvis closed her eyes, blocking out the brilliant grin of her companion as she turned away. A light pink touched her long ears.
The dappled light filtering in from the trees overhead painted their clasped hands.
It wasn’t long after that Lefiya realized something.
She’d become so engrossed in her back-and-forth with Filvis that she’d completely forgotten about joining up with Aiz and the others in Rivira.
Before she knew it, the group had already returned to camp.
“Nooooooooooooooo!!”
“Hey, hey! Let’s all go take a bath together!”
Tiona was the first to speak up upon their return.
“Again? How many times do we need to go before you’ll settle down?”
“Aw, c’mooooooon! It’s not like we’re doin’ anything else! And the water is just sooooooo niiiiiiiiice!”
“Noon” had arrived at the camp.
Aiz, Bell, and the others had just returned from their sightseeing jaunt to Rivira.
And Tiona’s suggestion had come as soon as the girls had all gathered back together.
When the Amazonian girl declared that she liked the eighteenth floor, what she was really declaring was her love for the Under Resort’s pool. Her love of bathing wasn’t something restricted to the Dungeon, either. Even back in the manor, she was known for her tendency to suddenly rise to her feet and declare she was “going to the bath for a bit!” So it was no surprise that this carefree inclination carried over to the middle levels of the Dungeon, as well. The frequency of her “bath-time announcements” was enough to give the third-tiers and below especially painful headaches.
“You just want a glimpse of Lady Hestia’s rack, is that it? Is all that boobage too much for you?” Tione teased, voice laced with suspicion.
“I-I do not! As if!!”
At the mention of her name, however, Hestia and the rest of her party glanced up.
“Is something wrong, Lady Hestia?” Mikoto asked, turning toward the goddess.
“Hmmm…it’s just…now that they mention it, it would be really nice to get clean. What about you guys, hm? Should we join them?”
“If we can, I suppose I’d be up for it…What about you, Lady Chigusa?”
“M-me…? I…All right,” the prum responded meekly as the rest of the familia offered their opinions.
The two Takemikazuchi Familia women in the rescue party, both of Far Eastern descent, gave reserved yet distinct nods.
“…Lord Hermes?” Asfi turned around to ask her patron deity, her snow-white cape fluttering.
“Hm? Ah, no worries. Feel free to take a break from your guard duties if you’d like,” Hermes responded languidly, temporarily freeing his usual escort from her responsibilities.
“You too, Aiz!” Tiona called out, latching herself onto Aiz’s back.
“Okay…”
“Go invite Leene and the others. We can take shifts,” Tione said, and the bathing party expanded quite rapidly.
Soon, every one of the familia’s female members was being invited.
“Are you coming, Lefiya?” Aiz asked the young elf.
“…”
“Lefiya?”
“………”
Lefiya, however, didn’t respond. In fact, she didn’t move a muscle and simply stood there, still as a tree, staring blankly off into space.
She had gotten so excited about meeting Filvis again that she hadn’t been able to join the group for their sightseeing trip in Rivira, and it had left her in a sort of stupor. To think that she’d forget her one true goal! It was an inconceivable defeat.
To make matters worse, the reason for her lapse in memory, Filvis, had already left in a huff after Lefiya had cornered her, the tips of her ears still bright red.
As Aiz looked upon the living elf statue, she was quite perplexed.
“Snap out of it, Lefiya! Bath time! Let’s go!” Tiona flung herself at the stupefied elf, the impact breaking her out of her trance.
“Huh?!” Lefiya shook her head back and forth in an attempt to ascertain the situation. “B-bath time? Ah, I’ll go, I’ll go! I shall join you! I won’t lose to that human this time!” she asserted, still not fully recovered.
“Erm…okay?” was all Aiz could say, even more startled at Lefiya’s seemingly irrelevant statement.
“Then let’s go! Let’s go!” Tiona cried out, still attached to Lefiya’s side, and then they were off.
There were twenty of them including Hestia and her group. The lower-level members stuck out like sore thumbs, and Tsubaki was nowhere to be seen, currently off wandering about who knew where. Tiona took the lead, guiding the girls so triumphantly that even Hestia’s group, who’d yet to even break a sweat since they’d entered the Dungeon, found their excitement building.
The large party made its way along.
Until, after a short while, the scene in front of them expanded to reveal a breathtaking waterfall.
“Heeeeeee
ere we are!” Tiona splayed her arms out in a show of grand exaltation.
“Oooooooh!” the awed group chorused.
Clear blue water cascaded down the some ten-meder height of the waterfall. The faint spray dancing along the pool’s surface was both cool and refreshing. It was surrounded on all sides by the dim glitter of crystal, the view overhead a vast, dome-like canvas of leaves and branches.
It was the same fountain pool Aiz and the others had enjoyed only two days prior.
“While I knew there were pools in this forest…I hadn’t known about this one,” Asfi murmured as she admired the scenery. Though she’d been to the eighteenth floor many a time, this was the first time she’d been to this pool.
“Tiona was the one who found it…” Aiz explained with a little smile. “…She discovered this hidden treasure during one of her strolls.”
Despite this particular pool being a bit of a trek from the campsite, visiting it whenever they had time had become a sort of Loki Familia custom.
“Shall we take turns, then?” Tione suggested. “…Lady Hestia, if you and your party would like to go first…”
“No, no, you guys should feel free to go first! We’re fine going second.”
“Just leave guard duty to us!”
“Really? All right, then…”
When Tione looked around at her own familia, ignoring the first-timers for now, the lower-level girls gave up their places for their senior sisters. She responded with a smile as the young demi-humans chorused, “We’ll keep watch, too!”
While the eighteenth floor may have been a safety point, that didn’t stop monsters from other floors from making their way to this forest in search of food. It would be senseless to bathe without someone keeping watch—that rule applied no matter which floor of the Dungeon they happened to be on.
And that didn’t even go into the many men lurking about the forest, as well.
“I’ll go ahead and get in, then, Lefiya.”
“Be my guest, Miss Aiz!”
And so Lefiya found herself once again on guard duty.
There were eight who made their way into the pool first, including Aiz, Tiona, and Tione, as well as Hestia and Asfi of the rescue party.
There was no hesitation among them, all of the girls laughing and talking as they began removing their clothes in preparation for the bath.
The new girls, led by the imperious Mikoto Yamato of the Far East—the up-and-coming Takemikazuchi Familia rookie known even among the other adventurers—boasted gorgeous bodies with supple arms and legs and smooth, perky curvatures that could rival the Loki Familia members’.
“—Hmph! I think we can all agree that I’m the winner here!” Hestia proclaimed triumphantly—at Aiz, for some reason—as she made a grand show of removing her own garments.
Even Aiz was taken aback at the twin mountains tumbling out of the goddess’s restraints, but it was Tiona who suffered the biggest emotional hit, bringing an arm up to cover her own flat chest with a strangled cry of defeat.
Tione, on the other hand, didn’t seem bothered in the least. “Take a look,” she said.
Once the group finished relieving themselves of their clothes, they headed immediately for the pool.
“Yaaaaaahooooooo!”
“What have I told you about diving in like that, Tiona?!”
“Oh! This really is something!”
“The water is absolutely beautiful…even the streams of our home in the East weren’t this clear.”
“It really feels wonderful…”
“You know, you’re actually quite elegant, Miss Asfi. I never noticed it before.”
“Are you saying I’m not normally, Lilliluka Erde…?”
“N-no, uh…just that…you know, you’re always giving one hundred percent to your work!”
Voices rose from all over the pool as the group enjoyed themselves, some of the women diving straight into the water while others simply poured it over their skin, savoring the refreshing purity.
Even Aiz and her companions, already used to this bathing experience, were drawn in by the excited antics of Hestia and the other newcomers. Tiona’s splashing led to a contest among the girls, and soon their high-pitched squeals filled the air like those of water nymphs.
Wet hair clung to their necks and shoulders as rivulets of water traced the curves of their bare skin, more lustrous and refreshing than alluring.
They’re all so beautiful…well, of course Miss Aiz is, but even the others, too…Lefiya thought to herself with a sigh as she scanned the group from her spot outside the pool. Their naked bodies seemed so stunning in the water. And from the murmurings of the other lower-level girls dotting the perimeter, she wasn’t alone in her thoughts.
At least Loki isn’t here. She found herself silently thanking the sky.
The lecherous goddess would, no doubt, be foaming at the mouth already at the sight of all these naked women.
And what a sight it was, if it was enough to mesmerize even the decidedly female Lefiya.
The men would be thinking the same thing…
After all, if even Lefiya was thinking it, surely the men would be.
While their job as guards was mostly to keep an eye out for monsters…they also had a duty to bestow divine judgment unto any and all degenerate Peeping Toms who might try catching a glimpse of female skin. Lefiya’s staff was ready to create hellfire at a moment’s notice.
That being said, Aki and the other girls were still back at camp to keep an eye on Loki Familia’s men. Any libidinous intentions they had were sure to be stymied then and there. Plus, the perimeter they’d made to guard the pool was impenetrable. Anyone who tried to sneak in would be spotted immediately.
A little smile rose to Lefiya’s lips. She was entranced as she watched Aiz push a lock of golden hair behind her ear, but even still, she never let her guard down, eyes and ears keen as she monitored the environs.
It was simply unthinkable anyone would try to sneak past them to get a glimpse of the pool. In broad daylight? With such tight security, no one would—
“—EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!”
There was one.
All of a sudden, something came plummeting down from the sky with a high-pitched shriek.
It fell right smack in the center of the pool in which Aiz and the others were currently bathing.
“—Huh?!”
The kersplash! was accompanied by a giant spray of water.
The screams were quick to follow, and Hestia and the other girls scrambled back in terror.
A hoarse cry of surprise escaped Lefiya’s lips, same as the other guards as the commotion rapidly built.
It was unthinkable! Some pig had actually been lurking about in the dense thicket of trees above their heads.
A dishonorable voyeur of a man—who’d just launched a full-scale attack on the maidens’ bath!!
For an instant, time seemed to stand still, then Lefiya jerked forward.
Her face paled instantly. The degenerate who had come tumbling into her field of vision, who was currently stumbling and crawling toward the shoals, was none other than that white-haired boy.
“Huh? Little Argonaut? You wanna take a bath, too?”
“Amazing. Nothing fazes you, does it?”
Tiona and Tione stood chatting cheerily over the boy, not bothering to hide anything and showing no signs of embarrassment.
“Wha…? Wha-wha-wha…?!”
“H-huhhhhh…?!”
The same was not true of the two Far Eastern girls, who quickly plunged into the water, faces red as they let out simultaneous screams.
“It couldn’t be…Lord Hermes?” Asfi mused in disbelief as she scrutinized the rustling dome of leaves overhead.
“What the hell are you doing, Bell…?” Hestia questioned, her breasts floating atop the water’s surface.
“M-Mister Bell! How did you get here?!” the prum girl next to her squeaked.
And then—
“…Oh.�
��
His gaze met Aiz’s. The swordswoman currently was standing in the middle of the pool with her back to the cascading waterfall.
Her reaction was immediate, cheeks a brilliant red as she hurriedly used both hands to cover herself.
A single drop of water worked its way teasingly down from her long golden hair, across her pearly skin, tracing the nape of her neck before sliding down her slender waist.
Bell’s face grew so hot it was as though a fever had taken hold of his body.
Lefiya’s face, too, turned a deep scarlet.
He’d seen her.
He’d seen the naked body of her golden-haired, golden-eyed swordswoman.
He’d witnessed every inch of that gorgeous body, so beautiful it outrivaled even the gods’, a body that belonged to her most cherished, most adored, most revered woman in the whole wide world.
—It wasn’t possible.
Bell and Lefiya.
The former of whom was currently dying of embarrassment, the latter of whom was currently bubbling over with rage.
Both of them lost it at the exact same moment.
“You—bastaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard!!”
“I’m—sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!”
The screams erupted from their lungs simultaneously.
Then Lefiya was off, her feet pounding the ground and accelerating toward him at an impossible speed.
At the same time, Bell flung himself out of the pool with the ferocity of a river breaking through a dam.
The other guards were quick to follow, shaking off their stupor and galloping toward the white-haired boy from all sides.
But Bell was faster.
Lefiya shot through the air, her fingers outstretched, but they fell mere celches short of the boy’s backside as the rabbit narrowly escaped the rapidly tightening circle of girls.
In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
“Gggnnhh!!”
A strangled noise of unadulterated fury squeezed out of Lefiya’s lungs as she gave chase. Aiz and the others still in the pool were able to do nothing but stand there in shock.
Both hunter and hunted were equal shades of scarlet.
But try as she might, she couldn’t seem to gain on him. He was too fast. The rabbitlike speed granted by his sheer terror was enough to surpass even their difference in level.
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 5 Page 12
