Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 8
Page 20
Enshrouded in flames and drenched in the light of the moon, the lone wolf howled into the night sky.
An indicator, perhaps, that he’d fulfilled his oath; to Aiz’s ears, it sounded both ferocious and heartbreakingly sad. She watched him, embers singeing her face, sweat pouring from her temples, and her golden hair glinting.
While the wolf stood there, savage, gallant, and destitute in the flames.
The heinous “Amazon Hunt” that had rocked the city had finally come to a close.
As far as official announcements, the ringleaders who’d hired the assassins were still unknown. In order to avoid any unnecessary chaos, no one aside from Loki Familia was to know it was the remnants of the Evils who’d been in charge of the attack.
As for the battle that had taken place in the restoration zone of the Pleasure Quarter—and the giant pillar of fire that had been observed all across the city—the Guild had already begun their investigation. Both the Guild and its workers, as well as the whole of Ganesha Familia, were quite rightfully horrified upon discovering not only the corpses of the two dead guards but the scarcely recognizable charred bodies of the assassins around the scene of the attack. Though they fully understood that the perpetrator was a “certain elite member” of a “certain large familia,” no word or even allusion to him was ever released. Instead, they were simply forced to concede that the threat to the city was gone and that there was no reason to “step on the beast’s tail,” as it were, by questioning the measures taken to do so. Even the Guild’s upper echelons agreed that this was a matter best passed over. Indeed, aside from the fact that it was going to take a bit longer to rebuild the Pleasure Quarter, the goings-on from that night might very well never have happened, buried beneath the darkness from whence they came.
Upon observing the bodies of the assassins they’d recovered, it was clear there would be no more risk of attack; thus, the Guild released the protective sanctions they’d placed on the former members of Ishtar Familia. And with that, the usual peace returned to Orario, almost as though the rain had simply washed away the night’s tragedies.
Save one person, who now had to live with one more scar.
Back in the Pleasure Quarter in the city’s third district, where the ravages of war still painted the restoration zone…
Bete sat alone among the debris in a corner of the ruins, the brilliant sunset staining his features. This was the exact spot where he’d last seen her face. He narrowed his eyes into the fiery sheen of the twilit sun along the western horizon.
“Bete…” Aiz murmured as she and Loki watched over him from a short distance away.
It had been two days since he’d taken down Valletta, and the wolf had yet to return to Twilight Manor. It was only by chance that Aiz and Loki had finally found him there. There was no telling how long he’d stay, either. Though at the very least, it didn’t seem he’d be leaving anytime soon, as he’d yet to move during the few hours since they’d arrived, simply staring off into the ever-changing sky.
Bete looked so small sitting there—quite possibly the quietest Aiz had ever seen him.
“Let ’im have his sunset, yeah?…We go bustin’ in there now without a care for his mood an’ he’ll just turn himself off.”
“Yeah…He doesn’t seem very…happy.”
It was true.
The two short days he’d spent with that girl, his own self-reproach at being unable to protect those weaker than him, and plenty of other emotions that Aiz couldn’t even begin to imagine—they should have washed through Bete by now.
Aiz let her gaze fall before turning toward Loki. “What do you think…we should do?”
“Heh, I may not’ve mentioned it to the others, but I’ve got myself a little plan up my sleeve,” Loki replied with a sudden smile. “Aiz, I’m gonna tell ya somethin’ and I want you to pass it along to Bete, all right? Should cheer him right up.”
“…What is it?”
As Loki leaned in closely to whisper in Aiz’s ear, the girl quickly nodded. It took less than a second. Then, Loki’s words in her head and a look of determination on her face, she took off across the square. She could hear Loki’s whispered “You can do it!” from behind her as she approached Bete.
But before she could get a word out, the werewolf beat her to the punch.
“You need something, Aiz?”
“Bete…”
“I don’t feel much like talkin’ to anyone right now, okay? So just beat it,” he mumbled, not even turning around.
Aiz gave a little gulp but stood her ground as she eyed the wolf bathed in the light of the setting sun, the fang on his cheek glowing red.
Then, with a little plop, she placed her hand on his shoulder.
As he slowly turned to face her, she relayed the words Loki had imparted to her.
“I got you, bro.”
She had spoken in a completely monotone voice.
“…………………………………”
The sight of the emotionally challenged girl, her features absolutely deadpan as the ridiculous attempt at encouragement left her mouth, was enough to make Bete’s cheek twitch.
“BWWWPHHHH!!” came the stifled laughter from the nearby shadows—and the provider of the phrase herself.
“…………………?”
Aiz could only look on in confusion at the reaction she was receiving, tilting her head to the side with a silent Huh?
Seriously…? Bete, meanwhile, realizing things had gotten too unbelievable by this point, simply let out a sigh before rising to his feet. Saying nothing and bringing his hand down on the girl’s head with a more-forceful-than-intended donk, he walked right past her.
Aiz brought her hands to her head as she watched him go, now even more despondent.
“Well, lookie who it is! What a coincidence runnin’ into you here!” Loki popped out from the shadows like a bouncing clown to land in front of Bete’s path before he could make it out of the square.
“You got some nerve sayin’ that, you old hag…” Bete half glared at her, annoyed that the earlier ambience of his sunset had been spoiled.
“We’ve been lookin’ all over for ya, you know? Whatcha been doin’ these last two days, huh?”
“What do you care? ’Sides, not like everyone’s gonna throw a party for me if I just waltz back home, now, is it?” Bete pointed out, referencing the two Amazons he’d left on less-than-stellar terms. Loki, however, just hummed through her nose, her smile never leaving her face.
“Hmm…I dunno about that…”
“…?”
But as dubious as Bete was in the face of his goddess’s antics, he wasn’t about to stick around any longer, and he made to leave the square for good.
“Hey, Bete. Time-out, ’kay? ’Cause Aiz really, reeeeally wants to ask ya somethin’.”
“…Huuh?”
Bete turned around to see Loki’s eyes widen ever so slightly in mirth—and Aiz running after him with a decisive air about her.
As his amber eyes met her golden ones, she took a deep, nervous breath, then gave her question voice.
“Bete…Please tell me…why are you always looking down on people? And…why is it that you want to get stronger?”
“Ngh—!”
“You didn’t answer my question back…back in the pub that night…”
Bete’s brows furrowed.
The girl’s expression remained steady and strong even as she stuttered out an almost desperate question. There was no way he could blame things on alcohol this time. Nor was there any way for him to lie. Not in front of those eyes. That would simply be unacceptable.
Instead, Bete made to leave. Then—
“Answer her, Bete. That’s an order from yer goddess, ya hear?”
“You…”
“C’mooooon! It’s not like it’s in front of everybody. Just this little chick here!…Even you understand it’s a cryin’ shame to up and leave without sortin’ out these misunderstandings.”
Lok
i’s words felt like a knife to his heart.
And as his goddess’s words pried away at the doors to his soul, he felt anger rise up inside him. Making a none-too-kind gesture, he turned back toward Aiz.
The swordswoman was standing just as he’d left her, waiting for his response.
Her features so reminiscent of those of his younger sister, her eyes invoking the same determination as the girl he’d loved back in Víðarr Familia, and her golden hair, fiery in the setting sun, just like the girl he’d lost on the plains.
Yes, this was the one person in the entire world he couldn’t lie to.
Which was a realization Bete suddenly understood all too well.
His mouth seemed to open on its own, unable to fast-talk its way out of this one.
“…Because I hate weaklings. That’s why.”
“That’s…all?”
“They’re disgusting. I don’t even wanna look at ’em.”
“And?”
“Hearin’ ’em cry gives me goose bumps…”
“And?”
“—What else do you want from me?!” Bete finally roared, unable to take the girl’s unending deluge of questions. “That’s our duty, isn’t it? The strong are supposed to bad-mouth those weaker than ’em! If we don’t do it, who will? And then what, huh? The chicken-livered wusses’ll just keep on coming! Is that what you want?!” Bete howled.
It rushed out of him like a dam had been released, everything he’d been keeping stopped up inside, all the pain from his scar, flowing out of him and dashing itself against Aiz.
“They don’t belong on the battlefield! They should all just stay in their little holes! Learn their place! Not run around boo-hooing at every single goddamn thing. Makes me sick! Pissin’ and whinin’ like a bunch of little babies!! What else did you think was gonna happen, huh? They were doomed to die from the start!!”
Their deaths flashed through his head as he carried on, his parents, his tribe, his sister, his childhood friend, her.
And finally, the final moments of the girl who’d tried to heal him—and the Amazonian brat.
All these thoughts plaguing his mind, plaguing his heart as he continued his tirade, he finally ended it with one last bellow.
“I DON’T WANT ANYONE TO CRY ANYMORE!!” he roared, his voice echoing in the scarlet sky.
And then it was silent. Only the sound of Bete’s ragged breath cut through the tension.
Aiz stood there, shocked into silence, before finally, ever so slightly, beginning to fidget.
Apologetically, almost, making herself as small as possible.
“I’m…I’m sorry…”
“See?”
But the first person to reply to Bete’s dubious grunt wasn’t Aiz, in fact, but Loki. A smug grin on her face, she brought a hand to her mouth before yelling at what appeared to be no one in particular.
“You hear that? Pretty much what we thought!”
Bete found himself thrown for a loop, until, from atop the roofs of the nearby buildings, heads began popping up, one by one.
The entirety of Loki Familia was there.
“…………H-huh?” Bete sputtered, mouth frozen in a half-opened droop.
“We heard it loud and clear!”
“Sure yelled it loud enough.”
“I’m not sure whether to be happy or…embarrassed…Aha…ah-ha-ha-ha!”
They were the voices of his peers—Tiona shouting happily, Tione shrugging, and Lefiya with her hands to her cheeks in red-faced chagrin. And the affirmations continued similarly among the rest of the bunch: Raul, Anakity, Alicia, Cruz, Narfi, and even a whole bunch of the lower-level familia members, as well. Rakuta and the rest of his party down in Knossos, in particular, had tears forming in the corners of their eyes.
Bete’s confession had been successfully delivered.
“The things you’ve put us through…”
“Indeed. Perhaps if you could be a little less…aggressive about everything, it would make our jobs easier.”
“Less aggressive? Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! We talkin’ about the same Bete here?”
Now the voices came from the shadows of a nearby patch of rubble, Riveria, Finn, and Gareth emerging onto the square.
Bete had truly turned to stone now, nothing but his eyes shifting toward the trio with an almost audible creak.
“Aiz really, reeeeally wanted ya to return to the familia, yeah? So I may or may not’ve dropped a hint or two that we should pull an innocent little stunt, and, well…You can prolly gather the rest.”
“And I’m, uh…sorry…about that…” Aiz apologized once more as Loki looked on triumphantly. Bete was still frozen to the spot.
So that’s what had happened.
The other familia members had carefully, quietly hidden themselves away just out of Bete’s range of perception while Finn and the other elites had absconded themselves completely, all of them waiting for the moment when Aiz would urge Bete to spill his true feelings.
“Wh…You…Dammi…G-gaaaah…?!” was all Bete could sputter as he attempted to find his words. And as he stood there, features strained and mouth bobbing up and down, Tiona and the rest of his familia came running over to meet him.
They all lined up in front of him with grins that could outrival even that of their goddess, and from within the boisterous bunch, Tiona’s and Tione’s voices could be heard loud and clear.
“Hey, Tione! You know what they call people like Bete, huh? I heard it from Loki!”
“Sure do. A jerk with a heart of gold.”
“?!”
Bete’s face went instantly red.
But they weren’t done yet, with Raul and the other second-tiers quick to toss their own opinions into the pot.
“You made my heart stop, Mister Bete! ‘I don’t want anyone to cry anymore!’ So dreamy!”
“I always believed in you, Mister Bete!” “We’re so sorry for misunderstanding you!” “So this is what the gods mean when they say someone is ‘so cute it makes you want to eat them’!”
“Asshole on the outside! Teddy bear on the inside!”
“Nice ta meetcha, Teddy Bete!”
“This new Mister Bete is an absolute dreamboat!”
“You bastaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaards!!”
“P-p-p-p-please forgive uuuuuuus!”
The screams camse almost simultaneously as Bete unleashed his fist on the group of overzealous fans. Raul was only the first to go flying. Tiona and Tione didn’t miss the opportunity to join in on the fun, either, loosing giant guffaws as they clamored along with the rest of the peanut gallery.
The sight of it brought a smile to Aiz’s face and a set of amused looks from Finn and the other elites.
Once the two twins actually started fighting with Bete, though, Lefiya and her group quickly attempted to pull them apart, and loud laughter erupted from everyone in the square.
Loki Familia was back, just as Aiz had wanted.
“Well, then…” Riveria said suddenly.
She let out a heavy sigh, almost as though she’d been waiting for a signal. Throwing an almost criticizing glance at Finn, she waited for an appropriate opening in the hoopla before pushing her way into the circle.
“Bete, I must first apologize.”
“Huh?”
“It’s about Lena Tully.”
Bete’s previously reddened face turned stark white the moment Riveria mentioned the Amazon’s name. The tattoo on his cheek twisted in irritation as he turned cold.
“There ain’t nothin’ to talk about.”
“No, there is, Bete. Hear me out.”
“I said there ain’t! She’s dead, ya hear? There’s no point in holdin’ on to people who ain’t ever comin’ back?!” Bete lashed out, not even listening to Riveria’s appeal.
“Or is there?”
All of a sudden…
The girl in question
popped out from behind a pile of nearby rubble, bringing Bete’s world to a sudden halt.
“Yoo-hoo, Bete Loga!” Lena Tully called out, looking none the worse for wear as she cheerily waved in his direction.
“…………………………………”
“And before you ask, nope! This isn’t a dream!”
But it might as well have been, the way Bete seemed completely stunned, so Riveria stepped in quickly to explain, her eyes closed.
“The day of the attack, Amid was able to complete her work on a magic item capable of healing the curse. Using her own curse-exposed blood, she was able to distill an elixir with anti-curse properties. Of course, the supply was limited, but…”
“……………………………………”
“As we moved among scenes of the attack, Alicia, the others, and I used what we had to heal all we could.”
“……………………………………”
“By the time we found Lena, my supply was running short. I was just barely able to rid her body of the curse, and though she was still alive when I brought her to the hospital…I had no way of knowing whether or not she’d survive, so I told no one.”
“……………………………………”
“That and at the time, there was still a threat of Amazons being targeted, her included. Better to continue feigning her death for multiple reasons, then…So I decided to wait until things had cooled down,” she finished. The detailed, long-winded explanation was evidence enough of the rare feeling of awkwardness she felt about the entire situation. “…So I ask you once again to please forgive me. You were hurting, yet I kept you from the truth.”
Riveria threw an apologetic look at the girl in question—the very-much-alive Lena standing next to her—as Bete continued to flounder in silence.
“All of us, too. We only knew about it after we’d already taken care of everything,” Tiona added.
“As did I. Riveria was operating on her own with this one. And trust me, she gave me quite the earful after hearing I’d left it up to you to…resolve things,” Finn explained, his own voice remorseful.