Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 10

by Fujino Omori

  As he stood up and raised his head, Finn announced, “Call a strategy meeting. Gather everyone for me.”

  “Loki Familia is focused on Bell Cranell—I bet that’s what our opponent is thinking.”

  The sky had gotten dark, and the curtain of night was drawing closed over the city. The meeting had started in Loki Familia’s encampment in a corner of the Labyrinth District. All the leaders and almost all the lower-tier members of the familia were in attendance.

  “The armed monsters will use Bell Cranell as a diversion to sneak into Knossos. We’ll pretend that we’ve fallen for their trick and lay a trap in a different location. But the most important thing is to pay attention to what’s happening in the opposite direction of Bell Cranell.”

  The magic-stone lanterns lighting the camp illuminated their faces. A restless buzz filled the air as Finn announced how things would unfold.

  “Hey, Finn, is that mangy rabbit boy working with the monsters?”

  “You’re certainly in a bad mood, Bete.”

  “Piss off!” Bete snapped back at Riveria.

  Finn chose his words carefully, since the werewolf didn’t seem aware of the fact that he was focusing on the boy.

  “At the very least, Bell Cranell is in a position where they’re making use of him—whether of his own volition or because he’s being deceived.”

  Bell Cranell was at the crux of the situation, a fact that evoked a range of reactions from the members of the familia. There were those who were grimacing sourly and others who looked unsure how to feel, including Tiona.

  “………”

  “D-did something happen to Lefiya? She’s making a really scary face…”

  “No clue.”

  And in an entirely different direction, there was an elf practically overflowing with rage. Raul was frightened, and Anakity could only hunch over in response to his question. Lefiya had been this way since she’d been removed from the Hestia Familia surveillance squad. The others were keeping their distance, leaving a big berth between them and her.

  “At any rate, Bell Cranell will not be our ally in this situation…Keep that in mind,” Finn warned—aimed particularly at Aiz, who was still brooding.

  “Mm, I don’t really get it, but I’m guessing that you’re trying to say not to get distracted by Argonaut?”

  “Yes. We can’t simply let him do as he pleases. Right now, Cruz and a couple of the others are watching him.”

  “Better yet, Captain, why don’t we capture him before he has a chance to do anything? You know, use a bit of force.”

  “Even with everyone treating Bell Cranell as a villain, there’s no definite proof against him. If we resorted to preemptive force, I think we’d end up becoming notorious ourselves. The Guild already has its eye on us. And Hephaistos is friendly with Hestia Familia. Getting her worked up is a scary proposition.”

  After Finn responded to the Amazonian sisters’ questions, Tione came back with another.

  “And one other thing. I know the armed monsters are highly intelligent, but it’s nothing more than that, right? Can they really pull off this strategy…?”

  “They’ve got a leader of some sort. Right, Gareth?”

  “Aye. When we were fighting before, I got a good look at the situation from atop the building. It was wearing a black robe, and I can’t say whether it was a person or a monster, but…it’s fair to think of it as a tamer.”

  Finn was hiding the fact that the armed monsters were intelligent creatures, concerned about chaos spreading among the familia if word got out. But he still wanted them to be wary of high-level tactics the enemy might use, which was why the pair had arranged this story beforehand. They exchanged glances as Tione and the rest of the members accepted their explanation.

  “And on top of it all, we need to be wary of that black minotaur…Even if it’s wounded, we can’t underestimate its ability to break through our formations.”

  The atmosphere shifted when Finn mentioned that monster. Bete and Tione raised their eyebrows, and even Aiz’s face tensed up.

  “If Tione hadn’t snapped, we would have beaten it easily.”

  “Say what?!”

  “Its techniques weren’t anything to write home about. If we can just get into close range, it won’t be too hard to fight. But…it was stronger than every other monster we’ve pulverized.”

  “And its resilience was abnormal. It didn’t matter how much Tione and the others hit it; it didn’t show any sign of holding back—not until Aiz’s wind landed a solid hit.”

  “Its skin was tougher than an enhanced black rhino’s hide. If it got any stronger, it would pose a big problem for us. It’s better to think of it as a floor boss than a regular monster. But as long as we don’t mess up while dealing with it, we can beat it, exactly like Tiona said.”

  After Tiona, Tione, Bete, Riveria, and Gareth all spoke, Aiz finally chimed in.

  “But…that monster…is going to get even stronger.”

  No one in the upper echelon of Loki Familia denied her comment. All the first-tier adventurers were thinking the same thing. The pitch-black monster was still developing, as unbelievable as that might have sounded.

  Raul, Lefiya, Narfi, and the other candidates for the upper echelon gulped, along with everyone else who’d been trampled by the monster.

  “If nothing else, we have to make sure to kill that black minotaur. The fact that it’s still developing is dangerous. Sooner or later, it’ll become a menace.”

  Now that Finn had a full grasp of the incident, he judged that the minotaur’s unique condition alone was Irregular. Unlike the other armed monsters, it didn’t seem to have any higher reasoning. It seemed to be only a creature starved for combat, a symbol of destruction steamrolling everything in its path. If the monsters were rational, Finn could predict their movements, but that black minotaur alone was unreadable.

  It was annihilation incarnate. Finn made clear that enormous Irregular was to be erased.

  “If we consider the route taken by the enemy from the eighteenth floor to the surface, there’s no question they have a key. We need to defend all the entrances to Knossos we’ve discovered.”

  The prum leader raised his head as he gave his order. “Familia members will be stationed throughout Daedalus Street. That’s how we’ll lay our trap.”

  Everyone nodded vigorously at the plan.

  Finn paused for a moment before his tone of voice changed dramatically.

  “Everything up until now will be part of our ostensible plan.”

  Without waiting for a response, he continued.

  “The real plan is to use the armed monsters as a decoy to draw out the Evils’ Remnants from Knossos.”

  “!!”

  Aiz and the main forces were shocked—let alone the lower-tier members.

  “The armed monsters have a key…The Evils in Knossos can’t ignore that. If we defeat the monsters, they’ll be forced to watch the key fall into our hands. There’s no way any of them will be content to watch from the sidelines.”

  Lefiya and Raul were taken aback by his explanation.

  Finn had predicted that Daedalus Street would become a battlefield. It would draw in not only the monsters but their supporters in Hestia Familia and even the remnants of the Evils.

  It wouldn’t be a three-way battle but a four-sided one.

  No, depending on the situation, it might even turn into a five- or six-sided conflict.

  The possibility made their throats tremble. The only ones unmoved were Riveria and Gareth, who’d been told beforehand, along with Alicia and Anakity, who were wiser than Aiz and the other main group members.

  The latter pair actually broke out into a cold sweat, because despite anticipating that the Evils might make a move, they hadn’t expected Finn to plan on it happening.

  Their apprehension was due to the difficulty of the proposed plan.

  “A plan on two fronts…”

  “To suppress the monsters and lure out the Evil
s while controlling every little thing…”

  “Uhhhhh?! Wait, what do you mean?!”

  “We can’t beat the monsters too quickly, and we can’t let them get away. We have to keep them busy without killing them until we’ve reeled in our true target.”

  “Didn’t this just get waaay harder all of a sudden?!”

  As Anakity and Alicia groaned, Tiona clutched her head so tightly that it was about to burst. Tione explained it in a way that even an idiot could understand, shattering Tiona’s mind.

  “Waiting for the monsters to invade Knossos…The enemy won’t rely on such a foolishly optimistic strategy. They believe Loki Familia will try to capture the monsters outside the labyrinth…They won’t be able to think otherwise.”

  “C-Captain…that means we can’t let the monsters get away while guarding the entrances to Knossos…and we have to take care of any Evils coming out of Knossos as well…?”

  “Yes. We’ll be caught between a rock and a hard place.” Raul’s face twitched as Finn casually nodded.

  They would have to keep track of the monsters making a break for Knossos while maintaining a firm grasp on the movements of the Evils’ Remnants at the same time. In particular, the movements on the Knossos side would be troublesome. The enemy would obviously be protecting the inside of their fortress, but they would definitely be mounting attacks outside of it, too. Loki Familia would be stuck between the hammer and the anvil.

  It would be a complicated affair to maintain communication lines while the plan unfolded across Daedalus Street, which covered a massive area in the city. On top of that, there would be several other groups of adventurers tossed in the mix.

  Every member of the familia understood that achieving their goal would be extraordinarily difficult.

  That said, Finn was still ordering them to carry it out.

  “We can’t let this chance pass us by. The armed monsters will be our bait to lure them out of their fortress…This is our first and last chance.”

  Finn intended to use everything at his disposal.

  He discarded the possibility of negotiating with the intelligent monsters, because they could use them as effective bait. The armed monsters tromping around with a key would be a serious source of concern for the Evils.

  By discarding all elements of uncertainty, Finn confronted the reality before him and chose to use the situation in a way that had the most potential.

  “We’ll place sufficient forces at the four doors in the hidden passageway. Riveria and Gareth will take command there. The enemy has been passive up until now, but they will start harassing us. Stay alert.”

  “Right.”

  “Aye.”

  Starting with Riveria and Gareth, Finn began giving each member their orders.

  No one cut in. They all abided by the battle plans he laid out.

  “Our number one priority is to obtain a key. The destruction of the monsters and the Evils is secondary—if worse comes to worst. Make sure you don’t forget the shape of this key.”

  Finn pulled out a replica of the Daedalus Orb.

  It was a copy created from his memory, based on the one he’d seen and the testimony of the former Ishtar Familia member Lena. It was just a lump of gold. Everyone stared intently at it on the palm of Finn’s hand.

  “Finn…What if the black minotaur appears?” Aiz asked.

  “I’ll leave it to the people on the ground to decide what’s best if it happens, but…under no circumstances should anyone try to face it alone. Wait for support to come and stall for time. Got it, Aiz?”

  “…Yes.”

  Finn gave a forceful explanation to make sure she didn’t mistake her priorities. Her golden eyes held the prum’s blue ones in their gaze before she nodded slightly.

  “…I know you’re all concerned. This time, our plan carries significant risk and difficulty.”

  After announcing all the orders, Finn looked around at everyone, speaking slowly. “And what of it?” he asked with a sharp gaze and a strong will.

  “Do you remember the faces of our friends who fell in Knossos? If you remember them, we will perform the impossible and give the odds a good thrashing. Aren’t I right?”

  ““Yes!”” shouted everyone in the room.

  The heat rose under their feverish response. There was no more fear or anxiety in their eyes as they responded to their leader’s question with a roaring will to fight.

  Braver was alive and well, using even the memory of their lost comrades to bring out the familia’s anger and stiffen their resolve.

  With a nod to confirm that morale was high, Finn added one last point of warning.

  “If anything is going to provoke Irregulars, it would be him. Do not let your guard down and do not overlook him. That adventurer will blow past our expectations as he’s done in the past.”

  It was almost as if he was acknowledging that boy, as if saying that folly was the one source of uncertainty.

  Finn’s eyes narrowed.

  “Finn…‘Him’?”

  “Yes—” he started, nodding at Aiz as he said the name of a single adventurer, which crashed into her chest, ringing endlessly.

  “Bell Cranell.”

  INTERLUDE

  A PRIVATE CONVERSATION BETWEEN GODS

  “Intelligent monsters, huh…?”

  “That’s right. They’re the root of our current problem and what Ouranos has been hiding.”

  In the highest location of the city, a secret discussion was taking place where no one could overhear them.

  On Babel’s highest floor, a certain god was visiting the castle where Freya held court.

  Hermes stood there, his hat removed and his orange hair swaying.

  “And what of it? What’s your goal in sharing that information with me?”

  It was nighttime.

  Hermes had recounted to Freya the full story of the incident that dragged the city into chaos—as well as the true nature of the armed monsters. Plus, Ouranos’s will. And the existence of Knossos and the evil hidden away in it and, on top of all that, its relation to Loki Familia.

  Everything.

  In response, Freya mustered a “humph.” There were some surprises, but she already knew much of what he had shared. And none of it particularly interested her.

  The Goddess of Beauty was fixated on a single boy.

  To the point that the fate of the armed monsters and Ouranos’s intentions were trivial compared to him.

  “Lady Freya, I’m anxious for Bell.”

  Bell Cranell was falling into ruin. His accomplishments were undoubtedly crumbling, tumbling down the staircase he’d managed to climb. He was on the verge of losing everything after betraying the hearts of the people, just as a certain hero elsewhere feared would happen to him.

  That wasn’t the end the god had wanted.

  “I have a few plans myself, of course, but I’d like to ask for your assistance.”

  “…”

  “You don’t want that white light to collapse over something as meaningless as disappointment, right?”

  It wasn’t a development she’d desired, either.

  Upon emphasizing their shared goals, the dandy god made his courteous request.

  Freya’s response: “Have you forgotten what you did to me during the dispute with Ishtar?”

  She wore a smile that could charm the hearts of a thousand men. But the divine intention hidden behind it was entwined with wrath.

  In destroying Ishtar Familia, which had been connected to the Evils’ Remnants, the Goddess of Beauty had been forced to dance to Hermes’s tune, and she still hadn’t forgiven him for that incident.

  Freya was the type to smile modestly, and Hermes’s face twitched visibly when he saw her grinning from ear to ear. He quickly raised his hands, indicating his surrender and recoiling.

  He didn’t apologize, or explain himself, or acknowledge his sin. But he did make a simple request.

  “Then, I hope you will find a way to watch over
us.”

  Look after the fate of that boy. And witness what I’ve prepared to flip everything on its head. Hermes left it implied, unspoken.

  “Which means you’d like me to do nothing.”

  “Yes.”

  He returned her gaze, and the silver eyes of the goddess bored into his orange ones.

  Hermes deliberately bowed deeply.

  “If you believe me and if you’re willing to entrust it to me…I’d like you to give me the key.”

  For the first time in their conversation, Freya flinched. She raised a single eyebrow.

  “With the key to Knossos…I’ll take care of the intelligent monsters. And bring that boy back once more to the role of a hero.”

  “What do you intend to do?”

  “I’ll set a stage, one where the hero can return.”

  Freya contemplated this as Hermes continued to remain bent over before her.

  When Ishtar was sent back, Freya had protected one of the exiled goddess’s followers, Tammuz. He’d held the key to Knossos, which was now under Freya’s control.

  To hand it over to Hermes when I didn’t give it to Loki…If I’m being honest, I don’t trust him…But if that child can overcome it, then this side might be…

  A stage for the return of a hero.

  A dramatic play prepared by a god—or a farce.

  With a firm grip on Hermes’s divine will, Freya decided it had the potential to be a sufficient trial.

  And setting aside the wishes of the god before her, this would satisfy her own desire: It might be possible for her to witness the great scene. It wasn’t her divine will but the boy’s fervent wish to overcome.

  In that case, I…Freya realized that her instincts had been correct when she had refused to yield to Loki and kept the key to herself.

  “Ottar. The key.”

  “My lady,” echoed a curt response from a dark corner of the room.

  After the briefest of pauses, the boaz attendant approached Freya, respectfully holding out a magic item with the symbol D engraved into it.

  “Very well. I shall give it to you.”

  That was the goddess’s decision—or whim. Its effects would greatly surpass her intentions, eventually going on to sharpen everyone’s branching paths.