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

by Fujino Omori

  “Sorry…Finn, Gareth. Thanks for the help.”

  “It ain’t over yet! Did ye forget?! The adventure lasts until you make it back!”

  “Yeah, don’t get sloppy on me, Riveria.”

  Riveria let herself smile as the others glared at Levis without letting their guard down. Her face quickly tensed, matching theirs.

  “Narfi, we’ll be the rear guard! Heal Alicia and them, then go back down the path we came on!”

  The other familia members had moved in from the surroundings in a surprise attack to rescue the Fairy Force. Breaking through the Evils who’d clumped together in panic, they had returned to that path with the elves in tow.

  “You think I’ll let them go that easily, prum?” The creature’s green eyes burned as she swayed, trying to stand.

  Without words, she proclaimed her intent to exterminate them all, unleashing an overwhelming bloodlust. Even with Finn, Gareth, and Riveria teaming up together, they were still fighting on the Evils’ home base. Even if they somehow managed to hold off Levis, the others would be crushed by the Evils, who held an advantage in their numbers.

  And on their side, Riveria was exhausted, so she would be the first to run out of stamina. Without their teamwork, that would be the end. They were not a match for Levis individually. It would be a defeat in detail.

  Finn responded to Levis’s statement. “Sorry, but we’ve got no intention of fighting you straight-up.”

  He didn’t rise to her challenge, raising his voice the moment Rakuta and the elves had all been evacuated.

  “Lefiya—do it!”

  The next instant, a magic circle spread from their feet.

  “” Levis froze as the jade circle expanded through the large passage, past where she’d been standing.

  From inside the path that Finn’s group had entered, a golden-haired elf had been left behind.

  It was Lefiya.

  “Ahhhh, how annoying, annoying, annoying—”

  Wielding Forest’s Teardrop in both hands, she unleashed a tremendous magical light.

  “—Because of that human, my body is burning!”

  Enthralled by Bell’s battle with the minotaur, Leafa felt as though her heart and body were burning.

  Just like Finn, Lefiya had been fascinated by the boy’s adventure, and it renewed her determination.

  She converted the strength of her thoughts into a heightened magical power.

  The blast had been on standby with the use of her Summon Burst. It had reached critical mass while Finn’s group had stalled for time—the magic of the city’s strongest mage.

  The monsters took notice of the source of magic power overflowing like a cup brimming with water, but it was too late.

  “I can do it, too!!”

  Unleashing her white-hot feelings, she turned her body into a blazing inferno to save her comrades, giving birth to an unprecedented firepower.

  It was an extermination blast that could pass through walls, stealing her master’s thunder. Having led Finn all the way there, the elf had bided her time, waiting to drop her own supersize support.

  “Rea Laevateinn!!”

  A pillar of hellfire shot up from the floor, rising to the ceiling.

  “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?!”

  A hellish inferno emerged. In an instant, the web of passages was overwhelmed by the columns of flame, which blasted everything inside its field of magic with a blistering heat wave. The first to rise were the screams of the vibrantly colored monsters, followed by the fearful cries of the Evils. Though the Xenos weren’t targeted by this attack, they screeched, enveloped by the aftermath and dashing away from it.

  “Tch—?!” Levis covered her face with her arms, retreating at an inhuman speed as the inferno shot up at her.

  Finn didn’t miss a beat, immediately realizing the Evils had fallen into complete chaos as he barked out his orders. “Retreat! Full speed! Get out of here!”

  Just as they had arranged it beforehand, the familia members in the rescue squad moved in perfect concert. Riveria and Gareth departed in haste, darting one after the other to their escape route down the path where Lefiya was waiting.

  “C-Captain…I…”

  “…”

  At the entrance to the path, Alicia was the last to leave, looking up at Finn with a full range of emotions on her face. Hauled there by the others, including Narfi, she felt her legs give out as she sat down on the ground.

  Alicia was holding on to and couldn’t let go of a siren at death’s door whose shoulder was pierced by the cursed sword, covered in blood, just like she was. Alicia tried to say something, but nothing would come out.

  Upon seeing her troubled expression, Finn understood everything.

  And with that, he spoke. “Carry this monster, too!”

  “!”

  For a few moments, Narfi and the others were stunned, struggling to move, but they eventually pulled it together to obey his order. As they supported the inhuman body with wings instead of arms, they lifted it out like they would have a human. After reaching the escape path, the members of the Fairy Force supported them. Alicia was among those helping.

  “Finn Deimne…!”

  Fels witnessed the scene of the humans carrying out one of the Xenos and saw the prum looking back at them and gesturing with his jaw. That gesture sent a jolt down the mage, who froze in place before finally calling out in a voice filled with faith.

  “Lido, follow Loki Familia!”

  “Got it!”

  The monsters went along, rushing down the labyrinth drowning in the remaining vestiges of fire, and escaped out of the large passage, charging at full speed as the cries of the Evils’ Remnants continued to ring out behind them.

  “As if I’d let you get away…”

  Inside the large passage-turned-crimson-hellscape, Levis stared at the backs of the adventurers and Xenos disappearing beyond the rampaging fire, about to mercilessly hound them down.

  “Don’t chase them.”

  “!” A masked figure appeared from behind her, putting the brakes on her plan.

  It was wearing a hooded purple robe and metal gloves on both hands. It was another creature that Finn’s team was aware of—the one called Ein.

  “Don’t chase them? Is there any purpose in letting them escape from here?”

  “…”

  “You had one job. And you can’t even get that right? Why is that guy still alive?” Levis spat with animosity and annoyance, baring her fangs like an untamable wild animal and ratcheting up her bloodlust to full.

  “If all you can do is get in my way…I should just kill you. What do you think of that?” Levis suggested cruelly to the fellow creature.

  It fanned the flames with its robe and responded, “This is Enyo’s order.”

  “!!” Levis’s green eyes snapped open wide.

  In the words of the gods, the city destroyer. The being behind everything.

  There was a short silence.

  Upon staring at the masked creature, Levis scoffed and turned away. “You tell Enyo that if this plan fails…I’m coming to kill you.”

  And with that, Levis left, moving with her back to the large passage and the remnants who still hadn’t quelled the chaos. The masked creature watched her disappear into the darkness, casting a glance down the path that Loki Familia and the Xenos had taken before melting into the darkness without leaving any trace behind.

  “They aren’t following us…” Finn murmured in the rear guard as he looked over his shoulder.

  Though they were faced with intermittent attacks from the remnants of the Evils and their monsters, his biggest fear, Levis, never made it to the scene. Finn was suspicious, but nevertheless, he dashed out of Knossos along with the other familia members. Opening the door to the connecting passage and breaking through the wall of the labyrinth, they arrived at the twelfth floor of the Dungeon.

  “They…probably won’t be coming. Seems like we finally shook them, eh?”

&nb
sp; “Yes…”

  As they moved from the area connecting to the passage to Knossos, leaving a fair distance between them, Finn finally took a breather with his comrades. They stopped in a room shrouded in fog.

  But many of the familia members didn’t let their guard down—namely because the heretical monsters had come to the same place, concerned about their comrade that Loki Familia had carried with them.

  “Everyone, lower your arms.”

  “Finn…”

  The familia members had separated themselves from the monsters, glaring across the room at them, when Finn raised his hand and gave an order.

  While Gareth murmured, marveling, the prum moved toward the high elf.

  “Riveria, you have the medicine?”

  “Yes…”

  “Use it.”

  “…Is that okay?”

  “Yeah. It’s fine.”

  While Lefiya and the others were dumbstruck by the exchange that only Gareth could understand, Riveria looked into his clear blue eyes and nodded, kneeling beside the siren who’d been laid on her back. From her breast pocket, she took out the medicine—a magic item for dealing with cursed weapons that Amid had made. Finn had requested it beforehand in preparation for the surprise attack on Knossos. She used it on the siren who’d been pierced by the cursed sword, which had afflicted her with a curse that prevented the wound from healing.

  A murmur rose among the familia members.

  The Xenos stiffened.

  By the siren’s side, Alicia was stunned when Riveria used recovery magic, conducting a full healing. This action was equivalent to Finn ordering them to not fight the Xenos.

  “Finn Deimne, you…” Fels murmured in amazement.

  Finn walked over to the mage leading the Xenos.

  “Unorthodox monsters, I’d like to negotiate with you,” he began to say, holding his long spear and looking out at the monsters with a clear gaze.

  Loki Familia and the Xenos were paralyzed. Lefiya’s eyes opened wide, Rakuta gulped, and Alicia spun around in surprise.

  Riveria and Gareth were the only two watching Finn’s actions in silence.

  “Negotiate? You of all people, Braver…? That’s more than a little hard to believe…”

  Fels was bewildered by the unexpected proposal but didn’t lower their guard. The black-robed mage knew enough about Finn’s ambition to understand just how strong his resolve could be. Fels made clear their suspicions that there might be something hidden in this suggestion to catch the Xenos unaware.

  “It’s simple, really. I’ve decided I want to use you.”

  “Use us…?”

  “For the assault on Knossos.”

  That made everyone gulp.

  “Now that we have our hands on a key, we’re going to embark on a campaign to clear Knossos in the not-too-distant future and drag the Guild, who wishes for peace in Orario, into this mess.”

  “…”

  “When that happens, I want you all to participate in the attack. Under the strictest secrecy, of course.”

  They still didn’t have a full grasp of that hellish labyrinth or nearly enough manpower to clear it out.

  Which was why they needed to borrow the aid of the monsters. As Finn explained this plan, Fels maintained their silence.

  “…Braver, I don’t know your real intentions. Put bluntly, we thought you were one of the only ones who would never consider a deal. I’m sorry, but I can’t trust you—”

  “It’s already been shown that the armed monsters won’t attack people. At least, I’ve come to that conclusion. I’ve also confirmed that the Evils are clearly our mutual enemy.” Finn interrupted Fels mid-sentence.

  “And above all…there are people in my familia who can’t point their swords at you.”

  A handful of the elves twitched, including Alicia, which Finn noted out of the corner of his eye.

  There was no longer any way to sweep the existence of self-aware monsters under the carpet. Even if Finn exterminated them here and now, the knowledge of them would spread through the familia from someone present who’d seen them.

  In which case, he would change course and use them as much as he could.

  And that was the choice Finn had come to just a little while prior.

  “If…and when it comes out that we’re connected…that you had dealings with us, you know your reputation will plunge. That would be the end of your ambition to reinvigorate your race. You must know that, right?”

  People would talk. And eventually, ruin would befall Finn—just as Bell Cranell had experienced. That was Fels’s point.

  “Then, after losing everything, I’ll come back as a hero again. This time, not an artificial one. Yeah. Maybe I’ll be an unprecedented leader who reconciles with the monsters…or something like that,” Finn responded nonchalantly, half sarcastically, shrugging with an annoyingly shameless grin.

  Fels stiffened.

  Lefiya and the others stared openmouthed.

  The Xenos’s eyes tensed.

  Gareth’s shoulders trembled as he started to chuckle, and Riveria clutched her head as if suppressing a coming headache, but even she couldn’t help breaking into a smile.

  Finn’s expression was clear and untroubled, like someone who’d broken free of all ties, but then he quickly assumed a serious look.

  Finn continued. “With the potential destruction of Orario impending…I’m casting aside my personal feelings and my hatred toward monsters.”

  He was prioritizing the fate of the city.

  As Fels maintained their silence, Finn added, “Don’t misunderstand me. This deal is a one-time thing, for the duration of a joint battle. I’ve no intention of trying to get along after that. And I’m not signing up to help you achieve your goal. If you appear before me again after the battle, I might annihilate you, depending on the situation.”

  His expression was cool. The Xenos sensed that the adventurers were looking at them differently. Finn’s eyes were only on Fels.

  “…Let me ask one thing. What changed you, Braver?”

  Finn’s face softened. “I regained my childlike mind. That’s all there is to it. I stopped fixating on the idea that there’s only one possible answer.”

  Fels stopped trying to probe for his true intentions upon seeing another shift in Braver’s expression and turned around to acknowledge a nod from the lizardman—representative for all the Xenos.

  “Very well, Braver. We’ll make a deal with you. Not that we have much of a choice in the first place.”

  Finn responded with a nod and cleared the way. Fels and the Xenos cut past Loki Familia and their lowered weapons. The troll lifted the siren, whose wounds had closed, struggling for a moment on what to do before sluggishly lowering its head in thanks.

  The siren faintly opened her eyes, smiling at Alicia. As she stood up, Alicia’s eyes were wavering.

  Then the monsters vanished into the depths of the mist-shrouded labyrinth.

  “…In the near future, I’m going to formally report on this incident to the familia. Until then, the events of this day stay among us. Obviously, it should never leak outside our faction,” Finn instructed in the middle of a silent room.

  Upon receiving orders to return to the surface once the wounded were treated, the familia members stiffly started to move out. There were some who seemed anxious, others looking like something was lodged in their throat, and still others who seemed to be deep in thought. There was a range of expressions, but there was no one who could fully accept his judgment—because Finn himself had voiced his valid misgivings before.

  But upon seeing the monster protect Alicia, several people were starting to have a change of heart.

  “…Will this be all right, Finn?”

  “If I had to pick between good or bad, well, this is bad. But there’s no helping this outcome. We can’t erase the memory of the intelligent monsters from the others, and it’ll be a waste to exterminate them. If we can make use of the strength of that black minota
ur, that right there is more than enough compensation.”

  Gareth had questioned Finn away from the other familia members. Finn indicated that he’d already made the necessary calculations as he shrugged with almost too much flexibility.

  “The problem is whether our team will hesitate to attack other monsters…We have to find a way to nip this in the bud. Especially Alicia. She’ll require careful consideration. Riveria, you should stay with her for a while.”

  “I don’t mind, but…”

  “That’s not what I mean…Like you said, Ouranos might just put a leash on you, now that he and his lackeys have got a firm grasp on your weakness. You really okay with that?” Gareth asked Riveria, who’d made a difficult face at Finn for approaching this situation from a completely different attitude than hers.

  In between two of Loki’s most immeasurable, unknowable followers, Finn appeared carefree as he said, “Ah, that’s what you meant.

  “I’ll burn that bridge when I reach it. Like I said, if I lose my fame, I’ll start again from scratch.”

  “Is your head on straight?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be a hero who surpasses divine will…I was thinking that might actually be the fastest route to my goal.”

  Gareth had opened his eyes wide, but upon hearing Finn’s confident response, he softened them to a fatherly gaze with a smile.

  After answering Gareth, Finn looked to Riveria. “Sorry for worrying you.”

  “That’s all right. It’s good to have this kind of problem from time to time.”

  Finn had no choice but to smile wryly when the high elf fired back light sarcasm, making no attempt to accept his apology.

  Riveria met his eyes again. “Finn, one question. What changed your mind?…Was it Bell Cranell?”

  Finn was visibly surprised. “How did you know?”

  “That’s what you said. If things were to occur, it would be because of that boy.”

  “…Now that you mention it, yeah.”

  If anything was going to provoke Irregulars, it would be him, Finn had said before the fight began, in front of everyone.

  That adventurer had far exceeded Finn’s expectations, enough to redetermine him.