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

by Fujino Omori

  “Sheesh. We’ve been with you for so long, but a mere adventurer was the one to move you…I’m jealous of that boy.”

  “Ga-ha-ha-ha, he’s a prum who does as he pleases. There’s no helping him.”

  Their comments took the form of reproach and complaints. But Finn felt bashful and awkward upon seeing Riveria’s smile despite her verbal prod, and Gareth’s teasing tone added to it.

  It was as if his friends had seen him get childishly enraptured by a heroic epic for the first time ever. It was comparable to that sort of embarrassment.

  However, the high elf and dwarf seemed to welcome the change in the prum.

  Closing his eyes and clearing his throat, Finn forcibly switched gears.

  “It will probably take some time to reach an understanding with the members of the familia.”

  “It seems that way. Even if we can’t get them to understand, we have to give them a clear explanation.”

  “Mm-hmm. If not, we won’t be able to line up an attack on Knossos.”

  The three of them spoke as they watched the other familia members from a small distance away. Finn had discarded his doubt and gone with his principles, but the others had not come to a clean decision, as he’d been unable to until recently.

  The depth of the antagonism between people and monsters was still following them around.

  “Starting with Bete, the voices of opposition will get louder, but—” Finn cut himself off there, raising his head. “First things first…how do we explain this to Aiz?”

  Riveria and Gareth both fell silent.

  Finn quietly took a deep breath, thinking about his greatest concern.

  To start with the end, it would turn out that their anxiety was misplaced. Because even before Finn closed his deal with the heretical monsters, the dark side of the girl had run out of places to go.

  EPILOGUE

  THE RESOLUTION OF A GIRL

  A determined assault swiped the boy’s body, hitting him with the back of a blade.

  Even then, he could tell it was the moves of the Sword Princess without a doubt. Each and every hit was powerful enough to be a finishing blow. It was a flurry of attacks that a Level-3 adventurer had no hope of enduring.

  But he was not defeated.

  Even as he vomited and his eyes lost focus, nearly blacked out, he still stood back up.

  And he refused to move away from the door.

  Not only did he refuse to move away, but he came out swinging.

  “…?!” Aiz’s eyes darted around.

  Her chest trembled as Bell Cranell fought back.

  At first, she hadn’t wanted to fight, but then she’d sunk into despair when she found the boy protecting the vouivre.

  Crossing blades with him was difficult, and painful, and something she never, ever wanted to do. She tried to ignore him and chase after the vouivre, but the boy hadn’t allowed that.

  He brandished everything Aiz had taught him atop the city walls, returning it to her, and at some point, Aiz stopped trying to hold back, callously beating him down.

  As she averted her eyes, she crushed his resolve, pummeling the boy whose strength didn’t match his determination.

  Or that’s how it’s supposed to be, but—

  The situation was changing.

  Aiz was in the superior position from start to finish, but the one forced to give ground was—

  —Me?

  The boy had used a hidden passage to let the vouivre escape.

  If she opened the hidden door he was guarding, if she could just somehow get him to move aside, Aiz would be able to kill the monster.

  And yet, and yet, and yet.

  It didn’t matter how bloody his armor got or how battered he ended up—the boy would not stop, clenching his jet-black knife in his fist, swinging again and again.

  It sent sparks flying as it clashed with Aiz’s Desperate, and his rubellite eyes pierced through Aiz’s golden ones all the while. Her blade quivered from an extraordinary strike.

  Why…why am I getting pushed back?!

  He’d gotten strong. She’d praised him for it once before: The boy had become powerful.

  But it wasn’t something Aiz had taught him; it was a strength born of protecting someone.

  “—!”

  Why?!

  Why—?!

  Why are you going this far?!

  I’m not in the wrong!

  These monsters have to be killed!

  And yet! And yet!

  Why are you looking at me like I’m in the wrong?!

  —Why?!

  As her heart screeched, she unleashed a brutal diagonal slash, clipping the boy’s shoulder.

  Choking on blood, his body slumping over, the boy with the rubellite eyes that looked ready to roll back into oblivion—didn’t fall to the ground.

  As he held on, the boy howled with all his might. “Miss Aiz…Miss Aiiiiiiz!!!”

  He called Aiz’s name over and over, assailing her with shouts, trying desperately to convey the feelings hidden away in his heart.

  No!!

  No, I won’t forgive you.

  She would lose if she opened up to accept his attacks, let his feelings reach her.

  Aiz wouldn’t acknowledge anyone’s resolve if they didn’t have the strength to back it up. Conversely, that meant if the boy could ever demonstrate a strength that matched his will, she would have to pay attention to him.

  She would have to listen to the discussion she’d been rejecting all along.

  To the reality she’d been avoiding.

  No! Impossible!

  Behind the mask of the Sword Princess, she was shaking her head as if a child throwing a tantrum as she parried his knife.

  She was losing the mental battle. Reject it. Don’t lose.

  Is this okay to hurt Bell, to hurt me? Is this what you want to do?

  Her thoughts spun chaotically as the confused voice in her heart gave birth to swordsmanship full of doubt.

  Deep in her heart, someone was whispering to Aiz.

  The younger Aiz was looking at her, a heartrending sadness in her eyes.

  She pretended not to notice, tried to shake free from the confusion and bewilderment, to clear it away with a blade whose purpose was to kill monsters.

  A high-speed diagonal slash. There was no way he could block it.

  She swiped up. It was knocked away from the side.

  A full swing to mow him down, not letting him evade her attacks.

  She thrust forward. He saw through it.

  A roundhouse kick. A direct hit.

  They engaged and broke off. They overlapped and separated, using the techniques she’d taught him and the tactics he’d stolen. Of all the times to do it, he was wielding them to their utmost effect now.

  Until this moment, she’d never encountered such a stout opponent.

  It didn’t matter what technique she broke out. She couldn’t cut through, or break, or crush his resolve. Aiz’s eyes wavered.

  It didn’t stop.

  It couldn’t be stopped.

  His growth was unrestrained.

  Using his feelings as sustenance and screaming his maddening wish, he tried to cross the hopeless gap between them. Every minute, second, and instant, he repeatedly accelerated, only to be stopped by his limits. Then he would try to accelerate again. He was improving.

  All for the sake of protecting a single monster. A singular desire.

  You’re embracing that emotion to the point of foolishness!

  “—aaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Bell howled.

  His howl shook Aiz’s arm. His irredeemable desire whittled down the force of the Sword Princess’s blade. His two knives with their miniscule power accelerated, finally threatening Aiz for the first time.

  “—?!” Aiz unleashed a slash in shock.

  Taking aim at Bell, who’d missed with his crimson knife, she unleashed a second attack without a moment’s delay. In response, Bell protected himself with the gauntlet on
his left arm. The Sword Princess’s blow slid off the dir adamantite armor. Bright sparks scattered between them, accompanied by the sound of metal scraping against metal. He pressed in with all his might to enter her reach.

  Aiz stood frozen in time.

  It lasted an instant, but it certainly happened: His technique had surpassed hers.

  And then at extreme close range, their faces practically touching— at the range that was her specialty, Bell swung the goddess’s blade up.

  “Ahhhhhhhh!”

  A purplish arc slashed into the air. Long golden locks of hair billowed in the wind.

  Aiz chose to retreat for the first time in this fight—suddenly touching her hand to her chest.

  “…!” Her silver breastplate had been grazed, as if something very sharp had cut into it.

  It was proof that his howls had reached her—and that he had the strength to back up his resolve.

  For an instant, Aiz was at a loss for words.

  Defeat. It was now time to confront the reality from which she’d averted her eyes.

  Looking at Bell covered in lacerations, her brow furrowed in anguish, and she came out swinging again.

  “Ugh—?!” He caught the silver sword that swung down at him with his black knife.

  As their swords locked in place, she asked, “Why are you going this far?”

  Bell was visibly surprised at Aiz’s first question. “I want to help that girl!”

  “Are you seriously saying that? Even though it’s not a person but a monster?”

  “She’s different from ordinary monsters! She can talk! We laugh together! We’ve held hands—with the same emotions that you and I do!”

  “You’re wrong. It’s not the same at all. Not everyone can do that.”

  At the very least, not all humans could walk hand in hand with monsters.

  A confused providence. An awful paradox. A menacing body with claws and fangs that brought to mind the image of blood, a flame that brought death, a voice steeped in brutality. They were all symbolic of things that violated people. They were all signs of the death and destruction that people had borne. They were all objects of hatred.

  How could someone take that monstrous hand? How could someone hug that body?

  With her sword in a tight grip, Aiz slammed her weapon into Bell’s knife in a rebuttal.

  “Guh—?!”

  “Monsters kill people. They can take so many lives…and make people shed tears…”

  A few memories flashed through her mind: a broken-down village. A paradise without peace. A wintery scene of everything destroyed.

  There were people wailing, people bleeding—and eventually, people who could move.

  There was an adventurer who’d used up all his strength. There was a warrior who’d died nobly protecting his comrades. There was an important person who’d left behind only an empty smile.

  Aiz took all these visions, these emotions, and put them into her sword.

  “But…don’t we as adventurers do the same thing?”

  “…—!”

  “Your sword—and my knife!”

  Aiz’s sword dulled at the truth behind his words.

  There were people who killed their own and the Evils trying to destroy the city and take untold lives. There were certainly people more repulsive than monsters.

  When asked what separated people and monsters, Aiz could not answer.

  “I…” As he knocked away her sword and took his distance, the boy hesitated when he opened his mouth.

  But with resolve, he swallowed all his doubt and conflict.

  Warning bells rang in Aiz’s head.

  “…I want a place where we can live together with them.”

  Time stopped moving as he faced her and stated his intentions clearly.

  “I want a world where everyone can smile, including Wiene!”

  A world where people and monsters can smile together, he’d said.

  “What are you talking about…?”

  I don’t understand.

  I don’t want to understand.

  But she was sure she was already too late and Bell was on a separate path from her. She felt that the white rabbit had come in her dreams and gone to a place she could no longer reach, where she could no longer chase after him.

  They were separated by the moonlight shining on her and the dark shade covering him.

  Aiz shook her head limply. “Enough…Move.”

  Aiz couldn’t accept it. She could not acknowledge this foolish wish.

  But Bell would not budge.

  Pushed past its limits, his body slipped to its knees. He looked up at Aiz from below, anguish filling his face. He still refused to yield, protecting the door behind him.

  “I don’t want to…”

  “Stop it.”

  “I don’t want to…”

  “I’m asking you, please.”

  “—I can’t!”

  “—Move!”

  They screamed at each other like never before.

  I don’t want to say any of this. I don’t want to do this sort of thing.

  What went wrong?

  How did we end up on different paths?

  I…really wanted to be…with you…more…

  Leaving aside the thoughts in her mind, Aiz leveled her sword at Bell’s eyes.

  “You know I’ll cut you down, right?”

  “…!”

  “It’ll hurt a lot. So…” She let out a series of clumsy words, laughable, barely even a threat.

  It was Aiz’s final warning, all the strength she could muster.

  Even then, Bell did not move.

  Aiz’s eyes filled with sadness. Bell’s face twisted in distress.

  The next instant, the corners of her eyes flared in determination, and she put her strength into the sword’s blade as her hand trembled, creating a silver flash glinting in the moonlight.

  “—No!”

  The door behind him flung open, and a shadow rushed into Aiz’s field of vision.

  With a fluttering robe, a slipping hood, a monster leaped out before their eyes, arms spread wide.

  “Leave Bell alone!” it shouted in a high voice no different from a human’s.

  Time stopped. Aiz saw the pale inhuman figure with azure and silver hair. Bell saw her winged back.

  “Wiene…? Goddess, why?!” Bell called out in confusion while Aiz stared in disbelief.

  Upon seeing the vouivre protect the boy, the flood of emotions she’d just barely managed to hold back threatened to overwhelm her once again.

  “Please…don’t hurt Bell.”

  “—!”

  Don’t look at me like that. Don’t look at me with that un-monsterlike gaze, those eyes of a person protecting someone dear to them. It’s wrong. This is wrong. It’s a lie.

  It was nothing like the monsters that Aiz hunted.

  As the boy had pleaded before, if there were such a monster, Aiz would—

  “Stop…Please don’t talk.”

  Aiz’s mask crumbled. Her heart flooded with emotions. The sword she pointed at the girl trembled in agitation. Aiz’s head hung like an abandoned doll. Her bangs covered her eyes, erasing everything from her sight, letting herself sink into the darkness gathered at the bottom of her heart.

  And then Aiz’s back was shrouded in a dark-black blaze as she howled.

  “…Why does something like you exist?” she asked in a quiet, desolate whisper that didn’t sound like her.

  Slowly raising her head, she saw Bell and the beast deathly pale and at a loss for words. A monster in the shape of a human before her eyes, that repulsive monster was all Aiz could see.

  “What do you and your kind want?”

  “I—I want…to stay with Bell.”

  “—I won’t let you do that.”

  Aiz’s eyes narrowed, sharp as blades. She didn’t notice that Bell was frozen as she pierced the petrified monster with her gaze.

  “I’ll never allow you to roam aboveground
like those monsters.”

  Her back was hot. Her back was burning. Her back was crying out with a maddening hatred.

  Abominable. How detestable. I knew it. That endless urge to kill. This is why they have to be killed. Monsters must be destroyed—along with this wish.

  “Your claws will hurt someone.

  “Your wings will scare people.

  “That stone of yours will kill so many of us.”

  She hammered blame, hatred, and rejection into the monster, listing the world’s undeniable truths. She spun her words, led by the black blaze bursting from her back.

  Aiz’s back was whispering. The strength carved into her back flickered, reminding her, calling to her.

  Yes. The crumbling earth. The monsters flowing out. The falling snow, stained red. The trampling, the shouts, the destruction. The screams, the lamentations, the loss.

  And that sinister pitch-black demise—

  !

  The place I loved was destroyed! Those fond days shattered! My loved ones were stolen from me! First my mother! Then my father!

  “Sorry…I’m sorry, Aiz.”

  And then: “—Live! You have to live on!”

  And then that kind hand pushed me away, me, the weak one, and then—! Everything. Everything! Everything!! It’s all your fault!

  The nerves in her eyes burned out. Her back howled with unceasing hatred. The wild black inferno raised a tearful laugh, wrapped in the intense blaze of her cold winter memories, turning the world to a crimson plane of flames and conflict.

  Aiz did not scream or go wild or cry.

  She put all her rage and hatred, all her sadness and the darkness in her heart into her sword.

  Staring down the dragon in front of her, she thrust her weapon.

  “I can’t turn a blind eye to you,” she declared with a sharp, swordlike conviction—a honed, weapon-like resolve.

  In the face of Aiz and her eyes filled with a smoldering black flame, the monster was frozen stiff, overwhelmed.

  Quietly, it lowered its hands, gazing at the sharp claws that Aiz despised. It grabbed all of the claws on its left hand.

  “Huh?”

  Was that Aiz or Bell who spoke out?

  The monster’s breath was ragged as it snapped its nails off.

  Crack. With a painful sound, the claws fell to the ground along with chunks of flesh, as drops of blood welled from the fingers like tears.