Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 9

by Fujino Omori

  The party presses forward again after I say a quick apology.

  But even so…

  I can’t get Wiene’s face out of my head, and there’s no silencing the doubt in my heart.

  Bell’s party arrived at the eighteenth floor.

  Thanks in large part to the exploits of Lyu and Aisha—and to the fact that other adventurers had already exterminated the floor boss on the seventeenth floor, Goliath—it took them only three hours.

  They passed beneath the “afternoon” light shining down from the crystals far above. The brightest of them all was a mum-shaped formation that grew out from the ceiling’s center like an upside-down blossom. The adventurers formed a loose line as they journeyed toward Rivira, the settlement that had been built on a rocky island in the middle of the lake on the west side of the floor.

  As always, it was bustling with upper-class adventurers looking to rest and restock in the relay town.

  “—So when are the boys coming back?”

  “How should Lilly know? Boys will be boys, and there are things that only they can attend to, yes?”

  Aisha spoke up amid the tents filled with weapons and items for sale and sparkling crystals lining the street.

  She turned around at a particularly large crystal column at a corner. Lilly casually answered while adjusting the straps of her bulging backpack, as the Amazon glanced at the heavily armored adventurers walking by.

  Only Lilly, Aisha, and Lyu were at the street corner.

  “You played me good. Never thought the two of them would leave you behind and head off on their own.”

  Bell and Welf had excused themselves by saying, “We’ll sell off some drop items and be right back,” and left the group.

  The girls hadn’t caught a single glimpse of the pair since then.

  “You said you had business on this floor? Are we not allowed to know?”

  “Miss Aisha, what are you talking about? Lilly doesn’t understand.”

  Refusing to give in, Lilly kept up the facade with a satisfied smile.

  “Cheeky runt,” Aisha muttered through a mirthless grin.

  Beside them, a long sigh escaped Lyu’s hood.

  “Should we have said something to Lyu and Aisha before we left…?”

  “You know as well as I do we can’t have them with us while we look around. Let Li’l E handle it.”

  Welf and I walk shoulder to shoulder through the labyrinth of trees.

  Lyu and Aisha got us to the safe point, but we came down to the nineteenth floor, the Colossal Tree Labyrinth, on our own. The two of us set foot onto the floor where I met Wiene.

  “Don’t forget, those two are adventurers, too. They agreed to this ‘quest,’ so there’s no need to tell them anything else.”

  Adventurers need to understand only what their mission is and how to carry it out—nothing more, nothing less. Unnecessary details just get in the way. Welf flashes a grin as he explains this unwritten rule among adventurers.

  I still feel bad for leaving Lyu and Aisha in the dark…but it’s just as Welf says. Our top priority is keeping Wiene a secret. We had no choice but to split up.

  Somehow, I manage to smile back and change my focus to the task at hand.

  “I know we just got here and all…but this level is completely different from what we’ve seen so far.”

  On high alert, Welf makes his passing comment as we head through the particularly wide passageway.

  Tree bark covers every bit of the Dungeon walls here, making it look and feel as though we’re exploring the inside of the giant tree. As it occurs to me that the route is as complex as a mess of intertwining branches itself, we spot a narrow path at least ten meders above our heads. A long series of bumpy tree roots come together there, forming a staircase. There’s something around every turn that goes to show the nineteenth floor is much bigger than I thought.

  I’m used to bright spots on the ceiling providing light, but not here. Instead, the darkness is kept at bay by bioluminescent moss growing thickly along the ceiling, walls, and floor, sparkling like stars in a night sky. Their beautiful blue radiance is so fascinating that I have to remind myself I’m in the Dungeon.

  Welf is right: This floor is completely different from any other area we’ve explored.

  I’m used to the many crystals and various biomes of the Under Resort, but the true meaning of the word uncharted is striking me anew.

  “I bet Miach Familia’s going to start sending us down here on quests a lot more from now on.”

  “Ah-ha-ha…”

  All the plants in here have distinctive smells, including some sweet, flowerlike aromas with potential to beguile adventurers.

  There’s a far greater variety of flora in the Colossal Tree Labyrinth than just trees and moss. White flowers are blooming from the crease where wall meets ceiling overhead. A cluster of giant mushrooms comes into view after we round a corner. A lot of these are the main ingredients for potions and other items. It’s amazing. We could take some back with us right now.

  Strangely colored grasses in various shades, a wall covered in thorny vines, small golden flowers that blossom where the path forks, blue liquid dripping from the ceiling to form a puddle on the floor…There are so many rarities around us that chemists would love to get their hands on. The things they wish for literally grow on trees down here.

  “Bell, I’ll lead the way. This is a good chance for me to get some excelia.”

  Still as alert as ever, Welf has been nice enough to keep talking to me like we’re chatting back at home.

  I’m sure he’s trying to keep my spirits high, since I can’t put up a decent fight right now.

  Having never been here before, both of us are really on edge. We’re beyond the safe point of the eighteenth floor. Many people call the thirteenth floor the “First Line” because it’s the start of the Cave Labyrinth. Even though it’s still part of the middle levels, you’d be better off considering everything beyond as a completely different world.

  Not only do adventurers have to contend with the fearsome potential of bugbears and mad beetles and the ranged attacks of gun libellulas and firebirds, but monsters in this area are particularly good at inflicting Status effects. Having a large supply of antidotes helps, but possessing the Advanced Ability Immunity is considered to be the key to clearing floors in the Colossal Tree Labyrinth.

  The middle levels end at the twenty-third floor. Advancing to the twenty-fourth floor requires a Status above Level 2 as well as a party you can trust…I wonder if our two-man cell, with me at Level 3 and Welf at Level 2, is strong enough for the nineteenth floor. If we don’t take everything head-on and avoid battle as much as possible, I think we should do okay.

  Lilly equipped me with a dagger-size Crozzo Magic Sword and a couple of Malboro stink bombs in case things get dicey.

  I think the main source of my anxiety is that we’re not used to this floor yet.

  “Tsk…mad beetles and gun libellulas.”

  “They’re blocking the way forward…Let’s go!”

  A swarm of mad beetles blocks our advance while a few of the dragonfly monsters known as gun libellulas zip around through the air. Welf’s black robe flies out behind him as he charges toward the group of insect monsters, our first encounter on the nineteenth floor.

  He’s wearing Lilly’s Goliath Robe over his usual workman’s jacket.

  It’s a protective item capable of repelling everything from monster claws to flames. Lilly insisted Welf take it with him when she found out we’d be moving ahead as a two-man cell.

  Its performance is great in the Colossal Tree Labyrinth. Not only does it repel the mad beetles’ hooked pincers, but it even deflects the ranged attacks from the gun libellulas’ spear-like abdomens.

  With hardly a scratch on him thanks to the robe, Welf drives into the mad beetles with a complicated expression.

  …I can’t afford to hesitate!

  I clench my fist while watching Welf make headway against
the swarm.

  If I become a burden, we’ll end up in a situation we can’t recover from. Welf can fight alone for only so long before his equipment and items can’t take any more.

  Silencing my unresolved doubts, I launch several Firebolts in quick succession and shoot down the gun libellula flying above us, sweeping the skies clean.

  The Hestia Knife pulses with violet light, as if responding to the latest Status I received from my goddess. I drive the blade into every creature that comes into range, and their dying cries fill the passageway as Welf and I advance.

  Then, a short while after deviating from the main path leading to the next floor…

  “We getting close?”

  “Yes…I found Wiene around here.”

  Careful not to let my guard down, I’ve been checking the simple map stuffed into a pouch on my belt over and over, holding it up to the light to confirm where we are until I recognize our position.

  We’re in a tree-lined path where many passageways meet. The ceiling is high overhead, and there’s a large hill in the distance covered in tree roots. From here, it almost looks like the base of a mountain.

  I’d bet that’s how Wiene hurt her leg, falling down that hill.

  “Didn’t see anything all that useful on the way here…”

  “Wish I knew what ‘useful’ meant…” Welf adds with a sigh as we make our way toward the steep incline.

  We come to a stop in front of a lone tree surrounded by thick underbrush.

  It’s the place where Wiene hid after hurting her leg—and the place we first met.

  …Should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy.

  No matter how many leaves we push aside, no clues present themselves.

  I check our location again; we’re on the west side of the map. There’s a pantry farther west. It’s a good distance away, but if Wiene came from that direction and fell down the slope, that would mean she was born somewhere over there.

  We might need to press even farther in…Just as that thought crosses my mind—

  …An adventurer?

  —a humanoid figure appears from another passageway.

  A hooded robe shrouds their tall frame. The person must be wearing chest armor, because their torso is much thicker than their lower body. Their height is about the same as Welf’s. While I can’t really tell their race or gender thanks to the cloak, for some reason, I get the impression they’re female.

  The hooded figure seems to be searching for something, their head turning this way and that.

  Following the same path that Welf and I took, the stranger approaches.

  Welf and I, having chosen a suspicious place to stop, exchange abrupt glances and immediately pretend like we’ve been collecting raw ingredients for an item.

  After a bit, we stand up. For the moment, we head back the way we came, passing by the hooded figure moving in the opposite direction.

  “—You…smell like my kind.”

  In that instant…

  …a penetratingly cold voice enters my ear as the robed figure’s head swivels toward us as we pass.

  Shiver.

  Chills running up our spines, Welf and I leap backward.

  Every fiber of my being screams at me to put some distance between us, and my body quickly responds.

  Feet firmly planted on the ground, the figure slowly turns in our direction, shoulders squared.

  “…What was that?”

  The words that brushed my ears in that moment were clumsily formed; however, the pressure emanating from the figure increased tenfold.

  Welf whispers to himself in shock beside me while my heart races.

  “……”

  The stranger has fixed an unmoving stare on us.

  Within the depths of the hood, the narrow silhouette of a feminine face appears.

  But those blue eyes, zeroing in on Welf and me like those of a bird of prey, call to mind the ocean or perhaps the sky.

  “The ones who kidnapped my comrades—was it you?”

  “—?!”

  They exude bloodlust beyond reason.

  It’s incredibly ferocious, like that of an animal.

  Like that of a monster.

  An aura that mere people could never hope to replicate: an instinctual urge to kill.

  Those blue irises under the hood shift—becoming vertical slits.

  —No way.

  The pronunciation of a child, a hostile gaze, and, most of all, an extreme case of déjà vu—Wiene’s face flashes through my mind.

  Welf and I struggle against our shock while speculating about the true identity of the stranger.

  “…No, it can’t be. You don’t smell like blood.”

  We’re frozen in place. But as soon as the wave of hostility hits us, the figure’s high-bridged nose twitches slightly. The killing aura suddenly vanishes.

  The slit pupils return to normal. Now the beautiful eyes reflect calm rationality while studying us.

  “Perhaps you are the ones that Fels mentioned?”

  “Fels…?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?!”

  I can only mumble in confusion as Welf pushes through his own disorientation to deliver an angry shout.

  I can’t discern what the stranger’s statement is supposed to mean, but they said what sounded like a person’s name.

  There’s something beguiling about the crystal-clear tone and rhythm of that voice. Regardless, I’m totally lost.

  Being this speechless isn’t just pathetic; it’s painful. I can’t even think. This turn of events has shocked me so badly that my throat has gone bone dry.

  “……”

  The mysterious person—no, “she” stays silent.

  This is awkward. Monsters are howling somewhere off in the distance, but my ears hardly register the sound. It’s like we’re in our own little bubble deep in the Dungeon.

  There are about five meders between us. She’s facing this way with her back to the hill and not budging.

  Time grinds to a complete stop. After what feels like an eternity, she opens her mouth to speak again.

  “I have a question for you two. Can we all coexist?”

  “Wha…”

  What does that have to do with anything? Her question came from so far out of the blue that words abandon us.

  “Do you think we can hold each other’s hands?”

  “What are you…?”

  “Your kind kills us. And we kill your kind in turn…Is this our destiny? Is it impossible for us to understand each other?”

  The questions continue unabated, but there’s a common thread through all of them: a refusal to give up hope.

  The blue eyes peering out from underneath the hood are half-lidded and weary.

  “I…want to bathe in the sunlight. Instead of this closed, dark hell, I want to spread my wings in the world of light.”

  She looks toward the ceiling, the hem of the robe swishing around her feet.

  Her hood shifts just enough for me to catch a glimpse of her face. Like Wiene’s, it’s stunningly human.

  “There’s something…different about you two…Maybe I can hope, just a little.”

  After that, she crouches low—and then she flies off.

  ““!!””

  Still facing forward, she arcs through the air away from us.

  Even an adventurer blessed with a Status couldn’t possibly imitate this. Light as a bird, she clears the hill in the blink of an eye and is gone a moment later.

  Welf and I are in shock…Only then do we notice that several golden feathers have fallen from beneath her robe. They slowly spiral to the floor where she once stood.

  “You gotta be kidding me…There’s no way…She’s…”

  Welf whispers in spite of himself as though lost in a daydream.

  Standing motionless next to him, I can’t agree more.

  “The same as…Wiene…”

  I can’t give voice to anything more than that.

  After
our shocking meeting.

  Welf and I stand there for a short while, but it isn’t long before a herd of monsters finds us. We haven’t had a chance to collect our thoughts, but we need to start moving again.

  We face the monsters and shake them off before retracing our steps back to the main route that will lead us out. Both of us agree that we’re too dazed to collect any more information. The truth is, during the attack, things got a little dicey thanks to my inability to focus.

  “……”

  “……”

  Neither of us speaks on the way back.

  We still haven’t been able to get over the shock of what happened. We’re afraid to bring it up—like if we talk now, it’ll shatter some weird equilibrium.

  With stony faces, we travel through the labyrinth.

  “……”

  One way or another, we manage to break past every monster we encounter and reach the passageway connecting to the eighteenth floor.

  A party of five adventurers appears on the path in front of us. A male human wearing goggles and carrying a peculiar red spear catches my eye.

  It’s not particularly strange to see our fellow adventurers, though something in my memory is pulling at me. Then I suddenly realize:

  The four demi-humans behind the goggled adventurer are the same men and women who chased after Wiene, and the ones who I had managed to slip by with my acting.

  I hide my face as quickly as I can. Welf must’ve noticed something was up, because he subtly changes his path, shielding me from their line of sight.

  Then, once we pass each other, I get a strange sense that the man wearing goggles is watching me.

  “……”

  Moving as little as possible, I glance at them out of the corner of my eye. Sure enough, all of them are staring at us.

  “Hestia Familia…Little Rookie, eh?”

  “Yeah…that’s him, all right. That punk was recruited for Rivira’s quest!”

  “Was he now?” said the goggled man with a sneer as the boy disappeared up the tunnel leading to the eighteenth floor.

  “What do you think he was doing, sneaking around down here with hardly anyone else with him?”