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

by Fujino Omori

  “Will people believe that this completely unrestrained monster has been tamed? Not likely. Our familia has no officially recognized tamers registered with the Guild. What’s worse, anyone who sees her beauty will suspect something else is taking place.”

  “……”

  “Should other deities catch wind of the situation, they will surely descend on us like wolves to watch the slaughter. Our familia is on thin ice as it is. Should this come to pass, Lilly anticipates nothing but more difficulty paying off our debts.”

  She explained with an uncharacteristically long lecture—still in a deadpan, matter-of-fact tone.

  The overwhelming force of her argument left Mikoto with nothing to say in response.

  Neither Hestia nor Welf had anything to add, standing with their mouths closed in the oppressive atmosphere. It was just as Lilly said. Right now, they were trapped in a maze with no exit.

  “The girl is, in a figurative sense, a bomb. Even if all is fine now, there is no doubt she will put our familia in danger sooner or later…Mr. Bell is too kindhearted to see reason. It is up to us to make the decision to protect him, even if he hates us for it.”

  Lilly lowered her head. She had to hide her contorting face from her allies and will her voice to remain steady as she formed her next words.

  “She cannot stay with us…She is…a monster.”

  The prum weighed the familia’s future against the girl and stated her conclusion in no uncertain terms.

  Her declaration reached the other side of the wall.

  “…It’s still too early to think that way, Supporter. You should calm down.”

  “…Lilly is…sorry.”

  Hestia stepped in to mitigate the situation.

  She first turned to Lilly, who was speaking out of concern for the familia and Bell’s safety.

  The prum fell to her knees and squeezed out an apology. Welf and Mikoto stood quietly, tight-lipped.

  “…?”

  Among the motionless group, the first one to notice was Mikoto.

  A sound coming from the next room—something moving.

  The room’s suffocating atmosphere made it difficult for her to connect the dots, almost fatally so.

  Tap, tap, tap. Thumping in quick succession. As soon as it clicked, she rushed to the door and jumped into the passageway.

  Frantically scanning the hall, she couldn’t see anyone.

  Welf and the others followed her, just as shocked.

  “It couldn’t be…”

  Heart racing and nerves wound tight—Mikoto realized she wasn’t in peak condition.

  Despite activating her Skill many times, its hampered range couldn’t detect anything in their vicinity.

  “Haah…haah…”

  Wiene ran.

  She dashed through the corridor, down the stairs, out the door.

  I…I…!

  The words she had overheard during the secret meeting.

  —It is up to us to make the decision to protect him.

  —She cannot stay with us.

  —She is…a monster.

  The prum girl’s voice haunted her like a curse, stabbing at her heart.

  Despite being a monster, she also possessed a heart sensitive to pain. Each syllable of Lilly’s words cut deep into her, just like those terrifying swords through her skin.

  I can’t be together with everyone…? I can’t be…with Bell?

  Her beautiful silver-blue hair fluttered behind her. The garnet jewel on her forehead pulsed as if screaming into the sky.

  Translucent tears fell from her amber eyes.

  Bell. Bell! Where’s Bell?

  She wanted him to say it.

  That it wasn’t true.

  She longed to hear those words just one more time.

  “It’ll be okay.”

  She yearned to see his flustered but kind smile, to feel his arms around her. She wanted him to hold her and run his fingers through her hair.

  To deny it all.

  Please…!

  Wiene desperately searched for the boy through teary eyes.

  That one desire to see him drove her to flee from the only haven she’d ever known.

  Frightened by the presence of people at every turn, she doubled back many times through the backstreets and hid her face beneath her robe’s hood.

  She rushed headlong into the unknown on a frantic search for the bright smile that had burned its way into her memory.

  “Wiene’s not here?!” yelled Bell the moment he heard.

  It was just before dusk. The boy’s mind had been racing nonstop since his encounter with the god Ikelos. After he hurried home, his fears had come to fruition, as if to mock him.

  Every member of the familia had convened in the front passageway, ready to depart at a moment’s notice.

  Bell froze like a statue. Haruhime threw herself into a deep bow in apology.

  “I have no excuse! It was because she left my sight…!”

  “I’ve searched with my Skill, but I’m not getting anything…”

  Tears flowed down Haruhime’s cheeks. Mikoto stood next to her, downtrodden and frowning.

  Her Skill, Yatano Black Crow, allowed her to sense nearby monsters that she had encountered before—but Wiene was not in the manor.

  At the news that the ace in the hole provided by Mikoto’s Status was no use, Bell could feel the blood draining from his face.

  All thoughts of Ikelos were gone from his mind.

  “……!”

  After explaining their secret meeting that had ended abruptly only a few minutes earlier, Lilly gritted her teeth and clenched her small hand into a fist.

  “—We’ll search!! Mikoto, come with me!!” Bell took off without missing a beat.

  “Yes!” Mikoto set off after him as she responded.

  “We’re coming, too!”

  “I-I as well!”

  “She can’t have gotten far! Spread out and find her!”

  Welf’s, Haruhime’s, and Hestia’s voices echoed through the entrance. Lilly, however, was out the door without a word.

  Leaving their home completely empty, all of Hestia Familia charged out into the night to pursue the vouivre girl.

  Nightlife had completely enveloped the city.

  After twilight descended, the streets grew more crowded every moment. Adventurers back from the Dungeon and everyday citizens looking to relax after a hard day’s work made their way to the bars.

  With the evening rush well under way, each establishment had its doors wide open to invite customers inside. The aroma of meat grilling over charcoal and pungent brandy wafted out onto the streets as bards delighted the masses with beautiful melodies from their harps and lively flute performances.

  It was a feast of entertainment for the nose and ears.

  Even the quieter corners of the city were coming to life.

  “……!”

  Wiene watched it all from beneath her hood as she navigated one such street.

  For her, seeing so many new things alongside the sheer number of humans and demi-humans in the area was overwhelming. Yet curiosity was the furthest thing from her mind. The music from behind unseen corners, the constant horse-carriage traffic, even the innocent laughter of children playing tag in the street sent shots of adrenaline through her veins. The street’s stone surface was cold beneath her bare feet.

  Hiding herself entirely with the robe, she was in constant fear that any one of these people would pull a sword on her at any time. She stayed out of sight, keeping to the edge of the streets.

  Bell…

  Amber eyes sifted through the crowd from deep within her hood, searching for the boy’s white hair.

  Compared to the main thoroughfares, this street was rather narrow. Her gaze first passed over the throng, then went to the alleyways, and finally shifted all the way to the residential area at the end.

  Then, as she was scanning her immediate vicinity…

  …she saw it happen.

  �
�Ah.

  A horse-drawn cart came to a stop in front of the store at the corner.

  She saw something sway as the horse’s whinny filled her ears.

  A tall pile of boxes was about to collapse like a house of toy blocks.

  One of the restraints must have come loose; she couldn’t tell. But that didn’t change the fact that the load was going to fall. One of the children playing in the street, a completely unaware chienthrope, was directly in its path.

  Wiene’s eyes flared open.

  The others around her who noticed watched with bated breath, many about to shout a warning.

  Several wooden boxes were about to come down on top of the boy.

  —Hurt.

  That would surely bring him pain.

  A lot of pain.

  Enough to make the child cry. Just like what all those claws and blades had done to her.

  No sooner had that thought passed through her mind than her body moved.

  “!”

  Thud! Wiene kicked off the ground and shot toward the boy like an arrow.

  She rushed to the youth’s side so quickly she could have teleported to the spot.

  When she saw the expression of horror on the boy’s face as he became suddenly aware of his precarious situation, she saw herself in front of the firebird’s raging flames. Memories of the boy who had saved her flashed before her eyes.

  —I have to help.

  That thought set off a chain reaction.

  Wiene’s body changed.

  Something grew from her back.

  Disturbing fleshy sounds erupted from beneath her robe, and her light-blue skin ripped open along with it—and a wing extended.

  “—Huh?”

  A deafening crash drowned out the child’s whisper as the boxes came tumbling down.

  Several of them broke open as they struck the stone pavement.

  Once the splintering echoes filling the street had faded, frightened demi-human onlookers who hadn’t budged began to yell, drawing even more attention.

  The broken cartons and their contents lay strewn all over the street. Beer bottles and other trash rolled through the scene as the crowd spotted a child huddled in fear beneath a figure expanding like a predator’s widening maw.

  Large enough to swallow a man whole.

  A single wing, with a light-blue frame and ash-gray skin.

  The distinctive wing of the king of monsters—a dragon.

  The street that had been bustling just moments ago fell silent.

  “……”

  Wiene held her wing in a protective arc and looked down at her feet.

  The boy didn’t have a scratch thanks to her shield. Immense relief flooded through her veins as she made eye contact with the scared child and moved her lips.

  “Are you all right?”

  However…

  “U​u​—​w​a​a​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​!”

  Wiene’s voice was lost in the boy’s scream.

  All the terrified boy could see were piercing amber eyes and a monstrous wing that did not belong on a person’s body.

  The panicked demi-human child jumped to his feet and ran, leaving Wiene in stunned confusion.

  “Mo—”

  “A MONSTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!”

  Shrieks tore through the air one after the other.

  The child’s scream was the spark that ignited the chaos in the quiet street.

  Like the retreating tide, the throng tried to put as much distance between Wiene and themselves as possible. Even the horse still attached to the cart took off at full speed. Human mothers pulled their children away; a young werewolf shielded his unconscious lover with his body. A pudgy prum merchant fell to the ground in shock.

  A cacophony of footfalls accompanied a chorus of rising screams. The onlookers were on the verge of panic.

  The twilit street corner became engulfed in a vortex of terror.

  Wiene, at a complete loss for words, stood at the center of this massive semicircle of people.

  “A harpy—no, a siren!”

  “What’s it doing here?!”

  The nearby lower-class adventurers drew their weapons, flashing silver.

  Wiene gasped and recoiled in fear at the sharp metal surrounding her while the eyes trained on her filled with anger and fear.

  The last rays of red sunlight illuminated the mysterious monster wearing a torn robe.

  The only parts of the monster’s face visible to the bystanders were the two sharp amber eyes lurking in the darkness beneath its hood and her jewel’s crimson, bloody glow. Without knowing what she was, they saw only a horrifying three-eyed monster.

  The crowd’s terror escalated to hate and disgust directed at the cornered one-winged monster.

  “M-monster!!”

  An instant later, an elf woman threw a stone.

  “Ah!”

  It hit Wiene square in the head, and the hood did nothing to stop the blow.

  That was the trigger.

  The panic and fury reached a crescendo. Enraged bystanders picked up projectiles at their feet and flung them at her.

  The monster trembled in fright as a rain of stones and rocks descended upon her.

  “Begone, monster!!”

  “This is our home!”

  “Go back to your filthy Dungeon!”

  Missiles arced through the air as the ones pelting the small monster laced their words with hatred.

  “The hell are you doing? Stop!” “Don’t make it angry!” Despite being lower class, the adventurers in the crowd knew what winged monsters could do and desperately tried to intervene. However, the mob couldn’t be stopped. An avalanche of angry insults poured onto the monster that dared to set foot in their territory. Hatred flooded toward their age-old enemy.

  “Ooph…”

  “Whoa. Damn.”

  Elsewhere, a few deities noticed the commotion.

  Climbing nearby buildings for a better view, they watched the scene unfold.

  One grimaced, while another was concerned for his safety. The last grinned while taking in the spectacle.

  A miniature version of the eternal struggle between men and monsters of the mortal realm was playing out right before their eyes.

  “O-ow…That hurts!”

  The besieged monster’s soft cry went unheard among the mob’s relentless shouting.

  Although her newly sprouted wing could protect her from the stones, it could do nothing to shield her from the intense loathing.

  Her heart wept, and the incessant vitriol of their words gouged deep into her soul.

  Tears surfaced in her eyes as she shrank in on herself.

  “B-Beeeell…!”

  “A monster, here?!”

  “Yeah, just a few blocks over!”

  The instant he heard those words…

  Bell launched himself off the stone pavement and tore through the streets.

  “Sir Bell!”

  He and Mikoto had been searching as a team up to that point, but he soon left her behind.

  Wind whistled by his ears, and his eyes teared up. “Faster!!” he yelled at himself, driving his legs as hard as he could.

  Wiene!!

  As nightfall quickly descended over the city streets, Bell’s heart pounded behind his ribs; blood burned in his veins.

  He sprinted through the streets, following the directions he had heard, as well as the increasing commotion, toward the girl’s location.

  Then—

  “!!”

  There she was, protecting herself from a hail of stones with a large wing he had never seen before.

  In Orario’s seventh district, on a corner of the west-northwest edge of the city far from Central Park, Wiene was alone, trapped in the center of a storm of antipathy strong enough to intimidate even the boy himself.

  “Master Bell!”

  “Bell!”

  Haruhime and Hestia arri
ved at the scene at almost the same moment, closely followed by Welf and a winded Mikoto. They stood still for only a few heartbeats.

  As for Bell, the sight of tears falling from beneath her hood set his spirit alight.

  —She’s crying.

  —Wiene is crying for help!

  He charged forward.

  “Hold up, Bell!”

  Welf called out to the boy weaving his way through the mob.

  Bell was planning on protecting the monster—in front of this crowd, in front of deities.

  There would be no going back if he made it to her. He would become just as hated and feared as the fantastical girl.

  Even so, he didn’t heed his allies’ pleas.

  He wouldn’t stop. He couldn’t abandon her.

  Bell closed in, just a few steps away from the tearful Wiene.

  However…

  A shadow made it through the mob just before the boy.

  “?!”

  Paying no heed to the stones, the small, robed figure rushed to Wiene’s side.

  It was a beautiful young elf, long golden hair running down her back.

  No one had expected to see a child-size demi-human burst onto the scene, and the crowd stayed their hands in surprise. Now that there were no painful stones raining down on them, the mysterious 120-celch-tall figure used the reprieve to grab Wiene’s hand.

  Members of Hestia Familia were just as shocked as the rest of the crowd to see her guide the monster toward an adjacent alleyway. Bell was no different, eyes going wide as the elf girl met his gaze—with chestnut-colored eyes. Everything clicked.

  —Lilly!

  She had disguised herself with her magic skill, Cinder Ella.

  The prum’s agility allowed her to reach the vouivre girl before anyone else.

  As she dragged the flabbergasted girl behind her, the veiled Lilly yelled directly at Bell:

  “To the underground room!!”

  Leaving him with that message, Lilly and Wiene disappeared into the alley’s dark shadows.

  Bell, who had cleared the mob, had an epiphany while the crowd was having a fit trying to process what just happened.

  Now I get it!

  Remembering where they were, Bell understood the true meaning of Lilly’s message.

  He sent Hestia a look over his shoulder, and she confirmed her understanding with a strong nod.