Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 3
Page 23
Most likely, Aiz would have to draw her friends and familia into fierce, steadily escalating battles. She would need to be stronger than ever.
The only thing she didn’t want was regret.
She wanted to lose nothing.
And to reach even higher.
Even after achieving Level Six, her experiences on the twenty-fourth floor only reinforced those wishes.
“I mean, when I fight monsters in the Dungeon, I’m just winging it like a total amateur. I don’t know how many times I did something stupid and a monster almost got me. I know I have to get stronger, but I’m still so weak and I feel like I’m not getting any better at all. Well, um…?”
That’s why she wanted to know—
The secret to his growth.
His potential.
The true strength of this boy who has improved drastically in almost no time at all.
Aiz’s train of thought ran wild as she watched the blushing adventurer struggle to stop his blabbering.
She worried, and worried, and worried some more, thoroughly weighing various things on a scale, then reexamining her own feelings.
Eventually, timidly, Aiz decided to make the boy an offer.
“Shall I…teach you how?”
“…Huh?”
“—How to fight.”
And so…
Aiz became the boy’s teacher.
Afterword
This book, spin-off number three, was written concurrently with book six of the main story and released within two months of it.
Since the story stayed completely aboveground in book six, this story was written primarily in the Dungeon. Every day, I live in fear of someone pointing out that I may or may not have lost track of which series is the main and which is the spin-off.
In the fantasy genre, I have the same affinity for elves as I do for dwarves. I’m naturally drawn to the elegant race of men and women with long, pointed ears. Out of the five races of demi-humans in my writing, I feel that elves are the most developed and explored race (as of right now at least). Since elves tend to stand out on their own in terms of personality, they’re very easy to use when setting up a story. I must admit that they’ve become my “security blanket” of sorts. When in doubt, an elf will sort it out! Or something like that.
The elves as a race in the series have been shaped by my own personal bias as well as by how I want them to be seen.
Immense pride in themselves and one another, maintaining cleanliness to a fault, letting only those they trust touch their skin, living extraordinarily long life spans, and possessing hidden magic potential…etc., etc. I feel that I’ve added my own details about elves not expressed in other fantasy stories. I also believe that because they desire to be more beautiful in mind and body than those around them, they also experience more pain and suffering than other races when they become “hurt.” In this story of a heroine, a flower blooming far out of reach, it was fitting to have her less-experienced counterpart be an elf. Perhaps it was inevitable.
And in this third installment of the spin-off, a new elf has appeared.
While I must apologize to the Amazonian twins for their reduced role on her behalf, the story came together very well because of her involvement.
And now I need to express my gratitude.
This book was also released with a limited-edition version thanks to my editors Mr. Kotaki, Mr. Takahashi, and the cooperation of many talented people. Illustrations for both versions were done by Mr. Kiyotaka Haimura. Each amazing piece of artwork took my breath away the first time I saw it and I did everything in my power to get the special edition illustrations included in both releases. I would also like to thank Mr. Takashi Yagi of Gan Gan Joker (Square Enix Division) for his work in transforming the Gaiden into a series of comic illustrations. They’re all very well done. Lastly, I would like to include a thank-you from the bottom of my heart to all the people who read this book.
Please look forward to the next installment. I’ll take my leave now.
Fujino Omori
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