by Fujino Omori
He looked down at what he grasped in his hands, then held it out to Hestia.
“Take this. It is Daedalus’s Notebook.”
“Hey…Are you sure we’re doing this right?” Welf asked, not hiding his unease.
“I—I don’t know, but…all we can do is trust Fels and wait…” the flustered Haruhime answered.
Bell, Lilly, Hestia, and Mikoto had returned home and were currently gathered with Welf and Haruhime around a crystal set on the table. They had been waiting with bated breath in a back room of the building, with no change in the crystal—when suddenly it began to glow with a faint light.
“Can you hear me, Bell Cranell?”
“Fels!”
At the sound of the mage’s voice, Bell let out a joyful greeting. The image in the crystal showed Fels and a number of Xenos gathered in a dim space that appeared to be a sewer.
“First, let me express our gratitude. Goddess Hestia, we deeply appreciate your generous compassion,” Fels said.
“Let’s skip the formalities, Fels. This is only the second time we’ve talked, but there was no way I could leave Wiene and the others to their own devices. Anyway, it was Bell and the other children who decided.”
Suddenly, the vouivre poked her face out from beside the black-robed mage.
“Bell! Haruhime!”
“Lady Wiene!”
Then Lido was there, too.
“Bellucchi! And Lillicchi, too! I’m so sorry to ask your help like this again…”
“That ship has sailed.”
They were using one of Fels’s oculi, which were the most important magic items of all, according to the letter. When Bell and Lilly had returned from retrieving it and a great many other things, they had given one of the twin crystals to the owl familiar to deliver to its master.
As Hestia spoke to the image of Fels in the crystal, Haruhime and Lilly talked to Wiene and Lido. The excited voices of the Xenos echoed from the oculus.
“Quiet down! We’ll be discovered!” the gargoyle Gros scolded.
The emotional reunion via the crystals was brief, however. Soon, Bell and the others began to discuss their plans for the coming hours and days.
“We have six possible routes,” Fels said, holding the brightly shining oculus.
After asking Bell to aim the crystal at the plan of Knossos in Daedalus’s Notebook, Fels had carefully copied it out onto a parchment, which was spread on the stone floor so that the mage could use it in explaining the plan to the Xenos and Hestia Familia.
“According to the Notebook, there are six entrances to Knossos, which lie below the central zone of Daedalus Street: northeast, northwest, west, southwest, southeast, and east,” the mage said, one black-gloved finger tracing a circle on the map as it moved from orichalcum door to door. The Xenos stood motionless, gazing down at the map.
“We will break through to one of these six doors and head for the Dungeon.”
“By ‘break through,’ you mean…?” Lilly asked, her voice echoing through the crystal.
“Yes,” Fels responded. “Loki Familia is tightening their defenses. We probably won’t be able to avoid battle with them.”
A heavy silence fell over the group on Lilly’s side of the oculus.
The Xenos were equally hushed. The monsters and humans shared a single terror as each imagined the coming fight in Daedalus Street and the dreadful battle prowess of the city’s largest faction.
“…If we’re going to do this, first we have to get as many Loki Familia guards off the route as possible—is that what you’re thinking?” Welf asked.
“Precisely,” Fels said. As Welf had implied, they would need to keep the scale of combat as small as they could.
“Bell Cranell, I want you to distract Loki Familia,” Fels continued.
“M-me?” Bell replied, staring at the oculus that flashed as the mage spoke.
“Given your current situation, you are the most suited to this role. I’d like you to draw as much attention as possible.”
“Um, pardon me, but may I suggest something? In that case, it seems Bell will not need to go to Daedalus Street…” Haruhime interjected shyly.
“No, I want him to come here. If he’s off in some distant corner of the city, Loki Familia will send as few people as possible to pursue him. But if he goes right to the heart of their position, it will be a different matter. Moreover, if he’s very conspicuous about it, they will not be able to ignore him.”
All eyes on both sides of the crystal were fixed on Bell. His palms were slick with sweat.
“Can we count on you, Bell Cranell?”
“…Yes. I’ll do it. Please allow me to do it.”
He pushed the air from his lungs and nodded. As Hestia, his other familia members, and the Xenos all continued to watch him, he squeezed his palms into tight fists.
“Bell, I’m sorry…We are always hurting you…” the siren said.
“It’s all right, Miss Rei. I’ve already made my decision. I’ve decided to help you and the other Xenos…”
“Bell…”
“Rei? Why is your face red? Does something hurt?”
“W-Wiene?!”
The siren’s pained whisper had set off a sudden flurry of activity on the Xenos side of the crystal, starting with Wiene’s question. As a different sort of excitement from before descended over the monsters, Gros shouted at them for a second time.
“I said, shut up!!!”
The image in the oculus wavered furiously, and Bell felt his hands getting clammy with sweat.
“Ouch?!” he yelped. Hestia and Lilly had pinched his behind.
“Bell Cranell, please refrain from unnecessary outbursts,” Fels said.
“But that wasn’t my fault…Oh, never mind. I’m sorry…”
“Let’s get back to the topic at hand…Not all the news is dark. We have the plan of Knossos. There is a high likelihood that Loki Familia is unaware of the entrances we know about.”
Ignoring Bell’s slightly dejected expression, Fels pointed out this single ray of light for their side. Daedalus’s Notebook thoroughly explained the structure of Knossos; just like the ariadne that pointed the way through Daedalus Street, it might show them an escape route.
As Lilly, Mikoto, and Haruhime listened, hopeful expressions spread over their faces.
“But to think that Ouranos actually obtained a copy of Daedalus’s Notebook! It’s extraordinary…I had hoped he at least knew the locations of the entrances to the labyrinth, but this has allowed us to improve our plan significantly,” Fels said.
“It seems that Hermes was the one who obtained it. He said he got it from Ikelos.” Hestia related what the elderly god had told her about the notebook.
“Ah, I see…I do recall that God Hermes came into contact with God Ikelos at the time.”
Fels sounded quite satisfied by this explanation.
“There are things I’d like the rest of you to do as well,” the black-clad figure continued, laying out the strategies currently open to them.
“Mr. Bell will be in danger, but it seems Lilly’s role is also fairly risky…!” Lilly noted when the mage had finished, pressing her hands to her head.
“Do your best. We’re counting on you, Li’l E!” Welf laughed.
“Grr…don’t act like this has nothing to do with you…!”
“Sir Welf, our position is not easy, either…We must focus our attention,” Mikoto said.
“Haruhime and I will be acting behind the scenes, but our task will be difficult in its own way,” Hestia said, her arms folded.
“True, but I am ready to take on the challenge!” Haruhime replied, pressing her hands to her chest.
“Bellucchi, everyone…I am truly sorry. And truly grateful.”
“Lido…”
“There is much I would like to say to you…But let’s meet up after we escape from this and have a proper conversation.”
“Yes!”
The face of the monster floated in the
center of the crystal. By now, Bell had learned to tell whether he was happy or angry or sad.
He smiled back into the crinkled yellow eyes of the lizardman.
Day and night, a whirlwind of activity consumed Guild Headquarters.
Staff members were constantly running up and down the hallways, while pretty receptionists attempted to calm residents at the front desk. Some of these visitors were even sprawled on the floor in a corner of the lobby they had taken over, perhaps unable to control their anxiety. However, this overwhelming crowd included very few of the adventurers who usually populated the lobby, aside from the few who came to get information. Instead, it was packed with ordinary citizens, making for an unusual scene.
And the current situation was a lull in the storm. The ensuing chaos and noise after the armed monsters appeared on the surface had been even worse than the aftermath of the destruction of Rivira, the town on the eighteenth floor. Each time an adventurer reported a monster sighting, the news had fed the flames engulfing the Guild.
Now, after an interval of several days, the staff finally had time to chat. Many were unhappy with the management’s gag order on information about the existence of Knossos, and speculations were constantly flying.
These comments often expressed criticism of or animosity toward the Little Rookie.
“—It’s just so weird!”
The moment Misha Frot returned to her desk in the office, she couldn’t help a frustrated outburst about a conversation that she had overheard in the hallway. Some of her coworkers had been blaming the boy for the current situation.
“Ikelos Familia’s members are the ones to blame! Why are they acting like Eina’s little brother…I mean Bell…is the criminal here?!”
Her voice was totally disproportionate to her tiny 150-celch frame. Her peach-colored hair shook as she spoke. The other staff and receptionists on break in the office all pressed their lips together uncomfortably.
“Frot, calm down,” her animal-person boss said. Misha’s patience had reached its limit over the past several days, however, and she ignored the request.
“But Section Chief! Bell’s actions may have been questionable, but everyone knows it was Ikelos Familia who was capturing monsters!”
Her boss recognized the truth in what she was saying but tried to explain the other side.
“If you think back to the war games, the Little Rookie has drawn too much attention, both good and bad. The current loss of hope is a sign of just how much the townsfolk liked him before and probably also their reaction to having their expectations betrayed. Then add envy of the adventurers on top of that, and you get an eventual explosion.”
In other words, it was not only a case of disappointed expectations but also of long-held resentment toward the “super rookie” coming to the surface. That was the fate of an adventurer who made a name for himself as a record holder too quickly.
“But more than anything, the town has been damaged,” her boss continued.
“…”
“Frot, you saw it with your own eyes, didn’t you? That one part of Daedalus Street was reduced to a burned-out wasteland. When something like that happens—even if Bell didn’t cause it himself—it’s going to aggravate people. Ouranos is now personally directing the evacuation of civilians and the repair of the streets, and yet…”
Indeed, the sight of those smoking piles of rubble gave people plenty of reason to harbor dark feelings.
And if Misha was honest with herself, she, too, had been unsure how she felt about Bell’s actions. He seemed to have lost his head and acted imprudently.
But she had seen her coworker and friend Eina in such low spirits ever since that day, and Misha had begun to question whether he’d really done anything wrong. Now she found herself rushing to defend the boy.
“Eina…”
She looked toward her half-elf friend. She was sitting at her desk, head bent over her work. Her bangs hid a face devoid of its normal brightness, while the hand that moved the feather pen shook as if struggling to endure something. Unable to stand the sight of Eina in this condition any longer, Misha approached her, while the other staff looked on.
“Hey, Eina, cheer up…” Misha said, watching her sadly.
“…hasn’t…”
“What?” asked Misha, unable to make out the faint whisper.
“He hasn’t come…”
This time, the half-elf formed the words clearly. She looked up. Her face was full of anger.
“Why? Why hasn’t he come to see me?”
“E-Eina?”
“I did hit him, after all, and at first, I was miserable about it! But…but…what am I supposed to make of the fact that he hasn’t shown his face here once, let alone explained to me what happened?! It’s weird, isn’t it? Totally weird. What does he think I am?!”
“M-Miss Eina?”
“And to think I’d never cried in front of a guy before!”
With emerald eyes opened wide behind her glasses and her cheeks flushed scarlet, Eina vented all the indignation and dissatisfaction that had been building up inside her. She sounded just like a woman criticizing a lover she’d quarreled with.
Misha reflexively took a step backward. The other staff, too, was taken aback by the sudden change in the half-elf, who was normally kind and sociable.
“Ugh, it’s driving me crazy…”
Eina violently scrawled her name across the bottom of the parchment she’d been working on, then leaped up from her chair.
“Section Chief, I’m going to patrol the city!”
“?!”
Everyone reacted with a start. The entire staff in the office looked distraught.
“W-wait a minute, Tulle! What about this mountain of papers…?!”
“Yeah, Eina?! I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but calm down!”
“If the absence of one employee brings the entire operation grinding to a halt, we’ve got a problem on our hands! Maybe it’s time for some reorganizing!”
“S-sorry,” the animal person stuttered, overwhelmed by Eina’s intensity.
“You’re right!” Misha said, pressing her hands to either side of her head.
All Eina’s disconcerted coworkers could do was watch as the talented receptionist stormed out. Driven by her emotions, Eina slung a pouch containing patrol supplies over her shoulder. Then she cut across the lobby, her leather shoes slapping the floor. The startled townspeople opened a path for her, and a moment later, she was out on the street.
“If he won’t come to me, then I’ll go to him, damn it!”
Through the narrow gap in the curtains, I look up at the night sky. Delicate, fanlike clouds still linger. In the faint moonlight that slips through, I sense that the rain is gone.
“…Time to go,” I whisper in the darkened room.
I am the only one left at home. As Fels instructed, Hestia and the others have headed for Daedalus Street first, after spending the day making preparations. I’ll lock the doors, but no doubt someone will break in while we’re gone. They’ll find no clues to our recent activities, however. Lilly and the goddess have hidden everything of value in Welf’s workshop or the basement.
Normally when we’re away, we ask Miach and his familia to watch the building for us, but in this case, they might end up getting pulled into things. It would be wrong to rely on them now and get them involved.
“…”
I stand up from my chair and look at myself in the full-length mirror. I am wearing my familiar armor and pouch, and over that a mantle that will blend my figure into the darkness. The goddess said it looked good on me, but that was probably an overstatement. I’m armed with the Hestia Knife and Ushiwakamaru. Which reminds me, my crimson dagger is still lying in Knossos, where I lost it during the fight with the hunters. Maybe I can get it later.
As I leave the room, I rub the oculus set in the top of my gauntlet, where the ruby normally is.
The building, cloaked in darkness, bids me farewell as I pa
ss through the gate. A figure is standing on the other side.
“Lord Hermes…”
“On your way, Bell?” he asks with a smile and a tip of his traveling cap. He seems to have been expecting me.
“Yes,” I reply with a nod.
“Ah, I see…Well, I’m rooting for you. Do your best.”
“…Thank you.”
After this brief exchange, I slip past Hermes. I can feel the eyes of the watchers as I head toward Daedalus Street.
“…”
Hermes kept an eye on Bell as he disappeared into the night-darkened alleyway, a smile lingering on his lips.
As he turned to leave, he caught sight of a figure approaching Bell’s home. This was no ordinary criminal preying on an uninhabited building. The figure conscientiously rapped the metal door knocker, then scowled up at the darkened structure. He made out the profile of a beautiful half-elf, eyebrows raised in anger. Dressed in the uniform of a Guild employee, she made a beeline for Hermes.
“God Hermes. Do you know where Bell…I mean Mr. Bell Cranell has gone?”
“E-Eina? What’s wrong? You seem to be in a bad temper.”
As the leader of a neutral faction, Hermes sometimes received requests from the Guild, and he knew all the pretty receptionists by name. He recoiled slightly at the unfamiliar expression on the popular receptionist’s face. But then his yellow-orange eyes narrowed.
“Eina, I believe you are Bell’s adviser, are you not?”
“Yes I am. And that’s why I would like to know where he is going.”
“I do know where he’s headed. Apparently, he is off to Daedalus Street.”
“Thank you,” Eina said curtly. Hermes called after her as she turned to leave.
“Wait a minute, Eina. Will you give this to Bell?”
“This…?”
Hermes withdrew from his pocket a bracelet with a purple stone set in it. Careful not to raise her ire by touching her skin, he very nonchalantly placed it on Eina’s wrist.
“Bell dropped this. I wanted to return it, but I missed him on his way out. Sorry to ask a favor of you, but could you return it?”
At first she looked suspicious, but after hearing the god’s excuse, she consented.
