by Fujino Omori
“Bell…”
“…!”
At the sound—not a monster’s roar but a word spoken in human language—Bell summoned the last of his remaining strength and lifted his head. The black minotaur stood quietly beside him like a triumphant victor.
“Now we are even…” Asterios said, gazing down on Bell’s tattered form.
The boy stared back at him.
“Next time,” the minotaur warrior said. He had lost an arm, one of his eyes had been crushed, and his entire body was covered in wounds. He raised the Labrys to his chest.
“Next time—we’ll settle this.”
Asterios smiled broadly and looked up.
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
He roared his monster’s victory song…and disappeared.
Bell saw only empty space before him.
The minotaur had vanished into the dark depths of the Dungeon.
“…”
Like a marionette whose strings had been cut, Bell dropped his head back onto the pile of rubble. Silence settled around him, as if the battle had been no more than a fantasy.
Definitely—probably—the repair of the Dungeon will take priority, Bell’s hazy mind told him. No new monsters will be spawned, and the low-level ones like goblins and kobolds will probably hide far back in the recesses in fear of all this noise and shaking. I’m sure I’ll be fine if I just lay here for a while.
He felt as if he were floating in a soft, fluffy dream. The battle with the monster seemed somehow unreal. But the horrible pain tormenting his entire body was very real, and it would not let him escape reality.
“…I lost.”
The whispered words floated up the vertical opening to the surface and rose into the moonlit sky.
Bell looked at the hole in the painting of the sky on the ceiling of the first underground floor.
“I wonder…if all the Xenos…If Gros and the others escaped…”
The oculus in his gauntlet had been crushed and scattered. He had no way of contacting the goddess. But he was sure she and his other familia members had taken care of it. They must have succeeded, by using him and Asterios as decoys.
So there was some meaning in his battle after all.
“…Well then, I’m glad it happened this way.”
Because he had kept on fighting and drawn the whole city into it, Wiene and Lido and the others had been able to return to the Dungeon.
If he had won, Asterios would have died.
If he hadn’t lost, Asterios wouldn’t have been able to return to his brethren in the Dungeon.
It was best this way.
“I’m glad I lost…”
Victory and defeat were secondary.
It was all for the best—
“…That’s a lie.”
Bell mumbled the words to himself.
“…All of that is a lie.”
His quiet voice grew teary. The tip of his nose felt hot, and the scene above his head blurred.
Tears spilled from his eyes.
“I’m not happy I lost…!”
He was disappointed.
He was so upset he wanted to die.
Setting aside the Xenos, his mission, and everything else, he was excruciatingly disheartened.
Bell wanted to beat Asterios. He wanted to beat the old enemy who had appeared before him for another round.
As an adventurer, and as a man, he wanted to beat that worthiest of opponents.
“Sniff, sniff…!”
He tried desperately to hold back his pitiful wails.
But independent of his will, the sobs convulsed from his throat.
He thought of Asterios’s words.
Next time, we’ll settle this.
The game wasn’t over yet.
Bell had been lost since he met the Xenos, and Asterios had given him a reason to fight.
Next time, I’m coming to kill you.
So don’t falter.
Become stronger.
Asterios had given him a reason to grow.
“ngh…!”
I promise you.
One day, I’ll create a place where we can live together.
To make that happen, from now on, I have to do more—
He’d said all those things. He’d promised.
He’d been right. From now on, he had to do more—he had to be more.
More, much more.
If he was going to keep his promise to Wiene, and if he was going to settle things with Asterios, he had to become much, much stronger.
And so another goal was set.
Bell had found something to aim for other than his idol.
Everything he needed now was connected.
So that I reach the level of my idol.
So that I’m sure no one I care about is ever again killed.
So I win next time.
I will become stronger.
I will become much stronger.
So that I never lament my powerlessness again.
Now, cry in disgrace.
Cry uselessly.
Cry now so you can start running again tomorrow.
“W-w-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…!!”
Bell covered his eyes with his arm and, the wretched sobs began.
“Bell!”
Eina was running.
After the monster had disappeared into Babel with Bell, she had climbed down to Central Park faster than anyone else.
Panting from the exertion she was unaccustomed to and swinging her arms furiously, she rushed toward the limestone tower.
“Please wait, it’s dangerous!” a Ganesha Familia guard shouted.
But she ignored the warning and ran through the ruined door to Babel.
Waiting on the other side was the enormous hole in the floor leading underground. As she realized the extent of the destruction, the blood drained from her face.
He couldn’t have been caught up in this, could he?
She peered into the hole. Far down at the bottom, beneath the entrance to the Dungeon, she glimpsed a white form. As if propelled by some invisible force, she flew to the staircase leading underground. She clattered down flight after flight. For once, she regretted never having received the Falna. If she had, she could have leaped straight down the hole to the boy’s side.
The magic-stone lamps were broken, and Eina stumbled repeatedly in the poor light. But though she faltered, she never stopped.
Finally she arrived at the rubble-filled first underground floor and the spiral staircase leading through the huge hole to the Dungeon. Despite the damage, she managed to make her way down.
“Bell!!…Bell?”
She found him lying on top of the rubble covered in blood but still breathing—and crying.
Huge tears were streaming down below the arm covering his eyes, and his whole body shook with sobs. He was crying disgracefully, pitifully, and with all his heart.
“Bell…”
He was crying.
The boy was crying.
Not the child’s whimpers she had seen many times before but the bitter tears of a man.
Real tears that welled up from the depths of his heart.
Eina’s chest tightened painfully at the sight of this unfamiliar Bell.
She didn’t know what to say, but she wanted to do something, so she quietly walked up to him and knelt on the ground.
She wrapped both her hands around his right hand. He squeezed back so hard it hurt.
Eina realized something had begun to grow in her heart.
A sweet, painful throbbing that she could not turn back from.
Illuminated by the faint, moonbeam-like phosphorescence, Eina stayed there by Bell’s side all the way until help arrived.
EPILOGUE
AND SO I START TO RUN AGAIN
Phosphorescence faintly illuminated the darkness.
In a large room also lit by magic-stone lamps, Fels faced the monsters.
“We’re so sorry about all this, Fels.
We really put you through so much…”
“Don’t say that, Lido. I knew I was taking on a big job when I got involved. To tell the truth, I was reluctant to do it at first.”
“…Damn it, Fels, thank you.”
The lizardman stretched out his powerful monster’s hand, and Fels shook it with gloved bones. The other Xenos standing around them joined in with words and mews and grunts of thanks.
They were in one of the Dungeon’s Hidden Villages of the Xenos. Several days had passed since that long day of battle in the Labyrinth District, and during that time, Lido and the others had returned safely to this village where their remaining brethren were waiting.
“Even you made it back, Gros…You really do have the devil’s own luck, it seems,” Lido said.
“…Yes, I did fail to die,” the gargoyle replied.
“You shouldn’t say that!” Rei scolded.
“I sure am glad, Gros!” Wiene said.
Fels watched with deep respect as the monsters chatted among themselves.
After the battle, Lido, Wiene, Gros, and the others had managed to meet up once again. It was Hestia, Lilly, and their familia members who had brought the winged monsters to Knossos, and for that they were infinitely grateful. But Hestia Familia insisted that it was all thanks to the fact that Freya Familia had set its sights on immobilizing Loki Familia.
Everything had originated in the epic battle between the boy and the minotaur. If even one thing had gone wrong, the scene before Fels now would not have existed. Not if Bell and Hestia Familia hadn’t been there for them.
“Thank you for healing us all with your magic. You’ve done so much for us. By the way, I have a really old magic potion that belonged to an adventurer, if you want it…” Lido offered.
“That’s all right. I’m only bones, so I can’t drink it…But Lido, what about him?”
Along with healing the other Xenos, Fels had tended the near-fatal battle wounds of the minotaur and even restored the severed arm they had preserved on ice. Afterward Asterios had thanked Fels briefly, but that was all.
“He’s returned to the Deep Zone…to train again.”
“…I see.”
“He said he had to become stronger, to settle things once and for all.”
Fels’s black robes shook as Lido talked about the minotaur warrior who had found his dream. The mage was thinking of Bell, who seemed to be the favored child of fate in both good and bad ways. He truly was a hapless creature.
“…Well then, Lido. I’m off. Ouranos is waiting with more work.”
“I understand…Fels!”
“?”
“When you return to the surface, please tell Bell…”
“…”
“…No, it’s nothing. I want to tell him myself. After all, I did promise,” Lido said, a wrinkly smile forming on his lizard’s face.
“Yes, that would be better.” Fels nodded.
“Fels!”
“What is it, Wiene?”
“See you soon! Next time, I hope Bell is with us, too!” she said, beaming.
“…Yes, see you,” Fels replied, with a pang of regret at being unable to smile back at the group of Xenos gathered to say good-bye.
Though the inability to smile at the world that Bell and Hestia Familia had saved was frustrating, however, the distress was tempered with just a hint of thankfulness that a skeleton’s eyes could not shed tears, either.
Far away from the Dungeon, the chaos on the surface continued for a time.
The cleanup work in Daedalus Street was a prime example. Slum though it was, repair work was carried out with the utmost urgency so that the evacuees could return home. There were endless tasks to accomplish, from setting up temporary tent facilities to dispatching adventurers and Guild staff to calming the residents. The one bright spot was that the townsfolk were greatly comforted by Loki Familia’s assistance with the efforts. The Guild chief Royman, however, was rumored to be drowning under the ever-growing mountain of problems, starting with the ongoing reconstruction of the Pleasure Quarter.
Meanwhile, false information was spreading about the fate of the monsters who had appeared on the surface.
People said that while Bell Cranell had been battling the violent black minotaur, Loki Familia had exterminated the others. In fact, the rumors were started on the orders of Ouranos, who knew the whole story. Even Royman did not know all the details about this secret agreement to spread misinformation. Surprisingly, however, Loki Familia—whose pride had been wounded during the incident—did not oppose the scheme.
Various faction members and first-tier adventurers had their own opinions about it, but they accepted the Guild’s negotiations and announcements. Fake drop items, supposedly from monsters with bounties on their heads, were displayed in front of Guild Headquarters, drawing bitter tears from the other adventurers. The deities pretended to grieve deeply, and the townsfolk were relieved.
As for the boy who was at the center of all this—
“It’s not as if everything is back to normal, but I do feel Bell has salvaged his reputation among the children. It was just like the war game at the end there.”
“Is that so?” the aged god said.
Hermes was sitting before Ouranos giving a report on the recent events.
Once again, Hermes was carving chunks of wood as he sat on the altar illuminated by four torches.
“Even though Bell let the minotaur get away, many people are praising him. That fight seems to have had an enormous impact.”
Hermes shrugged as he mentioned the boy’s adventure, which of course was very familiar to him. At the very least, no one was disparaging Bell anymore. The young children would probably even look up to their little hero. The other adventurers most likely regarded him with awe and respect and had finally accepted him as one of them.
That was how intense the battle with the minotaur had been.
Asterios had no ulterior motives. He knew nothing of Bell’s reputation. All he sought was a rematch with his old opponent.
The end result of his actions, however, was that the adventurers and townsfolk had witnessed with their own eyes his iron-strong will to fight and kill. It was, without question, the real thing.
Hermes set the finished carving of Asterios and his double-edged sword on the chessboard next to the rabbit.
“…I was outwitted this time. I was taken in. If Freya was the one who had me in the palm of her hand, then she probably feels satisfied, but…”
Hermes glanced at the carved minotaur and smiled with irritation. Then he stood, brushed his hands together, and turned toward Ouranos on his throne.
“Well, my report is done. Did you have any questions?”
“…Can I count on your help next time?”
“If you can promise me that Bell won’t get wrapped up with the Xenos again, then I will continue to help you for the time being. Now that the existence of Knossos has become public, there’s no use in us quarreling. But let me ask you—do you feel okay about everything?”
“With Zeus and Hera gone, the military forces at my command are limited. I don’t have much choice,” Ouranos replied in a businesslike manner. He was playing the role of a pillar of stability and public peace.
“I understand,” Hermes said, raising both hands. “Hestia and Bell may well dislike me after all that’s happened. For now, I’ll keep my head down and act in good faith.”
“…”
“—All the same, this hasn’t changed my plans.”
He intended to keep acting in the interest of his hero.
He donned his traveling cap, which he had been holding between his hands. The look in his yellow-orange eyes seemed to be telling Ouranos that they may well butt heads again in the future.
“Please excuse me. If I stay any longer, I fear I will provoke your antipathy once again.”
With that, Hermes exited the Chamber of Prayers and climbed the stairs to the surface.
A short time later, a sound
issued from the hidden door to the other, secret passage leading to the chamber. Fels emerged from the shadows.
“I’m back, Ouranos…Was someone here?” the mage said, looking at the chessboard set before the altar.
“Hermes came by.”
Although Fels had no face to show emotion, the sullen pause that followed was revealing enough. After a moment, the black hood trembled as if Fels was sighing.
“I accompanied the Xenos safely back to their village. No lives were lost during the disturbance on the surface.”
“Is that so?”
Fels looked up into the god’s eyes, as blue as the sky.
“Of course, we were not able to demonstrate the value of the Xenos’s existence. The problems between them and the surface dwellers have in no way been resolved. The road remains long and rough,” Ouranos said.
“With the recent events, their dream may have become even less realistic,” the black-clad mage replied frankly.
“But there were definite benefits as well.”
Fels nodded at the words of the aged god.
“God Hermes seems unlikely to accept the Xenos…but I choose the same path as him, Ouranos.”
Many different emotions flickered in the voice echoing through the chamber. The immortal fool, flesh and skin long since gone, spoke to the flickering flames of the torches.
“I, too, will bet everything on the boy.”
“Little Rookie Miraculously Returns Alive!…The Adventurer Who Stood Alone Against the Monster…I can’t stand these fickle people!”
Welf gazed down at the unfurled scrolls and sighed as if he’d had all he could take.
“Isn’t it a good thing, Sir Welf? The misconceptions about Bell have been fixed now,” Mikoto said.
“And people around town aren’t giving us the cold shoulder anymore. You seem to feel like you owe them something…but that will fade with time,” Haruhime added in an attempt to comfort her companion, who was reading the headlines of the news bulletins circulating in the city.
Now that Hestia Familia had accomplished what needed to be done, free from the tension of the past few days, they were relaxing together in the living room of their home.
“The adventurers who were watching Mr. Bell and me have completely disappeared since everything ended, too,” Lilly said, gazing out the window of the large room.
