A sky-blue eye peered out from inside the stole, a veiled look that matched someone in his memories. The sharp gaze pierced through him, and the next instant he shouted in a loud voice:
“—Leon?!”
An adventurer who had once made villains quiver at the sound of her name: Leon of the Gale Wind.
A notorious second-tier adventurer who always wore a veil to cover her face and whose identity was never discovered. Someone whose strength could even be compared to the Sword Princess’s. The executioner of justice who had condemned more evil than anyone else in Astrea Familia.
It was her second coming. The color drained from Terry’s face as the follower of the goddess Astrea revealed herself.
“You’re alive…?! That means, you really were in that War Game…?!”
Terry had heard that Gale Wind had turned to revenge after losing her comrades in the familia but had been mercilessly killed in the battle with the target of her fury. A corpse was never discovered, but Terry had believed the rumors when Gale Wind stopped roaring through the city.
Until today.
“I heard rumors that you were back, using a false name.”
The beautiful elf woman in men’s clothes stared at Terry as she removed the veil. Lyu had vaguely suspected that the dwarf she had once chased down had changed his name and appearance and resurfaced in the Casino Strip. As she gathered more information and learned more of his characteristics, she had a sense of déjà vu at the modus operandi. And when they met face-to-face today in the casino’s hall, she was sure of it.
“Did you ever wonder why I overlooked your evil deeds?”
Lyu’s eyes narrowed as the dwarf’s heart pounded, his mouth opening and closing silently.
“There were two reasons. The first is that I don’t have the right to talk about justice. And the other is…” Her eyes widened as she raised her voice.
“…Goddess Astrea offered you one more chance when you prostrated yourself, begging for forgiveness.”
Terry’s—or rather, Ted’s—face paled.
When he was younger, he had dirtied his hands with crime and been caught in a roundup of criminals by Astrea Familia. Caught red-handed, Ted had fallen down in front of the goddess and put his forehead to the ground, begging to be spared. The goddess Astrea listened to his request with compassion. Perhaps she wanted to believe in the children’s ability to improve and rehabilitate, hoping that the residents of the mortal realm who were not eternal might change.
Lyu laid bare her fury at this man who was only free due to the goddess’s kindness and yet still cultivated more evil in service of his selfish desires.
“G-get her already!”
Ted finally shouted as he stood under a just gaze that had not weakened after all these years. Having lost his composure, he ordered his bodyguards to dispose of Lyu.
“There is no more room for leniency with you.”
The sturdy men advanced to pin her from all sides, but she easily knocked them back.
“Gah!”
“Guh!”
While moving in a circle covering Syr and Anna, she used kicks to send their large bodies crashing into the wall and the table.
As the bodyguards who had fallen victim to her techniques hit the floor, the female VIPs in the room cried out.
“I’ll judge you in her stead.”
In an instant, screams filled the VIP room. Trembling in terror in the center of the noisy room, Ted finally pulled out his trump card, no longer carrying about appearances.
“Faust! Lolo! Kill her!”
At their employer’s order, the two bodyguards standing behind him moved—a medium built, burly human and a slim catman. As the two men came rushing toward her, Lyu’s expression tightened.
“Syr, take her and get back.”
Her eyes signaled that she would not have enough leeway to protect them as she leaped into the fray, challenging the skilled fighters coming to attack her.
“Okay. Good luck, Lyu.”
Closing the distance in an instant, the human and catman drew their specialized weapons.
Black steel gauntlets and two knives. As the enemy made contact, unleashing a sharp punch and slash, Lyu leaped over their heads, avoiding their attack. Landing behind them, she immediately kicked at their heads.
“!”
The black gauntlet repelled her kick, and the knife swung in from the side with perfect timing. Twisting her body to dodge, Lyu’s formal outfit was lightly cut.
“Faust and Lolo are the famous Black Fist and Black Cat! I’m sure you’ve heard of them before!”
Watching the ebb and flow of their fight, Ted wiped his sweat and smiled ferociously. Lyu knew the names well. They were the aliases of a menacing bounty hunter and an assassin.
From a time when Astrea Familia was still alive, the Dark Age when the Evils ran rampant in Orario, countless bounty hunters and assassins had been hired from outside the city in order to dispose of wanted men and enemies. Guided by Guild members who colluded with the Evils, they invaded the Labyrinth City and, like mercenaries, they determined their enemies and allies based on their reward, becoming one of the sources of turmoil in the city.
Among them, the names and strength of Black Fist and Black Cat resounded through the underworld. Their contract success rate was basically one hundred percent. Their names became a synonym for terror at the time, having even fulfilled contracts on second-tier adventurers.
When Orario’s Dark Age came to a close, like Lyu they had disappeared.
I see, they’re strong…
She acknowledged the might of the two men in front of her, while ignoring Ted’s boasts that they had been at his side since the Dark Age. These two had the skills to prevent a Level 4 like her from attacking carelessly. They combined their moves flawlessly.
Quickly and accurately analyzing the situation, they aimed for her eye patch—her weak point—constantly alternating attacks from the blind spot it created.
If I take the eye patch off, I might be able to get in a surprise attack…but first I need a weapon.
The bodyguards reentered the fray from the front and back while Lyu was unarmed and under pressure from her enemies’ weapons.
“While they’re pinning him down…!” the dwarf snapped with a husky voice that had lost all composure.
Ted could not relax as he watched Lyu go toe-to-toe with Faust and Lolo. The scariness of Astrea Familia had seeped into his bones.
“You waiters, grab Anna and that woman!!”
The waiters from Santorio Vega were flustered but did not disobey as he ordered them to get hostages. Shady though he may be, the owner’s orders were absolute.
As the surrounding guests kept screaming, they corralled Syr and Anna near the wall.
“Uh…ummm…?!”
“…”
Anna became fearful as the ring of people closed in around them and Syr quietly took in the situation with the waiters. She surveyed the surroundings, ignoring Anna’s gaze that seemed to be urging Syr to just leave her behind and escape.
Lyu did not react to them. Trusting her colleague, she just focused on her own fight.
Finally, without any warning, Syr raised both of her hands. A sharp noise rang out as she clapped her hands once in front of her chest.
“!”
Shocked at the loud, sudden noise, the waiters stopped moving, and even the other people nearby focused on her. Remembering the mysteriousness she displayed in the game just a little while before, they unconsciously readied themselves as Syr spoke in a restaurant staff’s voice that carried well in the crowd, smiling with her hands together.
“Everyone who was kidnapped by this awful owner: You aren’t just caged birds waiting for the hero to save you, are you?”
The mistresses, who had been left standing in confusion as the situation took such an unforeseen turn, were shocked when the idea of escaping was brought up.
Talking to those girls,
Syr continued.
“You don’t look that way to me. You are all very strong people. People who didn’t lose to adversity. Because you all are pure and have a determined spirit. I know you all have people waiting for you.”
The women’s eyes wavered, as if they were remembering who they used to be. With each word, Syr stirred up a longing for freedom in their hearts.
“Also, if that hero wins…everyone will be free.”
She pointed to the eye-patch-wearing elf who was even now fighting the bodyguards. Watching the elf gallantly fight, the women’s eyes, which had been dyed with resignation, brightened, and then filled with the pent-up fury along they had accumulated. Seeing that, Syr smiled brightly.
“So let’s run wild! ”
Once she had lit the fuse, it exploded in the blink of an eye. The girls screamed in one voice:
“Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
“I’m going home, meow!”
The women who had been beautiful dolls roared in anger, recklessly getting violent. The waiters turned pale. Unlike the bodyguards Lyu had downed, they did not have particular confidence in their strength. Fighting against the number of women Ted had gathered into his so-called collection was hopeless from the start. Humans leaped in, ignoring their dresses, elves haphazardly threw sparkling chips, and animal girls scratched up the faces of waiters that they caught. Capturing Syr or Anna was hopeless. Their opponents were knocked down at the feet of the dumbfounded guests, who cried out in shock.
As the women’s rebellion spread across the VIP room, shouts rang out.
“Wh-wh…what?!”
Ted’s entire face started twitching as the riot unfolded before his eyes.
“…Wh-who are…?”
“?”
Anna’s flaxen hair trembled as she seemingly struggled not to fall over backward at the scene unfolding before her eyes. Syr tilted her head slightly as the girl timidly opened her mouth.
“Who are you people?”
“…”
“Why? You’ve never met us…”
Anna had been looking at Syr and turned her gaze to Lyu. Placing a hand on her breast, Syr also watched the elf resolutely fighting.
“Well, I’m just tagging along, but…Lyu wanted to help in whatever way possible after hearing your story. Lyu likes to put up a front, but it’s really just that, I think.”
Anna inhaled sharply and clutched her chest as the woman standing next to her continued her monologue.
“Don’t be mistaken, Lyu is not some hero of justice without past mistakes.”
Speaking clearly, her platinum eyes narrowed.
“However…I like that kind side.”
And then she smiled broadly. Syr’s whispers were drowned out as Lyu’s battle sped up.
“—I can’t take it anymore!”
Crying people appeared everywhere as the VIP room turned into a battlefield. The exhausted wealthy prum ran at full speed from the midst of the guests. Deciding to take the opportunity, the scratched-up old chienthrope gentleman and the other guests followed him. They ran for the large oaken doors, the exit from the VIP room.
“Call Ganesha Familia!”
“Hurry up!”
“Oy, watch what you’re doing!”
As the guests panicked, Ted’s angry shouts telling them to stop were drowned out. Once Lyu was silenced, he could use however much money and influence were necessary to make this go away, but he really did not want things to get rougher. Unnecessarily inviting suspicion by bringing the city in for help was his absolute last resort.
It was the same for Lyu. For someone on the blacklist, trying to accuse the owner of not being from Santorio Vega would not be believable. If Ganesha Familia showed up, their first step would be to ensure the safety of the guests and the owner. If Ted escaped in the three-way struggle, she would not be able get to him again. She did not want Ganesha Familia to get involved. However, she had to let it go. Glancing aside at the flood of guests looking for help, she continued her battle. And also, she had faith that someone in Ganesha Familia would do something about him for her.
The tide first began to turn with the gatekeepers flanking the oaken doors.
“…?”
“What was that—something with the VIP room?”
Some of the guests enjoying themselves gambling in the hall noticed the two guards moved toward the center of the doorway. Tilting their heads, they wondered if something had happened. After just a little bit of time passed—BAM! BAM! It sounded like someone was ramming the door. The sudden noise startled the people approaching the area in front of the doors, and the next instant…
“Uwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Pushing aside the waiters and gatekeepers, the VIPs overflowed from inside the room.
“?!”
As people heard the screams, they turned, one after the other, in shock. The highest-status guests in the gambling paradise, the ones who had been invited to the VIP room, were flinging decorum to the wind as they struggled to be the first out of the room.
“What happened?!”
“I dunno, but move it!”
While the people and gods farther away from the VIP room made a stir trying to figure out what was going on, Ganesha Familia immediately sprang into action.
The guards they had provided wove through the gaps in the crowd as they cut toward the VIP room. Then…
“—this asshole!”
Wild shouts rang out.
What now?! the members of Ganesha Familia thought. If they turned around, they would see disreputable men wrestling. Adventurers were scuffling with each other. Without any concern for the trouble going on around them, they started fighting. The casino employees had no reason to stop stupid guests arguing with each other. Their cries of anguish turned into a riot.
Shocked, the Ganesha Familia members came to a stop.
“Uooooooooooo! What are we doing?!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Hell if I know!!!!!!!!”
—Scott and Guile from Mord’s crew were crying as they grappled. Mord himself was next to them, grabbing a white-haired boy.
“Damn it!!!!!!!!! We’re gonna get banned!! Why, Little Rookie?!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“I-I’m sorryyy!”
The riot happening now was Bell’s—or more accurately Syr’s—suggestion to slow down Ganesha Familia.
“This VIP room is a place that even members of Ganesha Familia may not enter.”
“So no one can come in.”
“Even if something happens, no one can come in here.”
Syr had whispered that to him when he had been called to the VIP room. That was the message from her and Lyu: No matter what happens, no one can be allowed to get close to the VIP room. Somehow understanding the message, Bell had asked Mord’s group for help, which confused them greatly. “Somehow or other I need to do something. Please help me.” They absolutely refused, but when they heard it was for Lyu, to whom they owed a favor for the fight on the eighteenth floor, they tearfully gave in.
“You must be some kind of jinx, you bastard!!!!”
“I’m sooooooooooorrrrrryyyyyyyyyy!”
As Mord got more desperate, he threw Bell through the air in an attention-grabbing display, and the boy’s body landed neatly splayed across a table. Several tables were overturned as a rain of chips danced through the air. The dealers turned pale and cowered as a human manager who came to stop them was sent flying just like Bell.
Guests frantically trying to avoid the mayhem crashed into each other and knocked each other away. Greedy gods feverishly gathered the chips scattered across the floor. In an instant, the entire hall fell into chaos.
“Wh-where should we go…?!”
Momentarily trapped between the chaos inside the VIP room and Mord’s group’s riot behind them, the Ganesha Familia members hesitated.
“Wh-what are you doing?! Hurry up and clear up the disorder in the hall!”
A fat elf with sweat dri
pping from his brow, Royman Mardeel’s shout was the deciding factor. The faction members were forced to prioritize the suppression of the main hall at the demand of the Guild chief, who was desperate to prevent Orario’s reputation from dropping. Since the chaos in the casino showed no signs of dying down, the relief for the VIP room would be substantially delayed.
A handful of remaining waiters were desperately trying to resist the women’s revolt. The furious battle of Falna-blessed warriors raged on in the middle area of the VIP room.
“!”
Lyu dodged the skillfully coordinated twin attacks. Two versus one. Not only that, she was staving off brutal gauntlets and fierce knife slashes while empty-handed. She was clearly an opponent wielding high-level Technique and Strategy.
—This elf is strong.
—It’s really Gale Wind.
The men were dubious at first, but their hearts whispered that they were fighting a truly strong person. Calmly analyzing their opponent’s strength, the two bodyguards attacked repeatedly without giving an opportunity for a counterattack.
“Level Three, right?”
While defending, Lyu also saw through their true strength. She whispered to herself as the bottom of her shoe flew through the air and struck the enemy’s gauntlet, and she used the combined force of the kick and punch to jump back and open significant space between them. As the elf tried to reestablish some range, the human and catperson prepared themselves without letting their guard down.
“You certainly have real strength…but you’re just like your owner.”
“?”
Looks of suspicion floated across the bodyguard’s faces as Lyu spoke up to them.
“You are faking your identity. You aren’t Black Fist or Black Cat.”
Their faces twisted in shock at her declaration. As her assertion rang out in the room, Anna wasn’t the only one surprised as she watched the fight with bated breath—even Ted doubted his ears.
“You match the names, but Black Fist and Black Cat were individualists who never trusted anyone other than themselves for contracts. Obviously, they would not have fought in a large group, but they also assuredly would never have worked together with the coordination you two have.”
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu Page 9
