She watched the armless floor boss howl and wail for a moment, and she tightened her grip on the hilt of her saber.
Aiz took a step forward.
The fight continued for close to an hour after that.
Riveria took care of the spartois while keeping a close eye on the battle. The two combatants took turns inflicting damage on each other, with neither able to claim a clear advantage as their duel showed no signs of slowing down.
Then.
One silver arc sliced through the air and connected with its target. Aiz inflicted a decisive blow.
“OOOOOooooooooooooooo…”
A broken lower jaw, many fractured bones, part of its head crushed.
Udaeus was already riddled with gashes all over its body. A weakening roar escaped from the exposed bones inside of its mouth and echoed throughout the room at the same time the beast’s body fell to the floor.
Its lower back had been sliced clean through, causing Udaeus to fall backward. Puffs of smoke ballooned into the air as each of its remaining bones hit the ground.
“…”
Dried blood covering her face, Aiz approached her fallen enemy with the silent calm of a still night.
Without its connection to the ground, it was impossible for Udaeus to summon any more pikes. Pieces of its black bones stuck out of the ground like grave markers given to the countless white-boned warriors that had been slain during the ferocious battle. Aiz wove her way through all of them before jumping on top of the monster’s chest.
Without its arms, all Udaeus could do was eye Aiz with the weakly flickering crimson flames in its eye sockets. They watched powerlessly as the girl walked onto its sternum. The solid bones beneath her feet were already breaking apart, the brilliant sheen of the magic stone beneath her a distant memory. The faint light emerging from it was so weak that it seemed it could be snuffed out at any moment.
Aiz said nothing as she lifted Desperate with both hands, the blade pointed toward the heavens.
She whirled around with the saber, then she sliced straight down from high above her head to her feet, making nary a sound.
“”
The crumbling bones fell apart as the wind blade connected with the magic stone.
A web of fissures raced across the stone surface. A high-pitched crack! filled the air.
Udaeus’s entire body collapsed inward a moment later with a whoosh. The black bones dissolved into ash and diffused into the remaining wind.
The black gravestones dissipated along with them, echoes whirling around the room as they crumbled.
“…”
Aiz stood in the middle of the quiet battlefield, saber hanging loosely in the limp grip of her right hand. It was all over.
Her blond hair faintly twinkled in the dim light; the still-pristine silver saber glinted at her feet.
A mountain of ash and monster corpses beneath her, she slowly looked up.
Blood still dripped from the open wound on her cheek and ran down onto an already bloodied breastplate.
There were no words. She simply looked up at the ceiling as though her soul was being drawn out of her body under the cover of darkness.
“…”
“…Riveria.”
Sheathing her saber and walking down to the floor, Aiz caught a glimpse of her companion walking toward her.
The human girl’s shoulders shrank like a child expecting to be scolded by her parents. Riveria came to a stop right in front of her and placed the palm of her hand on the girl’s bloody cheek without saying a word.
“Be still.”
Aiz had been on the verge of breaking the silence, but Riveria placed a finger over her lips and began casting.
It was full-fledged healing magic this time. Warm green light emerged from the palm of her hand on the girl’s face and worked its way around her body, healing her wounds as it went. Aiz closed her eyes, feeling the touch of Riveria’s fingers and the warmth of her magic.
Once all Aiz’s wounds had closed, Riveria ripped off a piece of her own top-class battle cloth and wiped the blood off of Aiz’s skin, like a mother wiping dirt off her child.
Likewise, Aiz wasn’t happy about having the extremely expensive, and abrasive, cloth rubbed against her skin. She closed an eye and bore it as her plump cheeks got pushed from side to side.
“…”
“…”
The girl’s face clean, Riveria lowered the cloth and looked her in the eyes.
Aiz stayed silent and looked up to meet the gaze of the elf who stood taller than she did.
“What is troubling you?”
Not a scolding, not a criticism, but a simple question. The girl’s golden eyes went wide.
Riveria looked as though she were trying to say something in her clear gaze. The muscles in Aiz’s chest tightened as her gaze fell to her feet before she worked up the courage to start talking.
She started with the incident in the town of Rivira, and what she had refused to divulge.
The red-haired Tamer. Everything.
“She…she called me…Aria.”
Riveria’s eyes opened as wide as they could go the moment those words escaped Aiz’s lips.
Words failed her. Covering her mouth with her hand to hide her surprise, she clearly understood the meaning.
A few moments passed and Riveria put her hand down. At last she knew what had driven Aiz to such a degree of recklessness, and she quietly sighed.
She cast her gaze on the girl once again.
“Aiz, will you not rely on me?”
“!”
The girl’s face shot up. Riveria took another step forward and stroked Aiz’s blond hair.
The two made eye contact, Aiz basking in Riveria’s motherly gaze and warmth. But she couldn’t take it and looked away.
“I…and Tiona, and Lefiya, and everyone else…we consider you to be a member of our own family.”
Her warmth seeped its way all the way into Aiz’s heart.
It penetrated the wall that she had put up around herself and embraced her soul. The black flames that had been burning within her finally started to die out.
The fingers that stroked her hair tapped her breastplate.
“You are not alone anymore. Do not forget that.”
“…Yes.”
Touched by something close to love in Riveria’s words, Aiz hid her eyes behind her bangs and nodded.
Blushing, the girl finally looked up again.
“Riveria…”
“What is it?”
“…I’m sorry.”
She saw the elf’s cheeks pull back. Riveria was smiling.
“Huh?” mumbled Aiz, using both hands to support her tilted head.
Riveria had scolded her many times, and raised her with an iron fist. Never once had Aiz seen this woman do this in her life.
Eyes widening, Riveria couldn’t help but smile again.
“Not only are there many magic stones, but there is also a large number of items to collect. Aiz, give me a hand.”
“…Understood.”
Aiz followed Riveria toward the shimmering rocks buried under the ashes of Udaeus.
It took a lot of effort, but the two of them collected all the loot and put it into the backpacks that Lefiya and Rakuta had left for them.
Riveria swung the bags over her shoulders, and the two of them left the room behind.
Two women, jade and blond hair waving from side to side as they walked.
Moving side by side like mother and daughter, the two returned to the surface.
EPILOGUE
AN UNEXPECTED REUNION
It took Aiz and Riveria three days to return to the Dungeon’s upper levels after Udaeus fell in battle.
Normally, passing through the lower and middle levels could take much longer, but they chose the shortest route, with Riveria handling most of the encounters to give Aiz a chance to recuperate. They even spent some time resting in the town of Rivira on the eighteenth floor, so the two adventurers showed li
ttle signs of fatigue.
“Aiz, are you certain it was a good idea to leave that drop item with him?” Riveria asked.
“Yes…I don’t really use greatswords,” Aiz answered.
The two of them were discussing the drop item she’d chosen to leave behind in Rivira: Udaeus’s Black Sword.
There were many items left after they had slain the small army of spartois as well as Udaeus itself. Among them was the weapon that had given Aiz so much trouble; the black greatsword hadn’t turned to ash with the rest of the monster. Of course, it had taken a great deal of damage during the battle, but the remains were just the right size for an adventurer to retrieve it.
Carrying this amazing trophy into the town of Rivira had caused quite a stir. The news spread from shop to shop like wildfire: A never-before-seen drop item from the floor boss Udaeus—one that could only be acquired by challenging the beast with a small party—had come to town.
In the not-too-distant past, Bors had dreamed of becoming a smith. One look at the drop item, with its razor-sharp edge that could have easily passed for the work of the High Smiths, brought tears of joy to his eyes.
Bors had become quite the weapons expert during his time in Rivira and had convinced Aiz to leave the sword with him for safekeeping in exchange for shaping it into a grand weapon that would be ready the next time she ventured this far down into the Dungeon.
“And we don’t know when the Tamer will attack again…Having a strong weapon is reassuring.”
“That man’s choice of words is incredible…”
Riveria sighed. She could still hear Bors saying, “It’ll come back to ya one way or another,” in the back of her mind.
What’s worse, she could imagine the look on his face as he ran his hands down the blade and laughed out of pure enjoyment right about now.
“…?”
“What is wrong, Aiz?”
The two had made it to about halfway through the fifth floor.
Aiz had been lost in thought for a while, when she suddenly spotted another adventurer in the middle of a room.
“There’s someone on the ground.”
“Did a monster get him?”
Riveria’s eyebrows sank as she surveyed the scene. Aiz walked up to his side. He was on his stomach in the middle of the wide room with its light green walls.
The closer the blond girl got to him, the more her eyes shook.
The light armor of a lower-class adventurer…a thin body that wasn’t done growing…and hair the color of white virgin snow.
The adventurer was none other than the rabbit-like boy Aiz had been wanting to see again.
“No visible wounds, healing and detox appear to be unnecessary…Looks like a classic case of Mind Down.”
Riveria knelt beside the boy and made her diagnosis. She seemed rather disinterested when she reached the conclusion.
Aiz was right behind her, eyes glued to the boy in shock. Words came out of her mouth before she could stop them.
“This boy…”
“What, do you know him, Aiz?”
“Not really. We’ve never spoken directly…He’s, um, the boy I told you about. The Minotaur…”
“…I see. This is the one that idiot insulted.”
Riveria had been informed about the real reason Aiz ran out of the bar the night after their last expedition.
She lamented over Bete’s actions for a moment before returning her gaze to the boy with a little bit more understanding in her eyes.
As for Aiz, the one she’d been wanting to apologize to was now right in front of her. Her chest tightening, she said the first words that came to her mind.
“Riveria, I want to compensate him.”
“…There are other ways to say that.”
Riveria had asked what she would like to do, and the girl’s response had been clear, if a little bit too formal. She sighed again.
“Huh?” Aiz blinked a few times.
“Well, helping someone at a time like this is common courtesy…”
Aiz vigorously nodded her head as the two women once again looked down at the young adventurer.
A thought came to the elf’s mind, and she glanced at the girl beside her out of the corner of her eye.
“…Aiz, do for this boy exactly what I tell you. For compensation, that should be enough.”
“What?”
Aiz looked at her in confusion and she responded casually.
“Allow him to sleep with his head in your lap until he awakens.”
Aiz blinked again.
“…Is that enough?”
“Well, I am not certain. But you must protect this spot, even if there is no reason to go above and beyond that…Besides, there is no man alive who would not be happy to receive that from you.”
Aiz’s confusion only increased. She decided to tell Riveria exactly how she felt.
“I don’t understand…”
“You do not need to.”
Riveria chuckled quietly to herself, her face relaxing as she made eye contact with the girl. Aiz was still wondering if it was okay to do such a thing. However, the things Riveria told her were almost always right on the money.
“Mmm,” mumbled Aiz, her face aloof. Riveria stood up.
“I shall return to the surface. Remaining here would only get in your way. The two of you must be alone to reach an understanding.”
“Yes. Thank you, Riveria.”
“Ah.”
Riveria gave an affirmative nod and left them behind.
They were in the upper levels. She knew that nothing around here posed any kind of threat to Aiz, so she wasn’t worried in the slightest about leaving her alone.
Aiz watched her leave before looking back down at the boy’s white head. She knelt close to him.
Slowly, very slowly, she sat down.
Now then, how will this turn out…?
Backpack over her shoulder and staff in her right hand, Riveria thought about the look on Aiz’s face when she left her alone with the boy as she made her way through the Dungeon.
A frog shooter monster tried to bar her path, but she struck it down in the blink of an eye.
Nothing would make me happier than a good outcome, but…
Riveria was well aware of Aiz’s state of mind.
The girl’s heart and body had been out of balance ever since she’d fought the red-haired Tamer. The pain inside her had driven her to try challenging a floor boss on her own.
While most of the remnants of that pain had been expelled, the elf still felt a little bit uneasy. Aiz was not quite back to normal just yet.
Considering all of this, Riveria was hoping that small amount of physical contact with the boy would distract her from the inner turmoil for a short while.
“That and…”
Riveria had noticed a very slight change within Aiz when the two of them were together.
She genuinely hoped that the girl might become a little bit less blind.
“…Well, it won’t turn out for the worse.”
It’s not as though the boy would run away, she mused to herself.
“…”
There was something refreshing about the weight on her thin thighs.
Aiz silently looked down at the boy with his head in her lap, his eyes closed as though he were sleeping on a pillow.
…This is a little embarrassing.
She felt rather awkward after lifting his head and sliding beneath him.
Cheeks blushing, she very carefully adjusted her position to match him. She didn’t want to wake the white rabbit, so her every movement was slow and gentle.
“…”
The two humans in the middle of the room were discovered by one monster after another, but one flick of Aiz’s wrist was enough to dispatch them without disturbing the boy.
She continued to protect him, looking down at his peaceful face whenever she wasn’t taking care of any would-be attackers.
“…You’ve been working very hard.”
His armor had changed since the last time she saw him.
It might have been new, but it was already covered with scratches and dents. She could tell it had been used, a lot. There was no doubt in her mind he had been fighting monsters in the Dungeon every day.
It was heartwarming to see this much effort. He was a pure young man with an untainted spirit.
Innocent, so very innocent.
Completely different from her. The purity emanating from his spirit calmed her own. The last of the black flames still flickering in the bottom of her heart were washed clean until finally disappearing entirely.
A smile appeared on Aiz’s lips before she knew what was happening.
The pure white rabbit soothed her.
An urge to stroke his hair overcame her. Her fingers drifted down and caressed his cheeks from time to time.
“…Mom?”
The boy spoke after a few minutes.
A quiver ran through Aiz’s shoulders, caught off guard by the boy’s sleep talk.
…Is yours gone, too?
She thought to herself, but the words didn’t come out.
Her golden eyes looked away for a moment.
We are…a lot alike…
She felt a sudden connection with him that she knew she shouldn’t hold on to, as well as a twinge of loneliness.
Aiz brushed the white bangs out of the boy’s face and apologized.
“Sorry. I’m not your mother…”
A moment later, two groggy ruby-red eyes opened beneath her.
They became clearer every moment as the boy woke up. His gaze locked onto hers the moment he realized she was there.
The boy seemed lost, trapped in the moment their eyes met. Aiz started stroking his hair once again.
The tips of her fingers ran past his eyelashes before he slowly pulled himself into a sitting position.
She thought it a waste for him to leave the warmth of her lap, but gave up.
The boy stayed sitting on the floor, but turned to face her.
“…An illusion?”
“Not an illusion.”
The boy’s drowsy face suddenly froze, his right hand in midair. Eyebrows slanting outward, he wore a rather unusual expression.
It might even have been a little rude.
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 2 Page 21
