Copyright
IS IT WRONG TO TRY TO PICK UP GIRLS IN A DUNGEON?
ON THE SIDE: SWORD ORATORIA, Volume 6
FUJINO OMORI
Translation by Liv Sommerlot
Cover art by Kiyotaka Haimura
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
DUNGEON NI DEAI WO MOTOMERU NO WA MACHIGATTEIRUDAROUKA GAIDEN SWORD ORATORIA vol. 6
Copyright © 2015 Fujino Omori
Illustration copyright © Kiyotaka Haimura
Original Character Design © Suzuhito Yasuda
All rights reserved.
Original Japanese edition published in 2015 by SB Creative Corp.
This English edition is published by arrangement with SB Creative Corp., Tokyo, in care of Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc., Tokyo.
English translation © 2018 by Yen Press, LLC
Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ōmori, Fujino, author. | Haimura, Kiyotaka, 1973– illustrator. | Yasuda, Suzuhito, designer.
Title: Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon? on the side: sword oratoria / story by Fujino Omori ; illustration by Kiyotaka Haimura ; original design by Suzuhito Yasuda.
Other titles: Danjon ni deai wo motomeru no wa machigatteirudarouka gaiden sword oratoria. English.
Description: New York, NY : Yen On, 2016– | Series: Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon? on the side: sword oratoria
Identifiers: LCCN 2016023729 | ISBN 9780316315333 (v. 1 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316318167 (v. 2 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316318181 (v. 3 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316318228 (v. 4 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316442503 (v. 5 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316442527 (v. 6 : pbk.)
Subjects: CYAC: Fantasy.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.O54 Isg 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016023729
ISBNs: 978-0-316-44252-7 (paperback)
978-0-316-44253-4 (ebook)
E3-20180519-JV-PC
Contents
Cover
Insert
Title Page
Copyright
Prologue: A Mid-Spring Night’s Dream
Chapter 1: Quest Results & Next Quest
Chapter 2: Port Meren
Chapter 3: Kingdom of the Amazons
Chapter 4: Sister & Sister, Dusk & Dawn, Shadow & Light
Chapter 5: A Duo of Sun and Moon
Chapter 6: War’s End
Epilogue: Disturbing Elements
Afterword
Yen Newsletter
PROLOGUE
A MID-SPRING NIGHT’S DREAM
Her vision trembled.
A sound buzzed in her ears.
The moment she realized what had caused the shock and constant tremors in her body, the first thing she felt was nausea.
A murderous roar echoed around her as the sound of hundreds of thousands of feet shook the earth.
The world of stone and rock quivered along with that distant bellow. The blue sky and the light of the sun seemed so far, far away through the iron latticework of her small window. All she could smell in the cold, dank room that served as her prison was the stench of mold and rust.
Abandoned in a corner of the room sat her two cutlasses, blades clinking as she waited for her turn.
The scene changed.
Suddenly, her field of view shrank—she was wearing a mask. Before her stood an odious gate, light filtering through its bars. The moment she passed through it, leaving the darkness behind, she found herself enveloped in a thunderous cacophony of screams and shouts. All around her, spectators howled as she stepped into the arena.
She saw her enemies come charging from the opposite gate, and she rose to face them, weapon gripped tightly as she sprinted forward.
Each opponent was different from the last as they came one after another. First, a pack of white wolves, saliva dribbling from their mouths in great heavy globules; then, a cudgel-wielding gladiator; and after that, a chained dragon—finally, there was a girl just like her. Weapons collided, but in the end, it was she who was left standing.
As her fallen opponent lay at her feet, around her the arena erupted as the sun blazed overhead.
“—Se wehga! Se wehga! Se wehga!”
Shouts in a language that wasn’t Koine poured down on her.
The praises of her fellow female warriors engulfed her as the twilit sky trembled and shook.
Face turned up toward the heavens, she lost herself in that never-ending sea of red.
The scene changed. It always did.
She saw the blurred smile of a goddess.
Then a female warrior was looking down at her, beating her into the ground over and over. Laughter rang loudly in her ears.
Excitement mixed with rage in an endless frenzy.
Within those emotions was a mumbled scream and splattered blood.
On the gleaming surface of the weapon, she could see her own eyes blurring.
Still it repeated, over and over, as the world faded around her.
That was when she glanced down, only to see her own hands, stained the deepest red—
Then Tione woke up.
“…Great,” Tione murmured as she stared up at the ceiling of her room in Twilight Manor.
It was dark inside, and the world outside her window was still dim. Glancing in the direction of her clock, she saw that the short hand had only just passed four.
“Haven’t even gotten any decent rest since the expedition…”
She frowned, a crease rising to her brow as she continued to stare listlessly at the ceiling, eyes heavy.
All of a sudden—boof!
A pillow arced toward her.
She quickly snatched the cushion out of the air.
Sitting up without so much as a noise, Tione turned to where her sister currently slept soundly, spread-eagled on her own bed with the blanket kicked off. This was Tiona.
That innocent face, that unconscious pillow toss—Tione felt anger bubbling up inside her. She chucked the pillow back at her snoozing sister. But even in her sleep, the younger Amazon was able to deflect the shot with ease.
Tione clicked her tongue in annoyance as her projectile simply tumbled across the bedding.
“…She hasn’t chang
ed at all,” she muttered, half in jealousy and half in irritation, as she glanced over at her sister’s serene face. “Guess I’ll take a shower or something…”
With a long sigh, she slid out of bed.
Then, grabbing a change of clothes and dressed in nothing but her undergarments, she made her way out of the room.
“Tioneeee…mmghh…”
Mere minutes later.
Tiona rolled over in bed, her sister’s name on her lips as the very same dream invaded her own thoughts.
CHAPTER 1
QUEST RESULTS & NEXT QUEST
Loki Familia’s expedition party had returned to Twilight Manor.
They’d collapsed into their beds and slept soundly their first night back, and their lips curled into smiles as they awoke to the light of the surface. They were home—free from the chill dark and far from the unceasing howls of monsters.
A certain elven maiden squinted her azure eyes as she peered through her window at the sun. Outside in the courtyard, a golden-haired, golden-eyed swordswoman had awoken for her early morning training regimen, already hours into her routine as she lost herself in the fragrant breeze and clear blue sky.
The late risers trickled out of their rooms one by one, eager to sate their appetites with the bread, hot soup, fried eggs, and meats they’d been deprived of for so long. The warm sunlight, the good weather, the fresh foods—all the pleasures of the surface they’d previously taken for granted soothed their weary bodies.
Before long, the manor was as lively as ever.
“All righty, then! I know we’ve got plenty of things to deal with…but how’s about we start off with yer Status updates, yeah?”
Loki announced her intentions amid all the renewed hustle and bustle.
And so, while the familia members who’d stayed behind were busy with organizing the resources, equipment, and spoils of war from the expedition—a task they’d been busy with since the night prior—the party members formed a long, snaking line leading to Loki’s chambers on the top floor of the manor’s central tower. Given how easy it had been for their Statuses to develop during the expedition, nearly everyone had to pay the goddess a visit, which meant there was no way to get through the whole throng on the same night they returned. Even Aiz had spent the evening merely resting, waiting until the next day to take her turn.
Updating the Statuses of more than thirty adventurers was no easy task, but Loki hopped to excitedly, as prompt and efficient as ever.
It was during this time that—
“Level Six!! I caught up to Aiz!!”
“Heh-HEH!”
Tiona’s and Bete’s exclamations echoed throughout the tower.
Both of them had leveled up. The high-grade excelia they’d obtained after their decisive battle in the Frontier had been enough to bump them from Level 5 to Level 6. Just as the phrase implied, leveling up involved pushing their Status past its current limit to reach even greater heights in terms of skills and abilities.
Tiona clutched in her hands the updated parchment she’d received from Loki, grinning as she jumped and skipped about. Even Bete cracked a smile for once, not caring who was watching as he let out a howl.
“Guess there’s no point in even asking you, hmm, Tione?”
“Heh. Well, you know. Anyway, what about you guys? Aki? Narfi?”
Tione asked the question while she tried her best to keep her own excitement in check after leveling up just like her sister.
“We still have a ways to go, it seems…” The catgirl and human responded with strained laughs, their shoulders slumped. It would seem Loki Familia’s alternates were stuck at Level 4, if Raul’s drooping head was any indication.
“Hey, Aiz! Look, look! Level Six!”
“Mmn…congratulations, Tiona.”
“Eh-heh-heh…I told ya I wasn’t gonna lose to you! Better watch out or I’ll blow right past ya!”
Tiona dashed forward to greet the swordswoman, still brimming with excitement as the group made its way down the tower steps and out into the courtyard. Aiz responded with a faint smile, spurring on the Amazon’s cheer.
Tiona launched herself onto Aiz’s back with a practically audible sproing! “What about you, Aiz, huh? You didn’t level up again, did you?!”
“Don’t be silly…”
That’s impossible. Aiz finished the thought privately as she glanced down at the parchment in her hands.
Aiz Wallenstein
LEVEL 6
Strength: I30→84 Endurance: I39→89 Dexterity: I58→98 Agility: I57→93 Magic: I45→H101 Hunter: G Abnormal Resistance: G Swordsman: H Spirit Healing: I
Her abilities had increased more than 230 points in total after she’d first embarked on the expedition—ever since the night of the black raid she’d weathered with Bell and Hestia, actually. From that point, she’d taken part in the attack on The Dragon’s Urn, then the life-and-death battle with the corrupted spirit, and even dueling with the Warlord, Ottar. Taking all these into account, it was no surprise that her gains were substantial, even if she was already Level 6.
The numbers made Aiz happy—relieved, almost. They were her reward for breaking her previous limits and reaching new heights. At Tiona’s urging (“Show me! Show me!”), she relinquished the parchment with her new Status. When the Amazon gave an “Ohhhh!” in approval, it brought smiles to both their faces.
Meanwhile, back upstairs where Lefiya was just now getting her own Status updated—
“Congrats, Lefiya! You should be able t’level up!”
Loki cried out triumphantly from behind the elf, whose clothes were undone to reveal the smooth curve of her back.
“…What?”
Lefiya froze, halfway through retrieving her clothes.
The crimson hieroglyphics on her back, which were not unlike an epitaph, pulsed with light at regular intervals.
It took her all of ten seconds before she was practically stumbling back toward the grinning goddess.
“L-l-l-level up? D-did you say…level up? M-me?!”
“That I did, little missy. To Level Four!”
“I…I did it!!”
Lefiya shouted, unable to contain herself. Even though she was still only half-dressed and covering herself with her discarded shirt, she wanted to jump for joy.
She’d certainly looked death in the face rather often recently, yet she had lived to tell the tale.
In fact, she’d been fully prepared to meet her end more times than she could count. As a Level 3, she’d already descended to the Dungeon’s depths—a place where even first-tier adventurers like Aiz and the others couldn’t be sure of victory—and returned in one piece. If the high-grade excelia Tiona and the others had earned was enough for them to level up, then it made sense that the quality of Lefiya’s excelia was worthy of a “feat.”
Desperate to catch up to Aiz and the others, she’d put her own life on the line to complete her adventure.
“Quite a few of you kids came back with all kinds’a new magic and skills…Seems like this expedition was well worth it.”
Loki was talking to herself, but Lefiya wasn’t listening, her face still flushed and her head dizzy.
She was beyond happy. Her heart was filled with the feeling that she’d truly grown stronger and that she might actually have a chance to catch up to Aiz and the others.
And that rabbit—yes, that rabbit.
—I did it! Did you see that, hmm? How’s that for size?
Pictured clearly in her mind was the boy she’d dubbed her rival for many reasons. She puffed her chest out with pride—on the inside.
Her rival had taken down a minotaur all by himself when he was only Level 1, earning him a chance to level up. Even though she had faltered when the boy’s accelerated growth led him to pull off his own feat, Lefiya was sure now that she hadn’t lost yet.
For the time being, at least, she was in the lead.
Still, I mustn’t let this go to my head. His level may be lower than mine at the
moment, but he’s reckless to a fault and wields strange magic to boot. That’s why I have to take advantage of every bit of strength I have—with even greater effort than he uses—and widen the gap between us as much as possible…!
Lefiya began to settle down, practically tingling with energy. Loki could almost see the blazing flames emanating from behind the elf, but her expression soon turned confused.
“Hmm…y’know, Lefiya? This is just a tiny suggestion, but…could ya be patient for a little while longer? About leveling up, I mean.”
“Wh-whaaat?”
Lefiya came to a sudden halt again, a puzzled question escaping her lips. Her goddess’s “suggestion” had completely snuffed out the fiery sense of victory within her.
As she turned around, asking why with her eyes, Loki handed over the parchment with her updated Status.
Lefiya Viridis
LEVEL 3
Strength: I84→86 Endurance: H121→184 Dexterity: G207→210 Agility: G252→271 Magic: B723→797 Mage: H Abnormal Resistance: I
No new skills, though her abilities had improved quite handily since before the expedition, in particular her endurance and magic.
Holding her clothes in one hand and the parchment in another, her gaze rose from the page.
“You get a good look? Then let me take you through it step-by-step, okay? Lefiya…what level was yer magic at when you went up to Level Three?”
“It was…S…”
“Right? Soooo…you can see why this time you don’t have quite enough, yeah? At least that’s what I was thinkin’. Don’t want you losin’ out to Riveria, huh? Gotta make you a ridiculous magic powerhouse.”
“R-ridiculous magic powerhouse…” A bead of sweat worked its way down Lefiya’s temple as the words hit home.
She knew what Loki was saying. That she still had room to grow as a Level 3.
Her Status had not exceeded the limits of her current “container” the way Aiz’s had when she leveled up.
“Now, if you were anyone else, I’d level you up as soon as I was able to. After all, the ability points of a higher level aren’t even comparable to the level below it.”
“Yes, this is…true…”
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 6 Page 1
