Bete’s gaze, meanwhile, had yet to leave the grinning girl in front of him.
“I’m so sorry for making you sad, Bete Loga! Though, you know? Hearing that you were all down in the dumps ’cause of little old me? Made my heart skip, you know! I musta made a pretty deep impression on you! You just didn’t know how to express it, yeah?” she said with a smile, inching closer and closer to Bete, almost like a cat.
Bete lowered his gaze before shooting his hand out, letting it drop on Lena’s head.
“Wh-wh-what are you doing? We’re not gonna hug right now, are we? In front of everyone?! Bete Loga, you’re so bold!” Lena tittered gleefully.
Suddenly, Bete’s leg came flying upward.
KER-PHWOMP!!
“Guuwaaaagh?!”
His knee made direct contact with her abdomen.
The impact drew a curious squawking noise from Lena as her body curled in on itself.
And he didn’t stop there, either. KER-PHWOMP!! KER-PHWOMP!!
His knee kept coming. A rapid-fire barrage of knees to the gut that made Lena’s orange-pearl eyes practically bulge out of her head.
“M-Mister Bete?!”
“You’re gonna kill her, you idiot!”
“You think I care?! I’M GONNA MURDER HERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!” Bete roared, completely disregarding the surprised yelps from Lefiya and Tione.
His rage was unstoppable, entirely incomparable with his earlier anger, as he lit into the young Amazon. Not even Tione, frantically trying to pull them apart, could stop him. It finally took the entire familia, Raul and the others flying on him en masse, to bring the enraged werewolf, capable even of fighting off a first-tier adventurer, to a halt.
As the grand brawl ensued, Tiona darted in to pull the collapsed Lena out of the fray.
“H-hey! Are you okay?! You still with us—?”
“He-he-he…he-he-he-he-he-he-he…! My stomach…has been blessed again…I’ll definitely get pregnant now…!” Lena laughed, an almost euphoric smile on her face as drool leaked down her chin.
Th-the hell is wrong with this chick?! Tiona drew back with a start.
Meanwhile, Aiz and Loki, now completely forgotten, could only stare in blank disbelief at the chaotic situation in front of them. It didn’t take long for Loki to burst out in laughter, doubled over with her arms to her stomach. This was enough to draw in even Aiz, who brought her hand to her mouth with a giggle of her own.
Finn, Riveria, and Gareth looked on in shock at seeing the swordswoman laugh for what must have been the first time.
Was it because there was something funny about the way the red-faced wolf was howling in anger?
Or was it because there was something cute about the desperately apologizing girl darting in and out as she avoided the wolf’s fist?
Or was it because there was something absolutely ridiculous about the way her companions were flailing in panic, trying to put a stop to the melee?
Or was it simply because she was so, so happy at the wild scene taking place before her eyes?
“D-don’t be mad, Bete Loga! I’m suuuuper embarrassed at the whole thing, too, you know? But still, I can’t deny that it makes me really happy!”
“You think I care, damn cow?!”
“I’m just ecstatic that I get to see you again!”
Bete’s hand shot out in an attempt to grab her, his face completely red.
Lena, meanwhile, simply smiled, her eyes closed as tears dribbled down her cheeks.
On and on their voices continued, the wolf’s howls of anger mingling with the delighted laughter of the Amazonian girl.
EPILOGUE
INSTEAD OF GOOD-BYE—
The morning sun glimmered in the sky to the east.
A group was on its way to the deserted First Graveyard, otherwise known as the Adventurers Graveyard, in the city’s southeastern district—a group of Amazons, all of them donning attire reminiscent of dancers.
“Seriously! You really shoulda just come out and told us, you numbskull!”
“Oooouch!”
Aisha’s fist came down on the crown of Lena’s ponytailed head with a heavy DONG!
“B-but! Nine Hell told me I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone! Besides! We weren’t even supposed to leave the hospital, remember?” Lena insisted tearfully, reminding the other Amazon of the continued risk of attack from the assassins—and how Riveria had told them to lay low until things had cooled down. Whether they wanted to or not, they’d become part of the high elf’s plan to “deceive the enemy by way of their allies.”
The two Amazons were walking with the rest of the Berbera who’d been saved by Amid’s secret curse-repelling potion—the same Amazons whose “corpses had been taken to the First Graveyard,” according to the lie that had been spread.
“You were certainly a blubbering mess, Samira. Even went to all this work to prepare a grave already…”
“Wh-what did you expect? I just heard that all my friends had died! Why wouldn’t I want to pay my respects…?!”
“I’m sorry for worrying you so much, Samira…But hey! You were on the ball with that grave! Guess I should have expected as much from our old ritual leader!”
“You don’t look sorry at all!”
“Yeeeoouch!”
The red-faced, ashen-haired Amazon brought her own fist down on Lena’s head, eliciting another yelp from the girl.
The group continued along with an air that was considerably inappropriate for a graveyard as they carted their shovels, pickaxes, and other various oversize tools. They’d need them to dig up the graves that had been made for them after they’d “died,” as unexpected as that had been. Leaving them there would not only lead to more misunderstandings, it’d be ill-omened, to boot. Admonishing Samira as she continued to complain about all the money she’d wasted on their gravestones, they finally made it to their destination.
They stopped in the small corner of the graveyard their familia had purchased before being disseminated: the Ishtar Familia plots, where their former comrades who’d lost their lives in the Dungeon already slept.
“…Fallujah and the others…They’re really dead, aren’t they?”
“Yes, they’ve already been…buried.”
While Amid’s magic item had been able to save almost all the inflicted Amazons, there were still a few who had slipped through their fingers, most of them having been attacked in the middle of the night and their bodies discovered too late. There were also a few they simply hadn’t had enough of the elixir left to save, making Lena and the others who had survived very lucky indeed.
Lena got down on her knees in front of the freshly made graves, a strangely reserved look on her face as she closed her eyes. She prayed for the happiness of her fallen friends in the next life—and that they might meet again one day under the same sun.
“…All right, let’s clean these things up, then, shall we? Else these old girls who have to spend the rest of eternity here’ll give us an earful!” Aisha exclaimed in jest, shattering the gloomy atmosphere that had settled over the group.
Smiles crossing their faces, they quickly got to work digging out the graves.
But then…
“Huh?”
“…? Aisha?”
Aisha had come to a halt in front of Lena, who’d been searching for her gravestone among the rows. Drawing the gazes of the rest of her peers, the older Amazon’s shoulders gave a sudden jerk.
“Gngh…Ha-ha…Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
She burst out in laughter.
“Wh-what’s wrong? What’s so funny?”
But Aisha was laughing so hard she couldn’t even respond, her arms to her stomach and tears threatening the corners of her eyes.
“Oh, c’mon!” Lena puffed out her cheeks in indigna
tion, then pushed past the other Amazon to see just what was so amusing.
“—Ah.”
Lena froze instantly.
The grave Aisha had been standing in front of was none other than Lena’s.
Completely white, it was clear the grave was fresh.
But what caught her attention the most was what was sitting on top of the carefully etched letters of her name.
Unable to believe her eyes, she reached out slowly, carefully, to take it in her hands.
“That wolf you’ve fallen for…he’s really somethin’ else.” Aisha continued to giggle as she wiped at her eyes.
Lena simply clutched the item, her most beloved item in all the world, to her chest.
There was only one person who could have left this on her grave.
“Obnoxious doesn’t even come close!”
Aisha’s laughter continued from behind her as Lena’s cheeks filled with a fiery heat.
This warmth in her chest.
This was happiness, a pure, unadulterated joy she’d never felt before in all her days fighting as an Amazon. Tears running down her cheeks, she turned her smile to the sky, shouting up at the sun.
“I love you, Bete Logaaaaaaaaa!!”
The bouquet of forget-me-nots clutched between her fingers trembled, as though smiling.
Afterword
With this book, Bete will finally be able to make it onto the cover.
Though I skipped a book since writing about the Amazonian sisters in book six of the side series, book eight will once again see my poor characters’ rage take the front seat.
Back when I first started writing the main series, the only two characters in Loki Familia whose pasts I’d fully envisioned were Aiz’s and Finn’s. I hadn’t put a thought into any of the other characters’ backgrounds. Thus, when GA approached me about writing this side series, my first thought was, quite ineloquently, Shit! As you can imagine, the star of this book, Bete, was one of those in-the-dark characters.
Even among various stakeholders, Bete has always been vilified: “Bete’s annoying,” “Kill him off quickly,” “Bete was so grating in the first book,” “I’m actually amazed at just how annoying Mister Okamoto’s Bete is in the anime.” But for me as the author, I’ve never wanted to create easygoing, expendable characters. No, this character in particular was supposed to be the one to give Bell his original drive, a haughty, prideful kind of character. Which is why Bete turned out the way he did.
Getting kicked around can be a form of baptism, almost. And without that impetus, so to speak, neither they nor the things around them will ever change. Even if they try desperately to change them, they’ll never change. That was kind of my basis for building up the character, bringing together a sense of frustration but also the feeling of looking up to someone into one entity.
The phrase “howl of the weak” comes up often when I’m trying to put this character into words, but more and more, he’s starting to become the typical tsundere, much as I hate to admit it.
Anyway, it’s about time I move on to my thank-yous for this volume (though, please be aware of some pretty major spoilers throughout). To Otaki, Takahashi, and all the rest of the staff at GA Bunko, I thank you once again for all your help on this volume. To Chief Editor Kitamura, who wisely advised that “[I] can’t kill Lena!” during our plot meetings, I’m even more grateful now that I’ve written out the epilogue. To Kiyotaka Haimura, who, once again, has supplied my work with the most wondrous of illustrations despite the grueling schedule, I want to get down on my knees and thank you. I’m also incredibly grateful to the staff, cast, and everyone else who made the limited-edition drama CD for this new volume possible. And, of course, you have my utmost thanks, as well, my readers, who have once again picked up my book.
Though this afterword is already getting rather long, there is one more thing I’d like to announce:
A new Sword Oratoria anime has been slated for an April 2017 broadcast. To have this little side story get the animation treatment the same as my main series is thanks to nothing but the overwhelming support of you, my readers. I can’t thank you enough. I’m even more inspired now to keep working as hard as possible—after all, I can’t let myself lose to the incredible work of the staff and cast on the new film version.
I hope to see all of you again in the next book.
All the best.
Fujino Omori
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Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 8 Page 21