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Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 2

Page 24

by Fujino Omori


  “There’s nothing else to it. Why would I need a better reason to save Lilly?”

  Her tear ducts gave out.

  A waterfall of tears gushed from her eyes, flowing down her face in all directions.

  Lilly couldn’t hold back any longer and cried out.

  “Hic…waaaaaah!”

  “Lilly, if you’re in trouble, come talk to me. I’m an idiot, so I won’t know unless you tell me.”

  “Hic…! Waaahhh…”

  “I’ll help you, you can count on it.”

  Lilly dove into his chest and hung on tight.

  His metallic armor got in the way, but she didn’t care. She embraced him with all her might, her hands around his back.

  She could feel the palms of Bell’s warm hands gently stroking her head and back over and over again.

  She knew. She noticed.

  Bell had thought of her when he rushed to this room.

  His light clothes were trashed, torn to shreds.

  The pale skin showing through the holes was covered in cuts and bruises.

  Lilly knew that he had taken on hordes of monsters to come to her side.

  She wanted to call out to him, to say something to acknowledge what Bell had done.

  Lilly wanted him to accept the one thing she hated most: Lilly.

  “Sorry…so, so sorry…!”

  “…It’s okay.”

  The sound of Lilly’s cries echoed far and wide.

  The scene of a giant ant massacre filled one corner of the Dungeon. Slowly but surely, their magic stones broken one by one, the slain killer ants turned to ash amid smoke rising from still-burning embers strewn about the room.

  The ashes slowly fell off the crying girl’s face, along with her tears.

  The human kept the small prum girl in a tight embrace, the same calm smile on his face.

  The sky was clear.

  Just like on the day that someone called out to him, not a cloud in the sky.

  Bell walked toward Babel Tower, his white hair bathed in sunlight.

  Two days had passed since then.

  He hadn’t seen any trace of Lilly since they broke up.

  The room she had used up to that point had been completely cleared out; she’d left no messages.

  There was no point going to Soma Familia for help. Lilly had disappeared altogether.

  He felt worried and anxious.

  He didn’t know how many times he had considered searching the city.

  But at the same time, Bell had a feeling.

  A feeling that he would see her again soon.

  It really was just a thought, but he kept to his usual routine.

  So he could be found easily.

  “!”

  Bell stopped. And then started right back up again.

  He caught a glimpse of something at Babel’s west gate: a small figure standing still, wearing a cream robe.

  The figure’s hands were clasped around straps of a backpack while she looked at the ground.

  The figure’s round, cute eyes were clearly visible between bangs in the sunlight.

  Bell set out toward the figure at a brisk walk. He didn’t want to scare her or make her jump.

  The prum girl noticed him in no time.

  Her shoulders dropped to an almost pitiful level. She stood still as she watched him approach.

  “……”

  “……”

  They were close enough to shake hands—if only one of them would reach out.

  Lilly looked up and opened her mouth to speak over and over again, but each time she couldn’t get any words out.

  She couldn’t start a conversation; it was very unlike her.

  Bell waited patiently for Lilly to speak, but seeing her struggling with it, he flashed a quick smile before starting the conversation himself.

  “Miss Supporter! Miss Supporter! Are you looking for an adventurer?”

  “Huh?”

  Lilly looked up again.

  Bell’s big grin reflected off Lilly’s round, chestnut-colored eyes.

  “Are you confused? This is a pretty simple situation, you know. An adventurer in need of a supporter has come to you, asking to buy your services.”

  Lilly realized what was going on.

  Her eyes filled with tears of joy. Her cheeks turned a warm shade of pink.

  Bell shyly held out his right hand, as though he were embarrassed.

  “I was wondering if you’d be willing to prowl the Dungeon with me.”

  Today was a fresh start.

  Bell and Lilly really joined forces—their own two-person party.

  Their relationship had been reset.

  A new beginning.

  “—Yes! Please take Lilly with you!”

  With a smile as big as a sunflower, Lilly took Bell’s outstretched hand in her own.

  Epilogue

  BACKSTAGE

  “He’s gone…” Aiz quietly said to herself.

  She was on the tenth-level floor. She stood alone in the fog, surrounded by the corpses of all the monsters she had slain.

  She had seen the boy through the fog not too long ago, but the moment he cleared the next set of oncoming monsters, he’d left the room as if he were shot out of a cannon.

  At Eina’s request, she had collected information from other adventurers about the whereabouts of a white-haired boy, and she finally managed to track him down…only to have him run away from her once again. Her shoulders drooped.

  But…

  Aiz thought vaguely to herself that maybe he was used to his power.

  While she couldn’t be sure because of the fog, she felt as though he was fighting with impatience, full of desperation. And when she cut an opening for him, he shot off like a madman driven by thoughts of something that wasn’t her.

  Aiz got the impression that the boy had a reason to rush, but she didn’t know why.

  What should I do now…?

  She had accepted Eina’s request to confirm the boy’s safety. She should go after him.

  However, going after him now would be another wild-goose chase. She was considering her options when suddenly…

  Something glinted through the fog.

  “…What’s…”

  She bent down to pick up the source of the light from the grass. It was an emerald-colored vambrace.

  The vambrace, the exact color of Reveria’s and Eina’s eyes, was somewhat the worse for wear. It looked as though it had taken a bad hit or three before falling off, and the surface was covered in nicks, scratches, and cuts.

  But why here? she wondered to herself before it came to her. “Ah!”

  An important thought occurred to her.

  “Could this be…?”

  —Behind her, a lost needle rabbit hopped around the prairie field on the tenth-level floor of the Dungeon.

  LITTLE • BARISTA

  • MADE BY GOIBNIU FAMILIA. DESIGNED FOR SHORTER RACES LIKE PRUMS.

  • HAS POWER BEYOND ITS SIZE. THE AMMO IS LIGHT, WITH LITTLE TO NO RECOIL. HOWEVER, RANGE IS LIMITED.

  • DIFFERENT ARROWS CAN PROVIDE MORE POWER AND RANGE. SOLD SEPARATELY.

  Afterword

  This is the second book in the series. Thank you for picking it up. This is Fujino Omori.

  While this story has a fantasy world–type feel, I was very conscious of building the story like a video game. My greatest challenge was figuring out how to incorporate an experience-point system, the most basic role-playing game element, into the story in a way that readers could accept without any misunderstandings. I spent many long hours trying to solve this problem.

  This book casts the spotlight on baggage-carrying “supporters,” a job that came to mind while working on the first problem.

  Since there are no “magic pockets” that adventurers can put as much as they want into, how are they going to take all their loot out of the Dungeon? Could they fight at full strength while lugging around large bags? If not, then who would carry the load? This is how t
he “supporter” role came to be.

  As you have read, being a supporter is not a glamorous job by any means. Their position is so low that they have to be content to sip muddy water. It’s not surprising that the heroine of this story, and others like her, wasn’t satisfied and went astray. Yes, for sure.

  However, not just in terms of this story, but I think life itself is easier when someone is there to help shoulder the load. It’s only when we have people there to help us that we can face new challenges.

  I don’t want to be thought of as someone who got too caught up in the moment and forgot to express gratitude to those who helped me along the way. Writing this book reminded me of that fact.

  So I would like to take this opportunity to do just that.

  First, to my editor who supported me again and again. To Mr. Suzuhito Yasuda, who overcame a very difficult schedule to provide amazing artwork. And to everyone who put their heart and soul into making this book a reality, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

  Thanks to overwhelming support from readers, a third book is now in the works. I’m working as hard as I can to get it on the shelves as soon as possible. Thank you all for your continued support.

  That’s all for now.

  Fujino Omori

  Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Yen On.

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  Copyright

  IS IT WRONG TO TRY TO PICK UP GIRLS IN A DUNGEON?, Volume 2

  FUJINO OMORI

  Translation by Andrew Gaippe

  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 vol. 1 Copyright © 2013 Fujino Omori

  Illustrations copyright © 2013 Suzuhito Yasuda

  Cover illustration by Suzuhito Yasuda

  All rights reserved.

  Original Japanese edition published in 2013 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 © 2015 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  Yen On

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  First ebook edition: April 2015

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  ISBN 978-0-316-34018-2

  E3

 

 

 


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