Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 5

by Fujino Omori

  I breathe a sigh of relief and explain it to him. A genuine smile grows on his lips for the first time in a long time.

  “This is good stuff. You have to tell me where I can get more.”

  “Once we get back, I’ll take you there as often as you like…”

  I smile back at him as he gives me the rest of the potion. I down it in two gulps.

  A new wave of energy passes through my body. My mind and physical strength aren’t back up to full, but they’re much better than before.

  “…Mr. Bell, how about sharing some with Lilly?”

  “Eh? We just finished it, didn’t we? Don’t want to waste any.”

  “No fair, no fair! It’s no fair that only Mr. Welf got some!”

  “What’re you talking about?”

  Finally, a relaxed conversation among party members. A little bit of the tension is gone. Being careful not to let our guard down, we let ourselves relax a bit.

  Our Dungeon journey continues, me lending a shoulder to Welf and Lilly watching our backs.

  We have hope as we put one foot in front of the other, until—

  “There’s one…”

  I see a hole in the Dungeon floor as I turn a corner. It’s right in the middle of the path in this tunnel.

  It’s almost like it was set apart from the other paths we could’ve taken. It’s a weird-looking, uneven hole, too.

  I help Welf over to the hole and we both look down. Lilly isn’t far behind and confirms what both of us were thinking—it’s connected to a lower floor.

  Judging from its depth…probably the sixteenth floor.

  We look away from the dark void and exchange glances before nodding to one another.

  I put my right arm firmly around Welf’s waist and my left around Lilly’s backpack.

  All of us take a deep breath and jump in.

  A golden moon hung in the sky.

  The sun completely set, a beautiful night sky spread out over Orario. Magic-stone lamps dotted the city like precious jewels glinting in the night.

  The streets were filled with people enjoying one another’s company, thousands of dots of light around them. And in the center of the city, a building loomed over Central Park.

  A tower stood over the entrance to the Dungeon. Babel.

  A certain goddess looked away from it all from the highest floor of the white tower and moved toward a door.

  Tup, tup. Her shoes hit the floor as she walked. She tossed her silver hair back over her shoulders with both hands as she went. “Did I keep you waiting?”

  She opened a large wooden door after traversing the long hallway. The Goddess of Beauty—Freya—was the first to offer a greeting.

  The room was adorned with long bookshelves filled with many expensive and luxurious items. Her favorite attendant, Ottar, and one other god with one of his followers gathered here.

  “No, not at all. Sorry for taking up your time, Lady Freya.”

  Hermes was sitting at a rather strange table designed to resemble an apple. He greeted her with a smile and a jubilant voice. Asfi, however, couldn’t hide her nervousness.

  Freya glanced at both of them before taking a seat at the table with Ottar at her side.

  Each of her movements was graceful and captivating. Her black dress revealed an enormous amount of cleavage as she slid into the chair, her sizable bust swaying. The chair lightly squeaked as she leaned back, silver hair brushing against her white necklace.

  Asfi was captivated by her and blushed scarlet red before averting her eyes. Although his follower had been completely taken in by the goddess’s beauty, Hermes just kept on smiling in his own charming way.

  The two deities sat at either side of the table with their followers standing behind them.

  “So, what is it?”

  Freya chose to bypass any idle chatter and get straight to the point.

  She sat with her shoulders square to him, legs uncrossed with a very confident smile on her lips. Hermes’s narrowed eyes opened very wide.

  “As I’m sure you’re already aware, Bell Cranell has yet to return from the Dungeon. Hestia and I are on our way to help him, Lady Freya.”

  “And?”

  “So, I came here to make a request.”

  “Why would you bother to come to me?”

  Freya’s expression didn’t change. Both of the gods exchanged glances and smiles.

  “You protected him, Lady Freya. At the last Denatus, you protected Bell.”

  “…”

  “He’s someone worthy of the attention of someone as beautiful as yourself. So you can’t blame me for being interested.”

  Ten days ago in this very building during the gods’ Denatus meeting, Freya had indeed stuck her neck out to protect Bell. More specifically, she stopped Loki from trying to figure out why he’d grown so fast, by pointing out to the others that it was forbidden for them to investigate personal affairs.

  Freya had all of the male gods present at Denatus under her spell from the beginning. Her beauty was powerful enough to keep them in a trance and doing her bidding without thinking about her motivations.

  Hermes should have been one of them.

  “Lady Freya, I’m crazy about you. However, I’m not so far gone that I don’t notice something right under my nose.”

  …In other words, he had been acting.

  The other male deities around him were practically falling over themselves with one look at her. All he had to do was blend in.

  “Well played,” she whispered as she remembered the charming god’s performance.

  “You’re going about this much differently than usual, but I doubt anyone else has noticed.”

  Freya’s “recruiting style” was very well known. Once she’d scouted someone she wanted, she’d make her move immediately.

  Despite her usual straightforward hands-on approach, she had yet to do the same thing with Bell. The Freya that Hermes knew wouldn’t have wasted time jumping through hoops.

  Most likely, the other gods who had been taken in by Freya’s beauty wouldn’t have noticed that the boy was at the center of her sudden change in strategy.

  “Fine, then,” said Freya. It was pointless to try and keep up appearances given how much Hermes already knew.

  She stopped trying to hide the fact that she was interested in the boy and cast her silver gaze on the deity across from her. It was her way of saying get to the point.

  “I have no interest in playing with your toy. I just want to see with my own eyes what he can do.”

  Hermes assumed a serious expression as he spelled it out.

  In the blink of an eye, his face changed to that of a beggar on the street.

  “So please—please leave my Familia alone, Lady Freya?!”

  “…”

  Genuinely surprised by Hermes’s request, Freya sat quietly for a moment before looking down on him like a pathetic worm unworthy of the dirt it was living in. She kept that expression for a long time, and it had Hermes on the verge of tears.

  The two strongest Familias in Orario belonged to Loki and Freya. If Freya seriously decided to come after them, Hermes Familia would be wiped out in no time flat.

  That was why Hermes was here—for insurance. Hermes was apparently very fond of his own Familia.

  At the same time, he wasn’t lying—but he wasn’t telling the truth, either.

  Freya could see it. She knew he wanted to more than just test the boy’s power. Her eyes narrowed, her glare getting sharper and sharper…But she stopped.

  This is foolish, she sighed to herself.

  She realized that trying to shut Hermes down would be a waste of time.

  “All right, as you wish.”

  Freya decided to acquiesce to his request but keep an even closer eye on him.

  It was clear to her that Hermes meant no harm toward Bell.

  Relief coursed through Hermes’s suddenly round eyes as he sank back into his chair. “You have my thanks, Lady Freya! I owe you! If you ev
er need something, don’t hesitate to ask! I’ll stop at nothing to—”

  “However.”

  Freya stood up, interrupting Hermes mid-sentence.

  Stopping his charm in its tracks, she put her hand on his shoulder and leaned in close.

  “It would be wise to remember this: The only one allowed to play with him is me.”

  Her enchanting voice filled his ears.

  Time stood still. A wave of goose bumps overtook Hermes’s skin as every hair stood on end. He pulled his mouth into another smile as soon as his senses came back to him.

  “Of…of course. I swear to you—”

  “That’s good. Be sure you do.”

  Hermes’s face glistened with sweat as Freya stood back up with her own charming smile on her lips. She gestured toward the door with one hand and gave a short nod, as if to say, “You may leave.”

  Hermes cut the good-byes short and took her up on the offer. Freya watched him and his follower go out the door. Asfi had been so intimidated by Ottar’s presence that she didn’t speak a word as they left. Hermes, however, was laughing at himself, muttering, “Thought I was dead for a moment there…”

  Clunk. The doors shut behind them.

  “Is this acceptable to you?” Ottar turned to Freya once the other two were out of the room and spoke. “Despite everything he said, things may be in motion that we cannot see. This is just my opinion, but…that god is very suspicious.”

  Freya giggled softly to herself at Ottar’s straightforward warning. “I’ll deal with that when the time comes.”

  She left the table at the middle of the room and walked toward a massive window.

  The long, rectangular glass took up most of the wall on that side. She could see the entire nightscape of the city, her feet bathed in moonlight.

  “Ishtar has been keeping a close eye on me recently. I’d like to avoid any petty inquiries…If Hermes wants to do something, that’s fine.”

  Ishtar was another goddess of beauty who had attended the last Denatus. Freya remembered their little argument as she spoke to Ottar.

  As long as she knew that Hermes wasn’t going to hurt Bell, that was enough for now.

  Freya took another step toward the window and looked down.

  Every detail of the magnificent city sprawled out beneath her. She could see all the citizens going about their business, nothing more than grains of sand at this height. The many lights that lined the streets intermingled together like brilliant stars in the night sky.

  She pulled her head back as something caught her eye.

  People were gathering in Central Park.

  Freya laughed to herself as she recognized the group right outside Babel’s front gate.

  “You’re late, Hermes!”

  Hestia scolded him angrily as he emerged from Babel Tower.

  They had gathered in front of the tower’s west gate. The curtain of night had fallen over Central Park. The place was very lively during the day, but there was almost no one here now. The pure openness of the park was terribly quiet, and what trees were there were motionless in the night air.

  The search party’s preparations were complete. Hestia concealed the fact that she was a deity by using a long traveler’s robe and a small supporter’s backpack strapped over her shoulders. In fact, she looked remarkably like the supporter Lilly. Mikoto and the rest of Takemikazuchi Familia were assembled and ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

  Hestia was tired of waiting. Hermes walked down the front steps with Asfi at his side and a grimace on his face.

  “You see, I had a rather loose end that needed tying up…Was easier said than done.”

  His expression went blank for a moment as he looked at the tallest point of Babel Tower. Coming back to himself, he turned to Hestia and earnestly apologized for being late.

  Hestia knew time was of the essence and was just about to give the order to go in.

  “…Lady Hestia.”

  “!”

  Mikoto stepped up to her side. Now Hestia noticed, too.

  A mysterious person had emerged from the darkness and was walking toward the girls.

  The figure was wearing a hooded cape that extended to her lower back. The front of the hood concealed a great deal of the wearer’s face; only the lips were visible. Judging by the shorts, knee-high boots, and delicately feminine legs, this person was female.

  A long, wooden sword was attached to a belt just under her fluttering cape. Two smaller blades ran down the sides of her thighs.

  The female, equipped with adventurers’ battle clothes, didn’t say a word before coming to a stop in front of the group.

  Mikoto moved to protect Hestia, one hand on her katana. Hermes just laughed.

  “She’s on our side. Strong, too. No need to worry.”

  Hestia sent a piercing glare in Hermes’s direction before taking a look at their new supposed “ally.”

  A pair of sky-blue eyes emerged from beneath the hood.

  With the hooded adventurer joining their search party, the group made their way into the tower.

  To save Bell, Hestia and her party entered the Dungeon.

  CHAPTER 3

  DUNGEON DEATH MARCH

  Ferocious roars suddenly turned to painful squeals.

  The air screamed as it was torn in half by something long and sharp, followed closely by the sound of dying breaths. The wooden sword left afterimages in its wake, looking like little more than a serious practice session.

  The movements were unnaturally fast, and she had moved on to the next target before the sound of the crashing impact of the first rang out. Every so often sky-blue eyes flashed from beneath the hood.

  Despite being surrounded by more than ten monsters at once, she tore into them with the strength of a hurricane.

  “KYII?!”

  “GAH—?!”

  An Al-Miraj was struck across the chest when it was too slow to respond to her advance. She sliced another in half with one of her blades, her momentum taking her through a third rabbit monster. All three of the beasts fell in less than a second.

  The monsters’ net formation was pointless. They weren’t fast enough to protect themselves against the hooded adventurer, her cape swirling with each precise movement. Hellhounds jumped for her suddenly exposed back, saliva flying from their bared fangs. However, the hooded female spun like a top and hit their jaws from beneath with her wooden sword. The devil dogs were launched backward, their muzzles completely shattered.

  “KYUAA!”

  Two more Al-Miraj jumped into the fray. Squealing with all their might, both of them were armed with stone tomahawks, this floor’s landform weapon.

  The hooded adventurer saw the weapons as they were thrown straight at her. She deflected one with a quick whirl of her wooden sword—and caught the second with her bare hand. She spun again and released it without any hesitation.

  The monstrous rabbit’s red eyes went wide just before it took the tomahawk to the face. The sheer force of the blow launched it straight backward.

  The remaining Al-Miraj stood in shock at the sudden disappearance of its ally before a dark shadow descended over it. The creature looked up just in time to see a wooden sword coming right for its face. “KYU?!” came its last squeak as its eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. The Al-Miraj fell silent.

  “S-so strong…”

  “To take on so many of them alone like that.”

  “W-whoa…”

  Takemikazuchi Familia’s Mikoto, Ouka, and Chigusa watched the battle unfold before them with bewildered eyes. They might have had different ways of expressing it, but all of them were shocked by the dominant display of strength and skill.

  The search party had reached the thirteenth floor.

  They had made it all the way through the upper levels in a few short hours in their quest to save Bell and had now reached the middle levels. Their pace was much faster than anyone had anticipated.

  This was all thanks to the mysterious hooded
adventurer.

  She was eliminating monsters on her own before anyone else had a chance to act. Once known by the title “Gale Wind,” the female adventurer was on a level far beyond that of Mikoto and the others—Level 4, to be exact.

  Even Hermes’s ace Asfi watched in awe as the hooded adventurer blazed a trail with unparalleled speed and strength through the upper levels, slaying more monsters in the process than she cared to count.

  “OOUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!”

  The sound of something rolling at high speed, accompanied by a low roar, reached them. Sure enough, one armadillo monster, a Hard Armored, appeared farther down the tunnel.

  Completely unfazed by the wrecking ball rolling her way, the hooded adventurer withdrew one of her small blades. She charged it head-on, blade sticking from the bottom of her hand. Edging out of its path at the last moment, she brought the blade straight through its body on her way by.

  The monster’s body kept spinning as it fell apart.

  The massive rotating flesh hit a rock in the floor, sending four distinct chunks into the air to land at a stunned Mikoto’s feet.

  “Well, I won’t complain about this being too easy. There shouldn’t be a problem even in the middle levels as long as she’s taking the point position…Would you look at that?”

  Asfi had been enjoying the show at the front of their ranks when suddenly a few monsters emerging from the wall behind them caught her attention. Takemikazuchi Familia also sensed the danger and immediately moved to protect Hestia and Hermes.

  “Excuse me, step this way.”

  “Eh?”

  Ignoring the two hellhounds for the moment, Asfi grabbed Chigusa’s shoulder and pulled her back.

  Suddenly the ground beneath where Chigusa had been standing swelled and shifted as if a mole were tunneling underneath.

  Asfi swirled her white cloak to the side and withdrew a dagger from within.

  She didn’t even have time to breathe before a Dungeon Worm came bursting out of the wall.

  The beast didn’t have a head—just a mouth lined with serrated teeth at the end of the wormlike body. It rocketed toward them with its limbless frame writhing in midair. Asfi lined up the cutting edge of her weapon with the oncoming hidden terror of the Dungeon walls and made her move. Meeting the beast head-on, her dagger cut the Dungeon Worm from mouth to tail in one swift motion.