by Fujino Omori
Some prum girls work their way past us as I share a laugh with Lilly and Welf.
“Congrats on leveling up, Welf!”
“Mr. Welf is now officially a High Smith, yes?”
“That I am…Thanks.”
He bobs his head, looking a bit more bashful than usual. But that smile on his lips is all the proof I need to know that he’s attained both his goal as well as the pride that goes with it.
Welf had gained enough excelia through our journey into the middle levels and the many battles on the eighteenth floor to level up—going from Level 1 to Level 2. At the same time he acquired the “Forge” Advanced Ability.
Lady Hephaistos updated his status, and the announcement of his rank-up was made this morning. He came straight to my goddess’s home to tell us as soon as he found out, a massive grin on his face. From there he went to tell Lilly, and now the three of us are here celebrating it.
Welf is now a High Smith—we can’t let this special day pass by without commemorating it.
“Mr. Welf, are you now free to mark your work with your Familia’s brand whenever you want?”
“Whenever I want might be pushing it. I’ll need Lady Hephaistos’s approval along with several of the other leaders before I can use that brand. A weak-ass weapon getting stamped would just sully her name.”
Now that Welf has joined the ranks of the High Smiths, he’s allowed to engrave the Ἥφαιστος insignia on his weapons and armor.
It sounds like he can’t do it every time but I bet…no, I’m sure that Welf’s work will start selling really well. The Ἥφαιστος mark has that much influence.
Add in the fact that equipment made by a High Smith is always in high demand, and Welf’s reputation as a blacksmith should spread like wildfire. While I’m extremely happy for my friend, I’m also a little sad. “But this means…you’re leaving the battle party, doesn’t it?”
The main reason that Welf had wanted to join us in the first place was so that he could gain the Forge ability. He’s met his goal, so there’s no reason for him to stick around. Refusing to let him pursue his dreams would be selfish on my part.
This could be the last time I see him. Lilly is looking a little heavyhearted, too.
Welf scratches the back of his head. He smirks and looks at us like a big brother of sorts, trying to stop himself from blushing. “Don’t look at me like some abandoned rabbit on the side of the road.” He swirls the ale in his mug a few times and continues. “I owe you guys. I can’t just say ‘I’m done, see ya’ and take off.”
“Huh…”
“I’ll join you whenever you call, including for Dungeon crawling. So don’t worry,” he finishes with a toothy grin.
I blink a few times before his infectious smile takes over. Lilly’s eyes curve upward as the three of us clink our mugs together yet again.
We’re still a battle party.
“Mr. Welf only joined us two weeks ago…Ranking up didn’t take very long at all. Lilly was sure it would take a lot more time.”
“Well, I wasn’t exactly sitting on my ass before joining up with you two. But yeah, it happened in the blink of an eye…I suppose almost dying five times in the middle levels sped up the process a bit.”
“Ah-ha-ha…”
Our conversation joins the din inside the lively bar.
Plates upon plates of many different kinds of food are carried to the tables of the other customers. Grilled ham steaks, fried fish with herb sauce—the smells in here are amazing. I work up the courage to try some of that red mead. Just one sip is enough to send a wave of heat down my throat and warm my stomach. Welf was the one who recommended Hibachitei for our get-together. After sampling some of the food and drinks here, I understand why. This place ranks right up there with The Benevolent Mistress. I wonder which one is cheaper?
Our goddesses were also going to join us tonight. But according to Welf, Lady Hephaistos was rather angry with Lady Hestia—something about Hestia my goddess having “other responsibilities,” or something like that…She has to work at her part-time job in Babel Tower, and she’s not happy about it. She did her best to give Welf her well-wishes, but the depression on her face was obvious. Welf had grimaced and accepted the congratulations.
“So Bell, you didn’t level up?” Welf changes the subject.
“No, not yet,” I answer honestly.
My Basic Abilities jumped quite a bit during our four-day trip through the middle levels, but not enough for my Status to go over the top.
“It’s more difficult to gain excelia at Level Two than it is at Level One. The same is true for leveling up…But Lilly is sure that Miss Lyu received most of the excelia from the last battle.”
Lilly is disguised as a young werewolf girl using her Magic to hide her true identity. The wolflike ears on top of her head twitch back and forth as she talks. I agree with every word she said.
The last battle…The floor boss, Goliath.
We joined forces with the adventurers from Rivira to attack that monster. There had to be more than a hundred of us working together, protecting one another and creating openings for others to attack. However, the Goliath summoned swarms of monsters into battle. Other adventurers took them on so that we could focus on the Goliath alone. There must’ve been at least five hundred of us, now that I think about it.
All adventurers who take part in group battles are entitled to a share of the excelia gained during combat. Even so, the ones who shouldered the heaviest burden get the largest shares—in this case Asfi and Lyu because they held the Goliath at bay the longest, and Lyu inflicted more damage. I’m sure that she received far more excelia than anyone else.
If Welf and the others hadn’t covered for me, bought me time, I would’ve never landed my last attack. Lyu, however, did almost everything by herself.
Facing down a monster of that size alone to protect her allies and still charging forward…I’m still in awe at what she accomplished. Her heroic deeds are worthy of being immortalized in a book of heroes. Remembering how she moved, the crispness of her strikes, her aura itself still sends shivers down my spine.
“…So, what was it? That Goliath?”
Since the topic seems to be drifting in that direction anyway, Welf asked us directly about the “Irregular” that we encountered on the eighteenth floor.
The three of us lean in close so as not to be overheard by the people around us.
“There is no explanation, other than it was an Irregular…A floor boss appearing in a safe point hasn’t happened in this era.”
“That bastard was stronger than the rest of them, yeah? It was tossing upper-class adventurers around like bugs! If another one of those things shows up, we’ll be wiped out for sure.”
“I think you’re right…”
A black floor boss. A stronger Monster Rex.
A monster appearing on a floor that it shouldn’t have, which sent us spiraling into the deepest pits of despair. Everything about it defied common sense. Simply dismissing it as an Irregular didn’t do it justice.
“Lady Hestia seems to know something about it…”
The moment she saw that black thing emerge—she said it had been sent to eliminate her.
The Dungeon was angry that gods were inside.
The gods stayed out of the Dungeon to hide their presence.
Seeing how she had reacted and hearing what she said, I can’t shake the feeling that the gods and goddesses have some kind of connection with the Dungeon. Perhaps these all-knowing deities are hiding something.
“Did Lady Hestia tell Mr. Bell anything?” Lilly asks, but I shake my head no. After the battle, the goddess apologized several times but dodged the question whenever I asked her.
She kept acting like it was something that I wasn’t allowed to know, and I couldn’t fight against her divine will. It made me feel rather anxious.
But she doesn’t want to say, or maybe she doesn’t need to.
That’s the impression I got f
rom her.
Discovering mysteries that lurk within the Dungeon might be our job as adventurers—ours and ours alone.
These thoughts and more ran through my mind as I had stood, slack-jawed, in front of the goddess.
“Welp, that’s about all we know, isn’t it…How did people take the news?” Welf changes the subject to improve the mood at our table.
We start talking about what happened after the battle and the current situation.
“There was no confusion or panic within Orario because the Guild issued a gag order right away. We are the only ones who know the real story, along with anyone else who was there.”
“Don’t say a damn thing is how they put it…”
“There’d be a pretty big penalty, too. The Guild can really be tenacious.”
“Lilly has heard Rivira is back in business on the eighteenth floor. The Dungeon appears to be normal, with nothing out of place.”
Lilly’s very good at gathering information because of her past as a thief and con artist. She’s got a lot better handle on what’s happening than Welf or I do.
Apparently the Dungeon and the city of Orario are well on their way back to normal. The Guild’s efforts to keep everything quiet must’ve paid off—after all, the Guild has power over all adventurers because it controls their income as well as managing the Dungeon’s resources.
Despite all of that, I wonder if the residents of Rivira really went back. It had been a life-threatening situation, so I’m not sure if they’re fearless or extremely motivated merchants, or just crazy…
“Speaking of that, Bell, you all right? I heard the Guild threw the book at you and Lady Hestia. The penalty had to be pretty steep.”
“Ah—yeah…”
To be precise, penalties were levied on both my Familia and Lord Hermes’s Familia.
Lady Hestia and Lord Hermes were summoned to the Guild to provide information on the incident. That’s when the hammer had fallen.
Completely ignoring their explanations, the Guild declared this incident to be a “Calamity”—a disaster in which gods are directly responsible. Both of them received a stern warning and a harsh penalty.
As for the penalty…It was a fine.
“How much was it, Mr. Bell?”
“Half…Half of our Familia’s assets.”
“…Ouch.”
On the contrary, we’d gotten off easy.
The Guild knew that Hestia Familia was extremely young and that we didn’t have much in the way of savings. We were only fined a few thousand vals—still quite a bit of money, though.
The item drop left over after the battle with the floor boss, Goliath’s Hide, was practically forced onto me during the craziness that followed our victory…It was probably worth enough to cover the penalty. However, I’ll never forget the goddess walking slowly to the Guild, carrying large sacks of money, tears dripping down her face as she shuddered her way there.
On the other hand, what Lord Hermes had to go through bordered on tragedy.
Members of Hermes Familia are involved in many different fields and had considerably more assets. The amount of money that they had to hand over to the Guild made our fine look like pocket change by comparison. The look on Lord Hermes’s pale face dryly laughing still hasn’t left my mind. All Miss Asfi did was sigh.
I try my best to smile back at the look of shock on Welf’s face after my story.
“…?”
We enjoyed our food after that while being completely surrounded by the loud voices of other customers.
Suddenly I notice that something about Lilly seems off. So I turn to her and ask:
“Lilly…are you feeling okay?”
Thinking back, she hasn’t been her usual self all night.
She’s listlessly looking at nowhere in particular…What is it? It’s like she’s desperate not to look at me. She’s here physically, but I think mentally she’s somewhere else.
“Sorry, Mr. Bell. Lilly spaced out.” She responds to the concern in my voice and flashes a smile in an attempt to reassure me that everything’s okay. “Mr. Bell’s reputation has improved considerably in the past few days. At the very least, the adventurers who witnessed the battle know Mr. Bell’s strength.”
“Th-that’s great…”
That was an obvious attempt to change the subject. I awkwardly nod back at her.
I look over at Welf out of the corner of my eye. He has noticed, too. He’s looking at Lilly over the top of his mug. He puts it back on the table and meets my gaze. Now’s not the time, he mouths at me with a shrug.
Lilly, in her werewolf-child form, swishes her tail back and forth, trying to look energetic. I’m pretty sure Welf’s right.
“—Get this, some ‘bunny’ just got famous overnight!”
A loud voice cuts through the din.
It came from an adventurer sitting at the table beside us.
The prum adventurer, speaking much louder than he needs to, is holding a glass in one hand and sitting at the table with five others.
“That rookie sure got some guts! Don’t care if he really is the record holder, it’s amazing that people swallow all of his lies! I couldn’t pull that act off in a million years!”
His voice has the timbre of a young boy and seems to fill the bar corner to corner. I can feel the eyes of other customers start to focus on us as the three of us glance at the table.
A golden bow and arrow in front of the burning orb…No, that’s the sun on their emblem.
All six of the adventurers, including the prum, have that symbol somewhere on their clothing. They’re all in the same Familia.
The prum leans back in his chair and takes another swig of ale. Our eyes meet and his lips curl upward. “Anyway, I’ve heard he’s extremely good at running away. That must be how he got the level-up—he ran away from that Minotaur until it collapsed from exhaustion. That’s a bunny for ya! Quite the talent!”
His tone…it’s really dry. Is that contempt?
Prums are known for their big eyes, and this one’s no exception. He keeps talking really loudly, almost like he wants me to hear him. The other adventurers at the table are doing nothing to stop him. In fact, they look thoroughly entertained.
Of course I don’t like what this guy’s doing…but I keep my mouth shut.
It’s better to avoid conflicts between Familias. My goddess told me as much the day I joined, and Eina drilled it into my head after that. I have every intention of following their advice.
On top of that, I don’t have the anger or the courage to say anything back or do anything about it. Pitiful, I know, but true.
I hear their taunting laughter but I do my best to ignore it and block it out.
The other customers in the bar must be expecting something. I can feel it in their gaze.
“Oh, you know what else? The bunny joined up with two random pieces of riffraff! A washed-up smith and some puny supporter. That party’s so unbalanced I’m surprised they can even stand!”
I turn my back to their table and look at Lilly and Welf. Keh-keh-keh. The men in their group laugh even harder along with the prum’s cackling snicker.
My shoulders twitch.
I can’t ignore those words. I can’t help but clench my fists upon hearing my friends insulted.
I spin around my chair to face them. Immediately, Welf and Lilly grab my arms.
“Cool it, don’t worry. Let ’em say whatever they want.”
“Mr. Bell, don’t listen to them.”
Welf has a cool enough head that he takes another drink from his mug. Lilly sounds like she’s scolding me.
It’s been a long time since I’ve felt a red surge of anger that strong. Thanks to Welf and Lilly, though, it’s ebbing away, and I manage to control myself.
We’re at a bar, and I’ve been drinking. I might be a little drunk. I tell myself as much over and over, take a few deep breaths, and try to relax.
Then, the prum clicks his tongue in our direction as if he�
�s disappointed that we’ve kept our tempers in check. His next words take on more of a violent tone.
“I also know that his Familia is led by some goddess not worthy of even the slightest shred of respect. You’d have to be pretty weak and stupid to join a disgraceful deity like that!!”
—In that moment, sparks burst in my field of vision.
I jump to my feet, my chair flying backward.
“Take that back!” I howl.
Forgetting myself, sound explodes from my mouth.
My ears vaguely pick up the sound of my chair crashing into the ground as I glare daggers at the prum man.
Lilly’s staring at me, lost for words. That’s how angry I am.
My goddess—the one person in my life whom I hold in higher regard than any other—has just been insulted. Nothing else in the world could infuriate me this much. She is my family, my goddess, and this bastard is looking down on her, talking about her like she’s trash.
Every person in the bar looks at me in silence. I don’t know if the little prum man has lost his nerve, looking at me as I tower over him. There is an unmistakable hint of fear in his eyes.
Somehow, he forces his lips into a sneer and says in a shaking voice:
“S-see? Bull’s-eye. Can’t bear the shame, eh?”
Whoosh! Blood rushes up into my head all at once.
Overpowered by this wave of emotion, my body moves on its own.
“Don’t do it, Mr. Bell!”
Lilly’s voice can’t stop me now. My hands are yearning for this bastard’s throat.
One heartbeat before I could grab hold—a sudden burst of air.
A leg comes flying into my line of sight—whok—and buries itself in the prum’s face.
“Bmmph?!” The prum lets out a muffled yelp of pain as he and his chair crash to the floor.