Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 6

by Fujino Omori

  “This guy’s movin’ better than the others!”

  Welf and Lilly fought back against a party of Level 1 and Level 2 adventurers. Welf quickly dispatched the weaker opponents as Lilly drew the only upper-class adventurer’s attention away from him with arrows from her bow gun.

  Welf spun like a top as he got into position and landed a blow that launched the upper-class adventurer straight into the wall behind them.

  “Mr. Welf! Out of the way!”

  “Huh?! You, you can’t be serious…!”

  Lilly withdrew a fist-size pouch from her backpack and threw it into the oncoming ranks of the next wave of hunters.

  She covered her nose with her sleeve even before the pouch reached its target—a morbul.

  Welf’s face went pale as he ran in the opposite direction. Poof! The pouch exploded on contact with the street surface, inundating the narrow back alley with a thick cloud of green powder.

  “GYYAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!” Tormented roars erupted only moments later.

  “If you’re gonna use that, tell me first!”

  “Lilly did! Mr. Welf didn’t clear a path, so she did!”

  Pinching their noses shut with one hand, the two argued as they raced to escape the expanding putrid cloud.

  Despite being safe in the knowledge that no enemies could overtake them from behind, they engaged one wave of hunters after another as they attempted to catch up with Bell and Hestia.

  “…There’s a ton of these guys!”

  Welf yelled out in frustration as yet another wave moved to attack him the moment he’d finished off a different foe.

  The young man took a look around—there were enemies coming from every angle. A whistle suddenly pierced the air. Had Bell and Hestia been found? However, these hunters didn’t react. Lilly took a quick look around.

  “Are they…listening to a different commander?”

  Upon closer inspection, she realized that their formation was much different and not as crisp. Their movements were not planned and had an air of desperation to them.

  Theirs was a net that relied solely on numbers. The two allies came to a stop as a wave of hunters moved to cut them off…Welf stared them down, tightening his grip on his sword. Lilly, however, froze in place.

  “Ehh? Wha…why are they—?”

  “Hey, what’s with you?!”

  Lilly’s arms hung limp as she stopped fighting and stared at the body of a human lying in the street. The emblem on his armor bore a crescent moon with a wineglass. She grabbed her left shoulder out of reflex.

  Nausea overtook her; sweat coated her body. She shook her head back and forth, mumbling, “That’s not possible, that’s not possible…”

  It was the emblem that stopped Lilly cold in her tracks—Soma Familia’s emblem.

  Her chestnut-colored eyes trembled with fear the moment the image of Divine Wine under crescent moon came into view.

  “?!”

  Coming back to herself, she scanned the surroundings. Welf was currently fending off a large animal person using his weapon as a shield; an Amazon was jeering at him from the rooftop next to a very sinister-looking dwarf with an arrow sticking out of his back. Lilly couldn’t help but feel that she had seen all of them during the time of her life that had become distant.

  Lilly came to the conclusion that the reason for the overwhelming numbers was that another Familia had joined forces with Apollo.

  That’s when she spotted the thin man wearing glasses who was barking orders to the other adventurers.

  “Li’l E?!”

  Ignoring Welf’s call, Lilly took off at a sprint. Deactivating her magic behind a pile of wooden boxes, she climbed them and stepped onto the roof.

  “Mr. Zanis?!”

  “…Ah, I thought you’d be here, Erde.”

  The leader of Soma Familia didn’t seem the least bit surprised when Lilly appeared before him, and he grinned at her.

  The human man and prum girl stood face-to-face on the flat rooftop of the house.

  “What…what do you think you’re doing?! Why are you helping Apollo Familia?!”

  “They asked for it. Even forked over a large sum of money in exchange for our promise to join their fight against Hestia Familia. Lord Soma gave his approval…Well, he left it up to me.”

  Without a doubt, out of all the groups in Orario, Soma Familia would be the easiest to bribe.

  Their god, Soma, was only interested in his hobby, and he cared nothing for power struggles and politics. His approval could be easily bought with money to fund his expensive pastime.

  Most likely, Apollo Familia had set up an arrangement with their new partner before they put the plan to capture Bell into action.

  “Is Mr. Zanis insane?! Doing this for money…Apollo Familia may be ready to accept the Guild’s penalty, but Soma Familia was already on thin ice! The Guild won’t let this go!!”

  Soma’s negligence concerning the well-being of his followers had been brought to the Guild’s attention, and fines had been levied against him. Even now, the Guild was keeping a close eye on his Familia. Once the fact that they willingly joined the battle that was turning Orario into a war zone came to light, it wouldn’t be surprising if the entire Familia was exiled from the city. It was as if Zanis had pointed the Guild’s wrath right at himself.

  Lilly yelled over and over that they had no reason to attack Hestia Familia, that their actions didn’t make any sense.

  “No, we have our justification.”

  Zanis laughed off Lilly’s accusations as he stood with his hands behind his back.

  “Justifi…cation?”

  “That’s right. Soma Familia has a reason to fight Hestia Familia even without the request from Apollo.”

  Zanis calmly stared down at the girl. Lilly frowned back at him. The man narrowed his eyes, a thin smile on his lips as he raised his chin without breaking eye contact. “Do you not know?” he asked with a sneer.

  “No idea at all?” he asked again.

  “—It can’t…be.”

  The color drained from her face as one possibility came to mind.

  Then, Zanis confirmed her worst fears.

  “That’s right. It’s you, Erde.”

  The man leaned closer to her as he lowered his chin.

  “Our irreplaceable friend and comrade was stolen from us by swindlers. The time had come for us to exact revenge with justice on our side.”

  Lilly’s knees went weak.

  They were using the fact that Lilly was still technically a member of Soma Familia as an excuse to join the assault on Hestia Familia. This fact protected them from the Guild as well as gave them an escape route to avoid any penalties.

  That was the true power of a contract with the Familia. If they were able to prove that one of their members was still bound to their god but working for the benefit of another, it would be next to impossible to punish their actions. No matter how much Lilly would try to explain the circumstances, the voice of the Familia would win out.

  Lilly was another reason that Bell and Hestia were in danger.

  “I, too, believed you to be dead until very recently…That is, until I happened to hear the story of one man at a bar.”

  “A-and that is…?”

  “Just the exploits of the Little Rookie on the eighteenth floor, and the little prum supporter who tagged along with him.”

  Lilly cursed her own carelessness.

  She always used her magic, Cinder Ella, to take the form of a werewolf child while on the surface. However, she deactivated the magic while in the Dungeon to preserve her mental strength. Now, because of the events on the eighteenth floor, the group of adventurers there that day not only knew her true appearance, but also that she was in a party with Bell. What’s more, that information was spreading.

  Zanis must have acquired this information before receiving the offer from Apollo Familia. Once money was offered, he seized his opportunity.

  “Do not fret, Erde. I will assure Lord Soma of yo
ur innocence in this matter. Hestia Familia is completely in the wrong.”

  She’d warned them. Lilly had warned Hestia and Bell that Soma Familia would one day seek revenge. That day had arrived.

  The flames had reached them…That was how Lilly felt. She’d made a horrible mistake. Her past was a wildfire just waiting to ignite. What’s more, she’d fanned the flames to the point of a raging inferno.

  This was all her fault.

  “The evil ones who tricked you, used you, and profited off you shall receive a fitting punishment. Apollo Familia will crush them into oblivion.”

  Lilly felt dizzy, the rooftops spinning around her. Her whole world was crashing down around her.

  She was a plague, infecting everything and everyone she cared about. Her body trembled as memories of the nice old couple and their flower shop flashed before her eyes. Soma Familia had destroyed it, and she was the only reason they had ever found that flower shop at all. A storm of grief and guilt raged inside her tiny heart, threatening to work its way up her throat and into a scream of self-loathing.

  She opened her eyes and looked out over the battlefield.

  Nahza had been chased from her perch on top of the bell tower, Takemikazuchi Familia was pinned down on all sides a few blocks away, and Welf continued to trade blows with the hunters just below her. All of them were in danger right now because of Soma Familia.

  She had been foolish.

  Lilly should have never strayed anywhere near Bell and the others.

  —It was absurd to believe that her plague would never reach them, that their warmth and generosity wouldn’t be destroyed by the flames that followed her.

  Eyes glistening with tears, Lilly’s neck gave out and her head slammed into her chest.

  “Please…”

  “What?”

  “Please leave Mr. Bell and his friends alone…”

  Lilly pleaded with Zanis in a weak, trembling voice.

  She raised her face to look at him. There was no life in her eyes.

  “Lilly will return to Lord Soma. So please, stop this…Please leave them alone.”

  It was simple math.

  If Soma Familia was using Lilly as a justification to participate in this fight, then all she had to do was take herself out of it. If surrendering to Zanis would reduce the amount of hunters pursuing Bell, it was more than worth it.

  Members of Soma Familia were completely under the spell of the Divine Wine, soma. Its appeal had attracted hundreds of adventurers into her Familia’s ranks. But if they weren’t there, if she could find a way to convince them to leave, then Bell and the others might have a chance.

  She knew it was highly unlikely he’d accept her offer, but she had to try.

  Zanis stared at her for a moment, enjoying the look of desperation on her face, until finally pompously nodding back.

  “Why not?”

  Lilly was shocked at his sudden approval, and also a little suspicious.

  Zanis pressed his glasses up against his face.

  “Actually, the situation is getting quite dangerous. Apollo Familia already paid a decent sum of money upfront, so now might be a good time to call it quits.”

  The corners of his lips arched upward as he continued.

  “But most importantly, I need you.”

  Lilly’s eyes shot open. This new information caught her off guard.

  Maybe she wasn’t just an excuse to get money; maybe there was some truth in Zanis’s claim.

  What could she, a useless weakling who’d brought about the destruction of everything she cares about, be needed for? As long as Zanis kept his promise, she had no choice but to follow his orders.

  “Stand beside me. I will give the signal to retreat as soon as you do.”

  Zanis reached inside his jacket and withdrew a small flare gun. Lilly did not respond, silently doing what she was told.

  The man smiled with satisfaction, raised the flare gun to the sky, and pulled the trigger. A ball of sparkling light instantly shot high into the air.

  Many of the adventurers in the seventh block of Orario stopped fighting the moment they saw the arc of light. Just as Zanis had promised, the members of Soma Familia started to withdraw.

  “Hey! Li’l E!”

  With roughly half of his assailants leaving the area, Welf finally had enough time to call out to his ally from the street below.

  Lilly took a step toward the edge of the roof and looked down at him with listless eyes.

  “Come, Erde.”

  “Yes…”

  Lilly nodded as she turned around at the sound of Zanis’s command.

  Welf looked up at the two in disbelief. The man turned on his heel as Lilly said her final good-bye.

  “Lilly’s returning to Soma Familia…She won’t cause any more trouble. Please tell Mr. Bell.”

  “The hell are you saying?! I can’t look Bell in the eye and say that! Get back here!”

  “Lilly’s sorry…Farewell.”

  She gave one last bow before following Zanis.

  The prum girl disappeared from Welf’s line of view.

  “What the hell does she think she’s doing…?!”

  He tried to pursue them, but unfortunately he met up with a group of Apollo Familia hunters and was forced back into combat.

  “Dammit!” he screamed at the clouds. There was no choice but to give up the chase.

  Bell and Hestia had lost count of how many hits their bodies had absorbed. The tally had just increased by yet another.

  With all the hunters’ arrows, the spells of magic users, and upper-class adventurers wielding every weapon imaginable, neither of them had time to catch their breath. For some reason, their pursuers had been yelling at one another for a while now—Apollo Familia was starting to get desperate and had ramped up their assault.

  The two fugitives had made it back to their old neighborhood. It was oddly still, all residents having already evacuated. Once again the sounds of war distended on this normally peaceful block.

  “…Firebolt!”

  Bell released his Magic into a worn-down stone building that had been empty for years.

  The flaming lightning bolts ignited the debris inside the building, creating yet another explosion of smoke. Bell used it as cover to escape the eyes of his pursuers and took off in a completely different direction.

  “Ha-haa…!”

  “…Bell, this way!”

  Hestia grabbed the boy’s hand and guided him off the main road as Bell fought back pain just to inhale.

  She found a drainage canal that ran beneath the street level. Leaving the backstreet, they found the closest stairwell and raced down to the water level. It wasn’t long until they reached the city sewer’s entrance.

  “Are you okay, Bell?”

  “I’m so sorry, Goddess…”

  Bell leaned against the wall before sliding all the way down to the ground and offered Hestia an apology. Hestia shook her head before looking around to find their escape routes. They were beneath what could have been a very large bridge, open on both ends with water flowing behind them. She guessed that the water must be running deeper into the city. The street-level landscape was visible at the other end.

  Although they couldn’t see them, they could hear the yells and hurried footsteps of their pursuers coming from just outside. Praying with all their might that they remain hidden, the two talked in hushed voices.

  “Can you still move?”

  “…I’m fine. I can.”

  Bell used the last of the potions he’d received from Lilly in order to recover from at least some of the damage he had taken. Hestia watched his staggered breathing with remorseful eyes. Without warning, a booming voice erupted from the other side of the wall.

  “Are you listening? Bell Cranell!”

  Hyacinthus’s voice.

  Hestia sat shoulder to shoulder with Bell. The boy clenched his eyes shut.

  “Wherever you hide, wherever you run, we will find you! This game of hide-
and-seek is meaningless!”

  The man’s proclamation filled the air around them. Hyacinthus must’ve been standing in a high place, because the echoes reverberated in every direction.

  “On land or in the Dungeon, it doesn’t matter! Your days of peace are at an end!”

  Bell gulped as he understood what the man’s words meant.

  Even if by some miracle they escaped the hunters’ net and made it to the Guild, Apollo would pursue him for the rest of his life. They would attack him on sight in the city, in the Dungeon, or wherever else he tried to go.

  The boy was feeling the full power of an influential Familia dedicated to accomplishing a goal.

  Just as Hyacinthus said, the chase would not end until there was a clear resolution. He would never be able to live a normal life.

  “…”

  Hestia sat silently next to him. Bell was in shock from the realization.

  The goddess’s eyes narrowed, her mind made up.

  “—Bell, please listen.”

  Hestia moved in front of him, crouching above the boy’s outstretched legs and looking him in the eyes.

  The ruby-red spheres looking up at her, she let it all come out.

  “Since Apollo is serious about this, there is no future for us here. We have two options: fight a battle we can’t possibly win—or run away from Orario.”

  “…!”

  Hestia ignored the look of shock on the boy’s face and continued. She knew the boy comprehended their situation.

  “I’m willing to go anywhere as long as you’re with me. It doesn’t matter if we’re being chased all the time. I’ll run alongside you until they give up.”

  Hestia’s resolve was unyielding.

  She would miss the friends she had and the peaceful days she’d spent living in the city. But as long as Bell was with her, she didn’t care where they lived. That was clear as day.

  Leave Orario with the goddess and live somewhere far away…?

  Hestia held her hand to her chest, trying to steady her beating heart as she waited on the edge of her seat for Bell’s response.

  In truth, running away might be the only real option for Bell and Hestia.

  It was the same for the other Familias that came out on the losing end of these battles…Just like Hermes had told him about Zeus, leaving Orario was the only way.