Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 9

by Fujino Omori

  At the same time, the lizardman was taken aback by the boy’s incredible speed.

  Rubellite eyes met reptilian pupils.

  The faintest of grins appeared on Bell’s lips, and the lizardman bared its fangs in what resembled a ferocious smile.

  ““—OOOOAAAAHHHHH!!””

  Bell and the lizardman roared at the top of their lungs as they crossed blades again in a flurry of strikes.

  “Li’l E—do it!”

  —Elsewhere, Welf stood as the last line of defense holding back the advancing horde.

  He yelled over his shoulder, using the flat part of his blade as a shield against the onslaught.

  “But—”

  “JUST DO IT!!”

  The formoire laid into his makeshift defense with a metallic club. Knowing that the next block might be his last, Welf wasn’t about to let Lilly object. The prum was hesitant, glancing to the other side only to see Mikoto fighting for her life against several monsters at once.

  Tightening her grip on the glistening dagger-shaped magic sword, Lilly bit her lip before finally hardening her resolve.

  “FIRING!!”

  With that, she swung the red dagger with all her might.

  A river of flames surged from the Crozzo Magic Sword in a straight line.

  Welf and Mikoto noticed a sudden wave of red light in their periphery and immediately dropped to the ground. Using their incredibly quick reflexes, the monsters jumped out of the fire’s path at the last moment. The beasts shrank away as a corner of the room erupted into a ball of flames.

  “AHHHH!!”

  “RUOOO!!”

  Bell’s battle with the lizardman continued unabated, the two going blow for blow as flames danced in the background.

  Their profiles were cast in a soft orange light as longsword and knife collided. The scimitar streaked through the air, only to be intercepted by a crimson blade. Then as a violet slash arced forward, the longsword halted its advance.

  The monster had displayed a powerful fighting style that included fierce kicks and an approach to swordsmanship that made good use of its combat instincts, all backed by sharp, unyielding counterattacks.

  Bell’s body became a blur, and the lizardman’s blades sliced through empty air. Sparks erupted from the armor that stopped the boy’s attack. The monster knocked him backward, but not before a line of scarlet scales was ripped from its body in a spray of dark-red blood.

  Then…

  “SHAA!”

  “WHA—?!”

  Their stalemate was broken.

  Bell was trapped between the scimitar and the longsword. Caught in simultaneous attacks on the left and right, he blocked both weapons with his knives. In that moment, something flew in from an impossible angle and nailed him in the stomach.

  —A tail!!

  The third strike came from an appendage as thick as a log.

  The completely unforeseen attack from a creature that shouldn’t be very experienced fighting adventurers sent Bell reeling.

  It was the perfect final blow. Striking from an angle that the boy never thought to defend, the lizardman’s tail knocked Bell off his feet. Now was the monster’s chance to finish him off, and it used the opportunity to drive its clawed foot into Bell’s chest in a powerful kick.

  The boy hurtled backward through the air.

  “GAH!”

  “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

  The lizardman declared victory with a roar as Bell’s body bounced deeper into the room like a river rushing through broken levees.

  He lost his grip on the Hestia Knife and Ushiwakamaru-Nishiki, and the weapons flew from his hands.

  The lizardman warrior wasted no time in turning around, shifting focus to its original prey. Its bloodshot eyes landed on the vouivre girl surrounded by adventurers, and it charged.

  “!!”

  Wiene reflexively cringed in fright at the pounding footfalls and savage roar.

  Cutting straight across the scorched battlefield, the lizardman raised its longsword high overhead.

  The monster’s long shadow fell over the girl unable to stand when…

  “No!!”

  “!”

  Haruhime jumped in front of her, arms open wide as Lilly embraced Wiene, placing her own body in front like a shield.

  Two more shadows jumped into the fray as the strike hurtled toward its target.

  “Oh no you don’t!!”

  “I won’t let you!!”

  A terribly battered Welf and Mikoto brought their greatsword and katana crashing into the longsword.

  Two blades came together in time to catch the longsword. Their weapons audibly groaned as the two adventurers fought the incredible power and weight—and then it stopped.

  The longsword came to a halt a tiny distance from Haruhime, who was positioned directly in front of Wiene.

  Rattle rattle rattle! The lizardman tried to force its weapon forward, its orpiment-colored reptilian eyes wide with shock at the strength of the humans holding it back.

  “”

  Just then…ring, ring.

  The lizardman’s ears picked up a chime.

  Shifting its gaze to the source of the sound, it saw an adventurer bounding toward it like a blood-splattered rabbit. And then a punch of bright white light.

  A five-second charge.

  Bell’s eyes flashed as he unleashed every bit of anger with his entire body.

  “​H​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​!​!”

  Impact.

  “GOHOO!”

  The glowing fist collided with the lizardman’s cheekbone.

  Several broken scarlet scales soared through the air. Now it was the lizardman’s turn to be sent flying.

  The blades fell from its grasp and loudly tumbled across the floor.

  It worked…!

  Bell had used his Skill, Argonaut, while moving at high speed.

  Seeing Wiene in danger had provided him with an extra spark of emotion and determination. Up until now, he’d been able to charge Argonaut only with his feet firmly planted on the ground. The situation had forced him to do a Concurrent Charge.

  The lizardman bounced off the ground and hurtled through the air into a pitch-black stalagmite a good distance away, finally coming to a stop.

  The other monsters had fallen back, forgetting to even bellow after seeing the magic sword’s destructive potential. Silence hung in the air.

  At the same time, Bell paid no attention to his numerous injuries and stood with his back to Wiene, ready to face the next challenger.

  “GEH—”

  Clawed fingertips digging into the floor, the lizardman pulled itself up using the stalagmite for support.

  Still seated on the ground, the monster made a noise in its throat—when it suddenly lifted its head and cried out toward the ceiling:

  “GUH-GYA-GYA-GYA-GYA-GYA-GYA!!”

  Bell, Wiene, and the rest of the party watched in disbelief.

  The murderous aura and rage that had been washing over them just moments ago were gone. It was almost comical to see a lizardman holding its gut and cackling like this.

  Scanning the room again, the party realized that the other monsters’ threatening glares had disappeared as well.

  “GYA-GYA-GYA-GYA-GYA—!”

  Slowly but surely, the cackling cries began to change.

  “—HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!”

  They started to sound much more like a person’s laughter.

  “Eh…?”

  “Wha…?”

  Haruhime’s and Lilly’s astonishment at the sound was plain on their faces. Welf, Mikoto, and Bell were just as dumbfounded.

  Unable to comprehend what they were seeing, there was nothing to do but stand and stare.

  Realization started to set in. Each member of the party glanced at Wiene before returning their gaze to the lizardman.

  “That’s new! Ne
ver met adventurers like these before!!”

  Never in the familia’s wildest dreams had any of them expected a lizardman to start speaking, let alone with this level of fluency.

  The monster happily slapped its knees a few times before climbing to its feet.

  “Adventurers willing to sacrifice themselves to save a monster! Haaah! Don’t know what this feeling is, but I like it!”

  “—Didn’t I tell you, Lido? These ones are different.”

  Flap! A new set of wings took flight.

  A single golden feather fluttered to the ground from overhead. One of the winged monsters—a siren—glided down.

  “I know that voice…”

  “There’s no way…”

  Bell and Welf flinched as soon as they heard the new voice’s unusual inflection. The golden-winged siren landed with a smile on its face.

  “So we meet again.”

  One look at the monster’s sky-blue eyes was all Bell and Welf needed to be certain.

  It was the strange robed person—no, monster—they had encountered on the nineteenth floor.

  Seeing her face for the first time, they were shocked at just how warm and friendly she seemed. Neither Bell nor Welf could string words together to respond.

  Just like Wiene’s, her beauty was breathtaking. Her long, dull golden hair was light blue at the tips. Not unlike the half-human/half-bird harpy’s, both of her elongated forearms formed beautiful golden wings. Similarly colored feathers covered most of her lower body, the exception being the birdlike talons on her feet.

  As she wore a battle cloth that Amazons would have approved of over her pronounced bust, her un-feathered stomach was completely exposed.

  The siren standing in front of them was a far cry from the ferocious beasts they had heard of that froze adventurers in their tracks with earsplitting screams.

  “Yeah, it’s just as you said, Rei! These guys are different!”

  The lizardman addressed the golden-feathered siren, Rei, as it giddily approached the group, its thick tail swaying back and forth.

  The two monsters walked right up to Bell as the other party members watched in various states of shock. Lilly was perfectly still, slack-jawed. Mikoto was confused beyond words, and Haruhime tried to figure out what to do.

  “Sorry about that. You were too fast for me to hold back.”

  “Umm…huh? I…um……”

  It took Bell several moments to understand that the lizardman was talking about the battle that had just ended.

  And for good reason. The monster that nearly killed him moments ago was suddenly more interested in having a conversation than cutting him to shreds.

  “First off, let me apologize. We’ve been testing you from the start.”

  “Test…ing…?”

  “Yeah. We had to know if adventurers had truly taken in one of our comrades or not. Would they abandon her at the first sign of danger? Use her as a decoy to make their escape…?”

  Those words surprised not only Bell but the entire party. Wiene was no different.

  “We’ll explain the details later, but…I’m sorry for scaring you like that and inflicting so much pain.”

  “……!”

  “Thank you for protecting our comrade all this time.”

  The lizardman no longer felt like an enemy. In fact, it apparently had never intended to kill them in the first place.

  Its lowered reptilian head and sincere voice all but confirmed it.

  Next, the lizardman shifted its gaze to Wiene and opened its mouth to speak. However, the startled girl dashed for the safety of Haruhime’s shadow.

  The lizardman chuckled to itself, not reproaching her in the slightest. Giving up on the endeavor for now, it turned back to Bell.

  Urhh…

  Bell was in serious agony, with open cuts all over his body and a throbbing pain in his chest where the creature’s foot had connected that showed no signs of dulling. But the ache couldn’t be farther from his mind.

  Sharp claws and fangs; skin covered in scales. These were not familiar traits for a person. And yet the lizardman was interacting with Bell, a human, without making him fear for his life as any other monster would.

  A lizard warrior equipped with adventurers’ gear.

  A talking monster.

  The same as Wiene.

  “I’m Lido; as you can see, I’m a lizardman. Nice to meet you, Bell Cranell.”

  “H-h-how do you know my…?”

  “Ahh, I heard it from Fels.”

  —Well, they were the same to a point. Wiene had a mostly humanoid form, making her appearance easier to accept.

  That was the main difference between the lizardman looking down at him from just above eye level and the vouivre girl. He bore a perfect resemblance to others of his species. If a wolf walked up to a lamb and tried to start a conversation, the peaceful grazer would probably have the same reaction.

  Bell’s mind was moving too fast to pay any attention to the word that sounded like a name. On the verge of passing out, he managed to come back into the moment.

  “Hey, mind if I call you ‘Bellucchi’?” Lido asked.

  “Uh, um, sure…G-go ahead.”

  The lizardman narrowed its reptilian eyes, focused on Bell.

  Smiling…perhaps? It wasn’t the hungry stare that hunters wore in front of their prey.

  Many thoughts ran through Bell’s mind as he looked into the lizard’s squinting eyes, but it was difficult to make sense of any of them.

  “Bellucchi.”

  “Y-yes?”

  “Let’s shake hands.”

  Huh?

  Bell came back into the moment as its right hand appeared in front of him.

  It was covered in red scales and protected by a metallic glove, its fingers ending in sharp claws.

  Pupils shrinking to nothing but red dots, Bell stared at the hand hovering in front of him.

  He knew what following through on the gesture would mean, and it made him feel faint.

  “M-Master Bell…” “Sir Bell…” “Bell…” “Mr. Bell!”

  His allies couldn’t bear the tension and called out to him, but they didn’t move from where they stood.

  Haruhime was pale as a ghost, Mikoto dizzy and on the verge of becoming physically ill, Welf unable to hide his anxiety, and Lilly struggling with her growing alarm.

  All of them knew that what they were seeing defied logic. They called out to their leader, voices like hands desperately reaching out to stop a fall.

  “……”

  Sweat poured from Bell’s skin. It wouldn’t stop flowing.

  A handshake. A sign of friendship. A bridge between man and monster. Unprecedented. “Unknown.”

  Bell couldn’t help but feel that he was making a mistake somehow. It seemed like the instinct to refuse that right hand and turn away was overwhelmingly correct. His completely nonfunctioning mind thought so.

  He wanted nothing more than to run away from a decision that would turn all common sense on its head.

  However, the lizardman was patient.

  He waited for Bell to either make a move or reject the offer.

  He was afraid.

  Bell was terrified.

  Of those fangs, those claws, all those scales. Of the reptilian gaze, of the creature’s terrifying visage.

  Every fiber of his being wanted to put as much space as possible between himself and the lizardman looking down at him.

  Logic screamed in his ears that it would be easier to listen to reason and flee.

  But.

  Bell glanced over his shoulder.

  “Ah…eh, uh……”

  He saw the vouivre girl’s bewildered eyes.

  He thought back to when they first met, remembering how he felt during that fateful encounter.

  “…”

  Finally…

  Bell smiled.

  A bit clumsily.

  —If this is a mistake, I’d rather make it for the right reason.

&nbs
p; “A-hem.” He cleared his throat.

  And worked up his courage.

  “………P-pleased to meet you.”

  Bell stiffly stretched his lips and took hold of the extended hand.

  Haruhime and Mikoto watched with bated breath. Welf flashed a grin and let his shoulders relax. Lilly looked up at the ceiling and let out a long sigh.

  Bell shook hands with a monster.

  “—Pleasure’s all mine!”

  The lizardman—no, Lido—bared more of his fangs in a broad grin and gave Bell’s hand a firm shake.

  One heartbeat later—“WOOOOOOO!!”

  The adventurers nearly leaped out of their skins as a burst of sound roared through the room.

  The monsters that had been just as anxiously watching Lido and Bell as the adventurers—they were celebrating.

  The red-cap goblin applauded. Harpies on the ground skipped excitedly. The formoire pumped its fists into the air, albeit slowly. al-miraj hopped around in circles. The cheers continued.

  Friendship between man and monster—this day would go down in history, and all were elated to be a part of it.

  “Hey, over there, hit the lights!”

  Lido’s booming voice cut through the celebration to issue orders.

  Hellhounds and other agile monsters brought the magic-stone lamps out from hiding places in the rock landscape and flipped them on using claws or fangs.

  “Monsters…using magic-stone lamps…”

  Mikoto was dumbfounded at the sight of monsters operating the man-made devices.

  Harpies had already taken to the air and started pulling back pieces of thick cloth to reveal the quartz crystals hidden underneath.

  Every detail of the limestone cavern-like room came to light in a matter of moments.

  “—A g-green dragon?!”

  “One of those was in here the whole time…?”

  Far away from the entrance where the party stood, a dragon more than ten meders long lay at the base of a quartz pillar. Its body covered in scars, the wizened beast observed the adventurers with quiet eyes that seemed to contain the wisdom of countless years. Lilly and Welf recoiled at the presence that had been watching them from the shadows.

  “Please, let me greet the surface dwellers!” “Uuuu…” “Me too!”

  Some who could speak, others who could not, as well as those who had difficulty with pronouncing words—every sort of monster gathered in front of Bell.

  “I have heard stories about you. It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Signor Bell.”