Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 11
Page 30
“Yes, and I was sure that everything of value would be gone when we came back…but we weren’t robbed after all,” Hestia replied from the sofa.
After delivering the last of the Xenos to Knossos, when all their work was truly done, they had returned home expecting to find the doors and windows destroyed—but that was not the case. Someone did seem to have broken in and searched the place, but there was no sign of rough behavior. Nor was any of their important property damaged or missing. It was as if some exceedingly strong familia had been keeping an eye on things.
“So now things are back to normal…”
“…except they aren’t.”
Mikoto finished Lilly’s sentence. Their eyes scanned the living room slowly for the shadow of the dragon girl. Even Lilly could not hide her longing for the girl who was missing from the warm family circle. After a moment, everyone in the living room looked at Haruhime.
“Are you okay, Haruhime?” Hestia asked.
“…Yes. We’ll meet again,” she answered with a bright smile. “We promised each other.”
Mikoto watched the renart girl hug her pinkie quietly to her chest. Everything was over and their worries were gone, but their hope remained.
A very modest sense of fulfillment descended on the little familia.
“But there’s still Bell to think about…”
Welf’s voice echoed across the living room, where the boy was nowhere to be found.
Haruhime and Mikoto looked at each other, and Lilly turned to Hestia.
“Lady Hestia. Is Mr. Bell…?”
“…Yes.”
Hestia looked away from Lilly and stared up at the ceiling, narrowing her pale-blue eyes.
“Today, too…” she muttered.
The wind was blowing.
A morning wind from the blue eastern sky.
Bell felt the cool breeze rush over him as he stood on the high city wall. He was looking out quietly on the center of the city and the huge limestone tower.
Eventually, the sunrise lit up the clear sky. It glinted off golden hair.
A girl had come to stand beside him.
“Miss Aiz…?”
“Yes…Good morning.”
“…Why are you here?”
“I’m not sure…I guess I thought if I came, I might find you.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes.”
“…”
“…”
“Miss Aiz.”
“?”
“Will you teach me how to fight again?”
“…Even after what happened?”
“Yes.”
“…”
“…”
“…You’re a sly one.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“…”
“…”
“…All right.”
“…Really?”
“Yes…You have the same eyes.”
“?”
“The ones I always see in the mirror.”
“…”
“Yes…but they’re different…They’re not strange like mine. They’re more beautiful.”
“…Ha-ha.”
“…Why are you laughing?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“…”
“…”
“I…have some things to take care of, so I’m not sure when I can do it.”
“That’s okay…Thank you.”
“Not at all.”
“…”
“…”
“Miss Aiz.”
“What?”
“I…want to become stronger.”
“…Really.”
“Yes.”
“I’m going now.”
“…See you.”
“Okay.”
His golden idol disappeared beyond the sunrise.
For once, he did not watch her back as she left.
Instead, he was looking far into the distance.
He was focused on the limestone tower that touched the heavens—and the underground maze sleeping below it.
At the Dungeon where his promises and his final battle waited.
“…”
He squeezed his throbbing pinkie and thought about the lingering pain of his wounds.
He repeated his vow to the sunrise, then turned his back on the appointed place.
And so the boy starts running once again.
Afterword
Andromeda did it in two nights.
A natural Miss Andronage.
Well, that’s to be expected of Andromeda.
I believe she worked harder than anyone else in this volume.
I used to do track-and-field. One day, my coach told a fellow teammate and me that we reminded him of Tom and Jerry. I think it was because we both ran long-distance events, and toward the end of the races we would break out from the pack and take turns chasing each other to the finish line (I was probably Tom).
I still remember those last one hundred meters at the homestretch—his arms swinging powerfully in front of me, his long strides, the soles of his feet kicking up to his thighs, the sight of his back moving out in front of me. I would struggle with all my might, but still, he would leave me behind. The sight was truly nightmarish. I still dream about it sometimes and wake up drenched in sweat. I believe my teammate was my rival.
The rest of the time we got along well and even ate together sometimes. But on the day of a race, I’d search the program for “Jerry’s” name, and as soon as I found an event we were both running, I would become acutely aware of a desire not to lose.
Rivals are probably a good thing.
Maybe the term “worthy opponents” is a little too cool for what they are, but thanks to their mere existence, new goals seem to spring up one after the next. It wouldn’t be quite accurate to say the minotaur—who is both a hero and a worthy opponent for Bell—was the only reason for the Xenos storyline that began in Volume 9…but I certainly wanted to create a rival for him. After I completed these three volumes, I made up my mind that there could be no other rival for my main character than the minotaur. I hope that he will agree to join Bell in this game of tag as the series proceeds.
And with that, I will move on to acknowledgments.
I would like to express my gratitude to my editor TK Otaki, to Editor in Chief TK Kitamura, who joined the manuscript team for this volume, and to Yasuda Suzuhito for drawing the beautiful illustrations. My deepest thanks, as well, to all the other people who helped produce this book. And to all the readers who have taken this book in their hands, thank you a thousand times over.
I am also deeply grateful to the staff and cast who produced the limited-edition dramatized audiobook CD that was released for Volume 11.
I had originally intended to continue the third section of the story even after the Xenos storyline ended, but after completing this volume, I decided that it would be best to make a clean break. And then there was the fact that the story of the Xenos took much longer to tell than I originally expected, continuing for three full volumes…
In any case, the next volume begins a new chapter, in which I plan to return once again to exploration of the Dungeon. I hope you’ll join me for that tale.
Thank you for reading this far. Farewell for now.
Fujino Omori
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