Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 7

by Fujino Omori

  Haruhime’s soul was going to be sealed within the Killing Stone—and split into thousands of pieces.

  Mikoto lost her sense of calm. Her friend was about to be as good as dead.

  How could this be allowed to happen? What was Ishtar trying to do, start a war? What would happen to Haruhime?

  A firestorm of new questions engulfed her mind.

  At the same time, her body took on a life of its own, and Mikoto left the archive with little more than a swish of black fabric.

  “Sir Bell…Lady Haruhime!”

  Creak, creak. I push against a light stone panel. It opens upward, letting orange light into the tunnel.

  I don’t know how long we spent in there, but I can’t express how good it feels to have a breath of fresh air after emerging from that underground maze.

  “Finally…”

  That word falls off my tongue as I step out into the light. The sky has taken on the reddish hue of early evening. I turn around and take Haruhime’s hand, lifting her outside.

  A hint of surprise flickers across her face before she thanks me and flashes another small grin.

  “It’s already this late…”

  The stone panel blends in perfectly with the street’s pavement. It’s rather impressive, actually. I take another deep breath and look up at the sky above the Pleasure Quarter. Each building stands in stark contrast with the sunlight, pillars of shadow reaching up to the sky. It’s been quite a day. First it was Dungeon crawling, then getting attacked, getting captured, getting rescued…No wonder I lost track of time.

  I take another look around and see that this white backstreet is lined with run-down and abandoned brothels. I doubt there’s anyone inside any of these buildings. Haruhime was right—no one will know we’re back here.

  “Thank you so much, Miss Haruhime. Rescuing me, guiding me out here…”

  She turns her head to face me. Once again she looks like a painting, the only splash of color in front of a backdrop of buildings in disrepair. Then she smiles.

  “I have done only as I desired. Please do not concern yourself. More importantly, please leave this place with haste.”

  “But…”

  “You have my word, Master Cranell, I will make sure Miss Mikoto escapes with her life.”

  Mikoto? Oh, I guess she thinks I’m hesitating because I’m worried about her.

  I am, of course, but…there’s something else that’s bothering me.

  The way Haruhime has been keeping a strong front; it just doesn’t add up.

  And then there’s her choice of words when we were underground.

  It feels like there’s something lurking in a thick, mysterious fog, something dangerous. But I just can’t put my finger on it.

  “Miss Haruhime, are you really sure? If you go back, you’ll…”

  So much is on my mind that I have to fight to string words together. It sounds like an excuse, but I’m afraid for her. Haruhime’s gone against the will of her own familia to protect Mikoto and me. I can’t just leave her.

  “…Master Cranell. Take a look at this.”

  I stay planted on the spot as she gestures to the black collar around her thin neck.

  “This is a magic item that tracks my location…I am constantly connected to an invisible chain.”

  “Huh…?”

  “Lady Ishtar and the Berbera are constantly informed of my whereabouts. Should I take one step out of the Pleasure Quarter, it will emit a loud ring and burn my skin while restraining my movements. Pursuers will catch up with me in very little time.”

  My jaw drops.

  Then she explains that any attempt to destroy it would cause the alarm to sound. All the while, she runs her fingertips down its shiny black surface.

  “Should the alarm trigger, Berbera will descend on this place.

  “So please hurry,” she pleads again. “This is as far as I can go.”

  She smiles weakly and falls silent.

  “No, it shouldn’t be like this…”

  This isn’t right.

  I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.

  Why would Ishtar Familia go to such extreme measures to keep a low-level noncombatant in line?

  Why would a magic item be necessary to restrain her?

  The only answer I can think of is that Haruhime has some important role to play for the familia.

  In that case, were we naive to think we could free her with a redemption…? I can practically hear the wheels turning in my head.

  That’s when the images start flashing.

  Haruhime calling herself a soiled prostitute, while talking with distant eyes about glorious old days.

  Sitting in the back of little more than a prison cell, watching the outside world with envy through a barred window.

  A distant smile, as if she’d given up.

  Maybe her status as a prostitute isn’t the cause of her pain?

  I can’t help but feel I’m missing something very important. I’m not going anywhere until I figure this out.

  “…Master Cranell, please run.”

  She takes a step closer to me, her voice more urgent than before. When suddenly—

  “Sir Bell!”

  A new voice echoes from above.

  “Miss Mikoto?”

  I turn around and catch a glimpse of her jumping out of one of the shadows. In the blink of an eye she lands in front of me with a soft thud.

  Oh yeah, she has that Skill. She must’ve found a way to escape the palace on her own and followed me out here. Her black ponytail rides the breeze behind her as she stands and turns to stare at us. Haruhime looks just as surprised as I am.

  Both of us are thrown off for a moment by her strange clothes, but it doesn’t take Haruhime long to realize that her childhood friend has found her once again.

  “Miss Mikoto…”

  “Lady Haruhime, I have a question to ask.”

  “…What is it?”

  Mikoto cuts short the joy of their reunion.

  There’s a hint of desperation in her face. She pauses for a moment to gather her thoughts before whispering two words.

  “…Killing Stone.”

  “!!”

  Haruhime’s act of strength crumbles in front of me.

  Shoulders start shaking, eyes grow wide, head droops low.

  Mikoto watches the transformation, looking like she could cry at any moment.

  What is going on? Before I have a chance to ask, Mikoto’s next words make my blood run cold.

  “Tell me it’s all a lie! That tonight…you are not becoming a sacrifice!”

  Sacri—fice…?

  Doing my best to get over the shock, I look at Haruhime. She’s still staring at her feet, making no attempt to deny anything.

  “Lady Haruhime!” yells Mikoto as she rushes to her side.

  “—So that’s how it is.”

  But another voice stops her in her tracks.

  “?!”

  A shadow streaks toward Haruhime and Mikoto like an arrow, black hair trailing in its wake.

  It wraps itself around Haruhime, leaving Mikoto in stunned silence.

  “Sheesh, how long you known each other?”

  It’s Aisha. She’s holding an immense wooden blade in her left hand.

  Using her right hand, Aisha presses Haruhime’s face to her chest, holding her close while grumbling.

  “Aisha?!”

  She stands at least a full head taller than the renart and has completely sealed her movement.

  At least it seems like Aisha could be preventing Haruhime’s escape or is shielding her from us; I’m not sure which.

  “So it seems like you’ve figured it all out. Our plan, that is.”

  “…Well, then?”

  There are about ten steps between us. Four figures in the backstreet, Mikoto and I square off against Aisha and Haruhime.

  Mikoto takes an aggressive stance, readying her body, while Aisha turns her gaze this way. I can’t help but scream at
the top of my lungs.

  “What is the meaning of this?! Sacrificing Miss Haruhime…Why?!”

  “…Everything is being done according to Lady Ishtar’s wishes. We’ll be using this Haruhime over here to wipe out Freya Familia.”

  There were so many things I wanted to say, and that was the best I could do. Aisha smirks at me and starts telling me their grand scheme.

  “Miss Aisha, stop!” squeals Haruhime from between Aisha’s breasts and struggles with all her might. However, the Amazon just tightens her grip until Haruhime stops struggling and continues.

  —First, they seal Haruhime’s soul into a magic item called a Killing Stone.

  —Then they break the stone into pieces large enough for the carrier to use renart magic, called sorcery.

  —Lastly, they use that power to take down their goddess’s rival and sworn enemy, Freya Familia.

  This is too much to take in at once. The scale is just too great.

  Topple Freya Familia? The most powerful familia in Orario? With Haruhime’s “power”?

  My confusion clears as she explains the Killing Stone’s purpose, as well as the fate of the sacrifice. I’d been so desperate to understand, panicking from lack of information, that when I finally understand, it hits me like a stone wall.

  Part of me is still wondering if some outlandish magic item would really make their plan possible.

  But the other part of me is reliving the night I spent with Haruhime, talking about one particular story.

  It was about the genie trapped in a lamp. It was the same as her power, trapped until her master’s wishes come true.

  History repeats itself, there’s always a connection to the past—I come to a rather cold conclusion.

  “B-but Haruhime’s power? She’s just…?”

  “Some low-ranking prostitute, is what you’re gonna say? Hah! Have you already forgotten the whipping you took in the Dungeon? That was her ‘power’ that wiped the floor with you. That’s sorcery.”

  There’s nothing I can say back. I clear my throat as the memories of that battle come flooding back to me. Mikoto, too, by the sound of it. A tear runs down Haruhime’s cheek, her expression somewhere between remorse and torment.

  How could I forget those countless little sparkles surrounding Aisha as she landed blow after blow during that fight?

  Her power was overwhelming. She made quick work of Mikoto and me with strength and speed equivalent to someone in the upper ranks of Level 4.

  That enchantment-like light came from Haruhime’s ability, the reason she would be sacrificed for the benefit of Ishtar Familia to become the power that ends Freya Familia. Everything falls into place.

  She has the ability to increase the power of those around her. Combine that with a top-class adventurer like Phryne and every other combatant—

  They just might succeed.

  Dethroning Freya Familia—knocking them off the top.

  “Lady Aisha, I implore you! Let Master Cranell and Miss Mikoto go free!”

  Haruhime’s scream brings me out of my train of thought.

  Aisha doesn’t even look down at the girl pleading with all her might.

  “Can’t do it. I can’t allow someone who knows this much to walk away…Lady Ishtar wouldn’t let them live.”

  Aisha makes her declaration while pointing her wooden blade in our direction.

  Her eyes are cold as ice, piercing right through me. That’s when my anger explodes.

  “How can you stand by and watch this happen to someone in your own familia—YOUR OWN FAMILY?!”

  “…”

  “What is she, some kind of tool you throw away when you’re done?”

  My outburst has no effect on her. Aisha’s face is solid as a mask.

  “Lady Ishtar has promised to return the contents of the Killing Stone to Haruhime once the score has been settled with Freya Familia.”

  “You know she can’t keep an empty promise like that!”

  Mikoto roars at Aisha’s words.

  They’re planning an all-out war against Freya Familia. There’s no way to guarantee that every last shard of that stone will survive it, let alone be returned. Haruhime would never be normal again.

  Our eyes burning with fury, the two of us refute Aisha’s claims.

  “What about you? Are you okay with this?”

  My voice shakes with rage.

  “…You two don’t know.”

  Aisha sounds weary. Haruhime looks up at her in surprise.

  “Nothin’ causes more trouble and pain than the jealousy of a goddess.”

  “Eh…?”

  “That jealousy is strong enough to change our world. Strong enough to mess with the fates of every human, start wars, and worse. Our goddess is consumed by it.”

  Black flames of hell burn behind that goddess’s glamour, according to Aisha.

  She continues in a rough voice, getting to the core of her claim.

  “Talking anymore is pointless. We cannot disobey Lady Ishtar.”

  Her words ring with the resolve of a zealot—although she makes no attempt to hide her frustration—as Aisha and I lock eyes.

  “I’ll tell you about a dumb li’l prostitute. She hated a renart so much she could puke every time she saw the pitiful look on her face. No matter how good she treated her, the renart would just look back with a pathetic smile, like she’d thrown in the towel long ago.”

  “…!”

  “That dumb prostitute, so full of hate, did something stupid in the past. She destroyed a certain stone, smashed it to pieces on arrival.”

  Haruhime’s eyes shoot open in shock. She pulls her face back away from Aisha’s chest. I don’t think she’s heard this before.

  Mikoto and I are just as stunned.

  But Aisha’s not done talking. Her anger at that “dumb li’l prostitute” is rooted really deep. Every word she speaks, every breath she takes, is overflowing with anger that has nowhere to go.

  “That prostitute’s actions didn’t stay under wraps for long. After she was beaten to within an inch of death by a frickin’ toad, her head was…Charmed to the point of insanity by her goddess.”

  There is something else behind the anger; I can see it in her eyes. It’s fear.

  “She was utterly ravaged, to the point that the idea of going against the goddess’s will made her hands shake. Breaking a stone made her collapse on the spot…That prostitute can’t even think about going against Lady Ishtar anymore.”

  The wooden sword in her left hand is shaking. Her right arm tightens around Haruhime, almost like a reflex.

  Mikoto and I just stand there, neither of us saying a word.

  A new image comes into my mind.

  A helpless Aisha, bruised and bloody at the mercy of an erotic goddess with the vigor of a necrophiliac.

  Her face trapped between the goddess’s hands, eyes wet with tears, as the deity sits above her, whispering words of tormented love into her ear before running her fingers down Aisha’s beaten and battered skin, ignoring the screams of pain.

  I’ve had only one brief encounter with that Goddess of Beauty, but I already have an idea of her devilish side.

  It was strong enough to conquer the resolute spirit of the Amazon in front of me. It makes my palms drip with sweat just thinking about it.

  I take a glance at Mikoto. She’s forgetting to breathe.

  “All the Berbera became united after said incident. Some wanted to brawl it out from the start, others are afraid of Lady Ishtar’s wrath. But all of us know, nothing can stop this fight.”

  She said it was a thorough purge.

  After that, even the Berbera who originally opposed the war with Freya Familia fell in line with the plan to use Haruhime. All the voices opposing the war vanished.

  All according to Lady Ishtar’s desire.

  “The two of you don’t understand how terrifying our goddess can be.”

  With that, Aisha falls silent.

  Now it’s Haruhime who’s shakin
g. Aisha adjusts her grip before tilting her head and saying:

  “…And I gotta say, why haven’t either of you come at me yet? Why only words?”

  She lifts one of her eyebrows as her eyelids fall.

  “You know what’s going to happen to this one here. Why not try to take her back? What are you waitin’ for?”

  ““?!””

  My shoulders jump. Mikoto has the same reaction.

  Both of us remembered Hermes’s warning all too well.

  Doing anything to upset Lady Ishtar or her followers to the point of a skirmish would result in the absolute destruction of Hestia Familia.

  The goddess and our friends would be drawn into a hopeless battle if we try to make a move.

  If we took Haruhime now, the Berbera would surely follow.

  One of the elite groups within Orario, with a vendetta against Hestia Familia.

  “Well, that’s…”

  The words won’t come out. My throat is dry, breath raspy.

  Mikoto and I are frozen in place. My eyes quiver as I look at Haruhime.

  Her eyes are hidden behind her bangs, fox ears clamped tightly against her head. She’s not looking, she’s not listening, only doing her best to hide inside Aisha’s embrace. Seeing her like that makes something snap inside my heart.

  “—Prostitutes are meant to be destroyed.”

  Why that, why now?

  Why would I remember those words at a time like this?

  “…Hopeless after all. I can’t give you this girl, Bell Cranell.”

  Aisha calls out my name, her fierce glare locked on my motionless body.

  “And if you’re lookin’ for sympathy, forget it. Makes me wanna go hurl.”

  “N-no, that’s not…!”

  “So then, you sayin’ you can save her? Doesn’t look like it to me. Can’t leave this in your hands, now can I?”

  She cuts me off before I can say anything else. Her very presence is towering, overwhelming me at every turn.

  There’s no mercy in her eyes. At the same time, her voice sounds like she’s issuing a challenge.

  “I ain’t saying you’re weak. You lack resolve, spirit.”

  “…!”

  “You don’t have the resolve to risk everythin’ to save Haruhime.”

  That piercing stare sees right through me, her words ensnaring my heart like ice-cold claws.