Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 1
Page 21
“…?”
Freya looked confused.
That was very uncommon for the Goddess of Beauty. Loki’s thin eyes narrowed.
“What’s with that face? No need to play dumb. Ya know, the tenth one. The bloomin’ snake with the big teeth, puke green?”
“…I set only nine monsters free.”
“…Lyin’ through yer teeth.”
“It’s true. All I wanted to do was distract your and Ganesha’s children. It was not my intention to destroy anything.”
She continued by saying it was just a prank to make some noise.
Both goddesses donned more serious faces.
They noticed that their stories weren’t lining up, like buttons going through the wrong hole in a shirt.
“…’Kay, then, where did that beastie come from?”
“I have no clue. I have no idea where you got the story from.”
They fell silent.
Still making eye contact, a heavy mood descended around Loki and Freya.
Blurry moonlight drifted through the thin cloud cover.
Silver stars twinkled from every corner of the night sky.
Ruins of an old building stood silently on this peaceful night.
Only the stone frame remained standing, around scraps of wood that were once walls. The city of Orario shone as bright as a beacon even at this hour, and yet somehow none of the countless lights fell on the ruin. It was shrouded in darkness.
One figure stood beneath the stone beams, head and shoulders outlined by moonlight.
One solitary being lurking in the darkness.
“Lord Dionysus.”
A voice called out to the figure.
The female appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She approached the figure without making a sound. The moonlight illuminated a feminine body with long ears the shape of leaves and skin as white as snow.
The figure turned to face this newcomer, passing in and out of darkness as she pleased.
The clouds lifted. Moonlight flooded the ruin through the massive hole that was once the roof. The lurking god’s features came to light.
“Were you able to collect it before the Guild?”
“Yes, I present it to you.”
Dionysus’s royal smile was nowhere to be found. The elf, one of his followers, held out her hand. Dionysus took the wrapped item out of her palm.
Pulling back the coverings, he picked it up between his thumb and forefinger.
He held the thing up to the moonlight and narrowed his eyes.
“This could be more trouble than it’s worth…”
Trapped between his long fingers was a magic stone with a glowing red center. It glistened in the moonlight.
EPILOGUE
UNDER THE SKY
The sky spread out like a big blue dome over the city.
Just blue as far as the eye could see.
Gentle sunlight shone through puffy white clouds as Aiz made her way to the Dungeon once again.
The city was as lively as always.
The sound of hundreds of shoes on the stone pavement mixed with the voices of vendors selling their wares.
Horse-drawn taxis made their rounds. Aiz could hear the animals grunt and snort as their masters guided them through the crowd. Every passerby seemed to be in a good mood. Brilliant smiles decorated their faces as they clutched shopping bags in their hands.
Aiz weaved her way through the mass of humanity and passed several demi-humans along the way.
She spotted more and more adventurers in full body armor the closer she got to the Dungeon. It went without saying that they noticed her, too. Her ears happened to capture their hushed voices as she walked by.
One, “The most powerful female adventurer.”
One, “The immortal knight.”
One, “The queen of all trades—there’s nothing she can’t do.”
Her reputation was well known.
Most people were filled with a mixture of awe and fear at just the sound of her name. Aiz was in a league of her own.
Aiz avoided eye contact and pretended not to hear any of their words. In the process of avoiding their gazes, she happened to notice something strange out of the corner of her eye.
A little girl was all alone.
Scared and trembling, the young human had found a hiding place just off the main street. No one else seemed to notice she was there.
Aiz came to a stop in the middle of the street, wondering what she should do. She made up her mind and walked over to the girl a few moments later.
“What’s wrong…?”
“…Waahhhhhh.”
Aiz stood over her and spoke in a quiet voice. The little girl looked up, eyes moistening by the second. Then the floodgates opened. She started sobbing like there was no tomorrow.
A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Aiz’s face. She wanted to help the girl but didn’t have the slightest idea how. Even her words got stuck in her throat.
Her mind desperately searched for a way to comfort the crying child. Aiz stood like a statue, unable to move left or right.
It would have been quite comical if anyone were there to see it.
The queen of all trades, stumped by something like this.
The ever-refined and elegant Kenki had a flawless image. Who would’ve guessed that the Sword Princess, Aiz Wallenstein, would get flustered by something so trivial.
She could stand up to the most ferocious monsters in the Dungeon, but that didn’t mean she could do anything for this girl.
Quite the opposite, there were more things she couldn’t do.
“…Can you wait a minute?”
Aiz took a few steps back from the wailing child. Then she turned and ran as if trying to escape.
She reasoned that the little girl must’ve gotten lost. The best option for Aiz right now was to search the area for Guild employees and ask one of them to help.
It took her longer than she would have liked, but she succeeded in her mission. Aiz quickly led the surprised Guild employee back to the girl’s hiding place.
However, the girl was gone by the time they arrived.
“…!”
The Guild employee gave her a very confused look. Aiz knew instantly she had to see this through to the end. Putting Dungeon crawling on hold, she desperately searched the area for any clues to the girl’s whereabouts.
She walked out to the middle of the street with her head on a swivel, looking for the little girl.
Storefronts. Rest areas. Entrances to the backstreets.
She checked every area that she thought a little girl might go looking for help. She nearly bumped into a lot of people in her haste.
The big hand of the large clock at Central Park traveled halfway around.
At long last, she found her.
The little girl was in the arms of a motherly woman.
“Oh, hi, lady!”
Relief flooded through Aiz’s body when the little girl noticed her and waved.
The bawling little girl seemed like a distant memory compared to this smiling child. Aiz couldn’t help but smile.
“Did your mother find you?”
Aiz walked over to them and asked a question. The little girl innocently shook her head from side to side.
Then came her answer.
“A boy with white hair found me!”
Aiz was stunned.
A few moments passed before Aiz could speak again.
“Did he have red eyes?”
“Yep! Looked like a cute bunny!”
The little girl flashed a happy, toothy grin.
“…I see.”
Aiz spoke quietly under her breath. Then she said good-bye and turned to leave.
The girl’s mother bowed while the girl’s little hand flicked back and forth as they watched the blond girl leave. Aiz took one last look over her shoulder before she disappeared into the crowd. Mingling, she looked up at the blue sky.
Fluffy white clouds were making their journey
across the heavens.
Her mind started drifting along with the beautiful free-flowing white puffs in the sky.
It was a strange feeling, knowing that he could do something so easily when she could not.
Aiz came to a stop in the middle of the street. The flow of people maneuvered around her.
She had just missed him. And now footsteps she had never heard were getting farther away.
The clouds shifted in the wind.
Today’s sky over Orario was blue once again.
Afterword
Recently, I had an opportunity to talk about SRPG with one of my coworkers at GA Bunko, Mr. Tsuyoshi Nanajyou.
“Actually, my heroine was influenced by the long-haired knight, Nabell.”
“Oh? Was she?”
“Yes. Specifically the moment after she slices through an enemy with the Kill Sword.”
“Ah—…”
I’ll never forget the look in Mr. Nanajyou’s eyes when he said that he could see Aiz Wallenstein with the Kill Sword.
Swordsmanship techniques so precise that any enemy can be vanquished with one swing of a blade.
But at the same time, each victory draws the attention of stronger opponents—that’s my image of a knight.
I feel that the heroine of this story, the Kenki, reflects this image to the letter.
She was originally created to be the idol for the main character in the main storyline. However, she was so strong that “he would never be in danger should they battle side by side…” I can’t count how many times my advisers told me she had the potential to completely ruin the main storyline.
It was comments like these that inspired me to have her star in a spin-off.
Now I had a place to explore what my heroine was truly capable of without worrying about the main story. While this is both exciting and intimidating, nothing would make me happier than readers following this story as well.
Now it’s time to show my gratitude.
First to Mr. Kotaki, who has been a tremendous asset in the creation of this series. I will be depending on you to help keep both stories running smoothly in the future. Next, to Mr. Kiyotaka Haimura, who created an amazing amount of superb character designs and artwork for this spin-off, and my editor Mr. Takahashi, who made it all come together. To everyone involved in this project, I couldn’t have done this without you.
I also want to extend a special thanks to Mr. Kuribito Misaki for his amazing artwork created for the limited-edition releases of this book and the main series. Thank you for everything you’ve done.
Lastly, I want to thank you, the reader. Words cannot express my gratitude.
Until the next installment.
Fujino Omori
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Copyright
IS IT WRONG TO TRY TO PICK UP GIRLS IN A DUNGEON? ON THE SIDE: SWORD ORATORIA, Volume 1
FUJINO OMORI
Translation by Andrew Gaippe
Cover art by Kiyotaka Haimura
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
DUNGEON NI DEAI WO MOTOMERU NO WA MACHIGATTEIRUDAROUKA GAIDEN SWORD ORATORIA vol. 1
Copyright © 2014 Fujino Omori
Illustration copyright © Kiyotaka Haimura
Original Character Design © Suzuhito Yasuda
All rights reserved.
Original Japanese edition published in 2014 by SB Creative Corp.
This English edition is published by arrangement with SB Creative Corp., Tokyo, in care of Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc., Tokyo.
English translation © 2016 by Yen Press, LLC
Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ōmori, Fujino, author. | Haimura, Kiyotaka, 1973–illustrator. | Yasuda, Suzuhito, designer.
Title: Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon? on the side: sword oratoria / story by Fujino Omori ; illustration by Kiyotaka Haimura ; orginal design by Suzuhito Yasuda.
Other titles: Danjon ni deai o motomeru no wa machigatteirudarouka gaiden sword oratoria. English.
Description: New York, NY : Yen On, 2016– | Series: Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon? on the side: sword oratoria
Identifiers: LCCN 2016023729 | ISBN 9780316315333 (v. 1 : paperback)
Subjects: | CYAC: Fantasy.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.O54 Isg 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016023729
ISBNs: 978-0-316-31533-3 (paperback)
978-0-316-31814-3 (ebook)
E3-20170314-JV-PC