Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (22 page)

Here comes another long chase… When will this end?!?

“Why is it after you!?!”

“You think I know?!?! Never seen it before, ever! I haven’t done anything!”

I have a strong grip on her thin little hand. We’re yelling and running through narrow streets as fast as we can. She wants to know the answer to my question even more than I do, by the sound of her voice. She’s grabbing onto my hand, too…

I can still feel the presence of that monstrosity behind us. It’s not going away.

It’s set its sights on the goddess, and it’s not giving up.

I’ve never seen a monster act like this, endlessly pursuing one target. It’s like it’s being manipulated by something smarter…

What the hell is going on?!?

I lead the goddess on a sprint through the back roads with all these thoughts running through my head.

These narrow, dark backstreets are doing nothing to calm my nerves. I can see the sky among the tall buildings around us, but there’s no light down here.

We ran south from East Main when the silverback attacked. We’re running in circles through the side streets between East and Southeast Main.

I have no idea where we are. There was no time to remember the route.

I take a glance behind me to check on the goddess. She doesn’t look good. She’s definitely in a good deal of pain. I can’t see the monster behind her in the maze of dark streets.

But I know it’s here.

It’s following us, I can feel it.

Speed up! That’s the only way to lose it!

Eyes front! Left, right, right again! We need to get away!

“…! Bell, no! Not this way…!”

“Eh?!”

The goddess’s voice brings me back into the moment.

We just rounded a big corner. Now I know what she meant…

“—”

The narrow roads have ended, but a total mess stands before us.

The roads twist, overlapping and intersecting who knows how many times. Pieces of buildings randomly stick out into the street, stairwells snake through the entire block. It looks like a mass of rooms got mixed together and dumped onto this spot.

It’s a dungeon, built by human hands above the ground. A labyrinth town.

“Daidaros Street…!”

It’s a dirt-poor residential part of town where nothing makes sense.

I heard that the streets are so complicated that once you get lost in there, you’ll never find your way out. Daidaros Street was named after the architect who designed this jungle. In terms of losing your way, it is very much a dungeon.

The artificial labyrinth spreads out below me, all the way to the city wall. The goddess and I stop at the top of the road that leads down to the entrance.

This is insane! If we go in there, we’ll be fighting a dungeon and a monster at the same time!

The goddess is out of breath, her hands on her knees, shoulders heaving. We lock eyes for a moment, we’re in tough shape. She knows it, I know it. Her eyes are shaking…

“GAAAAHHHHHH!!!!”

“!!”

The monster is behind us!

We have no choice now. I grab the goddess’s hand and run downhill, straight into Daidaros Street.

The street becomes a wide stairwell. A dark brick jungle looms ahead.

We rush in. The thick, humid air weighs us down almost immediately.

Several shabby stone shacks litter the main entrance of the residential… no, labyrinth town. Many magic stone lamps dot the sides of houses, weakly spitting light onto the street. There are people out walking around above and below us. They look like they know their way around these impossible pathways.

That woman sees us! Maybe she’ll help… or not. As soon as she sees the silverback, her eyes triple in size before she runs away. Others are doing the same. Why is no one helping us?!

“Guugaahhh!”

“…!”

It’s catching up. How long can the goddess keep this up? She doesn’t have Falna, like me.

Actually, she has kept up very well. But we have to keep moving, and she’s falling behind. Even now the beast is reaching for her!

“Goddess, this way!”

“O-okay…!”

We take a quick turn off the main road, in a completely different direction. This one goes up at a steep angle, but it also has branches. I pull the goddess into the closest turn. We’ve changed directions again! Change again and again, how many times now?

Did we lose it…?

We keep changing direction. Maybe it took a wrong turn and got lost?

I take a look over my shoulder, past the goddess. It’s not there. Maybe now I can finally catch my breath…

“—”

Something doesn’t feel right.

Small vibrations are traveling through the walls. I hear bricks cracking…

They are still a long ways off… a shadow?

Son of a bitch!

I can see a blotch of white on top of a building in front of the sliver of blue sky. That’s not a cloud…

It climbed to the top! It must have ignored the roads altogether and jumped from rooftop to rooftop like a wild animal swinging through trees! It’s coming after us from above!

It dives straight down like a bullet.

“Gyaaaaahhhhh!!!”

“!”

“Ah!”

A sneak attack from above! It’s going to land right on top of us! I have to let go of the goddess! It’ll crush us both!

It hits the ground with a bang, debris flying in its wake. The goddess and I get out of the way, but the beast is between us!

It’s facing me, and the goddess is backing up! Quick, before he turns around, I have to do something!

“Uhhhaaaooooooorrrrrrrr!!!!”

I take that blast of air and monster spit to the face. Nice teeth…

“—Hyaiiii!!!”

It’s not attacking… Was that a warning? Trying to scare me?!

Well, it worked. I can’t move a muscle. Everything is clamped down. The beast’s feral roar did what it was supposed to:

Scared the absolute shit out of me.

“Ragyaaa!!!!”

That thing isn’t fooling around. This feels like…

The lower fifth, below another beast, roaring in my face. The Minotaur… standing over me, drooling.

I can hear that mad cow’s howl… I just want to curl up, make it all go away.

“—Uuhhmm… aaaahhh!”

I’m standing at a fork in the road.

An enemy is in front of me. An enemy I’m not strong enough to cut. In the shadow of despair, the Minotaur. I want to get away.

There is a person over there. A very special person only I can protect. I can still feel her soft hand in mine, but it’s gone. I have to save her.

I’m scared—

Fear and duty. Cowardice and purpose. Instincts and emotion in opposition, unite.

I’m scared—

An undeniable impulse reaches out to a sense of responsibility.

I’m scared, but—

Even in the face of all of this…

—I’m a man, aren’t I?!?

… even the smallest part of a man’s resolve will not allow him to retreat.

Go!

Go!!

GO NOW!!

YOU HAVE TO!!!

DO NOT LEAVE “HER” BEHIND!!!!!!!!!!!!

“YAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

You listen to me, beastie. I’m not going anywhere!

I have no fear. I feel only courage in my veins. Forward!

Here I come, silverback!!!

“Gyaahhhhh!!!”

It’s moving to counter.

Its tree-trunk-size arm whips forward, the chain still latched to its wrist like a whip. My body twists on instinct, dodging the blow. I thrust my head down. Its sweeping right fist goes just over my neck.

I draw my blade. This is my chance.

A clear shot at the ribs under its arm. Thrust with everything you’ve got!!!

“Uhaha?!”

But…

Kishnnnn.
My metal blade screams in pain.

The shock of impact shoots up my sword arm, my right wrist jammed.

My blade was rejected. It couldn’t pierce the beast’s white fur. For some reason, silver specks are sparkling where my blade hit.

—The blade! It’s broken?!

That realization hits me like a bolt of lightning. My blade is in pieces, floating away. The back of my throat is twitching…

I can’t hurt it! My attacks aren’t strong enough!

That moment seems to last forever, just me watching shards from my blade fall. Next thing I know, I’m in the air.

“Dahhh!”

The beast grabbed me with both of its hulking hands and pinned me against the wall.

All the air in my lungs leaves on impact. Eyes open as wide as they can go.

“Guruuuu…!”

The silverback’s malicious face is just inches away from mine.

It bares its fangs before I wrap my head around the situation. Its mouth is big enough to take my head off in one bite. Sheer terror floods my face.

“Beeelllll!!!!”

Is it going to end like this?

Me squirming around and the goddess’s voice screaming in my ear? I twist my body over and over, thrashing my arms to break its grip.

—My hand hits something!

There’s a magic stone lamp just below me!

No time to think. I yank the lamp out of the wall with one hand. I know the brightness control is on the back. Now if I can just reach the dial… There! Up to max output!

The palm of my hand suddenly becomes as bright as the sun. I can’t even keep my own eyes open. I shove the blazing lamp into the beast’s eye.

“GYIIGAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!”

The silverback roars in pain, letting me go to clutch its eyes. The monster staggers a few steps backward.

I fall to the street with a thud, finally free of the thick fingers crushing my shoulders.

My entire body is in pain, but that doesn’t matter right now. The goddess runs up to me with tears in her eyes. Before she can say anything, I grab her hand and take off running again.

“Bell…?”

“…!”

A pain that I can’t describe surges through me.

I can’t protect the goddess, no matter how much courage I muster.

I’m too weak to protect her…

Tiny, weak, feeble, delicate, soft, piece of trash, little punk, disgusting, nauseating.

I thought I had gotten over that night, but those words still haunt me.

I can still hear that animal guy’s voice ridiculing me in front of Ms. Wallenstein. Over and over and over.

It’s exactly the same.

I was too weak then; I’m too weak now. This is too painful to take.

“Uwwwwaaaarrrrrr!!!”

“!”

The beast howls in the distance.

The very walls of Daidaros Street are shaking. The beast is angry.

It’s still coming.

At this rate…

It’ll find us for the third time. There will be no escape.

What do I do…? What the hell can I do?!?!

How can I help the goddess? How can I protect her? How…?

“—”

Then, the answer comes to me. So simple.

A simple thought shows me the way. Something even a weakling like me can do.

Just as long as the goddess gets away, that’s all that matters.

“Hey, Bell, what’s with that look…?”

The goddess manages to ask me a question through her ragged breaths. I have a plan; I’ll see this through. The look on my face must have made her nervous. I heard it in her voice.

But I don’t answer her, just turn right at the next intersection.

This road has a gentle downward slope. A new path framed in black stones opens next to it, a long tunnel that leads underground. It must be a drain. I can see a light at the other end, which means that this tunnel opens at the end of the block. It’s an escape route.

I silently pull the goddess ahead of me and push her into the tunnel. She looks back over her shoulders, surprised to be ahead of me.

I give her one last push before stepping back to the tunnel entrance and sliding the iron gate shut.

“BELL?!?”

“Goddess… I’m sorry.”

The bars create a cold world between us.

My face looks grave. It takes every fiber of my being to squeeze out my next apologetic words.

“Goddess, please go on without me.”

“I… Wait, what are you going to do?!”

“… I’ll draw the monster away, buy you some time.”

There is only one way for someone as weak as I am to protect her.

I’ll be a decoy.

I’ll lure it away from here, giving the goddess enough time to escape to safety.

I don’t think she understands my plan… She’s just standing there with a startled look on her face.

“What are you saying, you idiot?”

“Please, Goddess. This may be the last time I see you, so please listen to me.”

“No! Absolutely not! I forbid you! Open this gate now, Bell!!”

“Goddess…”

She furiously shakes her head from side to side. She won’t go willingly…

She’s trying to squeeze her small body between the bars and frantically calls my name.

I’m so happy she cares about me this much… and sad at the same time.

There’s no time. I get down on my knees and look her in the eyes. I have to make her understand.

“Goddess… I… can’t lose my family again.”

“…!”

I bare my heart to her, everything.

It was before I came to Orario, before I met the goddess.

I lost my grandfather, my only family.

He was killed by a monster. He was attacked when he left the village on an errand.

I wasn’t there, I couldn’t do anything. One of my neighbors told me what happened.

I still feel the void left by his death. Even now I have a painful hole in my heart that he used to fill.

My heart has probably been craving a family since then.

“I’m scared of losing my family… not being able to protect anyone.”

I came to Orario to meet the girl of my dreams, the one I was fated to be with. That is not a lie. But it was my bond with my grandfather that pushed me this far. I came here to honor it, preserve it.

But, secretly even more than that, I wanted something else. To feel the warmth of a family.

The goddess gave me a new bond and family, a
Familia
.

I wanted a family.

“So please, Goddess. Let me protect you, my family!”

I can’t protect her, but I said that anyway. No, I said it because I can’t.

The goddess stands and listens, a look of pure agony on her face.