Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (24 page)

I look back up at the goddess. Her crystal-clear eyes meet mine.

“Bell, what happened to the boy I know? Didn’t you go deep into the Dungeon looking to pick up girls just a few days ago? What happened to the Bell who swore to get stronger, to never give up on his dreams? Where did he go?”

The goddess pulls her shoulders back and keeps talking like we were back at home.

“I believe in you. I realize I’m not part of that ‘adventure.’ I know that. If adventurer Bell Cranell is really after a monster of a woman, Wallensomething or other, then a monster like this shouldn’t be a problem.”

Her face is dead serious.

“I’ll help you win. I’ll make you win.”

“……”

“You might not believe in yourself right now. How about believing in me? And I believe you can do this.”

I feel like I’m about to burst into tears. The tip of my nose is numb. Waterfalls might be building up in my eyes.

She’s smiling back at me. I wipe the tears from my eyes with my sleeve and nod a “Yes” in reply.

The sun was brightly shining overhead.

The large ring of light in the sky cast many deep shadows over the roads of Daidaros Street and the many races of inhabitants living there.

The sun’s rays were particularly strong on a long, dead-end road.

Faster, faster, faster! Hurry!

Hestia’s fingers were a blur as she muttered under her breath.

She sat behind a kneeling Bell, working furiously to update his status.

Bell had removed his badly damaged light armor, leaving behind only a black undershirt. Hestia placed a drop of her blood onto the back of his shirt; one layer of fabric was not thick enough to keep her from writing hieroglyphs into his skin. Her hands did not slow down.

It was unnecessary to follow them with her eyes. All she had to do was find the excelia within him and draw it out to change his status. As long as she could locate his excelia, one inner shirt wasn’t going to get in the way.

Listen up, Hestia, this is important.

Hesita’s nerves were on ice. The monster could come at any moment. Hephaistos’s voice ran though her head.

This knife has your hieroglyphs, your blessing. This weapon is alive.

The “Hestia Knife” was forged from Hephaistos’s mythril and engraved with Hestia’s blessing. It was a blade with its own status.

There were so many hieroglyphs on it that the entire weapon turned black.

It is the same as a child who received Falna. The weapon will grow stronger using the wielder’s excelia along with him.

The knife was engraved with Hestia’s hieroglyphs—only someone
with her blessing could wield it. This made it unsalable and useless as a weapon. Hephaistos told her one more thing:

If the wielder gets stronger, so will it. As an adventurer gets stronger, he will unlock more and more of this blade’s potential.

It was the perfect “high-quality blade for newbie adventurers.”

An ever-growing partner, it would never be too strong or too weak for its user.

Right now, this weapon is about as powerful as tissue paper. However, it will take its first breath when it reaches the boy Bell Cranell’s hands and grow from there.

If the blade’s user stayed weak, so would it.

But if the user became the “most powerful” adventurer, it would become the “most powerful” weapon.

A weapon that can instantly become the best is bad for business. It’ll put us smiths out of a job. I won’t be making another one of these, ever.

She might have complained throughout the entire process, but Hephaistos had made her wish into reality. Hestia thanked her many times over.

Now, the “Hestia Knife” was growing alongside Bell.

She was making it into a weapon that could slay the silverback.

The only problem is…

Bell’s skill, Realis Phrase. How much would he grow, and how much stronger would the weapon become?

“Goddess! It’s here!”

“!”

It rounded the corner of the long road, spotting them immediately. Hestia’s heartbeat shot through the roof.

At the same time, she finished the last stroke. Bell’s status update was complete.

…?!?

Bell’s status had grown over 600 points?!

His growth knew no bounds. And he was still getting stronger. This was anything but a normal growth speed.

The flames of jealously toward Aiz burned in Hestia’s heart, but she also felt reassured.

With this much…

The weapon had become very potent.

The black blade was pulsing dark purple light in his hand. It was alive and well.

It’s all up to Bell now!

She put her hand on his back and put all of her strength into a big push to give a boost.

“Now, go!”

“Now, go!”

With those words, Bell’s perception of time and space narrowed to a very thin line.

His heart beat in his ears. His feet were enveloped in heat. But his head was clearer than it had ever been.

He had crouched down while Hestia updated his status. His body was ready to take off at a full sprint.

Power filled his legs, right knee up and ready to blast off.

“GYAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!”

The monster stood directly in front of him at the end of the road. Its enraged howl echoed down the long street.

Silverback. The monster that, even with his updated status, was Bell’s worst nightmare.

Victory was a long shot. Bell himself wondered if he really had a chance.

However, even if he didn’t believe in himself, he could put his faith in Hestia’s words.

He sprang forward, his goddess’s words filling him with determination and courage.

“—”

The silverback fell silent.

Bell had never moved this fast.

Six hundred status points had given him speed like nothing before. Despite the distance still separating them, the silverback knew at that moment it wasn’t fast enough to defend against a killing blow.

Are you listening, Bell? Remember what I’m about to say. Don’t do anything reckless, though. Understood?

Eina’s voice ran through Bell’s head as he cut through the air toward his target.

No matter how strong, no matter how thick their defense, monsters all have a common weak spot.

Bell still remembered Eina vigorously explaining the basics to him, pointing at him.

If you hit it, even a dragon will fall. It’s their one true vulnerable spot.

He remembered, very clearly, Eina’s voice telling him what to do next.

One strike. If you can pierce their skin with just one strike, any monster can be slain by an adventurer’s blade.

The place that made a monster a monster, their one and only “core.”

I don’t need to say any more, right? Yes, the one thing all monsters have hidden in their chest—

Their magic stone. Cutting it was the most effective way to slay any monster.

Bell saw his target, a point on the monster’s chest.

The beast charged forward, feet pounding the street. The silverback’s arms lightly shook in the air. Bell used what time was left to line up his strike, his eyes focused on that one spot.

The “Hestia Knife” blazed purple in his grip. Its newfound strength gathered into the tip of the blade and sent a beam of light into the heavens.

All the power gathered in the blade, all of the strength in his body, every last drop of energy went into this thrust.

Muscles tore and bones cracked as Bell’s dagger pierced the monster’s chest, his body sticking out like a spear.

“YAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Penetration.

“Gyaaa!!!”

The black blade struck the monster’s chest head-on.

Bell felt the dagger hit something harder than flesh or bone. It sent a wave up his arm.

The silverback’s eyes went wide as it started to fall backward.

“—?!”

Bell’s momentum carried him up and over the monster. He let go of the knife and went flying.

He couldn’t slow down. Bell didn’t have time to prepare for a hard landing. He had focused everything he had into one attack to finish it off. However, his body reacted on its own. He flew in a perfect arch, curling up into a human bullet.

He was on the ground before he had time to take another breath.

“Guhheee?”

He hit the ground rolling, finally coming to a stop after seven somersaults.

Getting up, starry eyed and dizzy, Bell took a few deep breaths before turning around.

The silverback was on its back, arms and legs sprawled out in the middle of the road. A piece of the monster’s body started to collapse, the black blade standing straight up out of its chest. Time was standing still.

The magic stone at the monster’s core was shattered. More and more of its body collapsed in on itself before turning into ash. It flickered for a moment before being carried off by the breeze, leaving no trace behind.

Click click.
The “Hestia Knife” hit the stone road as the last of the beast disappeared. The weapon lay in the middle of the street, glowing purple.

Cheers erupted from all around him.

Bell’s battle with the silverback had moved the residents of Daidaros Street who had watched it from a safe distance. People who had hidden in the shadows and behind windows now came out of the woodwork in droves, clapping and cheering at the top of their lungs. Even the stadium hadn’t been as alive with glee as this corner of the labyrinth town.

A smile appeared on Bell’s face in the middle of all the applause.

He looked back to the end of the road to grin at the goddess, to say, “I did it!” That’s when he saw her body collapsed on the ground.

“Goddess?!?”

Bell grabbed the “Hestia Knife” before running to her aid, his face pale and breaking out in a cold sweat.

Her light body was limp in his arm, her eyes closed. Bell’s face turned yet another shade of white. Bell gently picked her up and ran out of the alleyway to a glorious send-off of cheers.

“I hurt Hestia… but what’s done is done.”

Came a voice from the roof of a house overlooking the dead-end road.

Freya was talking to herself. She had been watching Bell from the best “seat” on Daidaros Street.

Her silver eyes locked onto Bell as he held Hestia tightly against his chest.

At first, she was disappointed that things hadn’t gone as planned. But she smiled up at the blue sky.

“Congratulations. You still have a long way to go, but… Hee-hee, yes. You were very heroic.”

Freya watched Bell’s white head as the boy ran down the road, making a beeline for the exit. She squinted her eyes.

Freya turned to leave, her silver hair sparkling in the sunlight.

“Let’s play again, Bell.”

“Guoooooooooo!!!?!”

The troll was slain in one decisive blow.

“Nn, the end?”

“Yes…”

Aiz withdrew her silver sword from the troll’s body, flicked off the blood, and slid it cleanly back into its sheath in one smooth motion. She watched the monster fall to the pavement with a thunderous boom. Townsfolk instantly came out of their hiding places and surrounded Aiz with cheers.

Loki stood behind Aiz, supporting her head with her hand and looking bored out of her mind. A small “hmmm” escaped her lips.

“I’d say they didn’ have their own rhythm. Looks like everybody’s all right, no big problems… Feels like they were dancin’ to someone else’s beat.”

Aiz nodded to herself, agreeing with Loki’s assessment.

They had rushed all over the East Block protecting the citizens. However, the monsters hadn’t run away, just wandered around the city as if they were looking for something.

Aiz couldn’t shake the feeling that something had guided these monsters from above.

“That all of ’em?”

“Not quite… There is still one left.”

Out of the nine monsters that escaped, only the silverback remained unaccounted for.

That was a monster that Aiz could slay in an instant. Loki was even less interested but started to run anyway. She wanted this monster hunt to be over already. Aiz followed silently behind her.

They headed for East Main after talking with a few citizens who had seen the silverback from their hiding places.

“Ehhhh? What’s this, over already?”

Rather than seeing scared faces and a rampaging monster, the townsfolk were celebrating in the street.

Loki went up to the edge of the crowd to get some information.

“Hey, lady! Where’s the monster? What’s goin’ on?”

“Didn’t you hear? That boy struck it down! Heard it from a few folks from Daidaros. They ran deep into that maze, and he slew it with one strike!”

“Hold up, lady. ‘That’ boy? Who’s ‘that’ boy?”

“You mean you didn’t see him run through here? A young adventurer with reddish eyes and white hair? Yeah… looked like a rabbit!”

“Huh?”

Loki’s face contorted with confusion, but the blond girl standing behind her jumped.

White hair…?

She had seen someone like that.

This morning, looking outside from the café.

The red-eyed, white-haired boy who had been hurt because of her.

“Excuse me! Please let me through!”

A new wave of noise swept over the crowd. “That” adventurer had returned.

People in the crowd started cheering, pushing to get a better look. Loki ran into the swam, yelling, “Me, too! Me, too!” Aiz stayed behind, standing still and feeling a little lonely.

Aiz didn’t want to be left out, so she walked up to the edge of the crowd and stood on her tiptoes trying to get a good look.

“—Excuse me!!”

“!”

At that moment, a boy ducking as low as he could burst out of the crowd and right past her.

Her golden eyes followed him, trying to figure out if it was him.

… It really is.

The boy didn’t acknowledge her as he rushed by. Aiz watched his back shrink into the distance.

There was no mistaking him. He was the boy she had saved from the Minotaur.

He slew… a silverback…?

He was weak. Her comrade may have gone a little overboard, but the boy had been a clumsy, inexperienced adventurer.

The boy she remembered could never have slain a silverback.

“… Congrats.”

The word left her lips before she realized it.

But she wanted to congratulate the boy who had run out of the bar, humiliated and spewing tears, on his incredible growth.

“……”

She wasn’t interested in the trick he used to slay it, but still.

She decided that for the time being, she should seek him out at least once and apologize.

Click.
A door closed.

Bell ran up to the girl who came out of the room, Syr.

“S-Syr, how is she? How is the goddess?”

“She’s all right. Just exhausted.”

“Exhausted… so that means…?”

“Yes, she’ll be just fine.”

The sun was setting outside the window.

Bell was on the second floor of The Benevolent Mistress.

After running through the crowd on East Main, he happened to run into Syr. She suggested bringing the unconscious Hestia to the bar.

People were starting to calm down after the eventful Monsterphilia. Damage had been kept to a minimum by
Ganesha Familia
and the Guild’s quick response. There were no injuries, let alone deaths, among the fairgoers. In fact, Bell was the only one hurt this afternoon.

The one responsible for today’s incident was still at large, and there were no leads. This was because all of the
Ganesha Familia
and Guild members who’d been attacked couldn’t remember anything, as if they had been cursed by a witch’s magic. The case was closed without knowing what the perpetrator wanted.

All was quiet on the second floor of The Benevolent Mistress, away from the bar below. Hestia was resting in a room while Syr and Bell
stood in the hallway. The setting sun shone through a west-facing window, filling the wooden hall with reddish light.

“That’s such a relief… She just collapsed. I didn’t know what to do…”

“Hmm, well done today, Bell.”

She smiled at the visibly drained boy and timidly started talking.

“I’m very sorry about today. If I hadn’t forgotten my wallet, you wouldn’t have gotten caught up in that mess…”

“What are you saying? It’s not your fault at all!”

Syr looked so apologetic as Bell tried many times to reassure her. After a few long moments, her face relaxed. Bell was relieved.

“But today, so many people were talking about you. How brave that adventurer, how brave you were.”

“Ehhh…”

“I think so, too. Actually, I saw you fighting the silverback on Main Street for a moment…”

“I wasn’t that brave… All I did was run away, and I couldn’t damage it at all…”

Bell strung words together confusedly. He didn’t know how to react to her kind compliments, so he just put on a smile and shrugged his shoulders.

Syr giggled when she saw his face, her light gray hair shaking.

“Even so, you looked really good.”

“Eh?”

“… I probably shouldn’t say this, but seeing you face down that monster… I fell for you at that moment.”

She whispered those words into his ear behind her hand. Bell’s eyes shot open.

Syr stepped back, her face tinted red by the evening sun. A beautiful smile bloomed on her lips.

“I was asked to assist at the bar, so I will excuse myself now.”

“Eh, um, yeah…”

“Don’t worry about the bed, she can use it. Well, then, Bell. Until next time.”

Thump, thump, thump
. Bell was left speechless as he watched Syr
walk to the end of the hall and down the stairs. He scratched his head.

“Was she teasing me…?”

Her eyes had looked a bit like she was playing a cruel joke, or maybe that was just the sunlight. He didn’t know what to believe. Bell did his best to get his cheeks to cool down before walking over to the room where Hestia was sleeping.

Maybe I should let her rest…
, he thought while looking at the number plate on the door.

Thump!
The sound of something hitting the floor reached his ears moments later.

“?!”

Bell burst into the room. He found Hestia on the floor, as if she had rolled over and fallen straight down.

However, she landed facedown in a very comical, unladylike pose.

Bell yelled out as he ran over to her. He kneeled next to her, picked her up under her shoulders, and held her.

“G-Goddess! Goddess?! What’s wrong?! What happened?”

“Ah, Bell… It’s nothing… I tried to get up, but I wasn’t strong enough…”

“Not strong enough…? I heard that you were exhausted. Just what were you doing for the past three days?”

The goddess’s eyes wandered off.

“
Dogeza
.”

“Do-ge-za??”

“I did
dogeza
in front of a stubborn goddess who refused to nod her head up and down for thirty hours in a race of endurance…”

“T-thirty hours…?! Just what is
dogeza?
Some kind of torture?!”

“No, a technique. It’s the technique to end all techniques.”

Hestia kept muttering “technique” over and over; she wasn’t making sense. Bell broke out in a cold sweat.

“But why, Goddess…? Didn’t you say you were going to a party?!”

“… This.”

“Huh?”

Hestia’s shaking hand reached around and pulled out the black knife that was tucked into the back of Bell’s belt. It suddenly hit Bell that he had no idea what this blade was or where it had come from.

He was about to ask her where and how she got it, but he gasped before he could get the words out. His eyes found the hieroglyphic Hφαιστος engraved in the corner of the sheath.

—
Hephaistos.

This was the only symbol he understood without being able to read it.

It was the logo on top of the weapons shop that he thought he would never have any connection to,
Hephaistos Familia
.

“Goddess, isn’t this…?”

“Sorry to make you worry… But I couldn’t just sit on the sidelines. Being supported, being saved all the time… I just couldn’t put up with it.”

Bell held the handle of the weapon with shaking hands as Hestia pulled off the sheath.

Bell took another look at the black blade itself.

The cutting edge was completely straight. He could tell just by looking that this weapon was far more powerful than the one he carried now. Could all of these detailed markings covering it be hieroglyphs?