Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 2 (10 page)

Today, all of those problems were cleanly solved.

Thanks to Lilly, I didn’t have to equip a backpack. I felt so light and free as I slew monster after monster on the seventh level that I can’t even remember how many I took down.

Whenever a monster appeared, I swung my knife and Lilly quickly extracted the magic stone and collected drop items.

The result:

The money we received from the Guild’s Exchange—

“ “……” ”

Lilly and I each grab the lip of the pale yellow bag, opening it together and peering inside.

Our eyes are greeted by…moneymoneymoneymoneymoney.

More coins of various sizes are crammed into that bag than I can count!

So shiny!

“Twenty-six thousand vals…”

Our eyes meet just inches apart as we look up from the bag at the same moment.

We take a deep breath and……

“YYYYAAAAAAAHHHHHHHAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

We jump with glee!

“Amazing! Absolutely amazing! Lilly could count all the drop items on her fingers, but Mr. Bell passed twenty-five thousand vals all by himself!”

“Wow, wow, WOW! This is really happening, right? I’m not dreaming?! All of this money in one day…This is all thanks to you, Lilly!”

Hurray for supporters!

“You shouldn’t say stupid things, Mr. Bell. It depends on the monsters, of course, but a party of five Level One adventurers usually makes twenty-five thousand vals in a day. That means that Mr. Bell did more work than all of them put together!”

“Hey, now. Even rabbits can climb trees if they’re flattered enough. Same thing!”

“Lilly has no idea what Mr. Bell is saying, but for now, Lilly agrees! Mr. Bell is amazing! Let’s do even better!”

“Lilly, that’s too much flattery…!”

I’m way too excited about this, but I just can’t calm down.

We’re not in a bar, but we’re making noise and really whooping it up.

It’s late enough to be completely dark outside, so Lilly and I are about the only adventurers in Babel’s cafeteria. Everyone else has probably made their way to a bar by now.

Our good mood rising even higher, Lilly stands up in her chair, yelling “Yayyy!” and we high-five over and over.

“Well then, Mr. Bell, can Lilly get her share now?”

“Yes, of course!”

I take 13,000 vals out of the bag, set them on the table with a
thunk
, and slide them over to her.

“………Huh?”

“Ahhh, with this kind of money I can finally feed the goddess some delicious food…!”

I can just see the look on her face when I give her food we’ve never been able to afford.

I can actually do something to thank her!

Lilly’s staring at me with eyes about the size of marbles, but I don’t care. I’m too wrapped up in my own fantasy.

“M-Mr. Bell. What is this…?”

“Your share! It’s what we agreed on! Ah, that’s right! We should celebrate! Lilly, let’s go to a bar! I know a great place!”

Lilly’s eyes glaze over as my jubilant invitation reaches her ears.

Oh yeah, didn’t she say she didn’t want to go to The Benevolent Mistress?

Oh well, no matter! It’s just for today!

“Come on, let’s go!”

“M-Mr. Bell!”

Lilly raises her voice as I start to quickly pack up our belongings.

Huh? I look at the girl in confusion. Her small lips quiver as she struggles to get words out.

“…D-doesn’t Mr. Bell…want all of the money…? …Take it all for himself?

“Eh? Why would I?”

I don’t understand at all. That seems really strange.

Having her question answered with a question, Lilly looks lost for words.

“I couldn’t have made this much money all by myself. We did this together, right, Lilly?”

I flash a big smile before saying, “Thank you so much!”

Even the words “I’ll be counting on you!” come out of my mouth.

I’m so glad I met Lilly that I can’t stop smiling at her.

“……”

“So, Lilly, shall we go?”

Swish.
I stick out my hand in front of Lilly.

She stares at my hand for a moment before carefully extending her own and taking it.

“…Mr. Bell’s weird.”

I do a fantastic job of pretending I don’t hear her last murmured words.

Interlude

The sky’s hue shifted from deep red to blue-black as night fell.

Western Orario. West Main was alive with groups of townspeople and adventurers back from the Dungeon, all letting off steam after yet another day.

“I…I made it again…”

Hestia stumbled along on tired feet among the crowd walking down Main Street. Babel Tower loomed behind her as she made her escape and trudged toward home on wobbly legs.

She had completed her shift at
Hephaistos Familia
’s Babel Tower Branch Store and was headed for her room.

“That Hephaistos…Can’t she cut me a little slack…?!”

While it might have been nothing more than the repayment of a loan, this had still been the most stressful time in Hestia’s life. She was used to an almost lazy lifestyle up until now, and her current situation bordered on torture.

Whether it was her goddess “friend” Hephaistos’s lectures or the children who worked alongside her showing no respect, she couldn’t catch a break. In fact, they seemed to go out of their way to give her extra work. It was to the point that she wanted to scream on a daily basis.

She was getting a glimpse at just how serious Hephaistos was about fixing Hestia’s habit of relying on others.

“Ahhhh, I wanna see Bell…!”

Worn out from consecutive days of hard labor, thoughts of her own “child” popped into the exhausted Hestia’s mind.

Until just a few days ago, she couldn’t wait to warmly welcome Bell back from the Dungeon every day, often leaving her part-time job early to do just that. Now their roles were reversed.

She wanted nothing more than to jump into his arms as he walked through the front door. Knowing that wasn’t going to happen, she dragged her tired limbs toward home.

“—Eh?”

Hestia was brought out of her own thoughts when a flash of white hair like a rabbit caught her eye.

She noticed a very familiar shape in the middle of all sorts of races of people crammed into the street in front of her.

—It was Bell!

Her round eyes lit up the second she realized it was him.

Bell had to be on his way home from the Dungeon. He was still wearing his new armor. Since his back was to her, he must have been on his way back to the room.

Hestia got her energy back like a fish returned to water, and was about to run to his side—and then…

“?!”

Thanks to the crowds, she hadn’t seen the person walking right next to him, but now whoever it was came into view.

The person was shorter than Hestia and wore a robe that was too big with a backpack. It was impossible to tell the person’s gender or any other detail from the back, but it was a girl. Hestia
knew
.

The mystery girl probably had an aura that made all men want to protect her. What’s more, she had a firm grip on a hand being held out to her.

Hestia could see the side of Bell’s face as he looked down at the girl and she looked up at him. He was smiling happily.

Boom!
It was like a ton of bricks fell on Hestia’s head.

She was already at her physical and mental limits, so this was the final blow. Bell, her last oasis, was holding hands and laughing with some girl who wasn’t her. The heavens had come crashing down to earth, leaving Hestia with a wound too deep to measure.

Missing out on a chance to observe Bell with the supporter he had talked to her about, Hestia turned her back to them and took off running. This misunderstanding weighed heavily on her heart.

“—Listen to this, Miach! Bell, he—he cheated on me!!”

Slam!
Another empty glass hit the table as Hestia wailed tearfully.

They were in a bar that stood a little ways off Main Street. The cramped, old wooden building was filled with mostly shabbily clad adventurers who were conversing in loud voices that weren’t very polite.

She was drinking cheap alcohol alongside them, sitting at a table across from another god and reciting all the events that just transpired.

“Cheating is very serious. I cannot imagine a situation where Bell would do such a thing.”

The handsome man who spoke in a polite, calm voice was Miach. He had been listening to Hestia’s story very carefully, and interjected his opinion into the conversation. His worn-out, ash-colored robe fit in very well with the décor of the bar.

Hestia and Miach were the lowest of the low—the poorest of all the gods living in Orario. This gave them a very strong bond.
Hestia Familia
was on such good terms with the potion-making
Miach Familia
that each of the gods knew about the other’s “children” in great detail.

Hestia happened to run into Miach on the street and practically forced him to join her in drowning her sorrows in alcohol. Through all of this, Miach never once made an angry face as he lent the goddess his ears.

“I saw them with my own eyes! They were holding hands, smiling, laughing! That’s proof; he’s guilty, guilty, guilty!!”

“We don’t know Bell’s situation, so it could be something harmless. I think it’s too early to declare him ‘guilty’…And you’re not husband and wife or lovers to begin with, so going on and on about ‘cheating’ seems strange to me.”

Hestia was too busy downing her next glass of alcohol to hear the second half of Miach’s words.

She’s at it again today…
thought Miach with a sigh, his sea-blue hair shaking with his head.

“Damn it! Just who is that girl anyway! Bell belongs to me; he’s mine! MINE!”

“Now, now. You may be his goddess, but those words are tyrannical. Bell is no one’s possession.”

“You think I don’t know that? Well, I do! I just wanted to say that; I’ve always wanted to say that!”

“Are you already drunk?”

“Yeeeep!”

Hestia drank like she couldn’t stand being sober—as if she were showering in the stuff. In no time at all the table was covered in empty glasses and the reek of alcohol lingered in the air.

The effects of the liquor hit the red-faced Hestia like a steel wall. Her eyes watered up again as she took in a massive breath.

“WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Bell Bell BellBell BE—L—L! Don’t leave me alone—!”

“H-hey! Quiet down, Hestia!”

Even the composed Miach had to try to calm down the goddess; her cries were loud enough to interrupt every other conversation in the bar. All the eyes of other patrons were locked firmly on the two of them.

“I’d live in a sewer if it would make you happy, you know! I love you that much! I want to share the same bed with you and rub my face all over your chest! I’d live on three pieces of bread a day if it made you smile—!”

Miach shifted backward in his chair.

“I love you, BELL!…Hee-hee-hee…Just once, I wanted to let the world know how I feel. Much better!”

“I’m glad he wasn’t here for it…Barkeep, check please.”

Miach looked at the check and smiled in relief; they hadn’t been scammed out of money. Hestia’s head was on the table, her face hanging loosely as she laughed happily to herself.

Miach muttered “Good grief…” under his breath as he looked down at the plastered goddess. He diligently supported her limp body and guided her out of the bar.

“Miach, what about the cheeeeck?”

“No need. I covered it all.”

“We’re buddies, right? That means…we split the…check!”

“Again, no. You only have twenty vals with you.”

Miach responded quickly to Hestia’s slurred words. He lifted Hestia into a four-wheeled cart he had been using to carry items when they met earlier. It looked more like a baby stroller with Hestia curled up inside.

The two gods made their way down the street, accompanied by the sound of wooden wheels on stone and illuminated by magic-stone lamps under the evening sky.

“Mia…ha. Make me a love potionnnn. I’ll brainwash Bell!”

“No. I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Aaa-oooouuuuuch…!!”

A throbbing headache greeted her the moment she opened her eyes.

Letting out a moan of agony, she stared up at the ceiling from the bed. She recognized it as her own and knew she was at home. The clock on the wall said it was already morning.

It was the morning after her night drinking with Miach, and she had one heck of a hangover.

“A-are you okay, Goddess?”

Bell was right next to the bed.

A glass of water in his hand, he looked at the goddess with worry in his eyes.

“I…I’m sorry, Bell. I’m sorry you have to see me like this…”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind…Um, yesterday, Miach came here and talked with me. So it’s true, then?”

“…Yeah, looks like I drank too much.”

Bell held out the glass of water for her. Hestia drank it still lying on the bed, a grimace on her face.

The night before, Miach had arrived at the old church and told him, “She’s very…tired. Let her lay down, even if for just a little while.” He left after leaving behind these meaningful words.

I can’t remember a thing…

All of her memories of the previous night were gone. She had no idea what she had done or what she had said to Miach. After hearing what Miach had told Bell, she couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.

Memories of Miach’s silent but sad smile made her feel like she had caused quite a few problems yesterday.

“…Bell, are you sure it’s okay for you to be here, not the Dungeon?”

“I couldn’t leave you like this, so I took today off.”

Bell softened his eyebrows and smiled as he explained he’d already come back from informing his supporter.

While Hestia was a little embarrassed by everything Bell was doing for her, inside she was overjoyed. She could spend an entire day alone with him. In that instant, she decided to take the day off as well.

The consequences, aka the wrath of the goddess of the forge, she’d worry about later.

“Goddess, can you try to eat this?”

“…Might be too hard. Bell, could you help?”

“Um, sure. I’ll do my best.”

Bell put a chunk of apple onto a spoon and raised it to her lips. Hestia propped her body up on her elbows and watched him with glee. She clamped her mouth down around the spoon, a look of pure delight on her face.

Normally, doing this kind of thing would be very awkward because it was just one step below nursing. However, Bell did it with a smile. It made Hestia happier and happier to see Bell hide his embarrassment and show this level of devotion to her.

“Ou…ohhh…My head…”

“G-Goddess?”

After what was one of the worst bits of acting in history, Hestia grabbed her head and “fell” onto Bell’s chest. Bell was now holding her in his arms.

She could feel the unease in Bell’s eyes, but that just made her want to bury her face even deeper into his torso. He smelled like a gentle forest. She pressed her luck even further by embracing him and giving a tight squeeze.

And so began a short, awkward tug-of-war between the elated goddess and the ever-squirming Bell.

“Hmm…So then, last night you went out to eat with that supporter?”

“Yes. Something very good happened yesterday…”

It was already the middle of the afternoon. Still lying in bed, Hestia was deep in conversation with Bell. Her hangover was almost gone.