Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 2 (9 page)

Her tiny body shook pitifully.

Syr stood up as if nothing had happened and joined the stern-faced Lyu as they went into the backstreet again.

“Lilly, what did Syr say just now?”

“N-nothing…Um, Mr. Bell?”

“Yes?”

“Who are those two?”

“They’re waitresses at a bar. It’s called The Benevolent Mistress. It’s pretty popular—have you heard of it?”

“…Mr. Bell.”

“Yeah?”

“Never, ever take Lilly there, okay?”

“Uh, er, okay…” was all Bell could say to the half-laughing, half-crying Lilly. He could tell that something was still wrong with her, and quietly broke a sweat.

With the sun setting in the west, Main Street had finally calmed down and returned to normal. Bell and Lilly stood there for a moment, a strange air between them.

The next day.

Lilly and I make our way to the Dungeon early in the morning. We walk side by side down the first floor of the Dungeon, the light spots in the ceiling shining down on us like the magic-stone lamps around the city above.

In the end I decided to hire Lilly as my supporter.

I’ve had to consider all sorts of things, but after collecting my thoughts this is what I honestly want to do. The goddess even granted her permission. Once I got that far, there wasn’t any point in saying no.

Lilly and I signed a party-member contract with each other that didn’t have a specified time limit. Today is day one.

“…Mr. Bell?”

“Hm?”

“That knife—where did you put it?”

“Ah. The knife and its sheath are in my breastplate. There’s a slot under the outer layer and they fit nicely. That way, I won’t accidentally drop it again.”

“I…see.”

I tilt my neck out of confusion as her head droops down.

She hasn’t had any energy at all today. She’s smiling like usual, but it feels empty. I wonder if something happened.

“Mr. Bell. Let me thank you again for hiring Lilly as your supporter. Lilly will work very hard so that Mr. Bell doesn’t abandon her in the Dungeon.”

“Abandon?! I wouldn’t do that to anyone. Besides, you’re the only supporter I have, Lilly.”

“Lilly’s glad to hear that…But Lilly already knows Mr. Bell wouldn’t do such a thing because Mr. Bell is surprisingly gracious.”

I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this hierarchy thing.

Lilly is also starting to close the gap, but “gracious”? Being called something so polite makes my skin crawl.

“Mr. Bell, may I ask about today’s plan?”

“Well, I was thinking that we’d go to the seventh level again today and work until evening. Is that okay with you, Lilly?”

“If that is what Mr. Bell has decided, then Lilly shall obey. However, are you sure? As you know, Lilly is only a supporter and isn’t any use in battle. You’ll be fighting off wave after wave of monsters alone, Mr. Bell.”

“That’s okay with me. I’m used to fighting alone, and last night my goddess updated my status with yesterday’s experience.”

I didn’t spend the last few weeks as a solo adventurer just for show.

Fighting alone for long periods of time is just another trip into the Dungeon for me. Thanks to Eina’s rather severe teaching methods, I’ve gotten very good at managing time as well. I feel like I can brag about that a little.

But above all, the goddess updated my status with her own hands last night, so there’s no way I’ll be outmatched by any monsters on that level. To be honest, I’m itching to test my new power.

My status grew just as much as before. It’s almost scary how fast my abilities are growing. It’s the best feeling in the world.

…But for some reason, when the goddess sees how much I’ve grown, she gets upset and her mood turns sour…I really have no idea what’s up with that.

“I’m more worried about you, Lilly. Drop items will pile up pretty quickly, and your backpack will get very heavy…”

I glance at the girl at my side. Her tiny body only comes up to my stomach. It can’t be easy for someone that small to carry all that loot up and down the Dungeon floors.

“You don’t have to worry, Mr. Bell. Because Lilly has a Falna, too. No matter how much is in the backpack, Lilly won’t get tired.”

I’m sure she’s telling the truth…but still.

Lilly’s backpack is well beyond the standard size, so even now with nothing inside, it still makes quite an impression.

“On top of that, Lilly has a Skill. So Mr. Bell won’t be held back at any time during transport to the surface even if the unthinkable happens.”

“Huh?! You have a skill, Lilly?”

Amazing! I’m jealous! I can’t hide it in my voice.

Lilly laughs a little at me before shaking her head.

“It’s better than nothing, but a pitiful skill. It’s not the wonderful ‘blessing’ you are thinking of, Mr. Bell.”

“Even still! I don’t even have one skill…”

“Skills” are different from “Magic” in that, as long as you have the excelia—experience—you can learn many of them. I’ve heard that there are adventurers with five (!!) skills. So even if it’s a skill like Lilly’s that doesn’t have much impact, as long as it doesn’t have a negative side effect then you are stronger than you were without it.

“I’m so jealous right now…Skills and Magic are really hard to learn, right? I don’t have Magic, either…Ah, speaking of which, do you have any magic, Lilly?”

“…Unfortunately, Lilly doesn’t have magic, either. There are many people who never see their own magic; Lilly is probably one of them.”

That’s right. Tens of thousands of people may gain the possibility of learning magic with their Falna, but it’s only a possibility. Many people, it seems, weren’t lucky enough to have that possibility become reality.

As someone who pictured himself using all kinds of magic while reading about heroes of adventure over and over again since childhood, it’s a truth I don’t want to face…Lilly looks up at me, my shaking shoulders sunk on my body as my mind filled with the thought of never having magic.

Telling the details of your status to someone outside of your
Familia
is a violation of manners and also prohibited—even if said someone is under contract with you.

It’s kind of obvious if you think about it. An adventurer’s status is both private information and their lifeline.

I feel like a jerk for bringing this up, and I regret it.

“One other thing: Are you sure you don’t want a signing fee or an advance payment?”

Keeping an eye on the road ahead, I ask Lilly about the details of our contract.

Lilly said it during our sorry excuse for a signing ceremony in Babel Tower. That she only wanted a share of the income after taking our loot from the Dungeon to the Exchange.

I’m the one hiring her. There should be more to this…

“Yes, that’s fine. Mr. Bell isn’t working with any other party members, so there won’t be any problems figuring out who gets what at the end of the day…and then.”

“And then?” I repeat back to her like a parrot.

Lilly’s cheerful mood changes all of a sudden…I feel like I see a little hesitation in the eyes hidden behind her bangs.

“…Also, this is the best arrangement for Mr. Bell, yes?”

“Eh?”

There’s a strange mix of sneering and self-mockery in her words.

I’m a little flustered, hearing Lilly talk to me like that for some reason. I don’t have a clue why.

Less than a second later, Lilly smiles her usual smile, like nothing had been said and her usual cheerful personality floods back in.

“Alrighty, let’s go! There will be no problems as long as Mr. Bell’s hard work helps Lilly eat something good tonight!”

“S-sure…”

The best for me…?

So that means, basically, I don’t have to pay her?

Or maybe something else entirely?

I don’t know what she’s trying to say.

I’m not her, so I have no idea what she’s thinking or what she might be hiding.

It’s just—

—You’re no different from the other adventurers.

I get the feeling that that’s what her eyes were saying to me.

“Eina. Hey, Eina.”

“Hm?”

Eina was hard at work at the reception desk of Guild headquarters when one of her coworkers working at the same desk got her attention.

She lifted an eyebrow to say, “What is it?” Her coworker mouthed, “Look at that!” while pointing across the room.

Eina’s eyes followed the direction her coworker indicated to see a Guild employee having a heated argument with an adventurer in front of the Exchange.

“See, it’s them again. That guy’s in
Soma Familia.
”

“……”

Eina frowned at the situation unfolding across the way.

Their angry words reached her ears as Eina tilted her head forward to listen in.

“A measly twelve thousand vals?! Come on! Are you blind?!”

“You fool! How long do you think I’ve been doing this job, huh? My eyes are just fine!”

They were arguing about the terms of an exchange, that much was certain.

This kind of thing wasn’t all that uncommon. Adventurers bet their very lives every day prowling the Dungeon. After working all day, they came to the Exchange with hopes great or small, but many tended to get upset and raise their voices if the amount offered for their Dungeon loot wasn’t as high as they were expecting, complaining that it wasn’t commensurate with the effort.

The Guild was used to this kind of thing, and all of the appraisers lined up close to that counter had a lot of guts. This particular appraiser was yelling just as loudly as the adventurer.

This kind of argument was just another day at work.

However, whenever
Soma Familia
’s adventurers made a scene, a normal argument tended to become anything but normal.

There was no point in adding up all the times members of
Soma Familia
had criticized an appraiser’s offer. It was a daily occurrence. The Guild employees were long since fed up with this daily farce.

All of
Soma Familia’
s members had the same issue with the Exchange’s terms: “Give us more money!”

They had an obsession with money that went beyond rationality.

Their demands for large sums of money were fierce enough to make all the bystanders’ blood run cold.

“Ugh—just watching this makes me want to tear my eyes out! It’s sickening! Sooo glad I’m not in charge of
Soma Familia
!”

“……”

Eina scowled at her human coworker’s choice of words.

Eina was not herself an adviser of any
Soma Familia
members, but due to some recent events, she couldn’t just write them off as someone else’s problem.

“Damn it! This is all…This is all I get…?!”

Eina massaged her temple, feeling a headache coming on as she watched the adventurer clasp both hands around his head from a distance.

He might have been a little hasty…

The supporter Lilly’s presence had a dramatic impact.

First of all, since she carried the backpack, I didn’t have to take loot back to the surface to exchange it for money when my own pack got too heavy. So I stayed in the Dungeon much longer than usual.

Every floor I passed through on my way to a deeper Dungeon level meant that the distance to the Exchange was longer (and my time in the Dungeon was shorter). So even though I was going deeper than before, I wasn’t getting more money for my efforts. There was too much lost time in transit.