Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 6 (14 page)

“This is why I despise upper-class adventurers…”

Nahza frowned as she watched Hyacinthus dodge every one of her arrows.

Drawing rounds of arrows from the quiver attached to her waist, she continued her barrage in an attempt to support Bell from afar.

She was quick to comprehend what
Apollo Familia
was trying to do, and she immediately grabbed her weapon, came to the top of this tower, and located Bell.
Miach Familia
’s former third-tier adventurer was a skilled archer whose accuracy was second to none. She was so far away from Hyacinthus that a normal person wouldn’t have even seen a human outline, let alone be able to come within a celch of hitting the target.

“Bell, run…”

As if her plea had been answered, Bell staggered to his feet just as she was whispering to herself. The boy grabbed Hestia’s hand and the two raced down another street. Hyacinthus started to give chase but was cut off by Nahza’s next round.

The man looked straight at her, eyes burning with fury. She fired yet another arrow, aiming straight for his chest. Without missing a beat, the rouge longsword knocked the arrow harmlessly out of the air.

He must’ve given up pursuit for the time being, because as soon as the arrow hit the ground, Hyacinthus took off in the opposite direction. Nahza saw his white cape swish as her target disappeared from sight.

“Too many enemies…”

The dog person turned her attention to the other shadows pursuing Bell on the rooftops and proceeded to take them down one by one. It was like dispatching individual bees in a swarm, with no end to it.

From her vantage point, Nahza roughly estimated that there were at least two hundred adventurers pursuing Bell.

Tossing an empty quiver aside, Nahza equipped a new one.

She was firing so many arrows that she didn’t have enough time to watch them hit their targets. Instead, she listened for the distant yelps of pain and soft thuds as the hunters fell from the rooftops.

“Lord Miach, please hurry…”

A solitary bead of sweat worked its way down her anxious face.

“Bell, are you okay?!”

“I-I’m f-fine…”

Bell’s breath was shallow and ragged as he responded. Hestia was on the verge of tears.

Hyacinthus had inflicted considerable damage; the boy’s entire body was in pain. It’d taken every high potion he had to close the wound in his chest. They ran with everything they had, putting one foot in front of the other in a desperate attempt to gain some distance. However, Bell couldn’t keep his balance and needed Hestia’s help to stay upright.

His body may not have been moving as well as he would’ve liked, but luckily his ears were at full strength. They picked up the sound of the spell coming from not too far away.

“?!”

“Magic?!”

Hestia noticed, too. Sure enough, there was an elf mage directly above them holding an outstretched staff.

Using that particular building’s architecture to shield herself from Nahza, the mage had been lying in wait while casting an enchantment. What’s more, her hiding spot was out of Firebolt’s range. Bell and Hestia immediately took off in the other direction, but it was too late to completely escape the imminent blast.

A lightning spell with a particularly long range flashed right behind them.

“—?!!”

The hair on the back of his head singed, Bell hugged Hestia in close as the two hit the street and rolled.

Bell did his best to shield Hestia from the blast, but the lightning magic carved its way into the surrounding buildings and ground. Everything around them was instantly blown to pieces; the air was inundated with smoke.

“Lissos, I have them!”

“Superb! Send word to Daphne!”

Bell’s and Hestia’s ears were ringing, vision hazy as many footsteps rushed in to surround them. The first figure to appear on the other side of the thinning smoke was an elf wearing a scarf that covered his mouth—the same one who had led the attack on the church. This time he was accompanied by five more adventurers.

Lissos, a rather handsome elf even by their standards, glared at the two fugitives and said, “Chests to the ground, now.”

Bell rolled over to protect Hestia, his dirty face locked on the elf—then, a new group appeared on the scene.

“Huh…?”

“This game of yours looks like fun. We’ll play, too.”

Six figures appeared behind Hestia and Bell, a party of adventurers.

Watching the party move to confront their attackers, Bell’s eyes were instantly drawn to the large man leading them. He was none other than
Takemikazuchi Familia
’s captain, Ouka.

Next to him was Chigusa, brandishing a spear of her own. Mikoto was standing tall, ready for battle.

“Imbeciles…Do you not realize you are threatening members of
Apollo Familia
?!”

“Oh, that’s what we came here to do.”

“We refuse to sacrifice our bonds of friendship when allies are in need!”

Ouka answered Lissos’s enraged warning by drawing his greatsword. Mikoto accentuated his sentiment with a few words in her own high-pitched voice.

The two factions stared each other down.
Apollo Familia
and
Takemikazuchi Familia
drew weapons and shouted battle cries as they prepared for combat.

“We made it in time…!”

“M-Miach?!”

Both groups charged in, trying to land the first hit, when suddenly Miach emerged from the backstreet, trying to catch his breath.

Hestia was first to notice his presence and raised her head to greet him. The god looked down and nodded with a short “Ah.”

“I requested the aid of
Takemikazuchi Familia
when the explosions first rang out. Are you all right?”

“Y-yes.”

“Miach, friends like you are just so…!”

The deities smiled at the look of surprise on Bell’s face and the gratitude radiating from Hestia’s eyes.

Nahza had been operating independently while Miach joined Ouka’s battle party on the way out here.

“Unfortunately, we cannot linger. Leave this fight to them. You, Bell, get moving.”

“Wha…but—”

“Listen to me. This battle will not end until your safety can be guaranteed. You must understand this.”

Bell hesitated. In that moment, more loud voices announced the arrival of yet another group.

More hunters. Reinforcements.

Bell struggled for breath as Miach looked at him with pleading eyes.

“Now, go!”

“…Sorry about this, Miach!”

Hestia climbed to her feet. Bell fought back the pain and nodded.

The two made it to the entrance of the closest back alley. Bell took a quick look over his shoulder at Mikoto’s group, locked in fierce combat. The fact that others were now involved in this mess weighed heavily on his heart.

At that moment, Bell understood what a conflict between
Familias
truly implied.

As soon as one group made a move, others would be forced to meet them in battle—it becomes a quagmire. Combat would become more intense as time wore on. Bell was convinced, rather forcefully, that no
Familia
was going to pull any punches.

“That’s the city wall! They forced us all the way out here…?!”

Hestia looked down the back alleyway, running as fast as she could while supporting the injured Bell.

The imposing curtain of rock that surrounded the city loomed over them. Hestia guessed that, based on their distance from the wall, the two had been forced all the way to the very western edge of the city.

They met up with a monumental roadblock and hadn’t been able to plan their escape. In their desperation, they’d gone in the complete opposite direction of the Guild.

“Over here!”

“…?!”

They were surrounded by the sound of enemy footsteps in no time.

The hunters had to use the architecture for cover against Nahza’s arrows. But now, they caught up to Bell and were ready to attack.

Three figures jumped over the top of Bell, their shadows blocking out the sun.

“—You want a piece of this?!”

“?!”

A new black figure launched itself from one of the side streets, colliding with the three hunters in midair. Holding a greatsword in his left hand, the figure sent two of the hunters hurtling to the ground with one sweep.

Additionally, a golden arrow plunged into the cheek of the hunter the figure had missed, and he fell to the street just short of the boy and his goddess. The black figure landed a moment later, delivering a kick that sent the final hunter careening into a wall.

“…Still breathing, Bell?”

The figure’s long black jacket furled as the red-haired figure turned to face him.

“Welf?!”

The young man rested the greatsword over his shoulder as the two comrades made eye contact.

“Mr. Bell!”

Lilly emerged from the shadows and rushed to join them.

Reloading the bow gun strapped to her right arm, Lilly called out her friend’s name.

“Supporter, too…”

“Why…why are you here…?”

“We were worried about Mr. Bell and Lady Hestia, obviously!”

“Everyone’s talking about a ‘rabbit hunt’ around town. Word travels fast.”

Lilly, still in her werewolf form, stopped right in front of a very surprised Hestia as everyone exchanged information.

The two newcomers were stunned by Bell’s appearance. Exposed skin covered in dried blood, an enormous scar crossed his chest where his breastplate should have been. What was left of that piece of armor hung loosely below his chest. Lilly flung her backpack to the ground and instantly withdrew three vials—a high potion she had purchased from Nahza for their Dungeon trip and the two dual potions. Wasting no time, she shoved all three of them into Bell’s hands.

“Thank you, Lilly…”

A searing pain coursed through Lilly’s heart as she looked at the weak smile on Bell’s battered and beaten face.
How cruel
, she thought as the boy winced. Her eyes trembled as if she could see herself in his position.

Bell uncorked a vial of dark blue liquid and did his best to overcome the twinges of pain as he chugged it down.

“We can’t stay in one place. We need to move, now.” Hestia turned to face the others when she spoke.

“Lilly thinks she understands the situation…This is all a result of that night at the bar?”

“No, that’s part of it. This is all part of Apollo’s plan.”

Lilly asked the question as the four of them took off. Hestia answered her right away.

Whether it was all true or just some elaborate prank, everything that Bell knew was on the line. Lilly nearly tripped as that information sank in.

“Yo…We’ve got company!”

“!”

Welf, who was leading the way, spotted more figures up ahead. There were three in the front with a few more joining them from behind.

Bell’s and Hestia’s faces tensed up, but it was Lilly who urged them forward.

“Please proceed to the Guild!”

“We’ll clean up here and be right behind you! Don’t worry about us!”

Bell knew by the number of oncoming enemies they wouldn’t have a chance, but Welf waved him off. Lilly locked eyes with Hestia, pleading her to go.

“We’re counting on you!” she said with a reluctant nod and grabbed Bell’s wrist.

“Cover me, Li’l E!”

“Of course! But will Mr. Welf be okay on his own?!”

Bell and Hestia went down a different side street as Welf and Lilly rushed to meet their enemies head-on.

Welf cocked an eyebrow at the prum girl as if annoyed by her concern.

“Well, I’m a hell of a lot stronger now—”

The first three hunters rushed in.

Both hands clamped firmly on his greatsword, Welf swung his weapon low and brought it arcing forward into a full swing.

His wide-eyed opponents were too slow to dodge the oncoming blade and were flung backward to a chorus of their own shrieks of pain.

“—so I’ll be fine!”

“…Being strong is all well and good, but clear a path!”

The airborne hunters spun and flipped over Lilly’s head and landed behind her.

Lilly hid just how thankful she was for Welf’s Level 2 and yelled a stern warning instead.

The enemy reinforcements arrived a moment later and immediately engaged them in combat.

“This guy’s movin’ better than the others!”

Welf and Lilly fought back against a party of Level 1 and Level 2 adventurers. Welf quickly dispatched the weaker opponents as Lilly drew the only upper-class adventurer’s attention away from him with arrows from her bow gun.

Welf spun like a top as he got into position and landed a blow that launched the upper-class adventurer straight into the wall behind them.

“Mr. Welf! Out of the way!”

“Huh?! You, you can’t be serious…!”

Lilly withdrew a fist-size pouch from her backpack and threw it into the oncoming ranks of the next wave of hunters.

She covered her nose with her sleeve even before the pouch reached its target—a morbul.

Welf’s face went pale as he ran in the opposite direction.
Poof!
The pouch exploded on contact with the street surface, inundating the narrow back alley with a thick cloud of green powder.