Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 6 (15 page)

“GYYAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!” Tormented roars erupted only moments later.

“If you’re gonna use that, tell me first!”

“Lilly did! Mr. Welf didn’t clear a path, so she did!”

Pinching their noses shut with one hand, the two argued as they raced to escape the expanding putrid cloud.

Despite being safe in the knowledge that no enemies could overtake them from behind, they engaged one wave of hunters after another as they attempted to catch up with Bell and Hestia.

“…There’s a ton of these guys!”

Welf yelled out in frustration as yet another wave moved to attack him the moment he’d finished off a different foe.

The young man took a look around—there were enemies coming from every angle. A whistle suddenly pierced the air. Had Bell and Hestia been found? However, these hunters didn’t react. Lilly took a quick look around.

“Are they…listening to a different commander?”

Upon closer inspection, she realized that their formation was much different and not as crisp. Their movements were not planned and had an air of desperation to them.

Theirs was a net that relied solely on numbers. The two allies came to a stop as a wave of hunters moved to cut them off…Welf stared them down, tightening his grip on his sword. Lilly, however, froze in place.

“Ehh? Wha…why are they—?”

“Hey, what’s with you?!”

Lilly’s arms hung limp as she stopped fighting and stared at the body of a human lying in the street. The emblem on his armor bore a crescent moon with a wineglass. She grabbed her left shoulder out of reflex.

Nausea overtook her; sweat coated her body. She shook her head back and forth, mumbling, “That’s not possible, that’s not possible…”

It was the emblem that stopped Lilly cold in her tracks—
Soma Familia
’s emblem.

Her chestnut-colored eyes trembled with fear the moment the image of Divine Wine under crescent moon came into view.

“?!”

Coming back to herself, she scanned the surroundings. Welf was currently fending off a large animal person using his weapon as a shield; an Amazon was jeering at him from the rooftop next to a very sinister-looking dwarf with an arrow sticking out of his back. Lilly couldn’t help but feel that she had seen all of them during the time of her life that had become distant.

Lilly came to the conclusion that the reason for the overwhelming numbers was that another
Familia
had joined forces with Apollo.

That’s when she spotted the thin man wearing glasses who was barking orders to the other adventurers.

“Li’l E?!”

Ignoring Welf’s call, Lilly took off at a sprint. Deactivating her magic behind a pile of wooden boxes, she climbed them and stepped onto the roof.

“Mr. Zanis?!”

“…Ah, I thought you’d be here, Erde.”

The leader of
Soma Familia
didn’t seem the least bit surprised when Lilly appeared before him, and he grinned at her.

The human man and prum girl stood face-to-face on the flat rooftop of the house.

“What…what do you think you’re doing?! Why are you helping
Apollo Familia
?!”

“They asked for it. Even forked over a large sum of money in exchange for our promise to join their fight against
Hestia Familia
. Lord Soma gave his approval…Well, he left it up to me.”

Without a doubt, out of all the groups in Orario,
Soma Familia
would be the easiest to bribe.

Their god, Soma, was only interested in his hobby, and he cared nothing for power struggles and politics. His approval could be easily bought with money to fund his expensive pastime.

Most likely,
Apollo Familia
had set up an arrangement with their new partner before they put the plan to capture Bell into action.

“Is Mr. Zanis insane?! Doing this for money…
Apollo Familia
may be ready to accept the Guild’s penalty, but
Soma Familia
was already on thin ice! The Guild won’t let this go!!”

Soma’s negligence concerning the well-being of his followers had been brought to the Guild’s attention, and fines had been levied against him. Even now, the Guild was keeping a close eye on his
Familia
. Once the fact that they willingly joined the battle that was turning Orario into a war zone came to light, it wouldn’t be surprising if the entire
Familia
was exiled from the city. It was as if Zanis had pointed the Guild’s wrath right at himself.

Lilly yelled over and over that they had no reason to attack
Hestia Familia
, that their actions didn’t make any sense.

“No, we have our justification.”

Zanis laughed off Lilly’s accusations as he stood with his hands behind his back.

“Justifi…cation?”

“That’s right.
Soma Familia
has a reason to fight
Hestia Familia
even without the request from Apollo.”

Zanis calmly stared down at the girl. Lilly frowned back at him. The man narrowed his eyes, a thin smile on his lips as he raised his chin without breaking eye contact. “Do you not know?” he asked with a sneer.

“No idea at all?” he asked again.

“—It can’t…be.”

The color drained from her face as one possibility came to mind.

Then, Zanis confirmed her worst fears.

“That’s right.
It’s you, Erde.
”

The man leaned closer to her as he lowered his chin.

“Our irreplaceable friend and comrade was stolen from us by swindlers. The time had come for us to exact revenge with justice on our side.”

Lilly’s knees went weak.

They were using the fact that Lilly was still technically a member of
Soma Familia
as an excuse to join the assault on
Hestia Familia
. This fact protected them from the Guild as well as gave them an escape route to avoid any penalties.

That was the true power of a contract with the
Familia
. If they were able to prove that one of their members was still bound to their god but working for the benefit of another, it would be next to impossible to punish their actions. No matter how much Lilly would try to explain the circumstances, the voice of the
Familia
would win out.

Lilly was another reason that Bell and Hestia were in danger.

“I, too, believed you to be dead until very recently…That is, until I happened to hear the story of one man at a bar.”

“A-and that is…?”

“Just the exploits of the Little Rookie on the eighteenth floor, and the little prum supporter who tagged along with him.”

Lilly cursed her own carelessness.

She always used her magic, Cinder Ella, to take the form of a werewolf child while on the surface. However, she deactivated the magic while in the Dungeon to preserve her mental strength. Now, because of the events on the eighteenth floor, the group of adventurers there that day not only knew her true appearance, but also that she was in a party with Bell. What’s more, that information was spreading.

Zanis must have acquired this information before receiving the offer from
Apollo Familia
. Once money was offered, he seized his opportunity.

“Do not fret, Erde. I will assure Lord Soma of your innocence in this matter.
Hestia Familia
is completely in the wrong.”

She’d warned them. Lilly had warned Hestia and Bell that
Soma Familia
would one day seek revenge. That day had arrived.

The flames had reached them…That was how Lilly felt. She’d made a horrible mistake. Her past was a wildfire just waiting to ignite. What’s more, she’d fanned the flames to the point of a raging inferno.

This was all her fault.

“The evil ones who tricked you, used you, and profited off you shall receive a fitting punishment.
Apollo Familia
will crush them into oblivion.”

Lilly felt dizzy, the rooftops spinning around her. Her whole world was crashing down around her.

She was a plague, infecting everything and everyone she cared about. Her body trembled as memories of the nice old couple and their flower shop flashed before her eyes.
Soma Familia
had destroyed it, and she was the only reason they had ever found that flower shop at all. A storm of grief and guilt raged inside her tiny heart, threatening to work its way up her throat and into a scream of self-loathing.

She opened her eyes and looked out over the battlefield.

Nahza had been chased from her perch on top of the bell tower,
Takemikazuchi Familia
was pinned down on all sides a few blocks away, and Welf continued to trade blows with the hunters just below her. All of them were in danger right now because of
Soma Familia
.

She had been foolish.

Lilly should have never strayed anywhere near Bell and the others.

—It was absurd to believe that her plague would never reach them, that their warmth and generosity wouldn’t be destroyed by the flames that followed her.

Eyes glistening with tears, Lilly’s neck gave out and her head slammed into her chest.

“Please…”

“What?”

“Please leave Mr. Bell and his friends alone…”

Lilly pleaded with Zanis in a weak, trembling voice.

She raised her face to look at him. There was no life in her eyes.

“Lilly will return to Lord Soma. So please, stop this…Please leave them alone.”

It was simple math.

If
Soma Familia
was using Lilly as a justification to participate in this fight, then all she had to do was take herself out of it. If surrendering to Zanis would reduce the amount of hunters pursuing Bell, it was more than worth it.

Members of
Soma Familia
were completely under the spell of the Divine Wine, soma. Its appeal had attracted hundreds of adventurers into her
Familia
’s ranks. But if they weren’t there, if she could find a way to convince them to leave, then Bell and the others might have a chance.

She knew it was highly unlikely he’d accept her offer, but she had to try.

Zanis stared at her for a moment, enjoying the look of desperation on her face, until finally pompously nodding back.

“Why not?”

Lilly was shocked at his sudden approval, and also a little suspicious.

Zanis pressed his glasses up against his face.

“Actually, the situation is getting quite dangerous.
Apollo Familia
already paid a decent sum of money upfront, so now might be a good time to call it quits.”

The corners of his lips arched upward as he continued.

“But most importantly,
I
need you.”

Lilly’s eyes shot open. This new information caught her off guard.

Maybe she wasn’t just an excuse to get money; maybe there was some truth in Zanis’s claim.

What could she, a useless weakling who’d brought about the destruction of everything she cares about, be needed for? As long as Zanis kept his promise, she had no choice but to follow his orders.

“Stand beside me. I will give the signal to retreat as soon as you do.”

Zanis reached inside his jacket and withdrew a small flare gun. Lilly did not respond, silently doing what she was told.

The man smiled with satisfaction, raised the flare gun to the sky, and pulled the trigger. A ball of sparkling light instantly shot high into the air.

Many of the adventurers in the seventh block of Orario stopped fighting the moment they saw the arc of light. Just as Zanis had promised, the members of
Soma Familia
started to withdraw.

“Hey! Li’l E!”

With roughly half of his assailants leaving the area, Welf finally had enough time to call out to his ally from the street below.

Lilly took a step toward the edge of the roof and looked down at him with listless eyes.

“Come, Erde.”

“Yes…”

Lilly nodded as she turned around at the sound of Zanis’s command.

Welf looked up at the two in disbelief. The man turned on his heel as Lilly said her final good-bye.

“Lilly’s returning to
Soma Familia
…She won’t cause any more trouble. Please tell Mr. Bell.”

“The hell are you saying?! I can’t look Bell in the eye and say that! Get back here!”

“Lilly’s sorry…Farewell.”

She gave one last bow before following Zanis.

The prum girl disappeared from Welf’s line of view.

“What the hell does she think she’s doing…?!”

He tried to pursue them, but unfortunately he met up with a group of
Apollo Familia
hunters and was forced back into combat.

“Dammit!” he screamed at the clouds. There was no choice but to give up the chase.

Bell and Hestia had lost count of how many hits their bodies had absorbed. The tally had just increased by yet another.

With all the hunters’ arrows, the spells of magic users, and upper-class adventurers wielding every weapon imaginable, neither of them had time to catch their breath. For some reason, their pursuers had been yelling at one another for a while now—
Apollo Familia
was starting to get desperate and had ramped up their assault.

The two fugitives had made it back to their old neighborhood. It was oddly still, all residents having already evacuated. Once again the sounds of war distended on this normally peaceful block.