Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 6 (16 page)

“…Firebolt!”

Bell released his Magic into a worn-down stone building that had been empty for years.

The flaming lightning bolts ignited the debris inside the building, creating yet another explosion of smoke. Bell used it as cover to escape the eyes of his pursuers and took off in a completely different direction.

“Ha-haa…!”

“…Bell, this way!”

Hestia grabbed the boy’s hand and guided him off the main road as Bell fought back pain just to inhale.

She found a drainage canal that ran beneath the street level. Leaving the backstreet, they found the closest stairwell and raced down to the water level. It wasn’t long until they reached the city sewer’s entrance.

“Are you okay, Bell?”

“I’m so sorry, Goddess…”

Bell leaned against the wall before sliding all the way down to the ground and offered Hestia an apology. Hestia shook her head before looking around to find their escape routes. They were beneath what could have been a very large bridge, open on both ends with water flowing behind them. She guessed that the water must be running deeper into the city. The street-level landscape was visible at the other end.

Although they couldn’t see them, they could hear the yells and hurried footsteps of their pursuers coming from just outside. Praying with all their might that they remain hidden, the two talked in hushed voices.

“Can you still move?”

“…I’m fine. I can.”

Bell used the last of the potions he’d received from Lilly in order to recover from at least some of the damage he had taken. Hestia watched his staggered breathing with remorseful eyes. Without warning, a booming voice erupted from the other side of the wall.

“Are you listening? Bell Cranell!”

Hyacinthus’s voice.

Hestia sat shoulder to shoulder with Bell. The boy clenched his eyes shut.

“Wherever you hide, wherever you run, we will find you! This game of hide-and-seek is meaningless!”

The man’s proclamation filled the air around them. Hyacinthus must’ve been standing in a high place, because the echoes reverberated in every direction.

“On land or in the Dungeon, it doesn’t matter! Your days of peace are at an end!”

Bell gulped as he understood what the man’s words meant.

Even if by some miracle they escaped the hunters’ net and made it to the Guild, Apollo would pursue him for the rest of his life. They would attack him on sight in the city, in the Dungeon, or wherever else he tried to go.

The boy was feeling the full power of an influential
Familia
dedicated to accomplishing a goal.

Just as Hyacinthus said, the chase would not end until there was a clear resolution. He would never be able to live a normal life.

“…”

Hestia sat silently next to him. Bell was in shock from the realization.

The goddess’s eyes narrowed, her mind made up.

“—Bell, please listen.”

Hestia moved in front of him, crouching above the boy’s outstretched legs and looking him in the eyes.

The ruby-red spheres looking up at her, she let it all come out.

“Since Apollo is serious about this, there is no future for us here. We have two options: fight a battle we can’t possibly win—or run away from Orario.”

“…!”

Hestia ignored the look of shock on the boy’s face and continued. She knew the boy comprehended their situation.

“I’m willing to go anywhere as long as you’re with me. It doesn’t matter if we’re being chased all the time. I’ll run alongside you until they give up.”

Hestia’s resolve was unyielding.

She would miss the friends she had and the peaceful days she’d spent living in the city. But as long as Bell was with her, she didn’t care where they lived. That was clear as day.

Leave Orario with the goddess and live somewhere far away…?

Hestia held her hand to her chest, trying to steady her beating heart as she waited on the edge of her seat for Bell’s response.

In truth, running away might be the only real option for Bell and Hestia.

It was the same for the other
Familias
that came out on the losing end of these battles…Just like Hermes had told him about Zeus, leaving Orario was the only way.

Bell thought about it.

Just the two of them, he exploring the wonders of the world with Hestia.

Listening to the wind blow through a forest, sitting on top of a hill under the blue sky, feeling a sea breeze on his face while exploring a port town.

She’d be wearing a one-piece dress and a fancy hat, he’d be carrying the bags from that day’s shopping. They’d walk down the street, smiling.

Such warm, inviting thoughts.

How wonderful would this journey be? Living a new dream?

It was possible; the two of them could have this future.

But…!

His heart might have been swayed by Hestia’s words, but images of all the people he’d met in the city suddenly surged through Bell’s mind.

People he’d laughed alongside. All the girls who had shared smiles with him.

All of his days as an adventurer, all of the chance encounters—he remembered everything.

I—

A new image took over his heart.

The start of it all, meeting the knight with blond hair and golden eyes.

The side of her face, blond locks flowing. His heart couldn’t leave that behind.

“…”

Hestia’s expression gradually disappeared as if she were reading the boy’s thoughts like a book.

Her lips tensed as she reached out and grabbed ahold of both of the boy’s hands.

The deity asked the surprised human a question:

“Bell, do you love me?”

Bell’s voice cracked in confusion.

“Huh?!”

“This is important.”

Blushing a light pink beneath her eyes, Hestia kept talking.

“If you say you love me, I’m ready to do anything. If I believe your words, all other petty emotions mean nothing and I can do anything you ask! I can fight!”

She squeezed his hands.

“I love you very much, Bell! You’re just so cute, I can’t help it. I want to live with you forever, always be by your side…I don’t want anyone else to have you.”

Her fingers shook.

“What do you think about me?”

Then she asked her question again.

Now blushing profusely, Hestia once again locked eyes with Bell and looked at him with all seriousness.

Bell, too, had turned bright red. But he had no clue what the goddess was trying to say.

“I-I revere you…”

“That’s not what I’m talking about!”

Bell’s shoulders drooped as Hestia yelled in his face.

The explosions, footsteps, and shouting were still raging around them. Despite that, Bell’s mind raced as he tried to figure out what she was asking, what the goddess wanted to hear. What did she mean by the word “love”?

Hestia’s eyes quivered as if something important had just broken inside her. Something so important that they might not be able to continue as deity and follower.

Desperately holding onto her last shred of hope, Hestia saw Bell’s lips open to speak—

Ka-booom!

“?!”

The shock wave from an explosion at the entrance to the sewer overtook them.

Bell quickly forced his body up to shield Hestia from the debris. A moment later, the outlines of mages and adventurers appeared in the cloud of smoke.

“Found them! In the sewer!”

“After ’em!”

“?!”

Their pursuers had found their hiding spot. Bell jumped to his feet with Hestia in his arms and took off once again.

The white-haired boy made a beeline for the exit on the opposite side of the tunnel.

“Not once, but twice…You’ve gotten in my way for the last time…you
bastards
!”

Hestia’s rage swelled up within her, morphing her face into a hideous visage. Bell took his eyes off her in fright.

Explosions went off in her eyes.

“Now I’m angry! Bell, I’ve had enough of this!”

“Y-yes?!”

“Southwest—go southwest!”

Bell didn’t dare do anything else. Hestia had never barked orders before.

He made a hard right, diverging greatly from the path to the Guild in the west. Even here, Bell tore through the back alleys and side streets. None of their pursuers were expecting this turn of events and stumbled before adjusting their own trajectory.

“…”

“…”

They raced forward in silence. Bell was secretly relieved that their previous conversation had been left unsettled.

Perhaps Hestia felt the same way. Rather than bring it back up, she shoved her red face deep into his chest.

Bell could feel her shaking in his embrace, much like his own.

Going southwest, as Hestia had instructed, was surprisingly easy.

The enemy’s net was so much thinner than before, but the two of them didn’t even have to engage enemies in combat to escape it. Crossing West Main, the two entered Orario’s sixth district, located between West Main Street and Southwest Main Street.

Hestia guided Bell through streets filled with startled onlookers until finally arriving in front of a rather ornate building.

“Wait, isn’t this…”

A gate of tall iron bars protected the entrance to a well-maintained and flourishing garden. A stone structure stood in the middle of it all. A large emblem hung on the gate, a bow and arrow eclipsing in the sun. Bell couldn’t speak; only a small grunt of surprise escaped his mouth.

Hestia had led him to
Apollo Familia
’s home.

“We’re not here to take over, out of the way! Shoo! Shoo!”

Several guards approached Bell and Hestia as they attempted to open the gate, spears at the ready. Hestia simply brushed them aside, glaring at each of the guards in turn. Suddenly, their path was clear.

Even more members of the
Familia
were standing outside the stone building, as if to demonstrate how many reserves were still waiting for orders to deploy. Once again, Bell was taken aback by yet another demonstration of military might.

Many sets of eyes watched the two fugitives make their way through the center of the garden. All of them wore the same look of anticipation.
Creak!
The joints on the front door sounded as Apollo emerged.

“My, my, Hestia. What are you hoping to accomplish, coming all the way out here like this?”

The deity walked down the front steps of his abode, his perfectly polished teeth sparkling in the sunlight. Hestia watched him descend, fury emanating from her eyes.

Apollo made his way through his army of adventurers, the young prum Luan at his side. The two came to a stop directly in front of Bell and Hestia.

Hestia’s aura of pure hatred made Bell and Luan uneasy, looking anywhere but at the goddess. Their faces glistened with a cold sweat. The two deities, on the other hand, didn’t even blink as they faced each other.

“…Prum boy, that glove, please.”

“Eh…Um, sure.”

Hestia’s tone didn’t allow for dissent. Luan nodded and removed the glove from his right hand.

Hestia snatched it from his grasp and in one clean motion slapped it against the side of Apollo’s face.

““?!””

Snap!
The reverberation of cloth on skin filled the quiet garden.

Hestia used every muscle in her body to deliver the blow; even her twin black ponytails flew through the air as her arm finally came to a stop. Bell and Ruan watched in stunned silence.

Despite the red blotch on his cheek, Apollo’s grin never changed. Hestia took in a deep breath and yelled with everything she had.

“Fine! You want a War Game, you’re gonna get one!”

Bell saw the corners of Apollo’s lips curl upward.

“All of the divine witnesses know it shall come to pass—my friends, a War Game!”

Doors and windows of the stone building flew open the moment Apollo raised his arms. Gods and goddesses emerged one after another.

“YAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”

As if they’d been waiting for this moment, even more deities jumped down from the trees or appeared from behind bushes in the garden.

Bell, Luan, and all the members of
Apollo Familia
who were on standby didn’t know how to react. They looked around with wide eyes as the garden suddenly came alive with divine voices.

“Get this cleared with the Guild!”

“Will need to open an emergency Denatus! Everyone’s invited!”

“This is so exciting—!”

“Been a long time comin’!”

A sudden whirlpool of excitement enveloped the humans. The gods were starving for entertainment and now there was going to be a show. Loki’s voice was right in the thick of it as the deities started to organize the War Game.

“It’s settled, then. The finer details of our Game will be decided at Denatus. The day shall be announced later…Let’s enjoy this, Hestia?”

Apollo sneered at Hestia without the faintest hint of fear or anxiety amid the chaos around them.

Apollo turned his back on her and went back inside his abode with Luan in tow.

“G-Goddess…”

Bell watched the god ascend the stone steps, his body frozen in place. Even his voice lacked substance.

The difference between the groups in terms of numbers and resources was astounding. This was a fight that couldn’t be won. Visions of the tragedy that was about to unfold flared up in Bell’s mind.

Hestia turned to face him with vigor.

“Bell, one week.”

She looked up at her follower, the boy’s face getting paler by the moment as she continued.

“I will find a way to delay the War Game for one week.”

“Huh…?”

“During that time, Bell, become as strong as you can. Stronger than any of the people who attacked us today—become stronger than ever! You can do it!”

Hestia was betting everything on Bell’s potential, the Realis Phrase skill.

Bell looked into his goddess’s eyes. There was no shadow of doubt. She completely believed in him, and that was terrifying.

“Bell! Lady Hestia!”

“Welf?!”

Welf came through the iron gate in front of
Apollo Familia
’s home.

The young man had followed Bell’s pursuers and then heard the commotion coming from this location to find them.