Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 6 (32 page)

Every muscle in the boy’s body tensed before filling the “fang” of his fist with every ounce of energy he had left.

“UWAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Impact.

“GeHAA?!”

Bell’s fist buried itself in Hyacinthus’s cheek; shock waves rolled all the way around the man’s head. A heartbeat later, his feet left the ground.

A sharp thud rang out before a loud crash. The man’s body hit the ground with such force that he flew high into the air on the first bounce; what was left of his cape was torn to shreds as he spun like a top. He fell to the ground again only to have his momentum launch him skyward once more.

His body came to a merciful halt after a thirty-meder trip through the debris field. Hyacinthus lay on his back, arms and legs spread out like a fallen angel in the middle of the grassland.

Eyes rolled back in his head and the giant crater on his cheek, the man did not try to stand.

The wind stopped blowing as silence descended on the battlefield.

Cassandra was about to throw Lilly off her body when she saw the final blow. The long-haired girl fell to her knees.

“
^{__________
__________
______}
!”

The sky above Orario erupted in a tremendous outcry.

Church bells rang out throughout the city to mark the end of the War Game just as the final blow had been delivered at the castle ruins.

Demi-humans of every race looked at the young boy reflected in the mirrors and yelled at the top of their lungs.

“Eina, look at that!”

“Bell…!”

Misha wrapped her arms around Eina’s shoulders in front of the Guild headquarters.

Emerald eyes tearing up, Eina forgot her position as a Guild employee and joined in the celebration taking place around her. The anxiety masked by refinement was gone, pure joy taking its place.

“
There’s the final bell!
That was amazing, ranking right up there with the deeds of the ‘Giant Killers,’
Loki Familia
! The victor of this War Game is
Hestia Familia
^____
!”

For some reason, Ganesha struck manly poses in the middle of the stage, completely ignoring the fact that Ibly was shouting through the voice magnifier with so much intensity that his face might explode.

His voice echoed throughout the city, enveloping every building and reaching the ears of every onlooker.

“““Yahh HAAAA!”””

Three deities, who’d bet on
Hestia Familia
at a certain bar in the city, jumped up from their table, celebrating their improbable winnings.

“““SON OF A BITCH!”””

At the same time, all of the adventurers who’d bet on Apollo swore at the top of their lungs and threw their tickets to the floor in disgust.

“Oh, oh? Lady?! You win, too?”

Judging from all the shrieks of agony, Mord had thought he was the only one who came out on top. That was when he saw a rather happy young woman sitting in the corner of the bar.

The man walked up to her, happy as could be. The Chienthrope woman—Nahza—smiled back at him, wagging her bushy tail and making a
V
with her fingers.

“““YESSS–SAA!”””

The cries of anguish were just as strong on West Main at The Benevolent Mistress. However, Ahnya, Chloe, and Runoa were jumping for joy, slapping their hands together over and over. Other employees of the bar came over to the three girls, exchanging hugs and smiling right along with them.

“…Bell.”

Tears of happiness were flooding Syr’s silver eyes. Her lips quivered as her face tried to express the intensity of her feelings all at once.

Her cheeks blushed as she finally looked away from the mirror floating in front of the wall and turned her attention toward the customers. “Dammit, I’ve lost everything!” “Hey, Syr, I’m gonna need a crap-ton of ale over here!” She managed to put her “work smile” on as the patrons began to drown their sorrow in as much alcohol as they could afford.

“Com–ming!” she responded in a bright voice, pep in her step as she went to take their orders.

“…Punk pulled it off.”

Bete practically spat those words out of his mouth as he listened to the celebrations coming from outside his
Familia
’s home.

He turned his back on the common room and walked toward the exit.

“Bete, where are you off to?”

“Wherever the hell I feel like.”

The werewolf responded to Finn’s question before disappearing out the door.

Everyone left behind in the common room exchanged glances. They came to a consensus surprisingly quickly.

“Dungeon, huh.” “Tha’d be da Dungeon.” “The Dungeon, no doubt.”

“For sure…”

Finn and Gareth forced a smile as Reveria closed her eyes in frustration. Tione looked more bored than annoyed.

With Bete gone, everyone in the room returned their attention to the mirrors. Thinking back to the desperate boy who’d come to their doorstep almost ten days ago, it was hard to believe that pitiful rabbit had seized victory. No one said a word.

That is, until…

“…Good for him.”

“Yes…”

Tiona had been literally dancing around the room just moments earlier, but now the Amazon stood next to Aiz as they watched a mirror. Slowly but surely the wheat-skinned girl turned to her friend with a radiant smile on her lips.

The blonde nodded in response and watched Bell’s friends gather around him in the mirror’s reflection. Her lips opened before she realized what was happening.

“Congrats…”

The largest mirror in the street showed the boy’s allies gathering around him, ruffling his hair and congratulating him like family. Others showed scenes of other cities overtaken by the thrill of the good fight.

The same was true of the gods in Babel Tower. Several of them had gathered together, comparing notes and admiring the children or offering criticism in their own reviews of the War Game.

“Wha…ha…, eh…?”

One of them however, Apollo, looked like a ghost as he stood frozen next to the table.

His mirror showed nothing but reflections of his children, powerless and kneeling all over the castle ruins. The fact that he couldn’t escape this reality just hit him like a brick wall.

He took two steps back, then another as his crown of laurels fell from his head.

“A-PO-LL-O.”

Then,
schreee
.

The feet of Hestia’s chair squeaked as they slowly slid across the floor. The goddess who had kept quiet all this time had broken her silence.

A dark aura emerged as she stood up from the table. Head angled down, no one could see her eyes behind her black bangs. Her chin suddenly jerked up, blue eyes flashing as they locked on her target: Apollo.
Tap, tap.
She walked toward him.

“Hy-hyeee!”

“You’ve made peace with yourself, I hope?”

Hestia’s low voice sounded as though it were summoned from the deepest pits of hell. Apollo fell backward in fright.

Bell had nearly been stolen from her, her home was destroyed, and she’d been chased at arrow point around the city, among other hardships.

All of the pent-up anger that hadn’t been allowed to vent until this moment was on the verge of exploding within her. The god on the floor could see it in her eyes. He shook as Hestia stood over him, glaring down with the utmost intensity. The god’s eyes began to water.

“H-hear me out, Hestia! This was all just an impulse! That child of yours was just so cute, I couldn’t help but pinch his cheeks a little…P-please, have mercy on me, O Goddess of Affection! We were once destined to share marital bliss!”

“Shut—your—mouth.”

The young goddess cut off his pleading with the ferocity of Hades himself.

Apollo’s face took on a shade of blue and fell silent. Even in Tenkai, he had never seen Hestia be so terrifying.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Hestia’s twin ponytails whipped about behind her head, riding the waves of her aura. It was proof of just how deep her rage ran.

“You promised to do
whatever my little heart desires
, yes?”

Apollo, who never even considered the possibility of defeat, had indeed said that.

All the other gods present had made a large circle around the two deities, enjoying every second of the climax. They couldn’t wait to see the young goddess’s Divine Judgment on the offender for his sins.

Apollo started to panic, gasping for breath as he looked to the faces of his former allies. They were now just faces in the dark, white teeth sparkling in the dim light from the mirrors. The deities were thoroughly enjoying watching him squirm.

Apollo’s robes dragged across the floor as he squirmed away from them and backed into Hestia. Looking up, he saw blue orbs flash in anger the moment he made eye contact.

“Everything you own, including your home, is now mine. Disband your
Familia
—and you will go into exile! Never set foot in Orario AGAIN
^____
___
!”

“HyGAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

His scream sent a shiver through the city.

Hestia gave no quarter to the dangerous god who had very nearly taken everything away from her.

Far away from the battlefield, amid a swirling storm of emotions…

Another final blow had been struck.

At the now peaceful castle ruins…

Bell reunited with his allies inside the castle that was now missing its throne room and a good deal of its outer wall. Of course, all of them were elated by their victory.

“We actually defeated a
Familia
possessing that much power…by ourselves.”

“Had to rely on a ruse or two but…Yeah, we can brag about this one.”

Mikoto and Welf exchanged words, adrenaline still pumping through their veins. She had taken the brunt of her own Magic and he had crossed blades with one of the enemy captains, so the two of them were in rough shape physically. However, their faces were so full of life and a feeling of accomplishment that no one could tell if they were in pain at all.

Bell walked away from their conversation and approached Lilly.

“Lilly…Thank you for saving me.”

“Mr. Bell…”

“Really, thank you…”

The sincerity in Bell’s eyes, despite the fact he was covered in blood and beaten to a pulp, overwhelmed Lilly so much that she couldn’t speak clearly. The muscles in her small body tensed up as she hid her face and worked up the courage to ask.

“Was Lilly…useful?”

“Yes. It’s all thanks to Lilly that…I can go home to Orario.”

Bell’s words made Lilly’s childlike face smile.

She hadn’t felt like this since the day that their relationship had been reset. The prum girl blushed as she looked up at him with a smile as radiant as a blooming sunflower.

“Mr. Cranell, we should move out of this location. The Guild employees will be here soon; it is necessary to find a place to rest and recover.”

“Ah, sure.”

Lyu suggested from beneath her hood, eyes locked on Bell’s injured right shoulder.

The taste of victory in their mouths, the group made their way through the debris inside the castle walls.

“…?”

Without thinking, Bell placed his left hand on his chest.

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the string around his neck and pulled the amulet out from under his shirt.

However, it was broken.

The jewel had a series of spiderweb-like cracks running through it and the golden casing was falling apart. The radiance it had the moment that Syr gave it to him was gone.

…Did it protect me?

Hyacinthus’s Magic packed a very powerful punch. Taking a direct hit, like he did, should’ve knocked him out of commission for good.

Bell couldn’t help but feel that this amulet had sacrificed itself to save him.

Bell took a closer look at the broken jewel and saw something that looked like an emblem engraved in the casing behind it.

Due to the thousands of cracks in its surface, however, he could only see that it was someone’s face in profile.

“Something wrong, Bell? We’re leaving.”

“Ah…yeah. Right behind you.”

The boy stopped moving to look at the jewel. Welf had noticed and called out to him.

The white-haired boy nodded, keeping his gaze on the jewel in his left hand before slowly looking up to the sky.

“…”

Just who was the adventurer who gave Syr this amulet?

It was given to her for a reason, so that she would give it to him.

These thoughts ran through Bell’s mind as he looked up at the azure sky.

He couldn’t help but feel that someone watching him through a mirror in the city was smiling at him at that very moment.