Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 6 (8 page)

I don’t have to walk far. One of the tall windows was left open and I step outside.

Cool air envelops me the moment my foot hits the cement balcony.

A starry night opens up above my head. I take a look around the black abyss and see a faint glow coming from the closest Main Street. A soft breeze tickles my skin.

All of the stress and tension that had built up start to melt as I take a few breaths of fresh air.

My mind is clear.

“…?”

I walk out to the ornately carved hand railing and hear some strange sounds coming from below.

Looking out over the green lawn decorated with a fountain and many trees, my eyes find two human-looking figures.

Isn’t that…?

This must be a garden of sorts, and probably part of the building itself. The edge of the property is lined with tall trees, enough to remind me of a wooded area. There, in a dark spot where the lights from the Celebration can’t reach—

The handsome man from Hibachitei, the one who beat me so easily…Hyacinthus and a man I’ve never seen before are talking.

What are they doing out here…?

“Tomorrow morning at the earliest…According to plan…We will handle the timing…Is that clear, Zanis?”

“Yes…About the money…”

I can’t make out all of their words. My body moves on its own.

Concentrating with all of my might, I focus my ears—enhanced by my Status—on their conversation.

They’re quite a ways from the balcony, but I can also make out their lip movements. With that, plus snippets of their voices, I get a general idea what they’re talking about.

Zanis…?

That must be the name of whoever Hyacinthus is talking to.

I know it’s not nice to eavesdrop, but I lean a little farther off the balcony.

When suddenly,
shff
, Hyacinthus and the other man look my way. I instantly freeze as I watch their eyes scan all the balconies on the side of the building.

“Bell?”

“!”

A voice comes from behind me and I spin to face it.

Lord Hermes is standing next to the window that leads to the balcony. The Celebration is still in full swing behind him. I look over my shoulder back to where the two men were just a moment ago.

Hyacinthus and the man are nowhere to be seen.

“What are you doing out here?”

“Ah…Nothing really.”

Lord Hermes walks out to meet me at the hand railing.

I was eavesdropping, but I can’t exactly say that to him. I wish I could’ve heard more of their conversation, and I try my best to reassure myself that it was nothing important.

“…Oh well, it doesn’t matter. Here, drink up.”

“Th-thank you…”

Lord Hermes has one glass in each hand and holds one of them out in front of me. I take it and thank him.

Only once I get it to my lips do I realize it’s just water. Honestly, I didn’t want any more wine, so I’m grateful.

I look at Lord Hermes with questioning eyes, as if to say
why are you out here?
He takes a swig of the wine in his own glass and grins at me.

“We never did have a chance to chat. Sorry I’m not one of those cute girls inside, but may I join you?”

His joke makes me smile and I nod at him. “Of course.”

I quickly fix my posture and meet Lord Hermes in the center of the balcony.

“You and Hestia just keep making progress. I’ve known who you are for a while now, but after seeing what you can do on the eighteenth floor, you can count me as one of your fans.”

“I-I’m not that great…”

Seeing Lord Hermes come out here was a little scary at first, but there’s something about his friendly smile that eases the tension in my shoulders. He compliments, teases, and jokes as the two of us get settled. Lord Hermes is by far the best oral tactician I’ve ever met.

Muffled but beautiful music makes its way from the ballroom’s dance floor through the window in front of us. The gorgeous tones fill my ears as Lord Hermes and I start talking like friends.

“Say, Bell. Why did you become an adventurer?”

Lord Hermes leans against the hand railing as he asks me the question.

The muscles in my mouth tighten up. What am I supposed to tell him? “I came to meet the girl of my dreams in the Dungeon!” “I couldn’t give up my childhood dream of becoming a hero!” It’s getting embarrassing, repeating the same answer over and over.

I scratch my head and think about it for a moment before finally making up my mind.

“My grandfather…The man who raised me said this before he passed away…‘Orario has everything you could ever want. If you wanna go, go.’”

“Oh?”

“Orario has money and, um, I could meet lots of cute girls, fulfill any dream…He told me that joining a beautiful goddess’s
Familia
and being part of a big family was more than just a possibility.”

“—Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

Lord Hermes tilts his chin toward the night sky and laughs from deep within his belly.

I look at the red-faced deity who’s clutching his stomach and doing his best to calm down.

“‘You can be a hero. Go, if your will is strong enough.’…Those were his words,” I say.

It wasn’t a demand; it was up to me to decide.

I was still very young, but I clearly remember Gramps saying all of that only once.

That’s the reason I came to Orario. That’s why I wanted to be an adventurer.

After my grandfather’s death, I thought about everything he’d ever said. It didn’t take me long to make my choice.

I wanted the warmth of a family.

The one thing I craved ever since childhood—and reinforced by my bond with Gramps—was to meet the person who would make that dream come true.

So I came to Orario, my soul filled with visions of becoming a hero.

Even as I talk with Lord Hermes, flashes of the life I once knew bubble up to the surface of my memory. I look at the floor of the balcony and relive every single one of them.

“…Your grandfather sounds like he was very amusing.”

“Yes, he was. He made every day entertaining.”

I try to stifle the grin on my lips. The word “amusing” describes my grandfather so well that I just can’t help it.

Lord Hermes looks at me like he’s going to flash yet another smile. Bringing the wineglass up to his lips, he tilts his head back and downs the rest.

“So then, you spent your entire life in the town where you were born until you came to Orario?”

“Yes. A small village in the middle of the mountains…So, there is still so much I don’t know.”

Lord Hermes’s expression softened the moment I admitted to how little I understood about the city. I have to admit, this is pretty embarrassing.

He looks at me, orange eyes twinkling under long, thin eyelids.

“Well then, do you know of a god named Zeus?”

Then he asks me about a god I’ve never heard of.

“Lord Zeus…No, I don’t. Is he well known?”

“Oh yes. He
used to be
the leader of the most powerful
Familia
in history, starting from the day we first arrived in Orario.”

That was unexpected. My eyes wide open, I look back at Lord Hermes, giving him my full attention.

“A-aren’t
Loki Familia
and
Freya Familia
the most powerful…”

“Now they are, sure. But it wasn’t that way until very recently. Fifteen years ago, to be exact.”

Fifteen years ago…My lips go to repeat his words, but no sound comes out of my mouth.

Lord Hermes starts talking again.

“Until Loki and Lady Freya claimed control themselves, Zeus and a goddess named Hera were the top dogs in Orario. The current arrangement came to be when Loki and Lady Freya took them down and banished them from the city.”

“…Lord Zeus’s and Lady Hera’s
Familias
were defeated in battle?”

“That’s true, but not in the way that you’re thinking. You see, the shift in power all started with a failed quest.”

It sounds like he’s about to get to the juicy part of the story.

Lord Hermes holds out his hand and sticks up three fingers.

“This world has burdened Orario with the Three Great Quests.”

My eyes focus on the three fingertips in front of me.

“During the era that you children call Ancient Times, three monsters with incredible power escaped from the Dungeon—the quests are to eliminate them.”

“Eh…So then, that means…”

“That’s right, they’re alive. These ancient monsters that burst out of the Dungeon are still out there.”

I gulp down the air in my throat.

“Ancient Times”—That means these monsters have survived for more than one thousand years. This is incredible.

Judging by the way Lord Hermes is talking about them…I don’t think they’re related to the monsters Nahza told me about, the ones that escaped the Dungeon and reproduced on their own on the surface.

“This should be obvious, but the Dungeon provides adventurers in the Labyrinth City with the perfect training ground. As citizens of Orario, they have the obligation to the rest of the world to dispose of the monsters that emerged from beneath their feet.”

No other city can rival Orario in terms of pure power and influence. This is directly due to the Dungeon, a place where monsters continuously spawn and provide adventurers with nearly limitless opportunities to level up. Aboveground, monsters and humans are much weaker, meaning that adventurers have a very difficult time acquiring excelia—and chances to level up are hard to come by. I’ve heard that the strongest adventurers in other cities are only Level 2, rarely making it to Level 3.

That’s the real reason that Orario is considered to be the center of the world, this source of absolute power.

“Fifteen years ago…Zeus and Hera were at the height of their power. Their
Familias
were home to the most powerful adventurers in history, and they set out to challenge the three ancient beasts. First, the Terrestrial Tyrant, Behemoth, then the Ruler of the Sea, Leviathan, were defeated.—And last…”

Lord Hermes puts down two fingers in turn. He raises the last one up to his face.

“The last one, the Black Dragon, was too strong and wiped them out.”

I finally remember to blink.

“The B-Black Dragon…It can’t be—is that the One-eyed Dragon?”

“That’s right. You know about it?”

Oh, I know. I know.

I met that living embodiment of death and despair in the pages of one of my books when I was a kid.

The epic tales of heroes from the Ancient Times immortalized in the pages of the labyrinth’s scripture, the
Dungeon Oratoria
. It’s a cruel and merciless monster that appears in the book’s final chapter.

The bravest of the heroes sacrificed his own life to cut out one of the beast’s eyes, forcing the Dragon King to retreat into the clouds.

Words have left me, but with Lord Hermes’s story replaying in my mind I manage to grunt an affirmation.

The living scourge, living legend, the living end.

This creature that appears in many heroic tales and legends of old is not just a work of fiction, but
alive
…I’m absolutely stunned.

“Both Zeus’s and Hera’s
Familias
lost their strongest followers in the battle with the Black Dragon, leaving them weak and vulnerable. And now we’re back to where we began. Loki and Lady Freya teamed up to force the two high-ranking scrappers—no, their biggest rival deities—out of the city.”

Lord Hermes smiles again and shrugs his shoulders.

“It was just a sign of the changing times. Even the Guild, which had supported them through thick and thin for generations, didn’t protect a feeble Zeus and Hera.”

Lord Hermes goes on to say that it might be better to say the Guild couldn’t protect them.

“That’s the fall of Zeus and how the Orario you know came to be.”

“…”

“The peoples of the world still yearn for the completion of the last of the Three Grand Quests, the slaying of the Black Dragon. As a citizen of Orario, you will have a part to play.”

Lord Hermes sums up his point while grinning at me as I stand frozen in place.

He just explained how the once powerful and famous
Zeus Familia
and the fate of the city of Orario were intertwined.

Sure, I grew up in a little village in the middle of nowhere. But it’s painful to realize just how clueless I was. This world seems peaceful at first glance, but there’s a disaster waiting to happen hidden in the shadows.

Where is the Black Dragon now, what’s it doing, there’s so much I want to know…But as one young and inexperienced adventurer, I don’t have the right to know those details. There’s not much reason to.

But at the very least, the ones closest to that Dragon in power are—the warriors belonging to the two most powerful
Familias
.

“…Um, Lord Hermes?”

“What is it?”

“Lord Zeus and Lady Hera…Can I ask what happened to them?”

I have a feeling he won’t tell me anything more about the Three Grand Quests, so I ask him about the banished gods instead.

He looks at me for a very long moment before flashing a grin and closing his eyes.

“That’s a tough one. The idea that they would return to Tenkai sounds pretty convincing, but no one really knows what happened to that good-natured old man. He might be out scouring the globe for new heroes, or he could be hiding in some shack, wallowing in despair. Knowing him, he could be traveling to the ends of the earth just to see what’s there…That’s more likely.”

“I-I see.”

“Are you curious?”

I look away and say that I’m not really interested. For some reason, I can’t give him a direct answer.

Hearing that those two deities were chased out of the city makes me think.

If for some reason I was drawn into a battle for power and my side lost…Lady Hestia and I…Would we be banished, too?

I can’t ignore this and assume that it’s someone else’s problem. It’s a little scary.

“Well, our chat went a little long. Sorry to take so much of your time, Bell.”

“N-no, it’s all right. Thank you for talking with me.”

Our conversation over, Hermes gives me one of his charming smiles. Suddenly the atmosphere on the balcony changes completely.

Lord Hermes cocks an eyebrow after I thank him.

“Say, Bell, are you not going to dance?”

“Eh?”

“Take a look inside. See?”

I follow his gaze and, sure enough, the center of the ballroom is sparkling, alive with movement.

“That grandfather of yours told you, didn’t he? That Orario has enough gorgeous women and beautiful ladies to turn the world green with envy? This is your chance to enjoy it.”

“Eh? Um…what?”

Oh no, it’s that grin. I’ve seen Lord Hermes make that face before.

He puts his arm around me, guiding me to the window. The corners of his mouth are so far back, I’m surprised his teeth haven’t hit his ear.

“L-Lord Hermes, I don’t know how to dance, so don’t worry about me. I’m happy enough just being here…!”

“What happened to your spine, Bell? So now, what’s your type?”

He tightens his arm around me, grinning hugely.

Completely unable to move, I have no choice but to look at the women scattered around the ballroom. There’s an absolutely gorgeous goddess dancing in the middle of the floor, her dress fluttering around her. A little ways back, an elf is being invited to dance at this very moment. A sleek catgirl is enjoying the cuisine at a table off to the side. More and more young women come into focus as I look from corner to corner and back again.

I fight back the burgeoning heat coming from under my eyes. The only thing I know for sure is I can’t look at her, anywhere else is okay
but not at her
…But that plan backfires.

My eyes manage to find a streak of blond hair amid the lights and decorations of the ballroom—I find Aiz right away.

And, of course, Lord Hermes notices.

“Oh-ho! The Kenki, eh? You don’t mess around.”

“No! I just, um…!”

The words stop coming out as my face starts to boil, turning beet red.

Lord Hermes looks at me in silence. Then without warning, his eyes light up, accompanied by another toothy grin.

“—So that’s how it is…I see, I see.”

“Uh, uhhh…”

The deity nods and looks at me with that cheek-splitting smile plastered on his face.

He knows. He just figured everything out; I can see it in his expression. My whole body feels like it’s on fire.

He saw right through me like it was nothing. I look away, unable to maintain eye contact, and throw my head back, resigning myself to misery.

At the same time, “All right, that settles it!!” Lord Hermes sounds much more excited than he did a minute ago. “I’m no God of Love, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make sparks fly!”

“Why are you talking so loud?!”

But Lord Hermes doesn’t respond to me. Instead, he grabs my hand and pulls me back into the ballroom. He takes long powerful strides straight toward Aiz.

“Wh-what are you doing?!”

“Taking you to your dancing partner, obviously! The Kenki, who else?”

My heart jumps into my throat.

“I can’t, it’s impossible! There’s no way!”

I repeat myself over and over, getting louder and louder as Lord Hermes pulls me through the ballroom. But he’s not listening.

Like hell I can ask her. Even if I did, there’s no way she’d accept. But above all else, our goddesses would never allow it to happen!

Lord Hermes turns around and gives me one of his classic “manly” smiles. Perhaps one of my objections finally made it through?

“Leave it to me. I’ve got a plan.”

That said, he takes off at a brisk pace with me in tow.

Perfectly crafted melodies from the musicians fill the dimly lit ballroom. The magic-stone lamps on the chandeliers have been turned down, leaving the dance floor illuminated by moonlight.

Lady Hestia and Lady Loki are still arguing in the back corner. Aiz is standing just behind them. I bet that anyone who extended a hand to her was immediately driven away by her overprotective goddess under threat of the wrath of
Loki Familia
. I doubt anyone has even said hello.

She’s just standing there, watching the goddesses go at it and wondering if she should step in.