Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 5 (6 page)

The three adventurers were quick to take a triangular formation, their backs turned toward one another. Bell scrunched up his face as he looked past the remains of the hellhounds and to their next opponents.

“Why is it that monsters spawn so fast in the middle levels? I need a break.”

“Because it’s the middle levels, right?”

“Ha, ha-ha…”

Lilly pulled a few potions from her backpack and passed them around as the boys tried their best to lighten the mood.

The liquid could restore their physical strength, but there was nothing they could do about the mental fatigue taking over their minds.

It was hard for any of them to concentrate.

“Mr. Bell, Mr. Welf, Lilly recommends we retreat. We need to rest and regroup. There will be no end to the monsters at this rate.”

“Sounds great to me, but what are we gonna do about this?”

“Focus on one side and…break through?”

“Yes, Lilly believes that is best.”

Lilly nodded at Bell’s idea. All of the monsters had started to surround them.

The party knew that there was no more time for talking, and they readied their bodies for what was coming next.

“Well, then…”

“Yeah.”

“…Let’s go!”

The Dungeon slowly but surely took away every bit of mental and physical strength that Bell and his battle party had left.

It wouldn’t let any adventurer who made even the slightest mistake get away with it.

The Dungeon was very sly. Like a salivating hunter toying with its prey, the Dungeon didn’t go in for the kill all at once, but strategically wore its meal down.

Occasionally having monsters howl at them from afar—

Sometimes shaking the ground beneath their feet with strong quakes—

And, of course, consistently birthing monsters at just the right time to cut off their escape—

These little incidents weren’t much on their own. However, not knowing what was coming next weighed heavily on the group. None of them could hide their exhaustion.

It was much easier to bring down a castle with a broken foundation. Lost physical strength was not easy to recover. And once they noticed something was wrong, it was already too late.

The prey let out groans of agony, weak bodies hunched over as they fought to catch their breath. Only then did the Dungeon bear its fangs.

“—”

Crack!

A very unwelcome sound reached Bell’s ears, his body already on the verge of collapse.

He had lost track of how long he had been half fighting, half running away from monsters. His gaze raced around the tunnel, trying to find the source of the noise.

The walls looked as solid as ever, but the noise was getting louder. The mother Dungeon wasn’t about to pull any punches now.

Crack, crack!

The foreboding sound surrounded them, echoing from all sides.

Huh—?

Bell was the first to figure it out.

The sound was coming from above. Welf and Lilly followed his line of sight and gasped.

A weblike network of cracks and fissures sprawled out over the ceiling above them. The parties stood and watched as the web expanded farther down the tunnel in both directions. It was too wide to believe.

Another crack, and more echoes. It got harder to tell the difference between new crevices opening and the echoes with each passing moment.

A piece of rock fell from the ceiling as the entire tunnel groaned, unable to bear the weight any longer.

Bell’s body was frozen in place. The boy could feel the blood draining from his head.

—Monsters!

The second that thought crossed his mind…

…The ceiling shattered in a thunderous roar as a swarm of bad bats was born from the tunnel ceiling.

“
KYAAAAAAAAAA—!!
”

A chorus of high-pitched squeals rang out as the bad bats took wing for the first time.

The dim lights from above were suddenly blacked out by countless shadows in the air.

Shrouded in darkness, Bell and the others could only catch a glimpse of the heavily damaged ceiling.

Until, finally, it caved in.

“““—?!”””

Bell’s, Lilly’s, and Welf’s eyes practically jumped from their sockets. All of them sprang into action a moment later.

It was a rockslide intended to kill. The three of them made a mad dash forward, trying to escape the onslaught.

One hit after another, new pain erupting with every blow. Their eardrums were assaulted by the thunderous barrage of stones and boulders falling like water. Rocks and boulders just kept coming from above.

There wasn’t even a sliver of time to look out for one another.

The three ran as fast as they could to escape the howl of the Dungeon itself.

“Gah, haa…!”

At last the rockslide subsided.

Welf gasped for breath, the air filled with thick dust and debris.

Bell’s hands broke out in a cold sweat, but he didn’t look in Welf’s direction. He could tell by his voice that he was hurt.

There was a small cough in the distance. Lilly.

Wiping away the blood that seeped from the many small cuts on his face, Bell tried to call out to his friends to make sure they were okay.

“Urkh…”

However.

His throat was too dry and full of dust to produce the sound.

“—”

Shapes were coming into focus now that the dust started to settle.

There were several dark shadows climbing over the rubble that sat on top of where he had been standing just a few moments ago.

A pack of hellhounds.

In that moment, Bell’s voice was truly gone.

“Garrrrr…!”

All of the hellhounds’ heads were low to the ground.

Sparks flew as smoke rose from their mouths.

They started bearing fangs; the rubble underneath their feet was illuminated in red, glowing light.

—Oh no.

Lilly turned pale.

She was gripped by the despair of what was about to happen.

—Can’t make it!

Welf gritted his teeth, as if he were cursing his lack of luck.

This is—

Bell’s eyes were opened.

Opened to the strength and number of the monsters.

Opened to the mercilessness of the Dungeon.

Opened to the constant flow of absurdity.

The hellhounds rose and flung their heads forward.

The battle party was lit up by the volley of flames that exploded from their mouths.

The orbs of flame tore through the air, waves of intense heat bursting through the tunnel.

—The middle levels!

There was a massive explosion.

CHAPTER 2

A small figure ran into the Pantheon—the Guild headquarters.

With twin black ponytails dancing behind her, the figure made her way into the white marble lobby and through a crowd of adventurers almost twice her size.

Hestia didn’t care that her skin was covered in sweat or that her breathing was ragged as she darted for the counter in the corner of the lobby.

“Ms. Adviser!”

“G-Goddess Hestia?”

Eina’s eyes widened as the small goddess practically tackled the reception desk.

Hestia didn’t wait for the half-elf to respond and got straight to the point in a desperate voice.

“Did Bell come here yesterday?!”

“J-just in the morning before going into the Dungeon. I haven’t seen him since then…”

Hestia’s face contorted as if in pain after hearing her answer.

Seeing a look of confusion on Eina’s face, the young goddess immediately started explaining.

“Bell never came home last night.”

“!”

“I don’t know where his supporter and the other boy are, either. Most likely, all of them are still in the Dungeon.”

Welf was a member of
Hephaistos Familia
. Lilly lived at a gnome antique shop.

Hestia had visited both places earlier this morning in hopes of getting information about Bell and the others—just like her, nobody had seen them since early the previous morning.

Eina’s face turned a few shades lighter, her emerald eyes wide open as she listened.

Asking the goddess to wait a moment, Eina disappeared from the reception desk like an arrow released from its bow, only to return a minute later.

“I just spoke with the Exchange. No one matching Bell’s description went there yesterday.”

“…!”

Hestia’s blood ran cold.

It was likelier than ever that the entire party never left the Dungeon.

Although, she couldn’t completely rule out the possibility that they got mixed up in some incident after they came out. More than anything, she wanted to believe that that was the case.

Especially because yesterday was the day that Bell was planning to crawl the middle levels of the Dungeon for the first time.

Indeed, Bell had said, “I’ll tell you what the middle levels are like when I get back!” before leaving yesterday morning.

Hestia had made him promise that whenever he went to a new floor he would contact her immediately once he got back. Yesterday was the first time that he had ever failed to do so.

Hestia was smart enough to realize what this meant, and had been unable to rest the entire night.

Bell and his party had failed to get out of the middle levels.

Her divine intuition only further confirmed her conclusion. The feeling that she was right was driving her mad.

“…Ms. Adviser, please, can you find out if anyone has seen him?”

“Yes, I give you my word. I will ask as many adventurers as possible for information.”

Hestia’s racing heart seemed to calm down for a moment after making her request. All she could do was sigh and put her next words together in her head.

The goddess was thankful for Eina’s cooperation, but she needed more than a promise.

“Also, I’d like to issue a quest. The goal is simple: find Bell.”

She didn’t have enough time to be picky, so this was the fastest and most effective way to have other adventurers participate.

Eina understood immediately and returned to her desk with a quick nod and came back to the counter with a sheet of paper. She started filling out the registration form with a few quick strokes of a feather pen.

“What do you propose for the reward?”

“Four hundred thousand vals. My
Familia
’s entire savings.”

That was the largest amount of money she could prepare right away. Answering a few more of Eina’s questions, the two of them worked out the rest of the details.

Lastly, Hestia snatched the pen out of Eina’s outstretched hand and practically threw her signature onto the bottom of the form. The registration was complete.

“I need approval from upstairs to post this. Please understand the process will take about an hour. I’ll have the quest posted as soon as possible.”

“Thanks. I’m counting on you.”

Eina gave another quick bow before getting up and making her way to the stairs. Hestia turned away from the counter and headed toward the door.

The goddess went through the doors and onto the Guild headquarters’ front lawn. Many adventurers made their way past her, walking by a row of beautiful marble statues. The sky was clear and the streets were relatively quiet, completely unlike the storm that was raging in Hestia’s heart.

Miach and Nahza stood next to a beautifully carved monument in the center of the headquarters’ front lawn.

“What did you learn, Hestia?”

“Nothing. Looks like they really didn’t make it out of the Dungeon.”

Miach and Nahza stood in silence as Hestia shook her head from side to side.

Having already heard all the details from Hestia, the two of them knew how serious the situation had become.

The image of the entire party wiped out flashed into the back of her mind.

Hestia suddenly screamed as loud as she could to try to flush it from her head.

“Bell is still alive! My Blessing is still with him!”

He was the only person on Earth to receive her Falna. She could still feel the ichor from her blood edged into Bell’s Status on his back—their bond had not been broken.

The other two were surprised by Hestia’s sudden outburst. Cautiously lowering her arm, it was Nahza who started the conversation about what to do next.

“Lady Hestia, have you already applied for a quest…?”

“Yes, thanks for your advice, Nahza. It should be up soon.”

Miach and Nahza were the reason that Hestia had decided to register one in the first place, despite having almost no information on Bell’s whereabouts.

If he turned up out of the blue, then they could all laugh about this later. However,
Miach Familia
had once nearly lost Nahza in the Dungeon in a very similar situation. Hestia needed to exhaust every option before it was too late.

“In that case, I suggest we pay Hephaistos and Takemikazuchi a visit. We need as much help as possible.”

“What are we waiting for?!”

Hestia was quick to agree with Miach’s suggestion.

They left the Guild headquarters behind and headed out onto the street.

One hour later.

Just as Eina had promised, Hestia’s quest was posted on the bulletin board at Guild headquarters.

Amid all of the adventurers looking for a quest to undertake, one in particular found the newly posted quest and leaned in for a closer look.

Without warning—
rip!
She tore the post from the bulletin board.

“Something very bad has happened…Lord Hermes.”

Twelve hours earlier.

The Dungeon was silent. With no monsters around, only the moldy smell of the damp air and ash-colored rocks was there to provide atmosphere.

The tunnel was very dim. The only light came down from far above, spots on the ceiling flickering like distant campfires. Only the sounds of heavy footsteps on gravel reverberated through the darkness.

Bell silently made his way one step at a time through the tunnel, his face softly illuminated by the lights above.

A bead of sweat worked its way down his brown, dust-covered face and fell off his narrow chin. It landed quietly at his feet. The cuts covering his head had finally closed, and rivers of dried blood covered his cheeks.

“Hunh…Hunh…” His deep breaths pierced the silence as he adjusted the arm draped over his shoulder.

“Sorry, man…”

“Don’t…worry…”

Bell managed to get the words out between breaths, in response to the weak voice in his ear.

Welf wore a very pained expression, his face coated with sweat as Bell helped him to move forward. Bell looked out of the corner of his eye behind Welf and saw Lilly, looking just as ragged as they did, not too far behind. She noticed his gaze and flashed a shaky smile as if to say, “Lilly’s okay.”

The three of them had managed to survive the hellhounds’ volley of fire, although it had been a near thing.

The attack had come from a rather large pack of the monsters. They made their move to escape before the smoke cleared, and their mad dash to safety had been successful.

But they had paid a high price to win their improbable survival. One of Welf’s legs had been crushed in the rock slide on level thirteen. It was impossible for him to walk on his own. While Lilly didn’t have many visible injuries, Bell could tell by the look on her face that
the weakest member of their party had had the most difficult time during their escape. Also, her backpack was in tatters. There was no doubt they had lost a large number of potions and other items.

Bell looked down to assess his own condition after checking up on his allies.

We’d have been wiped out without the salamander wool…

The red fabric still sparkled under what was left of his armor. A fresh bead of cold sweat ran down the back of his neck as Bell thought about what would’ve happened without it. All of them would be a smoldering pile of ash at this point.

The magical protection that resided within the fairy-made cloth was the only reason that they’d survived at all. The salamander wool had protected their bodies from the intense heat.

Looking at the light burns on his hands, Bell inwardly thanked his adviser over and over.

Eina had saved all their lives.

“Lilly, what items do we have left…?”

“Four potions and two antidotes; no high potions made it…”

Lilly’s response made Bell realize just how much danger they were in. Just getting out of the middle levels was going to be extremely difficult.

He tried to do the math in his head—how much distance they had to cover with their current stock of items. All adventurers knew that weapons could break and that healing items were extremely important in the middle levels. The fact that Bell and Lilly didn’t have much physical strength left made Welf’s condition even more of a dilemma.

Normal potions were designed to restore physical strength. Only high potions and elixirs could clot blood and save someone with deep gashes, broken bones, and other severe injuries. Welf’s lower left leg—everything below the knee—was coated in a mixture of dark red and black colors, the bone obviously broken in many places. It was impossible for Bell or Lilly to treat such an injury with the items they still had on hand.

Their formation had lost its only frontline fighter. Surviving in the middle levels had just became a lot more difficult.

And we also…fell.

Bell took a look up toward the lights and could just make out holes in the ceiling as the group pressed forward.

They were on the fourteenth floor.

All of them had fallen through one of those holes. It happened during their mad dash after the rockslide on level thirteen while trying to get away from the hellhounds. No one saw the hole in time, and they’d fallen to the floor below.

They were indeed trapdoors. The shock of falling all that way made standing up again extremely painful for Bell and his party.

All of the holes above them were lined up in a neat little row. However, the walls leading up to them were too high and smooth to climb. Then there was the hole itself; they would slip and fall back down here long before they could reach the floor above. The Dungeon was merciless.

This was the worst possible situation that they could have been in. The group had fallen victim to a “Dungeon Gimmick.”

“Bell, Li’l E…If it comes to it, you gotta leave me behind…”

“What does Mr. Welf think he’s saying…?”

“No, absolutely not.”

They exchanged feeble conversation. Bell readjusted the shoulder that supported Welf after the blacksmith’s unnecessary attempt to tell them to save themselves.

They had yet to encounter a monster in the quiet darkness. The only sounds to come through the shadows were made by Bell, Lilly, or Welf. The lights above were only strong enough to illuminate their silhouettes, adding to the feeling of despair that surrounded them.