Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 2 (14 page)

No one had ever been able to resist the magic that was her beauty.

For that reason, members of
Freya Familia
had strength and power completely separate from those around them. Even among the powerful
Familias
of the Labyrinth City,
Freya Familia
stood apart in its might.

The goddess Loki knew perfectly well about Freya’s eyes, and called it the “rot in hell, you lousy cheater” power.

“I just happen to like strong men.”

She had discovered Bell by coincidence.

It was early one morning. Her silver eyes spotted him walking down West Main.

—I want that.

That emotion went through her at first sight.

It had been a long time since she felt like that. Her whole body lightly shook in anticipation; her stomach jumped; a breath of euphoria escaped her lips. Just as it had always happened with her, she became no better than a child who’d found a new toy in a toy store. A pure but ugly urge to possess him consumed her.

Bell’s soul was a color that Freya’s eyes had never seen before: clear.

What color would he become? Or would he stay clear? Anything with an element of uncertainty could keep a god interested indefinitely.

That’s why she couldn’t stop.

So she decided to wait and watch. It would be fun to turn him into her own color, but she felt as though there would be plenty of time to do that later.

“I can’t wait. How strong will you get? How bright will you shine? What color will you become?”

There was indeed love in her silver eyes as she watched the boy from her room, but it was a corrupt love.

She placed a finger on her full lips and playfully bit the tip.

For a moment, a provocative scent filled the room.

“What’s this…? …Ha-ha-ha, noticed again, did you?”

The boy was already quite small in the distance, but he had come to a complete stop and was looking around.

It was as though he’d lost something and was frantically searching the area to find it. Freya’s eyes closed slightly as a large grin enveloped her face.

He’d done the same thing the first time she saw him on West Main. He noticed her gaze when she focused on him with all the excitement built up in her body. His perception was better than she thought.

Almost as if her gaze had been too strong.

He doesn’t have the talents of other children before him…Why, then? Could everything be due to his growth? Mmm…very intriguing.

Looking back on that moment, she should have made her move.

She felt like she could have easily controlled him like a puppet as she’d watched him speak with some familiarity to a girl on the street. Even though he had another god’s blessing, she had no doubt she could have persuaded him.

She restrained herself because she didn’t know which
Familia
he belonged to—which god would move to protect him. She didn’t want to quarrel with someone like Loki and her
Familia.
That, and—

After seeing his innocent smile, her urges waned, and she didn’t feel like it.

I’ll have to remove Hestia from the picture…but that boy is mine.

But for now, changing the plan and watching him from the shadows wasn’t such a bad thing. Freya nodded to herself.

One would tire of always having a cat in one’s lap. It was good to let it play to its heart’s content outside in the garden from time to time.

After all, it was
her
garden.

She could retrieve him at any time.

“I will wait for a while before I make you mine…It’s strange, part of me doesn’t want you to come. Now might be the time when thoughts of you dance in my mind the most.”

Just like everyone before him, once he became hers, she would lose interest over time. He would become a favorite toy on a shelf,
one of the dolls sitting in a row. Occasionally she would remember him, take him off the shelf to play, and then put him back.

The hope and excitement of the first moments would always fade away. Emotion deteriorated.

The same was true of love. Once it hits its peak, it was fated to crumble. No one longed for a love that had gone cold.

However, Freya didn’t feel that it was pointless.

That was simply the nature of love, and she was the goddess of love.

She felt that having a collection on the shelf that was a little too big was somehow just right.

She hooked a few strands of hair that had fallen to her cheek with her finger, and pulled them back behind her ear.

Her bare shoulders were showered in moonlight.

Looking like a girl falling in love for the first time, she continued watching Bell with loving eyes.

“…However, yes. It might be about time for you to learn magic.”

Tap.
She hit her finger on her chin as she thought out loud.

After tilting her neck, deep in thought, something came to mind. She took her eyes off the boy far below and walked away from the window.

Freya’s Eyes of Insight couldn’t decipher statuses given by other gods or goddesses, but she could infer their strengths and abilities by their color and brightness.

She could tell by looking at Bell that he had no magic. Freya felt this was a flaw.

She decided to act, and quickly.

“I wonder if this will do?”

A heavily adorned bookcase stood in the corner of her room. It was very wide and tall, so much so that it would cover her body if it fell over.

Her thin finger reached for the middle shelf and pulled out a thick book by the spine. It fell into her waiting arm with a
thud
.

Thumbing through the pages, Freya made a satisfied nod.

“Ottar.”

“Ma’am.”

A rigid voice responded to Freya’s call.

A person had either been standing inside the room the entire time or was just outside the main door.

Boar-like ears stood out above short, rust-colored hair. This male animal person stood more than two meters tall and had a body as solid as a rock.

He stood like a statue next to Freya, a guard dog waiting for his master’s commands.

“I want you to take this book…”

She was about to hold out the book when her words trailed off.

Closing her mouth, she looked down at the book in her arms.

“Does something trouble you?”

“Hee-hee, no, it’s nothing. Please forget it.”

“Ma’am.”

Ottar gave a short nod and took a step back as Freya smiled at the book.

That’s right. It wasn’t necessary for her treasured servant to deliver the book directly.

Plus, if this behemoth were to show up silently in front of Bell and attempt to give him a book, the boy would be terrified. While entertaining to think about, it wouldn’t do.

There was no need to place it in his hands. He merely had to take it.

She knew just where to leave it.

It would be right where she first saw him, on the big street where they’d “met.”

There was a certain bar very close.

If the book were there, it would end up in his hands for sure.

In the dark stillness of the room, her servant watched as Freya turned to the window wall, laughing quietly to herself.

“Ah-choo!”

Syr let out a cute little sneeze.

She blushed behind her hands, covering her mouth. All of the staff
in the bar around her stopped what they were doing to look her way. Syr’s face got even redder, and she looked at the floor.

“Syr, have you caught a cold?”

“N-no. I’m fine. Nothing to worry about.”

Syr forced a smile through her rosy cheeks in response to the elf Lyu’s question.

Syr’s blue-gray hair was tied into its usual style, a bun with a ponytail in the middle. Her ponytail shook as she waved her hands, trying to convince the elf she was okay.

“Maybe someone’s talking about you?”

“The answer’s obvious! Mya-ha-ha, it’s that adventurer boy, meow!”

“You’re going to make me angry, Chloe.”

Syr hung her shoulders, glaring at the catgirl who wore a very feline grin on her face.

The girl named Chloe did nothing in response, simply staring back with that same smile. Moreover, she was moving one of the bar’s tables and playfully whipping her tail back and forth under her skirt.

Syr let out a heavy sigh.

“But that adventurer didn’t come in last night!”

“Even though he always returns the empty basket after eating Syr’s lovey-dovey lunch, meow!”

“Syr even opened early and looked for him, meow!”

“I didn’t go looking for him!”

All of the staff was setting up tables to prepare for the day, but they took turns teasing the human girl from all sides. Syr yelled at them from the middle of the bar, but the girls showed no signs of learning their lesson. They continued circling her like cockroaches, the same grin on their faces.

“Do not worry, Syr. Mr. Cranell is not the type of man who would neglect your feelings for him. I’m positive he was just late coming out of the Dungeon and didn’t have time last night.”

“If that’s supposed to make me feel better, Lyu…No, never mind, I give up.”

The elf watched in confusion as Syr got frustrated. “It’s just a
misunderstanding,” said Syr, but the always serious Lyu didn’t seem to understand.

Syr had been making lunch for Bell every day since she first gave him her own lunch. She didn’t really know why, but everyone around her had come to this conclusion.

Bell usually returned the basket at night after eating the lunch in the Dungeon. However, he hadn’t shown up the previous night. And now this morning she was getting teased by her coworkers.

“You don’t think he bit the dust, do you, meow?”

“You shouldn’t say that, Ahnya. You’re being imprudent. That adventurer would never leave Syr behind!”

“I’m tired of this…”

“Syr, hold yourself together. I’m sure Mr. Cranell is fine.”

“No, Lyu, that’s not what I meant…”

“What Lyu said, meow! That boy’s too strong to die! If he did, my heart will be torn apart…”

Suddenly all the girls started talking at once.

“No way…” “Chloe, too…?” and other phrases of disbelief were muttered in every corner of the bar.

A very frustrated and confused Syr turned left and right saying, “Eh? What?”

“He is irreplaceable, meow! You couldn’t find another like him anywhere.”

“Chloe…? What are you saying?”

The catgirl looked to the sky as she spoke. Now Syr really had no clue.

The catgirl took her eyes off the ceiling and planted them firmly on Syr.

“Syr, I need to make a confession…”

“A-and that is…?”

“I…sure do like his tight li’l bod! His booty turns meow on…!”

“……”

“When I think about the ripe fruit inside his thin pants…mya-ha-ha! Ah, all the dirty things I would do…! I want—Oww! Ouch—!”

“……”

“A…wait—Oww, s-sorry! I give up! Uncle!”

All the other employees stopped what they were doing and rushed to stop Syr.

The Benevolent Mistress had been filled with an unusual amount of noise this morning.

“Oi! You dim-witted lasses! Quit playin’! Back t’ workin’!”

The owner Mia’s voice boomed from the backroom door as she looked over the girls’ lack of progress.

The “dim-witted lasses” jumped in surprise before hurriedly returning to their duties. “Of all the…” the dwarf woman started to say as she shrugged her shoulders.

“……Hmm? Syr, what’s that?”

“Huh?”

Syr’s human coworker pointed behind her, and she spun around to look.

It was at the counter, right where Syr had prepared a special place for Bell the first time he’d visited The Benevolent Mistress.

On the chair where Bell had sat that night was a book.

“What’s this…?”

“Someone dropped it?” “What’s that, meow?” “Something wrong, meow?”

Syr picked up the book with both hands, her coworkers peering over her shoulders to get a look for themselves.

“I’m not clever enough to read, meow.” “Me too, meow.”

“Yes, I know, so shut up.”

“Why I oughta—”

“Syr, what is it?”

“There’s a book here…It’s not one of ours. Maybe a customer left it behind?”

“Ohh…? It wasn’t there last night…”

“Right, right! Runoa’s mistake, mistake, meow! If it’s not a customer’s book, what would that mean, meow? Somebody snuck into the bar and left it there, meow? The idea’s so full of holes, me feels sick…”

“As always, the idiot with useless knowledge, meow…”

“What?! I’ll cut you!”

Ignoring the commotion behind them, Lyu and Syr took a closer look at the book. Completely white and very thick, it smelled like old paper.

It was lined with many undecipherable figures and patterns. There was no title.

“…Wait a moment. This—”

Lyu realized something, but before she could get it into words, Mama Mia’s roar of anger filled the room.

“How many times ya gonna make me say somethin’?! Words not good enough for ya?! Time for this dwarfess t’ beat some discipline into y’all!”

Everyone froze with fear.

“W-wait, Mama, meow! We found something suspicious, meow!”

“This! This here!”

“Syr, hurry up and show her already!”

“Huh? Somethin’ suspicious?”

Ushered on by peer pressure, Syr gave an “Um, okay…” and stepped a few paces forward, the rest of the girls behind her. Syr’s blue-gray hair shaking, she showed a very serious-looking Mia the book in her hands.

“Mama Mia, it looks like someone left this book behind by accident. What should we do about it?”

“…Whaaa?”

The entire staff watched with bated breath as Mia thoroughly looked over both Syr and the book with a deep scowl on her face.

…?

Lyu couldn’t understand why Mia would have that look on her face. It was because the dwarfess had once been an adventurer herself and could still run with the best of them. But Lyu had never seen Mia wear this expression before.

As the elf tried to make sense of it all, Mia’s sharp eyes hadn’t left the book. She then gave instructions to Syr in a voice so gruff it was more suitable for a battlefield than a peaceful café.

“…Put it somewhere it can be seen. If the owner’s not an idiot, they’ll realize it’s gone and come lookin’ for it.”

“Yes, understood.”

After Syr lowered her head in a polite bow, the staff scattered.

The fear of this new kind of anger in Mama Mia’s eyes drove them to work harder than ever.

Lyu stopped for a moment when she happened to see two of her coworkers having a friendly chat, but sighed and got back to work by herself.

“Mr. Bell! Look out! Your feet!”

“Huh?”

Lilly’s scream hits my ears.

We’re currently on the seventh level. I was about to dive into a killer ant with the Divine Knife in my hand, so my reply was a little clumsy.

I’ve slain so many monsters on this level that it’s basically become my playground. I was so confident that I didn’t realize what was happening.

“—Kiihiii!!!!!”

“?!”

I knew what she was talking about right away.

A needle rabbit.

The rabbitlike monster with tusks growing out of its cheeks crept up to me in my blind spot. The tusks often become very valuable drop items used to make weapons, but if those bloodred protrusions hit me, I’ll be lucky to escape with my life.

It’s making a beeline for my left leg, its eyes glaring red.

“Keh!”

I just planted that foot so I can’t dodge! Being in the middle of an all-out run, my right leg’s safe from the monster’s attack but swimming uselessly in the air.

I quickly bend my left knee.

The only armor plates on my lower body are protecting my knees. It’s a last-ditch effort to block the needle rabbit’s attack. Just as I had hoped, the monster’s tusk hits the plate and bounces off.

SHING!
The sound of bone on metal reverberates in my ears as pain shoots through my body.

The rabbit passes by with a high-pitched metallic clang, but my balance is completely broken.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

Great timing…like it saw that coming.

My original target sees the opening and is charging me along with his friend.

I’ve slain dozens of these killer ants in the past few days. I took on four of them at once at one point.

When it was just one, I didn’t think much of my enemy. Now there are two.

As a result, now there are four sets of merciless claws heading right for my eyes.

“Keehhh!”

Guard! I snap my left arm, equipped with my green vambrace, in front of my face just in time to block the attack.

The protector is very durable, and there’s not a scratch on it. But the impact of the blow not only shoots waves of pain through my arm, my whole body shoots off to the side.

I don’t spin at all. Landing gracefully on the balls of my feet, I slide straight back, my protector still in front of my face.

It’s the other killer ant’s turn now, and it’s charging!

Oh, shi—

I’ll be pinned down!

Once it plows into me at full force, holds my limbs down with four of its legs, and skewers me with its claws, there’ll be no hope of escape. The killer ant’s body is like armor, and just as heavy.

Eina warned me about this.

With my thin body type, getting pinned is the same as defeat.

—Ah.

This is the second time.

This feeling of an unavoidable death, the same as when I fought the Minotaur.

Body shivering, cowering in fear. Can’t breathe. Time standing still.

The killer ant’s hideous mouth suddenly opens.

I can see sickening rows of teeth, all dripping with saliva.

My mind goes blank. All that’s left is to absorb the incoming blow, and I brace myself for impact.

“NO—!”

The next moment, Lilly’s high-pitched yell and a ball of flame fly in from beside me.

“Huh?!”

“Degggyaaaaaa!!!!”

“Mr. Bell!”