Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 2 (8 page)

The gnome was very quick to return.

His face seemed surprisingly sour.

“Just what is this? Did you pick it up at the garbage pile on your way here?”

“Huh—?”

“The blade won’t cut, stab, or slice. And it has no special attributes to it at all. And…I don’t know how to put it, but…this blade feels…dead.”

Placing the weapon back on the counter, the old gnome scratched his white beard for a moment before saying, “This is trash, nothing more. This is unusual for you, my friend. Bringin’ somethin’ like this to me.”

“W-wait a minute! That can’t be right…!”

“Even so, I can’t show this to my regulars…If you still want to sell it, it’d make a fine decoration. How’s thirty vals sound?”

“I…I’ll be back!”

“O-ho! I’m lookin’ forward to it…But these markin’s look like earthworm trails, this geezer thinks he’s seen them somewhere before…”

With shaking shoulders, the thief took the blade downstairs. The door slammed closed in the thief’s wake.

Thump, thump, th-thump.
The thief’s footsteps reentered the back alleyway, a bit more roughly than when they had come in.

Thirty vals? The same price as a potato snack from that street stand?

That idiot! This is a weapon that easily sliced through the carapace of monsters like it was tissue paper! It should be worth enough to build three palaces and still have change left over!

Had the old gnome gone mad? Then again, just yesterday he gave a very satisfying appraisal. Did his head go bad overnight?

His appraising eyes never failed. The fools at the Guild didn’t even come close.

There was no one better than him in this city.

So why…?

The thief looked down at the knife.

Not a single glint of light came from the weapon. The blade had a series of complicated characters carved into it. Pitch black from tip
to tip; it was hard to tell how long the blade was in the dark alley. It was the same color as shade.

For this blade to be such a rotten shade of black—something didn’t feel right.

Earlier it had carved arcs in the air and glowed a darkly purple glow…

If only it had the “Ἥφαιστος” signature…The sheath, I need the sheath…

If there was undeniable proof of its value, then even if it were trash, the blade could be sold at a very high price.

The sheath. This blade was worthless without it. All these thoughts came together in the thief’s mind while looking at the black piece of junk.

The only option now was to change the plan: take a major risk and make contact once more…

“I apologize, Syr. I never meant for you to carry the groceries.”

“I really don’t mind, but…Lyu, do you always come through here?”

“Indeed. I have found that I can reduce time in transit by learning the layout of these backstreets. They are not as inconvenient as you are thinking, Syr.”

“That’s not exactly what I was worried about…”

The two of them were coming from the front, an elf and a human. Both of them were holding large paper bags. The bags were so full that apples and a variety of other fruits and vegetables were in danger of falling out.

The thief looked away and hid the knife in a sleeve.

Can’t believe anyone would cut through an alley this deep. Just act natural and walk past them…

“—Stop right there, prum!”

A voice with overwhelming presence lashed out from behind.

The thief came to a sudden stop. Cold sweat ran all the way down the thief’s back.

Why did she call out?
Something unbelievable occurred to the thief.

“That knife hidden in your sleeve—I would like to take a closer look at it.”

Inwardly, the thief made a great tongue-cluck of irritation.

“Lyu…? Um, Lyu?”

“…Why do you ask?”

“Because it bears a strong resemblance to a possession of someone I know. I would like to confirm that it is a different weapon.”

Just how damn good is your eyesight, anyway?
The thief wanted to curse at the elf.

The elf could see a pitch-black blade in this darkness? Even prums with their tremendous eyesight would have difficulty doing that.

“I’m sorry to inform you that this is mine. You are mistaken.”

Flight without leaving any time to react—yes, that was the key.

Completely ignoring the elf’s request, the thief made a break for it.

“Draw.”

The air in the alley cracked.

“……?!”

“I only know of one person who wields a weapon engraved with hieroglyphs.”

It was as if a blade of ice were pressed against the thief’s neck. The thief’s ankles felt frozen.

Even the human girl drew back in shock. The elf was just that intimidating.

Can’t turn to face her. Don’t want to turn and face her.

“Be still.”

The thief’s jaw was locked in place, breath ragged and shaking, heart beating fast enough to break ribs.

The elf’s footsteps drew near. There was no longer much distance between them now.

It’s do or die. No time for a plan, just get away.

The thief’s knees bent, ready for action. Suddenly, the elf’s foot slammed down onto the road just ahead, cutting off the escape route.

“I warned you.”

The thief ran to the nearest corner and was just about to turn when a strike of terrible force hit the thief’s hand dead-on.

“Gwahhhhh!”

An apple?

It
exploded.

The red fruit hit the thief’s left hand, which was carrying the knife. The shock sent pieces of the apple soaring in all directions, so fierce was the impact.

“You may wish to brace your stomach.”

“—”

The knife fell from the thief’s hand. The thief looked back.

Calm, sky-blue eyes looked down from above, her leg bent far behind her body.

So that’s how it is. I’m the ball. You’ve gotta be kidding me.

Her leg swung forward and hit, just as she warned, right into the small of the thief’s back.

“Hnggaaah?!”

“Wh-what was that?”

He heard it when he was running like a maniac down West Main in front of Guild headquarters.

A piercing scream, echoing from the backstreets.

Bell was retracing his steps to see if the Hestia Knife had fallen on the street somewhere, but he knew in an instant that what he heard was not a normal scream, and he stopped on the spot.

The demi-humans in the area all followed suit. The next moment, a large number of cats came pouring out of one backstreet entrance, running as if their lives were at stake. Bell looked down that alleyway as far as his ruby-colored eyes would allow.

“Meow! Meow!”
the wave of cats cried as they ran away from whatever was inside. The panicking felines weaved in and out of the legs of people on the busy street, turning the whole area into chaos. Bell carefully worked his way through the throng of people toward the backstreet, sweat rolling down his cheek.

Bracing himself to face whatever was coming this way, Bell inched into the alley. All of a sudden, a small shadow collapsed with a loud
thud
at his feet.

“L-Lilly?”

“Haa-aah?”

Jumping back for a moment after finding one of the most unlikely of people, Bell kneeled next to the girl.

“Hey, what happened?! What’s wrong?!”

“Th-that voice…Mr. Bell?”

Her small body shook as she tried to get up, like a newborn fawn trying to stand for the first time. Her face looked frightened at first, but she soon showed him her usual smile.

“Actually, I was attacked by a violent lady…Er, I mean, a stray dog…”

“A-are you okay?!”

“Somehow…”

Her cream robe wasn’t all that dirty, but it was obvious to Bell that Lilly had taken some serious damage. For now, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and helped her out of the middle of the street and off to the side.

Just when Bell was reaching for his leg holder to see if he had a spare potion…

“I cannot believe he managed to escape…”

Crick, crick.
The sharp sounds of shoes on stone accompanied the elf, Lyu, as she turned the corner.

“You too, Lyu?! What the hell’s going on back there?”

“Ah, great timing. I just happened to have found your…”

Lyu had said that much before her eyes found a hunched-over Lilly sitting on the ground.

Lilly was shaking like a scared child, rubbing her hands over the hood covering her face.

“Mr. Cranell, please step aside.”

“Eh? What? Hey?!”

“Eiiikkkk!”

Lyu pushed Bell to the side and grabbed ahold of Lilly, pulling her hood back with no hesitation.

Big, round eyes and disheveled chestnut fur emerged, followed by two doglike ears. Lyu stared down the traumatized girl with unwavering eyes before saying, “My apologies,” and pulled the hood back to its original position.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Lilly! Are you okay?!”

“Y-yes…”

“I mistook you for someone else. I seem to have lost my temper in the moment.”

Bell was utterly confused by the course of events. He did his best to support a wobbly Lilly as his eyes flicked back and forth between Lyu and deeper into the back alley.

In no time at all, more light echoes came from within. Syr emerged from the backstreet, carrying large paper bags in both hands.

“Lyu! Lyu—!! You can’t use food like that! Mama’ll get mad at you, you know!”

“That would be…a problem.”

“Umm, can someone give me an explanation already…?”

“Oh, Bell.”

Syr smiled and did a small curtsy. Bell responded with a simple “Hi…”

Lyu waited for their greetings to finish before giving Bell a straight answer.

“Mr. Cranell, is that black knife currently in your possession?”

“Oh! That’s right!! Have either of you seen a knife that’s completely black from top to bottom?!”

Suddenly coming out of his confusion, Bell frantically looked both girls in the eyes.

Lyu withdrew a dull, lackluster black knife from the fold of her robe and held it up for Bell to see.

“Is this the weapon?”

“—WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

Bell’s scream of jubilation pierced the evening sky.

The shoulders of three different races of girls simultaneously flinched in surprise at the sheer volume of his voice.

Even the ever-calm and aloof Lyu’s sky-blue eyes opened wide.

“THANK YOU! Thank you so much!”

“…Mr. Cranell. You are putting me in an awkward situation. I should not be receiving this praise, but Syr…”

“I’m saying it to you, Lyu!”

Bell looked like he was about to cry. He had both his hands clasped around Lyu’s smooth, white free hand. An uncharacteristic look of panic grew on the elf’s face as Bell came closer to her, crying like a child.

Hearing Syr’s screams, Bell took the knife and wiped his face on his sleeve, sniffling.

“I’m so relieved…Goddess, I’m sorry. I swear I’ll never drop you again…!”

“Drop…?”

Bell brought the knife up to his cheek as he swore to it. The piece of trash suddenly came alive again and began to emit a purple glow.

Like the spirit of a dog finding its long-lost master, the Hestia Knife had come home.

Lilly’s big eyes grew even wider.

“Thank you for going out of your way, really. Where did you find it?”

“I did not find it,
per se
. It was being carried by a prum.”

“Prum?”

Bell gave Lyu an inquisitive look after hearing her answer.

Tension grew beneath the hood of the girl behind him.

“Was it, maybe, the one from before…?”

“Yes, I was in pursuit, but I lost the prum…and mistook the girl here for that person. I was too quick to judge. You have my apologies.”

“Quick to judge? So that means…?”

“Yes, this girl is obviously a Chienthrope. The one I was chasing was a male prum.”

A lightbulb came on in Bell’s eyes as he finally understood what had happened. A look of relief swept over Lilly’s face under the cover of her hood as she let her body relax.

“Did you happen to see a male prum come through here? Is he close by?”

“Sorry, I haven’t seen anything…”

“Well then, it would seem that said prum found the knife that you dropped. He seems to have had the good fortune to notice your knife before today. It is a strange weapon, so he must have remembered it after seeing it but once.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

Lilly seemed very uncomfortable during Bell and Lyu’s conversation.

Syr quietly watched the girl from between the two paper bags in her arms.

With the situation resolved, Lyu and Syr needed to finish their shopping. Bell said another thank-you to the both of them. Lyu did a slight head bow in response; Syr chuckled softly and said she hadn’t done anything to be thanked for.

Bell stepped out of their way as Lyu and Syr started back into the alleyway.

It was as they were leaving that Syr bent down and whispered into Lilly’s ear.

“—No more mischief from you, all right?”

“!!”

A cold chill shot through Lilly’s skin.