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CHAPTER 2 SOMEONE NAMED FOOL 

There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky on that day—clear and blue above the city. The weather was perfect. 
The residents of Orario believed this to be yet another one of those boringly peaceful days as they wiped the sweat off their brows. The sounds of their footsteps joined together in a ballad, playing the harmony of life in the city. The early-summer breeze was nowhere to be found, and the sun beat down on the city as if to reassert that the summer had just begun. The stone pavement absorbed its rays and gave rise to a heat haze. 
Aiz was working up a light sweat as she made her way to Central Park. 
I’ve gotta get to the eighteenth floor and seek out information one more time… 
As Loki Familia continued to sniff out more clues, Aiz oversaw the Dungeon. Until the previous day, her main mission had been the discovery and elimination of plants—pantries filled with man-eating flowers, whose existence came to light during an incident on the twenty-fourth floor. The goal was to cut off the stream of income funding Knossos, which had been through the smuggling and sale of monsters out of the Dungeon. 
In previous days, she’d inspected the pantries of every floor down to the thirtieth. Finn had judged the risk involved in illegally moving things below that level too high for them to establish plants there. Accompanied by an elite squad, Aiz had cleared any and all plants left in the Dungeon. 
Now that she’d been freed from this dangerous battle mission, she planned to stretch her legs by heading to the Under Resort. 
It was already clear that Knossos was connected to the Dungeon. They had confirmed it the other day when they found an entrance on the eastern edge of the eighteenth floor, and she intended to gather information at Rivira after she rested. 
I’m curious about this humanoid beast…with wings. 
She noticed several residents whispering to one another and made out the word monster. Over the course of a few days, the initial frenzy seemed to die down, though the report of a monster had to be unsettling to the average civilian. There were a few bards with bad taste, singing merrily at bars about the chaos, which was fine and all. But she suspected this was the source of unfounded rumors of the monster appearing night after night and attacking city folk. 
This incident was relatively small in comparison to the Monsterphilia, but fear and anxiety hung in the air of the city. 
Everyone is scared of the monsters…which makes sense…since these people aren’t adventurers. 
It meant they didn’t have the means of fighting back—and there were far more defenseless people than those capable of keeping them away. 
In their eyes, monsters were fear made manifest, violence in material form. They couldn’t be allowed to take root in human residences, or else their fangs would draw blood, their claws would deliver wounds, and their roars would inspire screams of terror. 
As she stepped into Babel, Aiz wondered if there was a way to ease their fears. 
I had a late start. By now, the other adventurers should be… 
She headed one floor underground in the white tower leading to the Dungeon, descending the silver staircase into the big hole and feeling as though she were being observed by the painting of blue sky on the ceiling. It was long past rush hour, and there weren’t many people around. 
As she was making her descent with two or three other adventurers going solo, Aiz stopped dead in her tracks. 
Bell? 
There was a single person coming up the stairs in front of her. 
She recognized that wavy white hair and lithe body. They belonged to a boy she knew, a rookie who’d become a bit of a celebrity overnight, the talk of the town. 
But Aiz couldn’t be sure that it was Bell Cranell at first. 
With downcast eyes and a hunched-over posture, he looked dejected—no, he was downright dismal, as if he’d fallen into a bottomless bog. Even Aiz could read his mood, which was saying something. 
There was none of his usual nervousness, or earnestness, or bashful little smile. 
Aiz could tell that something was wrong, and it tugged on her heartstrings. Of course, she didn’t show it on her emotionless face, but she was rattled. 
“Ah…” He finally noticed her, lifting his face to look at her blankly. 
“Miss Aiz…” Bell mumbled, as if entranced by her eyes. 
The two of them had stopped in place—one looking down, the other up. Passing adventurers gawked at them on their way by. 
Bell took his time picking his words. Aiz stayed silent. 
“Are you…headed into the Dungeon…?” 
“Yes…” 
“…Um, Miss Aiz…” 
“…” 
“Do you…um…Right now…” he mumbled incomprehensibly, speaking haltingly as his attention drifted to his feet. 
It was as if he couldn’t get a handle on his feelings. 
Aiz realized that she’d started talking to him. “Let’s go.” 
“What…?” 
“Let’s go somewhere we can be alone…” she continued, extending her hand. 
Bell’s eyes snapped open wide. He considered the thin fingers stretched out in front of him before nervously placing his hand in hers. He had on the expression of a lost child abandoned in an unfamiliar part of town. 
Aiz called off her plans for the afternoon and left Babel. 
To find a quiet place, they advanced past Central Park, ignoring the gazes of the city folk gawking at the pair of top-tier adventurers. 
Through his hand, Aiz could make out a mix of emotions—that he was feeling slightly flustered about holding hands, and pathetic, and that he couldn’t let go. 
Aiz pretended not to notice. 
They cut through a number of roads before stopping in an empty area surrounded by houses. 
“…Um, sorry. For, you know, taking up your time.” 
“It’s fine…” 
There was no one else around, save for the two of them. Bell let go of her hand and looked at her head-on. His eyes drifted downward again, but he stopped himself, gazing directly into Aiz’s golden eyes. 
“…” 
“…” 
How long has it been since we’ve looked at each other this closely? Aiz thought in the back of her mind. There was a nostalgic quality to him for some reason. 
His white hair and rubellite eyes did remind her of a white rabbit. But he was visibly distressed, a departure from his usual vibrancy and emotiveness—which was enough to cover her own share of emotions, too. It made her sad to see him in this state. 
Anguish. Conflict. Indecision. She could almost see these feelings ooze out of his eyes, begging her for support. 
Is something wrong…? Aiz asked internally—not that he could answer. 
I want to get rid of the source of your worries, she thought, in the same way as she wished to eliminate the monsters and soothe the general public. 
“…What’s wrong?” 
What happened? Why do you look lost? Aiz pleaded, as if knocking on the door to his heart, asking him to let her inside. And Bell clutched his right hand to his chest, grasping at his wavering heart. 
“Miss Aiz…” 
“…” 
He gulped, taking his time to spill it out. “If monsters had a reason to live…If they had feelings like you and me…what would you do?” 
Upon hearing the question behind his gaze, Aiz was met with one emotion: bewilderment. 
What are you talking about? she asked in all honesty. 
What a meaningless question, a pointless hypothetical. 
But his eyes bored into her earnestly, and Aiz found herself pursing her lips—considering the meaning behind his question, coming to grips with it in her own way, while avoiding an answer. 
“…” 
She was thinking: 
Let’s say a monster could smile, like a human. 
Or be consumed by worry, like a human. 
Or shed tears, like a human. 
Could I still swing my sword? 
Time passed by them in silence. The trees let streams of sunlight through their branches and onto the street, and their shadows transformed as the breeze shifted its leaves. The infernal summer wind swept between the two adventurers. 
Aiz thought, and thought, and thought. And at the end, she was left with a totally simple answer. 
“If monsters hurt someone…No, that’s not it.” Aiz paused, shaking her head before continuing. 
“If anyone cries because of a monster—I’d kill it.” 
She left no traces of doubt in her answer. 
“Ngh?!” Bell was trembling, at a loss for words, broken. 
Out of all his emotions, one bubbled to the surface. It was a look of despair. 
But Aiz’s gaze didn’t waver in the slightest, piercing straight through Bell as he turned pale, confused by the look in his eyes. She asked through eye contact: Wouldn’t you? 
A tremor ran through Bell. 
Wave after wave of emotions came and went from his face, like his life were flashing before his eyes—or as if he was questioning the state of the world. He was standing between Aiz and something with a despondent look, as if he were caught in a paradox. 
As for Aiz, she was no longer plagued by confusion, staring straight back at him, questioning him. 
But there was something that sounded like…shattering glass, as if she were hearing their two paths snapping in opposite directions. 
“I—” A drop of sweat ran down his narrow chin, and Bell started to loosen his frozen mouth. 
Clang! Clang!! 
A bell rang out from a tower, breaking the moment between them. 
““Hgn?!”” Aiz and Bell both snapped their heads up. 
This sounded different from when the clock struck noon, and it continued to ring louder and louder—as if expressing its suspicions of this tranquil state. No one would believe there was peace on earth upon hearing this sound. As gonging filled the sky and canceled out all other noise in the city, birds batted their wings and took flight. 
It wasn’t from the eastern bell tower but from the northwest. 
“Guild Headquarters is in that direction…Is this a warning bell?” Aiz asked. 
Bell snapped out of it. 
The great bell tower maintained by the Guild would be rung for a citywide warning—an emergency announcement. 
Aiz’s eyes widened in silence. 
 
“Is this the great bell of the Guild?!” 
At that same time, Lefiya’s elven ears perked up and she stopped in her tracks in the street along with all the other people around her. 
“—Emergency alert! Emergency alert! All familias based in Orario are to follow the Guild’s instructions!” boomed a loudspeaker system carved from magical stones. 
The thumping of panicked footsteps blended with the reverberations of the bell shaking the air. 
“The Guild will issue a mission!” 
“Raul!” 
“A mission…? For all the familias?!” 
It seemed that the broadcaster couldn’t even hide their unease. Anakity and Raul and every other member of Loki Familia around the city froze in place, hit with an ominous premonition. 
“The monsters equipped with armor and weapons have destroyed Rivira on the eighteenth floor!! We’ve confirmed large numbers of them on the move!!” screeched the Guild employee, voice turning into an urgent scream as they informed the adventurers. 
“Armed monsters?” 
“B-Bete Loga, isn’t a mass migration of monsters, like, superbad? What if they break through Babel…?!” 
“Tch…What the hell is going on?!” Bete asked no one in particular, ignoring the questions of the Amazonian girl tagging along with him to reexamine a deserted building in the restored area of the red-light district. 
“The Guild is ordering the immediate deployment of all adventurers to exterminate—What? R-really?…U-understood.” 
The situation was in flux, breaking into chaos. 
“Do I hear panic in the broadcaster’s voice?” 
“Did something happen?” 
Tiona and Tione had leaped to higher ground, observing the stirring city from above. 
“All citizens, including adventurers, are hereby forbidden to enter the Dungeon!! The Guild will contact familias directly. Please stand by at your respective homes!! I repeat—” The announcement crackled, recovering its pace and forceful tone as it emphasized the urgency of the situation. 
“A change in orders, huh.” 
“I bet the Guild’s confused, too. They can’t even keep their plans straight. That, or…” 
“There’s a big guy buttin’ in. One or the other.” 
Riveria, Gareth, and Loki were listening intently out the manor’s open window, quick in their attempts to piece together their next moves based on the incoming announcement. 
“Is this fanfare marking the destruction of Orario or a gospel to guide us?…Which will it be?” 
The blue eyes of the prum leader narrowed as he listened to the destruction of life as they knew it. 
 
Orario transformed into a city of upheaval—the destruction of Rivira, followed by a great migration of monsters. 
If the monsters emerged aboveground, it would obliterate the entire concept of safety, which was the pride of the Labyrinth City. The town had fallen into calamity, starting with the wise people who foretold danger and the merchants with a good nose for trouble. The unrest spread from the main streets to the smaller roads to the plazas. In some parts of the city, they could hear a chain reaction of screams and shouts when the populace realized the gravity of it all. 
Lefiya, Bete, Tiona, and Tione witnessed peace in the city start to cave in real time. 
And there was nowhere more chaotic than Guild Headquarters. 
They were overwhelmed by the refugees from Rivira on the eighteenth floor. Incoherent bellows flew back and forth in the offices. According to the escapees, a swarm of armed monsters of varying species descended on Rivira, coming up from the floor below and passing through the Central Tree, stamping out the upper-class adventurers and conquering their base in the Dungeon in no time. 
If their reports were true, the armed monsters were subspecies with potential incomparable to their normal counterparts. The Guild members turned pale when they saw the brutal wounds of the adventurers and finally faced reality. 
In front of the Pantheon was full-on pandemonium as adventurers and citizens crowded Guild Headquarters, demanding some sort of explanation. 
Aiz and Bell felt the urgency of the situation as they slipped through the crowd straight to Guild Headquarters. 
The gods were the only ones not in disarray. 
There were a few who were concerned, or anxious, or worried, but they were in the minority. The overwhelming majority of them could not conceal their excitement, on the edge of their seats for the adventure and stimulus to come. 
In this unprecedented situation, the Guild immediately announced a mission: Ganesha Familia was to form a punitive expeditionary force and head for the eighteenth floor. 
And every other familia was ordered to remain on standby. 
“Standby? What kind of bullshit is that?!” scoffed Bete in a gruff voice that resounded in the parlor of Twilight Manor. 
The principal members of Loki Familia followed the Guild’s broadcast, trudging home and gathering in the parlor. The secondary forces were patrolling the neighborhood to pacify the civilians under the command of Alicia and Cruz and in concert with the other familias. 
“It’d be faster to send us in to clean up the mess!! No use in leaving it to Ganesha’s guys!” 
“Zip it, Bete!!…Do we really have to wait around? The broadcaster seemed confused, too.” 
Next to Bete as he roared in frustration, Tiona frowned, rattled by the unusual situation. 
“But Rivira has been destroyed how many times now? Why’s everyone freaking out?” 
“Yeah, it’s an overreaction to issue a mission to the entire city…Are the monsters with weapons and armor really a big deal?” 
“I’ve seen the bulletin board at the Guild saying something about monsters carrying adventurers’ weapons…” Aiz chimed in to Tiona and Tione’s conversation. 
After all, there had been fake reports of armed monsters among adventurers before. In fact, they were a dime a dozen. But seeing that this situation had escalated, the trio was thinking that maybe these beasts were a threat—maybe they were strong enough to break out aboveground. The misgivings were clear on all three of their faces. 
“They’re a strange species using actual adventurers’ armor, not just nature weapons. It’s obvious they’re exceptional. I bet they’re enchanted. En masse, at that,” observed Riveria from her place near the wall. 
“All the more reason we should be down there.” 
“Cool it, Bete. These ain’t yer regular ol’ Irregulars…Well, regular in air quotes. But yeah, it seems fishy.” Gareth chided Bete for pouncing on Riveria’s explanation. 
But the dwarf was furrowing his brow, sensing the intentions of someone—or something—behind the current state of affairs. Despite the situation, the Guild had not yet shared all their information with each familia. 
It could be that they hadn’t yet gathered enough information to go public, but it seemed too passive. 
It was almost as if… 
“…It feels like they’re trying to hide something,” Gareth murmured, as though talking to himself. 
“Well, whatever’s going on,” Finn added, slicing through the discussion from his chair, “it’s not going to end if things keep going like this…That’s just my hunch, though,” he asserted, licking his thumb. 
A smile even spread across his face. 
“Yeah, bein’ out of the loop annoys me, but…I’m with Finn,” noted Loki from the table, slightly opening her vermilion eyes. “It ain’t gonna end with this. And it’ll keep Orario rumblin’ as it goes.” 
The goddess’s proclamation brought on a moment of silence. Everyone watched the corners of their patron’s lips curl up. 
The one to break the silence was Lefiya, who’d been quiet until then. 
“U-um…Do you think the Evils’ Remnants are involved with this…?” 
“Don’t you think it’s too convenient to blame them for each and every thing?” replied Anakity. 
“But, Aki, I don’t think Lefiya’s observation is unfounded…Like, this is a huge deal. It’s possible that it’s part of their strategy…” followed Raul. 
Anakity and Raul responded with their respective opinions to the suggestion of the elven girl who’d timidly raised her hand before speaking. 
Smack! Tiona pounded her fist on top of her palm to express that she’d come up with a new idea. 
“Oh, I get it! That’s why the Guild isn’t making the information public—because it’s all part of the Evils’ plan! If they said the Evils were back, people would get scared.” 
“It’s already annoying enough without you opening your trap, ya dumb Amazon,” Bete erupted. 
“Hey!” 
“Use your head. If the Guild knew that, it would be weird that they haven’t told us or Freya Familia,” added Tione. 
“If they’re dealing with the Evils, it’d be better to work with the strong familias…” explained Aiz. 
“Oh…” Tiona froze. “B-but, but even if the Guild hasn’t made the connection, it could still be the Evils behind it, like Raul was saying, right?! I mean, it’s turned into a big enough deal and all!” 
“Now you’re just grasping at straws.” 
“Am not! All righty, my vote goes to Raul and Lefiya’s theory!” 
““Huh?”” Raul and Lefiya were taken aback when Tiona raised her hand. 
“Then I’m with Aki,” said Tione. 
“Me too,” added Bete. 
“Erm, I didn’t say anything worth noting…” 
“What about you, Aiz? Whose side are you on?!” 
“Mm…I’m…with Tiona, I guess?” 
“All right! That’s four to three! What about you guys, Riveria?!” 
“Who said you could decide this with a majority vote…?” 
Anakity was at a loss for what to do with Tione’s and Bete’s votes, while Tiona was getting all riled up about Aiz joining her side. Riveria clutched her forehead, as if she had a headache, as they started trying to resolve the discussion by voting. 
Gareth offered a shrug, and Loki grinned at Tiona’s airheaded-ness, which unarguably brightened the mood. 
And inevitably, Finn was thinking, There’s no way this is a trap by the remnants of the Evils, and discarded that chain of logic, descending into a sea of thought while the others kept yapping on. 
And it’s not part of the underground forces of the creatures. They’re already holed up in Knossos, waiting. When the time comes, they’ll unleash the demi-spirit, and that’ll be enough to destroy the city. They have no reason to increase tension and vigilance in the city or put themselves in danger now. 
Seconds ticked by. He held up his right hand, covering his mouth, while he pensively looked at the ground. 
No, this is…a terrible event that’s unrelated to everyone or intended by anyone. 
Finn was looking for a third possibility, far removed from the two choices the group was voting on. In other words, he’d realized that this incident might be the effects of an Irregular. 
As Aki said, we’d be selling this incident short if we connected this to what we’re chasing, but…at the very least, there’s a chance we can catch a glimpse of the enemy’s tail. 
The first step was to examine the data. 
The Guild—or rather, Ouranos and Hermes Familia are connected…If we go off Loki’s investigation, they’re keeping some kind of secret. Based on the fact that they’ve no intention of making it public, this incident isn’t part of their calculations…But, given the cover-up, it’s safe to say they aren’t unrelated, either. 
The mission had changed mid-broadcast not from the brass at the Guild but from Ouranos’s divine will. Finn was suspecting the same thing as Loki. 
In which case, did that mean that Ganesha Familia was also aware of Ouranos’s secret? 
Finn made a mental note of that possibility. 
We can’t assume the armed monsters are the same as the violas or the vividly colored monsters, but…we’ve got a new piece to the puzzle: Ikelos Familia. 
This was a valuable clue for solving the case: Ikelos Familia was connected to the smuggling of monsters. Given this new information, it was harder to not suspect them. 
On top of that, Hermes Familia was tracking them with all their resources. 
If the armed monsters were originally captured by Ikelos Familia and then escaped…No, that doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t fit with Bors’s reports that the monsters came up from the lower floors. They could have attacked Rivira because that’s their instinct as monsters, but…it doesn’t fit together nicely. 
He kept reviewing and scrutinizing a series of possibilities in his head. 
While the others continued making a ruckus, Riveria and Gareth watched Finn as he pondered deep in thought. They’d been around one another long enough to know to wait for him to come up with a solution. 
The high elf and dwarf knew that his theory would be the best response. 
There’s not enough information. My knowledge of the background behind the incident is incomplete. I can’t form an educated theory with this, but— 
Finn’s eyes narrowed. 
Would it be too much of a stretch if I say it’s an incident at the intersection of Ouranos’s secret and Ikelos Familia’s propensity for violence? 
The parties involved would be rattled if they heard his train of thought. His intuition would send shivers up their very spines. If “a certain boy” wrapped up in this incident was there, he would have been wildly sputtering. His heart would be beating out of his chest, without a doubt. 
It’s all hypothetical. It doesn’t matter from what angle I approach this problem. I end up having to make an inferential leap. Is it too early to tie Ikelos Familia to the center of this? 
Finn examined his own thoughts from an objective perspective and shook his head. 
No, I have to assume this is true. Ikelos Familia is at the center of this. If I don’t work under that belief, I can’t do anything. This Irregular is outside the expectations of all sides…If we don’t intervene before this is resolved, we’ll lose our first and only opportunity. 
Strategy valued speed. This time, Finn was going to make use of it. 
In this situation, it was more important to move quickly than to worry about risks or mistaken judgments. 
More than anything, Finn was sure that the current uproar would tie back to Knossos and allow them to break it open. The ache in his thumb was pointing him in that direction, too. 
Our area of operations is limited to aboveground. If we try to force our way into the Dungeon, the Guild will set Freya Familia against us. 
Other than Ganesha Familia on their suppression mission, Babel was off-limits to all familias, making it impossible to enter the Dungeon. 
Freya Familia had been brought in to fill the gap in the reserve forces caused by the absence of Ganesha Familia, Orario’s main security force. The faction of the Goddess of Beauty had been penalized for their destruction of the red-light district, and they were obeying the Guild’s instructions for the time being. 
Even if Finn tried to mobilize his forces, they could not set foot on the scene of the incident on the eighteenth floor. 
“Bete.” 
Everyone in the parlor froze at the sound of Finn’s voice. The ears of the werewolf twitched as Bete looked back at him. 
“I heard you fought with a curse user when we were in Knossos…a male human with smoky quartz goggles…Is that correct?” 
“…Yeah. He was concealed under one of those Evils robes, but you’ve got it down. He was using a disgusting, creepy-ass spear,” added Bete. 
Finn started thinking again. 
If I’m right…that would be Hazer, Dix Perdix. 
The name of Ikelos Familia’s captain. 
That confirms Ikelos Familia has joined forces with the Evils…and their headquarters are in Knossos…If they carried monsters through the labyrinth to smuggle them via the underground route and out of the city, then… 
As everyone focused on Finn, he began to weave a hypothesis connecting all the small pockets of incomplete information. And at the end of that chain of thought was the epicenter that gave rise to the current incident. 
The eighteenth floor…The eighteenth floor, huh? 
That was where they had found a connection to Knossos just the other day. 
“…Everyone, get ready to move.” 
Finn had come to a conclusion. 
Everyone stood up at once with bug eyes. 
Amid mounting tension, the prum leader spoke. 
“We’re going to Daedalus Street.” 
 
It’d been several hours since Ganesha Familia had left Central Park for their mission. 
Loki Familia took up position on Daedalus Street. 
They’d moved quickly, quietly, and in secret to not be noticed by the Guild—more specifically, by Ouranos, who’d handed down the standby order. They left it to the other familias to control the chaos on Main Street, meeting up with Alicia, Cruz, and the rest before deploying their members along the giant labyrinthine district. 
“It’s Thousand Elf! You were here last time, too, right?! It’s a dream to see Loki Familia this often!” 
“So cute and pretty…I wish I could be like that…” 
“…Will you shake my hand?” 
“U-um, you see, we’re on patrol at the moment…” 
Nominally, their goal was to calm any disturbances among the residents of Daedalus Street. 
With the other familias prioritizing the main streets, the residents of the slum were grateful for Loki Familia’s presence, especially since they were left to deal with the situation on their own—even if their patrols were only a front for the true objective of the familia. Like the rest of her familia, Lefiya was surrounded by orphans—a human boy with flushed cheeks, an animal-person girl with a yearning gaze, and a half-elf asking for a handshake. 
“I feel bad, since it’s kinda like we’re tricking them.” 
“S’not like Finn speaking with a forked tongue is a new development.” 
“Hey! Quit complaining about the captain! And besides, we’re not doing anything wrong! If everything goes according to his predictions, we’ll have to protect them!” 
““Quiet!”” 
Even though some of them had difficulty simply accepting the gratitude of the slum’s inhabitants, the Loki Familia patrols made sure to keep an eye out for any strange occurrences along the wide swath of Daedalus Street. As they proceeded along the mazelike black-bricked roads, Tiona punched and Bete kicked Tione for being too loud. 
“Is it okay to move out in the open like this, Finn? Guild chaos aside, the guys in Knossos will notice our movements, no doubt.” 
“Even if we try to conceal ourselves, they would still have the advantage here. As long as we’re on Daedalus Street, they’ll always catch us. It’s better to just show ourselves in plain sight and draw their attention to us.” 
They were on the roof of a multistory building that looked jumbled and pieced together. The wind carried Finn’s and Gareth’s voices as they looked over the Labyrinth District. 
“Placing a check on the enemy? But won’t that lead them to retreat farther into Knossos?” Riveria’s jade hair rippled in the breeze as she stood behind the prum. 
“At the very least, they’ll be on guard, I’m sure. In any event, if they haven’t recovered Ishtar’s key themselves, our deployment…might be mistaken for preparation for a large-scale attack, tricking them into thinking we’ve found the key.” 
Save for a few familia members at the manor with Loki, Finn had deployed a substantial fighting force to Daedalus Street. A large section was placed in the ancient underground passages beneath the Labyrinth District—the location of the hidden passageways to Knossos. Raul and Anakity were commanding those groups. 
What would the Evils’ Remnants think of Loki Familia positioning squads around the confirmed locations of orichalcum doors? 
“And if the enemy is wary of us, they won’t be able to spread their forces to deal with the situation inside Knossos,” said Finn. 
Gareth and Riveria furrowed their brows in surprise. 
“…Is something happening inside Knossos?” 
“It’s a hypothetical at the moment, but the migration of monsters and the armed ones making their way aboveground haven’t moved from the eighteenth floor.” 
Ganesha Familia had left for the eighteenth floor. That much was known. 
If Ikelos Familia was trying to patch things up, they wouldn’t be able to ignore an entanglement between Ganesha Familia and that thing. This scuffle causing issues inside Knossos might be nothing more than wishful thinking. But with Finn aboveground and with a situation erupting on the eighteenth floor, the Evils would be caught between a rock and a hard place. 
The enemy had lost a skilled commander in Arachnia, Valletta Grede. With pressure, there was a good chance they would make a misstep. 
“And also, the fact that we can see adventurers besides us, that would lend some credence to the idea that the area around Knossos is in a tizzy.” 
As Finn glanced down, he noticed a single shadow ducking behind the cover of a building. His blue eyes narrowed. 
“Daaaaamn it…Whyyyyy, oh why is Braver here?” 
The shadow was Hermes Familia’s Lulune, pressing herself against a wall and letting a small whine seep out. 
“Has he found out that Ikelos is hiding here, or…? If it’s not that, he has to know something! Otherwise, he wouldn’t be setting up his guys!” 
Braver is crazy scary, the chienthrope girl thought as her tail bristled and her eyes welled with tears. 
“This is bad, Lord Hermes…! If we don’t hurry up and get this all sorted, our secret is gonna get out!” 
Her intuition was setting off alarm bells as she started to move away. 
“…I can’t find it,” muttered Aiz, talking about the suspicious shadow. 
She was alone on a giant tower, observing the surrounding area. 
If Finn was correct, the Evils’ Remnants or Ikelos Familia or something else should show up around Daedalus Street. If they could put pressure on whoever appeared, they should be able to get significantly closer to their enemy. 
While the members aboveground were frantically searching for clues, Aiz continued moving on her own. 
I guess she isn’t going to come out? 
The creature Levis—the red-haired woman who was obsessed with Aiz. 
Aiz had the idea that if she moved around Daedalus Street on her own, Levis might try to make some kind of move. But she hadn’t felt anyone’s eyes on her so far, let alone Levis’s intense pressure. It seemed she didn’t have any intention of leaving Knossos. 
Aiz inadvertently furrowed her brow when something caught her eye. 
“That’s…” 
She saw the back of something wearing suspiciously tattered clothes scurry into a narrow alley. Aiz kicked off the moment she recognized this figure, slicing through the air like the wind. She touched down on a roof before leaping out again, landing at the entrance of a narrow alley. 
The buildings overlapped one another as if this was an optical illusion. The area was dimly lit. A broken lamp made from magic stones was barely clinging to where it was hung on the wall. 
Watching out for movement from above, Aiz raced down the narrow path, leaping up the staircase that appeared in front of her in one bound and landing in an elevated area surrounded by blue sky. 
There’s no one here…? 
In a space the size of a garden, Aiz scanned the area from side to side. 
“Daedalus Street is restless today.” 
“!” 
Aiz heard the voice of an old woman and spun around to see a goddess making her way down from the path that Aiz had sprinted through. 
“Putting me under surveillance. Hounding a goddess. Sheesh, what a troublesome lot you all are.” 
“…Lady Penia?” 
Aiz recognized that long, disheveled white hair. With her tattered clothes, everything about her looked unkempt. 
Aiz’s eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the goddess Penia—a physical manifestation of destitution. They had met when Loki Familia had come to Daedalus Street before they knew about the existence of Knossos. 
The Goddess of Poverty. 
Or, as Loki put it, poverty on legs. 
Aiz wondered if the goddess had access to a hidden passage. After all, Penia had sauntered out of the narrow alley after noticing that Aiz was following her. 
The old woman smiled as she approached. 
“Searching for something? Or stealing? Takes guts to come here when the whole city is in disarray, wouldn’t you say?” 
“…” 
“Say something! I went out of my way to start the conversation! Sheesh, just standing there with your pretty face like some doll!” 
Her lips shifted from the smile of an old, depraved witch to the downturned mouth of a mother-in-law screeching complaints about her daughter-in-law. 
It wasn’t uncommon for narcissistic deities, but Penia’s mood swings were practically violent. In fact, it was harsh enough that Aiz had a feeling that Penia’s outward appearance and intense emotions were more human than of those living in the mortal realm. 


 


“…Lady Penia, what were you just…?” 
“Answering a question with a question? Deary me. Loki hasn’t taught you any manners! If you were in my familia, I’d kick you out in no time at all! Though it’s not like aaaaaaanyone wants to follow me!” 
“…We’re investigating…the current incident…around here. We thought there might be something…we’re looking for…” 
“I see! I was just taking a stroll myself!” 
“…” 
I’m not sure how to put it…but she’s difficult to deal with. 
Aiz was no good with words, but she suspected she simply wasn’t compatible with the goddess standing before her to begin with. 
Penia loudly sniffed, as she often did. “…Has there been anything strange going on in Daedalus Street recently?” 
“Anything strange? Like?” 
“Like a suspicious person hanging around…” 
“This is a slum. A cesspool in the heart of the city, full of has-been adventurers with violent streaks and fools of—” 
“…A monster…or the Evils,” Aiz interjected. 
Penia cocked an eyebrow, her wrinkles drawing toward it. Aiz didn’t want to worry the residents, which was why she hadn’t said it plainly before, but with a god, she decided to get to the point. 
“Do you know anything?” 
Penia had settled into the labyrinthine district centuries ago, and she was the ruler of Daedalus Street. 
It was possible that she’d caught on to something. 
Aiz looked into her ashen eyes. 
“I don’t know anything,” the goddess quipped. 
A familiar smile spread across Penia’s face. 
A smile that a resident of the mortal realm could not see through. The smile of a god. 
“Hey, Sword Princess…what do you think of Daedalus Street?” 
“…?” 
Aiz was puzzled by this sudden question and quiet for a moment, thinking as she looked out over the complex labyrinth town unfolding under her. 
“…It’s a strange place. It’s dizzying, dungeon-like…The strangest area in the city…” 
“Ohhh? And?” 
“And…the poorest area…” Aiz managed to say with some hesitation. 
“Well, if you ask me, it’s far too rich.” Penia sneered. 
What? Aiz froze. 
“There’s no way a slum should be as clean as this one. Sure, it’s difficult to get around, the ups and downs of the roads are tiring, and you’ll get lost without the ariadne. It has some inconveniences, but those are trivial.” 
“…” 
“There are parentless brats who are completely filthy running around smiling. I’ve heard that some goddess is supporting them. No clue who…But even in this cesspool, there’s love, you know, and cooperation.” Penia continued, spitting out her words. “I’d say the same for Orario as a whole, but it’s definitely too happy here.” 
“Happy…?” 
“Happy people shine all the brighter. It’s like they have no choice but to be so iridescent. That’s what it feels like here. It’s claustrophobic for someone like me. Makes it hard to call it home.” 
The people, gods, and, above all, adventurers. 
The old goddess concluded that the Labyrinth City had too many people too full of dreams and aspirations. 
“It was better before. When monsters were running amok, everyone was unhappy…and they shone even brighter than any do now.” 
Aiz’s heart stirred upon hearing those words. The goddess seemed to genuinely believe that, and her eyes narrowed in reminiscence, but Aiz couldn’t accept it for some reason. 
“It wasn’t like this rotten luster we have now. It was an honorable poverty. Is there anything more glorious than a spirit without any excess flab? The people of the world shone because they were caught up in that harshness. The poverty I rule over was one side of it.” 
“…!” 
“I had a conversation like this with some god before, I think…Who was it?” 
Penia ignored Aiz and carried on, her shoulders quivering in delight. 
“Yes. It would be good to have more…hardship.” 
That smile on her face again. That look in her eyes as she revealed a certain truth. 
Aiz spat out a response to all of that head-on. “That’s not true.” 
“Hmm?” 
“That it was better long ago, when monsters were running wild…There’s no way that’s true.” 
Aiz’s eyebrows furrowed as she let out a more assertive tone of voice. Penia opened her eyes a bit wider, as if she thought this was a surprising reaction, despite having limited interactions with Aiz. 
The existence of monsters is a poison. 
Their very existence is evil. 
Even in this incident with the humanoid monster hiding out and living somewhere in Orario. It’s enough to stir a commotion. 
Aiz wasn’t speaking about justice, but she was entirely sure that the monsters doing as they pleased was indisputably a disaster. It would be impossible for happiness to come out of it. 
Underneath the blue sky, time passed as she locked eyes with the goddess. After a few moments, the old goddess readjusted her smile. 
“…Heh-heh. I guess you’d call this the fundamental difference in the point of view between a god and a mortal. But that’s interesting in itself, too.” 
“Ngh…” 
“Well, gods are prone to know-it-all sorts of utterances. From your point of view, it might sound wrong or even illogical.” 
That’s fine. It’s better that way. Penia looked in adoration at the girl defying her. 
There were too many emotions in Aiz’s heart, and she leaned in, trying to say something. 
“?Ahhhhh?!” 
The repulsive shout of a beast roared out, sounding almost like the shrieks of a girl whose throat had been torn apart. 
“?!” 
“Oh my…Isn’t that a monster? Could that be the thing you’re searching for?” 
Penia’s smile deepened at the sight of Aiz frozen in place. The Sword Princess glanced at the goddess’s upturned lips, enduring the irritation welling in her heart, and pivoted away from the smile. She broke into a run before kicking off the banister. 
“Live like your life depends on it—no matter what’s waiting for you. Because that’s something the gods can’t copy, the way the inhabitants of the mortal realm ought to be.” 
Aiz could hear Penia say that from behind her the moment she leaped into the air. Soon, she was descending into the townscape of Daedalus Street, pulled down by gravity. 
Below her, she could see fleeing people and a half-human, half-dragon monster rampaging in the city. 
 
Finn was the first one to arrive on the scene. 
“!!” 
He broke into a sprint before anyone else the moment the scream rang out, and the site of the commotion quickly came into view. 
Dust rose into the air from the demolished corner of a building as the residents of the Labyrinth District struggled to flee. An unsightly monster stood beneath the open sky of the surface. 
Finn was slightly startled to see some adventurers standing against the monster, but he didn’t waste another second before readying the long spear in his right hand, cocking it behind his back like a loaded ballista. As he leaped across the rooftops, he stepped in with all his might and unleashed the golden spear. 
A single line flashed. 
The spear accelerated with enough speed to not give the monster any time to react—or the adventurers protecting the residents, for that matter—striking its target deeply without the slightest error. It pierced the monster’s raised left hand, knocking the beast back. 
“A—aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhh—?!” 
Losing out to the momentum behind the Fortia Spear now buried in its hand, the monster crashed into the building behind it. 
There was a roar and the echoing crash of impact, the deserted house collapsing, the dragon’s undulating, long body. The spear smashed into the ground along with the monster’s left hand, pinning it down like a live specimen. 
Significant damage to the neighborhood but no casualties. 
Finn’s top priority was to keep the people as far from the monster as possible. He quickly analyzed the situation as he landed atop a wide roof. 
Thump! Thump! 
With Aiz leading the way, Bete, Tiona, Tione, Riveria, and Gareth all arrived next to him. The tumult quieted as if the moment was frozen in place, creating a blank moment in time. Finn’s eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the half-human, half-dragon monster. 
“So that’s what’s been causing all the commotion, I take it?” he murmured. 
Loud cheers broke out an instant later. 
“?Gh!!” 
“Hurray! Hurrrrray!” 
“Adventurers!” 
It was hasty but prompt—it was a flash of glory when they saved the populace consumed by terror at the sudden shattering of their peaceful lives. The residents of the Labyrinth District exploded in cheers at the sight of the city’s strongest taking the stage. 
It was a preemptive surprise attack—fast enough to not allow the concealment of a certain boy. The faces of the adventurers and goddess filled with despair as he rushed into the frame. 
“The residents haven’t sustained any casualties yet.” 
“What’s this? Somebody got here before us.” 
“Wait a sec, isn’t that…?” 
“It’s Argonaut!” 
“That rabbit bastard again…?” 
As Loki Familia continued to gather, Gareth, Tiona, and the others noticed the adventurer standing in the street. 
Bell Cranell. 
And Hestia Familia with their patron goddess. 
They made it here faster than we did—No, were they on Daedalus Street this whole time? Finn was suspicious of the coincidence but disregarded it in the face of his top priority. 
“A vouivre…That matches the reports of a winged monster.” 
A reasonable analysis suggested that the monster before their eyes was the same as the one involved in the incident five days ago: the humanoid monster that had shaken the city. Its female dragon body and tail were a bit much to call humanoid, but the wings sprouting from its back matched eyewitness reports. 
A subspecies? Or maybe a variant? 
And what’s with this timing? 
Finn predicted that was the real trigger of this incident. 
“That monster…Do you think it’s connected to the thing on the eighteenth floor? It looks like it’s got a restraint on it, but is it armed?” wondered Tiona. 
“I can’t be certain about that…But the Guild must have planned for this possibility when ordering all familias to stand by,” suggested Riveria. 
“Tsk, a heads-up would’ve been nice,” snapped Bete. 
The three stared at the wide street below them. 
When Riveria said the Guild, she really meant Ouranos. Finn deduced that her statement was probably half-right. This situation was the worst possible outcome for Ouranos’s side. That monster was the secret that Orario’s creator god wanted to hide—without a doubt. 
As Tiona said, there were manacles on its arms, right where chains had been torn off—proof that it’d been captured by humans. Were those captors Ikelos Familia? 
There are still some unresolved questions, but for now… 
As the breeze tousled his golden hair, Finn looked down at Hestia Familia standing stock-still in the street and past them at the suffering monster. 
“Captain, the monster…” started Tione. 
“The stone in its forehead is missing. Dispose of it immediately.” Finn made a snap decision. 
Vouivres were a rare species of monster. They possessed a drop item, the Vouivre’s Tear, said to bring wealth and fortune. But when they lost it, vouivres were known to go into a rage and rampage until they got the stone back. Using the latent potential of a dragon, they became a whirlwind of destruction. With the residents of the Labyrinth District around, the only option for dealing with it was elimination. 
But a corpse would do. It would be more than enough physical evidence to use against Ouranos. And it would be more important to preserve the lives of the general public. That was Finn’s conclusion. 
But…why are you there? 
A single boy raised a trembling gaze up at Finn. 
It was Bell Cranell. 
Why are you looking at me like that? 
Upon exchanging a glance with those quivering rubellite eyes, Finn noticed something: an unmistakable unease. 
Bell…? At the same time, Aiz felt it again as she stared at his pale face. 
She felt an odd chasm. It was the same with the rest of Hestia Familia, too. While the residents were celebrating Loki Familia’s arrival, they were uniformly speechless, in despair. 
She couldn’t understand why her eyes were fixed on Bell and not the monster that had appeared aboveground. 
“If monsters had a reason to live—” 
She suddenly recalled their earlier conversation. Aiz didn’t understand why, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the boy standing at the threshold of an internal discord. 
“Aaaarghh…?!” shrieked the monster, letting out ugly lamentations while its blood ran free. 
“Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!” 
The people cheered in expectation that the monster would be struck down, erased from the surface of the world. 
The second hand on the clock advanced slowly as the Labyrinth District roared. 
The deities in the vicinity silently watched the progress from outside the playing field. 
The goddess’s followers froze in despair, losing the will to fight back. 
The strongest adventurers prepared to eliminate the monster. 
And that boy standing on the border of it all. 
That boy. 
That boy. 
That boy— 
“?” 
Aiz would never forget that scene. 
It would never disappear for all eternity, a scar etched into her heart. 
Aiz’s golden eyes opened wide. 
On that day. At that time. In that location. 
A single decision took place, a resolution that loved destruction, too irredeemable, too foolish, the gods would say of it later. 
On that day, at that time, in that location, it was a turning point that made a historic impact—the unknowable moment in between eras, as the gods would lament. 
On this day. At this time. In this location. 
A widely respected up-and-coming hero would fall—and in his place, a fool was born. 
“Ooooooooooooo?…?” 
The thunderous anticipation of the crowd turned to a stunned murmur and then to silence. 
“Huh?” Bete furrowed his brow at the sight. 
“Wait…what’s…that?” 
“A-Argonaut…?” 
Tione and Tiona became flustered. 
“Are my eyes playing tricks on me?” 
“Finn…” 
“…What is he thinking?” 
Gareth, Riveria, and Finn coolly narrowed their gazes. 
“?” 
And Aiz was at a loss for words. 
“…Ngh!!” 
The boy confronted them, turning his back to the writhing monster and challenging Loki Familia attempting to subdue it. 
He shielded the monster, as if to protect it—sweating bullets, breath quivering, turning pale. 
Brandishing his jet-black knife, he stood before them, blocking their way. 
What are you doing…? For the life of her, Aiz couldn’t understand what she was seeing. 
Somewhere along the way, the boy who’d been so close to her had ended up so far from her. There was nothing she could do. The only thing Aiz knew was that the two of them were perfectly at odds with each other. 
Bell Cranell— 
As for Finn, his thoughts were kicking into overdrive—despite his composed tone of voice. 
A human was protecting a monster. 
But that’s exactly what was happening in the scene unfolding before his eyes, in a series of events that shouldn’t have been possible. It was the real motive of the boy blocking his way. 



 


Even with his mind clear, he could only process an error. Finn was faced with an answer that he couldn’t have predicted or deduced and focused on those rubellite eyes. 
What if? 
Seriously. What if? 
If he worked from the hypothesis that Bell Cranell actually intended to protect it… 
He couldn’t accept this in the current situation. It would be a meaningless discussion. But hypothetically, if it was just the two of them and the monster had any value, some kind of negotiation might have been possible. 
But they’d been seen by a bunch of people. As the hope of the prums, Braver had no choice left except summary execution. There was no acceptable reason to let the monster live. 
Meaning if Bell Cranell intended to save the vouivre, then his decision was the correct one—and an irredeemable folly leading to his own destruction. 
“?You really are foolish,” murmured one of the gods, the faint whisper fading into the wind. 
In front of the civilians, adventurers, a monster, and the gods, a single boy threw himself into ruin. 
 
“I saw this vouivre first; it’s mine…!” 
That was the only excuse he could wring out for all those people. 
“Hands off…!” Bell threatened Loki Familia, taking on the mask of a simple, greedy adventurer. 
As the vouivre pulled the spear out of its hand and fled from its restraints with a shriek, the white-haired boy pursued it by himself. 
“Ummm…Say what?” Tiona cocked her head in confusion as she watched Bell run away from them. 
“It’s against the rules for one adventurer to steal a kill from another…” 
Aiz was barely able to say that much. It was the only possible explanation excusing his actions, but she said it as though she was trying to convince herself. 
“Ah…Well, vouivres are rare, I guess,” Tiona empathized. 
“Are you kidding me…? That only matters in the Dungeon. You can’t bring that weak shit up here!” 
Tiona sounded as though she could be convinced that was a reasonable explanation, but Bete closed his eyes and scratched his scalp with his right hand as he made his retort. 
His response was the most obvious and natural one. It was absurd to bring up the regular rules of adventurers in this kind of crisis. In the blink of an eye, animosity spread among the members of Loki Familia and the residents of the slum. 
Aiz couldn’t stop it. There was no way it could be stopped. She could not even put the brakes on her own bewilderment. 
“Captain…” started Tione. 
“We’ve no responsibility to go along with a child’s selfishness. Follow the vouivre.” 
As Tione looked to their leader with some hesitation for their next instructions, Finn maintained his poise as the commander and immediately responded. The rest of the familia nodded at the decision of their unwavering prum leader and started to chase them down. 
“—Ooooooooooooooooooooh!” roared the monster at a volume that assaulted their ears, as if it was trying to discourage their pursuit. 
The vouivre and boy disappeared down the wide road as monsters started appearing one after another. 
“Armed monsters!” 
“It looks as though there was a connection to Rivira’s destruction, after all…” 
There were more than twenty of them in total. The majority of them had armor without access to weapons: a lizardman with bloodshot eyes and a monstrous appearance, a gargoyle screaming without pause leading a flock of winged monsters, a red-cap goblin wielding an ax that dwarfed its diminutive body, an al-miraj straddling a hellhound. It was a jumble of species. 
Tiona and Tione couldn’t believe their eyes, which tensed sharply. 
Bringing up the rear, a golden-winged siren danced through the air. 
“Bows! Loose!” 
“Let’s go!” 
The residents of Daedalus Street began to scream at the sight of the monster swarm. 
The leaders of the secondary forces—the Level-4 chienthrope Cruz and human girl Narfi—moved to protect the noncombatants, loosing arrows at the monsters in the sky as the rest of the familia dashed out in the wake of Narfi’s charge. 
Seeing them respond on their own judgment without hesitation, Riveria turned to Finn for a confirmation that would be unnecessary in an emergency. 
“Finn, what shall we do?” 
“…If at all possible, capture them alive,” Finn said after a moment of contemplation. 
“Alive?” Bete parroted. 
“Yeah, I’m curious about something.” 
Just as he was about to dash off himself, Bete whipped around, the wind taken out of his sails. Finn had not once stopped looking ahead and noticed the damage done to the armed monsters. The bulk of them had sustained wounds, as if they had already fought a battle before their arrival. 
Finn had hastily and naturally judged that these armed monsters were the same ones that had appeared on the eighteenth floor. And if they’d come from that floor to the surface, that meant they had traversed Knossos. 
Had they been unleashed by human hands or had they opened the door themselves in their march to the surface? 
Either way, a Daedalus Orb must have been involved. Finn was working under that assumption. 
“Tione and the other vanguards, intercept them. Avoid using magic if possible. It’ll cause too much damage to the surroundings.” 
“Understood!” 
“Got it!” 
“This is a pain in the ass…” 
“The rearguard mages, protect the townspeople and help them evacuate. The safety of the civilians is our top priority. Now go!” 
“Yes, sir!” 
The orders were to obtain the key or information concerning it and protect the citizens. He handed down these instructions in the hopes of accomplishing both at the same time. 
Barred from the use of artillery and supporting fire, the mages focused on rushing to the residents while Tione, Tiona, and Bete descended onto the battlefield. 
“Arcus! Don’t use the main road. That way, the monsters won’t notice you. Take a four-man squad and follow the vouivre. Bring Lefiya with you.” 
“Eh? Uh, yes, sir!” Lefiya was shocked by the follow-up order but obeyed immediately. 
They moved toward the rear, entering a hidden back alley once they could no longer be seen by the monsters. 
After every other member of her familia had sprung into action, Aiz moved for the first time in a while, shaking her head slightly as if to switch gears. 
“Aiz, you stay here.” 
“…?” 
“Riveria, prepare a barrier. I know what I said, but there’s no way the townspeople will be able to get away that quickly.” 
“…Too much renown poses its own problems. I understand. We must be cautious.” 
“Thanks. Gareth, sorry, but can you set up a perimeter over there?” 
“Hmm? Fine by me, but…will they be okay against the armed monsters?” 
“Yeah, Bete’s group should be enough.” 
Finn tacked on more instructions to the pile for Riveria and Gareth specifically. Aiz was feeling impatient about being left to her own devices, looking out over the battlefield with him. Honestly, it was difficult for her to stay still. 
“…Finn.” 
“Yeah. Sorry, Aiz, but you stay here just in case,” Finn responded when she finally looked at him to complain. 
He had on a vague strained smile that didn’t betray whether he could understand her feelings. And his face tensed as he quickly looked over the street. 
“…Is there…something coming?” 
“My thumb is a bit…you know…” His blue eyes narrowed as he licked his thumb. 
Moments later, the adventurers clashed with the armed monsters. 
The battle had begun. 
The sound of weapons clanging against one another and the violent screeching of the monsters was deafening. At every turn on the wide street, there were adventurers working together to intercept the monsters with the most potential to inflict damage. The battle progressed as Finn anticipated—with Loki Familia’s forces superior from start to finish. 
“…This doesn’t seem like your regular lizardman,” Tione murmured as she distanced herself from the monster that had broken free of its shackles. 
The lizardman had taken significant damage from her haphazard attacks, stumbling unstably as it gripped a longsword and scimitar, but she could see that the will to fight was burning strong in its deep-orange eyes. 
“Groooaaa!” It roared wildly, obstinately, and attacked with a precise slash. 
It possessed unmistakable skill and command of tactics, though its sword techniques evoked the image of a self-taught warrior. As an Amazon, Tione could tell it was a style that had been nurtured through frequent combat. At the same time, she had never run across a monster that possessed learned techniques before. And to take it a step further, such a monster shouldn’t even exist. 
Tione licked her lips at the thought of fighting this monster. It unleashed various techniques one after another—instead of relying on instinct alone. That said, her beloved’s orders needed to be carried out, and she dispassionately battered the enemy in front of her eyes. 
“Quite the looker for a monster, aren’t you?” 
Meanwhile, there was a single siren collapsed at Bete’s feet. He’d won in an instant. 
A portion of unsightly blood fell away from its face, revealing one beautiful enough to rival an elf. 
But Bete mercilessly stomped down on the siren’s stomach. 
“…Argh?!” 
“Monsters can go to hell.” 
His smile stretched and twisted the tattoo on his cheek, which was dyed red with a mix of scorn and rage. Bete couldn’t accept monsters walking around aboveground like they owned the place—or flying around in the sky or swimming around lazily in the seas. 
It was unforgivable. 
He would never say it out loud, and he wouldn’t think back on his past, but the cold hard truth was that Bete’s family—the people who were most important to him—had almost all been slaughtered by monsters. 
Bete stamped his foot down, unleashing the full extent of his wrath on behalf of all the people in the world. Even if it was female, even if its face looked vaguely human, it wouldn’t stop him. He had no mercy for any type of monster. 
You bastards deserve to be destroyed, he thought as he beat the siren that had dared to come aboveground. 
“OOOooooooooo!” A gargoyle swooped in as Bete continued to punt the monster. 
“One pain in the ass after another.” He met it without any difficulty, easily brushing it aside. 
“GOOAGH?!” 
“You dumbasses are a long way from home.” 
Bete ripped off the stone claws of the enemy, slamming his metal boots into its body. The expression on the werewolf’s face remained contorted. 
Bete realized the feeling filling his chest: This is pissing me off. 
That was because their howls sounded as if they were protecting something. He couldn’t shake the feeling that these monsters crying out and thinking of their comrades closely resembled his family on the plains. They were despicable, loathsome, detestable. 
“Just stay down already!” 
“Gaagh?!” 
He slammed a brutal kick into the gargoyle to avoid confronting his feelings. 
“Come at me!” 
“Grugh?!” 
As Bete vented his frustrations in a violent rampage, Tiona knocked back a goblin. By using hand-to-hand techniques from her studies in Telskyura, she rendered it incapable of fighting back. 
“I’m not Bete or anything, but it’s hard to hold back using Urga.” 
She was dragging her feet to her job, working her way around the intense battlefield with the other familia members. She knew there wasn’t a weapon more unsuited to the task of capturing monsters alive than Urga. And above all else, she was hesitant to use it on them. 
It’s kinda…hard to fight these guys. What’s with this horde of monsters…? 
She neutralized the al-miraj, sending it flying with a flick to the forehead as she frowned slightly. This horde was different from the beasts they usually killed in the Dungeon. She couldn’t put it into words, but it felt bad. She was finding it difficult to fight. 
If Tione heard her line of thought, Tiona would probably catch a slap to the back of the head. But she couldn’t explain it, and it wasn’t based on anything, seeing as she was an idiot. Despite being an airhead, Tiona was struggling to resolve it when the ground shook. 
“Waaah?! What’s that?!” 
The stone pavement welled up, and a lump of metal appeared from underground—a kind of metallic monster resembling a giant flame rock. She hadn’t seen anything like it before. The others fighting nearby paused to look on in shock. 
Tiona quickly realized its body was made of adamantite—just like her Urga. As if to prove her right, it deflected the attacks of Tione and Bete. Its movements were slow and efficient, knocking away the vanguard wall, shields and all. 
“—Yeah, yeah, thaaat’s what I was looking for!” 
Tiona’s eyes sparkled as she swung her sword. A sudden rush of enthusiasm bubbled up within her—if for no other reason than the hunk of metal not causing the same lump in her throat as the other monsters. 
With this thing, I don’t have to think about anything when I’m swinging my sword. 
To push past her doubts, Tiona split the golem in a single slash. 
Interest, annoyance, and delay. 
Each holding their own thoughts, Loki Familia proceeded to neutralize the armed monsters. 
“…What is this?” Aiz whispered amid the chaos. 
Her whisper went unheard as she watched the battle unfold before her eyes. She was standing above it all, overlooking the battlefield. Because of that, it was easy for her to understand—much more clearly and distinctly than Tiona and the others fighting. 
The monsters were covering one another. They were working together to fight—as if they were adventurers. 
What’s going on? That’s impossible. 
There were monsters with enough intelligence that had been known to cooperate with one another for the purposes of attacking mankind—but protecting one another? That was unheard of. To devour people, they didn’t care whether others of their species or anything else got killed in the process. That was what a monster was: a beast. 
And yet. 
Aiz hid her bewilderment and agitation behind her emotionless expression. 
Is there anyone else who’s noticed it? Tiona? Tione? Bete? Anyone else? 
What are you thinking, Finn? 
The prum leader beside her was wearing a commander’s mask, hiding his feelings. 
Her mind was a mess. 
Her heart was filled with confusion. 
She couldn’t get the image of that boy protecting the vouivre out of her head. Aiz realized her palms were sweaty as she looked out over the battlefield. 
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!” 
That’s why Aiz was relieved when she heard that overwhelming roar, when she saw that pitch-black body, the very image of fear and menace. 
And even though the piercing howl immediately rendered the residents unconscious, even though its arms as thick as logs blew away several of her comrades, even though its brutal Labrys battle-ax was glinting in the sunlight, sowing destruction in its path, in the corner of her heart roiled by shock, Aiz felt reassured. 
Because this was the kind of monster she knew. 
“Uooooooo!” 
It was a pitch-black minotaur. 
Tiona, Tione, and Bete barely managed to hold their ground, while the other members were cornered by its restraint and unable to intervene. Just as the Level 6s were about to take control of the battle by leveraging their numbers, the titanic monster unsheathed a second ax from behind its back. 
“““?!””” 
The colossal weapon ripped through the ground, kicking up a storm of electrical discharges and scattering the dried clots of blood on its blade to reveal its golden color. It was a magic blade with the lightning attribute. 
Bathed in a net of thunder, the first-tier adventurers couldn’t help but freeze for an instant. 
The black minotaur swung the ax upward, piercing the heavens as it flipped into position to mercilessly attack them. 
“Riveria, the barrier!” Finn shouted, abandoning all pretenses of composure. 
“Via Shilheim!” rang out a resonant voice, casting the spell to form a magic barrier in the shape of a dome. 
It protected the unconscious residents at the same time as the minotaur unleashed its next blast. 
“—OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” 
Lightning flooded the area like a crashing wave. 
Bete stuck out his Frosvirt to absorb the impact, but the thunderous explosion of lightning couldn’t be contained. Bete, Tiona, and Tione bore the brunt of the attack and were sent flying back as the other members were swallowed up in a whirlpool of light. 
The undulating rays of light ripped up the cobblestones, leaving rows of houses obliterated in their wake. Other than Riveria’s barrier, nothing escaped destruction. 
This was the largest amount of damage that had been dealt since the start of the battle against the monsters. Once the thunderous bombardment passed through, the smoke cleared to reveal a demolished street with the members of Loki Familia collapsed on the ground. 
Everyone had been wiped out—except for Bete and the two sisters. 
“No more trying to catch them alive—” 
The black minotaur stood in the center of the street pulverized from that location onward to the western end. Everything had been turned to rubble, save the eastern end of the street where the defeated armed monsters lay in a crumpled heap. 
Finn’s eyes narrowed at the scene of destruction—and Aiz dashed out, unseen, alone, without saying a word or making a sound. 
She moved as though compelled by something, welcoming something, as she kicked the roof and whirled through the sky, landing behind the monster. 
“—Do it, Aiz!” 
Tap. 
The beast’s back stiffened at the sound of her boots lightly striking the ground as she drew her trusted sword. 
“Understood.” 
Aiz didn’t take notice of the tone of her voice. There was a quality of serenity to it. And her gaze was calm as she stood before the roaring minotaur spinning around to smash its ax down onto her. 
“Tempest,” she chanted in a sonorous voice, signaling an intent to kill. 
“Airiel.” 
The wind whined. 
A tremendous flow of air rushed up, and her sword flashed. 
And in the next moment, the monster’s right arm flew through the sky. 
“?” 
Her comrades, Hestia Familia, the armed monsters, and the black minotaur were silent. 
The flash of steel stole all their breaths away. A gentle breeze blew by, and the severed arm crashed to the ground. 
Even as the screech of the monster reached a fever pitch and its blood spattered onto its surroundings, the wind shielded the girl’s body from it all, functioning as her armor. Her heart was calm. 
There was no doubt—straightforward to the point that it surprised her. 
As her long blond locks rippled in the wind, Aiz held the beauty of a goddess on the battlefield, swinging her sword at the giant monster before her—mercilessly, even cruelly. 
“Here I come,” she warned. 
The dark minotaur sent spittle flying as it furiously started to counterattack, but Aiz kept her composure, playing a melody by slicing her sword through the wind. 


 


“?Argh?!” 
She unleashed seemingly thousands of slashes from all angles. Sheathed in the wind, Desperate cut through the armored enemy’s body, sending splashes of blood flying. But her sword didn’t stop. Aiz’s whole body flitted around, slicing up a storm into the enemy standing before her. 
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” 
In the blink of an eye, it was covered in blood, but its eyes flared, ready to fight back—as a monster that surpassed human intellect. It pushed forward, abandoning its defenses. With one arm and one foot in its grave, it forced itself to launch a counterattack. Unloading a single strike with enough force to turn everything to dust, it knocked back her stream of slashes. Her field of vision quivering, Aiz was shocked for a moment but regained her fighting spirit—and awe. 
Ah. 
How strong. 
How terrifying. 
How dreadful. 
Yes, this is— 
“Th-that’s…” 
Her sword growled as she accelerated, and the world around her seemed to freeze in time. As her eyes lost sight of everything but the black monster before her, Aiz was no longer capable of noticing someone murmuring. 
As the person witnessed the frozen features of the Sword Princess and the furious slashes filled with black flames, their voice quivered. 
“That’s…the War Princess.” 
Someone had called her that long ago: the War Princess, monster slayer in a girl’s skin, the one who’d built untold mountains of monster corpses, the reckless fighter who never tired of descending into the depths of the Dungeon over and over. 
As her sword danced, she reverted to her appearance as the Doll Princess, one she’d long ago left behind—all the more beautiful for the perilousness of it. She inspired fear and terror in the monsters and Loki Familia. 
But Aiz didn’t notice that she was unconsciously using the skill she’d forbidden herself from using on others. 
“…Aiz.” 
She didn’t process the murmur of a high elf watching as she became possessed by the battle. 
Good— 
Aiz felt relieved before the pitch-black minotaur, the incarnation of violence. 
This is a monster. 
This is a beast. 
I’m not in the wrong. 
The image of the boy protecting the vouivre faded from her mind. 
I knew I wasn’t wrong. 
Monsters must be killed. 
As the minotaur joyously roared for more combat, Aiz danced, unleashing a loud hum with the wind. 
The young version of Aiz in a corner of her heart was peering at her, lonely, but she pretended not to see her as she tore into the pitch-black minotaur. 

 


INTERLUDE 
THE FAIRY’S RAGE 
“Lefiya, get a move on!” 
“O-okay!” 
While Loki Familia’s main group was clashing with the black minotaur, Lefiya and the others were headed to the southern end of Daedalus Street. Following Finn’s orders, they had formed a four-man cell to hound the fleeing vouivre. 
“Little Rookie, you bastard. Showing your true colors!” 
“Thinking about making money at a time like this…Can you believe this crap?!” 
“…” 
The human and elf familia members voiced their irritation as they sprinted. They had endless insults for an adventurer who would invite unnecessary chaos by protecting a monster. 
How greedy did an adventurer have to be to aim for a rare monster’s high-value drop item at a time like this? That’s how Bell Cranell appeared to them. That was the only way they could rationalize his actions. 
Their incandescent rage took the form of open disdain. It was an obvious conclusion. 
Lefiya alone kept quiet, lips pursed, face unreadable. 
What was that human thinking?! 
Lefiya wasn’t feeling the same anger as the others. She was perplexed. 
She didn’t want to acknowledge it, but compared to the others, she’d had more interactions with Bell Cranell and, at the very least, understood his nature. 
A selfish desire. A vision clouded by riches. Those words could never be used to describe him. 
A greedy adventurer? It was so uncharacteristic that instead of bursting with rage, she was more likely to look to the heavens for some explanation. If he was that kind of adventurer, he could have gotten through life a lot easier. 
That was why she couldn’t figure it out. 
Why would he go this far to protect a monster? Even if it resulted in him being reviled as a greedy adventurer? 
Lefiya was trying to process a comparable feeling of shock to Aiz and Tiona when she saw him protect the vouivre. Instead of criticizing him, she was unsure how to respond even now. 
Why do I have to be worrying myself over you…?! 
That was why she was so unhappy with him—acting in a way that would invite misunderstanding. 
Or maybe she was actually feeling anger. 
“Other adventurers are…!” 
The light from the setting sun shone on Lefiya’s face as a bunch of adventurers from all different familias started appearing on the scene upon hearing the uproar on Daedalus Street. They’d gathered to get the situation under control: If they were going to take out the monster, they needed to act now. Lefiya and the other members from Loki Familia split up and jumped into the forest of interlocking buildings, rushing in the direction from where the cries and dust clouds were originating. 
“Eep?! Noooooooooooooo!” 
“Whoa, hey, adventurers?! Over here! Over here!!” 
The howls of the monster’s advance were without end, and its piercing wails echoed all around. With the others, Lefiya became uneasy as they witnessed weeping prostitutes and their children clambering to escape before them. 
Their group accelerated, stepping out onto a straight road. 
“There it is!” 
They confirmed the sight of the vouivre’s titanic body in the distance. And just before it, the back of a white-haired boy as he pursued the monster. 
“We’re going to circle around! Lefiya, hit it with your magic from here!” 
“Yes, sir!” 
The other three people in her cell moved ahead as Lefiya raised her staff, Forest Teardrop. She could see that the vouivre had already been injured—the adventurers lying in wait must have hit it with their own attacks. The dragon tail hanging from its lower body had a javelin sticking out of it, and from its slender back sprouted arrows. 
The monster unleashed a pained roar as Lefiya prepared to chant when she saw something unbelievable. 
“Firebolt!” 
It was magic. 
The boy had cast magic—at the adventurers. 
“?!” 
She couldn’t believe her eyes. The electrical fire crackled, blowing away the adventurers trying to intercept the monster. 
“Wh—?!” 
“Arrrrrgh?!” 
None of them were able to deal with it—because none of them expected to be attacked by a fellow adventurer, not here, not now. Their weapons were shattered while their bodies suffered burns as they plunged from the collapsing rooftop. Lefiya was at a loss for words at his eccentric behavior—something that far surpassed simple barbarism. 
Bell Cranell’s magic was a menace. 
He didn’t have to worry about chanting to unleash the Swift-Strike spell, which had the force of a short-trigger cast to match. But it was a Level 3. After becoming a second-tier adventurer, he had magic on par with a Level-2 mage. Its firepower was not an insignificant thing. It shot off at a speed that hardly anyone could hope to block—the members of Loki Familia focused on the monster were no exception. They took a direct hit when they were about to attack the vouivre, and their heads smacked into the wall and the ground upon impact. 
“Wh—?” 
What are your intentions?! 
What are you doing?! 
If you do that…! 
As her mind fogged over, Lefiya’s apprehensions became reality. 
“Little Rookie, you piece of shit!” 
“Are you out of your damn mind?!” 
“You want the rare drop that badly, you greedy rat?!” 
“At a time like this?!” 
A violent swirl of rage and abuse welled up among the adventurers. 
Lefiya’s hands started to tremble, feeling as though the abuse and slander hurled at Bell was aimed at her. The residents who had been desperately trying to flee froze in place, dumbfounded, and the children started to bawl at an increased urgency, adding to the chaos of the situation. 
But despite all of that, Bell kept firing off magic. 
He was pushing everyone away from the vouivre as if to protect it while chasing after the rampaging monster. 
“Ngh!” Gripping her staff, Lefiya sprinted with all her might. 
Taking the shortest path along the top of the roofs, she finally raced fast enough to line up alongside him. 
“Bell Cranell!! What are you doing?!!” she screamed. 
“Gh…!” 
He glanced over at her once, but that was the limit of his response. His twisted face didn’t allow for a dialogue as he sped up, trying to leave her in the dust. 
—Are you ignoring me?! Lefiya seethed. 
“Wait! Answer! My! Question!” she huffed, shouting over the wind whipping against her body. 
But the boy refused to meet her eyes. He was focused on the monster making its escape, and he’d discarded everything except for that. 
“Why? Why…?!” Lefiya growled. 
Why do you look like you’re suffering?! 
Look at me! 
Explain yourself! 
If you don’t, I won’t be able to understand anything! 
She screamed in her mind at the boy whose face was clearly conflicted and distressed. 
What happened to your usual excuses? Turn red already while you shout You’ve got it all wrong! Hurry up and say something! Just like when you make excuses after angering me by getting involved with my beloved Aiz! Do it now, and I’ll get a little mad, lecture you, give you a warning, and then forgive you—just like usual! 
Don’t make a pitiful face! 
That expression doesn’t fit you at all! 
She couldn’t hold together the list of all the things filling her heart. Lefiya certainly didn’t want to see him in this sad state. It wasn’t disappointment or despair but unpleasant. 
As a competitor, as a rival, as an adventurer aiming for the same aspiration, she wanted to ask about his true intentions. At this point, she wasn’t even chasing the monster. 
She was chasing him. 
“Guaaaagh?!” 
“—?!” 
With the screams echoing around her, she had no choice but to give up on questioning him. Adventurers kept collapsing, blood flowing freely from their wounds, and the vouivre continued to rampage. Without the red stone on its forehead, the dragon had become entirely indiscriminate, no more calculating than a storm now. 
Her eyes wavered, and Lefiya had to destroy the monster. 
“—Unleashed pillar of light, limbs of the holy tree. You are the master archer!” She cast concurrently, sprinting at full speed. 
Bell’s shoulders quivered as he felt the magical energy building, and he looked back at her for the first time. He hesitated to fire off a spell—possibly because she was an acquaintance—then he began screaming as if he were being split in two. 
“Please stop!!” 
Don’t be unreasonable! 
If I let it go, more people will get hurt. In the worst case, the ordinary civilians will get tossed around like the adventurers are now. This is long past the point of trivial grievances. 
If I fail to stop it, you’re the one who’s going to face a tragic future! 
“Loose your arrows, fairy archers. Pierce, arrow of accuracy!” cast Lefiya, thrusting out her staff and firing her spell with a contorted face. 
“Arcs Ray!” 
A single shot of magic homed in on its target. After it was released, the missile would not disappear until it hit home. This was an arrow that would never miss. 
The ray of light shone with enough power to lay low a large-scale monster. 
Upon seeing that dazzling light, the boy turned around in despair. 
“?!” 
He leaped into the path of the magic, spreading his arms, trying to intercept the ray of light before it hit the vouivre. 
Lefiya gazed in wonder as he attempted to physically shield the monster. 
“A-Alio?!” He immediately chanted a spell to disperse it. 
When it was hit by the homing spellkey magic, Arcs Ray scattered just before reaching him. 
“Grrrrrrrrrrrm?!” 
Even though he wasn’t directly hit by it, Bell was blasted away when it exploded directly in front of him. With smoke rising from his armor, the battered boy leaped to his feet and resumed his chase of the vouivre. 
Lefiya was left behind, dumbfounded. 
“…Why?” 
In the middle of the road, the legs of the elf stopped moving. 
Why would you go that far? 
Why would you go to such lengths to protect a monster? 
Why do I feel this way about you when I’m right and you’re wrong? 
She couldn’t wrap her head around it. 
“…Wait, Bell Cranell!” she screeched at the back moving away from her position on the street. 
But the boy didn’t pay her any heed. It was as if he didn’t want to waste a second in his pursuit of the vouivre. He persisted in playing the fool. 
Lefiya clenched both fists, ignored again and again, her body starting to tremble. Her long ears turned red to their tips, and as if she could bear it no more, she closed her eyes, roaring as loudly as she could. 
“Your reason! Your situation!…Explain yourseeeeeeelf!!” 
The sun dipped below the city walls. As dusk set in, the screams of the bright-red elf echoed across the evening sky. 
 



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