Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka Gaiden – Sword Oratoria - Volume 8 - Chapter Ep

EPILOGUE INSTEAD OF GOOD-BYE— 

The morning sun glimmered in the sky to the east. 
A group was on its way to the deserted First Graveyard, otherwise known as the Adventurers Graveyard, in the city’s southeastern district—a group of Amazons, all of them donning attire reminiscent of dancers. 
“Seriously! You really shoulda just come out and told us, you numbskull!” 
“Oooouch!” 
Aisha’s fist came down on the crown of Lena’s ponytailed head with a heavy DONG! 
“B-but! Nine Hell told me I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone! Besides! We weren’t even supposed to leave the hospital, remember?” Lena insisted tearfully, reminding the other Amazon of the continued risk of attack from the assassins—and how Riveria had told them to lay low until things had cooled down. Whether they wanted to or not, they’d become part of the high elf’s plan to “deceive the enemy by way of their allies.” 
The two Amazons were walking with the rest of the Berbera who’d been saved by Amid’s secret curse-repelling potion—the same Amazons whose “corpses had been taken to the First Graveyard,” according to the lie that had been spread. 
“You were certainly a blubbering mess, Samira. Even went to all this work to prepare a grave already…” 
“Wh-what did you expect? I just heard that all my friends had died! Why wouldn’t I want to pay my respects…?!” 
“I’m sorry for worrying you so much, Samira…But hey! You were on the ball with that grave! Guess I should have expected as much from our old ritual leader!” 
“You don’t look sorry at all!” 
“Yeeeoouch!” 
The red-faced, ashen-haired Amazon brought her own fist down on Lena’s head, eliciting another yelp from the girl. 
The group continued along with an air that was considerably inappropriate for a graveyard as they carted their shovels, pickaxes, and other various oversize tools. They’d need them to dig up the graves that had been made for them after they’d “died,” as unexpected as that had been. Leaving them there would not only lead to more misunderstandings, it’d be ill-omened, to boot. Admonishing Samira as she continued to complain about all the money she’d wasted on their gravestones, they finally made it to their destination. 
They stopped in the small corner of the graveyard their familia had purchased before being disseminated: the Ishtar Familia plots, where their former comrades who’d lost their lives in the Dungeon already slept. 
“…Fallujah and the others…They’re really dead, aren’t they?” 
“Yes, they’ve already been…buried.” 
While Amid’s magic item had been able to save almost all the inflicted Amazons, there were still a few who had slipped through their fingers, most of them having been attacked in the middle of the night and their bodies discovered too late. There were also a few they simply hadn’t had enough of the elixir left to save, making Lena and the others who had survived very lucky indeed. 
Lena got down on her knees in front of the freshly made graves, a strangely reserved look on her face as she closed her eyes. She prayed for the happiness of her fallen friends in the next life—and that they might meet again one day under the same sun. 
“…All right, let’s clean these things up, then, shall we? Else these old girls who have to spend the rest of eternity here’ll give us an earful!” Aisha exclaimed in jest, shattering the gloomy atmosphere that had settled over the group. 
Smiles crossing their faces, they quickly got to work digging out the graves. 
But then… 

“Huh?” 
“…? Aisha?” 
Aisha had come to a halt in front of Lena, who’d been searching for her gravestone among the rows. Drawing the gazes of the rest of her peers, the older Amazon’s shoulders gave a sudden jerk. 
“Gngh…Ha-ha…Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” 
She burst out in laughter. 
“Wh-what’s wrong? What’s so funny?” 
But Aisha was laughing so hard she couldn’t even respond, her arms to her stomach and tears threatening the corners of her eyes. 
“Oh, c’mon!” Lena puffed out her cheeks in indignation, then pushed past the other Amazon to see just what was so amusing. 
“—Ah.” 
Lena froze instantly. 
The grave Aisha had been standing in front of was none other than Lena’s. 
Completely white, it was clear the grave was fresh. 
But what caught her attention the most was what was sitting on top of the carefully etched letters of her name. 
Unable to believe her eyes, she reached out slowly, carefully, to take it in her hands. 
“That wolf you’ve fallen for…he’s really somethin’ else.” Aisha continued to giggle as she wiped at her eyes. 
Lena simply clutched the item, her most beloved item in all the world, to her chest. 
There was only one person who could have left this on her grave. 
“Obnoxious doesn’t even come close!” 
Aisha’s laughter continued from behind her as Lena’s cheeks filled with a fiery heat. 
This warmth in her chest. 
This was happiness, a pure, unadulterated joy she’d never felt before in all her days fighting as an Amazon. Tears running down her cheeks, she turned her smile to the sky, shouting up at the sun. 
“I love you, Bete Logaaaaaaaaa!!” 
The bouquet of forget-me-nots clutched between her fingers trembled, as though smiling.