Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka Gaiden – Sword Oratoria - Volume 9 - Chapter Pr

PROLOGUE RECOLLECTIONS OF AN ELF 

There was a certain state known as the Kingdom of Rakia. 
It was nominally a militant monarchy located in the western part of the continent, but in actuality, it was headed by the deity Ares and built up by his followers—Ares Familia. All the kingdom’s soldiers and military personnel had received a Blessing and since time immemorial would constantly wage war at the behest of their god’s divine will. Their armies had a history of expanding by force, invading other cities and countries. 
And now they were embarking on a new military expedition. 
—The Kingdom of Rakia’s army was marching on Orario. 
The nation of warmongers had pointed its spear at the very center of the world. Crimson banners fluttered and countless boots thundered as they steadily advanced on the giant walls protecting the city. 
The Guild drafted a mission, dispatching several familias based in the city to intercept the invading army. Loki Familia was one of those summoned. 
The curtain rose on the war between the invaders and the adventurers. 
“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!” 
But— 
“Captain, Gareth is blowing away the unit of knights by himself according to plan.” 
“Tell him to keep intercepting them like that. I’m sorry to work him so hard, but they still have reinforcements coming.” 
“Captain! I busted up three of the squads that were trying to retreat like you ordered!” 
“Good job, Tione. But you’re supposed to be relaying my orders, not personally carrying them out.” 
The battle had turned into a one-sided assault launched by Orario’s forces. 
On a plain far to the east of the city, a never-ending stream of screams echoed across the battlefield. From their camp overlooking the battlefront, members of Loki Familia watched as the Rakian army was put to rout. Thanks to its proximity to the Dungeon, Orario had gathered the world’s strongest adventurers. In this age of gods where quality surpassed quantity, when Rakia’s soldiers were only Level 3s at best, they had no chance of gaining the upper hand. While their enemies struggled, Orario’s adventurers appeared unfazed, even bored. 
“We’ve got a bunch of issues popping up thanks to the Evils, so why is Rakia bugging us now?” 
“Our troubles are obviously not a problem in their eyes.” 
“I guess it’s like our goddess always says about the timing being bad.” 
Considering that a hostile nation had invaded, this was technically an emergency. As one of the city’s strongest groups, Loki Familia was forced to take part in the defense. The flags with the trickster’s emblem that currently served as their battle standard were clearly sapping the enemy’s will to fight whenever they saw one. 
Deployed as messengers, Tiona, the catgirl Anakity, and the human Narfi exchanged strained laughs and sighs as they carefully moved among the various groups. 
“—Fusillade Fallarica!” 
On the main battlefront, countless fiery missiles streaked across the field. 
Lefiya held a staff in both hands. Exactly as planned, she loosed a wide-range bombardment spell on the enemy formation that was advancing on them. 
A thunderous boom sounded right before a crater appeared in the ground, sending soldiers and horses flying. The opposing army was already on the verge of collapse after a single blast. Everyone, from the enemy soldiers to the various familias from Orario comprising the rest of the temporary alliance, shuddered at the sight of the elf standing on the top of the hill. 
“Lefiya, you’re overdoing it. The goal is to force them to retreat. At this rate, you’ll totally wipe them out.” 
“S-sorry, Miss Alicia…Maybe it’s because we are always fighting monsters in the Dungeon, but it’s somewhat hard to hold back…” 
“Let’s try harder next time…We’re moving on now, as the captain ordered.” 
Alicia, the Level-4 elf adventurer, corrected the girl’s timing on her spell. Lefiya clutched her staff and hung her head at the older elf’s look of disappointment. Riveria was too powerful, so she was working behind the scenes while Lefiya’s attacks exploded around the battlefield. 
It was a raw demonstration of quality over quantity. 
A single skilled mage had—with a single spell—scattered a hundred units. 
To the Rakian soldiers, it was a living nightmare. 
“Aghhh, Commander! That pink elf from Orario is coming this way! Gah…She’s Concurrent Castiiing!” 
“Retreat! Retreeeat!!! We can’t hold!” 
A Level-3 fast-response weapon platform on legs. That day, the pink elf became a symbol of terror for the Ares Familia soldiers as she dashed around the battlefield raining immense magic attacks on them. 
“Damn you, Orario scum!! Stand and fight! Stop waddling around and blasting magic all over! Does no one in this forsaken city understand the beauty of proper battle?!” 
“Lord Ares…A mob of adventurers who resort to sneak attacks and schemes obviously wouldn’t know anything about the art of war. Besides, didn’t we also prepare several artillery units with the intent of using them for a trap on our enemies?” 
“Wh-what’s with that accusing tone of voice, Marius?! I’ll have you beheaded!” 
“—Reporting! Our front lines have completely collapsed due to Loki Familia’s insane mag—Due to the Thousand Elf! We’ve nearly been wiped out!” 
“Gah! M-Marius! Do something!” 
“Very well. Have all the troops retreat. We’re withdrawing from this position.” 
The magical explosions were already sending tremors through the Rakian army’s base camp. While the God of War’s bellows reverberated in the luxurious tent, the first prince of Rakia who served as his executive officer began issuing orders in a practiced manner, or perhaps it was better described as resigned. 
Finn had ordered his familia to show Lefiya off as the successor to Riveria, the city’s strongest magic user, and the Thousand Elf’s reputation grew by leaps and bounds after the battle. The news even made waves among the familias in Orario. 
Of course, he also wanted to encourage the growth of her magic abilities, but his ulterior motive was to exploit anything he could to solidify Loki Familia’s position, no matter how small. How this led to the young elven girl catching the attention of a certain magic country will have to be a story for another time. 
“Lefiya’s really lettin’ ’em have it.” 
The patron gods of the various familias that had been summoned to defend Orario were gathered atop a hill far from the battlefield. Despite the distance, they could still observe the merciless onslaught as Lefiya’s magic savaged the opposing army. The snot- and tear-filled cries of the enemy reverberated across the landscape. 
Loki slumped back down into her chair, losing interest. 
“Tedious, isn’t it…?” 
“I’ve got bigger fish to fry, ya know…” 
Loki’s response was natural, given how she had postponed her familia’s search for the key to Knossos due to current events, which she considered to be a colossal waste of time. Next to her was Freya, the silver-haired Goddess of Beauty, who was being waited on by a follower she had brought along. She also didn’t know what to do with herself. 
This was just another duty required of the city’s two strongest factions. If they hadn’t made an appearance on the battlefield, the Rakian army would have let it go to their heads, which left these two familias no choice but to be front and center. Loki sighed again, having long since lost count of how many times this had already happened. 
Rakia had picked fights with Orario before, suffering losses every time. The main impetus for the attack this time was likely because Ares was looking to satisfy his long-standing grudge and had yet to learn his lesson. Incidentally, this was their sixth attempt to invade, as discussed at Denatus. 
“Ares, ya dumbass, if you can see the difference in strength, then don’t attack in the first place! What a joke.” 
Loki mumbled her complaint while stifling a yawn. 
“That girl’s actually become half-decent…” 
“That’s rare, Bete. I’m surprised to hear you praising someone you normally call a weakling.” 

“Screw you,” the werewolf muttered. Riveria wore a half smile as she watched the younger elf’s countless spells arcing down around the plains. 
They were near a patch of woods away from the main battlefield. Taking Aiz, Bete, and a small group of familia members, Riveria was leading the counterattack against the Rakian army, crushing any detachments of soldiers that were trying to sneak around. All their targets had been knocked out, and the rest of Riveria’s party was busy tying them up. 
Observing Lefiya’s performance alongside Bete, Riveria began to comment. 
“She still has a ways to go…Of course I mean in her technique, too, but right now Lefiya’s heart is wavering.” 
“…Huh?” 
“She’s impatient.” 
Riveria was also a spellcaster, meaning she noticed flaws in the girl’s craft that Bete missed. 
Watching the sweaty elf in the distance who weaved spell after spell, Riveria was reminded of someone else, and her gaze narrowed. 
“The more you hurry, the less room you have to breathe…and the more you hurt yourself…That girl was like that, too,” Riveria said to herself under her breath. 
“What girl? You mean Aiz?” 
Her murmur did not escape the ears of the animal person next to her. Bete glanced over at the golden-haired, golden-eyed girl keeping watch a short distance away. 
In response, Riveria simply changed the topic. 
“Whatever happened to Lena Tully after all that? She seemed awfully attached to—” 
“—Can it! Don’t you dare bring that up, hag!” 
The effect was immediate as Bete started hollering. Instantly fed up, the werewolf stormed off to escape further discussion. 
“…” 
Now that she was alone, Riveria looked at Aiz, the commotion of the battlefield rolling over them in waves. 
The girl was doing her job while watching the surroundings with interest. A small bird chirped, paying her no mind as it descended, landing on her finger as she tilted her head in curiosity. It was as though the bird had been called to her by the wind, entranced by a spirit of the element. 
This nature, this landscape, this fragrance did not exist in Orario. They were all fresh and new to the girl. In fact, even counting the time in Meren, she had been outside the Labyrinth City only a handful of times—she had no memories of anything beyond that confined area. 
For Aiz, this view of the outside world is unknown. 
“There are so many things I still have yet to teach her…” 
Aiz Wallenstein’s everything lies inside those walls. 
Riveria murmured as she gazed at the girl’s figure. 
Softly, she pushed at the door of recollections inside her mind. 
Yes. 
She could remember it even now. 
When she had first grasped her sword. 
 
The young girl was crying. 
Her voice raised and throat rasping as tears streamed down her cheeks. 
First, she stared up at the gray sky. 
Then she stared around the room she had been brought to. 
Her tiny chest kept quivering. 
A flood of emotions overwhelmed her, merging together inside until she couldn’t even tell what she was sad about anymore. She couldn’t hear the voices of the people incessantly calling out to her. Fragments of her meaningless sobs fell to the floor, leaving countless stains. The hole that had been torn open in her heart dragged her into a darkness that felt unbearably cold. 
The sun rose; the sun set. 
Again. And again. And again. Time kept moving without her. 
No matter how much she cried, the world refused to change. 
The people she loved would not hug her anymore. 
Her irreplaceable happiness would never come back. 
Her cries went unanswered. 
Her hero didn’t appear. 
“Wouldn’t it be nice if you met a wonderful partner, too.” 
Her mother’s words were nothing more than a dream. 
“I hope that someday, you find a hero—your hero.” 
Her father’s words were just a fairy tale. 
A hero who would save her had never existed in the first place. 
The instant she understood that in the back of her mind, she felt her heart freeze over. 
An eternal wall of ice that would never melt guarded it. 
And so. 
When her throat was too sore to sob and she had no more tears to shed, she spoke. 
The young girl had lost her innocence. 
All emotion vanished from her expression, leaving her face like a doll’s and her eyes like swords as she pleaded. 
“I want power.” 
The crimson-haired goddess, the prum hero, the great dwarf warrior, and the high elf mage. As they sorrowfully gazed down upon her, she made her request. 
The girl’s small hands drew the sword that had been thrust into her heart. 
That was the moment the Sword Princess was born.