CHAPTER 8
CITY PANIC
“Listen to what I’m telling ya! Monsters carryin’ weapons attacked us!! Rivira is gone, wiped out!!”
A man bellowed, wounded all over.
He slammed his bloody fists onto the countertop, flinging red droplets. The receptionists and Guild employees paled as they listened to Boris, acting head of Rivira, who looked as though he had barely escaped with his life.
Pandemonium had descended upon Guild Headquarters.
Rivira’s residents pushed and shoved their way through the white marble lobby to the reception counter after their near brush with death on the eighteenth floor. Most of the sweaty adventurers had plopped to the floor with exhaustion, and many had suffered severe injuries.
The reason why they had pushed themselves so hard and pressed their way through the Guild lobby was obvious.
They needed to warn people on the surface of the Irregular attack that just occurred in the Dungeon.
“They came up from farther down the Central Tree! All sorts of species were there, and the only thing they had in common was that they’re all damn strong!”
Mysterious armed monsters from lower floors. These creatures, most likely a special subspecies, had the potential to go toe to toe with upper-class adventurers. They made a beeline for the island in the middle of the lake, for Rivira, howling the whole way.
Rivira’s residents were used to dealing with Irregulars, but this assault struck faster than anyone could react. Once its outer walls were broken, the Dungeon’s outpost town was overrun in a matter of moments. Unable to put up much of a fight against the monsters’ onslaught, the residents joined the adventurers who happened to be in town and raced back to the surface.
The 334th incarnation of Rivira lay in ruins.
“What species? How many were there?!”
“Were you pursued?! How far up have they come?!”
Healers walked among the adventurers at the behest of Guild employees, casting curative magic, distributing recovery items, and wrapping wounds with bandages as receptionists tried to collect as much detailed information as possible. As they continued their interrogations and analysis, they began to grasp the situation—an Irregular of epic proportions.
“P-please hold on a moment! Wh-what are the adventurer casualties…?!”
“Most of us got out somehow but… some didn’t make it. By now, they’re…”
Boris wrinkled his brow as he spelled out the sad truth. Misha, a pink-haired receptionist, listened with tears brimming in her eyes.
“This is really bad…!”
The hectic situation was worsening by the moment when Eina returned from making the emergency announcement.
The half-elf looked around the Guild lobby, face twisting with sadness.
“Oh, Tulle, you’re back. We need more people; get to work immediately.”
“Of course, Chief!…But if I may?”
Her chienthrope supervisor rushed up to meet her, but Eina had her own question.
“Why was the announcement changed…?!”
The Dungeon was now off-limits to all adventurers. They had been ordered to stand by at their homes and wait for further instructions.
Time was a luxury they didn’t have.
The town of Rivira had fallen to a party of monsters that forced their way up from deeper floors. The safety point was their last line of defense. Without it, the Guild—no, all the people who lived on the surface—had to consider the possibility of monsters breaking through and reaching aboveground.
If that happened, and the gods and goddesses who protected the Labyrinth City lost ground here, then the whole world was in danger.
Just like when the two strongest familias failed to slay the Black Dragon—when they failed to complete the Three Great Quests in the past—the world, as they knew it, was on the verge of being plunged into chaos.
Eina was unable to blindly accept the sudden change in orders.
“…It was upper management’s decision.”
“Upper management?!”
“Yes. They forced us to alter the announcement…Then again, the boss didn’t look too happy about it. If I had to guess, I’d say this decision didn’t simply come from upstairs…”
The slim animal person trailed off as if his point was clear enough already.
Eina’s emerald-green eyes widened behind her glasses.
It can’t be! her heart cried.
“Lord Ouranos…?”
“God Ouranos! Why would you issue such an order…?!”
The rotund elf shouted in desperation, sweat pouring down his face.
In the Chamber of Prayers, below Guild Headquarters…
Ouranos listened to the dire appeal of the highest-ranking person in the Guild, Royman Mardeel, and responded with equal vigor.
“Calm yourself, Royman.”
“Be calm?! Emergencies don’t get any worse than this! If we don’t stop the monsters’ advance now, there will be nothing to stand in their way up here! If they break through, all the Guild’s power, o-o-our prestige will crumble…!”
Royman’s piglike body shivered, his high-pitched voice trembling with fear.
The elderly deity remained stoic as he responded to the head of the Guild, who was more concerned about losing his political influence should the city’s governing body fall.
“If these monsters were intent on breaching the surface, they would have followed the adventurers from Rivira and would be at Babel’s doorstep by now.”
“Th-that’s…a valid point.”
“There is no doubt that this is an Irregular. However, it is too soon to declare the city is in danger.”
Ouranos watched relief wash over the pudgy elf’s face before officially putting his fears to rest.
“Above all, my Prayers have not been broken.”
“Ohhh…!”
Royman’s face lit up at that pronouncement.
As the deity known as the “Father of Orario,” Ouranos kept the Dungeon in check with “Prayers” from this very chamber. His unfathomably strong divine will allowed adventurers to make a living in the Dungeon because it prevented monsters from migrating to the surface en masse.
Ouranos wielded so much authority that his assurances were far more convincing than thousands of logical explanations could ever be. With all doubts cleared from his mind, Royman finally regained a sense of calm.
“Sending many familias into battle at once will only cause confusion. Ganesha Familia will form the subjugation team. Their duties will include rescuing adventurers still in the Dungeon and investigating floors beneath the middle levels. Relay the orders.”
“Yes, right away!”
“More instructions will follow. Go.”
“Y-yes!”
Royman’s heavy form kneeled before the deity, then he rose to his feet and turned away.
He quickly ascended the long stairwell that connected to the first floor, his stout belly shaking from the effort.
Then, almost as if taking his place—
“This isn’t good…”
“Indeed.”
—a shadow emerged from the darkness at the end of the chamber, coalescing into Fels.
Ouranos donned a more serious expression as the mage’s form and emotions revealed themselves.
“Royman acted before we could collect information.”
“I would have preferred making sense of the situation and drawing up a plan before stirring up a panic…!”
Armed monsters believed to be of various subspecies had launched an attack on the eighteenth floor. Believing this to be a sign of an imminent surface breach, Royman and the other members of the Guild’s upper management had declared a state of emergency.
It was a natural reaction for someone unaware of the circumstances surrounding the events. The appearance of monsters hailing from not only the middle levels but the deep levels—monsters usually only ranged from their predetermined areas one to two floors at most—was more than enough to inspire terror.
Ouranos, who understood the whole picture, had been too late to react.
Despite the late start, they took the next best option and tried to quell the rising tide of panic by altering the announcement and the mission.
“If our information is accurate, the Xenos are no doubt behind this. Their reasons have yet to be determined, but they attacked Rivira…!”
Fels’s black robe trembled. He did not want to believe those words.
The mage, who preferred to be called the Fool, struggled against an inner turmoil.
“What do you think happened, Fels?”
“It’s very likely this incident and the loss of contact with Lido are connected. This is only a guess but…an attack by the hunters? And then something caused them to advance on Rivira…”
Ouranos posed the question to Fels almost as if asking himself. “The wrath of the monsters, is it…?” The deity seated on the altar quietly closed his eyes. “…My orders are ready. Prepare your familiar.”
“So then…”
“Yes. First, as I said to Royman, direct Ganesha Familia to the eighteenth floor. Their defensive posts throughout the city and at the gates will need replacements. The mission participants will be handpicked from our closest allies.”
Sending Ganesha Familia into the Dungeon was a front to reassure the public that the vaunted elites would keep any damage from the monsters to a minimum.
The true reason, however, was to ensure the Xenos weren’t killed in the fighting. It was also to prevent them from carrying out their vengeful massacre of adventurers.
Everything was already in motion. As the governing body of Orario, the Guild had no choice but to act.
On the other hand, the Guild’s upper management had no knowledge of these intelligent monsters. Ouranos directed his trusted ally, Ganesha, to handle the situation quickly and with the utmost secrecy in order to keep it that way.
“What of Hermes Familia?”
“Have them continue their investigation into Ikelos and his followers. Once all the pieces are in place, Fels, accompany Ganesha Familia.”
The elderly god added that he would issue orders to Royman directly. Fels acknowledged the instructions.
Then, just as the black-robed mage was turning to leave…
Ouranos opened his mouth with a hint of concern in his eyes.
“Fels—include Bell Cranell in the mission.”
“…Ouranos, that would be—”
“We will have our answer. We will test that boy…the one and only adventurer to ever take the hand of a Xenos…”
Ouranos brought up the events at the Xenos’s Hidden Village as he narrowed his blue eyes.
“Is he a child who gets swept up in circumstance, a human who dances in the palms of gods, or perhaps…?”
The deity’s words echoed into the dark recesses of the chamber.
Fels nodded after a few moments, black robe illuminated by the torch’s dancing flames.
“I understand…and I shall obey your divine will.”
The mage turned once again and retreated from the altar.
The god remained still, watching intently as the situation unfolded at an ever-increasing pace.
A crowd of demi-humans has already assembled on the front lawn, hiding the building from view, by the time I arrive.
The Pantheon—the Guild Headquarters—grows larger with every step as Aiz and I accelerate toward it.
“!”
The heat and noise in here hit me like a slap in the face.
Bleeding adventurers are sprawled out on the floor, others are angrily ranting at the receptionists at the counter, and Guild employees are rushing this way and that.
Aiz and I didn’t listen to the instructions of the emergency announcement. Instead, we made a beeline for Guild Headquarters.
Aiz is here to gather as much information as she can; as for me, I couldn’t just meekly wait at home. I had to know why they issued those orders, and I ran all the way here even though the shock hasn’t worn off.
“All these people …!”
“Yes, they’re from Rivira…”
I look around the lobby, panting for air. Aiz stands beside me: calm, cool, and collected. Breathing normally, she nods.
Information is coming in from everywhere. The residents of Rivira, having escaped death by the skin of their teeth, are sheltering here and making enough noise to turn this place on its head. Also, Aiz and I aren’t the only adventurers in here. Quite a few people from other familias, including a few gods and goddesses, have arrived to hear the news firsthand and are pulling Guild employees aside whenever one happens to pass by.
“We won’t get a chance to find out anything like this…”
Aiz is right. Finding someone in this chaos is going to be…!
My impatience is rising, and I grit my teeth against the urge to just do something. Shaking my head, I’m not sure what to do—and I see bloody, battered, and bruised adventurers no matter where I look.
A werewolf, hunched over and leaning against the wall. A dwarf with a hand to a head wound, blood rushing down his face as he receives treatment. An elf, desperately trying to keep her badly injured party conscious.
Did Lido and the others really do all this…?
I can’t look at the truth.
I don’t want to believe it.
As if to escape, I turn away.
“Oh—Miss Eina!”
Just as I look away, I spot a half-elf out of the corner of my eye and call out to her.
Aiz turns to look in the same direction. Sure enough, Eina whirls around in surprise.
“Bell! And Ms. Wallenstein!”
“Please, tell me what happened!”
There’s no time for pleasantries. I get right to the point.
She apparently wants to say something, but she gives up after seeing the serious look on my face, I think. After a quick glance in Aiz’s direction, she starts talking.
“Exactly what I said in the announcement. Rivira has been destroyed.”
“And what about the monsters that did it…?!”
“According to the adventurers, they were equipped with armor and carrying weapons. A particularly violent gargoyle was leading the charge, but many species were involved…Like a unicorn, a lizardman—”
As the list expands, the blood drains from my face.
There’s no denying it now. The truth hits hard, like a nail through the chest.
“From what I understand, the Guild has asked Ganesha Familia to dispatch a subjugation team. The elites will settle this…Bell, Ms. Wallenstein, our messengers will inform you the moment other familias are needed. Please stand by at your homes.”
That’s her way of saying we’re only getting in the way here.
Somehow managing to collect my thoughts, I bristle my eyebrows as I frown. I beat down the part of me that wants to accept the situation and go along with it, and I tell myself that if there’s time to hang around doing nothing, there’s time to do something useful.
I glance up at Aiz beside me. We make eye contact and nod.
“I’ll be on my way…See you.”
Assuming the expression of an adventurer, Aiz makes a quick exit from Guild Headquarters.
I try to sound as believable as possible when I tell Eina I’m going back to my familia and turn to follow suit.
“—What?!”
But just as I’m about to take the first step…
A sudden outburst catches my attention, and I glance over my shoulder.
Misha is whispering something in Eina’s ear, but she looks very uneasy. Whatever she’s saying, Eina is absolutely floored.
She raises her head, eyes quivering—and stops me.
“…Wait, Bell.”
The city was rattled.
“What’s this about a mission…? They wouldn’t ask us to do anything, right?”
“No, no. We wouldn’t make much difference…”
“D-don’t forget, all three of us are upper class…”
In a run-down building located at the end of a backstreet was the Blue Pharmacy.
Daphne, Nahza, and Cassandra had gathered in the item shop that doubled as Miach Familia’s home. Daphne said it was pointless to worry about it, while the chienthrope completely ignored Cassandra’s words and busied herself with stocking the shelves.
“B-but Daph, I just had a dream about a big black monster…!” “Yeah, yeah, good for you.” “You two, help me finish so we can go gather information…” Their deity, Miach, strolled past the building’s metal shutters, face rigid as he listened to his followers’ conversation.
“Armed monsters…Then there’s little doubt that vouivre is at the heart of this, huh?”
“Weren’t those creatures supposed to be friendly, Hestia…?”
At Takemikazuchi Familia’s home, the Sojourn Townhouse…
Takemikazuchi whispered in a hollow voice within the antiquated communal housing.
“Lord Takemikazuchi!”
“Ouka, you’ve returned!”
The tall, broad-shouldered human who headed his familia rushed in to greet him, closely followed by the rest of the party. Takemikazuchi breathed a sigh of relief. His followers, still equipped with an assortment of axes, spears, bows, and backpacks from their trip into the labyrinth that day, began speaking in turn.
“We heard the gist of what’s going on in the Dungeon. Ganesha Familia is instructing adventurers to return to the surface.”
“They told us to tell any remaining parties to do the same…The Dungeon is in an uproar…”
Their physically imposing leader, Ouka, began, and Chigusa finished.
“Is that so…” mulled Takemikazuchi with a nod after several heavy, silent moments. Then he turned to face his followers. “I realize you’ve only just returned, but we are going out into the city. There are citizens much less informed than we. Whether you simply calm them or give them courage, go and alleviate their distress.”
“Sir!” The humans shouted in unison and obeyed their deity’s command.
Takemikazuchi roughly scratched at his hair, styled with loops on either side of his head, and muttered, “All right,” before following his familia out the door.
“So what’s it gonna be, goddess almighty?”
At Hephaistos Familia’s branch shop located on Northwest Main Street, also known as Adventurers Way…
Hephaistos looked away from her office window when one of her followers, a woman wearing an eye patch like hers, approached her with a question.
“…Do as the Guild says, for now.” There were too many risks should a familia as big as hers start acting independently, the goddess explained to the familia’s leader, Tsubaki.
“All right, then,” she replied with a nod. “Should I round everyone up? Don’t think there’ll be much call for smiths like us, though.”
“Yes…Summon them back home, just to be safe. I’ll be heading over there shortly.”
Hephaistos watched Tsubaki leave before returning her gaze to the main thoroughfare below.
Adventurers were loitering around the streets. More than a few were shifting restlessly, as if bobbing in the waves of an oncoming storm.
Reflecting on the information she’d received from a divine friend, just as Miach and Takemikazuchi had, the Goddess of the Forge narrowed her unpatched left eye as thoughts of the Xenos filled her mind.
“Move! Move it!!”
“We have orders to leave the gate and other posts to replacements! Call everyone back in from the city!”
“Babel is under lockdown!! Unless they’re an adventurer coming back out, don’t let anyone get by you!”
Countless adventurers rushed from place to place, carrying out their duties.
Orario was in an unparalleled uproar, but it was nothing compared to the chaos unfolding inside Ganesha Familia’s home. A Guild messenger had delivered their mission, informing every member that regaining control of the Dungeon was now entirely their responsibility.
It was time for Orario’s largest familia to demonstrate the full extent of its power.
“……”
Ganesha was out on the front lawn, watching his followers race about, when a single owl fluttered down from the sky.
The familiar landed on the deity’s outstretched arm and extended a roll of paper clutched in its talons.
After the owl took flight again, Ganesha silently looked through his elephant mask at the unrolled paper in his hands.
“—This must be important, if I’m being called out at this early afternoon hour.”
Ker-tap. Ker-tap. High heels echoed off the floor as locks of gorgeous silver hair flowed down the woman’s back.
“Your presence is appreciated.”
A goddess possessing unparalleled beauty strolled down a long hallway closely followed by her boaz attendant. The solemn inner garden of her palace lay just beside her line of sight as she stepped through a set of imposing double doors.
“So, what is happening outside?”
Freya’s voice reverberated through Folkvangr’s massive gathering hall. Her followers and their captains had already assembled for her arrival.
The prum quadruplets were there, along with a graceful elf and dark elf and other demi-humans. A cat person with black-and-ash-colored fur, Allen Fromel, appeared from the throng and came to the goddess’s side.
He began to explain the situation with his body bent in a bow.
“Entrust everything to Ganesha and take their position at the gates, you say…?”
“Yes. Those were indeed the Guild’s orders.”
Freya’s silver eyebrows arched while she considered the instructions they had received from the Guild messenger.
This was a bizarre move on the Guild’s part. Her suspicion was obvious.
But she was also smiling.
“We’re being told to protect the city at a time like this…Are we so untrustworthy?”
“Even if that were the case, this decision seems unnatural.”
Her attendant Ottar expressed his opinion that such a large relocation would take time, a luxury they didn’t have in this state of emergency.
Freya’s followers watched as the goddess’s smile broadened.
“The Guild—no, Ouranos has something he wants to keep hidden.”
“……”
“They want us as far away as possible from the eye of the storm.”
The Goddess of Beauty saw through Ouranos’s train of thought. “Very well, then,” she said with a smile that could charm any mortal or god.
“Maybe I can finally get rid of the penalty for destroying the Pleasure Quarter. If we follow the orders as stated, as protectors of the city…Yes.”
“Then…”
“Yes. Stand in for Ganesha’s children at the gates. We shall protect Orario for a day.”
She gave the order to divide their forces into eight groups, one for each of the city gates. Lower-ranking members made a quick bow and then exited the hall before their captains.
“I shall return to my chamber in Babel.”
“Ganesha Familia’s blockade is already in place…”
“I’m sure someone will let me sneak past, if I ask the right way.”
“Shall I escort you?”
“It’s fine, Allen.”
She smiled at the first-tier adventurer known as “Vana Freya” on her way out of the gathering hall, leaving Folkvangr soon after.
“Stand by? What kind of bullshit is that?!”
A werewolf howled angrily from a room adjacent to a hallway.
“It’d be faster to send us in to clean up the mess!! Why leave it to Ganesha’s guys at all?!”
“Bete, shut up, would you!!…But do we really have to wait around? That emergency announcement broadcast was a bit confusing, too.”
Loki Familia’s home, the Twilight Manor.
The leaders of the city’s most powerful familia had gathered inside the reception room of the compound famous for its long, tall spires.
Aiz had returned from the Guild and joined the group. Their goddess, Loki, sat in an unladylike fashion on top of a nearby table and watched over the first-tier adventurers discussing the latest news.
“What’s bugging me is that Rivira has been destroyed how many times now? Why’s everyone freaking out now?”
“I agree, this is an overreaction, issuing a mission to the entire city like that. Monsters with weapons and armor—is that really such a big deal?”
“I’ve seen that on the Guild’s bulletin board, about monsters wearing armor…”
The Amazonian twins Tiona and Tione continued to speak, with Aiz chiming in.
The high elf Riveria glanced in their direction from her spot off to the side.
“These are not nature weapons but armaments used by adventurers in the hands of unusual monsters. There is a high possibility these beasts are enhanced species, and organized besides.”
“All the more reason we should be down there!”
“Tone it down, Bete. These ain’t yer regular ol’ Irregulars, strange as it sounds…Seems fishy, don’t it?”
The dwarf Gareth scolded the fuming werewolf even as his own brow furrowed.
Loki Familia still had many questions, but the Guild had been less than forthcoming with information.
“Well, whatever’s going on—” Another voice cut in to the conversation.
Everyone in the room turned to face their commander, the prum Finn, who remained seated in a chair as he continued.
“—it’s not going to end like this, for sure…That’s just my hunch, though.”
He stated this with a fair amount of confidence after running his tongue along the base of his thumb.
Lastly…
They asked their goddess to reveal her will.
“Eh. I hate bein’ outta the loop, but…I gotta agree with ya, Finn.”
Her narrow eyes opened slightly wider as the corners of her lips angled upward.
“This’ll continue. Orario is gonna be rumblin’ for a while.”
Trembling. Trembling.
The city was trembling.
“Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee…!! Failed, now did you, Dix…?”
Far above the city streets, on top of a building with a great view…
“Now this is what I call interesting…!”
Ikelos chuckled as he looked out over Orario, watching the tension build as all the thoughts and expectations converged into a maelstrom of chaos.
“What the hell is going on?!”
Welf yelled in a hoarse voice.
Hestia Familia’s home, Hearthstone Manor’s living room.
The young smith’s short red hair and long black jacket trembled as he shouted with anxiety.
“The hell are they saying? Armed monsters flattened Rivira?! That means…the mavericks are the ones who did it?!”
“Lilly doesn’t know!! All information is coming from second or third sources, there’s no way to confirm…!” Lilly shouted back, just as tense.
Haruhime, as pale as a ghost, was also in the room along with a visibly shocked Mikoto. Hestia had just returned to the manor and joined them in the living room.
After hearing the emergency announcement, Welf and Lilly left Mikoto and Haruhime right before noon to gather information in the city. It went without saying that they ran to Guild Headquarters first, but the place was so inundated with adventurers and civilians trying to do the same thing that they were crowded out of the front lawn. They never even set foot inside the building.
With nowhere else to go, they returned home.
“Haa, hah…No point…in going, directly anymore…Babel is off-limits, along with the Dungeon…They kicked us all out…! Kughf!”
Hestia, who had done a great deal of running herself, made no attempt to hide her fatigue as she gasped for breath between words, shoulders heaving as she coughed.
After paying Ganesha a visit, she’d been working at her part-time job for one of Babel Tower’s tenants. She was forced to leave along with every other employee. Currently, only authorized personnel remained within the nearly empty white tower.
“What about the city? What are other people doing…?”
“Well, they’re not exactly rioting in the streets…”
“Same as us. No one saw this coming, so they’re not really sure what to do.”
Lilly and Welf described the general mood to Mikoto, who had remained at home.
Welf, Lilly, and Hestia agreed on one word: unrest.
While chaos had yet to erupt, the emergency announcement had sent waves of anxiety through all Orario’s citizens. They remembered hearing the warning bells when Rakia’s army tried to invade, but no one knew how to react during such an unprecedented situation. Many people stuck their heads out of top-floor windows or went into the city to gaze at the white tower. Gods were no different. Some smiled and watched everything unfold with their beady eyes filled with glee, while others observed with varying degrees of deep contemplation.
Particularly sharp citizens and opportunistic merchants theorized that monsters would soon breach the surface. Several pockets within the city walls were on the verge of panic, but the quick response of Ouranos and the Guild kept them under control. They sent several teams to canvass the city and maintain calm, however uneasy it might be. Dispatches from well-meaning gods also helped a great deal.
Many humans and demi-humans lined the streets and alleys, exchanging anxious looks and taking guesses as to what was really happening.
“Even if it was them, why would they? That ‘dream’ of theirs must have been more like an afterthought.”
“Well…”
“…Perhaps those shady people or whatever who go around capturing Xenos have something to do with it?”
After no one had an answer for Welf’s question, Hestia brought up the hunters she’d heard about.
Something had happened to the Xenos—something that had provoked a counterattack.
Lilly, Welf, and the rest exchanged tense glances as all sorts of images ran through their minds.
“If…if…those nice Xenos really were the victims of an attack…”
“Lady Haruhime…”
“What will become of them?…What will happen to Lady Wiene?” asked Haruhime, her voice shaking just as much as her ears and tail.
Silence fell. Lilly forced herself to stay calm and said in a flat voice:
“If the information is accurate…and monsters have destroyed Rivira, then Orario has no choice but to exterminate them…At the very least, there needs to be some sort of conclusion,” Lilly said, and Haruhime’s cheeks paled as the strength left her body.
Mikoto quickly grabbed hold of the weak renart to support her.
A silent lull engulfed the room as Hestia and her followers contemplated the end result. It would be only a matter of time.
“…Has anyone seen Bell?”
“Mr. Bell went into the Dungeon. He did say he would return right away…”
Hestia scanned the room as she spoke, and Lilly answered in a perplexed voice.
While everyone was wondering why he had yet to come home considering the circumstances—Mikoto whipped around to look behind her. Then, as if in response, the doorbell announced a visitor.
She went to the front door and returned with a rolled-up piece of parchment.
“Who was it?”
“A Guild messenger! Lady Hestia, please!”
Mikoto thrust the parchment toward the goddess after answering Welf’s question.
Hestia cracked it open and hurriedly skimmed it. Lilly and Welf, closely followed by Mikoto and Haruhime, peeked over her shoulders to see for themselves.
“State of emergency declared, stand by in reserve…So then, basically…”
“We are to wait for further orders. Just stay aboveground and keep our mouths shut…!”
Only the bare minimum of information had been provided for their new mission. As her followers voiced their agitation, Hestia’s reaction was quite different.
Her blue eyes opened wide as they interpreted the designs inscribed on the parchment—the hieroglyphs concealed in plain sight—and she read them aloud with a shout.
“Bell has been assigned to journey with the subjugation team to the eighteenth floor?!”
“““He what?!”””
“Eh?!”
Lilly’s, Welf’s, and Mikoto’s voices united in disbelief. Haruhime was a moment behind, her shoulders flinching in shock.
It was the same type of parchment that Bell had received the other day, the one that had sent the familia on their secret mission. Ouranos had inscribed the message so that no one, not even Guild employees, could read it before Hestia.
“Ouranos, what are you thinking…?”
That settled it—the Xenos must be at the center of this incident. After reading the message laying out her duty now that he was “borrowing” her follower, Hestia was convinced.
I can’t let this happen! She raced out of the living room.
To reach Bell. To get to Central Park before the subjugation team set out.
Startled by Hestia’s sudden departure, Lilly, Welf, Mikoto, and Haruhime fumbled around for a moment before following her with just as much determination.
Hestia Familia burst out onto the city street, forgetting to close the door behind them.
“I’ll bring you up to speed on the situation, Bell Cranell. Please listen well.”
“Y-yes!”
In a dim, underground stone passageway…
Bell followed Fels through the hidden tunnel that connected to a trapdoor in Guild Headquarters.
After Eina called him aside, she had instructed him to immediately go to a certain room—alone. Unable to bring her along, he found the black-robed mage waiting for him when he reached the room in question. Fels had ignored the boy’s surprise at the trapdoor leading to the passage the mage had built as an escape route for Ouranos—not even Guild employees knew it existed.
Bell’s nerves were starting to get the best of him as the mage, apparently pressed for time, hastily explained what had happened while guiding him through the tunnel with a magic-stone lamp.
“Our information is spotty at best. As of now, we cannot determine what triggered the event. The only thing we know with absolute certainty is that it involves monsters carrying weapons—the Xenos took over Rivira by force.”
“……!”
“No matter our course of action, we must regain control of the situation.”
Fels continued by saying that the best-case scenario would be to restore order and keep the Xenos safe, but Bell’s mind was spinning too fast to register the words.
Thoughts of Lido, Rei, the other Xenos, and Wiene flashed across his mind.
“One more thing: The Xenos haven’t moved from the eighteenth floor.”
“Huh…?”
“We know this because no returning adventurers have confirmed their presence on higher floors after Rivira’s fall. The stories of the adventurers from the middle levels are consistent, so I believe we can take their word.”
Fels glanced down at the blue crystal in the palm of his other hand.
“Therefore, I believe there’s a reason the Xenos haven’t moved from Rivira.”
“…And that is?”
“I have a theory, but that’s all it is at the moment. First off, we must see with our own eyes what happened.”
With those words, Fels came to a stop and turned to face Bell.
“We plan to include you in Ganesha Familia’s forward team.”
“…!”
“I realize we have not known each other long…but please lend us your strength,” Fels requested from the dark space beneath the robe’s black hood.
Bell could feel the Fool’s gaze, despite knowing there were no eyes—or skin or muscles for that matter. He shook his head.
“I should be the one to ask. Please let me do this. I want to go.”
“…You have my thanks, Bell Cranell.”
He wanted to see for himself. It didn’t matter what was down there waiting for him.
With Fels’s words of gratitude in his ears, Bell clenched his fists and attempted to calm his beating heart.
“No stopping things now…”
Hermes fiddled with the wide brim of his feathered hat as he sighed.
He was seated in his room at Hermes Familia’s home. The restless commotion of his followers sounded from beyond the closed doors as their severe leader, Asfi, stood before him with a grave expression.
“How are Falgar and his team?”
“They have received medical attention, and it seems they will survive…but have yet to regain consciousness.”
Just like Rivira’s residents, members of Hermes Familia who had been caught up in the attack on the town sustained serious injuries during their escape. A small team had been dispatched to Rivira to keep an eye on the middle levels. “Ikelos’s adventurers appeared in Rivira, and that’s when the monsters attacked…” was all the leader managed to say before passing out.
With another sigh, Hermes instructed Asfi to ensure that the wounded were comfortable and in good hands, then narrowed his orange eyes and continued on to other business.
“But dragging Bell into all this…You’ve done it now, Ouranos.”
Fels’s familiar had delivered a message detailing the mission. A list of members for the subjugation team was also included.
Hermes gave a bitter, almost ironic chuckle.
It was an extremely unusual expression for the normally energetic dandy deity.
“…This is unexpected. I thought you would have been overjoyed to push Bell Cranell into this challenge and see how he performs, or something similar.”
“I would’ve preferred that Bell stay out of this one.”
His and Ouranos’s stances were different, he added.
Asfi raised a suspicious eyebrow as Hermes continued mumbling to himself.
“Adversity makes the man…or something like that? I think that’s how Takemikazuchi put it.”
“……”
“True, overcoming adversity is required to become a hero, there’s no doubt…but this goes far beyond any test I would put together.”
It didn’t abide with his will, Hermes stated.
Then, with a little fear in his voice, he said:
“One wrong move and it’s all over.”
With that, he pulled the brim of his hat over his eyes.
The deity stood up from his chair at long last and issued orders to Asfi.
“Go to the eighteenth floor, just not with Ganesha’s group. Gather as much firsthand information as you can. Don’t bother with needless engagements.”
“What about you, Lord Hermes…?”
“I have somewhere to be. Someone I have to meet to sort some things out.”
Once Hermes fell silent, a chienthrope girl waiting outside opened the door as if she had sensed it was the right time. The dandy god acknowledged his follower, who possessed the information he’d been waiting for, smiled, and jokingly said, “I’ve got to get to work, too.”
“Take it from here…Oh, yes.”
Then, just as he was about to leave…
Hermes turned around as though he had almost forgotten to say something.
“I’m worried about Bell. Take Aisha with you.”
“Lyu, you have a visitor.”
Summoned by the human Runoa, Lyu the elf turned to face her.
Along West Main Street, at The Benevolent Mistress…
“Holy crap, meow!” “What happened, meow?!” Two cat people made a ruckus once they spotted the beautiful, long-legged Amazonian courtesan standing in front of the café bar.
Lyu eyed Aisha Belka with a skeptical glare as she stepped inside.
“Do you have some business with me?”
“You busy now?”
“The customers have left, given the current situation…”
“Then let’s take this outside.”
Lyu stood silently under the Amazon’s forceful gaze, glancing at The Benevolent Mistress over her shoulder behind her.
With nothing better to do, the waitresses inside were busy chattering noisily. Lyu decided they would be fine on their own, and when Aisha jerked her chin in the direction of an alley behind the bar, the waitress followed.
Lyu glanced up at a small window overlooking their hidden meeting spot, but she didn’t care and returned her gaze to the Amazon.
The elf and the Amazon stared at each other, shielded from the sun’s rays in the alleyway.
“All this fuss is happening because some angry monsters decided to act up. But they apparently stayed put on the eighteenth after dismantling Rivira. Ganesha Familia’s heading a subjugation team that’s about to set out.”
“…?”
Aisha didn’t bother with a greeting or small talk and started sharing information. Lyu’s eyebrows furrowed as she grew warier.
The elf gazed back at her and leaned against the building while the courtesan folded her arms in front of her generous cleavage.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Just poking my nose into your business…You seem to have a thing for Bell Cranell, so I thought you ought to know.”
Aisha waited a beat, then kicked off the wall and leaned toward Lyu.
“That boy’s been added to the subjugation team. He’s about to cross into some rough territory—at least that’s what my god says, anyway.”
“!”
“How do I know so much? It’s because I converted into Hermes Familia.”
The name of the fairly distinguished familia, known for their information gathering, gave some weight to her claim.
However, Lyu found it strange that the Amazon would choose to join that group and couldn’t stop herself from asking.
“Why that faction specifically…?”
“They got their reasons, I got mine. They needed someone with more combat potential, and I wanted to make sure to be the first to hear if a certain stone made its way here.”
Hermes Familia operated a “delivery service” that took packages in and out of the city. Therefore, not only did they have a firm handle on the flow of information, but they were naturally aware of black-market dealings. Aisha now had easy access to what she wanted to know.
The former Ishtar Familia member explained that both sides got what they wanted.
“I already knew this, but that deity of mine’s seriously crafty. I only belong to the new familia in name, and he never lets me off the leash. He tricked the Guild into thinking I don’t belong to him so he can stay neutral.”
“……”
“But yeah…He’s kept up his end of the deal real nice. So I got no problem keeping up mine, doing what he asks. This time it just happens to be checking out the eighteenth floor and covering Bell Cranell’s back.”
Aisha finished explaining how she came to be a member of Hermes Familia and her current situation.
“…You and I accompanied Mr. Cranell to the eighteenth floor but a few days ago. The boy has been acting strange ever since. Is there a connection to the current arrangement?”
“Beats me. I just converted in, so I’m at the bottom of the pack…I’m nothing more than convenient muscle. I only just found out about this myself, and I have no clue how Bell Cranell got involved. Haven’t been told much of anything.”
Aisha shrugged, fed up with her position.
Lyu paused for a moment. The anxiety she’d felt watching the boy disappear into the crowd this morning returned, and the gears of her mind turned a little faster.
When the elf didn’t speak, Aisha pressed a bit further.
“You’re Gale Wind, right? You fought in the War Game.”
“…What are you implying?”
“I’m not gonna start digging up your past,” she said. “Just keep your ears open. Ikelos Familia seems to be at the center of this incident. You might’ve already heard but…they were rumored to be in league with the Evils back in the day.”
Lyu’s aura changed in the blink of an eye.
Her expression was the same, but a roaring flame—emotions that she’d kept under lock and key—flared to life in her sky-blue eyes.
“Evils…”
It was a name Lyu could never ignore.
She had once been known as Leon, when she belonged to a now-deceased familia that stood for justice and equality. Her connection to the Evils ran deep.
Lyu’s delicate hands curled into fists, tight enough to turn her fingers white.
“Bell Cranell might be in a tough spot with those guys.”
“……”
“So, what do you say?”
Silence fell for a moment.
Until at last, Lyu opened her mouth to speak.
“Very well. I shall join you.”
Her answer brought a smile to Aisha’s lips.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Lyu could see the female warrior’s excitement at the prospect of fighting alongside a strong ally. Dressed in her waitress uniform, the elf anxiously rubbed her chest and attempted to suppress the emotions coursing through her.
The ex-adventurer had decided to intervene.
“I hear that Babel’s entrances have been sealed. How do you propose we enter the Dungeon?”
“Ever heard of Perseus? Now, I only just teamed up with her myself, but she’s got a bag of toys you’ve gotta see to believe.”
Rather than giving a straight answer, Aisha discussed the famous item maker.
Lyu sighed, disappointed in herself for asking such a foolish question, as Aisha grinned at her own flippant remarks.
“Now then, let’s get to it.”
With that, Lyu started to make preparations.
She turned to face the Amazonian warrior just before leaving.
“Antianeira.”
“Yeah?”
“Why are you going to such lengths to assist Mr. Cranell?”
“I owe him.”
“Is that really all?”
Lyu’s question brought a fearless and yet slightly alluring smile to the face of Aisha, whose long black hair swished behind her.
“Who knows?”
Their conversation ended.
The pair left soon after. Lyu disappeared from the café bar, most likely to prepare her equipment, as Aisha went off in the other direction with plans to meet her at a different location soon.
As soon as their footsteps had faded, Syr’s hands uncovered her mouth. She had held them there the entire time as she eavesdropped from behind the wall.
“And there you have it.”
Turning away from the wall, Syr faced the dwarf owner of the establishment, Mia, who had her arms crossed in front of her.
They were inside the bar’s stockroom. A small window close to the ceiling of the wooden structure was slightly open.
It allowed the two of them to eavesdrop on Lyu’s conversation in the alleyway behind the bar.
“Seriously, how many times has it been now…?”
The two second-tier adventurers had of course noticed Syr’s presence, but the dwarf ex-adventurer hid herself so well neither sensed her—although the noisy cat people in the dining room helped as well. Her patience waning, the stout dwarf sighed with her entire body.
“I knew it from the start, but that girl ain’t cut out for this kinda work. She can’t cook, she’s the opposite of friendly, and above all, she’s too soft. Might be ’cause of that sense of justice she holds on to, but she doesn’t have it in her to sit still in the same spot too long.”
Mia kept muttering to herself, thinking that Lyu had shown improvement recently, and then set her gaze on Syr.
“Now you tell her this: If there’s some other place she wants to be, she should get the hell outta my bar and go. The way she’s always on the fence like this is just a pain in the neck.”
“…Okay. I’ll tell her.”
Syr paused briefly and then agreed with a nod.
“So…are you willing to overlook this time, too?”
Mia’s face darkened with anger as Syr made her request with soft, upturned eyes.
Then she let out another long sigh.
“I doubt we’re gettin’ more customers today, and it’ll be a trickle at best. Not like there’d be anything for her to do.”
“Yes.”
“And that lad’s been a regular for some time…If he stopped coming, it would mean another regular we can’t feed good food to anymore.”
“So then?”
“I’ll look the other way.”
The bar owner’s expression soured as Syr’s lit up with an ear-to-ear smile.
“Thank you so much!” Syr said with glee and was halfway into a bow when—
“Don’t forget, there’s still work to be done, even without any customers. Lyu ain’t here, so I expect ya to work three times as hard.”
Mia grumbled as she tottered out of the stockroom.
Once Syr was by herself, the smile on her face stiffened a little.
Clatter, clatter.
As though resonating with the turmoil occurring in a place far away, the sounds of rocking cages and rattling chains rang out endlessly.
“Dix!”
“Yeah, what? You’re in the way, Gran. I’m about to teach these things the meaning of pain.”
Dix stood up in the dark stone chamber, holding his wickedly curved spear at the ready as he turned to face his subordinate. But the large man rambled on, cutting off part of his boss’s irritated reply.
“A-armed monsters showed up in Rivira and annihilated it…It’s a real mess out there!”
“…Got any details?”
Dix’s red eyes focused on the trembling mountain of a man from behind his goggles.
Gran explained as requested. He told him everything about the group of monsters that swept through the eighteenth floor. He also told him that Orario had declared a state of emergency as a result.
“Armed monsters…Hey, hey, you kidding? If that’s true, our prey came right to us,” Dix said.
Gran turned to look down the hallway.
A long series of iron cages was lined up like a prison on top of a cold stone floor. Their size varied from small to extremely large but continued for as far as the eye could see.
The figures inside said cages, too many to count, squirmed around.
“They lose their cool? Pissed off at us for hunting?”
“I-I don’t know for sure, but…”
“But why would they move on Rivira?……Aha, so that’s it.”
Well played, monsters.
A twinge of hatred was evident in Dix’s sneer.
He had a pretty good idea of what was happening outside their home base.
“What’s Rivira look like now?”
“…Rubble. So bad that the Guild had to issue a mission, I hear,” said Gran in a low, quiet voice. If he listened closely, he could hear among the monster howls signs that the other hunters were upset at the sudden turn of events.
“We hit the bushes too hard? Looks like the beasties are stronger than we thought.”
His words might have been serious, but the smile never left his face.
Dix chuckled with excitement despite the news that these monsters were strong enough to destroy Rivira. Gran was relieved at the familiar sight of the leader’s usual calm, fearless demeanor and dark, evil gleam in his eyes. A smile returned to his face, though his skin broke out in a different kind of cold sweat.
“That lord of ours still hasn’t come back. Figures…Now, what to do…”
Thumping the shaft of his spear against his shoulder, Dix turned around.
A dragon girl appeared in his line of sight, chained up like a living sacrifice, still unconscious with fresh tears streaking down her cheeks.
“—Tame them?! We have to tame the targets of our mission?!”
A youthful woman’s voice traveled far into the blue sky.
The city, still engulfed by shaking, nervous energy, had shifted its attention to Central Park.
Adventurers and citizens, gods and goddesses. A ring of bystanders had formed around the park’s edge, all focused on the strong adventurers gathered inside—Ganesha Familia.
At the center of it all, one announcement had the subjugation team up in arms.
“What’s up with that?! We’re in a state of emergency, are we not?!”
“I-it was written on a document the Guild sent Lord Ganesha and he passed it to me…b-but forbade me to show anyone.”
“So what? That doesn’t tell me nothing! Give me details! Details!! Umm—whatever your name is!”
“You know I can’t do that, Ilta! Also, my name is Modaka!!”
A young man cried at the top of his lungs, correcting the wheat-skinned Amazon with fiery red hair in front of him.
Just before Ganesha Familia set off on its mission, last-minute instructions from the Guild had sent the group into chaos. Without giving any explanation, the Guild had ordered the subjugation team to tame the monsters, a far more difficult task than simply slaying them. Especially considering these monsters were powerful enough to destroy Rivira.
First-tier adventurer Ilta Faana was now the center of an argument triggered by the Guild’s outrageous and downright incomprehensible order.
“Get a hold of yourself, Ilta! It’s not that hard to figure out! These monsters are using weapons, right? The Guild’s got valis signs in their eyes, thinking that these rare subspecies will draw in large crowds for the Monsterphilia, and they want us to bring them back alive—there’s no other explanation!! Damn those greedy pricks! It’s not the time for that!! Send me down there and I’ll incinerate them in one of my fire tornadoes! Burn, baby, BUUUUUUUUUUUUURN!!”
“Shut up, Ibly! You’re on the surface team!!”
“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! NO ONE TOLD ME ANYTHING!! GO MY FRIENDS, WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNN!!”
“Please, everyone, settle down! And Ibly, enough already!!”
Ganesha Familia’s self-proclaimed “chattering fireball” went through his own casting motions in the middle of the park, stoking Ilta’s rage. Other leaders, including Modaka, knew this wasn’t the time or the place to let emotions get out of hand—although it would be much worse if their god were here—and called for rational thinking as they looked out over the ranks.
A wave of anxiety and nervous whispers started to spread through the crowd of citizens watching from outside the park.
“Ilta, relax. That goes for the rest of you, too.”
“But, sister…!”
“C-Commander Shakti…My apologies.”
The head of Ganesha Familia, Shakti Varma, spoke up as she stepped into the chaos.
With bluish hair cut precisely at the nape of her neck, she possessed an intelligent poise. She was surprisingly tall at 170 celch, and her reputation as a ravishing beauty was well deserved. Her long legs were equipped with metal boots, and oversize brass knuckles protected her hands, ensuring she was more than ready for close-quarters combat. Bearing the title “Ganesha’s Cane, Ankusha,” she ranked right alongside the Sword Princess as a first-tier human adventurer.
The Amazon Ilta referred to her as a sister, recognizing her strength (by force), and fell silent in the larger-than-life warrior’s presence. Other elite adventurers bowed their heads as Shakti cast her gaze on Modaka.
“What are our lord Ganesha’s thoughts on the matter?”
“F-follow the Guild’s orders…”
“I see,” she responded, the only calm in the storm swirling through the familia. She closed her eyes.
Opening them a heartbeat later, Shakti turned to face her subordinates and declared:
“We will tame these monsters. Bring them back here, alive.”
“Sister, are you sure?!”
“We serve the Lord of the Masses, Ganesha. Our faith lies with him, and we follow. Am I wrong, Ilta?”
A jolt ran down the Amazon’s spine at Shakti’s sharp, unclouded gaze. Her eyes opened wide before she nodded.
In awe of their leader’s rock-solid faith and devotion to their god, other members of Ganesha Familia assumed calmer expressions. “We leave on my mark. Be ready!” Shakti’s cool voice snapped through the air like a whip.
“W-wow…”
Amid all the jittery voices swirling through Central Park, Bell quickly slapped a hand over his mouth to stop a whisper in its tracks.
He was wearing a long rope over his armor and had a backpack over his shoulders—similar to Lilly’s usual equipment—to make him look like a supporter.
He was away from the anxious citizens waiting to see the departure and closer to Ganesha Familia’s internal spat, already mingling with the subjugation team.
“Lord Ganesha said that you’ll be useful in determining why this happened, so we don’t have much choice, but…keep your head down, Little Rookie. I’ll explain that you’re just a supporter to anyone who notices, but don’t stand out. It’ll be a real pain if Ilta finds out you’re here.”
“U-understood…Sorry.”
Modaka paused to whisper in Bell’s ear on his way by. Bell fearfully apologized out of reflex.
His point made, the hardworking Ganesha Familia member went on his way. A quiet voice sounded from Bell’s side just as the young man left.
“Taming, just as we asked. God Ganesha has really come through.”
“Fels…”
“The subjugation team will keep your presence a secret. Stay with them to the eighteenth floor.”
The voice reached Bell’s ears from a seemingly empty space.
It belonged to Fels. The mage was wearing a veil that granted invisibility, like the helmet Asfi had made and Bell had already encountered. Therefore, no one could see the black-robed figure.
Bell had received his equipment soon after emerging from the hidden passage from Guild Headquarters to blend in with the supporters. The mage, looking very out of place and suspicious as they approached Central Park, disappeared into thin air beneath the veil before joining the subjugation team.
“It’s time to go. I’ll enter the tower first.”
“Okay.”
The mage moved toward Babel to avoid bumping into others during their journey. Bell could vaguely make out Fels’s presence, and he was watching the faint ripple disappear when suddenly…
“Bell!!”
“Bell!” “Mr. Bell!”
“!”
Someone called his name, and he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He whirled around and immediately spotted Hestia, Welf, Lilly, Mikoto, and Haruhime working their way through the crowd.
Members of Ganesha Familia who were staying behind stood in a ring around Babel Tower for crowd control. Several had to hold back the group as they desperately called out to the boy.
Why would you be—? Bell’s surprise lasted only a moment.
Noticing the concern in his friends’ eyes, he poured every bit of his will and determination into his gaze.
I’m going in. Please let me do this.
Lilly and Welf looked annoyed, clearly hell-bent on having their say. Mikoto and Haruhime were much the same. They couldn’t join him in the Dungeon or stop him altogether.
Hestia made eye contact with Bell amid the yells of encouragement coming from the crowd.
—Be careful, got that?
—I will!
Their exchange required no words.
The goddess managed to push all her fears aside and offer her support. The boy responded with a strong nod.
“Advance!!”
The citizens erupted with cheers the moment Shakti issued the order.
Hestia and her familia watched Bell go through Babel’s gate with the rest of the subjugation team.
“Aisha! You mentioned nothing about Leon joining us!”
“What’s the big deal about one more person? You know how strong she is, so don’t be so uptight.”
“So tell me, what was your plan if I didn’t have a spare Hades Head on hand…?”
“Andromeda, Ganesha Familia is on the move. We must make haste.”
“?!!”
Beneath a wide-leafed tree in Central Park, away from the cheering masses, a human, an Amazon, and an elf exchanged words.
With a groan unbefitting a young woman like herself, Asfi thrust the magic items toward Aisha, who was carrying a massive wooden sword, and toward Lyu in her hooded robe. The three disappeared, dissolving into thin air the moment their items were in place, and then made their way past the crowd control with Ganesha Familia’s members none the wiser.
All the Xenos…Wiene.
The subjugation team following orders, the black-robed mage, the uninvited intruders, and the boy went through the gate with varying thoughts.
They pressed ahead into the Dungeon, under a beautiful blue sky and the gazes of the citizens supporting them.
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