Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

"But this is strange! If I were Her Majesty's hero, there would be no reason for me to self-destruct! The moment I sacrifice myself for the ninja way is also the moment I entrust my lord to someone!!"

The girl's voice was passionate.

His throat trembled, his eyes widened like those of a disoriented, fallen warrior, and his hands clenched tightly at his temples.

"If I were to sacrifice myself for Princess Haruhime, then there should be others there!! But my memories say there wasn't! Even you, Lord Mighty Warrior, say so!! Then what is right and what is wrong?!"

Yamato's fate has become flawed.

Between altered memories and one's own loyalty, or what is called the way of the ninja.

"Ever since returning from the red-light district, Lady Haruhime has been acting very strangely! She's been talking nonsense more than before!! She seems perfectly normal in front of Lady Hestia and everyone else, but she cries every time she looks up at the moon! Even she herself doesn't realize it!!

She asked me, both crying and laughing, who her "hero" really was!? —Was it really Yamato no Mikoto!? —It's a misalignment! Our memories should be consistent, but they've created a fatal discrepancy with my feelings!!

The opportunity for the order to be flawed was precisely the aftereffect of the lord (Haruhime) who was once on the verge of collapse.

Although Helen made the erased and corrected things, Chunji's emotions were probably still unsettled. She would unconsciously reveal her true feelings. Witnessing this event also created a sense of unease within herself.

Even here, the blood of the Virgin Goddess (Hestia) is trying to resist the absolute power of 'Charm'.

The Hestia Familia is like a string of grape bombs, where one explosion will trigger a chain reaction of explosions.

"Am I the one who's wrong!? Or is it that night!? I don't understand, I don't understand, I don't understand! If I don't understand this, then I'm already—!!"

So far.

With cold glint in his eyes, Hyde moved at Lv.4 speed to the girl's side and slashed at her medulla oblongata with a blurry hand strike.

"Gah—!?"

Forcibly severing consciousness.

A single, slender arm supports a frail body that is leaning towards the ground.

"—Commander, could you please stop making such foolish and careless remarks? I'm getting really angry now."

A commotion arose, and curious onlookers turned to look at them, while Hayd returned their gaze with eyes as cold as sub-zero degrees Celsius.

Those who had been paying attention to the martial arts men and ignoring her, whether ordinary people or adventurers, all turned pale and scattered like birds and beasts.

The crowd, which had stopped, abandoned Hayd and the others and began to move on. At this moment, the girl finally looked up at the orc male.

"Do you really intend to preserve this world?"

"In the 'small garden' designed by Lady Freya, Yamato Mikoto can only become the 'hero' of Sanjou Haruhime. Otherwise, neither of them will achieve greatness."

"..."

"Lady Freya still requests that Orario fulfill its function as the 'City of Heroes'."

"..."

"That sage does not wish for a future where the 'vessel' bearing the 'core'—the embodiment of enlightenment and conviction—is to rot. Many heroes and warriors must be born from the offering of Bell Crane."

"...Please don't speak from such a nonsensical point of view as 'warriors.' Why are you so farsighted at a time like this?"

Hayed, who had remained silent because of Ota's statement, quickly became angry, like a cat with its fur standing on end.

If this distorted "miniature garden" continues to exist even after the boy becomes the goddess's possession, then Ota's statement is correct. Before becoming a healer, Hayd was also a warrior who constantly fought in the wilderness, and she had to agree with Ota's words. The spirit of a "resilient warrior" deeply ingrained within her speaks volumes.

It seemed as if he was the one in the wrong, and Hayd was unusually angry.

This wild boar usually doesn't talk at all, and when criticized, it won't talk back. It will just put on a serious expression and try to get away with it. But sometimes, it will skip the theory and go straight to the truth.

Theorists like Hedin abhorred this, and Heid had also begun to dislike it from the moment he arrived.

"You only speak up at times like these..."

After making this sarcastic remark, she closed her eyes and sighed again.

The members of the Freya Familia, who were on duty in shifts patrolling the city to manage the "miniature garden," noticed something amiss and immediately rushed over.

Hayd entrusted his life to them, instructing Herren to make the adjustments, and also left his belongings there.

After completely banishing her anxiety and unwillingness to give up, she turned around.

Re-facing Otta.

"Captain, may I join Bell in exploring the dungeon?"

Ota followed from behind, while he himself met up with Bell in a dignified manner.

The girl said this, while Otto looked down at her.

"Why did you change your mind?"

"You probably understand without me asking, right? I just feel it's necessary to act more carefully, meticulously, and perfectly... that's all."

Having witnessed firsthand the extraordinary events caused by fate, the girl realized that even the foreshadowing of flaws should not be overlooked, and so she said.

"With the power of the goddess, it would be easy to manage... I used to think so, but now I admit it. Maintaining this 'miniature garden' seems unexpectedly difficult."

"[Flame Lightning]!"

An adventurer party is venturing into a vast underground labyrinth.

After defeating and driving away the attacking monsters, we immediately proceeded deeper into the area.

The white-haired boy, who led from the front, used magic countless times.

He shouted out the names of Flame and Thunder, as if to make his name known to everyone.

It was not announcing its existence to humans, but to monsters.

He was pitied by the other adventurers in silver uniforms, and a pained expression appeared on his face. He caused several bursts of flame, and the empty tremors shook the dungeon.

"Bell...!"

Winnie and the "heretics" clearly observed this kind of boy.

In the far distance of his vision, the boy was fighting with a sorrowful and extremely painful expression.

The restless dragon girl wanted to run to her family and was about to rush out from there.

"Wait, Winnie."

"Reed...! Why!?"

A hand covered in crimson scales grasped her slender, blue-white arm.

It was Reed, the lizardman heretic, whose wary and tense eyes pulled Winnie back into the tree hollow.

The underground city has 21 floors.

The middle level, known to adventurers as the "Great Tree Maze," is indeed a labyrinth resembling the interior of a giant tree. The ceiling, walls, and floor are covered in tree bark, surrounded by plants and fungi not found on the surface. Numerous flowers, bizarrely shaped giant mushroom groves, and thorny thickets that have formed a forest are just some of the many sights and sounds.

Reed and his men hid deep in the thorny thicket, in a hollow in a tree.

They hid behind a curtain of thorns at a high vantage point where they could barely see and look down at Bell and his companions.

"Bell looks like he's in pain? He must be calling for us, right? We have to help him!"

Winnie, who was very sensitive to the boy's thoughts, seemed to resonate with him, her voice trembling.

Seeing the girl's amber eyes about to fill with tears, Reed's eyes twisted, and he clenched his teeth.

"That's... a 'trap'."

"well?"

"The current Belial is definitely bait. The adventurers around him aren't wary of their own kind, but rather waiting for the heretics (us) to appear."

Winnie couldn't immediately understand these explanations either. Among the heretics next to Reed, the half-human bird Fia added details about the past.

"Winnie, do you remember those horrible hunters? Just like them. Just like when they tormented our own kind to lure us there..."

"...!"

"Although those people didn't harm Mr. Bell... they wanted to find out who sensed the strange change in that person."

Her explanation made Winnie gasp.

The hunters of the Ikeros Familia, including Dix Beldix, set a cruel trap. They captured a heretic and tortured him to lure Winnie and her companions out, then kidnapped him to a man-made labyrinth. Recalling the sacrifice of so many of her comrades, the dragon girl's face immediately turned ashen.

"Just as Reed and the others said, these people are bait... other assassins (adventures) are probably monitoring Mr. Bell's surroundings..."

The singer Rei, who was standing next to her, also spoke up.

Possessing Lv.5 potential abilities comparable to a first-tier adventurer, she sensed the presence of a watcher (Ota) far from her party (Bell and the others). This was a combination of rational deduction and an overwhelming premonition fueled by her monstrous instincts. She tossed her long, bluish-gold hair, cautiously surveying her surroundings, a bead of sweat forming on her forehead.

"Bell is wearing the same combat suit as everyone else... That's the Freya Familia, which is said to be just as ominous as the Loki Familia. There's no mistake."

Besides the boy, there were also a young man from the half-human race who seemed quite capable, as well as human men and women. Finally, there was a girl dressed in a nurse's uniform and a sleeveless coat, the only one with empty hands, who appeared to be a healer.

With bird-like eyesight, Rey and Fia carefully observed, going to great lengths to avoid being noticed by the boy who was sensitive to sight, and read the movements of their lips, obtaining the names of each adventurer: Van, Lasker, Remilia, and Hyde.

No one, even those who made mistakes, had their names on the list of members of the Hestia Familia or the adventurers around them.

Reed listed these people as his top priority.

"Why is Bell-chan hanging out with this guy...? What happened to Lily and the others? What on earth happened...!"

Reed and his group had no information about the formation of "miniature gardens" on the surface. Although the boy's attire was different from that of the other team members, why were they so wary?

This is for a reason.

"Fels. The deadly battle in the artificial maze must have been over a long time ago, right? Could we meet Bell and Lily? Winnie said she wants to see them. Well, we'll do the same."

Just the other day.

Reed sent such a communication to the Eye Crystal, a magical artifact he had obtained from Fels.

In Reed's own view, he simply made the request casually with a relaxed attitude, nothing more.

"Bell Crane? Why mention the Freya Familia here?"

"ha……?"

"Leaving aside Lilyluka Erd and the others who are close to you (Xenos), you're even trying to drag along berserkers who have absolutely no interest in anything other than goddesses and battle? Don't be ridiculous, Reed. That's suicide."

However, the magician's answer made him doubt his ears.

"You're joking," he wanted to say, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Because Fels' tone and manner were so serious, there was no hint of joking.

Reed, who had been friends with Fells for a long time, knew this very well.

"Hey, what are you talking about...? What the heck is 'Freya Familia'?"

"That's exactly what I was going to ask. What have you been talking about since just now?"

"...!! Bell isn't a member of the Freya Familia! She's a member of the Hestia Familia, just like Lily and the others!"

"…………"

"Those kind-hearted humans saved Winnie and gave us hope!! Bell isn't a terrifying berserker!!! What's wrong with you, Fels!?"

『…………………………………………………………………………………………』

The jawline heats up as it uses human speech, and it grips the eyeglass held in one hand tightly.

Bell, a being worthy of being called a spiritual friend who transcends the boundaries between humans and monsters, was being spoken of as some terrifying being, which turned Reed's thoughts crimson. He could no longer tolerate such insulting words, so he raised his voice and roared at the magician on the other side of the crystal.

However, contrary to Reed's enthusiasm, the depths of the crystal were unbelievably silent.

A long silence that surprised even Reed.

It was even a zero-degree silence that gradually made him feel a chill.

This is the activation of the absolute law of 'Charm', a grace period for the black-clad magician leopard to become a 'slave of the miniature garden'.

"Reed. Where are you now?"

It was just an inquiry.

The questions lack intonation and rhythm.

Upon hearing this, Reed couldn't help but shudder.

All feelings, understanding, and warmth have vanished, and the voice it emits sounds like a doll talking, terrifying even itself, a monster.

"Reed. Where are you now?"

Faced with the recurring questions, the lizardman moved his trembling tongue and, in a moment of inspiration, came up with a solution.

"At the base on the 20th floor," he replied.