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

Inside the wooden door with the "Closed" sign, the store's employees were bustling about nimbly. Some had set up more round tables and chairs than during the day, while others went out to buy supplies. The kitchen, busy processing ingredients, had long since become a battleground.

The maroon light streaming through the window illuminated the elfin woman's beautiful face and slender ears.

Ryu was working hard like everyone else when she heard a clang—the clock on the door was ringing.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you."

A slender, handsome man walked into the store.

Her orange-yellow hair reflected the setting sun, blending with the maroon color to create the hues of dusk.

Hermes, with a smile on his face, was with Asphie.

"Excuse me, Hermes. The shop is still preparing. Could you please wait a moment?"

"I'm sorry, little Lunova. I'll be done soon."

Hermes politely declined the human girl Lunova's offer and turned his toes in a certain direction.

The other waitresses stopped what they were doing and watched him move.

Finally, Hermes stopped in the center of the store, right in front of Ryu.

"...Is there something you need?"

"Yes, I have something to ask you, little Liu."

With Asphie standing beside him, Hermes opened his narrow eyes.

"We have an adventurer's request that you take on—we hope that 'Leon of the Gale' can lend us a hand."

That was Ryu's common name during the adventurer era, and also his infamous reputation.

Instantly, the atmosphere in the store became tense.

The air did indeed emit a heavy, screeching sound. Standing in the center of the store, around Hermes and Asif, along with Anya, Chloe, and Lunova, every employee in the store exuded a murderous aura.

Surrounded on all sides, the numerous sharp gazes directed at her and the supreme god made Asphie barely contain her cold sweat. Facing an opponent who threatened her people, the "Abundant Mistress" was about to unleash a bloodbath with clear hostility.

The store, bathed in the red glow of the setting sun, was shrouded in a dangerous atmosphere.

Are you threatening me?

Ryu himself raised his eyebrows and stared intently at Hermes.

Ryu is questioning Hermes about whether he is threatening her, or if she doesn't comply, he will expose her little-known past.

The elven girl looked up at Hermes' face. "I didn't mean that," Hermes said slyly, raising his hands in surrender.

"My goal is to save Bell's little brother... Bell Craney, and his squad."

"……What's the meaning?"

He explained the current situation of Bell and the others in detail, and then expressed his hope that Ryu could also join the search team.

Having grasped the general situation, Ryu, her sky-blue eyes still sharp, asked again:

"Why are you looking for me?"

"A free spirit adventurer who can protect two gods (two burdens) and is not restricted by the [Family], I only want you... and..."

Hermes looked away and gazed in the direction to the side.

"Perhaps because you're Seele's friend?"

Deep inside the store, in front of a door, stood a girl with light gray hair, motionless.

Seele, who had just arrived, overheard Bell's story. Seeing her like that, Ryu's delicate eyebrows furrowed.

Hermes added this affectedly, and yet there was no more effective sentence than this. He slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

"We're leaving at 8 PM tonight. Come if you'd like, I'll be waiting for you."

As he was leaving, Hermes leaned close to Ryu's ear and whispered these words.

Until the very end, exposed to the fierce gazes of the shop assistants, the male god disappeared outside the store with Asif.

"Ryu".

"Seele..."

Liu looked like she couldn't win an argument with Hermes, watching his back as he left. Xi'er came to her side, and she and Liu stared at each other for a while, their expressions ashen.

After a moment of silence, she pleaded:

"I'm sorry, Ryu. Please save Mr. Bell."

Ryu gazed into those pale gray eyes.

Deep within those eyes lay the unease and fear of losing her beloved. Faced with the girl's slightly trembling wish, the sensitive elf girl gave a bitter smile.

"Seele has been kind to me, I can't refuse your request."

"Besides," Ryu continued.

"I don't want Mr. Crane to die either."

She told Seele without hesitation.

Upon hearing Ryu say this, Seele apologized repeatedly, saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." and finally expressed her gratitude with a "thank you".

At this moment, Anya and the others, who had been observing the conversation between the two, gathered around Ryu and Seele. Smiling, they chatted amongst themselves, saying:

"I'll leave the shop to the cats! They'll tell Mom that Ryu has a tummy ache to get away with it, meow!"

"Although I really don't want to comply with Hermes's wishes... well, there's nothing I can do about it."

"Meow, Ryu, try to do the boy a favor and ask him for a reward."

The lively (idiotic) girl Anya, the ever-smiling Lunova, the lewd and wicked Chloe, and other colleagues all encourage Ryu.

The young female cooks who peeked out from the kitchen also gave a thumbs up.

Liu looked around at everyone, nodded, and finally turned to Xi'er, who was smiling weakly, and slightly curved her lips.

"I'm sorry, I'll leave the rest to everyone."

With a "whoosh," the elfin girl pulled off the ribbon from her chest and ran out of the shop.

◆

Sweat trickled down his chin again.

Putting aside the current life-or-death situation, the humid air in the middle layer seemed to fuel this unstoppable sweating.

I moved through the dark maze, letting the slightly warm air brush against my skin.

I lent my shoulder to Welf and continued walking. While carefully observing my surroundings, contrary to my conscious mind, I was actually praying to the gods—pathetically—that we wouldn't encounter any monsters. I entrusted the defenses behind me to Lily.

We've traveled quite a distance since we decided to head to the 18th floor. However, we still haven't found a vertical cave leading directly to the lower floors.

Suppressing the anxiety surging within me, I forced myself to remain calm.

Isolated and helpless in the dark, labyrinthine middle level—in this situation where madness could erupt at any moment, the only thing to avoid is panic. In this tightrope-walking situation, losing composure would mean certain death.

After walking along the cave-like path for a while, two paths forked in the distance from the shadows. Following the decision I had made with Lily and the others beforehand to "take the right path if you're hesitant," I headed towards the right path.

Lily, following behind, breathed heavily, her weak panting seemingly masking her exhaustion. Welf, pressed close to me, was also burning up. He clenched his teeth as if cursing, forcing himself to march forward at a breakneck pace, unwilling to slow down.

"…Little Riko, can't you think of a way to deal with this stench!"

Welf glanced at it slowly and called out to Lily behind him.

In response to his request, Lily retorted with an expression that seemed to be glaring at him—or rather, exhausted—"Please bear with it...Excuse me for being blunt, but I can tolerate this stench far better than you can."

The "smell" that Welf and the others were referring to was the odor emanating from the bag hanging around Lily's neck.

The stench that made you want to pinch your nose brought tears to my eyes.

"Although this stench is harmful to us, it's also poisonous to the monsters. As long as this stench persists, unless there are special circumstances, those monsters won't come near us."

As Lily explained, this stinky bag prop, which seems to be called the "Strong Stinky Bag," is also the main reason why we are able to avoid the monster.

As for its effectiveness, we are currently putting it into practice and proving it.

The ferocious monsters from the middle ranks didn't come near us at all.

"I remember you said this was from Miss Nazha...?"

"Yes, it was commissioned by Lily to be made before she entered the middle level..."

Before entering the middle level, Lily seemed to have a tiny hope and asked Miss Nazha to make a prop that could prevent her from encountering monsters.

Ms. Nazha often ventures outside the city in search of materials to make props. It is said that she accidentally developed this "strong odor bag" by combining materials from the maze.

"By the way, Naza, who tried to smell the stench directly, fell backward in front of Lily... and rolled around on the floor like a madwoman for a while."

According to her, Ms. Nazha seemed desperate to get rid of the stench, rubbing her nose repeatedly on the floor, creating a pitiful scene. Sadly, this scene was quite easy to imagine.

In any case, thanks to the stinky pouch Lily was wearing around her neck, we were able to avoid the monster's attack. Although we only had a limited number of stinky pouches at hand, they were quite valuable for us, who were currently hovering in the middle level.

Even though we could sense the presence and growls of monsters ahead, we didn't need to engage in combat and continued moving forward.

"...!"

Ahead, in the depths of the field of vision.

Several pairs of blood-red eyes appeared at the front of the one-way street.

The monsters, which we could see clearly, were hellhounds with gleaming red eyes, charging straight at us. There were three of them in total.

Despite their ferocious expressions and head-shaking, they stopped at a distance where the stinky bags were less effective—estimated to be about thirty meters away—to prepare for their fire attack.

Oh no. I sense a crisis is brewing.

If we were targeted and fired at like this, we would all be wiped out this time. I could feel Lily stiffening behind me.

Should we approach and engage in hand-to-hand combat, or use our special techniques to counterattack?

Considering the distance of thirty meters, which wasn't too long or too short, and the fire resistance of the Hellhound, I was hesitating about how to respond when...

"We have no choice but to do it... Leave it to me."

Beside me, Welf, whose shoulders I was supporting, whispered this.

I let out a soft "Huh?"; at the same time, he extended his right arm.

With a "snap," the hem of his red kimono made a sound as he stretched out his palm straight toward the three-headed hellhound, which was lowering its upper body and gathering flames.

"Burn away completely, external practices."

What was recited was a very short chant.

Welf's right arm immediately caused the air to sway—and the solar flame burst forth with astonishing force.

Like a flash flood, the solar flames silently spread through the space, engulfing the hellhounds that were about to enter their fire-breathing stance.

"【Invisible Will-o'-the-Wisp】".

The next instant, three massive explosions occurred—the hellhounds self-destructed.

"Magic accidental explosion (ignis fatuus)!?"

Lily cried out in surprise.

My eyes widened as I watched the monster, about to spew flames, explode. The hellhound, billowing black smoke, was charred black all over, its eyes rolled back, and it collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.

"Magic accidentally exploded."

It refers to an accident in which magical power is not perfectly controlled and thus goes out of control when using magic or similar techniques.

In the "ancient times" before the gods descended to the mortal realm, magical races, including elves, created their own spells by thinking and experimenting with "chanting" to control magical power.

It is said that certain spells inevitably experience accidental explosions before a complete system is established—just like what we are seeing now—and go through a process of repeated trials.

Thanks to "God's grace," many people today have discovered their own personal magic, and magic regulation has become smoother, with almost no more accidents like accidental magic explosions.

Not to mention that the monsters would exhibit such phenomena, which is unprecedented.

"It worked..."

"Welf, what was that just now?"

"My magic seems rather special. It appears to use a certain magical reaction as a spark (trigger) to cause it to explode."

【Invisible Will-o'-the-Wisp】—Antimagic magic.

By seizing the opportune moment to counter an enemy's magical or magic-attribute attacks, you can force a magical explosion, causing the enemy to self-destruct. The higher the target's power and magical strength, the greater the explosive force. In other words, it's a "magic-sealing" attribute.