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

"I heard you were carried in; so you're already awake! That's wonderful—Argonaut, little hero!"

The two women, whom Miss Ais calls Tiona and Tione… are they twins? One has short black hair, the other has long hair. Despite their different clothes, their faces are exactly the same. And their height too.

From their revealing clothing and brown skin, it's clear they're Amazons. The long-haired girl spoke to Miss Ais, while the girl with medium-length hair approached me in a friendly manner... but...

She called me twice using the skill name of "Hero's Wish," which made it hard for me to calm down.

My skills have been discovered? My mind was in complete turmoil, and after a long pause, I finally managed to ask them:

"Ah, Heroes of the Argonauts, what... what does that mean...?"

"Don't mind it. That was just something that irresponsible guy said offhand."

"We've been watching you fight the Minotaur! And then, it reminded me of a fairy tale I used to love—yes, you're really amazing!"

She told me that my fight with the Minotaur on the 9th floor reminded her of the fairy tale "Heroes of the Argonauts." Knowing she wasn't calling out the name of a skill, but just a nickname she'd given on a whim, I finally felt relieved. The various ability categories in the [Ability Values] section, along with "Magic" and "Skills," are the lifeline of any adventurer.

Then we introduced ourselves.

The short-haired girl who calls me by my nickname is Miss Tiona Syllut, the long-haired girl is Miss Tione Syllut... wait, speaking of the Syllut sisters, the female warriors (Amazons), aren't they the same famous first-class adventurers as Miss Ais and the others?

Although their appearances and names are different, I should still notice, right?

"You're in the middle level (here), which means you're already at Lv.2. And you even defeated the Minotaur, that's pretty good."

"Oh, he's blushing—so cute—"

"..."

Although Miss Tiona and the others were teasing me, to be honest, I didn't have the energy to care.

Healthy, tanned, bare skin kept catching my eye.

Miss Tiona's attire consisted of a thin bodice and a wrap skirt around her waist, revealing her navel completely; Miss Tione, on the other hand, wore only a top and panties, which looked practically like underwear... It left me completely unsure where to look. Those swaying breasts and those slender waists...

The stimulation was too intense.

Surrounded by women who were definitely older than me, I felt dizzy and almost fainted.

(Don't get too cocky...)

“——”

I could almost hear the sound of a curse.

Specifically, it comes from the gaze of male members who can even shoot down dragons.

My face turned deathly pale.

"I...I'll go check on my companions!"

Ah—they got away—a drawn-out voice came from behind.

Pale as a ghost, I hurriedly fled from Miss Ais and the others.

●

The interior of the forest gradually grew dark.

Far overhead, obscured by a dense canopy of leaves, a white, sunlight-like beam of light... the crystalline brilliance of the ceiling gradually faded.

The "day" in the dungeon has ended, and the "night" is about to begin.

(It really got darker...)

I peered into the tent from the entrance, observing the situation outside.

The sky, devoid of any maroon hue, transitioned from blue to night. The absence of any sunset or afterglow in the transition struck me as somewhat unbelievable. As night fell, I sighed with emotion.

I quietly left the entrance and returned to the tent.

Lily and Welf were still asleep. I peeked at their faces, even though I couldn't really help, I still pretended to be taking care of patients.

As time passed, things outside the tent gradually became more lively; perhaps they were preparing to cook. I thought to myself, almost unconsciously.

"Um……"

At that moment, Welf moved. At the same time, the blanket covering Lily also trembled.

I was startled and stared at their faces.

"...Where am I...?"

"Lord Bell...?"

Seeing Welf and Lily slowly open their eyes, I knew they were not in any danger, but I was still relieved.

A sense of relief spread across my face as I said to the two of them:

"Lily, Welf, how are you? Do you recognize me?"

"...There's absolutely no way Lily wouldn't recognize Lord Bell's face."

"Ah... since I can hear Riko talking nonsense, I should be fine now. Hi, Bell."

Lily smiled slowly at me, while Welf answered me as usual.

I couldn't help but laugh happily, and waited for the two of them to calm down.

Lily and Welf, who had just woken up and were still half asleep, managed to get up on their own after regaining consciousness. They pulled the blanket up to their knees and sat down on the floor. I first explained the current situation to them.

I told them we had safely reached the 18th floor and that we were now being taken care of by the Loki Familia.

After I briefly described what had happened, Lily and Welf stared at me intently, and then... apologized.

"I'm so sorry, Lord Bell..."

"I'm totally holding you back... I'm sorry."

"N-nothing like that happened!"

Seeing that the two were about to fall silent, I shouted loudly.

I was almost angry, and I launched into a long explanation. Without Lily, we wouldn't have been able to find our way out and would have been wandering aimlessly through the maze; without Welf, we would have been cremated by the hellhounds in no time.

I retorted fiercely, only to see Lily and Welf almost roll their eyes in surprise.

"Because of the two of you, because of every member of the team! ...We were able to survive, weren't we?"

"...That's right."

"No one can be missing."

After a wry smile, both of them suddenly looked relieved.

I felt relieved at first, but then I felt a little embarrassed that I had been lecturing someone.

At the same time, the three of us forced smile lines onto our faces and burst into laughter together.

"...Dinner is ready, is that convenient?"

"Okay!"

Someone called us from outside, and I stood up to answer. Miss Ais came in, parting the curtain.

Lily and Welf were both surprised to see the Level 1 adventurer known as the "Sword Maiden".

"I'm so sorry, I've made you treat me to a meal..."

"It's okay... Is it convenient to go outside?"

Hmm... It's a bit awkward to go outside, but it seems rude of me not to show my face when I'm being taken care of...

After much agonizing, I turned around and looked at Lily and the others, asking if they could go. They both nodded stiffly.

I conveyed our wishes to Miss Ais, and at her urging, I stepped out of the tent and asked her to lead the way.

"Hey, Bell. Do you know that Fiora?"

"Uh...something did happen."

"Lord Bell, could you please tell Lily about those things later?"

Welf leaned closer; Lily gave me a sweet smile, but for some reason, it had a kind of intimidating power.

It was a series of embarrassing experiences, and I really don't want to talk about it if I could...

I feigned a smile as I followed Miss Ais in a three-person line. Lily and Welf turned around, looking around with interest. Soon, we arrived at the center of the campsite.

"Uh! It's those guys..."

In the open center, many people sat in a large circle on the ground. Several portable magic stone lamps were placed in the very center, shining brightly and resembling a campfire. That must be what they called a campfire.

We heard that this large group wasn't just comprised of members of the Loki Familia; the Hephaestus Familia's top blacksmiths were also mixed in. As Miss Ais explained this to us, Welf seemed to see the faces of his fellow Familia members and let out a groan.

"My apologies..."

The stares from others made me nervous, so Miss Ais asked us to sit in a less crowded area.

As soon as I sat down, Miss Ais plopped down to my right, Lily was to my left, and Welf was next to Lily. The natural seating arrangement between us made me tense all over.

Although I've sat next to her during morning training sessions before... no matter how much time has passed, I still can't get used to being so close to her.

I glanced to the side, and Miss Ais immediately noticed. Our eyes met. Her blonde hair cascaded down smoothly, and she seemed to have just taken a shower, as a cool, refreshing scent wafted from her.

"What's wrong?"

"...N-nothing!"

Before I could blush, I quickly turned to face forward.

"Listen, everyone. I think word has spread that we have some guests tonight. They risked their lives to reach the 18th floor for their companions; they are all incredibly courageous adventurers. I don't expect you to get along with them. But as fellow adventurers, I hope that you can treat them with respect, even if only in the slightest... Now, let's get back to dinner."

"Wow, that's really something..."

Mr. Finn stood up by himself to introduce us. Lily seemed quite impressed by his speech, which appealed to the pride of adventurers in order to prevent any conflict.

Soon, the food was distributed. Everyone received two or three pieces of fruit.

Gourd-shaped red berries, and fruits dripping with what looked like sweet amber nectar, resembling soft cotton... these fruits, which I had never seen on the ground, seemed to have been picked from this 18th level. I tried taking a bite of the latter, the honey cloud fruit that looked like cotton soaked in honey.

In an instant, my mouth was filled with a thick, sweet fruit nectar—which made me feel nauseous.

So sweet, so incredibly sweet. I'm usually not a big fan of sweets, but when I encountered this sugar that seemed capable of killing me, tears welled up in my eyes. I desperately tried to hold back from choking and spitting it out, secretly observing my surroundings. I saw the female members of the Loki Familia holding their cheeks with their hands after each bite of cloud fruit, looking completely blissful. Needless to say, this sent shivers down my spine.

"Lord Bell, Lord Bell? If this isn't to your liking, how about Lily eats it for you?"

"Okay, here you go..."

"Then, well—ah—"

"Oh, Belle. Leave it to me, I'll eat it all for you... Hmm, this is definitely too sweet."

Lily deliberately moved to face me, opened her mouth like a little bird, and just as I was about to feed her, Welf took the cloud fruit I had bitten from the side and elegantly snatched it and ate it.

Lily's face was flushed, her eyes were filled with tears, and she kicked Welf while screaming. Welf, on the other hand, seemed a little nauseous, clutching his throat and ignoring Lily's attacks.

Miss Ais, who was standing next to me, seemed quite bewildered.

"But then again, although I've heard about it... this is truly an incredible floor."

Having felt a little better, Welf glanced around at his surroundings.

On the ceiling, the white crystal was silent; only the blue crystal seemed to emit a faint glow, and a deep blue darkness descended upon the entire forest. Beyond the trees lay a night sky that mimicked the earth's natural canopy.

We were surrounded by the orange light of the magic stone lamp campfire, which illuminated our figures as we ate, drank, and chatted. Some people were laughing, their joyful faces burning brightly in the phosphorescent glow. It was like a scene from a children's story (picture book), a dinner feast under a moonlit fire deep in a dark forest.

Mr. Finn, Miss Riveria, and Mr. Grace were having the other members pour drinks—those gourd-shaped red berries. The "Expedition" seemed to be over; there wasn't a trace of the fighting spirit among the Loki Familia.

However, they did not let their guard down, and guards were stationed around the campsites far from the campfires.

"There are rare fruits, and there's the sky... I also remember there's a 'town,' right?"

"Huh... there's a 'town'!"

The words were beyond my imagination, which surprised me greatly.

The existence of a "sky" underground is already exaggerated enough, but I never expected that there would be a "town" inside the underground city.

I couldn't help but turn to Miss Ais, who was eating her cube-shaped personal rations. She looked up and nodded.

"...Should we go take a look tomorrow?"

"I...I want to go!"

I kept nodding at high speed.

I immediately became excited, already imagining the "town" inside that underground city. What would it be like? Who would be doing what...? Just imagining it thrilled me. This feeling must be one of the joys of adventurers. I started making excuses for my ridiculous excitement.