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

If this continues, the gods will be in danger. Although I have never heard of illness causing "divine power" to be activated and send the gods back to heaven, the fact that she is gasping for breath in pain is the same.

We were swept far away by the torrent, and we don't even know where we are now. Waiting in the rain for Miss Asphyxi's rescue is not a good idea.

"If we break through the rock wall, perhaps we can make a cave..."

I want to avoid the rain... no, I want to warm myself, otherwise the gods will only grow weaker and weaker.

Even if I were to use my magical flames and lightning to start a fire, I'd need to find enough dry fuel, get away from the water, and sit down to rest in a sheltered spot. But if I keep going downstream, there must be a way…!

Miss Ais's murmur made me contort my face as I looked up at the excessively steep ravine. The gray sky, offering no shelter, relentlessly pelted us with rain.

"—Eee ...

「!?」

As we ran through the valley, we heard the sharp roar of a monster.

From the front and overhead, countless shadows advanced, accompanied by the sound of flapping wings.

"Happy!?"

The descendants of our ancestors who came to the surface, and the monsters that inhabit the Bio Mountains, attacked, leaving me utterly astonished.

"Happy," a monster with half a human and half a bird, and the head of a woman and the body of a bird.

The upper body forms a female torso with breasts, while the arms and forelimbs transform into shield-sized wings. The lower body, covered in dirty feathers, resembles that of an eagle or vulture, and the feet have bird claws.

Its appearance—the female head sounds nice, but it's actually quite different from our human race.

It had fangs, and its ugly face was covered with deep furrows and wrinkles. If I had to describe it, it would be like a stubborn old woman. No, an old woman is certainly more beautiful.

Because its body structure is similar to ours, it evokes far more disgust than ordinary monsters. Most unbearable of all is the stench of excrement and urine emanating from its entire body, making one want to pinch their nose.

Of all times, they had to choose this moment...!

As the large flock of "happies" with their bright yellow eyes, resembling birds of prey, attacked, I twisted my face, determined not to leave the fairy's side, intending to fight back with "magic".

however--

Keep running.

A gust of wind rushed by.

With the sound of a sword being drawn, long golden hair flew past me as I sliced ​​down several happies that were attacking from the front.

Miss Ais created screams, blood splattered, and my and the monsters were stunned. Her eyebrows furrowed, and her silver sword gleamed coldly.

"————————————————Ahhh!?"

Countless black feathers scattered in the torrential rain.

The blonde, golden-eyed female swordsman charged up the cliff, leaping and kicking the rock face as she moved at high speed through the valley. Beasts approaching from all directions screamed as they were hacked to pieces, becoming victims of her blade. Following instructions, I carried the immortal as we ran, golden light and silver sword shadows crisscrossing around me like a dome, cutting down every approaching monster in two without exception.

It was as if it were protected by a barrier of swords and blades.

I continued running, my face twitching. Even as the one being protected, I still shuddered at the sight of myself surrounded by Miss Ais's absurd skills.

—It's ridiculously strong.

Ignoring my trembling, several Happy creatures, their bodies and wings severed, plunged into the raging torrent and were swallowed by the river. Countless monster corpses also lay on the rocky banks.

Rainwater washed over the blood-stained valley.

"...That is..."

Then, just as the last happy was being slaughtered in mid-air.

In my line of sight, Miss Ais landed on the rocky ground and stared ahead as if she had noticed something.

I looked over there too—and saw a tiny light source swaying, the light from the magic stone lamp.

"Hey—! Is anyone there—!?"

Human voices could be heard from ahead of the threatening floodwaters.

I opened my eyes wide, nodded to Miss Ais, and hurried over.

*

The crackling sound of sparks flying kept ringing out.

The fireplace bathed the room in an orange glow, warming it. The gentle warmth that soothed my cold body almost made my eyelids close again and again; each time, I shook my head violently from side to side to fight off sleep.

The fairy lay on the bed in front of me, and I gently took her hand in mine.

"How is the goddess's health?"

"Ah, Mr. Cam... seems to be alright now, he's sleeping."

With a knock on the door, Mr. Kam entered the room, and I stood up. "That's good." The elderly human, accompanied by a young girl, had a relieved smile on his wrinkled face.

—We met people in the valley and arrived at this "Idas Village".

"Idas Village" is a small village nestled deep in the mountains of Bio Mountain, surrounded by steep cliffs and isolated in a valley. When the other party led us to this remote mountain village, Miss Ais and I were both surprised, as we never expected that there would be a village in such a place.

After we explained the situation, the young people who came to see the river and the villagers welcomed us into the village without saying a word. We are currently letting the spirits rest at the home of the village chief, Mr. Kam, and I accepted their kindness by changing into a set of linen clothes.

I thanked them for their kindness repeatedly, and at that moment I bowed my head to thank Mr. Cam and his family.

"Thank you so much everyone, thank you for saving the gods..."

"Please lift your head, Mr. Bell, it's just a small favor—"

He was speaking when, "Cough cough! Cough cough!" Mr. Cam started coughing.

The girl who was taking care of Mr. Cam supported his bent-over body with both hands. This human girl seemed to be his daughter, and said worriedly, "Let's go back to our room quickly."

Mr. Cam raised his hand to her slowly, then slowly straightened his upper body.

"Um, don't push yourself too hard...!"

"It's alright, I'm fine... Mr. Bell, please make yourself at home. If you have any problems, you can ask your daughter and the others for help, so that the goddess can recover her health as soon as possible."

Even as I began to panic, Mr. Cam, who was feeling unwell, stared intently at the fairy lying on the bed.

His elderly face and eyes, adorned with a sparse beard, seemed to hold a wealth of emotions. While expressing concern for the immortal, he said, "Please take care of yourself..." and then left the room with his daughter.

"Is he sick...?"

Although we had only just met, Mr. Cam was startled when he saw the deity being carried in. He immediately arranged many things for us, almost to the point of selflessness, for which I was deeply grateful. Because of this, seeing that his complexion remained rather poor made me even more worried.

Later, when I returned to the fairy's side to take care of her, I saw a figure running towards me outside the room window.

Seeing the man running towards the house with his coat over his head and getting soaked in the rain, I hesitated for a moment before entrusting the fairy to Mr. Cam's daughter's care and rushing to the front door.

"You're back, Miss Ais. Uh, thank you for your hard work."

"Yes, I'm back... How is she?"

Miss Ais took off her soaking wet hooded robe at the front door, revealing her combat suit and armor that she hadn't dried. I gave her a towel, as she was concerned about the fairy's health, and told her that the fairy was resting quietly.

"So, what's the situation?"

"The soldiers of Kingdom Lachia, and Miss Asphie, are all gone... leaving only traces of a fight."

After confirming that the gods were safe in "Aidas Village", Miss Ais immediately went to spy on the enemy's situation.

She said she walked upstream along the flooded valley river, but there wasn't a soul on the mountain path where we fell. Miss Ais thought that Miss Asphie and the kingdom's soldiers might have retreated due to the terrible weather. As for whether the enemy was still stationed on the mountain to capture the fairy, or had already completely retreated, it was unknown.

I apologized for dragging Miss Ais into this commotion and for burdening her, but she shook her head and said it was alright.

"Unable to contact Orario...it's best not to expect anyone to come to the rescue."

Even if we wanted to inform Orario of our situation, it was already late at night, and the weather was so bad. Considering the possibility of losing contact in the high mountains, and the danger of being separated from us—Ares's army was large and well-trained enough to corner me alone—Miss Ais returned to the village.

Miss Asphie is a high-level adventurer; she must have already returned to the city and relayed a lot of information to the people there... But we're in this small mountain village; we probably still can't keep track of our whereabouts.

"Then, let's stay in this village and wait until the immortal recovers his health..."

"Hmm, I think this is better."

Miss Ais wiped her wet hair and the countless water droplets that had slid down her neck with a handkerchief, and nodded. The clothes clinging to my skin made me unsure where to look, but I agreed as well.

We need to travel in groups of three. Once the deity recovers his strength, we'll return to Orario. Until then, we'll stay in this village for the time being.

Even though it would make Lily and the others worry before that happened... there was nothing I could do.

Although I felt guilty, I still discussed it with Miss Ais and decided on our future strategy.

*

The immortal woke up on the second day after I entered the village. I was overjoyed with tears in my eyes. However, the immortal still needed to rest, so he stayed in bed for a day and the next day was also spent in bed all day.

Then, on the morning of the third day after we arrived in "Idas Village".

"I'm sorry... Belle."

"You've said it several times already, God, it's alright."

The deity lay on the bed apologizing to me, and I smiled at her with my eyebrows lowered, sitting beside her. The deity, whose complexion had become much rosier, looked up at my face, her eyes lowered in remorse.

"This is...a really nice village."

"Yes, everyone is very kind and warm."

Outside the room's window, the village's human and demi-human children were peeking inside.

It is said that "Aidas Village" was originally an elven village, and that it has existed since "ancient times".

It is said that the elven village, which was built in a remote and impoverished area and rejected interaction with other races, gradually changed its ways over the course of more than a thousand years. With the arrival of the gods as an opportunity, young elves who became interested in the outside world left the village one after another, and people from other races who lived in seclusion moved in to live there.

People who are desperate about reality, refugees, and those who elope with their lovers in order to achieve a love that can never blossom.

Even wandering adventurers banished from the labyrinthine city of Orario were included. These people, almost ready to die, stumbled into the rugged Bio Mountains and were once accepted by the village. It is said that more than half of the villagers are now descendants of these people with their own secrets. Because of this background, the village is very tolerant of us outsiders who have suffered mountain accidents.

A secluded mountain village not recorded on the map, a haven for wanderers with nowhere else to go.

This is... a world I don't know.

To the villagers, the goddess seemed like a rather rare and exotic being. The demi-human boys and girls peered out of the windows with great interest. When Goddess Hestia smiled and raised her hand, their cheeks flushed, as if they were very happy.

"How are you feeling? Please let me know if you need anything."

"Ah, Miss Lina, thank you so much for your help."

When I saw Mr. Cam's daughter come into the room, I told her that the gods were making her feel much better, and I bowed my head to thank them, just as I still do today.

Mr. Cam's daughter is two or three years older than me and has a very gentle personality. He also has several adult sons who have all taken great care of us. They saved us like gods; I can never thank them enough.

However, Mr. Kam, the village chief, was quite old, and the age gap between his daughter and several sons was like that of a grandfather and grandson, which made me turn my head away. Moreover, I didn't seem to see any woman who looked like a mother in this house.

Although I found it unbelievable, I kept my doubts to myself and asked the question that had been bothering me since earlier:

"Any events scheduled for today? It seems like there are more people outside than yesterday..."

"Well, there's a festival in the village today to pray for a good harvest. It's been raining a lot lately, and I was really worried, but thankfully it's stopped... I think everyone is doing a great job preparing."

Seeing the blue sky outside the window and hearing the lively noise, she smiled, her tied-up black hair swaying. "I see," I nodded.

The small village where I used to live also held a village festival.

"Bell...go help prepare for the festival."

"what?"

When we heard the deity say this, both Mr. Cam's daughter and I were startled.

"But...but, gods..."

"If I do nothing while being taken care of like this, it will embarrass me, the goddess... Please, Belle."

Although the fairy has improved a lot, I am still reluctant to leave her side, and she pleads with me with a smile.

...The villagers saved the gods, and I want to repay their kindness.

It would be inhumane to leave without doing anything, and more importantly, I would feel guilty.

I changed my mind, smiled back at the fairy, and decided to grant her request.

I turned my head from the bedside and said I wanted to help prepare for the festival, and Mr. Cam's daughter was delighted.

She readily agreed to take care of the deity, so I left the affairs of the place to her and left the room.

"Ah, Miss Ais."

"morning……"

Walking down the corridor, I happened to run into Miss Ais.