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

A sharp ringing sounded deep in my eardrums. A sensation like earthworms crawling around under my skin rose up, and a wave of nausea surged up my throat.

Ais felt dizzy and lightheaded. The next moment, she could no longer bear it and her knees buckled.

"Miss Ais!?"

She knelt down, and the precious pearl in her hand rolled to the ground.

Ais's breathing became severely erratic as Lefia reached out to support her upper body.

Luluni stood there, her face contorted with grief.

"...!"

Realizing the origin of Ais's strange behavior, Lefia rushed over, picked up the green orb, and took a step away from her.

"Huff, huff..." Ais's body, which had been heaving up and down, gradually calmed down and recovered.

Silently visits the warehouse illuminated by the magic stone light.

As Lefia and Lulune stared in disbelief, Ais, who was sitting on the ground, slightly opened her eyes and pressed her hand against her chest protector.

*

Those eyes followed the girl's every move.

From the position where the body is embraced by the darkness, on the city wall.

Below that person's line of sight, in a corner of the warehouse where cargo boxes were piled up haphazardly, a human, an elf, and an orc girl were talking face to face.

The gaze, held in suspense and mingled with darkness, swept across the girls' faces before finally settling on the human swordsman.

—Very strong.

His eyes narrowed.

That one will probably be difficult to deal with. The man looked at the blonde, golden-eyed girl with a military knife at her waist and flawless movements and murmured this softly.

After observing for a while, the orc girl made a move, and the orb appeared.

The man's expression hardened, as if he were glaring fiercely at someone. He didn't even notice the blonde girl collapsing to the ground; he was solely focused on the green fetus.

In an instant, the man turned his gaze to the bustling town center, then looked down at the blonde girl again.

Finally, the man reached into his robes and took out a straw flute.

"--come out."

A sharp whistling sound came from between the lips and the blades of grass.

The sound of the whistle echoed over the town.

*

"Are you alright, Miss Ais...?"

"...Yes, I'm fine."

Ais, her voice a little weak, slowly stood up.

Lefia had never seen her idol like this before and didn't know what to do. She tried her best to hide her embarrassment and looked down at the jewel in her hand.

The eerie female fetus was protected by a green membrane. Her gaze darted back and forth between the mysterious larva and Ais's face, filled with questions about what this precious orb truly was.

"Is...is this serious...? Is this thing really bad?"

Lulu asked hesitantly.

Unable to come up with an answer, Rafia looked at Ais one more time before making a decision.

"I'll take this and hand it to the regimental commander."

Although the reason is unknown, this gem will cause Ais pain, and the gem must not be allowed to get close to Ais.

Fortunately, I felt no discomfort while holding it. I don't know if the reason is due to racial differences, but in any case, I was able to carry this item without affecting my health.

To be honest, she wanted to throw that disgusting jewel far away right away, but she had to keep it herself so that Ais wouldn't suffer.

Lefia had to help her.

"I'm sorry, Rafia..."

"Please don't apologize, I'll handle this little thing... Miss Ais, please move away."

Lefia forced a smile and then looked at Luluni.

She nodded and handed the bag to Rafia. Rafia put the pearl into the bag, tied the drawstring, and then took the handbag and slung it over her shoulder.

Then she picked up the staff that was standing in the corner of the cargo box and turned to look at Ais and Lulu.

"Let's go then—"

It's too late to say.

In the distance came the sound of something collapsing, screams, and a roar like a broken gong.

「!?」

She, Ais, and Lulune opened their eyes wide, then rushed out as if they had been electrocuted.

They left the warehouse and ran into the dimly lit alleyway formed between the crystal and the rock. The shouts not only never stopped, but grew even more intense, and the group, drawn by the sound, kept running until they emerged from the path.

On a prominent high platform with a panoramic view.

As soon as Lefia and the others stepped into the spacious area with handrails, they immediately saw thick smoke rising from all over the town, and...

"What is that!?"

Countless man-eating flower monsters with their necks stretched high into the air.

*

"How could they let monsters invade?! Are the guards all slacking off?!"

Perth's roar echoed all around.

A horde of man-eating flower monsters, roaring throughout the town, leaped over the towering city walls, plunging the central town square into panic. The monsters, their long, serpentine bodies writhing, charged from all sides towards the crystal square where the adventurers had gathered.

From the direction of the damaged city wall came the screams of what sounded like guards, and the sounds of crushing tents and huts came like a tidal wave.

"——————————Ahhh!!"

A carnivorous plant destroyed a crystal pillar, scattering glittering fragments like rain across the plaza. This marked the beginning of a massive influx of other monsters into the plaza.

In the blink of an eye, the horde of monsters waving their tentacles triggered a chain of wailing.

"Tiona, Tione, protect them!"

At Finn's command, Tiona and Tione ran off at full speed.

Wielding large double-edged swords and recurve blades, they leaped through the crowd to approach the man-eating flower monster, severing its head and tentacles with a silver slash and two flashes of light.

"It's the same during the festival, where did these guys even come from?!"

"You all! You can't escape from here!"

Unlike the battles at the Monster Festival, Tiona and her companions wield their weapons to cut their enemies in two.

Their attacks were effective, but in contrast, the surrounding adventurers were constantly routed by the monster horde. They were slapped by countless tentacles, thrown into the air by their bodies, or bitten and chewed by their hideous, enormous jaws. Some joined forces to fight back and fought bravely, but the man-eating flower monsters were far stronger than the adventurers in the town.

Knowing they were no match for these monsters (enemies), the adventurers scattered and fled in disarray, ignoring Tiona's pleas.

Panicked, they ran out of the square and scattered to every corner of the town.

Left with no other choice, Tiona and Tione split up to chase after the fleeing adventurers and monsters.

"Rivia, the enemy reacts to magic. Try to lure the nearby monsters to one place with large-scale magic! Perseus, form teams of five. If we use sheer numbers, each team can suppress one monster!"

"understood."

"Oh, okay!?"

Finn quickly surveyed and assessed the field of vision within the battle zone and issued a series of appropriate instructions.

Riveria unfurled a magic circle in the center of the plaza, while Perth roared at the surrounding adventurers. The high elf's beautiful chanting attracted monsters from the vicinity of the plaza, and Finn himself stepped to the front lines, slaughtering a large number of monsters with his spear.

He accurately pierced the "magic stone" deep inside the monster's mouth with a single thrust. The little man would sometimes leap into the air, sometimes charge onto the monster's long body and kill it with a single blow. His heroic figure and his desperate encouragement boosted the morale of the adventurers.

As the chaos subsided, they stepped forward one by one to meet the attack.

"The situation is just perfect...!"

The battle in the square gradually regained the upper hand, but Finn squinted as he watched the monsters' attack.

Judging from his current location alone, there were at least fifty monsters wreaking havoc in the town, and probably more. Rivera was a natural fortress built on the island's cliffs, and the fact that such a large number of monsters could appear without warning gave him a strong sense of abruptness and strangeness.

No, this is just too unnatural.

Finn took off running, leaping across the broken crystal pillars and large rocks, traversing the town in a straight line from the plaza. In an instant, he reached the edge of a cliff and leaned over the railing.

"...!?"

Finn trembled with astonishment as he looked down at the blue eyes below the cliff.

Beneath a sheer cliff over two hundred meters high, in a lake shrouded in the darkness of night, countless man-eating flower monsters are breaking through the water and climbing up the cliff.

They were hiding in the lake... no, they were lurking in groups on the safe floors—the monsters' illogical behavior shocked Finn, but at the same time, a flash of certainty crossed his mind.

They had been hiding until now, only launching their attack all at once.

It's impossible for a monster to take such a strategic action. There must be human intervention involved.

It's unbelievable that he could command such a large number of monsters, but that's the only possibility.

Finn, his face contorted, uttered the answer that had been generated in his mind.

"Could it be a tamer...!"

Side Story: Sword Oratoria 2, Chapter 5: The Battle of Rivera

Lefia stared blankly at the scene in front of her for a long time.

The town's beautiful nightscape, illuminated by the magic stone lights and adorned with blue and white crystals, is gradually destroyed by hordes of monsters.

You don't even need to look for them; you can see these long, enormous man-eating flower monsters roaming all over town, their numbers so numerous you can't even be bothered to count them. They don't need to break through the city walls; they simply climb up and leap over them like snakes. Large numbers of them also continuously climb up the cliffs, like a school of fish leaping over a waterfall. Their sheer number even creates the illusion that "half of the town's landscape has turned yellowish-green."

With a casual wave of its countless tentacles, it sent tents and huts flying, swimming at high speed in mid-air.

Vibrant, dazzling, and colorful petals emerged in the gloom, relentlessly ravaging rocks, crystals, crowds, and everything else.

Hearing the endless, pitiful cries, Lefia's azure eyes trembled.

"W-What's going on? What happened...!?"

"The town has been invaded by monsters."

Lulu was shocked, and Ais, standing beside her, seemed equally terrified.

His usually detached expression was now replaced by a piercing gaze.

A calm, overhead view reveals people skillfully fending off the monsters' attacks in the town's central square. From this high platform, a massive emerald-green magic circle is visible, with monsters swarming towards it, while hundreds of adventurers form small teams to defeat them one by one. Riveria goes without saying, and Finn should be in that square too.

Looking away from the center, the monsters scattered haphazardly in all directions, wreaking havoc. Some buried their heads in roadside stalls or caves, while a group chased adventurers fleeing the plaza. Among them, the one who forcefully severed a monster's long body with a flash of silver must be Tiona, wielding her large twin blades.

"Let's go to the square and meet up with Finn and the others."

No one objected to Ais's judgment.

Although it is a battle zone, it is also a safe area in the town, without a doubt.

Lulu nodded frantically, and Lefia replied, "Okay."

She picked up her bag again and started to set off from the platform, but just then...

"Roar!!"

「!?」

A loud, rasping sound came from the group, and a man-eating flower monster appeared before Lefia and her companions.

It emerged from the sloping rock face with the ferocity of a landslide. The three were startled to see the long, thin body blocking their path. Ais immediately drew her sword, abandoning the stunned Lefia and Lulune, and slashed at the monster.

The monster was cut down in the blink of an eye, but the shock that struck her made Lefia suddenly raise her head.

"They're over there too...!?"

"No, no way!?"

Lefia and her companions are currently located in a corner of the town, near the northwest city wall.