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

"Some people on the surface have probably already noticed our actions, haven't they?"

The man worried that the surface world would send elite troops to attack this place, compared to...

Rives told him briefly:

"Kill as many as come."

Side Story: Sword Oratoria 3, Chapter 3: The Beautiful and Ugly Girl

This is probably the first time I've encountered such a tense atmosphere in a team.

Lefia thought so.

"...The weather is so nice today—"

"What kind of weather is on the 18th floor?"

"..."

Rafia forced a smile and tried to start a conversation, but Bert seemed utterly bored and ignored her completely. Phil Weiss, who had taken a step back from the two, also remained silent.

"Ugh..." The tense atmosphere in the squad made Lefia dejected.

The location is on the 18th floor, which is the safe floor. In order to catch up with Ais, Lefia and the others set off from the headquarters, the Twilight Pavilion, and arrived here in just a few hours.

Having traversed the cave connecting the floors, the group was now advancing through the forest to the south of the building. They were simply walking, using it as a form of rest. This was because the Level 1 adventurer (Bert), who was always at the front of the group, was moving too fast, almost exhausting Lefia—though Bert just clicked his tongue in disapproval—

The cool scent of grass and trees mingled with the sound of flowing water, and the soft glow of the blue crystals growing everywhere illuminated the trees and leaves in a blue hue. The fantastical forest of the 18th level always reminded Lefia of her elven homeland, but even it could not soothe her heart at this moment.

Even Lefia is still a little afraid—Bert shows absolutely no mercy in any way—he hasn't shown any friendliness whatsoever, and Phil Weiss, who has remained silent throughout, has no intention of communicating with either of them. Lefia, forced to be caught in the middle, is completely useless.

From the moment they set off until now, the team has been shrouded in an atmosphere that makes her restless.

(Although I might be the only one who feels this way...)

It's unbelievable how lonely it is to not be able to say a single word. Lefia, who usually teams up with lively and cheerful people like Tiona, now deeply understands this. She misses the innocent and carefree voices of the Amazonian girls.

While feeling conflicted, she stole a glance at the person beside her.

With long, glossy black hair and crimson eyes, her beautiful features exude a heroic air; she must be older than Lefia.

Thin and pointed ears are proof of kinship.

(Miss Phil Weiss...)

The elven adventurer who helped the two chase Ais built a wall between himself and Lefia and her companions. While it might be understandable that she was thrown into a party of another faction.

She remained silent, often keeping her distance, and ignored people when called to her. Rafia tried to speak to her several times, but she acted as if she hadn't heard. Because her attitude was so blatant, Rafia even began to suspect that she was disliked by her.

From her, one could sense the somewhat unapproachable impression often found in elves.

(But……)

Throughout the journey here, she quietly protected Lefia, who was a mage.

Because the three were on a forced march and couldn't afford to be slowed down by "magic," Lefia could only fight desperately using her staff skills. Meanwhile, Philvis always seemed to prioritize eliminating any possibility of a surprise attack from her side, removing any danger, as if she were concerned for Lefia's safety.

Rafia knew perfectly well that she was not a bad person.

"Miss Phil, thank you so much for what you did earlier!"

Lefia made up her mind and called her name again.

This also relates to what will happen in the future. If we continue to go deeper into the building, we may encounter situations where we cannot force our way in and must work together.

Most importantly, she was one of her own kind. As an elf with a particularly strong sense of camaraderie, Lefia wanted to find a way to strengthen her friendship with Philwiss, and repeatedly tried to talk to her.

"Thank you for helping me deal with the Minotaur... Actually, I'm not very good at dealing with those kinds of monsters..."

"..."

"Miss Philwiss, are you a forward? I see you're carrying a staff in addition to your short sword."

"..."

"Could he be a magic swordsman? If so, I'd be incredibly impressed!"

"..."

"Ah, hahaha... What are your interests?"

As Remania finished speaking, she reluctantly asked a random question, but as usual, there was no answer. Philvis simply looked ahead and walked on in silence.

Lefia almost lost heart, but after witnessing the indomitable spirit of her adventurer predecessors (Ais and the others), she told herself, "What's this! I can't be discouraged like this!" Undeterred by repeated setbacks, she patiently continued to talk to her.

"Isn't it noisy? It's driving me crazy."

At this point, Bert spoke up, sounding annoyed.

Then he sneered through his nose.

"She's useless, just ignore her. Why do we have to be so loving and affectionate?"

Phil Weiss glared at the werewolf youth who had deliberately told them this.

Seeing the atmosphere turn dangerous, Lefia was at her wit's end and felt like crying.

The fact that their relationship didn't improve at all is definitely related to his tendency to pick fights.

"I wasn't planning on pretending to be familiar with you, you lowly werewolf."

"Oh, I thought you were mute, you cunning elf. Just keep singing magic (songs) to the monster like this."

The two began arguing, their words echoing through the Crystal Forest. From somewhere else, the distant howl of a monster could be heard.

As Lefia grew increasingly weary, Philweis quickened her pace alone. As if unwilling to waste time, she headed towards the center of the floor leading to the 19th floor at the front of the forest.

"Hey, you idiot, you still don't know where Ais is. Let's go to Rivera Town first."

Bert shouted behind her, "We need to gather intelligence first."

He looked like he couldn't stand Phil Weiss anymore, and reached out to grab her collar—the next instant.

The girl swiftly flipped over, drew her sword, and unleashed a sudden, chilling slash.

"—Don't touch me!!"

A sharp, metallic clang echoed all around.

Philweis's short sword was knocked away in front of Lefia, who stood frozen in place.

Bert deflected the slash with ease using the hand guards on his arms.

"what?"

Bert lowered the vibrating silver gauntlets, exuding a murderous aura. The sudden attack caused the tattoo on his cheek to twist in fury.

Seeing that the atmosphere was about to explode, Lefia quickly intervened.

"Mr. Bert! Please wait a moment!"

She spread her arms and used her back to shield Phil Weiss, defending her:

"Our people (elves) have a custom that forbids other races from touching our skin! So, she just did it without thinking...!"

That's a unique culture and habit of elves.

The correct term is "only allowing someone you trust to touch your skin".

It is generally believed that this habit comes from the proud and self-respecting temperament of the race. This custom varies by region - some of the same race have doubts about this custom - so not all elves are sensitive to skin contact.

Lefia's homeland is a midway point in the deep forest, now open to travelers, so this custom isn't as deeply ingrained. She herself had many opportunities to interact with other races during her childhood, was unbiased, and even longed for the outside world.

Lefia tried her best to explain.

She also felt that going so far as to draw a sword was an exaggeration, but she still tried her best to speak up for Phil Weiss.

Seeing his junior's attitude, Bert seemed unable to get angry and spat out a disdainful spit.

"Even so, isn't this an overreaction? Is something wrong with them?"

He cursed Philwiss, whose reaction was more intense than that of a typical elf.

Bert turned his back to Lefia and the others and headed west of the building where Rivera was located.

"..."

The forest fell silent, as if affirming the young man's last words.

Lefia turned around awkwardly and saw Phil Weiss keeping her head down and not saying a word.

■

Lefia and the others entered "Rivera Town".

They were to explore this bustling lower-level base of adventurers and find out where Ais had gone. The letter Ais had sent to headquarters simply stated, "I accepted an adventurer's request to go to the 24th floor," without specifying the exact location.

Lefia and the others heard from Loki that the adventurers' request was to investigate the cause of the monster surge, so the three of them split up to gather information, mainly asking if anyone had seen Ais.

"【Fiora】Oh, I saw her."

"R-Really!?"

"I can't be mistaken, she's walking with a bunch of weirdos wearing hoodies. There are quite a few of them."

Rafia stopped at the acquisition station of Amazon's female boss, Gu Dian.

She learned that Ais had indeed been to this town and had been with a group (squad) that was hiding their true identities.

"Did you see what the person with [Fiora] looks like?"

"Hmm—I didn't see clearly. There are plenty of suspicious people in this town; I've never thought about finding out who they are."

"Where's the receipt? They must have bought something here, right?"

"It was all paid for by [Sword Girl], using the [Loki Familia] badge."

Phil Weiss ran all over town, asking around in every shop.

She had already learned that Ais and the others spent lavishly on purchases, but she still hadn't found out who the mysterious group accompanying Ais was. The receipts that revealed the faction to which the buyers belonged all seemed to be paid for by Ais herself, while other shops used items like "magic stones" instead of money for transactions.

"Don't you know where those monsters came from?"

"Sigh, yes, all we know is that the regular routes on the 24th floor are completely packed with them... but there are just too many of them, so there's no way to trace where they came from..."

"What a useless bunch."

"It's really, really embarrassing..."

Bert kicked open the tavern door and, from a group of frightened adventurers, inquired about the rumored surge in monsters circulating in town.

The reason he asked these questions was that he had assumed that heading to the source of the surge would allow him to reunite with Ais and the others. However, they told him that due to the sheer number of monsters, no one was able to venture to the source of the parade. It was said that even Level 3 adventurers would flee in terror at the sight of that scale. Everyone knew that the guild had already dispatched a subjugation team, so most groups were currently waiting in Rivera Town.

Hearing the adventurers in the tavern complaining, "Of all times, not a single high-level faction party has shown up," Bert berated them until he felt like vomiting. He said, "You trash who only know how to suck up to others might as well quit the adventurer profession altogether!"

He abandoned the adventurers who were being scolded so badly in the tavern that they couldn't even lift their heads, and then went around to every other shop.

"We didn't get any detailed information..."

Soon after, Lefia and the others, who had split up to gather information, temporarily met up in the town square.

The three exchanged information, but Ais and the others' destination remained unknown. After all, they were first-level adventurers (celebrities); many people had seen the [Sword Maiden], but they couldn't get any decent clues from her.

However, they learned that Ais and her companions had purchased a large quantity of spare weapons and potions. This was likely preparation for dealing with the large influx of monsters—a long battle anticipated. It seems certain that Ais and the mysterious group went to the 24th floor to investigate the unusual situation.

I also heard that Ais and the others left the town a few hours ago. If we can find out their destination, it's not too late to catch up with them now.

"If only I could have asked them something else..."

Rafia looked around beside Bert and Philweis.

They were currently located in Crystal Plaza in the town center. At the center stood two enormous blue and white crystals, along with a giant hourglass indicating the time of day for each floor. Currently, the 18th floor was experiencing "Daylight," and the falling sand had piled up high. Although some broken pieces of wood and signs still bore the marks of the carnivorous plants' attacks, they had almost all recovered.

Large crystals bloomed on the ceiling of the building, overlooking the adventurers coming and going in the square.

"Have you been to the big guy's place yet?"

Huh? Rafia turned around when Bert asked her that question.

Rafia, unsure who the "big guy" referred to, looked puzzled. Bert continued listlessly:

"It's that big guy with the eye patch who's been bullying everyone in this town."

"Ah!" Hearing him say that, Lefia understood.

"Yes, Fiora has been here before."

Lefia and others came to visit Perth Elder, who runs the largest acquisition station in the world.