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

The goods were scattered haphazardly on the ground, the impact causing the contents of the wooden crates to fall out. Bottles and grains were strewn everywhere, a child sat on his bottom, and "that" opened its body like a giant jaw.

It is almost as big as a human body.

A single wing with a bluish-silver skeleton and a gray membrane.

That is the symbol of the king of monsters, the wings of a dragon.

The once noisy street was now completely silent.

Winnie, with her single wing spread out like a dome, looked down at her feet.

She used her wings as a shield to block all the cargo, and the boy was unharmed. Relieved, Winnie moved her lips towards the frozen child.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

however--

"Ugh—Ughh ...

Winnie's words were drowned out by the little boy's screams.

What he saw were gleaming amber eyes and the single wing of a non-human monster.

The terrified demi-human child fled from the astonished Winnie.

"Strange--"

"It's a monster!?!"

In the blink of an eye, screams piled up in layers.

The child's screams seemed to trigger a chain reaction, and the once-silent street erupted into chaos.

The crowd receded from Winnie like a receding tide, even the cargo wagons parked nearby galloped away as the horses went berserk. Human mothers held their children's hands, a werewolf youth had his pale-faced lover hide behind him, and a fat dwarf merchant's legs went weak with fear.

The crowd was almost driven to madness, with footsteps echoing and screams filling the air.

As evening fell, a wave of panic engulfed the street corner.

Seeing the crowd forming a semi-circular human wall around her, Winnie was speechless and stood frozen in place.

"Happy—no, is it Siren!?"

"How could I possibly end up in a place like this?!"

One after another, the novice adventurers present drew their swords.

Seeing the steel blade drawn, Winnie cried out in fear, "Eek!" but the surrounding crowd looked at her with fear and disgust. The red glow of the sunset illuminated the mysterious monster in its long robes.

From the shadows of the hooded garment that concealed his face, a pair of sharp amber eyes emerged, while a blood-red glow flickered on his forehead. To the unsuspecting crowd, he appeared as a hideous monster with three eyes, a sight that sent chills down their spines.

The public's disgust towards the one-winged monster with its back to the building continued to escalate.

"A monster!?"

The next instant, the elven woman threw the stone.

"Waaah"

The small stone she threw hit Winnie directly through the hoodie.

This became the final straw.

The crowd's fear turned into hatred and anger, and several hands reached out to pick up the stones at their feet.

Small stones rained down on the seemingly timid monster.

"Get out of here, you monster!!"

"This is our city!"

"Go back to that filthy maze!!"

The stones, fired with hatred, traced countless arcs and struck the diminutive monster.

The novice adventurers, aware of the winged monster's immense potential, desperately shouted, "Stop! Don't do this!?" and "Don't provoke it!", but the crowd refused to give up. They unanimously unleashed a torrent of curses, their emotions boiling over at the human enemy who had stepped into their territory.

"Ugh..."

"That's really serious!"

As for the few gods who just happened to be passing by...

They climbed onto the roof of the building and observed the scene before them.

Some frowned, some looked worried, and some had a sinister smile.

They looked down at the lower realm thumbnail that represented the conflict between humans and monsters.

"Ouch, it hurts...it hurts so much!"

Winnie's faint moans as she was pelted with stones were drowned out by the insults hurled at her by the humans.

The newly grown wings could protect against stones, but they could not stop a large number of malicious spears.

My heart is filled with sobs.

Exposed to relentless hostility and murderous intent, a heart gradually wears down.

The girl huddled up, tears welling in her eyes.

"Bell...!"

"A monster has appeared!?"

"Yes, I heard it appeared on the other side of the road!"

The moment I heard the news.

Bell stomped through the cobblestones and dashed off at top speed.

"Lord Bell!?"

He abandoned his own life in the search for the person and sped up recklessly.

The astonishing wind pressure blew the sweat off my face, and the sound of the wind whistling in my ears screamed at me, "Hurry!!"

(Winnie!!)

Bell, his heart pounding with excitement and radiating heat, rushed through the narrow alleyway, its surface glowing red with the sunset.

He ran in the direction the citizens were telling him, and followed the gradually rising noise as he hurried toward the road where the girl was.

then.

"!!"

What came into Bell's view was a huge single wing he had never seen before, and the sight of a girl being hit by countless pebbles.

District 7, in the northwest of the city, far from the central square, on the streets of the suburbs.

Winnie was all alone, forced to stand right in the center of a barrage of insults and malice that even Bell himself found terrifying.

"Lord Bell!?"

"Bell!"

Almost at the same time, Haruhime, Hestia, and Welf arrived. When they arrived at the scene a step later, Bell only paused for a few beats.

Seeing the glistening tears beneath his hoodie, Bell felt a burning sensation all over his body.

——She is crying.

—Winnie is calling for help!

Bell rushed forward.

"Wait, Bell!?"

Seeing the boy trying to push through the crowd, Welf shouted loudly.

He wanted to stand up and protect the monster—in full view of everyone, under the very noses of the gods.

Once he did this, there was no way to defend himself. The boy would become an object of disgust and ostracism, just like the alien girl. However, Bell ignored his companions' advice.

He couldn't stop; he couldn't abandon her.

Bell wanted to rush to Winnie's side, who was crying.

however.

A figure moved even faster than Bell, bursting through the foot of the human wall.

「!?」

The short figure, swung his long robe, completely ignoring the stones still being thrown, ran towards Winnie.

She was a beautiful elven girl with long, flowing golden hair.

The sight of the subhuman child, less than 120cm tall, startled everyone, and they stopped throwing stones. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the little girl quickly grabbed Winnie's hand.

She escaped with the monster into the alley between the buildings, disappearing into a back alley, leaving everyone, including Welf, dumbfounded. Bell, equally astonished, understood everything when he saw the elf girl's chestnut eyes as she turned back.

—Lily!

A "transformation magic" that prevents others from recognizing one's true identity.

The little girl companion, quick-witted and resourceful, rescued the dragon girl faster than anyone else.

After transforming, Lily grabbed the hand of the surprised Winnie and called out to Bell and the others:

"To the hidden underground room!!"

Leaving behind only this message, Lily and Winnie disappeared into the depths of the back alley.

When the girl who took the monster caused chaos among the surrounding crowd, Bell, who was standing outside the human wall, suddenly came to his senses and looked around.

(I understand!)

He grasped the current situation and correctly understood Lily's true thoughts.

Looking back, Hestia nodded vigorously, as if confirming her answer, while Welf said with a crooked smile, "I see..."

"let's go!"

"Where are we going?"

Just as Chun-hee was caught off guard by the fragmented information (message) about the meeting place being kept from outsiders, she panicked.

Bell and his men left the chaotic crowd behind and quickly began to move.

"Let's go to our hidden room (headquarters)!"

The sun has completely disappeared, and a vast moonlit night envelops the city.

I glanced at the cracks in the ceiling—the moonlight seeping through the rubble—and I knew the time.

I pulled my gaze back from above and looked around at the gods and Welf in the narrow basement.

This is the former headquarters of the Hestia Familia, the "Hidden Room in the Church".

Welf and I, under Lily's instructions after she took Winnie away, gathered in this secret basement.

Before the war game, "The Hidden Room in the Church" was the headquarters where the god and I lived.

This place was destroyed in the battle with the Apollo Familia, and we were forced to move... However, compared to the church section which was reduced to rubble, this hidden underground room has barely retained its original form.

"It's quite something that you thought of using this location, Miss Supporter."

"Because a few days ago, Lord Welf said he came to collect loot (dropped items)..."

I'd come here with Welf before to dig up savings and loot (dropped items) like "Goliath's Hard Hide," and we moved the rubble to open the underground staircase (entrance) to the hidden room. It seems it's come in handy. I thought to myself, listening to the whispered conversation between the fairy and Lily.

While it's definitely not suitable for living in, it should be sufficient as a meeting point in case of an emergency. The church ruins directly above look like complete ruins, more like a secret base.

At this very moment, on the ground... the outside world should have already dragged the guild into it, causing a commotion.

We decided to stay here until the disturbance subsided.

"Ugh, ah, ugh..."

Sobbing could be heard coming from the basement.

Winnie hugged me and sobbed.

On her back grew a single wing, about half the size of a person, folded up.

It seems to have grown unintentionally when she wanted to protect the children.