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

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhh...!"

Bell heard the dragon girl's scream.

The dragon girl was trapped by a spear that was deeply embedded in her palm.

Bell's thoughts were a jumbled mess. His vision flickered.

Your own position is the true boundary. Forward or backward? Moving forward or backward?

Aspirations and monsters, companions and scales, heroes and sinners, grandfathers and young girls, apologies and repentance, promises and betrayals, truth and falsehood, forks in the road and choices, decisions, decisions, decisions.

The heartfelt sentiments that ignite within, the smiles and tears of a young girl.

The outstretched hand, the warmth offered, the vows made to protect her—

All the thoughts were perfectly aligned, stirring up Bell's heart.

In a fleeting moment condensed into eternity.

Bell...

Bell...

Bell —

"Ooh o ...

The thunderous cheers of the crowd gradually subsided.

Instead, the initial frenzy gradually turned into confused whispers. The novice adventurers who were quietly observing the situation also wore the same expression, tinged with doubt.

The bustling noise of the maze street vanished without a trace, replaced by complete silence.

"what?"

Seeing this, the werewolf frowned.

"Hey... what is he doing?"

"Ah, little hero Argonaut...?"

The Amazon sisters panicked.

"Did I see that wrong?"

"Finn..."

"...What does this mean?"

The dwarves, the elven royalty, and the dwarves narrowed their eyes coldly.

"————"

The girl, filled with longing, had astonishment hidden in her golden eyes.

"…………!!"

Bell stepped up to fight back.

He turned his back on the "monster" struggling in agony, and confronted the humans who intended to destroy it.

It's like sheltering a monster, protecting it from being harmed by adventurers.

Bell was sweating profusely, his breathing was trembling, and his face turned pale.

But he still raised the black dagger and stood in front of Ais and the others.

(Fool……!?)

Lily, Welf, Mikoto, and Haruhime were all speechless.

Only Hestia had her eyes wide open.

"...!!"

When the gargoyle Guros saw that scene, his stone eyes widened in astonishment.

"What are you doing, little Bell..."

Reed and the "heretics," who had fled to a nearby back alley to avoid being seen, stood frozen in place at the sight. Fels, who had joined them, was equally astonished.

"—Hehe! Hehe!? Spray hehe ...

And the male god (Ikelos).

Upon seeing the scene below, he trembled as if having a seizure, overjoyed.

"Look, Hermes! What a masterpiece!"

He laughed heartily, tossing his dark blue hair wildly, his bright eyes sparkling.

"I thought it was all just little kids these days... turns out there are also those silly little brats~"

Ikelos was laughing and joking around him.

Hermes, who had remained silent, smiled in solitude.

"You're so stupid..."

Under the watchful eyes of the people, adventurers, monsters, and gods.

The boy, all alone, throws himself into destruction.

In order to save the "monster" girl, Bell confronts the Loki Familia.

Book 10, Chapter 10: The Fool

In the southeastern part of the city, a corner of Daedalus Road is shrouded in an unnatural silence.

The scene unfolding under the blue sky appeared quite unusual.

In the middle of the road, there's a dragon girl (Vivel) who's crashed into a building and pinned down by a gun, and Bell raising his weapon as if to protect her. Beside the road are Hestia and her companions, and further back, residents, while the Loki Familia gathers behind them, standing on rooftops.

The rubble, billowing with dust, stood as everyone except the boy and the dragon girl remained locked in a stalemate, drawing strange glances from the crowd.

"So... how do we solve this?"

Seeing that Bell seemed to treat them as enemies, Tiony swayed her ample breasts and sighed. Her younger sister, Tiona, beside her was still at a loss, her gaze shifting between Bell, Ais, and the leadership (Finn and others).

"W-What should we do?"

"Just ignore him. I don't know what he's thinking, but it doesn't matter. Let's get this over with quickly."

Bert answered dismissively and took a step forward.

Seeing that the werewolf youth intended to deal with the monster, the other adventurers of the Loki Familia were about to follow—when they heard a shout from Flame Lightning.

"!?"

Boom! With a loud launch sound, the fiery lightning struck the sky.

Bert and the others were about to jump off the roof when they stopped in their tracks. The sudden roar of cannons startled the residents of Daedalus Road, who all perked up their ears.

Bell stuffed the redstone into his bag, stretched his left hand straight up to the sky, and unleashed a quick-attack spell.

It's like a threat, warning the opponent not to make any further moves.

And I myself am still sweating profusely.

"—What's going on?"

「!?」

Immediately afterwards.

From Bert, an astonishing emotional upheaval erupted among the Loki Familia and the general populace.

"What do you mean?"—their countless gazes pressed Bell with this question.

As disapproving gazes fell upon the boy who sheltered the monster, a startling sense of disgust and hostility seemed poised to surface. The situation was tantamount to complete rejection. Bewildered Ais and Tiona, the onlookers Finn and the others, and the tense, breathless figures of the Hestia Familia came into Bell's view.

The blade of Hestia, held in his right hand, trembled, and he was sweating and his heart was pounding.

—It will end.

If you say the wrong thing here, it will all be over.

Bell Crane will become the "enemy" of humanity.

Let's look at the next sentence—

"…………this……"

The dry tongue was knotted.

Bell spoke to the people staring intently at him:

"...This, this is my prey."

The sentence that came out of my mouth was this.

"This dragon girl (Vivel) is my prey...!"

The atmosphere of stern condemnation dissipated, and Bell addressed the startled Bert and the others in a loud voice:

"Therefore, you are not allowed to make a move...!"

Faced with a life-or-death situation, Bell's actions were to play the role of a greedy adventurer.

He asserted to the speechless Hestia and the others, as well as the others who were dumbfounded, that the monster's "magic stone" and monster treasures (dropped items) belonged to him, and swung his dagger in his right hand.

"————!?"

"!"

At this moment, the dragon girl, who had been shaking her body repeatedly, finally pulled out the spear and escaped from her restraints.

She scattered blood as she ran in the opposite direction from the adventurers, as if trying to escape the pain and humanity.

Bell turned his back to the crowd and chased after them without looking back.

"Uh—...so what does that mean?"

Tiona tilted her head, and Ais began to speak:

"Among adventurers, stealing someone else's prey (monster) is against the rules..."

"Ah—...right, the dragon girl (Vivel) is a rare species."

"What a joke... those are the rules of the dungeon. Don't drag things from there into the real world!"

After hearing Ais's explanation, Tiona seemed to suddenly understand, while Bert scratched his gray hair with one hand.

Seeing the teenager act selfishly in this emergency, not only Bert, but other members of the group and residents also expressed increasing cursing and disgust.

"Commander..."

"There's no need to listen to a child's whims. Go after that dragon girl (Vivel)."

Tiony watched Bell and the others run towards the other end of the road and turned back to ask a question. Finn, without changing his expression, calmly gave instructions. Following his command, the other members jumped down from the houses or ran along the rooftops.

"---Roaroohoo!"

「!?」

As if to stop them, the monster's roar echoed through the sky.

The next instant, more than twenty armed monsters appeared on the road.

"Armed Monster!"

"It seems this matter is indeed inextricably linked to the devastation and turmoil in the town (Rivera)..."

Lizardmen burst out of the back alley with rough footsteps, while gargoyles soared into the air from the labyrinthine paths. Led by the two monsters, other monsters appeared one after another on the ground and in the air, running rampant.

The inhabitants were thrown into chaos again, screaming in terror, much to the adventurers' surprise. Ignoring their reactions, the monster horde, as if to block their path—or perhaps use themselves as bait—stood in front of the Loki Familia.

"Reed, Guros...!"

—In another place, Fels stayed in the back alley, watching in a daze as the "heretics" rushed out against all advice.

"Please don't stop us, Fels."

"Rei...!"

"We've made our decision. We've decided to help that boy (the human), to help our fellow human beings. If we abandon them here... we're not worthy of pursuing our aspirations (dreams)."

The golden-winged singing bird, having bitten off the tips of its wings and reapplied its blood-soaked appearance, smiled at Fels before taking flight itself. Gazing up at the falling golden feathers against the sky, the black-clad magician gripped his gloves tightly.