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

Then Loki bent all his fingers except for the little finger of his right hand.

"And among them, there may be a donkey that is not discouraged even when kicked away by its companions. A donkey that can do nothing by itself... but can evoke sympathy and cleverly—please other owners, a cunning and troublesome donkey."

The reflection of her own face (Eina's) in her crimson eyes silently stiffened.

"By the time we find out, everything might have already been looted."

Loki adjusted his posture as if trying to see Eina's eyes clearly, and sat down deeply into the sofa.

She poured the wine into Eina's glass, which was less than half full, and subtly urged her to drink.

"For example, if you have a friend who associates with people from that area, perhaps you could subtly remind them? Even if it doesn't lead to a tragedy, they might still suffer in silence."

Taking care of adventurers in the guild isn't easy, is it? Loki sat cross-legged, pretending to be stupid.

He saw right through me. Truly worthy of being a god.

Eina slowly exhaled and nodded with a serious expression.

"I suppose I was just trying to persuade you out of my own good, or maybe I was just meddling."

"...No, I will remember it."

She must be an amazing goddess.

She was much more approachable than rumored. It might also be because Eina was an acquaintance of one of their own (Rivilia).

Seeing Eina thank him with her eyes, Loki grinned.

"Alright, the drinks are all gone, let's adjourn the meeting."

"I'm sorry to have kept you with us for so long."

"No, I'm also very happy to chat with the beautiful and cute Eina."

“Ahahaha…”

"Hmm—" Loki stood up and stretched, then walked over to Ais, who remained silently depressed.

"Oh dear, Ais. How long are you going to stay so down?"

"..."

"By the way, shall we update the [Ability Values]? You haven't done it since you got back, okay?"

"……good."

"Hehe, it's been so long since I've ravaged Ais's soft skin...!"

"If you dare to lay a hand on me, I'll chop you up."

"Huh, really?" Loki, a little flustered by the serious tone, put his hand on Ais's shoulder and left the reception room together. Before reaching the back of the wall, she winked and waved to Eina and Riveria.

"What an interesting god."

"I disagree with the 'funny' part, but despite her appearance, she's quite shrewd. We have a lot of trust in her."

"Is Lady Riveria one of them too?"

"Yeah, me too."

Seeing Riveria close her eyes and a slight smile appear on her face, Eina smiled too.

Soon after, Eina picked up the glass that Loki had poured for her and drank the wine.

—I don't know if I'll be able to see Bell tomorrow.

Remembering Loki's advice, Eina put the now slightly bitter-tasting liqueur into her mouth.

"Ais-chan LV.6 is here!"

"puff!"

"...Eina."

"Wa ...

Book Two, Chapter Five: "Starting Over"

The sun sets, the moon appears, the sun rises in the east, and a new day begins.

I used to be at headquarters at this time, but now I'm standing in front of the Tower of Babel.

Yesterday, when I went into the dungeon, the words of the man who said he wanted to frame Lily kept echoing in my mind, making me overly neurotic. I also know that I've made Lily uneasy.

I didn't go into details because I didn't want her to worry, but when I checked on Lily's safety several times, she kept glancing at me with a gloomy expression that seemed both uneasy and worried.

"..."

Driven by my concern for Lily, I arrived at the meeting point early in the morning and slowly looked up at the blue sky. As if to fill the void in my mind, the scene from last night flashed before my eyes.

After returning to the hidden room in the church from the dungeon, I made up my mind to tell the gods about Lily.

At the time, I was thinking that after telling the gods about this, I should ask them if Lily could hide in our headquarters to avoid trouble.

"Bell. Is that supporter really someone I can trust?"

“Eh…”

After the deity listened silently to me finish speaking, he slowly asked me a question in return.

At first, I didn't understand what the deity was saying. When I finally understood, I couldn't help but lean over the table, wanting to say something, but the deity's serene gaze left me speechless.

"From what you've said, that supporter lady always seems very suspicious to me. When you lost my dagger... Ah, I'm not blaming you, don't panic... I just feel that the reason lies with her, who happened to be with you that day."

An abrupt encounter, a strange background of isolation within the [Family], and the presence of adventurers plotting against her... The gods turned everything I had said upside down, lifting the gray surface and revealing the inner truth.

Seeing that I was speechless, the deity lowered his brows as if he were apologizing.

"I'm sorry I put it so harshly. Because I don't know that girl, my tone was inevitably more objective. Perhaps those of you who have interacted with her directly will have a more accurate perspective... However, I still have to play the nasty one."

"Because I'm worried about you," the deity continued, once again radiating a serene divine power that seemed to want to get to the child's bottom line.

"Is she hiding something that would make the male adventurer you mentioned suspicious of her... no, has she done something wrong?"

You should know perfectly well that the deity correctly saw through my heart and told me this.

...Perhaps that's a part of my mind that I've always been unwilling to think about.

As a supporter, Lily has helped me a lot so far, and even saved me from the clutches of monsters. Perhaps I don't want to see everything clearly about her.

Stared at by the deity, I stood still for a long time, recalling the expressions Lily had shown me so far, and the part of her true self that had been exposed to me—all of it.

"God, I..."

"Lord Bell?"

"!"

My thoughts were interrupted.

Hearing the voice calling my name, my consciousness returned to reality from last night's memories.

"Ah... Lily, Lily, good morning."

I shook my head slightly, shaking off my reverie, and answered her a beat late.

Lily looked at me like that, and her face, which was mostly covered by her bangs, immediately turned into a smile.

"Good morning, Lord Bell. I can't believe my eyes, Lord Bell is here so early."

"Haha, yeah. Because Lily always arrives before me."

Seeing that Lily was safe and sound, I was relieved for the time being.

Just as I thought, the male adventurer didn't seem to intend to attack Lily on the ground.

Once an adventurer is blacklisted by the guild for causing certain incidents, they will likely find it difficult to survive in this city. If their adventurer status is revoked according to the penalty rules, they will be unable to sell magic stones and dropped items to the guild, resulting in their items being confiscated without any return, and potentially leading to their expulsion from their [Family] – in other words, the possibility of being abandoned by the gods.

If you commit excessive illegal acts, the worst-case scenario is imprisonment and criminal charges.

Although it's said that the relevant laws are practically meaningless given the adventurers' lawless behavior, the guild still has to take action to set an example. Criminal activities will generally still be suppressed.

Yes, so if you're going to make a move, you should do it in a dungeon where even if you attack someone, you can claim it's self-defense or that you mistook them for a monster, etc. As long as there's no third party involved, you can come up with as many excuses as you want.

"Lord Bell."

"Oh, sorry. What is it?"

"Should we go check out the 10th floor today?"

“Eh…”

I was just lost in thought when Lily's sudden suggestion startled me.

I looked at Lily with a surprised expression; her eyes were hidden by her bangs and hoodie, and she had a smile on her face.

"Why did you suddenly think of that...?"

"Lord Bell, do you think Lily hasn't noticed? Lord Bell's strength is more than enough to conquer the 10th floor, isn't it?"

"..."

I immediately realized that the strength Lily was referring to was her [ability value].

Indeed, my basic stats, including "Agility," have gradually reached the A or B level. According to the dungeon strategy reference table posted by the guild, I have reached the minimum stats required for a LV.1 adventurer to conquer the lowest level, which is the 11th or 12th floor.

Even so, I didn't immediately go down to the lower levels, not only because I was exploring alone, but also because from the 10th level onwards, the nature of the dungeon itself becomes much more dangerous than the upper levels.

Perhaps it could be said that the terrain conditions are starting to turn against the adventurers. In short, the difficulty of challenging the 7th floor with a rating of G is vastly different from that of challenging the 12th floor with a rating of A.

Actually, I was pretty confident that I had increased the number of floors I could reach to the 9th floor. Lily probably figured that even if I explored alone, I could manage up to the 11th floor, but the 10th floor would definitely be no problem.

To be honest, I have a pretty good feeling about it too. Maybe I'm being a bit too confident, but I'm sure I can do it.

Even so, I still didn't easily step onto the 10th floor because...

That will appear on the 10th floor.

"Large-scale" monsters that have not appeared on the floors to date.

...Yes, just like the Minotaur.

"...But I almost died on the 7th floor last time! If I run all the way to the 10th floor like this, I'll..."

"It's precisely because of the failure caused by that complacency that Lord Bell is now absolutely not arrogant, isn't it? Forgive my bluntness, but I think that Lord Bell, having learned a painful lesson, has become even more magnanimous as an adventurer."

"..."

"Besides, Lord Bell has already obtained 'magic.' That magic is very powerful. Lord Bell has no weaknesses now."

I already showed Lily [Flame Lightning] yesterday.

Rather than performing for her, it was mainly to enhance my [magic power]—I asked a deity to update my [ability values] last night—and to get used to using it. However, Lily greatly appreciated it.

The "Quick Attack Magic" attribute alone is quite valuable to me when I'm venturing into dungeons alone.

"Lily, who has been to the 11th floor with other adventurers' parties, can assure you, Lord Bell, that you can easily conquer the 10th floor. Absolutely."

Before I even acquired magic, Miss Eina had already granted me permission to go to the 10th floor (though after a serious warning). Thinking about it now, perhaps Lily was right; now that I've learned magic, I can indeed conquer the 10th floor.

To move forward, or to maintain the status quo.

"...Actually, Lily needs to raise a considerable amount of money in a few days."

"Could it be...?"

"Lily couldn't explain it. The only explanation is that it's related to Lily's [Family]..."

As I was busy thinking, as if she were chasing me, Lily revealed her secret.

The memory of Lily being harassed by the adventurer trio yesterday came back to her mind.

My neck spasmed involuntarily.

"Could you please grant Lily's capricious request, Lord Bell?"

Lily lowered her head and slowly looked up at me.

...If it truly is an agreement within the [Family], my intervention—spreading the money for Lily—won't benefit her. Receiving help from other [Family] members without expecting anything in return, while influenced by the opinions of others or the individuals involved, would still inevitably cause the [Family] to lose face. Perhaps it could even be called a disgrace.

I have no way of confirming Lily's question. Even if I asked Lily, she probably wouldn't tell the truth.

If I were in the same situation, I would do the same.

I clenched my right hand, ready to face the consequences.

"I understand. Let's go to the 10th floor."