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

She disrupted the slow flow of time.

The dragon's latent power transformed Winnie's body into a blue-silver arrow, which flew towards the child.

Winnie spread her single wing to block the falling rubble and used her entire body to crush the half-elf child.

"Xiaolu!!"

The children's screams were instantly drowned out by the collapse of the building.

A deafening roar, like an avalanche, filled the crossroads, with rocks cascading down like a waterfall.

When the sound stopped, a huge dust storm erupted, and the surrounding area was littered with jagged stone fragments.

"……ah."

Winnie and the child were at the very center of the collapsing rubble.

Winnie braced her hands on either side of the child's face as he lay on his back, looking down into his wide-open eyes.

The single wing that was spread out couldn't block all the rubble. A drop of blood flowed from the monster's head and landed on Xiaolu's cheek with a splat.

"—Release the arrows!"

「!?」

The arrow struck Winnie's wing and bounced off.

What must all the eyewitnesses have thought of this series of events? At least in the eyes of the children, Maria, and the Loki Familia, it looked like a monster had spread its ferocious wings and attacked the children, while a pile of rubble hit its head.

As the dust settled, the adventurers, their faces contorted with rage, gave chase. Winnie, her gaze lowered, stepped away from the child and ran off into the distance. Shortly after, Maria and the others, along with the Loki Familia, arrived at the path.

"I'll chase after him alone! Everyone protect that child!"

"OK!"

After giving instructions to her crew members, Tiona, carrying her large twin blades, went after Winnie herself.

Maria, Lai, and Fina hugged Xiaolu tightly as he held the kitten in his arms, lost in thought.

"Ah, little path, little path!"

"You big idiot! What are you doing?!"

"Xiao Lu, are you alright?!"

Maria, Lai, and Fina were all crying.

Nestled in the arms of the three who were overjoyed that Xiaolu was safe and sound, Xiaolu moved her lips.

"No... Mom, Lai, Fina."

The monster's blood slid down his cheeks like tears, and Xiao Lu whispered in an almost inaudible voice.

"Big brother... so he didn't do anything wrong after all..."

The infant (half-elf) was held tightly in his foster mother's arms, his eyes gazing up at the vast night sky.

As the dust settled high in the sky, Xiaolu saw the bright moon emitting a faint glow, and his lips trembled.

The children's sobs echoed through the rubble.

Sakura and Chigusa stood motionless, just a step away from that scene.

"Cherry blossoms...that was just now..."

"It...a monster protected...the child?"

Maria and her companions weren't adventurers, and the Loki Familia were standing behind the dragon girl, so they might not have been able to see clearly yet; but Sakura and the others witnessed every single detail from the side and felt that the monster's actions were like someone standing up to protect a child, so they couldn't help but whisper their doubts.

Sakura and Chigusa forgot to speak, and simply gazed in the direction where the Dragon Girl had left.

In a back alley far from the crossroads, two footsteps echoed along a path illuminated by an old magic stone lamp.

Winnie, who was trying to escape, was quickly caught up by Tiona.

"Heave-ho!"

「!?」

With a sharp swing of the large double-edged sword, Winnie's escape route was easily cut off.

Although she wasn't hit by the blade, the impact and wind pressure from the swing of the knife were too much for Winnie to handle, and she tripped and fell.

Tiona seized the opportunity, pulling her weapon behind her back in preparation for a move.

(Ah──)

There's no time to use a single wing for protection; even if there is, the wing membrane will be pierced along with it.

Winnie closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the final moment to come.

"…………?"

However, the impact that pierced through the skin and flesh was slow to arrive.

Winnie opened her eyes in terror, only to see the massive double blades that had been thrust at her halted in front of her chest.

Looking up, I saw Tiona with a displeased expression, remaining silent.

"Mmm~, ah~, mmm~……………………Mmm!"

After groaning for most of the day, she nodded vigorously and quickly sheathed the blade.

"As expected, I still can't bring myself to do it!"

Then throw it away.

She tossed the large double-edged sword behind her with one hand.

“Eh…?”

As the massive weapon crashed to the ground with a deafening roar, a faint murmur escaped from its pale, bluish lips.

Winnie's expression at this moment can only be described as stunned.

"You...you must have saved that child, right?"

Then, Winnie looked astonished.

"I don't know if you can understand human speech, but... you'd better run away quickly."

"what……"

"Because not everyone is as stupid as me."

Tiona simply stared intently at Winnie.

Confused, Winnie stood up timidly, her lips slightly parted, but the echoing sounds of battle urged her to leave quickly.

After turning her back to Tiona, she only glanced back once before running away into the distance.

The magic stone lamps in the back alley flickered on and off. Tiona was left alone at the scene. After picking up the large double blades that had been thrown on the ground, she slowly looked up at the sky above her head.

"...Little hero Argonauts, is this how you feel too?"

The muttered words that came out of his mouth disappeared into the wispy clouds of the night sky.

"Tiona!"

"Ah, Tione."

As I walked out of the back alley, I ran into the twin sister.

Tiony, with a fierce look in his eyes, approached.

"Don't run around! I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"You came looking for me? I thought you were having a fierce fight over there on the main road."

"The captain ordered me to go with you! How could I disobey the captain's orders! So... where's the monster? The crew (Ax) said you chased the monster all the way here."

For a moment, Tiona hesitated whether to lie, but decided to tell Tione the truth.

"Okay, I'll let her go."

"Huh!? It didn't get away, you let it go on purpose!? You idiot!"

"No, because..."

"There's no reason or no reason! This is an emergency, didn't the commander say so? Don't you understand!?"

"But Tione should also know that those monsters are not just intelligent, right?"

“!…”

"They're different from regular monsters; they don't have that annoying feeling."

Tiona, recalling the adventurers who hadn't died but had only fainted, spoke her mind directly. Tione seemed caught off guard, momentarily speechless, but quickly regained her angry demeanor and retorted:

"Stop your nonsense! The only thing is, I'm going to kill that black bull (Minotaur)! Let's go!"

"You just want to retaliate, don't you?"

"Shut up!!"

The two sisters bickered and ran off side by side.

*

"Goddess Hestia, where is Vinnie!?"

"Northwest! We're getting further and further away!"

Hestia roared in response to the voice Fels transmitted through his eyelids.

This is the southwestern outskirts of Daedalus Road. Hestia looked down at the "magic map," watching the dragon girl's name gradually move northward, knowing her heart was pounding faster and faster.

"Is there no one who can save her!?"

"No, the adventurers' pursuit is fierce...! If Reed and the others leave, we'll be routed!"

The roars of monsters and the clang of metal emanating from the blue crystal conveyed the terrifying scale of the battle. Hestia's expression twisted as she desperately racked her brains.

(If Fels and the others can't handle it, then the closest to Winnie are Welf and Fate... no, they're also holding off the adventurers! Miss Supporter and Bell are too far away!)

Fels and the "Heretics" are fighting just inches from the center of the West End; Welf and his life are not far behind them. Lily is due east, and Bell is moving southeast, still disturbing the adventurers; it's too far to rescue Winnie, who has fled northwest.

Vinnie, heading north towards the labyrinthine town, was clearly being pursued by adventurers. Hestia had a strange feeling, as if with each passing second, the hands of her pocket watch were also diminishing the girl's life. Just as she couldn't make a decision...

"!"

"Ah! Haruhime!?"

Haruhime, who was with Hestia, jumped off the platform at the top of the tower.

The long golden hair and bright red kimono disappeared into the darkness of the labyrinthine street, followed by a jarring sound as if something had been smashed. Hestia hurriedly peered out from the tower's top platform and saw a hole in the roof of an abandoned house far below, from which a fox-person stumbled and ran.

“──!!”

Seeing Chunji rush out to save Winnie from danger, abandoning all reason and calculation, Hestia also put aside her inner turmoil and lunged at an eye crystal.

The goddess shouted at the top of her lungs:

"Bell, please, help me!"

*

"Vinnie got separated from the 'heretics'! Haruhime rushed out too!!"

When I heard the sound coming out of the eye crystal without giving a signal first, I panicked at first because I was wearing an invisibility cloak. But as I listened to the god's desperate shouting, my face gradually lost all color.

"Winnie's all alone!?"

The adventurers were still making a ruckus, while I was anxiously waiting in a back alley far from them.

Winnie was all alone? No one could save her? The image of her weeping alone filled me with turmoil. Looking at the map unfolding in my mind, I knew the situation couldn't get any worse.

I'm in the southeast, and Winnie is in the northwest; our positions are exactly opposite. Even if I took the shortest route right now, I'd end up in the Loki Familia's headquarters, which occupies the central area of ​​the labyrinth. Even though I'm invisible, I can't just walk straight through, and taking a detour would waste too much time. No matter how I look at it, I can't possibly make it on foot!

Yes, based on my current "agility (foot speed)" --

The instant those words flashed through my mind, I shouted at the crystal:

"Miss Haruhime!"

"what?"

"Please tell me where Haruhime is!!"