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

Miss Daphne answered their questions calmly.

"However, stabbing people to death so obviously, as if to show everyone [Gale's] anger or resentment... that's rather strange, isn't it?"

It could be "forged".

After the adventurer has been interrogated and abandoned, someone else who arrives later will kill him and frame Miss Ryu.

Miss Daphne's implication was that this was the possibility.

"Wow, that's amazing... Daphne, you're like a detective!"

"Quiet down!"

"Hoo-hoo!?"

Miss Cassandra said excitedly, and Miss Daphne, suppressing her shame, gave her an elbow strike. As the screams of pain rang out, Miss Aisha continued with her original topic.

"The people in town (Rivera) intend to launch an operation to take down [Swift Wind]. They've already decided to form a task force."

“How could this be…”

Miss Chigusa murmured softly, as if speaking our innermost thoughts.

For a moment, the room fell silent.

"If we want to clear Lord Ryu's name... the most important thing now is to make contact with that person as soon as possible."

Lily then concluded the discussion with these words.

It means: We need to see her before everyone else, find out the truth of the matter, and then we can conduct further research.

Lily's chestnut eyes were fixed on me alone as she suggested what we should do now.

"..."

Everyone's attention naturally turned to me, and for a few seconds, I clenched my fists even tighter.

What information did Miss Ryu obtain from the murdered adventurer? Why did she go to the dungeon?

What exactly does she know?

Ultimately, assuming there is another culprit, why would that person pin the blame on [Swift Wind]?

There are many things I don't understand.

But since she's really caught up in this whole thing... I've already made up my mind.

"Let's go see Miss Ryu."

If she's caught up in some kind of conspiracy, I want to help her.

After hearing my answer, Lily, Welf, Miss Mikoto, Miss Haruhime, Mr. Sakura, and Miss Chigusa all nodded in agreement. Their meaning was: having gone through so many battles with the floor master (Goliath), the wargame, and the siege of Daedalus Road centered around "Heretic," the masked elf had helped us so many times; now it was our turn to repay that kindness.

Miss Daphne and Miss Cassandra also thought that since that was the case, they would play along to the end and accepted everyone's decision.

"Okay, let's get started preparing!"

Welf clenched his fist into his palm, as if trying to dispel the previous atmosphere.

Starting from this point, everyone began to take active action.

"In that case, we should probably join the town's extermination team, right?"

"Yes, even if we set off from here earlier than them, the underground city is still too big. If we search around like headless flies, the chances of finding Lord Ryu are probably very slim."

"Besides, we don't even know which floor she's on..."

"In that case, we should first use everyone's strength to find any clues about Lord [Hayate]...?"

"That's right, Lady Haruhime. In order to make contact with Lady Ryu as soon as possible, we must find a suitable opportunity to launch the expeditionary force ahead of us..."

Mr. Sakura, Lily, Ms. Chigusa, Ms. Haruhime, and Ms. Mikoto discussed the matter in turn.

Welf, Miss Cassandra, and the others began checking their equipment and packing their bags for the exploration.

As I thought everyone was really reliable, I stepped back to observe what they were doing. Just then, Miss Aisha approached me briskly.

"Bell Crane".

"What's up?"

"I think you should understand that everything I've said so far has only been 'speculation.' It's an 'explanation' that's acceptable to us... no, to you... or it's quite possible that the elf really did kill the adventurer."

"..."

"That's the only thing you need to be mentally prepared for."

Miss Aisha's words served as a warning to me.

I feel like she knows something, and it's something related to Miss Ryu... about her current situation.

As I watched the Amazonian's long black hair toss as he walked away, I heard a trembling unease in my chest.

*

"I'm speechless..."

She pushed her glasses up with her fingers and muttered something.

A pure white cloak swayed in the breeze. Her aqua blue hair reflected the magic stone light, with only a few strands of her bangs dyed a cloud-like white. In one hand, she held a silver short sword that radiated a sharp gleam.

Asphi Al Andromeda made her footsteps in a pair of gold-winged boot-shaped sandals and looked around.

A chill permeated the air.

It is an underground labyrinth where sunlight never reaches, and it has a unique chill.

This chill is not from the “natural” underground cities that extend beneath Orario.

"Knossos, the artificial labyrinth".

Asphie's Hermes Familia is located in the artificial labyrinth created by the craftsman Daedalus, whose bloodline is cursed.

"I thought it would be an easy job, just following the Loki Familia who were conquering the man-made labyrinth (Knossos) and secretly investigating the routes they had cleared... but it turns out there are monsters everywhere."

Before them lay the corpses of the monsters that had fought so fiercely. As if echoing Asphie's grieving sigh, the body of a monster with a cracked "magic stone" decayed and turned to dust.

The Hestia Familia is currently on an expedition, with some members and high-ranking guild members secretly collaborating on a "Man-made Labyrinth (Knossos) Conquest Operation." After the atrocities committed by the Ikeros Familia, led by the tyrannical hunter Dix Perdix, exposed the artificial labyrinth, the guild decided to eliminate this problem. They determined that this was not a facility that could be abandoned.

The impact of the "Heretics" incident on the city's residents has not yet faded. In order to keep them from noticing, only a very small number of forces secretly participated in this operation, and the Hermes Familia was one of them.

"Although I already knew they were capturing 'heretics' alive... I never expected they would also release other individuals (monsters). No, to be more precise, they probably knew we would break in here, which is why they released these monsters."

Asphi and the others had already heard about the "heretics" from the chief god (Hermes) and had grasped the whole situation.

Therefore, they could easily guess that there was a place to keep the labyrinth monsters, but they never expected it to be just like a real dungeon, where they encountered monsters every few steps. Surrounded by the cold stone walls that shaped the labyrinth, Asifi sighed repeatedly, a habit that had become ingrained in her.

Another thing that gave her an even bigger headache was...

"Asphie! That masked elf, her eyes changed drastically and she ran away!? Wasn't she here to help us!?"

"I know……"

The only person I could rely on ran away.

As the chienthrope girl barked at her, Asphi complained to the long-vanished elf:

"Acting alone would be a breach of contract, wouldn't it... Leon?"

The day before the "Heterodox Children" return operation led by the Hestia Familia began, Asphie promised Ryu Rion a favor.

"It's rumored that the surviving remnants of the 'evil forces' are lurking within the 'artificial labyrinth (Knossos)'. Once this matter is resolved, I'm willing to explore that labyrinth and gather the information you require."

Ryu later made a request of Asphie in response to these words.

"I want to join your investigation too."

she says.

For Asphie, this request from her colleague was unexpected, but also exactly what she wanted. She needed to infiltrate the problematic artificial labyrinth, and the more combat power the better. If the renowned [Swift Wind] joined, it would be even more appealing.

But as I've repeated before, this formidable helper has already escaped.

(Aisha followed the instructions of the god Hermes and went to meet up with Bell Crane and the others... If she had been there, things might not have been so difficult.)

The newcomer on that document, who is not affiliated with their faction and is also a trump card in terms of combat power, is acting together with the Hestia Familia under the command of the main god.

This arrangement was made to prevent the boy and his friends from getting involved in the "artificial maze conquest operation" in any way, just in case. However, even without being told, Aisha would probably join them on the "expedition" for the sake of Bell Crane and her younger sister from the former faction (Ishtar Familia).

Asphie couldn't help but think about the things she couldn't have, gazing ahead at the passage where [Gale] had gone—the dark depths that stretched out in all directions.

"I thought she had calmed down a lot... It seems I underestimated her obsession with 'evil forces'."

Just a moment.

Deep within the passage where hordes of monsters were charging, Ryu spotted a group of adventurers trying to escape and instantly transformed into a different person.

She widened her sky-blue almond eyes, carrying a sense of intimidation that even Asphie found daunting, and an atmosphere that could be described as murderous, and chased after him without looking back.

"Is it past karma, the old grudges of the Astrea Familia...?"

In addition to the tyrannical hunters, the man-made maze is also inhabited by remnants of the "evil forces".

They are the remnants of the "evil forces" that brought a dark age to Orario and were wiped out five years ago. This man-made labyrinth, which even the "guilds" failed to control, is a suitable hiding place for them.

These remnants of the "evil forces" have a deep-seated grudge against [Swift Wind].

Ryu Rion harbors a deep-seated grudge against the Astrea Familia, a member of the group that champions justice.

Those adventurers who fled in fear... perhaps among them were her "enemies".

"Burning in the flames of vengeance... are you about to fall again, Leon?"

No one answered the murmur.

In the dimly lit, man-made labyrinth, Asphie squinted her eyes with a look of pity.

Book XIII, Chapter Two: The Prophet of Tragedy

A great calamity is imminent.

Do not approach, for it is the embodiment of destruction. Do not touch, for it is the herald of ten thousand deaths.

The mother's lament brought disaster, and despair was born.

With heavy weeping and sacrifice, a path of mountains of corpses and seas of blood was built.

The azure waters have turned into a river of blood, and the alien creatures are delighted by it.

The lower reaches of the Styx will wash away the overflowing remains, returning everything to Mother.

The squirrel blossoms into a flower of flesh and blood.

The fox's jade shattered and the pearl sank.

The hammer was shattered into pieces.

The lives of foreign warriors were being played with.

The bloodstained prostitute took away the fox's belongings, but was humiliated by countless sharp teeth and claws, and left to mourn.

Good friends are left only with sorrow.

The fairy, who has made a pact to become the leader of destruction, will travel with rolling pure white flames, weaving a cruel destiny.

Thus, the cage of despair becomes a coffin, causing you suffering.

Never forget. The light we seek lies only under the resurrected sun.

Piece together the fragments, offer them as flames, and beg for the light of the sun.

Be careful. It was a feast of utter devastation—

*

That was just an ordinary "dream".

It was a "dream product" seen by a girl who was fast asleep.

In short, it was the worst, most disgusting, and unprecedented "nightmare," an irresistible and inescapable "oracle" that the girl faced for the first time.

*

"─────────────────────────────!?"

Cassandra let out a muffled scream and sat up abruptly.

At the same time, his throat trembled so badly it felt like it was going to tear, his eyes widened, and large tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.