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

The sight that came into view left me speechless.

An adventurer (dwarf) lay sprawled on the ground. He was lying on his back, convulsing and bleeding.

And there was a woman standing on his shoulders.

That long cloak, fluttering like a cape, was the silhouette of "her," who always came to our aid.

Standing right next to the dwarf's face was a wooden knife.

In his other hand he held a small, blood-stained katana.

Unfortunately, I caught a glimpse of wide, sky-blue eyes beneath the person's hood, and my whole body froze.

That profile, revealing so much emotion, made my heart tremble.

"...Miss Ryu...?"

That face I had never seen before made me call out that name with some skepticism.

The elf's ears twitched.

Tianlan's eyes suddenly turned, her gaze piercing through me, making time stand still.

Then my eyes met hers in astonishment, and I became certain.

It's Miss Ryu.

Ahead in my line of sight was someone I knew all too well, someone I couldn't possibly mistake—that beautiful elf's figure.

"Liu Xiao--"

Why are you here?!

All of a sudden.

That startling shout made me stop breathing for a moment.

I've never heard her roar like that before.

I've never seen eyes so bulging and piercing.

That was... like the expression of an emotionally charged murderer.

"Why are you here...!"

His expression was then crumpled up by a mix of emotions.

What overflowed from those distorted eyes—pain? Or sorrow?

Or perhaps, regret?

"...Mr. Crannie, please leave this floor now."

She spoke to me in a voice that was lowered to the minimum, suppressing her emotions.

I even forgot to move my body, and my hands started shaking as if an electric current was passing through them.

"You can't stay here, get out of here."

"Ryu... Miss Ryu, what... what's going on—"

"Don't ask so many questions, just do as I say!!"

Another burst of excited shouts followed.

Don't even try to answer. Miss Ryu won't let me argue and forces me to agree to her demands.

At the same time, his sharp gaze pierced through me, who was frozen in place.

"You don't need to do anything."

"You don't need to know anything."

"Don't get involved."

Miss Liu spoke in rapid succession, pulled out a wooden sword from the ground, snatched something from the fallen dwarf, and prepared to leave.

"Ryu, Miss Ryu... Please wait a moment, Miss Ryu!? What happened! What are you doing!?"

I shattered the pause in time, forcefully pried open frozen lips, and let words run rampant.

I was completely lost from beginning to end, and before I could even organize my questions, I just bombarded them with random questions, finally arriving at this one:

"Who exactly is that dwarf...!?"

Hearing my trembling voice, Miss Liu showed a resentful expression and looked down at the person.

"People like them are better off being eaten by monsters."

After saying this dismissively, Miss Liu ran off.

They ignored the adventurer (dwarf) who was covered in wounds.

She uttered those words, her tone filled with hatred.

These things hit me hard; I couldn't move an inch and was humiliated and abandoned.

(Miss Ryu...)

I want to know your true intentions.

My inner desires were not conveyed to her.

Not only that, she was also rejected, and then she walked away with her back turned.

I have absolutely no idea what I just saw.

My thoughts, let alone swirling aimlessly, have become completely blank, utterly useless.

I stood there, stunned and frozen.

"Bell... Bell!"

Marie's call brought me back to my senses.

I don't know how many seconds I held that position... no, how many minutes.

The sound of flowing water returned to my ears, and colors returned to my sight.

"...!"

My mind was still a mess, but I took off running.

One was Miss Ryu, who disappeared into the depths of the passage; the other was the dwarf who was abandoned. After hesitating for a moment, I ran towards the latter.

"Crack... Ah...!"

The dwarf adventurer lay unconscious on his back. His armor was half-broken, and his short body was covered in blood. As if he had been repeatedly hacked to pieces, his entire body was riddled with sharp cuts and lacerations.

"...!"

I couldn't just stand by and watch someone die, so I started treating the body that was occasionally convulsing.

However, all I could think about was Miss Ryu.

The image of her abruptly rejecting me lingered in my mind. My hands were trembling, and the treatment was making no progress.

My wavering was greater than I had imagined.

"Miss Ryu...!"

After performing first aid, I tucked the dwarf under my arm and started running.

With the dwarf's limbs drooping limply, I hurried toward the direction she had disappeared.

I used jumps to avoid the crystal blocks that were collapsing the ceiling and walls.

Marie, who dived underwater and then popped her head back up, hurriedly followed behind me.

"Haa, ha...!"

I sprinted, letting the sweat dripping from my skin fly off my back, while thinking about what had just happened.

When I noticed the "explosion," I quickly arrived at the scene. The scale of that "explosion"—with Ms. Ryu's "magic," it was indeed capable of destroying the area around the passage to that extent. Looking back on the situation, the series of events did indeed make sense.

An attack carried out using "magic"?

Unannounced shelling?

Miss Ryu attacked the dwarf with clear "killing intent"?

(Impossible! No...she wouldn't...!)

I want to believe. I want to believe that Miss Ryu isn't the kind of spirit who would do such a thing.

But then what about this person who is still dying in my arms?

Could it be that this adventurer was just attacked by a monster and she just happened to be passing by? Or was I just unlucky enough to witness the scene? This is utter nonsense, it makes me want to cry.

The sharp cuts were strikingly similar to those on the corpses in the town.

It is an undeniable fact that she injured the dwarf so badly.

(Why did Miss Ryu attack this person? What was her motive!?)

I don't know, I don't know anything.

A mind filled with panic and confusion cannot even offer a comforting hypothesis.

I thought what happened in town was some kind of misunderstanding.

I still don't know if that thing is true or not.

but……

(Miss Ryu's expression at that time, her emotions... that "killing intent"... was it for real?)

The memory of her stabbing the wooden knife into the ground, and her profile with those cold, frightening eyes looking down at people, sent shivers down my spine.

Even if there is an attempt by a third party to intervene.

Even if she gets involved in something.

If Miss Ryu's "feelings"... "murderous intent" are real.

If the impulse that drove her was genuine, then—

"!"

I tossed my hair into a tangled mess, using it to cut off any further thought.

The conjectures that surfaced and disappeared in my mind gave me the illusion that I was strangling myself.

I need to stay calm, or I'll drown in my own imagination.

Then, as if mocking my entanglement, another "explosion" occurred deep within the maze.

"...!? Ugh!"

I changed direction and headed towards the explosion site.

Amidst the tremors, the monster's cries also reached us. And mixed in with them, what seemed to be the screams of humans?

I had a bad feeling. My chest was churning. I wanted to tear my heart, which was screaming so loudly, to shreds. I hugged the dwarf under my arms again and ran as fast as I could towards the direction from which the explosion had come.

Marie was also swimming in the water that flowed parallel to the land, desperately trying to keep up with my anxious heart.

"Mari, you can't come any closer!"

“No, no!”

I told Marie it was dangerous, but she shook her head like a disobedient child.

I could feel her deep concern; she was worried about me, because I hadn't been behaving properly since earlier. But this concern only made me feel worse, especially since I couldn't involve her in danger.

With a twisted face and a heart-wrenching pain, I changed my course.

It was a passage connecting to the land, but also a dead end where the waterway was cut off.

"what……"

Ma Li murmured softly, stunned.

Her jewel-like emerald eyes immediately welled up with tears.

"Bell is an idiot!"

Let her complaints hit my back, I whispered "I'm sorry" and continued on my way.