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

"He's still alive! He's still alive!!"

"Quickly inform the humans!"

First, a cheer-like shout erupted, followed by a familiar voice echoing deep in my ears.

Bell found himself lying on his back, and then a pair of eyes came closer to look at him.

Those were the large, amber-colored eyes he had longed for.

"Bell, Bell!"

Tears streamed down Bell's face from her amber eyes.

The red gemstone on her forehead glowed, its light seeming to weep.

Bell tried to wipe away the tears streaming down the girl's cheeks, only to realize that he was completely paralyzed. He wanted to at least smile at her, but he couldn't even manage that simple gesture.

He managed to make the muscles in his cheeks twitch, and after a barely perceptible smirk, the girl in front of him wrinkled her face.

"Lord Bell!"

"Bell!!"

"Ryu!"

"Meow there—!"

The voices of a group of old friends drifted from afar.

It was the voice of Bell's companions who had come to search for them.

Their "adventure" came to an end; they were defeated by the dungeon.

However, the fairy's "hope" was not extinguished.

Ryu and Bell never gave up "hope," and their desperate journey to the very end, where they refused to give up, brought back the voices of their companions.

The "friendship" earned through hard work can even overcome the dungeon.

Soon, the monsters around them gradually receded.

Their presence lingered not far away, like a soft whisper: We have completed our mission, but we will continue to watch over you quietly from now on.

Those who remained were only the dragon girl who concealed her true face with a hood and a robe, and the half-human, half-bird girl who was also disguised.

Desperately trying to wake the injured woman, she held Ryu in her arms.

"...Bell."

"……yes."

The voices of his companions, calling out his and Bell's names, and the cheers tinged with tears, were rushing towards them.

Ryu and Bell exchanged glances and smiled clearly.

"We...can go home now."

Volume Fourteen, Final Chapter: You'll Be Back II

You can come back.

My friend (someone) said this to me (Ryu).

Correct.

You can transcend that "past"—and return to the place where light shines.

○

“…………”

Ryu felt her eyelids fill with tears.

To prevent it from falling, Ryu's eyelashes trembled.

"here it is……"

She tried to open her eyes slightly, but the dazzling light made her close her eyelids immediately.

His sky-blue eyes, so accustomed to the darkness of the maze, found even the light of a mere magic stone lamp blinding.

Just as she was frowning and unable to even blink, a startled voice came from nearby.

"Ryu, are you alright!?"

Ryu looked up at the figure that covered him.

The blurry figure gradually came into focus and began to take on color, forming pale gray hair and eyes in her eyes.

Facing the slightly weary girl who leaned closer to observe him, Liu opened her lips and said:

"Seele..."

His voice was severely hoarse, as if he had forgotten how to speak.

However, the moment the girl's name was called, a joyful smile immediately appeared on her face.

Seele seemed deeply moved and threw herself into Ryu's arms.

"Ryu! Ah, Ryu!! That's great...!"

Seele buried her face near her neck, embracing her gently like a sister or mother.

The warmth of the girl's body she felt through the blanket was both gentle and something she missed dearly.

Liu was overwhelmed with mixed feelings and couldn't speak.

"Meow—!! Ryu is awake, meow—!"

"You slept soundly for three whole days. Please share your thoughts on the trouble you caused the cats!"

"Seriously, we were really worried about you this time!"

In an instant, Liu's surroundings became noisy.

Anya jumped and shouted like a child, raising her hands high. Roy teased her with a smile, and Lunova's expression showed more joy than her words; everyone was gathered around Ryu, who was lying on the bed.

Seeing their faces... their smiles, which are irreplaceable to Ryu right now...

Tears, which she had been holding back, spilled from her sky-blue eyes.

"...The cat saw Ryu shed tears for the first time, meow."

Seeing Anya's face scrunch up and then break into a smile, Ryu also returned a smile.

In her still blank mind, a sentence floated into her mind—to express her gratitude to the girls, she murmured "thank you."

"Let me kindly explain to Ryu, who's not quite there yet, that this is the 'Tower of Babel,' a medical facility run by the guild, meow."

"As soon as we returned to the surface, you were immediately brought here."

"On our way back from the dungeon, we couldn't wake you up no matter what we tried, using items or magic. We were so worried, meow!"

"Let's see how the cat deals with you~" Chloe teased the elf's ears covered in gauze, then Lunova and Anya followed up with their explanations. Ryu had just woken up and her mind wasn't quite working properly, but the unique scent of disinfectant and the clean white room finally made sense of the situation.

"Alright!" Seele patted Chloe's hand, and as she straightened up, Anya leaned forward:

"Ryu, how much of meow do you still remember?"

"...I heard your voices, Anya, from the depths...and thought, now I can go home with him..."

Just as she got to this point in her story...

The image of the boy that appeared in her mind made her sky-blue eyes widen.

In an instant, the thick white fog in his mind vanished, and Liu Che regained full consciousness, suddenly sitting up.

"Where is he!? Where is Bell!?"

"Meow!? Calm down, meow!?"

"Ryu, you can't force yourself!"

Seeing Liu's face change drastically, Roy and the others panicked, and Seele tried her best to calm her down.

In her haste to get out of bed, Liu let out a wail, bending her upper body into a V-shape, but she didn't care about that and grabbed Xi'er's shoulder beside her.

"Seele, please tell me! Is he alright!?"

"Mr. Bell is alright! He even woke up before Ryu!"

"Y-yes, that's right, meow! The white-haired guy is perfectly fine in the back room, meow! So Ryu, you can relax and take a nap, meow!"

"Ugh, you idiot...!"

Ignoring Seele's kind words of comfort, Anya, in her panic, inadvertently revealed unnecessary information, causing Lunova to become anxious.

As they expected, Ryuichi quickly jumped out of bed as soon as he learned where the boy was.

Seele and the others neglected Ryu for a moment, thinking she was injured, but Ryu surprised them with her agility and ran out of the private ward where she was recuperating.

"Ryu, Ryu!? You can't run around dressed like that... No way—!?"

She ignored Seele's desperate pleas and ran down the white corridor.

The windows in the corridor offered a glimpse of the blue sky she had longed for, but it wasn't enough to hold Ryu back. A beastman woman walking from the opposite direction—probably a volunteer healer from the guild's (familia) volunteer faction—was startled by Ryu's appearance, but she too failed to attract Ryu's attention.

(Bell... Bell!)

Now, all Liu can think about is the boy's safety.

Her legs occasionally felt weak and slumped, but she braced herself against the wall with her bandaged hands and continued deeper into the corridor.

Then, at the end of the corridor, she found the private treatment room that Anya had mentioned, rushed forward, and opened the door.

"Bell!"

Sure enough, the boy was inside.

He propped himself up on the bed against the wall of the room, wearing sleeveless clothes, and had someone palpate his left arm, which was tightly wrapped in bandages.

The person examining him face-to-face was a beautiful young woman with silver-white hair.

Bell was sandwiched between Hestia and Lily, who sat on either side of the hospital bed.

The god Mihe and his retinue Nazha stood to the side, quietly observing the diagnosis.

Seeing the boy's surprised expression, Ryu's expression immediately turned from worry to joy.

"Miss Ryu! -- Huh..."

At this time...

Just as Bell was about to show the same joyful expression, he suddenly blushed.

Ryu, who was about to run over, reflexively looked back at Bell's gaze and looked down at her own body—only then did she finally notice.

What Ryu was wearing could hardly be called clothes.

It's a thin piece of cloth, simply put, it's underwear used to replace patient clothing.

White underwear, paired with a short top that exposes the navel.

A bandage wrapped only around a thigh or arm is certainly not enough to cover all the tender limbs and skin.

Ryu's eyes widened, her face growing increasingly red; but in front of her, another tragedy was unfolding.

Perhaps due to the intense exercise, the straps binding my shoulders came loose.

The moment her short top fell to the floor with a thud, Ryu let out a scream like a young girl.

"Aa ...

"Don't look!!"

"Guoh!?"

Ryu collapsed to the floor, covering her chest. Hestia, her face flushed, and Lily unleashed a double lariat... or rather, a simultaneous cross-bomb attack that struck Bell's neck. Adding to the mix was a sharp elbow strike from Naza, accompanied by the rebuke, "Michon too!" piercing the god's heart, eliciting a groan of "Gurgle!?"

"How could you lay a hand on a critically injured person?! What were you thinking?!"

This angered Amid Teysanare, the healer of the beautiful silver-haired Deancat Familia.

○

After causing a huge uproar.

Ryu was forcibly sent back to a private room by the enraged Amide, who strictly required her to rest. Afterwards, she heard the whole story from the endless stream of people who came to visit her every day.