Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 4 (2 page)

CHAPTER 1

“I’m so sorry!”

Eina clapped her hands together with a loud
smack
and bowed her head.

They had moved from the Guild Headquarters reception counter to a small conference room just off the Guild lobby. This modestly decorated room was normally used for one-on-one conversations because it was soundproof.

Bell and Eina sat across from each other on either side of the desk as she apologized over and over.

“To scream like that when there were so many members of other
Familias
there…I’m very, very sorry!”

Just minutes earlier, Eina had yelled personal information at the top of her lungs. All who were within earshot now knew that Bell had leveled up.

No matter how surprised she had been by the news, just thinking about the looks she had received after her outburst was enough to make her face burn bright red.

She had failed to protect an adventurer’s personal information. Eina was so ashamed by her actions that even her ears seemed to blush.

“I-it’s not a problem, Miss Eina. Adventurers’ levels always get announced, anyway…So a few people found out a little early. That’s not a big deal, is it?”

The half-elf hadn’t even tried to raise her head, and it was starting to make Bell feel uneasy. His voice shook as he searched for the right words.

A worried look appeared on his face as she finally made eye contact with this boy who couldn’t grasp the real problem.

That’s true…But the issue here isn’t the fact you leveled up; it’s the speed at which you did it…

Reaching Level 2 in just over a month was by far and away the fastest level-up on record. Even putting it into words was absolutely ludicrous.

Leveling up required a grand act—such as slaying an enemy stronger than yourself, and overloading the container that is your soul, with excelia. Eina was one of the few people who knew how fast Bell has been growing, but for even his Level to go up this quickly…It was as if he had shattered the most common of common sense.

Even though this information would have been announced eventually, Eina would’ve liked to have kept it a secret for as long as possible.

It was an unlikely story to begin with, and many would not believe it…The gods and goddesses, however, loved this sort of “never been done before” story.

Images of the deities of Orario staring at Bell and drooling with excitement popped up in Eina’s head. She started feeling a bit queasy.

“Um, Miss Eina…?”

“…It’s nothing. Sorry, I spaced out for a moment there.”

Trying to shake off the visions of gods and goddesses chasing Bell around the city, Eina straightened up and forced an awkward smile. Letting out a quick sigh, she returned her attention to the matter at hand.

“Bell, I must apologize again, but I have a request. I know you came all the way here to talk to me…but I have some work to do.”

“Y-yes, sure. What can I help with?”

“I want you to tell me everything you’ve done as an adventurer up to this point.”

“Huh…?”

“Even a rough outline is okay. The kind of monsters you fought, the quests you completed, things like that.”

Eina pulled a pen and notepad out of the desk as she spoke.

The Guild collected and announced data on how adventurers leveled up, so long as it didn’t cross the lines set by each
Familia
pertaining to the personal information of their members. This was all to help increase the collection rate of magic stones from the Dungeon.

Since Bell had just achieved the fastest level-up on record, Eina wanted to focus on the way he gathered excelia. His name would most likely be well known soon, and a record of his exploits would be something no one would overlook.

In short: “This is how Bell did it. Follow his example and get stronger.”

Eina wanted to get this information because casualties would decrease if other adventurers knew how to grow as fast as Bell. Careful not to break any more rules, she listened carefully to everything he had to say.

Bell finally reached the events of three days ago.

For the second time that day, Eina’s head started to spin.

“A M-Minotaur…”

Thump.
Eina’s head tilted limply over before she brought her right hand up to support it.

—Three days ago, ninth level, encountered a Minotaur, slew it.

Every word out of Bell’s mouth made Eina more and more light-headed. Everything he said matched
Loki Familia
’s report perfectly.

When she’d asked the messenger to tell her who had taken care of the monster, he’d sounded a bit ambiguous. Eina could remember his muddled words as she stood behind the counter at the Guild. Naturally it would have been hard for anyone to believe that a Level 1-ish adventurer could slay a Minotaur.

Eina closed her eyes for a moment to shake off the dizziness before opening them in a blaze of anger.

She glared accusingly at the boy as if to say,
After all those times I told you not to go on adventures!
Bell broke out in a cold sweat, his body shrinking in the chair.

Just what kind of magic did he use…?!

She spent almost an hour trying to get a clear answer of exactly how a Level 1 adventurer managed to take down a Level 2 monster like a Minotaur.

“…Whew. I’ve got a pretty good idea now. A pretty good idea of just how little you actually listen to what I say.”

“Huh?! No, that’s—…I’m sorry.”

Anger still radiating off of Eina, she closed her eyes as Bell tried to
explain himself. However, his voice trailed off halfway through and he ended up apologizing and hanging his head.

Opening one eye to see a very depressed Bell sinking in his chair, Eina couldn’t help but feel a little put off by his childish way of regretting his actions.

On the other hand, she was glad to know that Bell fully realized what he had done.

If he had been off by so much as one second at any point during that battle, he wouldn’t be here to reflect upon it now.

“…Bell. I wasn’t there, so there is a chance I could be wrong. Perhaps your decision not to escape was the right one after all.”

“Miss Eina…”

“I might not have the right to scold you…but still—please don’t ever forget this one thing: Everything is meaningless once you’re dead.”

I’m begging you,
she said to the boy with her gaze.

She couldn’t hide her own conviction that coming back home alive was the most important thing of all.

Bell hadn’t moved in the slightest from his position on the chair, but he slowly raised his eyes to meet hers and nodded.

Their eyes locked for a long moment before Eina lightly cleared her throat. In an attempt to clear the slightly gloomy atmosphere that filled the room, she leaned over the table and extended her finger all the way up to Bell’s eyes.

“In any case—just don’t be reckless, understand?”

“Y-yes!”

Eina bopped her finger on the tip of Bell’s nose before smiling and returning to her seat.

That’s enough reprimanding for today
, she thought to herself.

Her brown hair swishing just above her shoulders, she looked at Bell with a warm smile.

“…Bell, congratulations on your advancement to Level Two. You’ve been working very hard.”

His nose still slightly indented from Eina’s finger, Bell’s face lit up as he smiled from ear to ear.

He wasn’t a particularly conceited person, but those were the words that Bell really wanted to hear just then.

“Thank you very much,” he said with red cheeks. His adviser Eina, who had watched him grow since his very first day as an adventurer, couldn’t help but feel proud.

“Should we leave it at just the level-up announcement for today? Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?”

“Ah, that’s right…Actually, there is something I wanted to ask you about, Miss Eina.”

Now that Eina had calmed down considerably, Bell remembered the main reason why he’d come to the Guild today.

“It’s about Advanced Abilities…”

“Oh, I see. So you’re not officially Level Two yet, are you, Bell?”

Advanced Abilities worked together with Basic Abilities to increase an adventurer’s overall strength and power.

However, these abilities could only be acquired when a person with a Blessing from a god or goddess leveled up. They were different from Basic Abilities in that they were specialized to the profession of the user.

“In that case, it sounds like you have a few options to choose from.”

“Yes. I’ve already talked with my goddess, but I thought it would be a good idea to get your opinion as well, Miss Eina…”

Eina gave an affirmative nod of understanding.

The Advanced Abilities that a person could learn were based on the type of excelia they had collected up to that point. In a way, they had control over what kind of abilities appeared because of their Falna, their deity’s blessing.

Certain Advanced Abilities wouldn’t be available if the right type of excelia wasn’t present when an adventurer leveled up. At the same time, the blessed person would have a choice of abilities as long as they had the excelia for them. Only one Advanced Ability could be learned with each level-up, so these decisions opened some doors and closed others.

Such abilities appeared above an adventurer’s status when they leveled up, so Bell had yet to reach Level 2.

Bell’s leveling up had been postponed to allow some time for him to consider his options. He had fulfilled the requirements; all that was left to do was for Hestia to complete his new Status. Bell was in a kind of limbo.

“What abilities are there to choose from?” Eina asked.

“There are three of them. But there’s one that I don’t really understand…”

Eina nodded again a few times as she prepared to jot down Bell’s options on her notepad.

The first one was a very basic Advanced Ability that prevented the effects of monster poison and other ailments—an ability known as Immunity. It wasn’t the flashiest of abilities, but in a place as dangerous as the Dungeon, many adventurers considered it extremely valuable. Due to the large number of purple moths in the upper levels, many adventurers had inhaled their poison spores. So Immunity was a relatively easy Advanced Ability to acquire.

Next, there was the anti-monster ability called Hunter. Basic Abilities temporarily increased when fighting a type of monster with which that adventurer had experience. Since Hunter could only be learned at Level 2 and required an absurd amount of excelia from the same monsters, it was one of the more difficult ones to learn. Of course, it was a popular choice among adventurers but was also highly valued by the gods because of its rarity.

And then the third one…

“…Luck?”

“Yes…”

Eina’s pen stopped mid-writing, and she blinked.

Despite all of her experience and expertise in advising adventurers, she had never heard of this one.

The question was, exactly how would good luck take effect?

“Well, what did Goddess Hestia have to say about it?”

“She didn’t know much, either…”

Well, that makes sense
, Eina said to herself.

Everything that was known about statuses had been discovered long ago, when the gods first came down to the lower world and verified it many times over.

Even the gods who granted a blessing had no way to know what abilities a particular child would learn. Except for in the very beginning, a Status was completely dependent on excelia. It showed the possibilities of the people of Earth. The gods became like parents, watching their children grow and change right before their eyes. This was why it was said that even the gods didn’t know what would happen in this world.

All the more reason for the gods and goddesses to be interested in a rare skill. The unknown made living in this realm interesting, and they couldn’t get enough of it.

So much for keeping a low profile
, Eina thought somberly to herself.

An ability that had never been recorded in the Guild’s records—nor had she ever heard of it with her own ears.

In other words, it was an honest-to-goodness rare ability.

More than likely, Bell was the first adventurer in history to discover this Advanced Ability.

If his options had been just “Immunity” and “Hunter,” then she could have offered some advice. However, she could only guess at the meaning of something she’d never heard of before.

“Ah, but…” Bell suddenly remembered something and raised his voice as he wandered the forest of his own thoughts. “My goddess did say that she thought it would be something like…‘protection.’”

No matter who she was, a goddess’s insight was not to be ignored. If that’s what Hestia thought after seeing Bell’s new ability, then she was probably on the right track.

Protection…A force that moved to defend someone without their knowledge. It could be like a divine shield that looked after the user.

While that was just speculation, if any of it was true then it was more than enough reason to acquire this new ability.

“Hmm,” said Eina quietly as she gathered her thoughts. She decided
that for the time being she wouldn’t file this information with the Guild. There was enough attention on Bell already.