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

Even though this place is located in an alley next to the main road, it is still during the time when a large number of people are visiting the festival.

I remember the girl saying that Miss Seele deliberately concealed her beautiful figure. Her breasts, which were fuller than I had imagined, were pressed tightly against me, making me so shy that even the roots of my ears turned red.

Miss Seele seemed to enjoy my complete panic, and she tiptoed and slowly brought her lips close to mine.

I trembled with nervousness, and then I saw lips gently brush against my cheek, whispering in my ear:

"Please kidnap me."

"Kidnap you?"

I reflexively lowered my voice in sync with Miss Seele's murmurs.

"In fact, I am not alone; the members of the Freya Familia are still watching me."

"Well... I did have a vague feeling about it..."

I had this feeling from the very beginning of our date.

Even now, many eyes are secretly watching us. I can sense more than fifty people just by looking at them.

Surveillance—no, it's more likely that this group of "guards" who are keeping a distance from us have been secretly protecting Miss Seele.

Also... I have a feeling that it's not just the Freya Familia who's spying on us. The number of people watching us has increased slightly along the way...

Incidentally, the moment Miss Seele hugged me, the murderous aura directed at me suddenly intensified.

Even now, it's making me break out in a cold sweat.

Just who exactly is Miss Seele...?

"But...but I absolutely can't kidnap you by myself! The other side is the biggest faction in the city!!"

"That's why I called it a 'request.' If you could kidnap me like in the stories of knights and princesses eloping, I would be overjoyed, like I was in heaven, and I would probably forgive you for hiding things from me, right?"

"Ugh." The sound stuck in my throat.

One was like a witch proposing a deal, while the other was like a knight caught in a dilemma; the two spoke to each other in their ears.

We're still clinging to each other, attracting curious glances from onlookers. At first, everyone seemed surprised, but now there's a constant chorus of jeers and criticism. Besides, the escalating murderous intent is becoming unbearable…!

"At least for now, while we're dating... I hope to have true freedom and enjoy all sorts of things to the fullest."

In that brief moment.

I always felt that Miss Seele's voice was a little different from usual.

Because we were too close, I couldn't see her expression clearly.

But I believe this is her "true feelings" hidden deep in her heart.

Although it wasn't exactly a wish she desperately wanted to fulfill.

It's a kind of willfulness that every girl has, hoping that one day she can experience something like the plot in the storybook.

At least that's what I think.

"Could you please help me achieve this?"

The frank request gently tickled my ear.

...If this innocent demeanor is all just an act by Miss Seele to manipulate me, then it seems I—no, I mean, a man—can never win against a woman.

So I gave up resisting, and with a self-destructive feeling that "it doesn't matter if I'm fooled," I silently lowered my head. Even so, a smile seemed to appear on my face without my noticing.

I placed my hands on Miss Seele's shoulders, gently pushed her away, and met her eyes.

"……I see."

Upon hearing this, Miss Seele smiled with genuine joy.

"The target is advancing from the alleyway towards the northwest. The area is crowded, making it difficult to track the target from the high ground. We request a change of formation. To be on the safe side, we also report this to Lord Hedin."

"As you command!"

After a short man gave the instructions, the members of the Freya Familia quickly took action.

They stared at the white-haired boy and the pale gray-haired girl with eyes that seemed to see their archenemies.

The man in charge of one of the teams protecting Seele was named Pain.

Although he was over thirty, he did exude the dignity that an adventurer should have. However, he also had a slightly androgynous and delicate appearance, and his petite stature created a subtle sense of presence. He could be described as a man who was a bit of a jack-of-all-trades and master of none in every way.

He is a half-dwarf, born of a dwarf and a human, and is often ridiculed by the gods for reasons such as "illegal within legality" and "taboo within orthodoxy."

Standing at 150cm, Pan possesses a stature that would make the Lilliputians envious, yet he is so short that he is often looked down upon by adult men of other races, causing him considerable hardship in interpersonal relationships and making him a frequent target of ridicule. Legend has it that pre-divine hybrids were prone to discrimination, but frankly, it's not a big deal, as they also live very difficult lives in modern times.

Pan was able to overcome his feelings of inferiority and anxiety thanks to the goddess of beauty and the Freya Familia. Therefore, he vowed to dedicate himself to the goddess and the Familia who recognized him.

For this reason, he harbored deep resentment towards what could be considered the "ultimate bombshell" within the faction—Bell Crane's seduction of "girls."

(This brat actually dared to hold that lady's hand...!)

Regarding this escort mission, or more precisely, regarding the girl's existence, the junior adventurers of the Freya Familia, that is, members below Lv·2, knew nothing about it.

Only second-tier adventurers, whose strength is recognized, can know this.

Neither the faction's leaders nor the goddess wanted the information to leak out.

From this perspective alone, the existence of the girl must be a major "secret" of the goddess faction.

(That womanizing brat... If he dares to take Lady Seele to any disreputable place, even before informing Hedin and the other lords, I will absolutely punish him on behalf of the heavens!)

In the Freya Familia, almost everyone dislikes Bell Crane.

His extraordinary rate of growth is undeniable, but reason and emotion are two different things.

This situation is understandable. The other members have been working tirelessly to gain favor for a long time, but this kid has caught up at an astonishing speed and captured the goddess's attention. Even saints—no, even saints—are not immune to feelings of jealousy.

To be honest, it is the fact that the leader of this faction is different from ordinary people in terms of values.

Therefore, it is understandable that everyone is tormented by the surging murderous intent within them.

Bell Craney, on the other hand, had "grown" to the point where he could sense this overwhelming killing intent and lure the group into a maze of alleyways, while also getting a rough idea of ​​their location.

"Hmm...? He walked into the store alone?"

Bell went down the stairs leading to the underground and entered a shop.

If they actually entered some low-class shop, everyone would immediately carry out the "pest extermination" operation, but Seele was left alone at the shop entrance. Although Bell's behavior was strange, there was nothing suspicious about it, and it was impossible to confirm what kind of shop he had entered. They couldn't very well just swagger off to check the sign in front of Seele.

If we were to nitpick, we'd like to complain that he left Seele alone in such a remote place. But if any villains tried to get close to Seele, Pain and his team would take care of them instantly, so it wouldn't be a big deal.

The key point is that this situation appears to be waiting for the guards to take action.

Bell's actions at this moment are indeed "suspicious".

Pan was so skilled that he could detect anything amiss with the person he was wary of, and he was also very experienced for an adventurer.

(Did he notice the guards' presence...? Is he trying to shake us off?)

Although it is just speculation, this concern still needs to be taken into consideration.

Pan reminded himself that he had to be prepared for the worst at any time for this escort mission.

(Even if I wanted to go forward and investigate, Lady Seele was standing there like a lookout... Should I ask Lord Hedin or Lord Allen for permission? Lord Hegny and Alfred are on guard elsewhere...)

Paine and the others scattered around the corners of the dimly lit path and around the windows on the second and third floors of the building.

Hedin and his colleagues must have been positioned at a higher vantage point overlooking the entire area.

Indeed, first-level adventurers possess extraordinary eyesight, but even in locations like this, deep in alleys and with numerous obstructions, careful observation is impossible. It was for this reason that Pain sent someone to inform them.

Just as Pain was pondering this, Bell returned.

(He looked normal, but he had an extra piece of "luggage" that wasn't there before...)

Bell, carrying what appeared to be "luggage left there in preparation for the date," showed Seele a leather box-shaped bag. After chatting for a bit, Seele looked excited, as if saying, "I'm really looking forward to what surprises the date will hold!"

Suspicious. Very suspicious.

Even though there was nothing strange about it, it still made people feel that something was wrong. Pain became even more vigilant.

After a while, the two started moving hand in hand.

The direction to proceed is Northwest Street, also known as "Adventurer's Street".

Pan ordered one of his men to enter the shop that "White Rabbit's Foot" had gone to to confirm, while the rest of the men continued to follow the two.

As expected, Bell and his companions arrived at "Adventurer's Street" and entered a two-story item shop.

This shop is none other than "Retailer," a renowned item shop in the adventurer's world.

In principle, all goods from the commercial [Family] can be found here, operating similarly to a retail store. They also sell a variety of items besides adventurer-specific items like elixirs. Including various accessories and miscellaneous goods, they even sell the legendary, extremely rare sake brewed by the [Soma Familia]. It's not surprising that couples come here to purchase slightly more expensive and fashionable items.

Paine gestured to his six men. Five of them, including himself, surrounded the outside of the shop, while the other two disguised themselves as customers and went inside to investigate.

So, two of his men, disguised as ordinary citizens, entered the store.

After five minutes, there was still no movement.

"...?"

To be honest, this isn't exactly an anomaly.

But my intuition kept giving me warnings.

The moment Pan En began to have doubts, his men who had entered the shop rushed out in a panic.

"We can't find Lady Seele or [White Rabbit's Paws] anywhere!!"

"What did you say!?"

"We searched the whole store but couldn't find them! We couldn't find where they were hiding either...!"

The report from a man and a woman greatly shocked Paine.

Lady Seele and the others weren't in the shop, and there were no suspicious figures outside. The front and back doors were obviously not under surveillance, and even all the blinds were being monitored. The possibility that Bell and Seele had left separately wearing wigs was even more impossible. The reason was that when Pain was monitoring them, his primary concern was the two deliberately disguising themselves.

Pan suddenly looked up at his orc subordinates.

He, who was located above the building, quickly shook his head, indicating that he could not track the source by smell.

No way!? How did they do that?! Could there be a secret passage hidden in this shop?!

Pan stood there, dumbfounded.

At that moment, the group member who was left alone in the alley rushed over at lightning speed.

"Report! The shop that [White Rabbit's Feet] entered earlier is called 'The Witch's Retreat'—it's a shop run by a magician!!"

After hearing this exciting report, Paine's eyes widened as if they were about to pop out of their sockets, and he shouted on the spot:

"So it's a magical artifact!"

"W-Are you sure it's okay to do this!?"

A commotion, different from that of the festival, could be felt gradually developing in the distance behind us.

I let out a nearly out-of-control scream as I hurried through the narrow alley, carrying my suitcase in my left hand and holding Miss Seele's hand in my right—only to have a strong gust of wind blow away the "cloaks" we were wearing.

The next second, the invisibility was removed.

"Wow! I never thought wearing this would actually make me invisible!"

When Miss Seele barely managed to grab her cloak, which was about to be blown away, we also appeared out of nowhere, startling everyone around us.

The magical items we used were the "Double-Sided Invisibility Cloak" and the "Deodorant".

The shop I entered in the alley was run by Miss Renoir, the magician—a friend of the former sage—and was also the secret warehouse responsible for storing magical artifacts. I bowed to the dumbfounded Miss Renoir and begged her to put a few magical artifacts into my suitcase and take them out.

"Lord Fels instructed me to grant your request... but I never imagined you would use the magical artifact created by the sage for eloping."

But this only earned me this perfectly normal sigh, both emotionally and logically!

Using these items, we successfully escaped surveillance from the prop shop.

We pretended to be shopping in the store, secretly using the "odor-eliminating medicine" specially made by Mr. Fels to avoid being tracked by the orcs through their sense of smell. Then, when no one was paying attention, we put on the "double-sided invisibility cloak" that made us "invisible" on the other side.

Having entered stealth mode, we leave openly through the main entrance, thus escaping surveillance.

The "Sage's" special magical artifact, which once made great contributions in the battle to defend the labyrinth street, has once again taken care of me, allowing me to escape the guards with Miss Seele.

"Oh my, this is wonderful! Please take me somewhere no one can find me, Mr. Bell!"

"Now is really not the time to be fooling around!!"

As we ran hand in hand, practically eloping, Miss Seele chimed in with a jeering.