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

Seeing the four Dwarven warriors who disregarded racial superiority and inferiority, Lunova lost consciousness.

"Ah, um... meow...!!"

Anya propped herself up with trembling hands.

She rose from the pile of collapsed wooden crates and barrels, pressed her bleeding shoulder with her hand, and staggered forward.

"What are you doing, Berlin?"

"I actually failed."

"Ah~ What a miscalculation... As a former member of the group, you must have witnessed countless times our combined attacks."

Berlin, one of the four brothers, said this to Anya.

Anya, whose breathing was disordered, looked around and was stunned.

"Lunova... Chloe... Ryu..."

My colleagues are all seriously injured and unable to fight anymore.

Anya had to fight alone.

Five against one, and all the enemies are first-level adventurers.

Her fighting spirit was eroded and devoured by despair, causing her legs to go weak.

"Do you still want to oppose us? [Chariot Clone]."

"...!"

When Anya heard Alfrek call out that title, she seemed to twitch her ears slightly.

"You're just a drowning dog, a drowning cat, eliminated in factional infighting."

"Wouldn't it be more accurate to say she's an abandoned cat?"

"You bastard exiled by the goddess Freya."

"Shut up! Shut up! All of you shut up, meow! I'm not a clone of the chariot, meow! I'm Anya, the 'Abundant Mistress,' meow!!"

Anya's past wounds were reopened by her three younger brothers among the quadruplets. She first closed her eyes and endured the merciless slander, then shook her head violently and roared.

That was the last fortress protecting her heart.

For her, who had been abandoned, that place was both her only home and proof of Anya Fromo's existence in the world.

With her back to Bell and the others' escape route, she glared fiercely at the dark elves and dwarves in front of her.

"The cat will protect Seele...! Protect the cat's family...!"

Unarmed, Anya focused her power on her five fingers like a wildcat extending its claws.

To combat her fear, she used the word "family" to ignite her fighting spirit.

But──

"What are you doing? Useless trash."

That cold voice instantly shattered her resolve to protect her "family".

"──────"

Anya froze.

She would rather face the one and only cat-person than confront five Level 1 adventurers at the same time.

"Brother...Big brother..."

Anya Fromo calls out to her only remaining blood relative.

She calls out to her biological brother, Alan Fourmore, who is known as the "Goddess Chariot".

"...Why, why is my brother here...!?"

Upon closer inspection, one can see that the two look quite alike.

Whether it's the shape of the eyes, the pale golden irises, or the different colored fur—

The two cats have too many similarities.

"No questions allowed. I'm the one asking the questions."

"I'm so sorry!! I'm so sorry, big brother!"

The cheerful and easygoing bartenders have completely disappeared.

His voice and body trembled incessantly, and he looked like a pitiful abandoned cat longing for "love," fearing he might anger his older brother.

"The cats want to protect Seele...! They don't want to see their important family members die for no reason, meow! So, big brother—"

"—Don't speak in that ridiculous tone!!"

"babble!?"

A roar interrupted Anya's anxious explanation.

Allen delivered a scathing remark.

"How many times do I have to remind you of the same thing before you're satisfied? Can't your dull brain even understand human speech...? You just annoy me."

"Ah, yes, I'm sorry!! I, I just...!"

Anya's lips trembled with fear, as sadness and terror stirred up deep-seated traumas from the past.

Her brother's disappointed gaze and words pierced directly through Anya's body.

"Get out of my way before I blow your head off with one shot."

"Wait, wait... wait a minute, big brother! You can do whatever you want to me, but at least spare Seele...!"

"Shut up."

Anya begged for mercy desperately, but those two short words completely shattered her will to resist.

"It's a waste of breath to talk to a brainless idiot like you. Get out of my way."

Allen started walking forward.

It gradually approached Anya's eyes.

"I...I want to...protect Seele...protect my family..."

Tears welled in Anya's eyes as she repeated the same sentence as if she were delirious.

It seemed as if it wanted to use its trembling body to guard the road behind it.

"roll."

But after their eyes met those of her brother, who stood before her, looking down at her, she dared not disobey him any longer.

"...Yes, elder brother."

Anya was limp and powerless, and a tear slid down her cheek.

She was utterly disappointed in herself for giving way, and collapsed to the ground.

Having lost all will to fight, she was like a puppet who could only shed tears.

Allen didn't even glance at Anya and quickly walked past her.

After Hegni and the four Jaliba brothers passed away one after another, Anya could only weep silently.

Tears streamed down her face.

The lively cat has disappeared.

Alone and alone, she was just like a lost kitten who had lost everything.

It was almost as if an adventurer's intuition was issuing a warning.

After Ais reacted, Hestia also noticed the abnormality.

"What's wrong? Miss Warren?"

"...It seems there's a fight going on ahead."

“Eh!?”

Under a sky filled with dark clouds, Hestia and her companions were heading towards the location where Bell and the others were.

The group headed due north from the east avenue and were about to arrive at the northeastern part of the city where Asifi had seen Bell and the others.

"Isn't this just an occasional dispute that happens during festivals!?"

"That's right...it wasn't a 'child's play'."

"...Asphie, could you please use your invisibility to go and scout ahead?"

"Please allow me to refuse. Even I can clearly feel an ominous premonition... It feels like some extraordinary monster is causing trouble."

Seeing Ais's sharp gaze and Asphie's cold sweat, Hestia couldn't help but gasp.

Indeed, one only needs to prick up their ears to hear the sound of an object hitting a wall or the ground, and feel the slight vibration that follows. There is also a continuous, sharp sound, like the clash of swords; if one doesn't listen carefully, one might mistake it for someone playing music.

As if a barrier had been erected before them, Hestia and the others stopped on the ordinary main road.

"Hoo-hoo...! Huh...? What are you doing here, deity!? And Miss Ais and Goddess Hermes are here too!?"

at this time.

The boy they were looking for appeared before them, panting.

And "that" also rushed into Hestia's field of vision.

"────────"

Hestia seemed to freeze time, forgetting all the words she had originally intended to say.

She met the gaze of a pair of pale gray eyes in front of her.

When the girl noticed Hestia, it was as if "the situation she had been trying to avoid" had actually happened, and she lowered her eyes with a sorrowful expression.

She retreated behind Bell, trying to conceal her figure as much as possible.

"Bell, what happened?"

"...We were attacked by the Freya Familia...by first-class adventurers, although Ms. Ryu and the others helped to stop them..."

"What did you say!? Leon and the others came too!?"

This news should have been too dangerous to ignore, but Hestia showed no reaction whatsoever.

Who is she?

Wait, what is this thing?

Whether Hermes noticed the shock Hestia felt or not, he took a step forward and spoke:

"...Are you their target, Seele?"

The girl, who had been holding onto herself with one hand and the other, stepped forward after making up her mind.

"Hormes, please help me!"

"..."

"Just this once, please give me a little more time! Even if it goes against God's will, the contract with the goddess is still valid!"

"...Okay, I promise you."

Faced with the girl's plea, Hermes nodded with a subtle expression.

"Sister Ais, could you please do me a favor? Just hold off those Level 1 adventurers. I swear on my life as a mediator, this will not escalate into a full-scale war between Loki and the goddess Freya."

"……OK."

"Asphie, you'll be in charge of covering for Ais."

"W-Wait a minute, God Hermes! You actually want me to get involved in a battle between first-class adventurers—!!"

"You're also worried about Xiaoliu and the others, aren't you?"

"Ugh...! Really!"

Seeing that Asphie could only obey orders, Hermes patted her head as if apologizing.

Asphie slapped Hermes' hand away with a resentful look and followed closely behind Ais, who was walking away quickly.