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

"I was the first to make a move, so it shouldn't have anything to do with Bell."

"That might be true, but... if it's an adventurer with a strong sense of pride, or even a [familia] who cares about their image, it might cause trouble."

"Hmm... that's true."

Upon hearing Lily's opinion, the fairy also raised his face to express his agreement.

"Perhaps the two deities should have a proper talk to avoid future trouble."

"Um, I'm so sorry, fairy..."

I curled up in a ball and apologized. "It's nothing, it's alright," the deity smiled at me nonchalantly.

Later, the immortal asked me:

Do you know which clan the other party belongs to?

"Uh, I remember..."

I recalled memories of the tavern and sorted through various pieces of information.

Then, I described the first scene that came to mind.

"They are adorned with badges featuring the sun."

●

Bathed in the moonlight of the night sky, the metal sun emblem gleamed.

In the dark alley where the magic stone light cannot reach.

A group of six men of different races—humans, orcs, and dwarves—gathered on one of the many narrow paths.

"Please, have mercy on me, Hyacinthus. Why does bad luck always seem to happen to me..."

"Hehe, don't say that, Lu An. You've done a great job."

The short man rubbed his face, which bore the obvious shoe print, and Hyacinthus's smile deepened. The others around him also jokingly offered words of consolation to their little companion.

The dwarf adventurer named Luan frowned, his boyish face clearly showing his displeasure at being forced to play the bad cop.

Hyacinthus looked down at him and once again curled the corners of his mouth into a smile.

"Although an unexpected obstacle appeared out of nowhere, the objective was still achieved..."

The bustling nightlife of the neighborhoods is now a distant memory.

On this secluded alley, far from the hustle and bustle of the city, no one was eavesdropping on their conversation.

The handsome young human slowly revealed the name of the supreme god.

"Apollo would be pleased with that."

The earrings she was wearing started to dangle.

Hyacinthus squinted, gazing up at the moon that shone in the darkness, replacing the sun.

Book 6, Chapter 2: Shall We Dance?

"Is your body alright now?"

"Yes, it's much better now."

I smiled and nodded at Miss Eina in front of me.

The day after the celebration at "Flame Bee Pavilion", I came to the guild headquarters.

I went into the meeting room with Ms. Eina, who was my consultant, to report on the current situation and discuss future plans.

"Seriously, you made me so worried! When I heard you hadn't come back from the dungeon, my heart almost stopped."

“S-Sorry…”

"...But, well, I forgive you. After all, you're back safe and sound."

Miss Eina gave me a sweet smile.

I stared at her beautiful smile, mesmerized, and my cheeks flushed with happiness.

I recalled how Miss Eina looked so happy for me, with tears in her eyes, when I told her I was safe a couple of days ago.

"Thank you for suggesting I buy salamander wool...it really saved our lives."

"Is that so..."

I thanked Miss Eina, who closed one eye somewhat shyly.

We glanced at each other across the table, seemingly casually, for a while...

Because the atmosphere between us was starting to get a little awkward, Miss Eina coughed lightly, "Uh-huh."

"So, Bell... from my position, I shouldn't ask too many questions, but... the situation must be quite critical, right?"

"……Yes."

Needless to say, I know what she's asking.

An unusual situation occurred when the floor master (Goliath) appeared. Perhaps guild staff were forbidden from asking questions about the incident, so Miss Eina didn't say much; however, she did want me to tell her personally just how critical the situation was.

I nodded deeply, and Miss Eina, who was watching me, also nodded in understanding.

She put her glasses back on—her emerald eyes were sharp and staring straight at me.

"I will work harder in the future to help you as much as possible. In short—let's gradually increase the amount and scope of dungeon previews first."

"what?"

"It was my fault. I shouldn't have assumed you couldn't reach the safe floor yet and not told you about it. This incident also made me realize that you never know what you might encounter... or what kind of monsters you might run into. Well, just in case, I'll let you learn all the knowledge about the dungeon."

...From the day Miss Eina was appointed as my advisor, I, as an adventurer, have been receiving personal instruction from a group called the Book Club. Through courses that are unrelated to my guild duties and are taught by Miss Eina herself, knowledge of the dungeons—not only the types and abilities of monsters, but also information about each floor—has been constantly being poured into my head.

I deeply understand that I owe my survival to her earnest teachings... but the burden was truly heavy. I never imagined the difficulty of the lessons would increase so drastically. Miss Eina's rigorous (Spartan) instruction was comparable to Miss Ais's rigorous training.

Seeing my twitching face, Miss Eina said, "Keep it up," and gave me the same smile as before.

She was genuinely worried about my safety, how could I possibly refuse her kindness?

I forced a dry laugh and said, "Yes..." and nodded in agreement.

"So, let's move on to future plans..."

"Ah...yes. I probably won't be going to the dungeon for about two days."

I roused myself and began a discussion with Miss Eina.

I told Miss Eina about my planned itinerary.

"Two more days...would you like to rest for a few days?"

"Uh, actually I asked Welf... the blacksmith with whom I have a contract, to forge weapons for me."

I told Miss Eina about the contract that Welf had made directly between me and her. "Oh, I see," she said, seemingly understanding as well.

We lost a lot of equipment while forcing our way to the 18th floor. The light armor that was half destroyed in the battle with "Goliath" seems to still be usable, but Welf is still full of energy and says he wants to rebuild all the weapons.

A skilled blacksmith who has mastered the "forging" skill can create works of far superior quality than those of an ordinary blacksmith. My weaponry was Welf's first job after becoming a skilled blacksmith, and I had never seen him so dedicated.

I'm also very excited, wondering what kind of weapons and armor he will create.

"So that means you'll wait until you're fully equipped before entering the dungeon. By the way, which floor do you plan to start exploring from?"

"I think I should start exploring from the 13th floor. Although I reached the 18th floor last time, that was more of a lucky accident..."

Later, we confirmed the scheduled itinerary with each other, discussed it at times, and decided on the future strategy and detailed plans.

The current goal is to complete the entire 13th floor. Welf has also leveled up to Lv.2, so it should be much easier than before. Of course, we still can't be careless.

Furthermore, Miss Eina seemed to acknowledge the strength of our team and introduced me to several adventurer quests sent to the guild. For various reasons, dungeon-related quests are usually for levels below the "middle" level.

Thanks to Miss Eina for her kindness in helping me gain experience, I accepted two adventurer quests she selected for me. One was to collect "dropped items" from specific monsters, and the other was to discover and mine special ores on the 13th floor.

After a meaningful discussion about exploring the maze, we stood up from our seats and left the interview room.

"Also, Bell? You can't just fight other [Family] adventurers without thinking, okay? Goddess Hestia seems to have already told you that, so I won't say anything more..."

"Uh, yes..."

"There's absolutely no benefit in getting into disputes with other factions."

I've already confessed what happened last night to Miss Eina. "If things escalate to the point where the fighting between the Familias could turn the entire city into a battlefield," she said, and as she explained the gravity of the situation, I couldn't help but gag.

I thought I understood it all, but after she said that, I realized just how dangerous the disputes between factions really are, and my sense of crisis was heightened.

"...?"

I moved from the small box to the lobby, and was about to say goodbye to Miss Eina at the window when...

I felt their gaze and turned around, meeting the eyes of two female adventurers who were sitting in a corner of the spacious hallway. They stared at me, as if checking my hair and eyes, and then walked towards me.

It was noon. There seemed to be more adventurers than usual. Dodging the crowd lingering in the white marble foyer, they stopped in front of Miss Eina and me.

"You're Bell Craney, aren't you?"

"Yes, yes."

The short-haired girl, who seemed strong-willed, asked me a question, and I nodded nervously. This time, it was the girl with long, flowing hair who had been standing behind me who timidly stepped forward.

"Um, this is for you..."

She lowered her head, looked up at me, and handed me a letter.

No, this is—an invitation.

The high-quality paper was sealed with wax and engraved with the sender's emblem, which featured a bow and arrow with the sun.

I looked up in surprise, and at that moment the short-haired girl spoke.

"My name is Daphne. This girl's name is Cassandra. You guessed it, we are the Apollo Familia."

(illustration)

The woman introducing herself—Miss Daphne—stated that she belonged to the same "familia" as I had imagined.

The emblem, reminiscent of archers and light, bows and the sun—the [Apollo Familia]. They are companions of the adventurer I argued with at the tavern yesterday.

Miss Eina leaned close to me and whispered, "Daphne Lalos and Cassandra Illion are both LV.2, Level 3 adventurers." They were quite famous, and seemed to be veteran adventurers.

Both of them were older than me. Miss Daphne, with her phoenix eyes, initially gave me a strong impression, but she seemed more composed than I expected. On the other hand, Miss Cassandra, with her triangular eyes and the aura she exuded, seemed somewhat innocent and naive.

It seems like they've been looking for me from the very beginning... Have they been waiting for me to show up at this guild headquarters where adventurers come and go?

When I didn't know how to respond, Miss Cassandra still timidly said to me:

"That's an invitation. Apollo is hosting a 'banquet,' so if it's convenient... no, it's okay if you don't come..."

Miss Daphne slapped Miss Cassandra on the back of the head and leaned forward.

As I watched her let out a soft "Awoo," I was sweating profusely. At that moment, Miss Daphne pointed to the invitation, and then to me.

"Make sure to relay this to your lord. Do you understand? The invitation has been delivered to you."

"……I see."

After being reminded, I agreed, and Miss Daphne then withdrew. She seemed to have no intention of saying anything more, and after calling out to Miss Cassandra, she left.

As she left, her short hair swaying, she turned to me and whispered:

My condolences.

"Huh?" I asked back, but Miss Daphne didn't say anything more.

She turned and left, and Miss Cassandra said goodbye to me and hurried after her.

Miss Eina and I stood there, stunned, looking down at the invitation in our hands.

□

That night.

In the headquarters, where there were only the two of us as usual, I told the deity what had happened during the day.

"An invitation to the 'Feast of the Gods'..."

The deity, sitting in a chair with his arms crossed, looked down at the open invitation on the table.

We've already had dinner. Besides the invitation, there's tea on the table. I'm clearing the table for the exhausted god who just got back from work.

"It's been about a month and a half since the 'feast' held by Ganesha... I was thinking that it was about time for a god to hold one too, but..."