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

"Th-thank you so much..."

I took one of the two glasses from his hand.

I took a sip; it tasted like water. Honestly, I didn't want to drink anymore, so I was quite grateful for that.

But why would he be here? I looked at Hermes in disbelief. He smiled as he sipped the wine that emitted a delicate aroma.

"I didn't have a chance to talk to you properly earlier. Sorry, I'm not a cute girl. Would you mind saying just a few words?"

He made me laugh with his joking manner. "Of course," I readily agreed.

I straightened my posture slightly and stood face to face with Hermes on the balcony.

"You and Hestia's aura is unstoppable. I've been watching you for a while, and after seeing that battle on the 18th floor, I'm now a complete supporter (fan) of yours."

"You flatter me..."

At first I was flustered, but looking at Hermes' cheerful smile, I felt the tension in my shoulders gradually ease. He was sometimes praising, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes joking; he was more eloquent than anyone I had ever met.

Listening to the refreshing melody coming from the banquet hall, Hermes and I chatted about trivial matters.

"Little Bell, why did you become an adventurer?"

With my back to the armrest, Hermes asked me this question.

I couldn't answer for a moment. Saying things like "I want to find my destined encounter in the dungeon!" or "I can't give up my dream of becoming a hero!" now feels so embarrassing.

After scratching my cheek and pausing for a moment, I said:

"My grandfather... the family who raised me, told me before he passed away... 'Oarori has everything. Go there if you want.'"

"Eh?"

"He said Orario has wealth, and also the chance to meet cute girls. All sorts of treasures are buried here... He also said that it would be a good idea to join the [familia] of a goddess (beautiful woman) and become a member of her familia (family) directly."

"—Hahahahahahahahaha!"

Hermes raised his delicate chin to the night sky and laughed heartily.

The sight of the immortals laughing heartily made me blush, but I finally managed to say something.

"It's not impossible to become a hero. Just go for it if you're prepared." That's what my grandfather told me.

Don't do what others say; make your own decisions.

On just one occasion, my grandfather, who was still young at the time, said this to me.

That's why I came to Orario, and why I became an adventurer.

Having lost my grandfather, I pondered his words and, after much agonizing, finally made up my mind.

I want warmth, I want to have family.

Wanting to fulfill a childhood dream—the bond with her grandfather—she seeks an encounter.

Moreover, he harbored a deep longing for heroes, and that's how he came to Orario.

While telling Hermes these things, I myself was lost in thought. I lowered my head slightly, my gaze wandering over the floor, recalling the memories of that time.

"...The person who raised Bell seems to be an optimist."

"Yes... he's a very interesting person."

I couldn't help but smile wryly. Because I felt that the word "optimistic" was a perfect description of my grandfather.

Hermes looked at me with a smile, raised his glass, tilted it back, and drank the rest of the wine in one gulp.

"So, Brother Bell stayed in his birthplace before coming to Orario?"

"Yes. It's a village deep in the mountains... so there are many things I don't understand."

I confessed, somewhat embarrassed, that I was actually quite naive about the ways of the world. Hermes narrowed his eyes upon hearing this.

His once slender eyes no longer held a crescent shape. He stared intently at me and said:

"Do you know a god named Zeus?"

Then he asked me about a god.

"Zeus...no, I've never heard of him. Is this god famous?"

"Yes. He has reigned over this place (Orario) since the gods descended, and was once the chief god of the strongest [Familia]."

When I heard what he said, my eyes widened.

"Aren't the strongest [familia] the [Loki Familia] and the [Freya Familia]...?"

"It wasn't like this not long ago. The current power distribution was roughly formed about fifteen years ago."

Fifteen years ago... I murmured to myself unconsciously.

Hermes continued his explanation.

"Before Loki and Freya rose to power, the two major factions at the top of Orario were led by the gods (Zeus) and the goddesses (Hera). Fifteen years ago, the situation changed 180 degrees. Loki and Freya defeated the two gods and drove them out of the city."

"...Are you saying that Zeus and his followers were defeated in the power struggle among the [Families]?"

"Yes, that's not wrong. However, the direct cause of the generational change in the faction lies in the failure of a certain adventurer's request."

Then, as if to say that what follows is the important part...

Hermes held up three fingers in front of me.

"In Orario, there are the 'Three Great Adventurer Requests' issued from all over the Nether."

The three fingers held up in front of me caught my eye.

"In what the children call the 'ancient' era, three powerful monsters (beasts) came from the dungeons to the surface—the task is to defeat them."

"Huh...so that means..."

"That's right, they're still alive. The ancient monsters that emerged from the great hole in the underground city are still alive in this world."

I gasped.

The fact that monsters from the underground city survived and ruled the surface during what is known as the "Ancient" era, a thousand years ago, startled me.

Judging from Hermes' tone... these monsters are probably not descendants of the original monsters that Miss Nazha mentioned before.

"I think you already know that this labyrinthine city is home to many adventurers who have been trained in the dungeon trials and are arguably the strongest in the world. Orario has the responsibility and the right to slay the monsters that emerge from beneath the city's depths (beneath its own feet)."

In terms of sheer power, Orario is one of the strongest in the world. This is because its dungeons, known as monster lairs, train adventurers and provide a constant stream of level-up opportunities. The corrupted monsters and humans born from the original ancestors who settled on the surface, regardless of their battles, have a limit to their experience points—as well as the number and quality of trials. It is said that those considered strong throughout the world only reach a maximum ability level of Lv.2 or Lv.3.

The reason why the labyrinth city is called "the center of the world" is because of the immense power it possesses.

"Fifteen years ago... when the power of Zeus and Hera reached its peak, the [Familia], hailed as the strongest in history, prepared to set out to subdue monsters, successfully defeating the king of land (Behemoth) and the tyrant of the sea (Leviathan)—and then..."

Hermes, who quickly bent two fingers, left the last finger and told me:

"They were defeated by the last 'black dragon' and were completely wiped out."

My eyes widened.

"The black dragon you mentioned, could it be... the 'One-Eyed Dragon'?"

"Yes. Have you heard of it?"

I've heard of it; I'm quite familiar with it.

I first encountered this symbol of despair in stories I was engrossed in reading as a child.

Set in the distant "ancient times," this is the story of the heroes who left behind great achievements in Orario. My favorite childhood book, Dungeon Oratoria, features a brutal monster as the final chapter.

The strongest hero sacrificed his life to destroy one of the dragon king's eyes before finally defeating it.

I nodded reluctantly in response to Hermes's words and swallowed hard.

A living disaster, a living legend, a living ending.

I was deeply shocked to learn that many legendary tales and fairy tales, passed down through the ages, were not actually characters in those stories, but real people who lived in this world.

"On the contrary, Zeus and Hera, who were defeated by the 'Black Dragon,' lost their main fighting force, and their faction's strength was greatly reduced. So things went back to what we said at the beginning. At that time, Loki and Freya joined forces and drove their thorns in the side—no, it should be said that the two gods who had always been enemies—out of the city."

Hermes, with a smile on his face, shrugged.

"Perhaps it should be said that times have changed. The guilds that have had dealings with the two [familias] for many years have also stopped protecting Zeus and his companions who have lost their power."

"Or perhaps it should be said that I was powerless to protect them," he added at the end.

"This is a general overview of how Zeus lost power, and the current situation of Orario."

"..."

"Especially the remaining one of the three major adventurer's quests, the slaying of the 'Black Dragon,' which is also the wish of the whole world. As a resident of Orario, you'd better keep this in mind."

Hermes smiled at me, who was still standing there in a daze, and gave his summary.

It seems Hermes was explaining the situation in the lower realms to me, and incidentally mentioning that the most powerful and famous [Zeus's Familia] was once in Orario.

Although I was not long ago holed up in a rural border town, this experience has made me acutely aware of my own ignorance. I never imagined that such a seemingly peaceful world could harbor such a disaster.

Where exactly is the "Black Dragon"? What is it doing now? Although many things pique my curiosity... perhaps as an adventurer, I have no need or reason to know the details.

At least the closest to that dragon are the swordsman I admire, who belongs to the two major factions of the city, and other adventurers.

"...Um, Hermes?"

"What's wrong?"

"What happened to Zeus and the others...?"

I had a vague feeling that he wouldn't tell me anything more about the three adventurers' requests, so I asked the god who had been expelled from Orario instead.

After staring at me for a while, Hermes chuckled softly and closed his eyes.

"Who knows? The most credible theory is that he was sent back to the heavens, but what happened to that kind old man afterward is now unknown. Some say he went to find new heroes, some say he grew weary of the world and went into seclusion, and some say he was chased to the ends of the earth by some yandere... There are many different opinions."

“I-I see…”

Do you care?

"No, it's not like that..." I replied ambiguously, looking away.

Hearing the stories of immortals banished from the city, I couldn't help but imagine some things.

If I get caught up in a power struggle and lose... will Hestia and I also be driven out of this city?

This matter is definitely not unrelated to me, and it has given me some rather frightening thoughts.

"Alright, we've been chatting for a while. Sorry, little Bell, for keeping me occupied for so long."

"No, no! I'm also happy to hear this."

After the conversation was interrupted, Hermes put on a handsome smile, and the atmosphere immediately became relaxed.

After I thanked him, he asked me in a gentle tone:

"By the way, little Bell, aren't you dancing?"

"what?"

"That's the dance everyone's really into right now. Look."

I followed Hermes' gaze and saw everyone dancing in the center of the banquet hall.

"Didn't the person who raised you say that this place is full of beauties and young girls that the world would envy? Now is a great opportunity to get close to them."

"Um, uh?"

Seeing Hermes make the kind of wicked joke that's typical of gods, a twitching smile appeared on my face.

The chuckling fairy dragged me from the balcony to the window.

"Ho, Hermes! I can't dance, so no thanks! It's already very kind of you to allow me to attend the banquet...!"

"What nonsense are you talking about, little Bell? Come on, which girl do you like?"

Hermes grinned wickedly and put his arm around my shoulder.

My physical freedom was taken away, and I was forced to hunt for women. Beautiful goddesses with flowing skirts dancing, elf members being invited to dance, cat people girls dining—I looked around, my gaze sweeping over all the women in the banquet hall.

My face flushed, my heart pounded, and I panicked. I desperately told myself that anyone else was fine, but I just couldn't look at that person... but it backfired.

In the noisy, spacious hall, I happened to spot Miss Ais, with her golden hair as radiant as sand gold.

Hermes, with his keen eyes, noticed my gaze.

"Haha, it's Fiora. You have good taste."