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

Page 215

"No! I, um...!"

My face turned red, and my mouth opened and closed repeatedly.

Hermes remained silent for a moment, then broke into a broad smile.

"—I see, that's how it is."

“Wu, wu…”

Hermes nodded as if he understood, and then smiled wickedly again.

His smile said it all; I felt a burning shame all over my body.

He saw right through me. My longing (love) had been thoroughly understood by Hermes. I couldn't look him in the eye, and I lowered my face, my cheeks flushed, and let out a soft moan.

As for Hermes, he raised his voice several notches and said, "Alright, in that case!"

"Although I'm not Cupid, let me cheer on little Bell's love life!"

"Your voice is too loud!"

Ignoring my frantic cries, Hermes grabbed my hand.

He strode forward with great effort toward a corner of the banquet hall, where Miss Ais was.

"What...what do you want to do?!"

"Of course we're dancing! You and [Fiora] will dance!"

I almost fainted.

"I can't, I can't! It's absolutely impossible!"

I repeatedly shouted that I had no way to help, but Hermes ignored me.

I absolutely do not have the courage to invite her, Miss Ais would not accept, and more importantly, the two chief gods would never agree!

Perhaps my wavering and worries reached Hermes, for he turned around and gave me a manly smile.

"Leave it to me. I'll lend you a hand."

After saying that, Hermes pulled me along and walked away gracefully.

The banquet hall, filled with the band's beautiful music, was now dimly lit. The magic stone lights on the ceiling were dimmed, leaving only the center of the dance floor as brightly lit as if illuminated by moonlight.

In a corner of the venue, Miss Ais stood behind the noisy goddesses Hestia and Loki. Anyone who dared to lay a hand on her, who was favored by the main gods, would surely incur the wrath of the Loki Familia, so it seemed that no one dared to strike up a conversation with her.

The two deities finally started fighting, and Miss Ais was hesitating whether she should step in to break them up.

Hermes launched a surprise attack on her, who stood there alone.

While the two gods were engaged in a fierce battle, Hermes quickly approached her and leaped to her side.

"Ah, beautiful Sword Maiden! Would you do me the honor of dancing with me, Hermes?"

Hermes released my hand a moment earlier. I stood behind him, my face pale for various reasons.

Faced with his request, her emotionless expression showed a hint of panic. Miss Ais lowered her brows in distress and glanced at the goddess Loki, who was arguing with the goddess Hestia.

Finally, she seemed to try to refuse, and was about to speak, but Hermes beat her to it.

"Oh dear! I have something urgent to attend to! I only just remembered to mention it!"

Hermes gestured wildly and sighed to the heavens.

I rolled my eyes, while Miss Ais was completely stunned.

Hermes slapped his forehead with one hand, then stopped looking up at the ceiling and turned to face me.

"To reject an invitation from a woman would be to lose face as a god... no, as a man—little brother Bell, please be my substitute."

The speech that followed startled Miss Ais and me.

We were face to face, and our eyes were wide open.

"W-what did you say...?"

"Listen up, little Bell? Don't embarrass me."

Hermes winked at me, who was frozen in place.

This turns out to be a capricious god forcing me to take on the substitute role (a troublesome matter), giving me a legitimate reason—the right to invite Miss Ais to dance? All the responsibility falls on the instigator, the god Hermes?

When I saw my crush wink at me, I finally understood. Based on what happened during our sightseeing in "Rivera Town" on the 18th floor, God Hermes seemed to have noticed that Miss Ais and I had some connection, and I believed that she wouldn't refuse if I asked her to dance.

Hermes smiled dismissively and quietly left our side. Only Miss Ais and I, dressed in formal attire, remained.

"..."

We stood in the same spot, a distance apart, our eyes meeting.

As I felt my body getting hotter and hotter, I finally made up my mind.

I cannot let Hermes's good intentions go to waste. More importantly, I cannot leave her, who is at a loss, unsure of what to do.

But... how do I invite someone to dance?

When I was being attacked by a storm of sweat and frustration, Mihel silently appeared beside me.

Miss Nazha also walked out from beside Miss Ais.

While we were both speechless with surprise, Mihe walked up to Miss Nazha and faced her.

"Would you like to dance with me, lady?"

He extended his hand and bowed his head respectfully.

Miss Nazha smiled and placed her hand on his.

"I'd love to."

The two walked hand in hand toward the dance floor.

Miss Ais and I watched as a series of demonstrations unfolded beside us. At that moment, Mihe and Miss Nazha smiled at us.

A surge of emotion welled up inside me.

Having accepted the tenderness of the two people walking towards the dance floor, I was no longer confused and raised my face.

I looked straight into Miss Ais's eyes and walked up to her.

The sound of her leather shoes echoed all the way. Her figure slowly approached me, until finally there was no distance between us.

I stopped in front of her and our eyes met.

Would you like to dance with me... would you like to dance with me?

I lowered my head, my face flushed with embarrassment.

He reached out his hand as his heart pounded.

Miss Ais, dressed in a formal gown, smiled slightly, her cheeks flushed.

"...I'd be happy to."

Her slender hand was gently placed in my palm, and I mustered my courage to hold it tightly.

We intertwined our fingers and walked toward the dance floor in the center of the banquet hall.

While I worried that she would notice my rapid heartbeat, I joined her in the flowing dance of men and women. My left hand held hers, while my right hand nervously circled around her waist, and Miss Ais placed her left hand on my shoulder.

We danced along with the music, just like everyone else around us.

"Ugh——"

"Uh-huh--"

The movements were completely uncoordinated.

We danced haphazardly, moving in completely different directions. Miss Ais, a natural-born swordswoman, didn't know how to dance, and I, as a man, was equally useless, not knowing how to lead her in a dance.

With a "thud," Miss Ais crashed headfirst into my arms. Taken aback by her powerful headbutt, I coughed and sweated profusely, thinking to myself, "This is bad."

"Calm down. Don't just drag the other person along with your arms."

"!"

As I awkwardly began to dance, a group of men and women brushed past us as they approached. It was Takemikazuchi and Miss Mikoto.

Takemikazuchi cleverly took the lead in dancing with her (his dance partner), and offered advice while we were back to back.

"Relax your shoulders a little more. Don't look at your feet, raise your gaze."

"Mr. Bell! As long as we don't step on their feet, there's still a chance to turn the tide!"

I frantically tried to process what the deity had said, while also breaking out in a sweat because of Miss Ming's whispers.

I listened to the advice with Miss Ais and gradually reduced the mistakes in my movements.

"You are adventurers. You must look into each other's eyes and infer the direction of their feet, their judgments, and their thoughts through their gaze. No special skills are required; you just need to understand their psychology."

As I gradually absorbed the sound of Takemikazuchi, I recalled the training I had done on the city wall in just one week.

At that time, I went through countless rounds of offense and defense, desperately trying to decipher her movements. How would she act? What was she planning to attack? After grasping this information, I reflected it onto my own actions.

I gazed into the golden eyes before me.

Our eyes met briefly, and then one of us burst out laughing.

--right?

—Please, please go to the left.

Slowly, step by step, and clearly, our movements became more and more synchronized.

Miss Ais and I communicated with our eyes and gestures, and began to dance in unison.

As if to say that we are all right, Takemikazuchi smiled and walked away from us with Miss Mei.

"—Ughh ...

"Huh? What are you saying?! Waa ...

The screams coming from the distance of the banquet hall startled me. Two goddesses suddenly appeared from the corner of my vision, trying to pull us apart, leaving me speechless with fright.

"—Stop them, Asphie!"

"I don't care what happens..."

"Gurgle!?"

However, in the next instant, Hermes snapped his fingers, and Miss Asphie's skirt flipped up.

Grasped by her slender arm, the fairies vanished from sight. Miss Ais and I watched that scene unfold with indescribable expressions.

"...Oh, could you bring a group of Milotica here?"

"Impossible, Goddess Freya..."

...Why, why did I shiver?

"first……"

"what?"

"This is my first time dancing..."

Miss Ais parted her red lips slightly.