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

Tiona flipped through a few pages casually, as if she had found what she was looking for, and said, "Here!" handing the book to Lefia. Lefia hurriedly took the open ancient book.

Tiona and Tione peeked over her shoulders to look at the book, while Lefia's gaze fell on the pages.

"Is this... a tale of heroes?"

On the open page of the book, there is a long-haired woman nestled beside a hero.

The black and white illustration depicts her as wearing a celestial robe.

The name written on it is...

"...The fairy, 'Arya'."

Heroes and fairies, along with many companions including elven royalty, dwarves, orcs, dwarves, and Amazons, fight against the monsters that block their path.

"This name appears in many stories, but the content of each story is slightly different."

"I remember now, you've always loved reading fairy tales since you were little..."

"hey-hey--"

While Tiona and Tione were talking, Lefia gazed at the woman in the book.

...Doesn't she look a bit like Ais?

No, you can't judge a book by its cover just by looking at illustrations.

Moreover, this epic tale is based on "ancient" legends and tells a story from nearly a thousand years ago.

("Fairy Spirit"...)

The child most favored by God.

An incarnation of God.

Although they are not immortal, they can live for centuries.

Like elves, they are a magical race, but they can wield "magic" and "miracles" with greater power than elves.

(—Miss Ais's "wind"?)

illustration

Lefia's thoughts wandered, and she smiled at this thought, thinking: How could that be?

If they are "celestial beings," they are like the gods; anyone can clearly perceive their race upon face-to-face interaction. Although Ais is a bit airheaded... or rather, unbelievable, her presence is not quite at the level of the divine.

Moreover, the "celestial essence," an incarnation of the gods, should be unable to reproduce, just like the gods themselves. Lefia pushed aside all the foolish delusions that surfaced in her mind.

Indeed, Ais possesses beauty that rivals that of a goddess—but that is her latent ability! Lefia, who harbors deep admiration for Ais, loudly proclaims in her heart.

She smiled wryly, thinking: So it was just a mistake.

Lefia slowly closed the book.

The book cover bears the title "Dungeon Oratoria".

Sword Oratoria 3: The Final Chapter - Catching the White Rabbit

Three days later, on the morning of the day after the incident on the 24th floor.

Ais walked down Northwest Street.

Brick and tile accessory shops, sturdy stone shops resembling small fortresses, and weapon and armor shops built in the distance, run by renowned factions and painted bright red—luxurious shops catering exclusively to adventurers lined the main road. Many businesspeople came and went along the neatly paved stone path.

As her body swayed with the throng of humans and demi-humans, Ais recalled her memories up to this day.

The red-haired woman, Rives.

The information confirmed after the battle—including "hybrids" of humans and monsters, "freaks," and "enhanced species"—still deeply shocked her. Revis was a super-large anomaly, one that even the humans—and perhaps even the gods—had not yet confirmed. And now that they knew Revis and her companions' goal was to "destroy Orario," Ais couldn't help but hallucinate, as if she saw this seemingly peaceful city about to be engulfed by an endless, vast darkness.

Ais must take action to find out what happened and what will happen next.

The existence of Revis and the words spoken by Revis and others made Ais so determined.

(Perhaps the person in the black robe is also searching for the truth...)

He entrusted the adventurer's commission to his man in black, and it seems he went to see Luluni a couple of days ago.

It is said that after Luluni reported the details, the man in black first fell into a depressed silence, then handed her the two drawing keys before disappearing again.

The man in black told her that the two keys were the "reward," and Luluni, completely bewildered, personally handed one of the keys to Ais. "I think this should be the key to the goblin's rental vault," Ais said. As she suggested, the two went together to the safe point in the East District and found that the key could indeed open two small vaults.

Ais and Lulune opened the two adjacent vaults, numbers 687 and 688... Inside, they found them crammed with numerous precious gems shimmering with red, blue, green, and purple light, gold and silver rings, decorated unicorn horns, and several magic books. The dazzling little treasure vaults left Ais and Lulune speechless.

After calculating how much money they could get, both of them were shocked by the astronomical sum. Ais transferred all of this reward to the [Familia], whose funds were running low due to preparations for the "Expedition". Because Ais had sold all the "dropped items" from the floor master (Udeos) except for the black greatsword, she had barely paid off the debt for the substitute sword (rapier). Having such a large sum of money actually made her nervous.

This amount is far too high for the reward of an adventurer's commission. How could that man in black prepare so many precious items? Just who is he?

Although Ais was full of questions, it seemed that the person would not be her enemy, at least for now.

(The "expedition" also determined...)

After the aftermath of the incident was almost completely resolved, Captain Finn called Ais over.

After she, Bert, and Rafia told Finn everything that had happened on the 24th floor, she stayed behind and recounted her story with Revis from the beginning.

And he also told him that he wanted to go to the 59th floor.

After pondering for a while, Finn said, "I understand, I agree." He granted Ais's request. Thus, the Loki Familia officially decided to embark on the "Expedition."

Eight days later, they will gather all the forces of their faction and embark on an "expedition" to conquer the deeper levels.

Imagining the floors she couldn't reach alone, Ais quietly waited for that moment to arrive.

"...The weather is so nice."

Having finished her contemplation, Ais murmured to herself as she gazed at the clear blue sky.

However, she no longer blurted out things like how the bright sunlight made her uncomfortable, as she had before. Her steps on the street were strong and powerful, and she soon arrived at her destination—the guild headquarters.

She stopped in the front yard and glanced at what she was holding in her arms. She was carefully cradling protective gear wrapped in white cloth—a shield.

She found this on the 10th floor; it's a white rabbit—the lost item of the young Bell Craney. Ais came to the guild headquarters to visit his advisor in order to return it to him.

The adventurers around her occasionally stole glances at her, but she didn't care; she just mustered her courage and determination.

Give this to him; I must apologize properly this time. A burning passion resided within the young girl, a first-class adventurer.

Deep down, the young Ais was cheering herself on, "Okay!" Ais stepped into the guild headquarters.

"...Miss Wallenstein?"

"Good morning."

She quickly found the person she was looking for.

Ais found Eina Zul, a half-elf service lady waiting at the window to serve adventurers, and went up to chat with her.

She told Eina everything that had happened so far, including about the protective gear; after listening, Eina smiled and said, "I understand."

"I will deliver the protective gear to Bell... Bell Craney on your behalf, and convey what you said."

Seeing Eina smiling, Ais felt a little nervous, but still voiced her thoughts.

"that……"

"?"

"...I want to return it to him personally."

Although Ais felt that this request was selfish, she still said it.

The boy was also an adventurer, and the sooner this piece of armor was back in his hands, the better. But even so, even though Ais knew it was being willful, she still wanted to return the armor to him herself.

Furthermore, she had to apologize to the boy on the spot, including for the trouble she had caused him and for the things that had hurt him.

This time... we can't let him get away again.

Ais gazed into the emerald green eyes before her, and after stammering and trembling, she pleaded with Eina, who nodded solemnly.

"I understand. Well then, I'll offer my assistance."

"?"

"I will arrange an opportunity to prevent him from escaping—no, to make it impossible for him to run away. I want him to have a proper talk with you face to face."

She made the suggestion to Ais in a tone that was like that of a guardian... no, a very caring older sister.

At the same time, she became angry with the boy and said in a stronger tone, "That's so rude!"

Ais couldn't help but chuckle softly as she began adjusting the planned schedule with her advisor. It felt a bit like using a carrot to lure out a rabbit.

The two began their conversation at the window. Many adventurers set off from the hall to explore the dungeon, and the beautiful half-elf and golden-haired girl attracted everyone's attention.

Before Ais's "expedition," the two decided, accompanied by Eina, to lock Bell in the interview room and then have Ais surprise them. Then, as they earnestly and diligently refined their plan…

Suddenly—Eina, who was facing Ais, saw what was behind Ais and her eyes widened in surprise.

Ais turned her head slightly and followed her reaction to look back.

(—Huh.)

She saw white hair like virgin snow and deep red (rubellite) eyes.

He seemed to be off work today; his slender body had removed its protective gear and was dressed in simple clothes.

He looked like an ordinary teenager, but when Ais turned around, he showed an almost trembling astonishment.

...That's right, that child.

Ais and the others even forgot what they were supposed to say to each other, and the three of them stopped moving in different poses.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The unexpected situation caught the consultant off guard...

When Ais, frozen in place, met those deep red eyes...

The boy turned his back to the two with stiff movements.

“Eh…”

As soon as Ais let out a soft cry, the white rabbit took off running again almost simultaneously.

"Bell! Bell! Wait a minute!"

Ignoring the advisor's calls, the boy ran at full speed. Just as Ais was feeling devastated, Eina called out to her:

"Please hurry and catch up with her, Miss Wallenstein!?"

Hearing Eina tell her that she couldn't let him get away, Ais suddenly came to her senses.

That's right, she thought, gripping the cloth bag tightly.

Ais's golden eyes caught sight of the white rabbit rushing out of the building's main entrance.

—Don't, don't even think about escaping!

Ais rushed out.

And it's for real.

In the blink of an eye, she passed through the main hall, sped across the gate, and immediately caught up with the fleeing white rabbit.

With a gust of wind at lightning speed (full force), it chased after the white rabbit's back.

"--babble!"

Ais, standing in front of him, faced the boy who couldn't stop and was rushing straight towards her.

With a "hey," he easily caught him.

■

Now, the two are facing each other.

The boy in front of Ais seemed to be in a state of serious confusion.

Even after Eina caught up with Ais and the others and explained the situation to the boy, he still seemed unable to calm down. After Eina said, "You two should talk it over," and left him, the boy's expression was like that of a small animal abandoned by its owner.

His pure white hair seemed to reflect his mood, swaying busily.

"...Um, this."