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

It's just noise.

Werewolves are universally recognized as hated by everyone; even seeing them makes you want to vomit.

"—He's a complete idiot."

"what?"

Therefore, Bert really wanted to coldly refuse her.

The self-centered, brutal, and vicious wolf that only knows how to harm others raises its head.

It was Bert who made this self-deluded woman face reality.

Turn her "liking" into "dislike".

"Why don't you even check your own capabilities before spouting nonsense?"

"Ugh!...That's right, compared to Aisha and the others, I'm so short and weak, and I used to be bossed around by the Frog Girl (Frinny) all the time...But things will be different from now on! One day, I'll become as strong as Bert Roca!"

Bert laughed.

"You wish, 'little guy'."

The girl's orange-pearl-like eyes widened.

"A nobody who only talks about 'someday' will always be a nobody. Talking about such empty words is completely useless."

"Well, we'll only know after we try..."

"I know without even trying. You'll be dreaming all day, grinning like an idiot, and then regretting it as you get bitten to death by monsters. You'll regret your incurable weakness and your stupidity in clinging to such a pointless hope."

In Bert's eyes, various scenes appeared and disappeared.

Through the stunned, speechless girl before him, all sorts of bloody scenes flashed back to his mind.

And then there was his own mocking laughter.

"It's absolutely disgusting. Small fry will always be small fry. They know nothing and all they do is spout wishful thinking that you're not worthy of."

"I, I..."

"You're no different, just a nobody who won't listen to reason. ...What's wrong with calling trash trash?"

Bert chuckled at the girl who stood frozen in place and said:

"A nobody like me is not worthy of a strong person like myself."

He arrogantly and haughtily asserted his claim.

In the cold, dark cave where neither humans nor monsters dared to enter, the mockery of the strong echoed repeatedly.

Lina, who had stopped moving, slowly lowered her head.

It was almost as if she was starting to sob; the girl's slender body gradually began to tremble.

Bert momentarily suppressed his mockery, letting the tattoo etched on his cheek reveal a dull optimism, along with a hint of disappointment. But it lasted only a moment; he curled the corners of his mouth and gave a pretentious snort through his nose.

Finally, Lina, who had been hanging her head, suddenly looked up:

"Does that mean I can stay by Burt Roca's side as long as I'm no longer a 'nobody'?!"

She yelled.

"...Huh?"

The girl suddenly looked up, revealing a pair of orange pearl eyes that shone brighter than ever before.

Bert's lips, which had been pursed in a mocking smile, opened wide like a fool's.

"This is amazing! This is amazing!! As long as I become stronger, I can become the other half of a first-class adventurer!! Becoming the wife of a man with an extremely high competition rate, right? That's it, right? You're thinking correctly, aren't you!?"

"Ah, what?"

"This is fantastic! I can have Bert Roca's baby!!"

"Huh!?: Wait...you! Idiot! What nonsense are you spouting—!?"

Seeing Lina raise her hands high, her excitement suddenly reaching its peak, Bert shouted in his heart:

—No! Who's talking to you about that!

Seeing that Lina did not react in any way he expected, but instead far exceeded the limits of his imagination, Bert was thrown into extreme confusion.

This was the first time someone had responded to Bert's mockery with such a strange and unusual answer.

"Wait a minute! You little punk!? You didn't understand a single word I said!"

"No way! I'm more passionate than ever before! I'm definitely going to get stronger! Once I reach LV6... Hehe ...

"You, you...!?"

This woman...!?

Her smile, brimming with unparalleled wickedness, startled even the strongest. Ignoring Bert's fright, Lina pressed herself so close that their chests were almost touching, looking up at his face at such close range.

Something was swirling in her eyes, it was terrifying.

"When I become stronger, I want to become Bert Roca's... no, please let me be your wife!"

—It's Tione! There's a Tione here!!

The vicious warrior (berserker) who relentlessly pursued the hero (Finn), with several screws flying off his head, has reappeared!

Bert's failure lay in underestimating the passionate female warriors (Amazons).

For a girl who faithfully obeys her instincts, mocking or insulting words are not even an obstacle to someone else's love affair. No, rather, she would turn them into fuel. Bert unfortunately understood this.

"Oh, and I learned something else!"

Soon after, Lina, her voice brimming with excitement, told Bert, whose thoughts had short-circuited:

"What Bert Roca called 'small fry' isn't actually a bad thing, right?"

"————"

The moment she said that...

Bert's time stopped.

"Should we call it bait for the fishing rod, or carrot for the donkey?"

"..."

"So you're just trying to cheer me on, right? Is that right?"

"...No, you idiot."

That was all Bert could manage to squeeze out.

Lina wasn't listening at all, and started walking forward with small, skipping steps. It was as if she couldn't contain her eagerness; she was in a very good mood.

"..."

The phosphorescence on the wall slightly increased its brightness, and the gloom gradually dissipated from the cave, which should have been cold. The mockery of the strong vanished without a trace, replaced by the cheerful laughter of a young girl, like the chirping of a bird. The wolf's shadow, extending onto the wall, stood still as if it had lost its fangs and was about to bite.

Bert watched the girl's retreating figure, his gaze slowly falling on his right hand.

This evoked a certain scene.

Someone else once said the same thing to Lina.

"Don't hold me back, you bunch of nobodies! What can you do besides be a burden?!"

Bert was still the same that day, cursing incessantly.

"Bert, that's enough! Don't disrupt your teammates' routine!"

"Stop nagging, old woman! I didn't say anything wrong!"

"We all need to work together now; there's no need to be overly distracted by your grand principles!"

Two years ago, during the "Expedition" of the Loki Familia.

As they made their way to the target floor, the team was attacked by a monster, and the lower-ranking members were nearly trapped. This incident greatly slowed down their journey, and Bert kept cursing. Rivera couldn't stand it anymore and started arguing with Bert even though they were still on their expedition.

Fortunately, Finn and others intervened with kind words, preventing the situation from escalating. However, the lower-ranking members were thoroughly humiliated by Bert's insults, their eyes brimming with tears, their lips tightly pressed together. The insults from the first-level adventurer had hurt them, leaving them speechless.

And that girl—Line Ashe—should have been one of them too.

"Hey, you pig-headed idiot. What are you doing on this 'expedition'? Even if you're a healer, it's ridiculous that you can't even protect yourself."

“!…”

"Little guy should just hide back in his nest. Little guy, never go to the battlefield again. (Come here)"

The group was taking a long break inside the labyrinth. Bert encountered the human girl behind a rock and immediately began to mock her; she looked up, trembling.

The fear or dread in the eyes behind the large glasses had vanished.

"This is the seventh time Brother Bert has yelled at me."

"Huh? You still have some self-awareness? You're such a hopeless woman."

"Yes, truly beyond help. This is the seventh time Brother Bert has saved me... no, more than that."

As Linne spoke, she seemed to muster the courage to take Bert's right hand.

That hand was injured from acting as a shield to protect the lower-ranking members, including Linne. Bert clicked his tongue slightly. He thought it was pathetic to get injured like that. Getting entangled with a nobody like that had resulted in this.

He was angry that his "fangs" weren't sharp enough.

Bert didn't show his true feelings at all; he had originally planned to say something like, "It's all because of some nobody that I've been hurt so much for no reason."

But Linne seemed to read Bert's mind, and a smile appeared on her face first.

"I... finally understand. What Brother Bert meant by 'small fry' wasn't actually a bad thing."

At that time, Bert was the same; time seemed to stand still for him.

Bert's sharp features became distorted.

The tattoo on his cheek—"fangs"—was crooked.

With tears in her eyes, Linne swayed her braids and smiled without complaint.

"I'm still the 'little guy' that Brother Bert mentioned. But I can heal your wounds, Brother Bert."

"..."

"So, could I... travel with you too?"

As the girl bestows warm, healing light upon the "injured" hand...

Her cheeks flushed, and she looked up at Bert and smiled at him.

"..."

What did I say to her back then?

Bert can't remember it now.

If Bert had said something different to her back then... would that girl, and the other members of the group, have been spared from dying in the cold maze?

"Bert Roca!"

Lina's voice pulled consciousness ashore from the sea of ​​memories.

The Amazonian girl standing in front of him smiled at Bert with a smile completely different from the human girl he remembered.

"I'll do my best! When I'm no longer a nobody, you have to make me Bert Roca's favorite, okay? It's a promise!"

"...Stop being so noisy, say whatever you want."

Seeing Bert's reaction of tolerating his rudeness, Lina seemed puzzled, tilted her head, and returned to Bert's side.

She took Bert's hand and gently pulled it towards her.

Bert stared silently at the hands folded over his own, then dismissively shook them off.

"Ugh!" Lina puffed out her cheeks at first, but then broke into a smile and finally took another step.

Sadness. An utterly pointless hypothetical scenario. Yet, it remains a lingering question.

The Amazonian girl stirred up ripples in her fading memories. Bert, together with her, let their gaze drift a little further as they ventured into the labyrinth from which there was no way out.

★

"Hey, so you know about this kind of magical item that's a bit like a 'key'?"