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

All of this seemed to fade in Bert's eyes.

"It's a curse...!"

Just as Rivera looked at the black short sword she had drawn and murmured something out,

Aisha abruptly raised her head, and as if squeezing out a voice full of lamentation from her throat, she roared at Bert:

"【Fierce Wolf】...! Are you kidding me!? I already told you!? If anything happens to Lina, I will...!!"

Bert did not answer immediately when faced with the Amazons who pierced him with sharp eyes.

As the rain pattered down, he looked into those hateful eyes.

Finally, those lips—depicted "mockery".

"Ha! This little girl wanted to run away herself, how am I supposed to protect her?"

Aisha's almond-shaped eyes widened.

"You've been holding me back for ages, it's really annoying."

"Bert..."

"This guy is hopeless, he's a hopeless case."

"Bert..."

The words that had been lost just moments before now flowed out again, disdainfully escaping from his lips.

Bert completely ignored Riveria and Ais, who were looking up at him, and continued to chuckle.

His face continued to show a mocking expression.

"I told you you'd regret your incompetence and die on the street... just like I said."

In an instant, sparks flew from Aisha's eyes.

"!!"

Her expression burning with anger, she grabbed Bert.

She grabbed Bert's shirt with a furious expression, raising her clenched fist.

Just as the fist was about to strike the cheek that was contorted by laughter, he threw it out.

“——”

The fist that was about to punch someone stopped.

His fist only deflected the torrential rain, which soaked Bert's cheek.

Aisha's eyes widened, and she froze on the spot.

Bert didn't understand why she was like this.

why.

Why stop the punches?

What's that expression on your face?

What kind of look is that?

Where exactly did you see that?

Am I laughing?

Wasn't I just scoffing as usual?

"you……"

Hey, what are you looking at? What's with that look? Is there something on my face?

Can't you see this mockery?

Why are you looking at me like that?

Why don't you hit me?

"..."

Aisha shut her mouth, lowered her fist, and released Bert's shirt.

She left with a pitying look in her eyes, then turned her back to Bert.

Rivera took her place, picked up Lina, whose eyes were closed, and left the scene.

Leave Bert behind.

"...Bert."

Only Ais didn't know what to say, but she still stayed.

She stared at the figure from behind.

The rain kept falling.

"...Are you kidding me!"

Why don't you hit me?

what does that mean?

What is that look?

Don't look at me like that—

Endless humiliation burned within Bert.

Bert's upturned lips, now twisted from mockery, could no longer be maintained. He gritted his teeth, almost crushing them.

Anger and emotions surged wildly within him.

However, Bert was powerless to do anything about it.

He couldn't even shout; he just stared up at the sky.

He let the relentless downpour pound on him.

★

That day too, raindrops fell from the sky.

Having defeated the "Plains Overlord," Bert triumphantly returned to the labyrinth city.

What awaited him were the distraught and weeping members of the [Family], and her corpse.

"————"

What struck Bert was the feeling of the ground beneath his feet collapsing with a loud crash.

Nothing strange happened; the group members went to the dungeon as usual, explored as usual, and then she just happened to die on this day.

Encountering the maze's menacing claws, they were powerless to resist and easily lost their lives.

Driven by her desire to become stronger for Bert's sake, she struggled even harder to shed the flesh and blood of the weak, but failed to understand her own abilities and paid the price. At that time, there was no strong person (Bert) by her side to protect her.

"Berber!..."

The members of the [Family] wept, covered in wounds. Some had lost arms, some couldn't even retrieve their bodies, and some cried and apologized repeatedly. No one blamed Bert; everyone cursed their own lack of strength. Everyone was filled with despair for the world, spewing curses and complaints.

Her blood-soaked remains showed no regret or pain, appearing as if nothing had happened, a pristine white expanse.

why.

Why.

Why is it so weak?

Why is it so weak?

How can we be so weak that we can't resist the world, the laws of nature, or the truth?

There is no strong person (me) here...

Without a strong protector (me)...

Are you weaklings incapable of doing anything?

Didn't I become stronger?

Then why am I being deprived again?

Countless jumbled questions and doubts surfaced and vanished in Bert's mind. Never did they become a vortex of thought that could be expressed in words—despair shattered his body.

He could only look down at his companions, who were collapsing and crying in a pathetic state, and stand there blankly, lost in thought.

"Bert...I'm sorry."

Seeing Bert standing there in a daze, the chief god Vida said this.

Upon hearing those words, something inside Bert felt like it had broken.

When he came to his senses, he realized that his hands had already grabbed God's front.

"Don't apologize to me! You're not allowed to apologize to me!"

"Don't do that, Bert@?"

"I won't allow God (you) to acknowledge such a thing!!"

The group members tried desperately to stop Bert, who shouted at God with tears in his eyes.

The god's apology seemed to accept the sacrifice of the "weak," making it impossible for him to forgive.

It was as if the whole world was affirming Bert's despair, making it impossible for him not to scream.

What exactly was Vida's apology directed at?

What was he apologizing to Bert for?

Bert understood nothing. Bert couldn't comprehend his divine will; he simply barked incessantly, overwhelmed by a torrent of pent-up emotion.

The Veda Familia, along with its heartbroken members, decides to leave Orario.

Bert abandoned them.

Bert had given up on them. To make them despise him, Bert wounded them with the blade of words, practically driving them away from Orario. The governing body (guild) also stated that as long as Bert, a second-tier adventurer, was willing to stay, they would not interfere, and agreed to allow Veda and the others to relocate outside the city. On the day they left the city, Bert didn't even say goodbye to these former companions.

Bearing the divine (Veda) blessing within him, Bert was in a semi-retired state, capable of converting, but he simply kept fighting. Alone in the dungeon, he continued to slaughter monsters while wounded and bleeding. He had become a hungry wolf seeking greater power.

Meanwhile, the phantom pain (pain) from the "fangs" on his cheeks never subsided.

Not only that, the pain intensified. Even though he had avenged himself, his cheek continued to throb.

The restlessness that gripped my entire body showed no signs of abating.

It was also from this period that Bert began to wield the blade of words against others.

"Little Star," get out of here!

—Know your own limitations!

—You can't even yell properly, yet you dare to be so arrogant!

Bert refused to join any "familia," and his abusive language angered everyone. Those people repeatedly tried to physically assault him and take his life, but Bert always managed to repel them. Bert's despair was endless.

He didn't go a day without getting into a fight. At the tavern with the Red Bee sign, he tirelessly stirred up trouble. The indifferent (dwarf) innkeeper practically pitied the wolf, even refraining from getting angry.

Bert was never completely defeated by the "stronger".

No matter how injured he was, how much he was stripped of everything, or how desperate he was, he always roared as he faced the future. He always swore to bite back at the strong, to devour their flesh and blood, barking incessantly.

That's right.

What has always completely defeated Bert is not anything else—it has always been "the weak".

They are the weak who cannot resist the dog-eat-dog world.

No matter how strong Bert becomes, he cannot bridge this power gap.

No matter how strong it becomes, it cannot save this fragile existence.

At some point, Bert began to curse the "weak" who cried out for the truth of the world.

As if he resented and hated them, Bert uttered a string of insults and mockery.

A wolf that doesn't make friends is almost like someone who has gone mad, constantly craving power, constantly brandishing its mocking fangs at others, and fighting on its own.