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

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"Another person has been taken down—!?"

After the adorable hiccup, a fierce slash followed.

One by one, the adventurers from the city's largest faction were felled by the blushing little girl.

The alcohol had transformed Ais. Her beautiful golden eyes now drooped in a drunken stupor, their irrational brilliance replaced by a pure and innocent sword aura.

The young swordsman, driven mad, transformed the once bustling tavern into a chaotic wasteland. Screams and blood flew through the air, true to its name, as members of the guild fell one after another. Tables and chairs were hacked and slashed, fragments flying everywhere. The extraordinary scene caused even the surrounding patrons to scream. It was truly hell on earth.

Seeing this scene, Finn and the others felt as if time had stopped.

"That, that's—'Drunken Sword'!!"

Have you ever seen anything like this, Loki?

"I just picked the name randomly, but it's unmistakable! It's the forbidden secret technique of randomly hacking and slashing when drunk—!"

"You'll see!! Grace, stop her!"

Rivera first angrily denounced Grace and Loki's charade, then feigned genuine panic, knocking over her chair and jumping to her feet. Just as she, along with a sweating Finn or Grace, were trying to catch the little swordswoman who was violently swinging her sword...

"You silly girl."

They were faster than them.

The dwarf shopkeeper appeared behind her without her noticing, and with a swift move, disarmed her, seizing the raised sword.

And it uses two fingers.

"……belch?"

"Drinking is a personal freedom, but don't forget your limits... These are the rules of our shop, remember them."

Ais discovered that the sword was completely immobile and turned to look behind her in bewilderment.

The shop owner, Mia, whose voice was icy cold, suddenly widened her eyes in surprise.

"Don't you dare damage anything in the store—you idiot!!"

"Waaaaah!?"

The furious iron fist unleashed its power on the little girl's head.

With a power even more terrifying than Riveria's punch, the sword knocked Ais to the ground with a single blow. With a crisp clang, the sword was thrown to the floor.

Loki was deathly pale, Riveria's face twitched, and Finn and Grace's gazes drifted into the distance. The tavern was deathly silent. Seeing the enraged ghoul (ogre) standing with his legs spread in the center of the tavern… or rather, the tavern owner, the other staff and customers were terrified.

Just before she was about to lose consciousness completely, Ais, who had lost all sobriety from the terrifying shock, hugged the floor and thought:

—Never be naughty here again.

From that day on, a new rule was added to the Loki Familia's absolute code: Ais is forbidden from drinking alcohol.

At the same time, an unspoken rule emerged among the guests: unrestrained behavior was strictly forbidden under the "abundant hostess".

Sword Oratoria 9 Side Story Chapter 4: The Legacy, The Remains

Ais stood motionless.

Faced with that thing, she stopped moving, forgot to breathe, and couldn't speak.

"This is……"

Before her were jet-black scales as large as a human body.

The blocky object, resembling polished obsidian, made Ais's chest pound.

Ais and the others stayed in the village for three days.

Today, a festival will be held to pray for a bountiful harvest in "Aidas Village." After the rain, as people diligently prepare, Ais and Bell, to thank the villagers for their help, decide to lend a hand. This is the first time the two have formally interacted with villagers other than Lina and the others. They are initially confused by the attention of adults and the clinging of children, but they quickly become friends with the kind villagers. While helping with the preparations, Ais can't help but smile several times.

What a peaceful village.

Not long after Ais sincerely thought this,

That thing appeared right in front of Ais.

The object was placed securely in the decorated stone hut.

The deformed outline bears traces of missing corners.

The thing emitted a sinister, dark luster, which gave Ais goosebumps.

Ais stood motionless in front of the road. A villager noticed Ais's blank stare, seemed to guess what she was thinking, and spoke up:

"Adventurer... those are scales of the Black Dragon."

Ais wondered if she had misheard.

"Black Dragon, my lord...?"

That being is also known as the "One-Eyed Dragon," a dragon from ancient times.

Among the monsters that invaded the earth in the "ancient times," it was the most powerful, ranking alongside the Land King (Behemoth) and the Sea Overlord (Leviathan) as one of the "Three Great Adventurers' Quests," an object of global desire to vanquish. Although the great factions of Zeus and Hera annihilated the Land King (Behemoth) and other monsters, the remaining "Black Dragon" turned the tables and defeated the strongest adventurers of the time. This outcome brought a profound despair that plunged the world into hell, and led to the rise of "evil forces" led by the dark faction. Today, legend says the dragon still lives in the farthest reaches of the continent.

When the dragons that may be sleeping now awaken—which is believed to be the beginning of the end times, the trigger that sets off destruction.

Defeating the "Black Dragon" is a long-cherished wish of the entire Netherworld.

It is an obligation that the world expects the labyrinth city (Orario) to fulfill.

Even Ais knew about this.

It's impossible not to know.

However, how could such a symbol of calamity be worshipped in this village?

"Legend has it that long ago, when the black dragon, who had been banished from the labyrinth city (Orario), flew over this village, he dropped a few scales."

"...!"

"Monsters are afraid of these scales and dare not approach them. It is because of these scales that we are able to live in peace. ... These scales are like guardian deities to the village."

The scales exuded the aura of an ancient dragon, the regal presence that stood at the pinnacle of all monsters.

The villagers said the monster could instinctively sense this and felt fear from the bottom of its heart, so it dared not cross the line. Thanks to this, the village was able to maintain peace and stability.

Ais was shocked.

She had long found it strange. Why was this village completely untouched by monsters, nestled deep in the "Bio Mountains" where monsters roam freely?

It was this scale that protected "Aidas Village".

"Of course we know about the 'Three Great Adventurers' Request'... We, who have benefited from the dragon, know better than anyone that if Lord Black Dragon is not slain, the world will one day be destroyed. However, we still can't help but want to offer sacrifices to it, and we can't help but pray to it."

The villagers closed their eyes and, as if it were a natural habit, clasped their hands together in prayer.

(Protected by a monster...?)

Neither an adventurer nor a god.

Instead, they are ferocious, ugly, and cruel monsters.

Ais felt as if her vision was emitting a soft, distorted sound.

Monsters are the common enemy of humanity, absolute evil that brings sorrow and tears to people. Ais has always believed this. She believes this, and so she wields her sword to slay them to this day.

However, this being, which must be eliminated no matter what, is protecting Ais's fellow citizens.

Ais's values were about to be shattered. Her original absolute truths were being overturned, and an almost nauseating urge was disrupting her mind.

—A village where the belief in dragons is deeply rooted.

This is a world that Ais doesn't know.

It was something she shouldn't have known—another side of the truth.

(We must defeat the monsters... monsters, demons... the "Dragon" must...!)

There was no way to stop the chaotic emotions swirling within me.

Ais cannot accept the absolute contradiction of "monsters protecting people".

There must never be any "monsters that coexist with people".

Once Ais accepts this, her reason for existence and her will to wield the sword will be shaken.

Because Ais's sword must resemble a monster's tombstone.

A wave of grief and hatred, overwhelming the defenses of the heart, gradually spread deep within.

Ais saw a phantom of "Aidas Village" engulfed in flames. It was a scene that overlapped with her own hometown, a land destroyed and stripped away by monsters, teetering on the path to destruction.

The dragon scales that were still trembling before her eyes, which were like a symbol of the culprits, were tearing her chest to shreds.

"Adventurer...?"

"!"

The villagers' frightened voices brought Ais back to her senses.

Before she knew it, Ais's right hand had already grasped the hilt of the Indestructible Sword (Sword of Despair).

His fingers trembled from gripping the strings too tightly, producing a clicking sound, as if he might draw his sword at any moment.

With sheer willpower, Ais managed to loosen her grip on the sword hilt.

"...Sorry. I'm going for a walk."

“Okay, okay…”

Ais said something and then left the scene.

She glanced sideways at the people who were laughing heartily as they prepared for the festival, strolling through the village. There wasn't just one black scale, but several. She didn't know if a dragon had shed multiple scales, or if the villagers had broken them. Judging from hardness or religious significance, it was probably the former. Many scales lay scattered around the outskirts of "Aidas Village," standing like stone monuments along the boundary between the village and the forest.

Each time Ais found a scale, she would stare at it intently, her hands clenched tightly.

Each time, she had to use an iron will to suppress the urge to draw her sword.

Even as the black flames burned within her, for the sake of the village's inhabitants, she had to turn a blind eye. She had to ignore the sight of the village smiling right next to the dragon scales, and the contradictory scene of people living their lives alongside the monster's aura. She had to learn to compromise. Ais repeatedly told herself this.

As time passed, the sky turned a deep maroon color.

As sunset approached, the sun was about to sink behind the western mountain peaks. In the village bathed in the twilight, Ais returned to the first scale she had discovered.

It is located roughly in the center of the village.

This decorated stone hut is an altar, and the food placed in front of the scales is an offering. This is part of the dragon that is worshipped and revered by the villagers.

It is a fragment of calamity that will destroy the world.

"Miss Ais?"

Bell's voice thumped against Ais's back.

Noticing the boy's presence behind her, Ais didn't react for a moment. She couldn't muster the extra energy.

Ais kept her eyes fixed on the scales in front of her to avoid letting the boy see her face, remaining silent and keeping her gaze fixed on the object.

Soon after, Bell seemed to speak his mind and said these words to her:

"It's like they're worshipping a god."

At that moment.

Ais's black flames intensified the fire.

Driven by a tidal wave of passion that made her vision flicker, words of denial burst from her lips:

"That's not some kind of god."

Even Ais herself was taken aback; her voice was heavy, cold, and sharp.

It's like a sword, ready to cut everything to pieces.

"────"

She knew Bell behind her was speechless.

Knowing that he had touched Ais's naked emotions the moment he came into contact with her... a glimpse of the dark side, he gasped.

"..."