Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? My Familia Is Full of Heroines from Every World!
"My treat."
"Really?!"
Like a dying patient suddenly springing out of bed, Hestia came straight back to life at those words.
For an instant.
Haimo could have sworn her eyes had started glowing green.
"Of course."
"As long as it's today, you can eat whatever you want. You won't have to pay, and neither will I."
"My sponsor for the day is right here."
With that.
Haimo pointed at Shakti beside him.
Shakti: "..."
Being treated as his sponsor left Shakti with rather mixed feelings.
Still, she maintained her unshakable composure and gave a slight nod, silently agreeing to cover the expenses.
"Besides, judging by the time, Tsubaki and the others should be back soon."
"Why don't we all get together for a meal?"
"We can make it a housewarming celebration."
"Yes!!"
"..."
Meanwhile.
At that same moment.
Beneath Orario, on the Dungeon's tenth floor.
At the entrance to the spiral passage leading upward.
A group was climbing the winding stone steps.
"Whew..."
"Bad call."
"Bad call."
"If I'd known you little monsters could grind through so many monsters..."
"I never would have boasted to Lord Haimo that we didn't need any Supporters."
"I should have brought a few more along."
"Even hiring a couple of porters would've helped."
Tsubaki walked at the head of the group.
She stopped and looked toward the rear.
A trace of helplessness flashed through her lone eye.
After all.
Who could have guessed?
She had only intended to take the newcomers for a casual stroll through the upper floors, let them get familiar with the surroundings, and kill a few Goblins for practice.
Instead, against all expectations, these newcomers had fought their way down to the twelfth floor.
And they hadn't merely killed monsters.
Everywhere they passed looked as though a swarm of locusts had swept through.
The monsters on the upper floors could barely respawn fast enough to keep up with their killing.
That had led to an explosive increase in loot.
Fortunately, the group had a huge black bear.
He could take hits and dish them out.
And he could serve as a transport wagon, too.
At that thought, Tsubaki couldn't help turning to glance at the huge black bear named Fierce Man.
At that moment.
The huge black bear was carrying an enormous bundle every bit as absurdly large as he was.
That bundle.
Had been crudely stitched together from the hide dropped by a Silverback Gorilla Tsubaki had personally killed on the twelfth floor.
It bulged with all sorts of things crammed inside.
With every step the black bear took, a sharp clattering came from the bundle.
It was the sound of the piled-up magic stones knocking against one another.
Besides that.
Beside the black bear.
Another, smaller bear hadn't escaped carrying duty either.
With a small bundle on its back, it trotted cheerfully along behind him.
Everyone else was also carrying some amount of loot tied together with monster sinews.
The magic stones alone filled several bags.
Never mind all the valuable materials dropped by Orcs, War Shadows, and Killer Ants.
When Lord Haimo saw everything they had brought back.
His reaction would surely be quite a sight, wouldn't it?
Chapter 40: The Starting Path, Returning Fully Loaded! Whose Patron Deity Needs the Military Police Commander as a Bodyguard?!
The ground-floor hall of the Tower of Babel.
At the entrance to the [Starting Path].
This was the throat of all Orario, swallowing and disgorging tens of thousands of desires and dreams every day.
Dusk was falling.
It was the hour when adventurers returned to their nests.
Countless adventurers who had spent the day struggling through the Dungeon poured out along the enormous spiral ramp.
Some looked exhausted but couldn't hide the joy at the corners of their eyes-lucky souls who had found something good.
Others were covered in blood, supported or even carried by their companions-unfortunate souls whom reality had taught a brutal lesson.
The smell of sweat, blood, and dust.
Mingled and ripened in the enormous space.
However.
To one side of the most crowded exit.
A strange pocket of empty space had formed.
Every adventurer passing that spot looked like a startled rabbit, head lowered and feet moving swiftly, terrified of meeting the eyes of anyone standing there for even a second.
There was only one reason.
A formidable figure stood there.
The "Elephant God's Staff."
Shakti Pharma.
Orario's renowned Military Police Commander stood fully armed, her expression ice-cold.
She looked exactly like a "No Entry" sign planted beside the road.
Her presence alone demanded silence.
And beside her stood a black-haired god who, though not in uniform, held a spear and possessed an equally extraordinary bearing.
That combination.
To ordinary adventurers, it looked for all the world as though they were staking out the place to arrest some unlucky fugitive.
Who would dare linger and watch?
Were they tired of living?
"Mmm... sho good! Sho good!"
Amid that atmosphere, where no one dared so much as breathe loudly.
An utterly out-of-place chewing sound shattered the tension.
There.
Hestia stood holding a bag of freshly cooked Fried Potato Balls.
Her cheeks bulged like a hamster's, her eyes narrowed in pure bliss.
Haimo had casually bought them from a roadside stall to keep her from going hungry and keep her mouth occupied.
As it turned out.
For Hestia, there was no trouble that one Fried Potato Ball couldn't solve.
And if there was, two would do it.
"Haimo, Haimo!"
The moment Hestia swallowed her mouthful, she skewered a golden, crispy potato ball with a bamboo pick, rose onto her tiptoes, and held it up to Haimo's mouth.
"Try one! This stall makes them so good! The cream inside is really rich!"
"No thanks."
"I'm not hungry. Eat it yourself."
Haimo shook his head, declining the precariously wobbling potato ball Hestia offered him.
"Mmph... you don't know what you're missing."
At his response, Hestia muttered in displeasure but didn't insist. She immediately popped the potato ball into her own mouth and let out a deeply satisfied sigh.
"Ah... I'm alive again..."
"If I could eat these every day, I'd even be willing to sleep on the floor in your mansion, Haimo..."
As Hestia continued chattering idly.
Suddenly.
A commotion rose from deep within the spiral ramp ahead.
"Move! Move!"
"What the hell is that?!"
"How did that thing get up here from below?!"
The packed crowd split as though some enormous creature had forcibly plowed through it.
Amid cries of alarm and curses.
The adventurers scattered to either side with shocked expressions, squeezing out a broad passage.
Then.