Free Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 4 by Fujino Omori

Syr from behind.
    “Don’t push yer luck!”
    “Ugahh!!”
    Wham!
A tray appears out of nowhere, slicing through the air at an angle, and slams into the back of Syr’s head.
    It’s Mia. She’s standing and glaring menacingly down at Syr. She must’ve hit her pretty hard; Syr is holding her head, with tears bubbling up in the corners of her eyes.
    “Don’ be thinkin’ you can take time off that easily, ya little brat. Gettin’ full o’ yourself, eh? What’s the big idea, playin’ hooky whenever ya feel like it,” Mia growls under her breath.
    Supporting her shaking body by putting her elbows on the table, Syr looks back, only to see Mia’s burning death-stare.
    She twists her body to face Mia directly. I can’t see her face, just her light gray hair tied into its usual bun with a ponytail coming out the middle. But based on her aura, I’d say she’s glaring right back at Mia.
    “Those eyes’ll get’cha nowhere. Here, I’m the law, got that? Lyu, keep an eye on ’er tomorrow.”
    Mia’s nostrils flare in anger as she turns on her heel before Lyu can answer, going back behind the bar counter.
    Our table becomes a silent island in the middle of the sea of happy voices.
    The tension continues for a few moments before Syr turns to face me.
    “Bell, I’ve become damaged goods. Would you please pat my head and cheer me up?”
    “So, Mr. Bell! Enjoy your shopping trip tomorrow and find some good stuff
alone
. Lilly can’t wait to see what you buy!”
    I’m worried that these two will never be able to sit at the same table again.
    “Mr. Cranell, what about after that?”
    “Eh?”
    “My question is, what are you planning to do after you have found suitable equipment?”
    “What do you mean…by that?”
    “I’ll take a more direct approach. Mr. Cranell, Miss Erde, do you intend to go to the middle levels as soon as you return to the Dungeon?”
    So that’s what she’s been asking all this time.
    Lilly and I look at each other for a moment—we are in the same party, after all—before looking back at Lyu.
    “For starters, I’d like to test out my new strength on the eleventh level. If everything goes well, I’d like to go to the twelfth.”
    “Yes, that is very wise.”
    I go on to tell her that I want to test my leveled-up abilities in the upper levels, and the best place to do that is on the twelfth level. Lilly and I had agreed that after warming up on that level, so long as everything looks good, we’d go to the middle levels together.
    Lyu might be worried about us, I think.
    “It may not be my place to say this…but I believe that you should not proceed to the middle levels at this time.”
    “In other words, Miss Lyu, you believe that Mr. Bell and Lilly aren’t good enough to make it in the middle levels?”
    “It was not my intention to insinuate that you are weak. That being said, the upper levels and the middle levels are
very different
.”
    Of course Lyu doesn’t leave her explanation at that.
    “It’s not a problem of individual strength or ability. It becomes
impossible for a solo adventurer
to dispose of every monster. That’s the kind of place the middle levels are. While I’m unfamiliar with the level of support Ms. Erde can provide, I’m afraid that Mr. Cranell will be unable to deal with the monsters and the Dungeon layout on his own.”
    “So then, Miss Lyu is saying…”
    “Yes. You should add additional members to your battle party.”
    A three-man cell is the most basic party formation for dungeon crawling. At the very least, that’s what the Guild suggests.
    The three-man cell—a formation that allows for attack, defense, and support roles.
    One member focuses on attacking the front line while another member covers him or her from monster counterattacks. The third member stays at long range, sometimes assisting the front line with a ranged weapon, spells, or healing items when necessary.
    The same holds true when attacked from behind. If the person in the