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

does that have to do with anything?
    The man in the middle is looking down at Lyu, and his buddies are eyeing Syr and Lilly. They look strange, like they’re imagining something extremely perverted. I’ve never seen Lilly look so angry.
    …This is not good, not good at all.
    I will never shake hands with someone who looks at women like that.
    I’m not good at this kind of thing, but I have to be the “man” here. I can’t let anything happen to my friends…!
    I start building the refusal in my head.
    “That is not necessary. He does not need you.”
    However, before I can open my mouth—
    Lyu suddenly speaks up out of the blue.
    “…Ohhh? What was that, little fairy? Are you insinuatin’ that we can’t protect that kid?”
    “Precisely. Now leave.”
    “Hi-hi, you guys, you hear that? She’s sayin’ we’d hold the rookie back! Not the other way around, ha-ha-ha!”
    All three of the men laugh out loud. Not only have I lost my chance to stand up, I’m lost for words, too.
    I’m already halfway out of my chair, but I don’t know if I should get all the way up or sit back down.
    “Listen, girly, we’ve been in and out of the middle levels for years now.”
    “Is that so?”
    “That’s right, Level Two. The lot of us, yeah.”
    “Thank you for the information. Now, begone. The likes of you are not worthy of him.”
    Silence. The men who had been laughing up until now go quiet, their faces contorting in anger.
    Their grins come back a moment later. But their eyes…They’re like the dark, dead eyes of a mask.
    Even I can tell the tension around the table has shot way up.
    “Girly, what are you tryin’ to say? That we’re trash, lower than that punk-ass kid?”
    The man takes a step forward and reaches out to put a hand on Lyu’s shoulder.
    Ah! I’m about to jump to my feet when I remember something someone told me not too long ago:
    —
Elves do not allow someone they don’t trust to touch their skin.
    “Hands off.”
    Lyu’s next movements are all a blur.
    She reaches out and grabs my nearly full ale jug with lightning speed, and slams it back over her shoulder toward the oncoming hand.
    A heartbeat later,
THUNK!
    The man’s hand is now crammed into the sturdy jug, his eyes wide in shock. A soft “Eh?” comes out of his mouth.
    Lyu turns around and jumps to her feet, twisting the jug in the process.
    “Ow-ow-ow-OOOWWWWWWWW!!”
    The man screams at the top of his lungs; his elbow points out at an impossible angle.
    “I apologize. It appears that my reasoning was much more selfish than I originally thought. I don’t want Mr. Cranell to join your battle party.”
    Her words were like whips slicing through the air, the man writhing in pain beneath her.
    “And I will not allow you to look down on him. He is my good friend.”
    She zeroes in her icy glare on him and gives the jug yet another twist.
    The man’s scream goes up an octave. His buddies rush to his aid and start pulling.
    POP! PLUNK!
The man’s hand finally comes out of the jug and he lands flat on his ass.
    “…You BITCH!”
    “Frickin’ girl!”
    “The hell are you doin’?!”
    Did Lyu just really say that about me? A warm feeling grows in my chest as the enraged men converge on her.
    In no time at all, Lyu has a small sword in her grasp. All three of the adventurers move to attack her together. But before they can—
    SMASH! BANG!
Two loud cracks erupt from behind his buddies’ heads.
    ““Ghaaah?!””
    Both of the men fall to the floor with a dull thud.
    Two cat people are standing behind where the adventurers once were, holding broken chairs over their shoulders.
    “—Nyfufufu. Gotta watch yer
back
, meow!”
    “Men are such a pain, meow—”
    Chloe is laughing like she’s one of the gods herself, while Ahnya’s ears are twitching back and forth out of annoyance.
    I know the girls snuck up behind them but…down in one hit?! Those guys were Level 2!
    “Sir. Our elf tends to be rather violent. Backing down