Free Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 6 by Fujino Omori Page A

count me as one of your fans.”
    “I-I’m not that great…”
    Seeing Lord Hermes come out here was a little scary at first, but there’s something about his friendly smile that eases the tension in my shoulders. He compliments, teases, and jokes as the two of us get settled. Lord Hermes is by far the best oral tactician I’ve ever met.
    Muffled but beautiful music makes its way from the ballroom’s dance floor through the window in front of us. The gorgeous tones fill my ears as Lord Hermes and I start talking like friends.
    “Say, Bell. Why did you become an adventurer?”



Lord Hermes leans against the hand railing as he asks me the question.
    The muscles in my mouth tighten up. What am I supposed to tell him? “I came to meet the girl of my dreams in the Dungeon!” “I couldn’t give up my childhood dream of becoming a hero!” It’s getting embarrassing, repeating the same answer over and over.
    I scratch my head and think about it for a moment before finally making up my mind.
    “My grandfather…The man who raised me said this before he passed away…‘Orario has everything you could ever want. If you wanna go, go.’”
    “Oh?”
    “Orario has money and, um, I could meet lots of cute girls, fulfill any dream…He told me that joining a beautiful goddess’s
Familia
and being part of a big family was more than just a possibility.”
    “—Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
    Lord Hermes tilts his chin toward the night sky and laughs from deep within his belly.
    I look at the red-faced deity who’s clutching his stomach and doing his best to calm down.
    “‘You can be a hero. Go, if your will is strong enough.’…Those were his words,” I say.
    It wasn’t a demand; it was up to me to decide.
    I was still very young, but I clearly remember Gramps saying all of that only once.
    That’s the reason I came to Orario. That’s why I wanted to be an adventurer.
    After my grandfather’s death, I thought about everything he’d ever said. It didn’t take me long to make my choice.
    I wanted the warmth of a family.
    The one thing I craved ever since childhood—and reinforced by my bond with Gramps—was to meet the person who would make that dream come true.
    So I came to Orario, my soul filled with visions of becoming a hero.
    Even as I talk with Lord Hermes, flashes of the life I once knew bubble up to the surface of my memory. I look at the floor of the balcony and relive every single one of them.
    “…Your grandfather sounds like he was very amusing.”
    “Yes, he was. He made every day entertaining.”
    I try to stifle the grin on my lips. The word “amusing” describes my grandfather so well that I just can’t help it.
    Lord Hermes looks at me like he’s going to flash yet another smile. Bringing the wineglass up to his lips, he tilts his head back and downs the rest.
    “So then, you spent your entire life in the town where you were born until you came to Orario?”
    “Yes. A small village in the middle of the mountains…So, there is still so much I don’t know.”
    Lord Hermes’s expression softened the moment I admitted to how little I understood about the city. I have to admit, this is pretty embarrassing.
    He looks at me, orange eyes twinkling under long, thin eyelids.
    “Well then, do you know of a god named Zeus?”
    Then he asks me about a god I’ve never heard of.
    “Lord Zeus…No, I don’t. Is he well known?”
    “Oh yes. He
used to be
the leader of the most powerful
Familia
in history, starting from the day we first arrived in Orario.”
    That was unexpected. My eyes wide open, I look back at Lord Hermes, giving him my full attention.
    “A-aren’t
Loki Familia
and
Freya Familia
the most powerful…”
    “Now they are, sure. But it wasn’t that way until very recently. Fifteen years ago, to be exact.”
    Fifteen years ago…My lips go to repeat his words, but no sound comes out of my mouth.
    Lord Hermes starts talking again.
    “Until Loki and Lady Freya claimed control