By the time the two of them had said goodbye to the warmhearted lizardman Lyd and made it back up to Floor 18, the false sky overhead, refracted out of crystal, had already deepened into ink.
“Ah… is it night already?” Sprawled out on top of Alise’s head, Artorias stared at that starry sky — fake, and still dazzling — and only then registered how much time had slipped by.
In a place like the Dungeon, where day never turned into night, a person’s sense of time blurred easily.
Come to think of it, he had been living in the Dungeon’s caves so long that he had stopped caring about the difference between morning and evening ages ago.
For the adventurers who could make it this deep, though, this was clearly the hour when nightlife was just getting started.
Along both sides of the street, magic-stone lamps hung above crude wooden buildings scattered at odd but pleasing angles, and the noise of voices and clinking cups rose and fell without a pause.
Alise threaded through the crowd like someone who knew every step of the route, and turned into an inn tucked at a corner of the street, one that at least looked clean.
“Boss, got any rooms left?” The middle-aged owner behind the counter lifted his head, and the moment he saw who had come in, the drowsiness fell off his face and was replaced by a broad, delighted grin.
“Hey!
If it isn’t Captain Alise!
It’s been ages since you came up to Rivira.” “It’s just me tonight.” Alise smiled, one hand casually settling over the slightly bulging pack at her waist.
“I’d like somewhere quiet to rest.” “Haha, I see.
Bad timing, though — business is good today.
All I’ve got left is a single room at the end of the third-floor hall.” “That one’s fine.” “Right you are!
Thirty percent off for you!” The owner handed over a brass key without hesitating.
“My family back in Orario owes the Astrea Familia plenty of favors.
Don’t stand on ceremony over something this small.” In an underground city where prices were absurdly inflated, a discount like that was an almost unthinkable courtesy.
It wasn’t only about money, either.
It was the goodwill the Familia of Justice had built up, one small deed at a time.
“Thanks a lot then, boss!” The red-haired girl laughed, big and open.
… Key in hand, Alise went up to the third-floor room, locked the door, and hung out the do-not-disturb sign.
Only then did a wary rabbit head poke out of the satchel at her waist and glance left and right.
“We’re in the room?” Alise nodded and set the pack down on the table.
“Mm, it’s all clear now.
The soundproofing here isn’t bad, so you can come out and get some air, Ari.” Once he was certain it was completely safe, Artorias slipped out of the pack and hopped lightly onto the single bed in the middle of the room.
A soft mattress.
Clean white sheets.
The faint scent of soap.
“…” Artorias pressed a paw into the bedding, feeling that long-lost spring push back against him, and something close to nostalgia surfaced in his eyes.
After spending so long as a monster, fighting for his life in the Dungeon, scraping by among dirt and stone, he had assumed he was finished for good with anything that stood for civilization and human living.
To the girl beside him, of course, that expression meant something else entirely.
“Oh my~ Such a deep, brooding face, Ari.
Could it be you’re missing that friendly spider lady from earlier?” Alise, who had already stripped off her light armor and changed into loose casual clothes, leaned in with a wicked grin.
“Miss Ranye really didn’t want to let you go, you know~ The way she kept looking at you all doe-eyed and swallowing whatever she was about to say — even I could tell she had a whole lot she wanted to tell you.” “…Quit babbling.
As if.” Artorias shot her a flat look and denied it outright.
“We all just met for the first time.
There’s nothing to be reluctant about.
Stop pairing people off.” He’d only helped her out by sheer coincidence.
This wasn’t some trashy web novel — nobody cleared a route that fast.
“Hahahaha, he’s embarrassed, he’s embarrassed!” Alise laughed and ignored his protest completely, scooping him up into her arms before letting herself fall backward onto the soft bed.
“All right, no more teasing.
You’re worn out today too, aren’t you?
Sleep, sleep~” “…Sleeping is fine, but can I ask why you absolutely have to hold on to me?” “Eh~ Something fluffy is so nice to hug.
Like a stuffed toy.” Alise lay there without a trace of guilt, burying her face in the soft fur of Artorias’s belly and rubbing against it.
“…But I’m male.” “You’re still a rabbit!” The girl’s warm arms wrapped tight around him, carrying a pleasant scent.
“…Alise, did you forget I can transform?
I’m not some harmless little animal.” How was this first-class adventurers even less on guard than Adi?
Artorias had no idea what to say to that.
He wanted to needle her about how carelessly thick-skinned she was, but drowsiness came rolling in like a tide.
Far too much had happened in a single day — saying goodbye to Adi as she left for the Expedition that morning, killing a Floor Master together with Alise, then pushing on down to Floor 20.
Body and mind, he had long since hit his limit.
Feeling the girl’s steady heartbeat and her body heat, his resistance grew weaker and weaker, his eyelids heavier and heavier, until at last he gave up struggling entirely and let them slide closed.
… When he opened his eyes again, everything around him had changed.
Artorias came to and found himself not in the inn’s bed, but standing above that familiar, boundless ocean.
This was his inner world — and the dwelling place of the goddess who bore the concept of [Mother].
“…But I didn’t put my hand into a wall or burrow into the Dungeon like before?” He looked around, puzzled.
Until now, physical contact with the Dungeon’s walls had been the only way in.
Why had simply falling asleep brought him here?
“Little fawn — !!” Before he could work it out, a familiar figure swept toward him on a wave of perfume and crushed him into an embrace, burying him in a bosom deep enough to suffocate in.
“Mmph mmph mmph — !” Enduring that smothering face-wash assault, Artorias actually felt relieved.
Good.
At least the one greeting him was Tia-Mama, who doted on her children, and not that Dungeon consciousness that spoke in riddles at the drop of a hat.
“It’s because my little fawn has grown, as a monster.” Tiamat finally released the nearly oxygen-starved Artorias and cupped his cheeks in both hands, her face full of affection and pride.
“Just as you sensed, the Floor Master you and that adventurer girl met today was a special one.” “And you devoured that big thing and absorbed its power as a Floor Master.” “My little fawn’s connection to the Dungeon — that is to say, to Mama — has grown deeper now.
That discomfort in your body a little while ago was you adjusting to the new bond.” “From now on, as long as you’re within the Dungeon’s bounds, Mama can meet you in your dreams even without you touching the walls.” “So that’s it…” Artorias nodded.
“But for that same reason, this temporary meeting won’t last as long as our old ones.
So we can’t idle the time away together like we used to.” Tiamat’s expression turned a shade more serious now that they were on to business.
The Mother Goddess bit her finger open and let her divine blood drip onto her Apostle’s back.
“Come now, let Mama see how my magnificent child is doing —” [Artorias (Artorias)] Affiliation: Tiamat Current Race: Goblin (LV1) Class: Apostle / Monster Ability Values: LV1 Strength: A844 – S982 Endurance: C610 – A864 Dexterity: B711 – S932 Agility: A894 – SS1134 Magic: E500 – B745 He hadn’t picked up an outright new skill the way he had last time, but overall it still counted as considerable growth.
Looking at those outrageous increases, Artorias was a little startled, though not exactly surprised.
After all, this time he had taken a Lv.1 monster’s body and, working with Alise, killed a Enhanced Floor Master with an estimated threat rating of Lv.4.
Even measured against the original story, that was a [Feat] the gods themselves had never heard of.
“Everything except Magic is A rank at worst.” “Little fawn, you already meet the conditions for [Rank Up].” Tiamat asked softly, “Shall we do it now?” Artorias studied the numbers on the panel and sank into thought.
Strength, Dexterity and Agility had all reached extremely high levels — Agility had even broken past SS.
Endurance and Magic, by comparison, still had room to climb.
“I’ll pass for now,” Artorias said, shaking his head.
The more solid the foundation, the higher the ceiling later.
Since he knew his values had a shot at reaching SS, and since he had growth-type skills to match, there was little point rushing to Lv.2 while so much was still unmaxed.
The reason Bell, the protagonist of the original work, could fight above his level had a great deal to do with the fact that he pushed every stat to ALL-S before ranking up.
“Still, these last few points are going to be hard to squeeze out.” Growth as a monster and growth through a blessing were two completely opposite roads for him.
A monster simply devoured magic stones and got stronger as a matter of course, while an adventurer’s breakthrough demanded a [Feat] that surpassed one’s own limits first, on top of stats that only crawled upward through hard training.
Which was why, before this, Artorias the Dungeon’s Apostle had looked like a textbook small fry on paper.
And now, however badly he wanted to level fast, he could hardly count on farming Floor Masters for experience, could he?
“Little fawn, have you forgotten?
One of your skills can help you rank up.” The Mother Goddess, that gentle smile never leaving her face, spoke then.
She leaned close to Artorias’s ear and offered her counsel in a whisper.
“In this Dungeon… aren’t there plenty of adventurers you can kill as you please?” “Ones whose deaths wouldn’t affect my little fawn in the slightest… those greedy humans they call the Evils faction.” “Whether you ask the Xenos, or the girls my little fawn is fond of — they’re all people nobody would mind seeing dead, aren’t they?” The instant those words ended, the space around them began to shudder.
Their brief meeting had reached its limit.
Artorias’s consciousness blurred as he began to wake.
Once he was completely gone, Tiamat, alone in the void, clapped her hands together as if she had just remembered something.
“Ah, that’s right!
I nearly forgot — I haven’t given such a hardworking child his reward yet.” His ability values had risen, yes, but that was simply what his effort had earned.
As his mother, she ought to give a hardworking child something more concrete to be delighted by.
“My little fawn seemed to miss human life so much… and that form of his really isn’t very convenient.” “Since he absorbed the data from that big lump, and adding in the appearance little Artorias’s soul had to begin with…” Tiamat reached out and plucked a ball of the life essence Goliath had left behind out of the void, then began kneading it like a lump of clay for a figurine.
“A little adjustment here… mm, perfect!” “Take it, dear.
New clothes from Mama~” … Early the next morning, in a certain third-floor room.
Half-asleep, Alise felt something heavy lying on top of her.
“Mmnh… is Ari squirming around again…” Mumbling, the girl slowly opened her eyes — and froze solid the moment she made out what was in front of her.
“Eh?” “Eh, eh, eh?” What filled her vision was not the familiar white ball of fluff, but a face indistinguishable from an ordinary human male’s.
The face of a boy about her own age, with fine, clean features.
Short black hair spilled across the pillow, the lashes of his closed eyes trembling faintly, his even breath brushing the side of her neck.
And more importantly — Alise looked down, stiff as a board.
He was, at this moment, completely and utterly naked.
And she herself was wrapped around him like an octopus, arms and legs both, one leg flung shamelessly across his waist.
“Ah — this…” Alise’s brain crashed on the spot, leaving her completely frozen.
While she was still at a loss, the black-haired boy in front of her seemed to notice the commotion and slowly opened his eyes.
Deep crimson eyes, hazy with sleep.
Their gazes met.
The air froze for a full three seconds.
“…Good morning, Alise?” The boy said it half on reflex.
A brief silence followed.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH — !!!” And so a shrill blast of sound tore through the town of Rivira and rang through the entire inn.
… The following day, a strange rumor began making the rounds in Rivira: Alise Lovell, captain of the Astrea Familia, is apparently secretly dating a boyfriend.
____ 👻🔥Heey!
Walnut-chan for more chapters!🔥👻 🔥 New history: Zenless Zone Zero: