Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka - Volume 19 - Chapter Ep

 EPILOGUE

AND SO I START TO RUN

The early morning, before the sun begins to rise.

Still a little out of sync after spending so much time in the Dungeon, I am summoned to the headmaster’s office.

“Good job in the Dungeon Practical.”

On the top floor of Breithablik. Lord Balder is sitting behind a large, ash desk as he thanks me for my work, but I can’t help feeling apologetic.

“In the end, my identity ended up coming out…”

“Yes, I’ve heard. However, strangely enough, the 3rd Squad isn’t saying anything at all about the first-tier adventurer who appeared on the twenty-fifth floor. Given that, it will not even rise to the level of rumor.”

I don’t know if it would be right to call it a barefaced lie, but I have to smile a little as the god of light tells me that.

After my identity came out on the twenty-fifth floor, the rubble blocking the eighteenth floor and the Cave Labyrinth was completely cleared, and the 3rd Squad was able to return to the surface. No one said much on the way back, and I was way past feeling awkward…but none of them blamed me for concealing my identity.

It’s just, none of us really knew how to interact with each other after that. That’s how it felt to me, at least.

“A field trip after an accident in the Dungeon…an incredible idea. I wonder whether it is because you are an adventurer, or if it is simply because you are you.”

The other person in the room, Professor Leon, glances over the report while chuckling wryly.

I’ve heard how he did more than anyone to save the many people caught up in the accident. He, along with some other helpers, was the one who came to meet us on the eighteenth floor.

“And you expanded Nina’s vision and her outlook. As expected.”

“Sir?”

“Yes. As expected, you surpassed my expectations.”

My eyes widen a bit as he winks almost impishly, smiling in a way I’ve never seen him smile before.

Did he…really have such high expectations of me?

Is it because I’m a first-tier adventurer? Or because I earned the title Record Holder?

I don’t know.

But in the end, he says this to me.

“I would like to adventure with you myself next time, Bell.”

That sounds like a promise.

“Incidentally, were you able to speak with Nina after that?” Lord Balder asks.

“Ah, umm…it was a little awkward, so we didn’t really speak much…” I stumble a little bit, but then smile. “But she did tell me she was going to talk to her sister.”

I look out the window toward Babel, where the sky lightens over a city where the sisters will finally be able to reunite.

Fall had passed and it was unmistakably winter.

Most people were still struggling to get out of bed as Eina walked alone through the park on her way to work at the Guild Headquarters, white breath forming near her lips.

It was a time when scarves and mittens became required clothing.

She was wondering to herself if she would be able face her precious family as a proper sister when the cold passed and spring finally came back around—

“Sister.”

“!”

—When the time came much sooner than she had been hoping.

This park was a shortcut on the way to the Guild Headquarters. With a little investigation, it was simple enough to learn that most Guild employees passed through it on their way to work. Nina was wearing her School District uniform, and she had been waiting for Eina to show up.

Standing beside each other, the almost totally leafless trees lining the street watched over the two half-elves.

The sisters stood in the middle of the street, staring at each other.

“…Eina…”

“…Mhmm.”

“…I’m sorry, I really don’t remember you at all.” The younger sister averted her eyes a moment, answering honestly, but then she looked up again and smiled awkwardly. “So…it’s nice to meet you. I’m your younger sister, Nina.”

Just that was enough to make Eina’s emerald eyes tear up, even as she donned an easy smile.

“I remember you from when you were a baby, so I guess I’ll say, ‘It’s been a long time.’ I’m Eina, your older sister.”

Even though they were sisters by blood, they had started with a greeting like strangers. But the two who looked so similar despite their age difference both smiled. It was like looking in a mirror.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t answer your letters. The truth is, I was always glad to get them. But I was scared to reply.”

“Really?”

“Mhmm. I was always just copying you. Always just chasing after you. And I just lost my nerve and made myself suffer.”

Breaking into a broad smile at her older sister, who listened with a gentle smile throughout, Nina told her about everything.

About how she had copied Eina.

About how she loved studying but wasn’t as good at dealing with things as her.

About how she had experienced so many failures.

About how she was actually good at athletics.

About how she could never become Eina Tulle.

And about how she now had a dream of her own, as Nina Tulle.

Instead of the letters she had not been able to write, the ones she had never answered, Nina shared everything.

So many words that would never have fit on any number of letters spilled out of her.

For some reason, tears welled in her eyes as she spoke, and Eina grew teary watching her, too.

“I learned so much during the Dungeon Practical! Someone really important to me taught me so many precious things!”

“I see…It sounds like you had a wonderful encounter. Is that important person a classmate from the School District?”

“No, it’s Mr. Bell Cranell!”

And she dropped that bomb.

“—What?!”

Exploding the tranquil moment that should have lasted from start to finish, Eina shouted hysterically.

Nina cocked her head. She really wanted her sister to know, so with her cheeks flushed for reasons other than the cold, she started talking excitedly.

“Mr. Bell Cranell, no, Bell, is an incredible adventurer! He’s the model of a first-tier adventurer! He saved us so many times…!”

“U-um, Nina? Are you…?!”

“I’ve decided! I’m going to set my sights on joining Hestia Familia!”

“Ehhhhhhhhh?!”

She was so caught up in her own world, she didn’t even notice her older sister’s shock, creating a scene of Aoharu. She beamed as she took Eina’s hands.

“So, Sister! I want you to be the one to register me as an adventurer when the day comes! It’s a promise!”

“W-wait, Nina! Please, wait! Bell has feelings for Ms. Wallenstein, and I, well, there’s this and that, and you should probably not go for him…!”

“I’m going to see all sorts of things at his side!”

“Ninaaaaaaa?!”

Beyond the reach of her sister’s shout, the little sister who still didn’t know turned and started running.

Exhaling white breath, her cheeks red, there was nothing that could get in her way as she ran down the road that stretched straight ahead, chasing her dream.

It was not just brilliant—there would be difficulties and setbacks in store for her, but even so, precious, irreplaceable treasures were waiting too on the other side of her adventures.

“I’m going to do it! I’m going to be an incredible adventurer!”

Now a full-fledged dream chaser, the girl set off at a run.