DanMachi Vol.15

INTERLUDE : I, HIS ADVISER

"Th-the deep levels..." said Eina unsteadily.

She slumped forward onto the table, dizzied.

Sitting awkwardly across the table from her was Bell Cranell, an adventurer under her jurisdiction. Through an open window, the balmy afternoon's sunlight streamed into the headquarters of the Guild.

There in the consultation box, Eina was midway through hearing about the expedition that had concluded a few days earlier.

When the party had returned to the surface, Eina hadn't immediately gotten the chance to hear what had happened—largely due to Bell's condition. Afterward, with one thing or another—like reporting and processing the heavy toll the recentevents had exacted upon the high-level adventurers—it kept being pushed back.

Which was why she was only hearing about everything now.

When she'd heard the words deep levels , she'd just about fainted.

"...So you're telling me that after you got pulled down by the wormwell, you spentfour days wandering the deep levels?"

"Yes...Then, Lyu...Gale Wind came to our rescue, so we managed to survive..."

"Can you be more specific?"

"We were about to die trying to escape the Colosseum, so I used an explosive, which made the floor collapse, and then we stumbled onto an unexplored area."

Eina had been slowly lifting her head up off the table in the soundproofed room, but as Bell's explanation continued, she clasped it in both hands and groaned loudly.

Rivira's leader, Bols, had dropped by the Guild, so she'd heard that there had been some kerfuffle involving Gale Wind, but based on what he'd said, she'd thought that was the extent of it. Could anyone have imagined that the outcome of a skirmish with moss huge would have led to an encounter with a wormwell controlled by the notorious Jura Harma, a battle with a heretofore-unknown Irregular, and finally a fall into the deep levels? No one. Not even a god.

Bell spoke haltingly as he carefully chose his words, but apparently Ouranos knew about the Juggernaut creature. If this had been divine will that went right over the heads of the Guild's top brass, Eina would keep silent about said monster, too, but in truth, she had no idea what was going on. She'd even been surprised to learn that Bell apparently knew Gale Wind personally.

As far as his familia went, Eina heard that they planned to keep the fact that they'd reached the deep levels a tight secret. This had been at Lilly's instigation, who undoubtedly wanted to avoid a possible hike in the fees they might owe the Guild.

This was technically illegal, but given the circumstances, there was certainly an argument to be made that they had every right to submit a false report.

So Eina decided to cooperate—however...

"By the way—what do your abilities look like after your latest Status update?"

"Um...my highest is a B."

Whap. Eina fell forward onto the table again, her hands spread flat against it as though she'd been knocked over mid-cry.

That was already the second time it happened since they started their talk.

Ugh, my head hurts...

Eina felt battered, despite only having to listen to Bell recount events.

The parchment on which she had been writing with a quill pen had rapidly become useless. She had started out imagining that she probably wouldn't be able to file the report, and indeed it was totally impossible. The report of Bell's ascension to second-tier adventurer, including the account of his familia's expedition, would have to be shelved.