The commotion in the forest gradually settled, leaving only the rustle of leaves… and the soft sobbing of something small.
Beneath the enormous ancient tree, Emiya Shirou maintained the classic—overused, yet ridiculously effective—"headpat finisher" stance. In his arms, the silver-scaled dragon girl clung tightly to his clothes, as if that fabric were the only thing keeping her from drowning.
"Um… Emiya-sama?"
At last, Liliruca Arde couldn't hold it in. Her expression was the same look you'd have if your pet cat suddenly came home dragging a wild tiger and declared it a new roommate.
"How long are you planning to hold her?! I admit the image is kind of romantic—like Beauty and the Beast, reversed—but we're still in the Dungeon! If other adventurers see you, your reputation will go from 'strongest rookie' to 'perverted dragon fanatic'!"
"Perverted dragon fanatic…"
Shirou's mouth twitched. That title hit harder than Unlimited Blade Works.
He looked down at the little creature in his arms. Under the effects of the high-grade potion, her wounds were already scabbing over, her breathing steady again. Those golden slit pupils stared timidly at him, reflecting his face.
"Can you understand what I'm saying?" he asked gently.
The dragon girl blinked… then nodded, hesitant but clear.
"Do you have a name?"
She shook her head, making a small sound:
"Wui… Wui…"
"Wiene… Wiene?"
Shirou repeated the sound without thinking.
Somewhere in the memories of a parallel world—more accurately, the "original plot"—this name felt… inevitable.
"Wiene! Wiene!"
The dragon girl brightened immediately, rubbing her cheek against Shirou's palm. Her wings fluttered softly, and she made a happy purring sound.
If Shirou had a system overlay, it would've flashed something like:
[Congratulations! You have obtained a pet: Dragon Girl Wiene.]
[Rarity: SSR.]
[Skills: Cuteness (Lv. MAX), Dragon Breath (Locked).]
No such message appeared, but Lili could read it in Wiene's sparkling eyes:
I'm not letting go.
"That's how casually you're deciding her name?!" Lili sighed and facepalmed. "And she's totally treating you like her dad!"
"I'm not planning to become a dad," Shirou muttered with a wry smile.
He then took off his leather outer armor and wrapped it around Wiene. With her current state of "coverage," she was one editorial warning away from being censored out of an all-ages light novel.
"…Alright. What do we do now?"
Shirou stood and scanned the area.
Leaving her behind was impossible—those greedy adventurers could return any moment.
But bringing her to the surface…?
A living monster in Orario would trigger an uproar bordering on disaster.
And then—
"Human."
A hoarse, hollow voice—like it crawled up from the deepest part of hell—sounded suddenly from behind them.
"Who—?!"
Shirou reacted instantly.
In the very moment the voice appeared, he pulled Wiene behind him. In his right hand, "Otherworld: Kanshou" formed in an instant, blade point leveled at the source.
No presence.
Even Mind's Eye (True) hadn't detected the approach.
That meant either the speaker's stealth was abnormal… or their very existence didn't fit the rules of ordinary life.
From the shadows emerged a figure in a tattered black robe. A hood covered most of them, but the "face" beneath had no flesh—only a pale skull. Blue ghostfire burned deep in the sockets.
"Waaaah! Is that an undead?!" Lili squeaked and immediately hid behind Shirou.
The design was straight out of a classic RPG: Lich King / Skeleton Archmage. If it didn't show a health bar, you'd assume it was a boss.
"Relax, foolish… no—strange human."
The skeleton—Fels—raised both hands (bones only) in a clearly non-hostile gesture.
"I'm not here to fight."
"You can speak?" Shirou narrowed his eyes, not lowering his guard. "Are you also a Xenos?"
"No. I am… a fool who was once human."
There was self-mockery in Fels' tone. They drifted (or walked—hard to tell) to a stop about five meters away, ghostfire fixed on Wiene behind Shirou.
"That child… is one of our kin. Will you hand her over to me?"
"Our kin…?"
Wiene peeked out, saw the terrifying skeleton, and flinched—then clutched Shirou's pant leg even harder.
Clearly, compared to this "kin," she trusted the warm human in front of her far more.
"Looks like she doesn't want to," Shirou said with a shrug, sword still steady. "And how do I know you won't take her away for experiments… or sell her?"
"If I had ill intent, you would already be dead," Fels replied calmly.
It wasn't a threat. It was a statement of fact.
An 800-year-old archmage might be a mystery in direct combat (and suspiciously prone to exploding items), but an ambush? That would be trivial.
"And besides… human."
Fels' voice turned serious.
"Do you truly intend to take her with you?"
"She is a monster. In Orario, monsters and humans cannot coexist. If you bring her to the surface… you will bring destruction to her—and to yourself."
"Coexist…"
Shirou lowered his sword, though his magic circuits remained on standby.
"I haven't thought that far," he said, looking directly at Fels. His amber eyes held no hesitation.
"I only know this: if I let go right now… this child who can cry, who can smile, who can beg for help… might die."
"That's what a 'Hero of Justice' is."
"The one who never lets go at times like this."
Fels froze.
The ghostfire in the skull's eye sockets flared and shook.
Eight hundred years. They had seen countless greedy humans. Countless mad monsters.
But a human who knew it was taboo, yet still spoke like this—like a storybook hero—
This was the first.
"…You're an incurable idiot."
After a long pause, Fels let out a deep sigh.
"Just like I once was."
A skeletal hand reached into empty air.
A black cloak appeared as if pulled from nothing, and Fels tossed it to Shirou.
"This is a Hades Mantle. It won't erase all presence, but it can conceal form—and suppress the monster-specific magic stone signature."
Shirou caught it, surprised. "You're… helping me?"
"No."
Fels' voice became faint, body melting back into shadow.
"I simply want to see it."
"I want to see how long a 'fool' like you can protect that 'dream'… in a world this cruel."
"If you face danger you cannot overcome…"
"Go to the Great Hole on Floor 20. There, you may find the answers you seek."
With that, the skeleton vanished completely—like an NPC forced to log off.
"Is… is it gone?" Lili peeked out, patting her chest in relief. "That skeleton felt insanely strong… and super mysterious. Emiya-sama, are we really going to…?"
Her eyes flicked to Wiene, who was already curiously pawing at the black cloak.
"Yeah," Shirou said simply.
He wrapped the mantle around Wiene, covering her tightly until only those golden eyes remained visible.
"Let's go. Home."
He lifted Wiene in a princess carry.
"Lili—can you still handle the pack?"
"No problem!" Lili clenched her fist.
"Then… full speed ahead!"
Shirou activated Structural Reinforcement, pushing his agility to the ceiling.
Before nightfall, he needed to avoid every pair of eyes and bring this walking "bomb" named Wiene back to the Twilight Manor.
"By the way, Emiya-sama," Lili called out while running, suddenly realizing something critical.
"What?"
"Where are you even going to hide her? Loki Familia forbids keeping monsters! If Loki finds out—"
"Uh…"
Shirou stumbled a step.
As a man specialized in "act first, explain later," he had indeed not yet planned how to justify:
"I picked up a daughter."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," he forced out with a stiff smile. "Worst case… I make her a 'full-course imperial feast' to apologize?"
"I think this time you'll need to add a dogeza," Lili shot back without mercy.
The sun dipped toward the horizon.
A red-haired boy sprinted through the Dungeon passages with a dragon girl in his arms and a prum girl at his side.
This painfully familiar "running away while carrying a child" arc was guaranteed to kick up a brand-new storm in Orario.
Of course, before any of that—
He first had to survive the Ais and Loki checkpoints.
And that might honestly be harder than fighting a Floor Boss.
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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