The Dungeon remained a mystery even to the gods themselves. All that had been uncovered so far indicated that the Dungeon possessed its own consciousness.
Monsters, as an extension of the Dungeon, had only two driving instincts: hostility toward adventurers and the primal urge to survive.
However, due to some unknown reason, certain monsters awakened to intelligence. These sentient beings were referred to as "Xenos."
Because of their nature as monsters, the Xenos were not accepted by adventurers. Yet at the same time, having broken away from the will of the Dungeon, they were also hunted by other monsters. They lived in the margins of the world, a persecuted race.
Their existence, naturally, was a closely guarded secret. The one tasked with keeping them hidden was Fels, known as the "Sage," acting under the orders of the great god Ouranos.
As the guardian deity of the Dungeon, Ouranos was the first to discover the Xenos. Since then, he had been considering the possibility of coexistence between humans and monsters.
The Monsterphilia festival, held annually by the Ganesha Familia, was part of these preparations—a means to ease the fear humans held toward monsters.
Therefore, aside from Ouranos and Fels, Ganesha was likely aware of some of the truth. And of course, another familiar face knew as well: the ever-present god of chaos, Hermes.
That guy really couldn't resist a spectacle.
In the original timeline, the Xenos arc triggered a massive event that significantly impacted the storyline going forward.
It was especially transformative for the protagonist, Bell. One could even say it marked the turning point in his personal growth.
Before that, Bell's dream of becoming a hero was vague and idealistic.
But after the Xenos incident—especially after being labeled a hypocrite—he clarified what kind of hero he wanted to be and began maturing for real.
It was also during this arc that he encountered his fated rival: Asterius, a black Minotaur Xenos, lovingly nicknamed "Cow Girl" by fans, considered the true heroine of the story. Even in reincarnation, she had never forgotten Bell.
And the event's beginning? Bell's fateful rescue of a certain dragon girl Xenos.
Charles had no idea when this dragon girl—whom Bell would later name Wiene—had been born, but she had now appeared before him.
When Charles and Stella had just entered the 19th floor's Great Tree Labyrinth, a group of people suddenly came crashing toward them.
Ordinarily, adventurers would avoid rushing in the Dungeon to conserve strength, so such behavior was already suspicious.
Moreover, Charles sensed a sickening, repulsive aura from them.
Before either of them could decide whether to investigate, a small figure burst through the forest.
Blood still streamed from the wounds on her face. Her expression was one of fear, and when she saw Charles and Stella, it turned to despair.
She wanted to run in another direction, but her earlier flight had left her exhausted. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground in a heap.
Stella, expecting a monster attack, was surprised to see someone who looked like a little girl.
Charles had been teaching her about the Dungeon, but they hadn't reached the topic of the Xenos yet—so she didn't know what to make of the situation.
"Charles, what's going on here?"
Charles sighed. "I'll explain later. We've got company."
As soon as he finished speaking, six people emerged from the jungle.
Charles took one look at them and immediately frowned.
Wiene's strength was roughly that of a Level 3 adventurer. Even if they weren't carrying magic swords, they had a Level 2 archer among them. She shouldn't have escaped if their intention had been to kill her.
That left only one explanation—they didn't want her dead. Which was not something normal adventurers would do.
When the six saw Wiene sprawled on the ground, a flash of greed lit up in their eyes. Then they looked at Charles and Stella.
The skinny man leading them said, "Hey, by Dungeon regulations, that thing is our prey. Don't interfere."
Stella didn't quite understand what was going on, but she already disliked the man's rude tone.
Charles thought for a moment, then said, "You lot are from the Icarus Familia, aren't you?"
Their faces changed instantly. They'd taken care not to carry anything that identified them as part of a Familia, knowing their activities couldn't see the light of day.
But now they'd been recognized, and that made them nervous.
The skinny man scowled. "So what if we are? You gonna steal our prey?"
The small pallum behind him tugged on his sleeve and whispered, "Hey, I think he's that smith from the Hephaestus Familia—the Dragon Forge."
The man's expression darkened further.
He had no sense of morals and wouldn't hesitate to kill someone to protect a secret. After all, they'd done it before. The Dungeon erased all traces.
But that guy? That was the Dragon Forge—one of Orario's top adventurers.
Murder? Forget it. He couldn't even touch him.
Charles knew exactly why they were chasing her. Though officially a legitimate Familia, the Icarus Familia was no better than the dark factions in secret.
One of their operations was to capture living monsters from the Dungeon and sell them outside Orario. After all, monsters were Orario's "specialty export."
In any world, there were always people with bizarre fetishes. And this one, with its low level of civilization, was no exception.
As long as there were buyers, there would be dirty deals.
Some even captured humans to sell as slaves. So monsters? No question.
Icarus Familia was especially insidious. Their captain, Dix Perdix, was a descendant of the Daedalus lineage—the "Mad Builder."
The trafficking routes used for monster smuggling were made possible by the artificial labyrinths created by his ancestors.
Not just for trafficking—even the dark factions' activities were supported by these mazes, built to fund the Daedalus lineage.
Last time, Charles had worked with the Loki Familia to wipe out the dark faction remnants and corrupted spirits hiding in the artificial labyrinth "Knossos."
But the structure was massive—built over tens of thousands of years to rival the Dungeon. Full conquest was still a long way off.
Especially the parts still under Daedalus control. Progress there was slow. The black-market dealings continued.
Only Icarus Familia would think of capturing a monster alive—because to them, it was far more profitable than any magic stone.
Charles wasn't some naive saint who sympathized with mindless monsters, natural enemies of humanity.
But the Xenos were different. They felt joy, anger, sorrow—they could communicate. They never harmed humans unprovoked. All they wanted was to live peacefully. Their souls were just like humans'.
But Dix saw them as valuable merchandise, indulging his own twisted urges to alleviate his bloodline's curse through acts of cruelty.
With someone like him in charge, the nature of Icarus Familia was obvious. No wonder Charles had found their presence so repulsive.
He lifted his eyes and said coldly, "No more nonsense. Now… get lost."
The skinny man opened his mouth to argue, but one of his teammates grabbed his arm.
"We're leaving! That one's yours now!"
With a forced smile, the catfolk adventurer dragged his captain away.
Once Charles was out of sight, the skinny man growled, "We're just gonna let that slide?"
The catfolk replied, "Of course not. But there's no way the six of us can take him. Let's go back and report to Dix."
Charles could easily guess their plan, but he didn't care.
Turning around, he looked at the collapsed Wiene.
Stella had already walked up to her, but Wiene scrambled backward in fear.
Stella gave her a gentle smile. "Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Stella. What's your name?"
Wiene looked at her smile, visibly sensing how different she was from the others who had pursued her.
She tilted her head and asked, like a child learning to speak, "Stella? Name?"
Stella's eyes softened even more. "That's right. My name is Stella. Don't you have one?"
Watching the tender exchange, Charles felt like he and Stella had just picked up a daughter.
Stella turned to him and said, "Charles, let's give her a name."
Charles nodded. "Wiene. The name comes from the fairy Velunia, a light-winged spirit from a local fairytale."
"Wiene! Wiene!"
The dragon girl repeated the name joyfully, a radiant smile blooming on her face.
(End of Chapter)
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