As expected, it makes me happy to get so many comments on a silly story like this.
I don't usually get this much feedback on other works, so it makes me want to do my best!
That day, a scene like a grand manhunt unfolded in the Pleasure Quarter: one person running desperately, and others chasing.
"Hah! Hah! Hah!!!"
Run. Move your legs. Even if your breath stops, don't let your legs stop!!!
Why did it come to this? No, the cause is obvious!! It's that book!!!
It started a few minutes ago—
"Yes, thank you for your patronage."
Today, too, I was busy selling erotic books. Perhaps because it's an erotic book featuring the currently trending Bell-kun, sales are incredibly good.
I can't act like a barbarian diving into the Dungeon to hunt monsters anymore. Guehehehe—
"Um~, may I have a moment?"
"Yes! Welcome... to..."
I turned toward the new customer in high spirits, only to find a beautiful Half-Elf with long ears and well-defined features standing there.
It wasn't an unknown face. In fact, her face is drawn in the book I'm selling right now. It was the Guild receptionist, Eina Tulle.
Why is she, who doesn't fit the Pleasure Quarter, standing in front of me? There was no room for doubt; the reason was obvious.
"I heard a story that someone is using people as models for obscene books! WITHOUT! PERMISSION!!"
"Ah... yes..."
Anger was seeping from the edges of her words. And behind her, I could see a Hannya demon stand!?
Even though I have a Falna engraved and possess Alfia's talent, I felt an instinctive fear that I couldn't win against this civilian.
Fight? Don't say stupid things. The solution in this case is only one.
"Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, fleeing is best!"
"Ah, wait right there!!!"
I grabbed only the sales money and bolted before Eina-san could catch me.
No matter how scary she is, a civilian can't catch up to the speed of a Falna holder. The distance opened in the blink of an eye. Just as I was convinced I could escape—someone blocked my path.
"Wait a minute!!!"
"Misha, nice!!"
Spreading her arms to block the way was Eina-san's colleague, Misha-chan.
Right now, Misha-chan blocks the front, and Eina-san carrying a Hannya on her back is dashing from behind. A complete pincer attack. There's no side road. She must have predicted my escape route and lay in wait.
But, let me say this: You are underestimating me!!!
"Eh! No way!? He's not stopping!!?"
I didn't slow down at all, rushing straight at the blocking Misha.
Startled, Misha-chan reached out to stop me, but in that instant, I shortened my stride and stepped in a zigzag crossover. Like mist, I slipped through her defense.
Yes, this is the Devil's Run!
[Devil Bat Ghost]
"—Eh, ugh!? He disappeared!!?"
"What are you doing, Misha!! Behind you!!"
Leaving the stunned Misha, who thought I had vanished, I continued my escape.
I'll lose them, go home early, and rethink my future strategy.
Thinking that as I ran through the Pleasure Quarter, my intuition—no, my talent—predicted danger and shifted my movement.
"Tch! Dangerous—!?"
"Tsk! You avoided it."
If I hadn't changed my route, I would have been caught by the capture net falling from above. Looking up, a Pallum stood on the roof. Though wearing a hood, the face visible through the gap was someone I had drawn.
Yes, Bell Cranel's supporter, who also appeared in my erotic book: Liliruca Arde.
"You are... Cranel-san's!?"
"It seems we think alike."
Eina-san, who had chased me, was shocked to see Lili on the roof. Conversely, Lili looked at Eina-san and remained calm, as if this was natural.
Hooking a grapple, she descended from the roof with movements like a Self-Defense Force soldier.
Looking closely, she wasn't wearing that characteristic backpack, but she was in her battle cloth and equipped with tools all over her body.
Hey, this is the Pleasure Quarter, you know? Not the Dungeon.
"That face. Yes, I understand what you want to say. But please understand that this is how serious Lili is."
"Eeeh..."
I wanted to retort that getting this serious to catch an erotic doujin author was overkill, but right now, I had to focus entirely on escaping her.
Eina-san chasing from behind is scary, but she's just a civilian without a Falna. However, Liliruca Arde appearing in front of me is already a Level 2 adventurer at this time. Meaning, she outranks me, a Level 1.
Retrieving the net she missed with, Lili lay in wait. She's basically a backline supporter with the lowest ability among Level 2s, but escaping from her—someone with long experience running from adventurers—might be harder than escaping a high-stat Level 2.
I have to steel myself.
"Fine. I'll show you the difference in talent that surpasses experience!"
I smiled, bluffing as hard as I could.
But it wasn't all a lie. Since coming to this world, I've been saved by Alfia's talent many times. That gave me confidence and a solid basis.
Back when I was getting carried away in the Dungeon and realized fighting monsters was impossible, I thought of something else.
Diving into the Dungeon MGS style—aka, Metal Gear Solid method.
Earning in the Dungeon isn't just about killing monsters for magic stones. Gathering specific items is profitable too. For example, water from the spring guarded by the dragon Cadmus sells for a high price to healing Familias like Dian Cecht.
So, thinking superficially that I just needed to avoid combat, go deep, pick up rare items, and run back, I went into the deep Dungeon alone.
The Upper Floors were fine. The monsters were slow or had poor detection, so my talented self advanced leisurely. The problem was the Middle Floors. I let my guard down because of a certain famous dragon game where I used to avoid symbol encounters to open chests while under-leveled.
I thought even if found, I could use my agility to escape. Reality was different. Unlike the Upper Floors, the spawn rate was high. The Hellhounds were the worst. They sniffed me out and chased me relentlessly to eat or burn me. I never understood the feelings of a criminal chased by police dogs better than that day.
When other monsters gathered at the noise, I prepared for death, but a high-level party not in the original canon happened to be nearby, so I survived via a "Monster Pass Parade."
Escaping with my life, I swore never to dive again.
Simultaneously, that experience reflected in my Status, manifesting a new Skill: [Hermit of Escape].
Its effect is simple: a super-large boost to Agility and Dexterity when fleeing.
Meaning—
" " "So faaaast!!?" " "
Kicking off the walls of surrounding buildings, I jumped around lightly like a ninja from the Far East, showing off my fleeing speed.
The chase with Eina-san earlier didn't even count as running. But facing a Level 2 triggered the skill. I now possessed agility surpassing Level 2. Literally, my body felt light as if wings grew on my back. Movements I thought impossible before the skill activated were now understood instinctively and executed naturally.
Glancing back, Lili was in the lead, followed by Misha-chan, and Eina-san further back. But I sped up even more. The difference in leg speed was vast, and I pulled away steadily.
Running until the pursuers looked like dots, I finally stopped and slipped into a side street.
"Phew, if I come this far... ah."
"Ah!"
As if flagging an event, Raul, a mob-like member of Loki Familia, was standing where I fled.
Me, chased by Eina-san and Lili, encountering Loki Familia here? I won't dismiss this as coincidence.
Well, there's a chance he just came to the Pleasure Quarter for relief, but I should discard optimistic thoughts. Either way, running is the only option.
"W... Wait-su!"
See! The moment I turned to run, Raul reached out and chased.
Even if he's a "biter" in the canon, he is a genuine Level 4 adventurer. There is a cloud-and-mud difference in agility between him and the Level 2 supporter Lili.
Though we kept a steady distance, he was slowly catching up.
"If it comes to this!"
This is the Pleasure Quarter. Brothels line up right and left. I'm a pro who sells erotic manga, but how about you, Raul-kun?
I spotted a shop where a female Cat Person was soliciting customers and dove straight in.
Sure enough, Raul stopped, face bright red, caught by the sexy Cat Person at the entrance. Using that opening, I ran up to the second floor, jumped out the hallway window, and successfully escaped.
"Hah, hah, hah... Playing tag with a Level 4 adventurer is exhausting..."
Hands on knees, I gasped for breath. My stamina was gouged out.
Wondering if my Agility stat would increase significantly when I update my status, I tried to head home. That was when it happened.
"—!!?"
Even though this is the Pleasure Quarter, the sensation of death—like being chased by a monster swarm on the Middle Floors—shot down my spine.
Obeying my senses, I turned around. Standing there was a former ally of justice reminiscent of the Grim Reaper.
Yes, the model for my best-selling erotic book, drawn with the most effort: Ryu Lion was there.
"Gray hair and black clothes, a woman of suitable age. Are you the evil existence drawing obscene books of Bell recently?"
"Eh? No... um... isn't that a mistake...?"
Her face was covered by a hood and mask, so I couldn't read her expression, but flames of rage seemed to burn behind her.
I pleaded mistaken identity, but it didn't reach her. She must have investigated thoroughly.
Ignoring my excuses, she clenched her right fist tightly.
"Such... such a shameless book!! How dare you!! And to make me say such shameless lines to Bell!!!"
(Crap... I might die.)
Her usual habit of saying "I might go too far" was absent. She looked like she recognized me as an opponent she could go too far with.
While she was writhing in agony remembering the contents of my erotic book, I fled with everything I had.
"—! You think you can escape!!"
Chasing with speed befitting the alias "Gale," she was simply terror incarnate.
Was this how Bell-kun felt being chased by a Minotaur in the early volumes? Tears in my eyes, I ran desperately, breaking my limits.
"Hiiiiieee!!!"
Even after exiting the Pleasure Quarter, Ryu-san kept chasing. I screamed in terror.
Tag with Level 4 Raul was desperate, but tag with the same Level 4 Ryu-san was truly life-or-death.
"Tch, like this, it's impossible! In that case—"
It was a trump card I wanted to keep hidden, but realizing a gruesome death awaited if caught, I steeled myself.
"Decay, my soul. Wrap my dwarfed body in a veil."
"!? No way, chanting magic in the city! And Parallel Chant at that!!"
Parallel Chant is a high-level technique few in DanMachi can perform. A Level 1 like me doing it is thanks to Alfia's talent, but right now, the success rate is a gamble of less than half.
The difficulty of chanting while running, breathing while chanting, and above all, maintaining concentration to prevent magic backfire is a superhuman feat.
Even in practice, the success rate wasn't stable. Trying to succeed in this extreme state is madness. But this trigger drew out my talent to the maximum.
(Go beyond the limit right here! Plus Ultra spirit!!)
"Trees into forest, people into crowds. Cover and hide my small mouse-like form."
The spell woven had no stagnation; the magic had no fraying.
Ryu marveled at the scene before her. It was surprising enough that a lowly villain kept escaping her—someone who prided herself as top-tier among Level 4s—but to establish a Parallel Chant amidst it?
If this were the Dungeon, she would counter with her own Parallel Chant, but releasing attack magic in the city would involve civilians. She had to capture the target before the magic completed, but the opponent's agility was high, and she couldn't close the distance as thought.
"The fairy's little prank."
Now, overcoming the extreme state, the magic chanted via Parallel Chant is released.
"—[Fairy Wicked]!!"
A magic circle spread across the ground, and a blinding light instantly enveloped the surroundings.
Ryu reflexively closed her eyes against the light. When she opened them again, an unbelievable scene lay before her.
"This is—!?"
People, people, people. A crowd threatening to bury the road.
It should be the same place, yet it felt like somewhere else entirely. However, the surrounding buildings remained unchanged.
Meaning, this is—
"A type of illusion magic. Presumably to multiply the surrounding people with phantoms and hide within them."
Looking closely, there were multiple people with the same face and clothes in the crowd. Observing further, an adventurer panicked by the sudden event was thrashing about; some people collided with him, while others passed right through. The ones passing through were likely phantoms; the ones colliding were real.
"Kuh, where is that woman!?"
Looking around, she couldn't find the figure, likely blended into the crowd multiplied by phantoms.
In this situation, tracking was impossible. Suppressing her frustration, Ryu withdrew.
"Hah, that was close..."
Immediately after the illusion magic activated and I blended into the myriad people, I escaped into a back alley and hid.
The current magic, [Fairy Wicked], was obtained simultaneously with the skill manifestation. I was disappointed it wasn't attack magic at first, but since I lost the will to dive into the Dungeon, I practiced it repeatedly at home for emergencies.
"Ryu-san's figure is...? Good, gone!"
Gale is a wanted person. I checked from the alley, assuming she wouldn't stay long in this chaos. Ryu-san was nowhere to be seen.
Fairy Wicked is my magic, so the phantoms aren't reflected in my eyes; I see the same scenery as before activation.
I wanted to sigh in relief that my safety was secured, but I couldn't let my guard down yet.
"Hmm, I used magic in the city, and I'm targeted by Guild staff and the major Loki Familia... might as well keep charging forward!"
Having escaped a death chase with Ryu by succeeding in a Parallel Chant, my tension was HIGH! I chose the path of continuing to sell Bell-kun's erotic books.
With that tension, I returned home and told my Goddess about today. With her characteristic tolerance, she said, "Isn't it fine? Whether you restrain yourself and live seriously or live without trying, you don't know what will happen tomorrow. Then, rather than the unknown tomorrow, live the certain 'now' with ease." Receiving her grateful words, I immediately began drawing the next erotic book.
"Let's see, next maybe the Lewd Fox and the Amazoness... and maybe the tavern's idiot cat too."
My brushwork that day was supreme. And days later, new erotic books of Bell-kun lined up in the Pleasure Quarter.
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T/Note: If this fanfic is well-received, I'll translate the remaining chapters!
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For advance chapters, Not available yet, as I'm worried it might get flagged in PATREON.