Sword Oratoria: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side Volume1

The figure turned to face this newcomer, passing in and out of darkness as
she pleased.

The clouds lifted. Moonlight flooded the ruin through the massive hole that
was once the roof. The lurking god’s features came to light.

“Were you able to collect it before the Guild?”
“Yes, I present it to you.”
Dionysus’s royal smile was nowhere to be found. The elf, one of his
followers, held out her hand. Dionysus took the wrapped item out of her palm.
Pulling back the coverings, he picked it up between his thumb and
forefinger.
He held the thing up to the moonlight and narrowed his eyes.
“This could be more trouble than it’s worth…”
Trapped between his long fingers was a magic stone with a glowing red
center. It glistened in the moonlight.



EPILOGUE

UNDER THE SKY

The sky spread out like a big blue dome over the city.
Just blue as far as the eye could see.
Gentle sunlig ht sho ne thr o ug h puffy white clo uds as Aiz made her way to

the Dungeon once again.
The city was as lively as always.
The sound of hundreds of shoes on the stone pavement mixed with the

voices of vendors selling their wares.
Horse-drawn taxis made their rounds. Aiz could hear the animals grunt and

snort as their masters guided them through the crowd. Every passerby seemed
to be in a good mood. Brilliant smiles decorated their faces as they clutched
shopping bags in their hands.

Aiz weaved her way through the mass of humanity and passed several
demi-humans along the way.

She spo tted mo r e and mo r e adventur er s in full bo dy ar mo r the clo ser she
g o t to the Dung eo n. It went witho ut saying that they no ticed her, to o . Her ear s
happened to capture their hushed voices as she walked by.

One, “The most powerful female adventurer.”
One, “The immortal knight.”
One, “The queen of all trades—there’s nothing she can’t do.”
Her reputation was well known.
Most people were filled with a mixture of awe and fear at just the sound of
her name. Aiz was in a league of her own.
Aiz avoided eye contact and pretended not to hear any of their words. In the
process of avoiding their gazes, she happened to notice something strange out
of the corner of her eye.
A little girl was all alone.
Scared and trembling, the young human had found a hiding place just off
the main street. No one else seemed to notice she was there.

Aiz came to a sto p in the middle o f the str eet, wo nder ing what she sho uld
do. She made up her mind and walked over to the girl a few moments later.

“What’s wrong…?”
“…Waahhhhhh.”
Aiz stood over her and spoke in a quiet voice. The little girl looked up, eyes
moistening by the second. Then the floodgates opened. She started sobbing like
there was no tomorrow.
A bead o f sweat r o lled do wn the side o f Aiz’s face. She wanted to help the
girl but didn’t have the slightest idea how. Even her words got stuck in her
throat.
Her mind desper ately sear ched fo r a way to co mfo r t the cr ying child. Aiz
stood like a statue, unable to move left or right.
It would have been quite comical if anyone were there to see it.
The queen of all trades, stumped by something like this.
The ever-refined and elegant Kenki had a flawless image. Who would’ve
guessed that the Sword Princess, Aiz Wallenstein, would get flustered by
something so trivial.
She could stand up to the most ferocious monsters in the Dungeon, but that
didn’t mean she could do anything for this girl.
Quite the opposite, there were more things she couldn’t do.
“…Can you wait a minute?”
Aiz to o k a few steps back fr o m the wailing child. T hen she tur ned and r an
as if trying to escape.
She reasoned that the little girl must’ve gotten lost. The best option for Aiz
right now was to search the area for Guild employees and ask one of them to
help.
It took her longer than she would have liked, but she succeeded in her
mission. Aiz quickly led the surprised Guild employee back to the girl’s hiding
place.
However, the girl was gone by the time they arrived.
“…!”
The Guild employee gave her a very confused look. Aiz knew instantly she
had to see this through to the end. Putting Dungeon crawling on hold, she
desperately searched the area for any clues to the girl’s whereabouts.
She walked out to the middle of the street with her head on a swivel,
looking for the little girl.
Storefronts. Rest areas. Entrances to the backstreets.

She checked ever y ar ea that she tho ug ht a little g ir l mig ht g o lo o king fo r
help. She nearly bumped into a lot of people in her haste.

The big hand of the large clock at Central Park traveled halfway around.
At long last, she found her.
The little girl was in the arms of a motherly woman.
“Oh, hi, lady!”
Relief flooded through Aiz’s body when the little girl noticed her and
waved.
The bawling little girl seemed like a distant memory compared to this
smiling child. Aiz couldn’t help but smile.
“Did your mother find you?”
Aiz walked over to them and asked a question. The little girl innocently
shook her head from side to side.
Then came her answer.
“A boy with white hair found me!”
Aiz was stunned.
A few moments passed before Aiz could speak again.
“Did he have red eyes?”
“Yep! Looked like a cute bunny!”
The little girl flashed a happy, toothy grin.
“…I see.”
Aiz spo ke quietly under her br eath. Then she said g o o d-bye and tur ned to
leave.
T he g ir l’s mo ther bo wed while the g ir l’s little hand flicked back and fo r th
as they watched the blond girl leave. Aiz took one last look over her shoulder
before she disappeared into the crowd. Mingling, she looked up at the blue sky.
Fluffy white clouds were making their journey across the heavens.
Her mind star ted dr ifting alo ng with the beautiful fr ee-flo wing white puffs
in the sky.



It was a strange feeling, knowing that he could do something so easily when
she could not.

Aiz came to a stop in the middle of the street. The flow of people
maneuvered around her.

She had just missed him. And now footsteps she had never heard were
getting farther away.

The clouds shifted in the wind.
Today’s sky over Orario was blue once again.





Afterword

Recently, I had an opportunity to talk about SRPG with one of my coworkers at
GA Bunko, Mr. Tsuyoshi Nanajyou.

“Actually, my heroine was influenced by the long-haired knight, Nabell.”
“Oh? Was she?”
“Yes. Specifically the moment after she slices through an enemy with the
Kill Sword.”
“Ah—…”
I’ll never forget the look in Mr. Nanajyou’s eyes when he said that he could
see Aiz Wallenstein with the Kill Sword.

Swordsmanship techniques so precise that any enemy can be vanquished
with one swing of a blade.

But at the same time, each victory draws the attention of stronger opponents
—that’s my image of a knight.

I feel that the heroine of this story, the Kenki, reflects this image to the
letter.

She was originally created to be the idol for the main character in the main
storyline. However, she was so strong that “he would never be in danger
should they battle side by side…” I can’t count how many times my advisers
told me she had the potential to completely ruin the main storyline.

It was comments like these that inspired me to have her star in a spin-off.
Now I had a place to explore what my heroine was truly capable of without
worrying about the main story. While this is both exciting and intimidating,
nothing would make me happier than readers following this story as well.
Now it’s time to show my gratitude.
First to Mr. Kotaki, who has been a tremendous asset in the creation of this
series. I will be depending on you to help keep both stories running smoothly
in the future. Next, to Mr. Kiyotaka Haimura, who created an amazing amount
of superb character designs and artwork for this spin-off, and my editor Mr.

Takahashi, who made it all come together. To everyone involved in this
project, I couldn’t have done this without you.

I also want to extend a special thanks to Mr. Kuribito Misaki for his
amazing ar two r k cr eated fo r the limited-editio n r eleases o f this bo o k and the
main series. Thank you for everything you’ve done.

Lastly, I want to thank you, the reader. Words cannot express my gratitude.
Until the next installment.

Fujino Omori

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Copyright

IS IT WRON G TO TRY TO PICK U P GIRLS IN A DU N GEON ? ON THE SIDE: SWORD ORATORIA,
Volume 1
FU JIN O OM ORI

Translation by Andrew Gaippe
Cover art by Kiyotaka Haimura

This book is a work of fiction. N ames, characters, pl aces, and incidents are the product of the author ’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead,
is coincidental.

DU N GEON N I DEAI WO M OTOM ERU N O WA M ACHIGATTEIRU DAROU KA GAIDEN SWORD
ORATORIA vol. 1
Copyright © 2014 Fujino Omori
Illustration copyright © Kiyotaka Haimura
Original Character Design © Suzuhito Yasuda
All rights reserved.
Original Japanese edition published in 2014 by SB Creative Corp.
This English edition is published by arrangement with SB Creative Corp., Tokyo, in care of Tuttle-Mori
Agency, Inc., Tokyo.

English translation © 2016 by Yen Press, LLC

Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright
is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s
intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review
purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
N ames: Ōmori, Fujino, author. | Haimura, Kiyotaka, 1973–il l ustrator. | Yasuda, Suzuhito, designer.
Titl e: Is it wrong to try to pick up girl s in a dungeon? on the side: sword oratoria / story by Fujino Omori ;

illustration by Kiyotaka Haimura ; orginal design by Suzuhito Yasuda.
Other titles: Danjon ni deai o motomeru no wa machigatteirudarouka gaiden sword oratoria. English.
Description: N ew York, N Y : Yen On, 2016– | Series: Is it wrong to try to pick up girl s in a dungeon? on

the side: sword oratoria
Identifiers: LCCN 2016023729 | ISBN 9780316315333 (v. 1 : paperback)
Subjects: | CYAC: Fantasy.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.O54 Isg 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016023729

ISBN s: 978- 0- 316- 31533- 3 (paperback)
978- 0- 316- 31814 - 3 (ebook)

E3-20161006-JV-PC