Loki Familia

Orario was the undisputed center of the world.

It had been more than half a month since Shirou Emiya had arrived in this world. During that time, he had recovered from his injuries while learning about the characteristics of this world.

After finally learning from a hunter about the existence of Divine Blessings, he instantly realized which world this was.

The world of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, also known as DanMachi.

This was a world inhabited by demi-humans, elves, and even gods.

Here, the gods descended into the Human World, sealed away their divine powers, established familias, and lived alongside the people of the lower world.

With the stimulation of Divine Blessings, the people of the lower world drove the monsters back into the dungeon, established Orario, and continued exploring the dungeon until they became legendary heroes.

This was a world where heroes emerged one after another.

At the same time, it was a world perfectly suited to Shirou Emiya's needs. Although the Shirou Emiya of the past had taken on seven opponents at once and ended the Holy Grail War in a single night,

that had been with the Class Cards. Even when he later faced the King of Heroes alone, it had been because Miyu had supplied him with magical energy.

The current Shirou Emiya, without any enhancements, was merely an ordinary person who had learned his Magic Circuits ahead of time.

In the story of Magical Girl Illya, when he faced Shining Girl again later, he had not even been able to activate Unlimited Blade Works.

That was because he was only made of flesh and blood.

But if he obtained a Divine Blessing, he would certainly gain the ability to stand against—or even surpass—her.

That was why he had been looking forward to Orario for so long. Now, he had finally arrived.

After passing the inspection at Orario's gate, Shirou Emiya smoothly entered the city. The first thing that caught his eye was not the broad streets or the bustling shops lining them.

It was the enormous white tower in the distance, reaching straight into the clouds.

Perhaps only the gods could build such a structure in this era.

After savoring the grandeur of the building for a while, Shirou Emiya's attention was drawn to the pedestrians around him.

Adventurers in all kinds of equipment appeared one after another. Some wore full-body armor, some carried bows and arrows, some held long spears, and some had longswords hanging at their waists.

Moreover, not all of them were human. There were dwarves, beastmen, prums, and even elves.

It was a sight that Shirou Emiya had never seen in either of his two lives, a world that existed only in fantasy.

He might get used to it in the future, but for now, simply admiring the scenery around him was enough to make Shirou Emiya excited.

After taking in the sights for a while, Shirou Emiya finally came back to his senses and began searching for his target.

After asking around, Shirou Emiya headed toward a corner of Orario. One of the two largest familias in Orario, Loki Familia, was located there.

For Shirou Emiya, who possessed knowledge of the future, there were only a few familias he wanted to join. After eliminating them one by one, only Hestia Familia and Loki Familia remained as choices.

As for Hestia Familia, he did not even know whether it had been established yet, much less whether Hestia had descended into the Human World.

He needed to investigate the details, but Shirou Emiya no longer had time for that.

He was facing a very difficult problem now: he had run out of money.

After all, he had just gone through a deadly battle before coming here. Other than the inexplicable pocket watch, he had nothing on him.

Even after arriving in this world, he had worked while recovering from his injuries, only barely scraping together enough money for the carriage fare to Orario.

Otherwise, he would still be working like Kazuma right now.

So in the end, only one choice remained: Loki Familia.

As for the idea that a large familia would not accept an ordinary person—this Giant Hero Emiya had never been inferior to anyone in his entire life.

After crossing the bustling streets, he arrived at Loki Familia's headquarters. Following the directions of the guards at the entrance, Shirou Emiya reached the place where Loki Familia specifically recruited new members.

"Man, there are a lot of people!"

Looking at the twenty or thirty people lined up ahead of him, Shirou Emiya could not help marveling at Loki Familia's influence.

Was it like this every day?

Drawn by the commotion behind him, a sturdy young boarman who had originally been at the very back of the line turned around. Looking Shirou Emiya's body up and down, he teased, "Kid, with a build like that, there's no way Loki Familia will recruit you."

"I'm just here to join in the excitement."

Looking at the brawny man, who was two heads taller than him and covered in muscle, Shirou Emiya replied with a smile.

"I'm a newcomer who just arrived in Orario. I heard that Loki Familia and Freya Familia are especially powerful, so I came to take a look. After I get rejected later, I'll go check out Freya Familia."

As if!

Shirou Emiya had no intention of provoking this fellow. Right now, he only wanted to join Loki Familia as soon as possible and have a good meal.

He had eaten his last rations yesterday at noon. He was starving now.

"Is that so? Indeed, newcomers should visit the large familias. It's good to broaden your horizons."

As he spoke, he even patted Shirou Emiya on the shoulder.

Damn it, can't you use a little less force?

Although his shoulder hurt, Shirou Emiya continued chatting with the other man about all sorts of matters concerning Orario.

Soon, it was the boarman youth's turn. After the two Loki Familia examiners conducted a detailed assessment, they seriously rejected his request.

"Sorry, you aren't the kind of talent we're looking for."

The boarman youth, who had already been nervous, visibly deflated. He had thought he had a good chance, but he had not even made it past the first round.

According to the procedure, the two examiners first selected suitable talents and reported them to Loki. Loki would then make the final selection personally.

After all, most familias placed great importance on their internal atmosphere. The patron god treated the members of the familia like their own children, so the final decision still rested with the god.

"I understand!"

The boarman youth tactfully stepped aside and gave up his spot. However, he did not leave. He was waiting to see Shirou Emiya's test.

After their earlier conversation, he found the youth behind him quite interesting. Although they had made no agreement, he had decided that he would get the other man to buy him a drink later.

With that in mind, he even called out insincerely to Shirou Emiya, "Good luck, kid!"

"Thanks. I'll definitely do my best."

After responding to the boarman youth with a smile, Shirou Emiya, who now understood the procedure, walked up to the two examiners and hurriedly announced, "I have magic!"

"Hmm, your name is... What? You have magic?"

Upon hearing Shirou Emiya's statement, the two examiners sprang to their feet in surprise.

"Are you telling the truth?"

"Of course!"

Shirou Emiya said calmly, "I don't think anyone in Orario would dare deceive Loki Familia, would they?"

The examiner's eyes lit up. One of them immediately led Shirou Emiya toward Twilight Manor.

"Come on. I'll take you to meet Lady Loki!"

Watching Shirou Emiya being led into the depths of Loki Familia, the boarman youth muttered to himself in bewilderment, "Liar! You're all liars! Weren't you just here to join in the excitement? How did you go straight inside?"

Unfortunately, no one was left to answer his question.

In the reception room of Twilight Manor, a goddess with neatly tied red hair and an extremely voluptuous figure sat across from Shirou Emiya with narrowed eyes, visibly excited.

"You say you have magic, and it looks like you haven't joined any familia yet!"

Magic was an extremely rare ability in this world. Aside from the elven race, it was extraordinarily difficult for other races to obtain magic.

Not to mention innate magic like Shirou Emiya's.

In a certain sense, the magic of this world was equivalent to the Noble Phantasms of Heroic Spirits in the Type-Moon world. It was a decisive power capable of determining the outcome of a battle.

"That's right. I haven't joined any familia yet."

Shirou Emiya extended both hands. As magical energy flowed, his signature weapons, Gan Jiang Mo Ye, appeared in his hands.

"It really is innate magic! What kind of magic is it?"

"Projection Magic!"

"Projection Magic?" Loki murmured. Although she had never heard of such magic, that did not affect her decision. "I've decided. From now on, you're a child of our familia."

In this world, magic was divided into innate magic and acquired magic awakened by Divine Blessings.

Innate magic was connected to racial bloodlines and personal aptitude and possessed fixed attributes. A magic-oriented race had to draw upon its own potential and undergo training to learn it.

But Shirou Emiya was human! Humans could not possibly learn innate magic.

This meant that Shirou Emiya possessed aptitude comparable to that of a magic-oriented race like the elves, making him an even rarer existence than an elf.

How could Loki not be excited when someone like that had come to her of his own accord?