The Journey Begins in DanMachi

It felt as if, had Noah uttered, "Oh my, I didn't realize Ais liked me so much," she might have jumped straight off the city wall.

Fortunately, Noah simply gazed at her as she listened, making no movements or expressions that would cause Ais embarrassment or shame.

"Looks, cooking, and swordsmanship are indeed the three traits I'm most confident in, but whether I'm gentle is another matter entirely—at the very least, I don't think Valetta would consider me a good person."

Ais was certain she didn't know the person, yet the name felt familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before.

"Valetta?"

"She is a member of the Dark Faction. The person I fought on the day I joined the Loki Familia, just before I met you, was her."

Noah then recounted how he had easily deceived Valetta and delivered a devastating kidney strike.

Upon hearing this, Ais couldn't help but chuckle, her laughter sounding slightly slurred.

"That person... is so stupid."

At this moment, the sky began to brighten, casting a glow upon the girl's doll-like, exquisite cheeks.

"Why do you think she's stupid?"

"Because... she was so easily tricked by Noah."

"Then what if I hadn't tricked her? Or rather, what if it wasn't entirely a lie?"

From Ais's perspective, with Noah standing against the sky, half of his handsome face was shrouded in darkness.

His deep blue eyes grew profound, making it impossible to discern the heart hidden within.

"I am a complex person, but in essence, I am actually closer to the Dark Faction—we are the type of people who act as we please, behaving wantonly, and who enjoy hearing the cries and wails of others when they are in pain, despair, or on the verge of death!"

Ais didn't believe Noah would hurt her, but listening to his soft voice, which easily pierced through the gale, her heart began to race.

"If I had to name the difference between me and the Dark Faction, perhaps it's that they enjoy torturing the weak, while I find killing the weak to be meaningless—"

It was as if beneath the seemingly clear, azure waves of the sea, an infinitely deep, dark abyss lay hidden.

Staring into Noah's eyes, Ais felt a sense of suffocation, as if being swallowed by boundless darkness.

"—Indeed, it is far more enjoyable to drag those who are high and mighty, who rule over all living things and think themselves righteous, down from their pedestals and watch them wail in agony as they are trampled!"

Though Noah's voice was light, it made Ais shudder more than the cold wind, leaving her trembling like a naked infant exposed to a winter night.

Sensing Ais's fear, Noah reached out and patted her small head.

Feeling the warmth from above, along with the faint, clean scent that even the fierce wind couldn't fully disperse, Ais's heart settled.

There was no mistake; regardless of what kind of person Noah was, the time she had spent with him—being saved by him, being drawn to him—was absolutely real!

Thinking of her own fear just moments ago, Ais felt a wave of shame.

An impulse surged within her, and before her consciousness could even react, her body moved on its own—she lunged directly into Noah's arms, wrapped her hands around his waist, and buried her face deep into his stomach.

"Ugh!"

The sudden embrace made the corner of Noah's eye twitch—this girl, she doesn't know how to hold back; if I had eaten breakfast, she might have knocked it right out of me.

However, considering the little girl had been frightened by him, Noah didn't pursue the matter.

"Ais, I was once someone called a hero, a savior—someone who protected the weak, punished evil, and struck down demons. But do you know? After I gave my all to kill the enemy known as the Demon King, I didn't feel the happiness I had imagined; instead, I felt a sense of loss—"

Ais lifted her head from between Noah's arms, looking up at him with wide, round eyes.

Why?—her eyes conveyed the question.

Patting Ais's head to soothe her, Noah couldn't help but recall the past.

"Yes, I wondered why back then, too. It wasn't until my former comrades tried to kill me that I understood—though there was sadness and pain, what I felt most was joy, because I could finally fight again!"

Suddenly, a strong wind gusted, and the silent forest in the distance erupted with the sound of pines roaring like ocean waves.

Birds took flight in flocks, heading toward the sky, and the howls of beasts could be heard.

Accompanied by the bells ringing throughout the city, the morning glow broke through the heavy clouds, staining the sky a magnificent blood-red.

"When I was young, I felt that hero tales where the protagonist fights to save a princess, avenge family, or save the world were incredibly boring—because it's just like seeing a mountain peak and wanting to climb and conquer it! Challenging a Demon King, slaying a dragon, facing gods—that in itself is an ideal that makes a boy's heart race! Why would you need a reason?"

The wind was blowing.

It was a pale blue, icy wind flowing from the eastern sky, creating a massive, flute-like sound between the city walls.

In the gale, the silver-haired youth stood beneath the vast firmament, his face seemingly melted by the light of the morning glow, radiating an otherworldly brilliance.

"So, in that moment when I regained the ability to fight, I finally remembered the feeling I had when I left my village, facing the morning sun to head out into the world—not to save others, not for revenge, not for praise; I wanted to challenge the Demon King because I wanted to challenge the strongest in the world!"

51 Don't Be Afraid, I'm Not a Good Person

"Ais, there are two mistakes people most often make in life. The first is misjudging others and harboring expectations on your own—for instance, many people called me a hero when I killed the Demon King, and a demon when I killed the nobles. But in truth, I never changed; I was always doing the same thing. They were simply projecting their own expectations onto me."

On the city wall, the wind howled like the beating of giant drums, making one's heart leap.

"However, it is even more dangerous to misjudge yourself and strive in the wrong direction, because while it is easy to see others clearly, it is very difficult to see yourself—just as you, Ais, have vaguely sensed my true nature in just over half a month, yet you still cannot see yourself clearly."

Ais felt suffocated and constrained, yet a powerful, intense throb surged within her heart, so hot it felt as if it would melt her entire being.

Sensing that Noah was about to say something, she wanted to stop him aloud, but she couldn't find her voice; her entire body was bound by an invisible cage.

Ais realized that this feeling of suffocation and restraint was the truth she knew in her heart but had always been unwilling to face.

"Meeting a strong enemy, drawing my sword, and fighting to the death—that is only natural to me. But you are different, Ais. Deep down, you do not wish to swing your blade for the sake of destruction, slaughter, or hatred! That is the real you!"

In this moment, the shell of the 'Sword Princess' that Ais had spent the past year constructing shattered, and she reverted to the little girl she truly was inside.

Timid, cowardly, shrinking away, afraid of pain, afraid of suffering, afraid of death, afraid of loneliness and solitude... This was the real Ais Wallenstein!

I have never actually become stronger, she realized, her eyes burning and blurring with tears.

Even if Noah had beaten her until she was covered in wounds, Ais would not have felt the urge to wail like this.

Like a drowning person clutching at a final piece of driftwood, she clenched her fists, biting her lip until it bled, struggling to keep her eyes wide open to hold back the falling tears.

"But! But..."

Facing the little girl's struggle, Noah delivered a calm yet fatal blow.

"Ais, I can see that you seek strength to take revenge on a certain existence. But if one day, you had to sacrifice the lives of myself, Riveria, Finn, Loki, and Gareth to complete your revenge, would you do it?"

An inescapable, unstoppable, and indefensible strike pierced the softest, most wounded part of Ais's heart, tearing through it and leaving her mind a blank slate.

If the price were her own destruction, if she could drag that pitch-black despair down with her, Ais believed she would not hesitate.

But what if the price was losing Noah, losing Riveria, losing Finn, Loki, and Gareth?

A tidal wave of grief breached her inner defenses, and the black flames of hatred burned through her body, urging Ais to give an affirmative answer.

But...

She couldn't.

A power, stronger than the 'Doll War Maiden' born for slaughter and one Ais had never discovered before, surged from within her, preventing her from answering.

These two forces tangled and clashed, nearly tearing Ais in two and leaving her in such agony she could not breathe.

Ais did not understand why, but she simply could not speak, could not give an answer.

I can't do it, Ais realized.

She could not, as she had imagined, sacrifice everything for revenge.

The conviction that had supported her body and allowed her to ignore her pain shattered. It was as if Ais had been stripped of control over her own body; she was paralyzed, unable to muster a shred of strength, her face stiff, unable to utter a word.

Only tears welled up and fell, soaking her golden hair, caught by the cold wind, or shattering against the stone floor.

"Ais, those who live in a daze, just muddling through, don't need to struggle with this. But people like you and me will sooner or later face such a choice at some point in life—whether to forge ahead for our ideals or stop for the sake of those around us. If you make the wrong choice, you will regret it for the rest of your life."

Ais lifted her head from Noah's embrace, her reddened eyes blurred with tears, looking at Noah like a newly hatched chick, craving his guidance.

"Then, then what should I do? I..."

Noah tenderly wiped the tears from the girl's face and gently patted her back.

It was as if he were comforting his past self, who had stood amidst a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood for an entire night, only finding clarity when the crimson dawn rose.

Noah understood that what he said next was of vital importance to Ais.

Every living being in this world has desires; the only difference is whether they are for external things like wealth, power, and beauty, or for internal thoughts like love, hate, faith, and obsession.

Some people appear to have no desires, but in reality, they have simply concentrated them.

Just like the fanatics of the Dark Faction who do not fear death, or certain religious practitioners in the Far East who preach self-denial and suffering—they have merely converted their desire for enjoyment in this life into a faith for happiness and transcendence in the next.

Among these complex desires, as vast as a sea of stars, living for oneself is a rather mysterious concept.

After all, a certain degree of self-respect, self-love, and self-identity is the foundation of a person's existence. For the vast majority, living for oneself is a natural thing, not a matter of cold-blooded selfishness.

But there are some who simply cannot live for themselves.

They are like children who never grow up, forever needing the opinions of their parents to confirm whether they are doing the right thing.

They need to feel their own existence through their interactions with others, to confirm their self-worth when praised, and their need for external validation far exceeds that of an ordinary person.

To them, 'finding oneself' is likely a torture worse than hell—much like Ais is now.

Of course, although Ais had some psychological issues before, she was not the type of person who naturally lacked a self.

The reason Ais had fallen into this state now was that the will and conviction that had supported her for so long had been shattered by Noah.

For Ais, who had been robbed of all reasons to fight and directions to move forward, what she needed most right now was not encouragement or protection, but clear guidance and a pillar of support!

At this moment, the extent of Noah's control over this girl's fate was likely a level that even her parents and her deity had never reached.

If it were Riveria and the others facing an Ais like this, they would likely say something steady like, "Everyone's future must be explored by themselves. I cannot give you the answer, but I will protect you until you find it."

Because they are good people, kind people who would never easily interfere with the fate of others.

Ais, everyone's path can only be found, decided, and walked by themselves. Others have no way to interfere. If you need me, I will stay with you until you find your own path!

—If Noah were a good person, he would say that too...

But he is not!

52 Freya: I smell the scent of my own kind

Everyone has their own desires, and Noah is no exception.

Moreover, he is very clear about his own craving: it is battle.

To be precise, it is to surpass and to conquer!

Yet, the more one pursues something, the more one tends to be shackled by it; no one is an exception.

Noah is no different.

For someone who yearns to surpass everything, what is the greatest danger?

For Noah, it is undoubtedly reaching the pinnacle, where there are no more goals to fight or surpass.

Having already experienced this after slaying the Demon King in his previous world, Noah has no desire to go through it again.

Although he possesses a "three-no" system—one that can transport him between worlds but whose origin, purpose, and creator remain unknown—Noah shouldn't need to worry about finding opponents.

However, a little precaution is always good—since he worries about not finding an opponent in the future, why not start cultivating one for himself now?

Self-sufficiency is the key to abundance!

Noah hopes to find someone who can walk alongside him throughout his long life, someone who might even surpass him and give him a reason to keep chasing.

This opponent is not an enemy, but someone who understands him better than any enemy ever could.

To reach such a level, it is impossible without that person striving with Noah as their goal, or even living for his sake.

If I act like this, I suppose I'm no different from those in the Dark Faction, am I?

But I won't go out of my way to plunge someone into despair just to offer them hope—it's your own fault for delivering yourself to my doorstep.

With a trace of twisted pleasure in his heart, Noah cupped one side of Ais's face in his hands.