The Journey Begins in DanMachi

"Hey! Wake up! Elf! Li Ang? Ryu! This is my first time being this intimate with a woman, too. If you die, I'm going to develop a phobia of women!"

Then, Ryu actually drifted back to consciousness.

Looking at Noah pressing down on her, the only thing echoing in Ryu's muddled mind was the word 'first time'.

"You, is it really your first time?"

Hm? Is that the point right now?

Whether it was before or now, why is your focus as an Elf always so skewed?

However, Noah wasn't one to dwell on things, and besides, he was about to defile the Elf before him; humoring her a little wouldn't hurt.

"Mm, yeah. If you want to talk about intimate contact before this, it was during a fight with a woman where I couldn't beat her, so in a moment of desperation, I bit her neck."

That was the very time Noah had drained magic from her blood to turn the tables and kill her.

At this moment, Ryu looked at Noah's face and felt it looked surprisingly youthful.

Yet, she couldn't sense any lust surging in Noah's eyes.

Love, shyness, excitement, longing, agitation... all the emotions that young boys and girls should have during their first encounter with the opposite sex were nowhere to be found.

Although he had shown expressions of helplessness, confusion, and curiosity before, those were merely ripples on the surface of the water.

Even someone as calm and composed as Kaguya had pain points that would make her snap the moment they were mentioned; her aggressive rhetoric was a manifestation of a sensitive heart—it was precisely because she could feel pain that she needed to wrap herself in aggression and coldness.

But Noah likely wouldn't; this person's heart had long since solidified like steel.

It was precisely because he had wiped away all the confusion, hesitation, and inner conflict that a young person should have that he could instead project such an ethereal gentleness.

Thinking of this, Ryu actually felt a surge of pity for this boy a few years her senior, and the shyness in her heart dissipated significantly.

After all, he was doing this to save me—

Meanwhile, on the surface in Orario, at the central plaza.

As night fell, lights illuminated the darkness, and countless stalls were spread out. People of all races wove through them, the elderly and children accompanied one another, radiating smiles and joy.

Although the small festival was held in the central plaza, the overflow of tourists brought vitality to the other streets as well, the entire city exuding a heat that dispelled the chill of the winter night.

Near Babel, Ais stared blankly at the first-floor lobby until Riveria called out to her from behind.

"Ais?"

Coming back to her senses, Ais saw a girl of similar age to her, face flushed, handing her an apple.

Looking at Riveria, Ais received a nod of approval before reaching out to take the apple.

"Thank you."

"Liya says thank you too! Thank you adventurers for protecting us, bye-bye!"

Clutching the apple and watching the little girl's retreating back, Ais looked at the surging crowds in the festival, her eyes reflecting the brilliance.

Suddenly, she felt a chill.

69 If I could hide him away

An agitation, as if her favorite pillow had been snatched away, spread through her small chest, making it difficult for Ais to breathe, while her back felt faintly hot.

Noah.

With almost no further thought, Ais determined the source of this strange discomfort; it had to be Noah, who had yet to return from the Dungeon.

Her abnormality caught Riveria's attention.

"Ais? What's wrong? Did you discover something?"

Tightening her grip on her staff, Riveria subconsciously scanned the surroundings, her sharp gaze attempting to find any thugs hiding among the civilians.

With the festival being held in the city, the Dark Faction would never sit idly by; this was something almost everyone could anticipate.

Therefore, while civilians and small Familias could relax and enjoy themselves, the major Familias had no leisure time; every single one of them had been forcibly assigned guard duties by the Guild, stationed throughout the city.

Finn was stationed at a nearby tower, commanding and coordinating the major Familias.

Gareth led a team patrolling the more secluded alleys, searching for enemies who might be lurking in the shadows.

Considering the plaza had a wide field of vision, the possibility of a sudden attack by the Dark Faction was lower, and there was no room to use offensive magic on the surface, which was why Riveria had been assigned to guard the plaza.

The primary task was to protect and direct the public in the event of an attack to prevent chaos.

The goal of the festival wasn't to eliminate a certain number of enemies, but to show the public that the city had the power to protect them—it was based on this consideration that Finn had concentrated the main defensive forces of each Familia at the major intersections and nearby buildings of the plaza.

It could be said that as long as the Dark Faction couldn't descend from the sky or tunnel up from the ground, the central plaza, which lacked defenses, was actually the safest place in the city.

Therefore, upon hearing Finn say, 'It's also time to let Ais step out of our protection,' Riveria had reluctantly allowed Ais to come here to help with the guard duty, on the condition that she stay by her side at all times.

Of course, the Elf Royalty suspected that their captain had only said that because he was truly short-handed.

Damn Hobbit!

"Riveria! Noah, something happened to Noah!"

"Huh?"

The unexpected answer left Riveria momentarily stunned.

Noah hasn't even returned yet, so how could you know he's in trouble?

However, recalling the magic and skills that had developed within Ais, Riveria chose to believe her.

Truth be told, Noah should have returned before nightfall, and with him still missing, Riveria felt a fair amount of anxiety herself.

But standing on the front lines, as a commander, she could not afford to show even a hint of wavering.

Yet, she could not abandon the defensive line now.

What to do?

Hm?

As her gaze swept across the surroundings, Riveria suddenly noticed something strange on Ais's face.

Although Ais looked flustered, it wasn't primarily out of fear, but rather anger.

The kind of anger a little girl feels when her favorite toy is snatched away.

Something is wrong.

"Ais, think carefully and tell me the truth!"

Lowering her head, Riveria looked Ais straight in the eyes with a stern expression.

"Do you truly sense that Noah's life is in danger?"

This question stopped Ais in her tracks; her small face, previously frozen with arched brows and wide, angry eyes, suddenly stiffened.

With a finger pressed to her chin, Ais tilted her head, looking as if she were contemplating a magical circle arrangement that no one could possibly solve, no matter how angry they were.

After a long while, she looked at Riveria and nodded firmly with a resolute expression.

"Yes! I am certain, Noah's chastity is in danger!"

Hearing this answer, Riveria's emerald eyes, which resembled precious gems, instantly turned into dead fish eyes.

The Elf Royalty didn't even need to think twice to know that Noah had likely encountered some woman in the Dungeon, leading to this or that kind of situation.

In the Heroic Tales, there were far too many such tropes, and Riveria had seen more than enough of them.

For instance, after Noah took on the Goliath solo, several girls from the Astraea Familia had become infatuated with him.

Even the little girl from the Dian Cecht Familia had developed inappropriate feelings after being treated by him for a while.

But the problem is, Ais, can your skill actually be used to catch someone cheating? Is this even a proper skill?

This made Riveria recall the Hera Familia.

In the eyes of the world, they were the hegemonic Familia that had reigned over Orario for long, long years.

But to those like Riveria who had had some deeper contact with them, their image was somewhat shattered.

They were certainly strong, but the issue was—whether it was due to the influence of the yandere-style violent goddess Hera—most members of the Hera Familia gave off the impression of being extremely extreme, aging spinsters.

They were either desperate to marry and yandere, or they loathed men entirely.

An adventurer's inner desires give birth to skills, but conversely, skills and magic can also influence the adventurer.

If Ais develops this kind of skill, won't she end up like that in the future?

Coupled with the fact that Noah, even without subjective intent, passively attracts women.

Adding the two together, Riveria felt she could already foresee what the Loki Familia, and perhaps even Orario, would become.

At the thought of such a scene, the Elf Royalty couldn't help but cast a distant gaze.

To think that having a student who is too outstanding could lead to such troubles.

...If I could hide Noah away and reduce the chances of other women seeing him, would that make the situation any better?

Wait, why does that thought feel a bit dangerous?

Shaking her head to cast those thoughts aside, Riveria rubbed her temples and stood up again.

"Ais, you should know Noah's strength. Even if he can't win, as long as he wants to run, no one in the middle or upper levels of the Dungeon, or even in Orario, can threaten him. If we go down now, we'll only be adding to his troubles."

Although Riveria rattled on at length, Ais only heard the three big words 'not allowed to go,' and she couldn't help but puff her cheeks out like a giant loaf of bread.

But she was no longer the reckless child who would disregard everything for the sake of a fight; she knew the importance of priorities.

Not only as a member of the Loki Familia, but as Noah's future wife, she had to learn to be mature!

For example, the Heroic Tales always said that heroes are fickle!

Therefore, the wife of a hero has only two choices—either, to keep life going, turn a blind eye to the fickle husband's behavior, as long as he is willing to come home.

Or... just like the Amazons, directly break the hero's legs and drag him home!

Ais was a selfish girl; she didn't want to share that not-so-broad chest of her pillow... if Riveria wanted to sleep with them, that would be fine, it would be warmer.

But if she wanted to break Noah's legs, she certainly wasn't his match right now.

Unless she surpassed him...

"Ais, if you keep staring at me like that, you'll never be able to surpass me."

It was precisely to surpass Noah that Ais had halted her Dungeon explorations, casting her gaze toward a wider world.

However, what was she looking at?

In a corner where Ais was staring, a violent explosion suddenly erupted, and chaos began to spread in its wake.

Ais, standing amidst the wind, looked somewhat disheveled.

Sword and Wind

Although it was called an explosion, the power was minimal; the sound was perhaps no louder than a firework, failing to even reach across the bustling plaza.

For instance, most of the people near Ais remained immersed in the stalls before them.

Only a few sharp-eared beastmen looked up, gazing around in confusion.

Clearly, they had heard the commotion, but could not distinguish whether the sound originated from an explosion or a performance arranged by the Guild.