In DanMachi, Freya Had Her Eye on Me from the Start!

He headed toward some secluded alleys for one purpose only: to lure out the people lurking in the shadows.

As the saying went, it was easy to dodge an open spear but hard to guard against a hidden arrow. Since he had noticed the problem, it was better to deal with it sooner rather than later. Who knew what might happen if he dragged it out?

"Where's that kid going? Up ahead is the residential district~"

The men who had been following Cao Ye in secret were immediately puzzled by his route.

"Hmph, isn't the residential district even better? There are plenty of 'corners' there."

"I've got a bad feeling about this. Could he have noticed us?"

"Impossible. We've been so careful, and he's been eating and drinking all along the way. How could he have noticed us? I think he might just be lost."

"Lost?"

"That's right. Look at him—he's obviously unfamiliar with Orario. And with how freely he's spending money, his family definitely isn't short on cash. He must be some rich family's kid."

"A newcomer who just arrived in Orario?"

"To be honest, this working city isn't as glamorous as it looks. In a moment, we'll give this young master from out of town a little 'welcome gift' and help him learn Orario's rules."

"Leave it to me."

The two exchanged a smile, their eyes fixed on Cao Ye with greed and excitement.

The thought of making a fortune put them both in exceptionally good moods. Their Familia still had some divine wine left unsold this month.

As long as things worked out today, they could taste divine wine again tonight.

At that thought, both men swallowed unconsciously. Just thinking about divine wine made their mouths water.

"Hey, that kid stopped. He seems to be looking around."

"This young master has probably realized he's 'lost.' Get ready. It's time for us to make our move."

"Yeah~"

Meanwhile, Cao Ye looked around and gave a slight nod.

This was a corner of the residential district, a place similar to a back alley. Compared to the clean, orderly streets from earlier, this area was much messier.

It was far better than the slums, but only by a limited margin.

And this was precisely the place Cao Ye had chosen. He intended to deal with the tail that had been following him. He did not like the feeling of being watched.

"My friend, judging by your appearance, you seem to be lost. Need some help?"

At that moment, a broad-built man emerged from the other end of the street. He had a rough face, a full beard, and a face full of flesh. Dressed in coarse linen clothes, he looked like he was doing rather poorly.

Trapped in an Alley!

(P.S. Sorry, the second update was late. A friend called me out for drinks, and I fell asleep after getting back. I didn't wake up until the middle of the night~~)

Cao Ye smiled when he looked at the burly man before him. He had finally come out.

However, seeing the pile of beast ears atop the man's head, a trace of rejection flashed through Cao Ye's eyes. Beast-eared girls were treasures of the world, but male beastmen did not inspire any favorable feelings in him.

As the saying went, opposites attracted while likes repelled. Especially when the other party was a fellow with a face full of flesh.

"My friend, I think you need help."

"Oh? How could you tell?"

A cold glint flashed through Cao Ye's eyes as he looked at the man.

He could feel the undisguised malice clearly. And there was more than one person here. On the other side, another source of malice was constantly moving, positioned more than ten meters away. He was probably trying to circle behind him.

But Cao Ye did not show it. He wanted to see what these two were planning.

"Hahaha~, I'm a friendly adventurer. In the spirit of mutual assistance, I've come to offer you some 'help.' Of course, you'll need to pay a tiny bit of compensation, my friend."

With that, the beastman Walter revealed his true colors.

He had never been a particularly calculating person. At best, he was merely a third-rate adventurer from a third-rate Familia. Already in his thirties, he was still only Level 1.

Barring any surprises, he would never break through from Level 1 to Level 2 in his lifetime. His future was already set in stone.

And there were quite a few adventurers like him in Orario.

Indeed, the Falna of the gods was powerful. It could unlock the potential of mortals in the lower world, allowing them to gradually increase their strength through continual effort.

But not everyone possessed that kind of "talent." That was what so-called "potential" meant.

The vast majority of adventurers spent their entire lives stuck at Level 1 or Level 2. Not just anyone could rise to Level 3.

"A tiny bit of compensation?"

"That's right, just a tiny bit. Judging from your background, my friend, you must be either wealthy or noble. A little money shouldn't mean much to you, should it?"

Walter said this, though if possible, he did not want to fight.

After all, his strength was only so-so. At most, he could bully newcomers. If the other party had a powerful faction behind him, Walter could not afford to provoke him.

He only wanted to extort some money. He had not thought about anything more.

"To be honest, I'm not short on Valis, but I don't carry much cash with me. How about I give you this crystal card? You can withdraw 900,000 Valis from the Guild."

"900,000 Valis?"

Hearing such a huge sum, Walter nearly started drooling.

But when he saw the Familia emblem on the crystal card in Cao Ye's hand—a side profile of a Valkyrie framed in gold jewelry—his expression immediately changed. Every adventurer in Orario, especially thuggish adventurers like them, recognized that symbol.

After all, even thugs knew their limits. They only bullied people weaker than themselves and would not foolishly provoke those they could not afford to offend.

In Orario, the Freya Familia, one of the Twin Kings, stood at the very peak of all Familias.

Possessing such a crystal card meant that even if Cao Ye was not a member of the Freya Familia, he had a close relationship with them.

They did not know what the card was for, but something that looked so valuable could not possibly be ordinary.

If they provoked the Freya Familia, forget the two of them, mere Level 1 adventurers—even the entire Soma Familia would not be enough.

"Oh my, what kind of expression is that, 'my friend'? Why do you look so awful?"

"Y-you—"

Walter stammered as he stared at Cao Ye, unable to get a coherent sentence out.

"Oh, sorry. I'm really sorry for letting you see it. My fault~ My fault~"

At that moment, Cao Ye looked at the front of the crystal card in his hand and spoke with great "remorse," his face filled with "self-reproach."

Anyone unaware of the situation would have thought Cao Ye had truly done something wrong.

As a bottom-tier adventurer in Orario, Walter naturally bullied the weak and feared the strong. He could not afford to provoke the enormous Freya Familia.

But as a beastman, he had a terrible temper and was exceptionally irritable.

This skinny young master—if he were killed, no one would know Walter had done it. This was Orario, after all. People died every day.

If he killed him and took his things, he could get 900,000 Valis. It was an absolutely risk-free profit.

At that thought, Walter's gaze toward Cao Ye quietly changed.

The greed in his eyes began to carry a faint hint of killing intent. Since he had already provoked him, he might as well kill him and snuff out the trouble before it could grow.

"Do you want to kill me?"

Seeing the change in Walter's eyes, Cao Ye smiled. He had seen that kind of look many times before.

Several times in the Dungeon, he had run into other adventurers. Because he seemed too weak, they had wanted to take his belongings and even kill him to silence him.

But they had not expected that while Cao Ye was weak, his constitution was absurdly strong. In the end, he successfully killed them instead.

He still remembered the first time an adventurer had stabbed straight through his abdomen. He had played dead, tricking the man into approaching to search his body for valuables, then ambushed him and pierced his throat.

The spurting blood dyed his body red. His hair, eyes, nostrils, and even his mouth had been filled with blood.

That time, he vomited until the world spun. He had nearly thrown up all his stomach acid.

It had been his first time killing someone. The physical and psychological discomfort had taken Cao Ye several days to recover from.

As the saying went, the beginning was always the hardest. There was only zero times and countless times. Once there was a first time, there would be a second, a third, and so on.

He had changed little by little, abandoning weakness and cowardice, becoming willing to do anything to survive.

This city ate people. And in order not to be eaten, Cao Ye had already resolved himself to eat others first.

Seeing Cao Ye's calm expression and unchanged emotions, Walter began to feel uneasy.

Could he be setting a trap for criminals? Looking at him, could he be a powerful adventurer?

It was not entirely unreasonable for Walter to be afraid and overthink things. In Orario, the Freya Familia was synonymous with power. Though they were rarely seen, no one from the Familia who walked outside was weak.

Meanwhile, Jared had quietly made his way behind Cao Ye and was carefully closing in.

Walter, who had been feeling nervous, immediately brightened when he saw Jared's position. Kid, in a moment, I'll show you what it means to wish you were dead.

At that thought, a cruel smile appeared on Walter's face.

A Beauty Saves the Hero!

Bang—

Thud—

Just as the "danger" was about to strike, Walter's face was about to split from smiling.

But in an instant, a sudden attack struck Walter and Jared, who had been preparing to ambush Cao Ye from behind. Caught completely off guard and unable to resist, both men collapsed to the ground.

This sudden turn of events even left Cao Ye, the one who had been "setting a trap," stunned for a moment.

"Are you all right?"

At that moment, an elf wearing the Hostess of Fertility uniform appeared.

She held a bag of food in one arm and a bloodstained branch in the other. Walter and Jared both had bruises on the backs of their heads.

"You are..."

"Ryu Lion. We met before, at the Hostess of Fertility."

"It's you, that pretty elf girl."

"Mm~"

Ryu nodded at Cao Ye. By coincidence, she had spotted him wandering around the streets.

Then she had noticed Walter and Jared following behind him. Driven by her former belief in "justice," she had acted.

She was no longer a member of the Justice Familia, nor did she deserve to call herself "justice."

But when something was about to happen right before her eyes, she could not help but intervene. Perhaps it was also a way to repay her past "sins."

"Thank you so much for what you did today~"

Though he had not needed saving, she had indeed helped him. It was only proper to thank her.

"This place might be a little better than other districts, but you still shouldn't casually come to deserted places. Orario isn't as glamorous as it looks."

"I understand."

Cao Ye accepted Ryu's warning. After all, she meant well.

However, as someone who always repaid every grievance, Cao Ye would not let off these two men who had intended to kill him.

One had to pull out weeds by the roots. This was a truth Cao Ye believed in. He did not want to suffer a setback because of them in the future.

As the saying went, petty people were troublesome. If such insignificant people truly wanted revenge, even if they could not hurt him, they could still disgust him. Besides, Orario was not peaceful, so it was better to clean things up thoroughly and prevent any accidents.

"From the looks of it, you haven't been in Orario for long. I'll take you out of here."

"Thank you so much~"

Cao Ye hurried after her, but as he passed Walter and Jared, a mass of black substance fell to the ground.

Soon, Cao Ye and Ryu disappeared at the end of the street.

Gurgle—

On the ground, the black substance Cao Ye had dropped began to swell.