In DanMachi, I Was Targeted by Freya from the Start! Chapter 14

"Hmm?"

At that moment, Walter slowly came to. Feeling the pain at the back of his head, he reached up to touch it and found his hand covered in blood.

"Bastard, who ambushed me from behind?!"

The fat sheep that had been in his grasp had gotten away, and he might even have provoked the Freya Familia. Walter's mood was terrible.

However, he failed to notice that the mass of black substance behind him had already expanded to half a person's size.

Rustle—rustle—

"What was that sound?"

He instinctively turned around and saw a black monster that looked like a lump of rotten mud.

"Monst—"

Slap—

Before he could finish speaking, Walter was directly enveloped by the Black Mud. Like a slime, it completely ignored the struggle of a living human being and slowly swallowed him into its body.

In just a moment, the struggling stopped. The Black Mud monster then turned on the other man.

In less than a minute, two living people had vanished just like that, while the Black Mud monster itself gradually disappeared from this world as well.

Elsewhere, Cao Ye, who had followed Ryu to the main street, sensed something at that moment too.

He turned to look toward the depths of the street, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

Black Mud, the substance formed from All the World's Evil. In Fate, Servants who touched Black Mud would be corrupted and darkened, and Black Mud could also give Heroic Spirits physical bodies.

However, in this world, Black Mud—or rather, Cao Ye's Black Mud—did not possess those powers.

Still, it could devour all living beings and obtain magic power from them.

Cao Ye did not consider himself a good person, but he could not bring himself to use such an evil method to increase his strength, so he had never used Black Mud before.

This was also the first time he had used the power of Black Mud. Using it to dispose of corpses was truly a bit wasteful.

"All right, don't run into deserted alleys like that so casually in the future."

"I understand, Miss Ryu. I'll remember that."

"Mm."

Ryu gave Cao Ye a faint glance, then turned and left.

The two of them had merely met by chance. Even at the Hostess of Fertility, they had only seen each other once. There was no friendship between them to speak of.

Her willingness to save him today was simply because Ryu's kindness had been stirred.

On a high platform in the distance, Freya's "eyes" watched everything.

She had seen everything that had just happened. Although she was somewhat disappointed that she had not seen Cao Ye's past, she had witnessed all of the contingency he used to "dispose of the corpses."

At that moment, Freya smiled. She did not think there was anything wrong with Cao Ye's actions.

In fact, she liked Cao Ye even more for his decisiveness. After all, she was no benevolent goddess. Under Orario's night sky, she had done no shortage of dark things herself.

"Still, those two just now were members of the Soma Familia, weren't they?"

Seeing this, Ottar immediately understood.

The goddess was dissatisfied with the Soma Familia. In that case, he would pay them a visit and make the Soma Familia pay the price. If they could not satisfy the goddess, then there would be no need for the Soma Familia to continue existing.

They were merely a third-rate Familia. Though they had many members, their strongest was only a Level 2 captain.

For a Familia like that, the Freya Familia could send out just one person and turn the Soma Familia into history. Without high-level combat power, low-level adventurers were meaningless.

Knock, knock.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door, and Ottar immediately looked toward the entrance.

"Come in."

Creak.

Only after hearing Freya's voice did the visitor push the door open and enter.

"Lady Freya."

The visitor was a cat beastman with a pair of cat ears on his head.

If Ottar was Freya's personal guard, then Allen was the secret protector of "Syr," the one who protected Freya at all times whenever she was active under the identity of "Syr."

The vice-captain of the Freya Familia, a Level 6 adventurer with the title "Fastest in the City."

Chapter 24: The Jealous "Fastest in the City"!

Looking at the goddess before him, a faintly strange feeling rose in Allen's heart.

However, this was not an exception. More accurately, every member of the Freya Familia, regardless of gender, admired the goddess Freya.

Yes, as the Goddess of Beauty, Freya's charm affected both men and women alike.

"How did the investigation go?"

"I've investigated everything, Lady Freya."

"Speak."

Freya glanced at Allen and slowly spoke.

"Cao Ye arrived in Orario eighteen days ago. At first, he was an ordinary person with little strength. The first time he entered the Dungeon, he lost an arm."

"He lost an arm?"

This immediately caught Freya's attention. After all, Cao Ye currently had both arms intact.

"Yes. This was confirmed by the owner of the inn where Cao Ye was staying. Although we do not know how he recovered, he truly had lost an arm before."

"It seems this little one truly isn't simple."

As expected of someone from another world. Regenerating a severed arm was not easy even in Orario.

"Furthermore, according to the innkeeper, his arm recovered overnight."

"Overnight!"

At this point, even Allen became curious. Just how had the other party managed it?

Could it have been some special skill? If so, that would be wonderful. If someone in the Familia lost an arm or leg, they could recover it.

Although they did not get along with one another, as the Familia's vice-captain, he still cared greatly about its members.

After all, the Familia's people belonged to the goddess Freya. They were the foundation that made the Freya Familia the strongest.

"All the World's Evil, huh~~~"

Freya, on the other hand, immediately thought of the thing on Cao Ye's body.

"Evil" was not something that could be borne easily. The price to pay was enormous, but in return, one could gain certain benefits, such as "immortality."

In this world, many powerful monsters, or terrifying "evils," could only be subjugated by heroes.

This was because only such "children beloved by the world" possessed the qualifications to defeat "evil." Only "heroes" could accomplish it.

In that era before the gods descended to the lower world, heroes were humanity's "hope."

"Allen, is there anything else?"

"There isn't much else. However, this Cao Ye's rate of growth is very fast. In just half a month, he went from a weakling incapable of even tying up a chicken to someone at the level of a newcomer."

This "newcomer" referred to "adventurers." Before even receiving Falna, Cao Ye already possessed the strength of an adventurer. That was truly astonishing.

Freya nodded. She had also asked around about Cao Ye.

The sudden appearance Allen mentioned was probably the day Cao Ye arrived in this world. The reason it seemed "sudden" was because there had never been any traces to follow in the first place.

"By the way, Allen, what happened to that innkeeper you mentioned?"

"I've dealt with him."

"Mm, good."

Cao Ye's uniqueness made Freya pay special attention to him, especially his identity as someone from another world. Therefore, in order to make everything about him belong solely to her, she would erase all traces of Cao Ye's past.

"Lady Freya, he's only a boy with some potential. Is he really worth so much of your attention?"

At that moment, Allen could not help but speak. Freya had paid far too much attention to Cao Ye.

Looking across the entire Familia, no one had ever received such attention from the goddess. Allen, who had always strived to become the strongest and most useful person in order to win the goddess's gaze, felt somewhat jealous.

The moment those words left his mouth, the atmosphere in the room instantly grew heavy.

Freya lowered her gaze to Allen. Her eyes were as still as an ancient well, revealing not the slightest emotion.

"Allen, are you telling me how to do things?"

That calm sentence sounded like a bolt from the blue in Allen's ears.

"Allen would never dare!"

Without hesitation, Allen dropped to one knee and deeply lowered his head before Freya.

He was not afraid of punishment, but he feared being abandoned by the goddess. If it truly came to that, it would be more torturous than death.

Freya's gaze did not change as she looked at Allen kneeling on the floor.

In truth, the Freya Familia was not all that important in Freya's eyes. It was like playing a cultivation game—no matter how much time and effort one invested, it was still only a game.

If it ever became necessary, Freya would not care even if she had to discard it.

It was not only her. Most gods were much the same. After all, they had come to the lower world to seek amusement, not to develop Familias or anything of the sort.

And Freya had come to the lower world to find her Odr—her partner.

"Allen, this is the first time, and I hope it will be the last. Otherwise, next time, you can crawl back to the Silver Mansion."

"Yes, Lady Freya."

At that moment, Allen's heart was filled not only with fear, but also with deep jealousy.

He could not understand why someone who had appeared from nowhere would be valued so highly by the goddess, to the point that even he could not compare.

He did not doubt in the slightest that if he made another mistake, the goddess would send him away.

As vice-captain, and as someone tasked with protecting the goddess's safety and identity, he attracted only slightly less hatred within the Familia than Ottar did. He was also one of the few people who could spend a relatively long time with the goddess.

If he lost that "honor," it would be no different from killing him.

"Remember this. Cao Ye is the 'hope' I have chosen. He may become a new 'hero.'"

"A new hero?"

Although Allen did not understand, he remembered it in his heart.

The title of hero was not something just anyone could bear, and he did not believe some green boy could grow into a hero.

Over on Prosperity Street, Cao Ye had no idea that because of him, the Freya Familia's second-in-command had just been reprimanded.

Cao Ye continued enjoying his life, eating and drinking all sorts of things.

And so, time passed second by second, and the sky gradually darkened.

Cao Ye once again arrived at the Hostess of Fertility. This time, however, he was not there because of Syr, but because of Ryu.

No matter what, she had helped him. Coming to spend some money at her establishment could be considered a way of repaying her.

Chapter 25: Are You the One Being Kept by a Goddess on the Street?

At this time, since it was not yet mealtime, there were not many people around.

Although the Hostess of Fertility was popular, it was not packed from morning to night. Inside, several pretty girls were wiping tables and cleaning up.

"Oh my, a customer, meow~"

"Hello."

Seeing her, Cao Ye quickly responded.

Anya Fromel, like him, was an adventurer from the Freya Familia. No, more accurately, she had once been an adventurer and was now merely a waitress at the Hostess of Fertility.

She was the younger sister of Allen, the current vice-captain of the Freya Familia, a Level 4 adventurer with the title Chariot's Avatar.