Freya Had Her Eye on Him from the Start in DanMachi!

"Didn't I give you a million Valis before? You go to the Dungeon every day too, so how did you end up broke?"

"My expenses are huge. I developed something with my Imaginary Magic—it lets me store weapons in Imaginary Space, then fire them out like arrows."

"Oh? That sounds pretty good~"

"It is good, but it burns through money. A weapon gets worn down after just two or three days. Maintaining it isn't worth the cost, so they break down really fast."

"Then why use it? You know it costs money."

"Lady Freya, but fighting like that looks cool! I don't have to do anything—just one spell can take care of every enemy. It's insanely cool."

"You're buying that coolness with money~"

Freya's voice drifted over like a small knife, stabbing straight into Cao Ye's heart.

Cao Ye had no way to refute that, because it really was bought with money.

At first, he had not paid much attention to it. Each weapon only cost a few thousand Valis, and he had a million Valis. He could afford it.

A million Valis was indeed a lot, but it did not last very long.

He ate and drank lavishly every day, frequently dined at the Hostess of Fertility, and had alcohol expenses on top of that. Then there was the biggest expense of all—weapons. The Valis in Cao Ye's hands slipped away through his fingers like running water.

By the time he came to his senses, not even half the month had passed, yet his million Valis was already gone.

"Lady Freya, I'm practically too poor to put food on the table. Could you maybe~~~"

"No money~"

Without the slightest hesitation, Freya cut Cao Ye off.

I gave you a million Valis for free every month. What more did you want? If you wanted money, earn it yourself in the Dungeon.

Did you think I would not know what you had been doing just because I had not been at Babel Tower these past few days? You did not head to the Dungeon until nearly noon every day, then came back as soon as the sun started setting in the afternoon.

He was clearly an uncut gem, so how had she managed to spoil him like this?

Freya even began to wonder whether she should not have given him that million Valis in the first place. Otherwise, he might not have turned out this way.

Before this, he had entered the Dungeon early and returned late every day. Several times, he had nearly died inside it.

So why had he become like this after coming to her?

"Goddess, I can barely afford to eat. Please have mercy~"

"Too poor to afford food? Are you sure?"

"Uh~"

Seeing the goddess open her eyes and fix her gaze on him, Cao Ye did not dare meet her stare and quietly looked away.

It was true that he had a major cash shortfall, but being unable to afford food was obviously impossible.

"Hmph. Stop talking nonsense, or that million Valis will be gone starting next month too."

"No, Lady Freya~"

The moment he heard that, Cao Ye panicked and threw his arms around Freya's leg.

Mm~

The sudden action made Freya's body tremble, yet she did not reject Cao Ye's abrupt intimacy in her heart.

Meanwhile, feeling the touch of the "goddess's jade-like leg," Cao Ye's thoughts were already wandering.

"Hehe~"

Just as Freya was about to scold him, she caught sight of his lecherous expression, and her face immediately changed.

Bang—

She did not bother with words and went straight to her foot.

With one kick, she sent Cao Ye straight off the bed. He landed on the floor hard on his backside.

"You touched my body without permission. Your Valis for next month is gone."

"Huh? A hundred thousand Valis deducted just for hugging your leg? That's too—"

"Too what?"

Before he could finish, he saw Freya's "kind" gaze.

"Too cheap~"

He swallowed every other word and gave the exact opposite answer.

"Oh? Since you think so, then I'll deduct two months' worth. Your Valis for next month and the month after are both gone."

The goddess Freya delivered a verdict that shattered Cao Ye's heart.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

Cao Ye repeatedly slapped himself across the mouth. Why did he have such a loose tongue? He had cost himself another million.

Still, two million just for hugging her leg really was expensive.

His heart ached. This was far too ruthless.

Seeing Cao Ye like this, Freya smiled. She did not care whether it was one million or two million. Valis was just a number to her. Forget one million—even ten million or a hundred million was pocket change.

As the chief goddess of Orario's strongest Familia, especially when every member of that Familia was an obsessive admirer, she was unquestionably filthy rich—the richest of the rich.

The reason she did this was to make Cao Ye feel the pain. That was the point. Touching a goddess's body casually naturally warranted punishment.

"Alright, I nearly forgot about the important matter. Get back up here and take off your clothes."

"Uh, do you need me to warm your bed tonight?"

"Say one more word, and I'll deduct all your Valis for the entire year."

"I'll shut up~"

Cao Ye hurriedly shut his mouth. If an entire year's allowance was deducted, would that not mean he had been taken advantage of for free? That would be an enormous loss.

"Hmph~"

Goddesses had their tempers too. Even a goddess would get angry if he made too many dirty jokes.

Cao Ye then took off his shirt and sat at the edge of the bed with his back to Freya.

Freya took out a needle and pricked her finger. Divine blood flowed forth, and under the effect of that single drop, the Blessing on Cao Ye's back bloomed with white light. His "growth" appeared before Freya.

[Name]: Cao Ye

[Level]: Lv. 1

[Abilities]:

"Strength: I·11---G·267" "Endurance: I·15---G·279" "Dexterity: I·9---G·177" "Agility: I·22---G·201" "Magic: I·30---C·666"

[Development Abilities]:

[Magic]: Imaginary Magic ()()

[Skills]:

"Miracle of Absolute Evil"

"Imaginary Space"

Cao Ye Under Investigation!

Seeing Cao Ye's "growth," Freya was somewhat surprised.

Although ability values rose quickly at the beginning since he had only just become an adventurer, it had only been a few days. Yet his values had increased this much already.

The fastest record in Orario for advancing from Lv. 1 to Lv. 2 had still taken a full year.

And the person who had set that record was none other than Ais Wallenstein of the Loki Familia. At the time, it had shocked the entire world.

Now, Cao Ye had improved by so much in only ten days. It seemed there was no suspense at all about surpassing her.

At the same time, under the catalysis of divine blood, the growth known as "experience points" transformed into "ability values." Cao Ye clearly felt his strength improving.

His "magic" in particular had increased by a massive amount, directly surpassing the total magic power he had gained from absorbing magic stones over the past dozen days.

"So this is the Blessing..."

At that moment, Cao Ye understood just how powerful the Blessing was.

As long as one "worked hard," one would gain something. Though results varied from person to person, there was no denying that compared to other worlds, the way one improved through a Blessing was simply too easy.

For the Blessing's ability values, experience gained through training or actual combat increased proficiency. The more frequently a particular attribute was trained, the more outstanding its proficiency and rating became.

To increase strength, fight and attack. To increase endurance, endure damage. To increase magic, use spells and consume magic power. Different methods improved different attributes.

"To be honest, you've been quite lazy these past few days, but this growth still surprises me. If you worked just a little harder, you might create an 'unprecedented' record."

As she spoke, Freya copied down Cao Ye's Blessing status and handed it to him.

Looking at the increase in his Blessing's ability values, Cao Ye nodded. However, when he saw that his "magic" had reached C-rank with 666 points, he was also surprised.

But on second thought, it was probably because he had frequently used Projection Magecraft and Imaginary Magic.

Also, before going to sleep every day, Cao Ye exhausted all of his magic power to expand Imaginary Space. He had likely accumulated quite a lot of "experience points" during that process.

Freya's eyes lit up as she watched Cao Ye stare at his Blessing with a smile on his face.

This was the first time she had seen such a "pure" smile from him. It held no impurities, a smile straight from the heart. Combined with Cao Ye's already decent looks, the more Freya looked at him, the more pleasing he seemed.

"Um, Lady Freya, I've made quite a bit of progress. Shouldn't you give me something for it?"

However, his handsomeness did not even last three seconds before Cao Ye's "familiar" nature returned.

Freya's face immediately fell. What she had just seen had definitely been an illusion. How could this shameless fellow have that kind of side to him?

"Get out~"

"Hey, Lady Freya, I'm poor right now—"

Bang—

Once again, Cao Ye was kicked straight off the bed, and this kick was even harder than the last one.

"If you won't give it to me, then don't. Stop kicking people at every turn~"

"What? Do you have a problem with that?"

"N-No~"

Though he really wanted to say that she could kick him a few more times, he held it in. Although he had already lost most of his dignity, he still wanted to keep a little face.

After all, at that level of force, it was practically no different from a "reward." If possible, he could let her kick him all day.

It was fortunate Freya could not read minds. Otherwise, she would have collapsed. What she considered punishment was a "reward" in his eyes. He was a beast in human clothing—handsome on the outside, but an extremely perverted deviant within.

While Cao Ye and Freya carried on with their private bedroom affair, the gears of fate quietly began to turn elsewhere.

Twilight Manor, the Loki Familia's headquarters.

All of the Loki Familia's upper ranks had gathered in the conference hall, along with the goddess Loki.

"So, Finn, what did your investigation into this 'Cao Ye' uncover?"

Loki sat in her seat with one leg crossed over the other, looking utterly relaxed.

She was somewhat curious about Freya's special treatment of him, but in the end, he was only a child of the Lower World. He was not important enough to warrant too much of her attention.

Over countless centuries, who knew how many "miracles" had been born among the children of the Lower World? One more did not matter.

"There isn't much information. The Freya Familia must have 'dealt with' it."

Finn sighed softly, his tone carrying some helplessness.

Still, it was understandable. This man was very likely a rising star of the Freya Familia, so protecting information about him was only natural.

The dwarf Gareth and the elf Riveria both looked toward Finn. The fact that traces of Cao Ye's past had been erased already said a great deal.

After all, if he were merely an ordinary Familia member, they would not have treated him so cautiously.

They had dealt with the Freya Familia for many years, yet this was the first time they had seen them behave this way. Therefore, this Cao Ye was definitely no ordinary person.