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

That sword had also been picked up by Cao Ye in the Dungeon. In Orario, even the cheapest sword was anything but cheap.

At least for Cao Ye, buying one required saving up Valis for quite a while.

And like in anime, especially in Holy Sword Princess Tale, Ais and the others spent tens of millions of Valis every time they replaced a weapon. For Cao Ye, that was nothing more than a dream.

"About one-tenth of my magic power was consumed. Is it because this is just an ordinary weapon?"

He gave it a slight swing. It felt roughly the same as his previous sword, after all, it had been Projected according to his own "memories."

With this ability, if nothing else, he would no longer need to spend money buying weapons or maintaining and repairing them.

Especially for someone as "impoverished" as Cao Ye, gaining "magecraft" had solved an urgent problem. After all, fighting monsters barehanded in the Dungeon could get him killed with one careless mistake.

It was only because he bore All the World's Evil and was no longer an ordinary person that he had managed to survive.

Ordinary injuries could recover quickly as long as he expended magic power. That was precisely why Cao Ye had been able to stay alive in the Dungeon.

Whoosh—

The longsword materialized through Projection Magecraft vanished.

Cao Ye sighed softly. After all, he was not Shirou Emiya and did not possess the other man's "aptitude."

After all, he was not from the Fate world, nor did he have magic circuits in his body. It was only because of the cleansing of the Black Mud that magic power had arisen within him, allowing him to use magecraft.

Still, Cao Ye had no idea what level he could ultimately reach.

However, magic power could be increased by absorbing the magic power within magic stones. It was just that Cao Ye could currently only operate in the upper floors, so the increase was not substantial.

Cao Ye had once "imagined" what it would be like if he could absorb the magic stone of a floor boss. How much magic power would it give him? After all, a single one was as large as a small mountain.

Of course, that was just wishful thinking. At his current stage, a floor boss was not something Cao Ye could touch. That would be suicide.

[Name: Cao Ye]

[Current Card Pool: Fate]

[Diamonds: 0]

Well, his diamonds had been reset to zero again. He had to keep "grinding." One task a day gave ten diamonds; ten tasks in ten days gave one hundred diamonds. The efficiency was not low, but it definitely was not high either.

Yah—yah—

At that moment, two Goblins emerged from the Dungeon walls. The instant they appeared, they launched an attack on Cao Ye. That was the nature of all Dungeon creatures: an instinctive hostility toward humans.

Freya: What Do You Think of Me?

"Projection, begin—"

Humm—

Watching the Goblins charge at him with wooden clubs in hand, Cao Ye smiled and began his "Projection."

As his magic power was consumed, combined with the successful experience from just now, a longsword quickly took shape in Cao Ye's hand. From nothing to something—if anyone else saw this, they would be absolutely stunned.

Facing the Goblins' attack, Cao Ye had, after all, accumulated half a month of combat experience.

He sidestepped one Goblin's attack, and its wooden club smashed straight into the ground. The other Goblin, seeing its companion fail, continued attacking Cao Ye.

Pfft—

One thrust pierced straight through the Goblin's throat. Blood splattered, staining the ground around them.

Bang—

The green-skinned little monster that had been baring its fangs and claws a moment ago turned into a cloud of black smoke and vanished without a trace. Only a magic stone left on the ground proved that a Goblin had once existed there.

Yah—

The second Goblin did not stop because of its companion's death. More accurately, they were merely monsters that had just been born together, and could only be considered to be "on the same side."

The club struck Cao Ye directly on the arm. He felt a burst of pain, but his expression did not change.

After taking the Goblin's blow, he swung his sword backhandedly and stabbed it into the Goblin's chest, piercing straight through its body.

Bang—

Like the previous Goblin, the entire creature turned into black mist and disappeared.

"Phew."

Letting out a long breath, Cao Ye picked up the magic stones from the ground.

One side of his arm had turned slightly red from the Goblin's strike, but there was no need to pay attention to such a minor scrape. It would recover soon enough.

Back when he had first entered the Dungeon half a month ago, Cao Ye had been truly "miserable."

He had been beaten half to death by an Orc. If his constitution had not ceased to be ordinary, he likely would have died before accomplishing anything.

However, relying on his continually recovering body, Cao Ye had eventually worn the Orc down and killed it.

Over the following half month, Cao Ye had explored the Dungeon bit by bit, gradually growing stronger through all his struggles, until he reached today.

Before being transported here, Cao Ye had only been an ordinary person. He had never known how to fight, aside from getting into a few scuffles at most.

"Mmm~"

Holding the magic stone and feeling strands of magic power flow into his body, Cao Ye felt a surge of pleasure.

The feeling was strange, carrying an inexplicable sense of satisfaction. If he had not known this was a magic stone, Cao Ye might have wondered whether it was "ice." The sensation was simply too wonderful.

However, that "pleasure" only lasted a few short seconds before ending.

The originally purple magic stone had now turned transparent like glass. The magic power inside had presumably been drained dry, which was why it had become like this.

Cao Ye casually tossed away the two magic stones that no longer contained magic power. They were useless now anyway.

Today's task had already been completed, and Cao Ye did not intend to waste more time in the Dungeon. With his current strength, hunting monsters in the Dungeon to obtain magic stones and grow stronger still put him under considerable pressure.

Even though he was now All the World's Evil and had gained Projection Magecraft, he was still not strong.

Being able to absorb magic power from magic stones to become stronger sounded impressive, but the conversion rate was extremely low—not even one-tenth.

In other words, out of ten units of magic power, converting one unit would already be quite good.

Not to mention that monsters in the upper floors contained pitifully little magic power in their magic stones. They were tasteless to eat yet a shame to discard. If he had another choice, Cao Ye would not absorb these magic stones at all. The returns were too low.

"Ah~, how great would it be if a goddess took a liking to me and was willing to keep me—"

The moment he stepped out of the pitch-black Dungeon and into the bright sunlight, Cao Ye could not help blurting that out.

Quite a few people nearby heard him and laughed. The fantasy of "Auntie, I don't want to work hard anymore" existed even in another world.

"Oh? Then what do you think of me? Would you be willing to let me keep you?"

After Cao Ye stretched and was about to find something to eat, then sell off today's "harvest," a pleasant voice sounded beside him.

Cao Ye froze instantly and turned his head on instinct, only to see a graceful figure.

She was an incomparably "beautiful" woman, an enchanting smile blooming on her lips. In terms of appearance alone, she surpassed every beauty Cao Ye had ever known. It could be said that the word "beauty" had been tailor-made for her.

"Goddess Freya?!"

Freya, one of Orario's Twin Kings and the goddess presiding over the strongest Familia in Orario.

Looking at her, Cao Ye felt like crying. This was a "super big shot." Leaving aside everything else, the "giant man" following beside her was, if nothing unexpected happened, probably Orario's only Level 7 adventurer.

As for why he recognized him, Cao Ye had once seen him from afar. Though it had only been a glance, it had left a deep impression.

"What? Didn't you just say you wanted to find a goddess to keep you? Or am I not qualified?"

As soon as those words were spoken, a cold gleam flashed through Ottar's eyes behind Freya. The goddess was everything. She was the most perfect goddess in the world. Anyone who defied, angered, or disobeyed her was his enemy.

As a pure warrior, Ottar's loyalty to Freya was beyond question.

No, more accurately, the loyalty of every member of the Freya Familia toward Freya was beyond question. Whether male or female, they had all surrendered beneath Freya's "beauty."

"Goddess, you must be joking. How could a nobody like me possibly be worthy of your 'favor'?"

This time, Cao Ye truly wanted to cry. Why was such a high-level big shot wandering around the streets for no reason?

Even if she wanted to stroll around, fine, but he had merely run his mouth off. Please do not take it seriously.

"Look at me~"

Freya gave Cao Ye a bewitching smile. Quite a few people around them were instantly captivated by that smile.

This was the [Goddess of Beauty]. Even with her divine power sealed, merely appearing here was enough for her beauty to captivate everyone.

Cao Ye's eyes also grew dazed, and a trace of infatuation flickered in their depths. It was his fascination with Freya.

Yet in an instant, that "infatuation" vanished without a trace.

The "malice" known as All the World's Evil began to stir within Cao Ye.

Freya immediately smiled when she saw that. She liked souls that "shone brilliantly," but this was the first time she had seen something so "purely evil."

It was clearly "evil," so why was it so pure? It made her very curious.

Goddess, I Can't Handle This!

Bang—

The instant the "evil" erupted, Ottar beside Freya moved.

A plain, unadorned punch landed directly in Cao Ye's stomach. The intense pain immediately "woke" him up.

However, before he could do anything, Ottar knocked Cao Ye unconscious.

To Ottar, no matter what the goddess wanted, he would offer it to her. Even if it was another man, he would not hesitate.

"I see. This 'evil' is not his own sin, but the 'evil' he bears. How interesting. He is clearly only a mortal of the lower world, yet he bears such 'evil.'"

The instant All the World's Evil stirred, Freya discerned certain "traces."

As a goddess who had lived for hundreds of millions of years and possessed eyes capable of seeing through "souls," Freya saw through it despite All the World's Evil not being a product of this world.

However, Freya could not understand why a mere human bore such "evil."

A potential hero.

Such a thought surfaced in Freya's mind.

In this world, heroes were absolutely what the gods most wished to see. It was not because heroes were particularly powerful or extraordinary, but because they were incredibly entertaining to the gods.

Moreover, this world itself longed for the birth of "heroes."

The previous generation of Orario's Twin Kings, the mighty Zeus Familia and Hera Familia, had once far surpassed the current Freya Familia and Loki Familia in prosperity.

Yet in the end, they had still become dust of history.

Some things were miracles that only "heroes" could accomplish, rather than great deeds conquered by the "strong."

"Ottar, take him with us. We're going back. I didn't expect to find such an unexpected gain."

"Yes~"

Ottar lifted Cao Ye with one hand and followed behind Freya.

Quite a few people around them witnessed everything, yet not a single person found anything strange. Instead, they looked at the unconscious Cao Ye with "envy and jealousy."

After all, this was Orario's strongest Freya Familia. Countless people could not get close to them even if they tried.

This guy had merely shouted, "I want a goddess to keep me," and had immediately caught the eye of Freya, the Goddess of Beauty. Quite a few people nearly could not resist trying it in the street themselves.

Thus, although no name had been left behind, Cao Ye's fame spread.

A man shouted on the street that he wanted a goddess to keep him, then Freya took a liking to him and had him packaged up and carried away. That was absolutely explosive news.

It was like in modern society, where being kept by a rich woman was something many people would find humiliating to admit.

Yet how many men wanted to be kept by a rich woman and had no way to make it happen?

"Mmm~"

In his daze, Cao Ye felt extremely comfortable, as though he were in a room at a five-star hotel.

The finest bed and silk blankets gave him the pleasant sensation of floating above the clouds. Cao Ye even unconsciously nuzzled against them a few times.

"Did you sleep well?"

A pleasant voice sounded beside his ear, and Cao Ye groggily opened his eyes.