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

You couldn't just dismiss something outright without ever seeing it. That didn't hold up.

Seeing Loki fall silent, Freya smiled.

"So, do you want to witness his potential with your own eyes? Then have one of your children personally teach him. When the time comes, you'll see."

"Hmph. I know this is your scheme, but I'll take the bait. I want to see whether that brat is really as impressive as you say."

After glancing at Freya, Loki downed the coffee before her in one gulp, though her face remained full of displeasure.

She had figured it out. Freya had done this deliberately, dangling the bait of "heroic potential" to pique her curiosity and make her want to see it for herself.

And that meant agreeing to Freya's "little matter." Though the matter itself truly wasn't a big deal, the feeling of being led around by the nose greatly displeased Loki.

Hearing Loki's words, Freya smiled as well. Her objective had been achieved.

Thus ended this meeting between Orario's two queens. After finishing their tea, the two goddesses went their separate ways.

After returning to the Familia's headquarters, Loki headed straight for Finn's office.

Bang—

She shoved open the door and barged in without caring whether anyone else was inside.

"Loki, why are you here?"

Finn, who had been handling Familia affairs, was somewhat surprised to see Loki enter. At this hour, she rarely came looking for him unless something had happened.

"I have something for you to do."

"What is it?"

"You remember Cao Ye, right?"

"How could I forget? We were introduced yesterday. What's wrong?"

"Freya just came to see me. She specifically asked you to teach that brat, and I agreed. Rather than trying to investigate him from the sidelines, we might as well make direct contact."

"You want me to teach him?"

Loki's words startled Finn. They weren't even from the same Familia. How was he supposed to teach him?

Familias were mostly in competitive or hostile relationships with one another. Even the Loki Familia and Freya Familia, despite having quite a few collaborations, were no exception.

Having him teach someone from the Freya Familia—wasn't that aiding the enemy?

"I can't say much about the exact reason, but this is a joint decision between Freya and me. If nothing unexpected happens, that brat will come tomorrow. You'll personally teach him then."

"Loki, what exactly are you trying to do?"

"I just want to 'witness' something. I can't say any more than that."

"All right. I understand."

Looking at Loki, Finn ultimately chose to agree.

After all, Loki was the patron goddess of the Loki Familia. No one cared more about the entire Familia than she did, so she would not let the Familia suffer a loss.

Besides, being able to directly interact with the mysterious Cao Ye was not a bad thing.

Far away in the Dungeon, Cao Ye had no idea that he had gained a "teacher," one personally arranged for him by the goddess Freya.

Cao Ye was currently heading straight for the Dungeon's middle floors and had already reached the twelfth floor.

A large group of Orcs and Imps had appeared here. Looking at the many monsters before him, Cao Ye felt that this was enough. The monsters on the twelfth floor could be used to test the power of the Inverted Spear of Heaven.

Bang—

With a single strike, Cao Ye did not use any "technique," yet an Orc was instantly killed.

A Hero Saves a Beauty (A Girl)!

Bang—

It was an utterly ordinary strike, yet it caused absurdly unreasonable destructive power.

Not long ago, Minotaurs had required Cao Ye to put in some effort to defeat. Now, he could kill one in a single blow.

The Inverted Spear of Heaven combined with the Ratio Technique was practically a 1 + 1 > 20 effect. The increase was simply enormous.

Roar— Roar—

There were two more Minotaurs nearby.

However, as they watched their companions fall one after another at Cao Ye's hands, even as monsters, their desire to live made them think of retreating.

The next second, the two Minotaurs turned and fled, leaving Cao Ye stunned.

"You're monsters! Why the hell are you running?!"

Cao Ye had not expected this. Although there had indeed been a Minotaur fleeing in the original story, he had not expected it to actually happen now.

However, in the time it took him to stare blankly and complain, the two Minotaurs had already headed toward the upper floors.

As monsters with potential equivalent to Level 2, if those two made it to the upper floors, they would definitely cause a huge impact. At the very least, any unlucky people who encountered them could very well end up dead.

Tap tap tap—

Cao Ye sprinted through the Dungeon passages, but within this interconnected "underground labyrinth," he was briefly at a loss. He had no idea where the two Minotaurs had gone.

Crack—

Teams of adventurers clad in leather armor and carrying various weapons were proceeding steadily toward the middle floors.

Among them were three sturdy men, each carrying a huge wooden crate on his back. Noisy sounds constantly came from inside as they walked, clearly indicating that the crates held quite a few things.

Whoosh—

An adventurer wielding a bow shot down a monster in the distance with a single arrow.

The arrow struck the monster directly in the head, killing it.

With a bang, the monster turned into a cloud of black smoke. A magic stone fell to the ground with a crisp clink.

"Hey, you! What are you standing around for? Hurry up and collect the magic stone. If you miss even one, just see how I deal with you."

"Yes, Mr. Adventurer. I'll go right away."

A small figure stepped out from the rear of the group and jogged over to pick up the magic stone.

Her body was tiny, yet she carried an enormous pack on her back, four or five times larger than herself. It was hard to imagine how she could carry such a massive bundle.

And if that pack was filled with things, how could she possibly bear its weight?

Whoosh—

Roar—

Suddenly, a Hellhound appeared from nowhere and pounced at the girl.

"A Hellhound!"

In her panic, the girl fell to the ground.

As she watched the creature's bloody maw about to claim her life, anger and resentment could not help rising within her heart.

She was only a supporter, someone whose job was to collect dropped items after the battle ended.

Yet after killing just one monster, they had sent her to retrieve the magic stone, and she had encountered a monster like this. Weren't they trying to get her killed?

Meanwhile, not far away, those adventurers watched it all with the eyes of people enjoying a spectacle.

"A Hellhound. This little thing really has terrible luck."

"Shouldn't we save her? We still need her to carry things back."

"No need. Rivira Town never lacks supporters. You can find a whole bunch of them easily. Besides, if one Hellhound has appeared, there are probably more nearby. It's not worth taking a risk for one supporter."

"That's true~"

It was an extremely cold and realistic conversation. She was merely a supporter hired with money; the Dungeon never lacked people like her.

No one would risk fighting a pack of Hellhounds for someone like that. It was only an employment arrangement to begin with, and if she died, they would not have to pay her reward.

As for the things on her back, the eighteenth floor was not far away. Once she was dead and the Hellhounds had left, they could simply come back and retrieve them.

This was the Dungeon. There were no beautiful encounters or romantic meetings, only cruelty and cold reality.

"Am I going to die?"

Collapsed on the ground, her legs weak with terror and unable to summon even a trace of strength, the girl was filled with endless regret. If only she had not accepted this commission.

Splat—

At that critical moment, the fierce Hellhound suddenly burst into a spray of blood. It let out a miserable howl before being killed.

The Hellhound's blood splattered down, dyeing the little girl's body red.

"Oh my, look what I found. A little one scared stiff."

A frivolous voice rang out. The girl lifted her head and saw a figure she would never forget for the rest of her life.

In this Dungeon, she had never seen such a "beautiful" human. He even rivaled male elves in facial delicacy. If not for the fact that his ears differed from an elf's, she would have nearly believed he was one.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Looking at the girl staring blankly at him, Cao Ye felt somewhat helpless.

This was one of the rare occasions when he had chosen to do a good deed. Normally, he would not have spared her a second glance. People died every day in the Dungeon; whether she died or not had nothing to do with him.

Today, he was in a particularly good mood because he had obtained the Inverted Spear of Heaven, so he did not mind saving someone.

"I-I'm fine~"

The little girl nodded, then climbed to her feet.

She instinctively looked behind her, toward the adventurers who had hired her, but they had long since vanished without a trace.

Hellhounds were no joke, not to mention there might be a whole pack of them. They could suffer losses too if they were careless, so to avoid damage, they chose to take a detour.

After all, this was an "underground labyrinth." There was never only one path leading to the next floor.

"If you're fine, I'll be going."

Cao Ye did not intend to waste any time. He still had to search for those two fleeing Minotaurs, though he might not be able to find them.

"Um, may I ask your name?"

"Cao Ye~"

After saying that, he ignored the girl's vacant gaze and left directly.

"Cao Ye~"

At that moment, the girl watched Cao Ye's retreating back with deeply conflicted emotions.

Having lived in the bottom rung of Orario since childhood, she had endured pain and darkness that countless people had never encountered. As a result, she had long stopped believing that creatures called "good people" existed in this world.

But today, at this very moment, she had encountered a "good person."

The Suffering Girl, Liliruca Arde!

After looking at Cao Ye, who had already disappeared, the girl turned to look at the pack beside her.

It was filled with goods the adventurers had entrusted her to carry. Even so, they had abandoned her without hesitation and left her to die in the jaws of the Hellhounds.

On the very same day, she had experienced both the "evil" and "kindness" of humanity.

(P.S. Whether someone is good or bad depends on their "face." Handsome men and ugly people, regardless of gender, create different follow-up effects.)

Walking over to the pack, she opened it, revealing weapon after weapon. Everything inside was a weapon. Even if she had been killed by monsters, these weapons would not have been lost.

After all, monsters would not eat weapons. Once everything was over, they could simply come back and retrieve them.

At that thought, a flash of killing intent crossed the girl's eyes.

As someone who had suffered endless bullying and grown up in an environment of "pain," her heart was far more ruthless than most people's.

Liliruca Arde was born into the Soma Familia. Because her parents were adventurers affiliated with the Soma Familia, Lili had been a member of the Soma Familia from the moment she was born.

Her parents had been bewitched by divine wine and squandered all their possessions. Desperately short of money, they entered the Dungeon and died in battle.

And how could a child survive in cruel Orario? Only she knew the hardships involved.