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

She said this calmly, her gaze remaining fixed on Cao Ye.

Her attitude was perfectly clear: if he dared disturb the goddess's rest, she would make him understand what rules were.

"She's asleep, huh?"

Cao Ye did not think much of it. At this hour, it was normal for her to be asleep.

Then his gaze fell on Ottar.

"Ottar, can you find somewhere to lock these four up?"

"Where did you find these Amazons?"

At the mention of the four women, Ottar showed a slight trace of displeasure.

"They're all from the Ishtar Familia. Back in the Dungeon, they pulled a Monster Offering on me, so I captured them alive."

"Monster Offering?"

Hearing Cao Ye's explanation, Ottar gave him a sidelong glance. He had only been in Orario for a few days—how had he already experienced every possible incident?

Monster Feast! Monster Riot! Monster Offering!

All he was missing now was an encounter with an enhanced monster. For a moment, Ottar did not know what to say.

"In the Dungeon, there are no rules. Since they tried to scheme against you, you should have just killed them. Why bring these Amazon women back?"

"Obviously, so we can make good use of them. They're from the Ishtar Familia, after all."

"?"

Ottar was a pure warrior. Although he had followed Freya for many years, his mind was not filled with twists and turns.

Cao Ye felt rather helpless. This guy was a complete blockhead.

"Ishtar has always been at odds with the goddess, hasn't she? She's constantly causing the goddess trouble. We can use this as an excuse. Members of the Ishtar Familia plotted against me and tried to kill me with a Monster Offering. Don't you think that's a good reason?"

"You mean..."

Ottar immediately understood. Cao Ye wanted to use the incident as leverage.

He then looked at the four unconscious Amazon women. Indeed, it was an excellent excuse. The Pleasure Quarter was Orario's biggest money pit.

The Freya Familia did not lack money, but having a large sum of Valis come in was still a good thing.

"What do you want to do?"

Now that he understood, Ottar looked at Cao Ye, wanting to hear his thoughts.

"Have the goddess confront Ishtar. She can pay up to avoid disaster, or we start a War Game. With the Ishtar Familia's strength, crushing them should be effortless, right?"

"Destroying a mere Ishtar Familia would pose no difficulty."

Ottar had every right to say that. Both his own strength and the strength of the Freya Familia supported those words.

In the original story, Ishtar had tried to lay her hands on Bell, truly enraging Freya. The Freya Familia had dispatched several executives and, with overwhelming force, directly annihilated the Ishtar Familia.

Even Goddess Ishtar herself had been sent straight back to the heavens by Freya.

"Exactly. Why turn down free Valis?"

"I'll speak to the goddess about this tomorrow. Leave these four to me as well."

Since this could benefit the Familia while also suppressing a group that constantly caused the goddess trouble, Ottar was naturally willing to share Freya's burdens.

That was one of the Freya Familia's strengths. So long as something was good for Freya, no one would object.

The Freya Familia was likely the only Familia in all of Orario that was so "pure." Everything existed for the sake of Goddess Freya.

"Then I'll leave it to you. I'll head back first."

"Mm."

After settling everything, Cao Ye turned and left.

Dragging those four women back from the Dungeon had exhausted him. Even the excitement of obtaining the Curry Stick had faded considerably, and now he was starting to feel sleepy.

The night passed without incident. The next morning, a knock on the door woke the sleeping Cao Ye.

Creak—

Cao Ye had assumed Ottar was outside. After all, Ottar was the only one who came knocking on his door.

But when he opened it, he froze. Freya stood outside, dressed in an extremely revealing rose-colored gown, looking like a dazzling rose.

"Lady Freya?"

"Ottar told me about what happened last night."

"So, what do you think?"

Cao Ye smiled upon hearing that. For her to come looking for him so early in the morning, she clearly had a reason.

"Tell me your real purpose."

"What do you mean?"

"Seeking benefits for the Familia isn't your style. Don't forget, you still owe me twenty million Valis~"

Cao Ye was speechless at Freya's words. Goddess, could she please not bring up what he was trying to avoid?

"I happened to obtain some information earlier, and it has interested me ever since."

"Information?"

Freya tilted her head at Cao Ye. He knew so few people in Orario that they could be counted on both hands. What information could he possibly have obtained?

"Not long ago, the Ishtar Familia acquired a secret weapon. They intend to use it to destroy our Familia."

"Destroy my Familia? Ishtar?"

Freya immediately laughed, her face full of scorn.

Freya had reached the pinnacle of Orario through strength. Over the years, her Familia had flourished. How could Ishtar, who spent every day in the flesh trade, possibly defeat her Familia?

Whether in the heavens or after descending to the lower world, Freya had never regarded Ishtar as a threat.

Even though they were both goddesses of beauty, the gap between them was as vast as heaven and earth.

"Go on, then. How does she intend to destroy my Familia?"

"There is a fox girl in the Ishtar Familia with a special magic or skill that can temporarily raise an adventurer by one level."

"Hm? Temporarily raise someone by one level? A special skill, or magic?"

"I'm not sure. I only learned of it by chance. I ran into an Ishtar Familia party in the Dungeon, and they mentioned it while chatting. I don't know the details."

"Even so, it would not matter. The strongest adventurer in the Ishtar Familia is only Level 5."

"There's more. They also mentioned a ritual and the Killing Stone."

Cao Ye stopped there and said no more.

After living for hundreds of millions of years, one should never underestimate a goddess's wisdom.

The Goddess's Attitude!

A ritual? The Killing Stone?

Putting the ritual aside for the moment, Freya knew what the Killing Stone was.

The Killing Stone was a forbidden magic item capable of sealing a fox person's soul and magic within it, allowing others to wield that fox person's magic.

If the Killing Stone was shattered, whoever held its fragments could also activate that magic.

Combined with the fox girl Cao Ye had mentioned, this so-called ritual was most likely one meant to sacrifice that fox girl.

Once the ritual was complete, the Killing Stone would seal away the fox girl's soul and magic. Then, if it were shattered, every fragment would become a "level-up item."

"I see. So that's what she's planning~"

With things spelled out to this extent, Freya naturally understood everything.

Still, even if Ishtar succeeded, Freya did not believe Ishtar could pose any threat to her. Her Familia had Ottar, a Level 7, several Level 6s, and countless Level 5s.

Even if all of Ishtar's people rose by one level, Freya did not believe Ishtar could defeat her.

"So your plan is to use the Monster Offering as an excuse to apply to the Guild for a War Game and force Ishtar to hand over that fox girl?"

"Wouldn't you be tempted by someone who can raise people's levels, Lady Freya?"

It would be a lie to say she was not tempted. No one could remain unmoved by such an ability.

Moreover, Cao Ye's plan had great potential. Even taking a step back, the Ishtar Familia was nothing more than the Ishtar Familia. Freya had never taken them seriously.

Even without this excuse, what if she simply went there and took the girl? Would Ishtar dare confront her head-on?

Freya looked at Cao Ye and smiled. She had never been indecisive. If she wanted something, she would seize it, especially when someone had already prepared everything for her.

"For Ishtar to sacrifice such talent would truly be a waste."

"Exactly. We're saving a suffering fox girl."

"Fine. I'll handle this matter."

"Then I'll leave it to you, Lady Freya."

Cao Ye smiled. At this rate, that lecherous fox was as good as his.

Since Freya was willing to act, everything would be easy. Whether they followed the rules or ignored them, Freya had the matter firmly in hand.

That was the benefit of having someone powerful to rely on. When trouble came, even bad things could turn into good ones.

After seeing Freya off, Cao Ye poured himself a glass of water. His drowsiness had mostly faded, and he no longer felt like sleeping. At that moment, he remembered one of yesterday's card-draw rewards that he had forgotten.

[Jewel Magecraft]

Magecraft inherited by the Tohsaka Family in Fate, a form of magecraft cast through "gems" as a medium.

Gems readily accumulate their holder's thoughts and easily house magical energy, forming the foundation of Jewel Magecraft.

Mages of the Tohsaka Family usually use gems to store their magical energy. However, using the magical energy stored within a gem causes the gem, acting as a vessel, to shatter.

Because natural spirits easily form within minerals that have lain dormant in the earth for long periods, elemental gems themselves are simple magic crests. A gem housing a fire spirit can easily ignite once magical energy is poured into it. The same was true for wind.

However, this magecraft was also an incredibly expensive cash-burning magecraft.

After all, gems were not common in any world. They were costly, even exorbitantly so.

"Wait, don't I have the ability to turn a fantasy into reality now?"

Cao Ye suddenly spoke, and his expression shifted slightly.

Jewel Magecraft! Imaginary Magic! Class Skill: Item Construction! Development Ability: Mystery!

With all of those combined, one of his previous ideas might finally succeed.

"I wonder if magic stones count as gems~"

Cao Ye took out a magic stone and used Jewel Magecraft, attempting to pour magical energy into it. But after trying for a while, he gave up.

Though magic stones looked like gems, they were fundamentally monster cores containing magical energy.

Fortunately, Cao Ye had swiped some gems from that dwarf shopkeeper earlier. He had originally planned to save them for wooing girls in the future. After all, girls would surely like shiny things.

This was a ruby of average quality. Cao Ye had never imagined that one day, it would actually come in handy.

Under Cao Ye's control, magical energy slowly flowed into the ruby. Then he began trying to guide the power of the imaginary into it.

With the boosts from [Item Construction] and [Mystery], making a magic item was not difficult for Cao Ye.

This had also been one of his long-standing ideas: to create an Imaginary Space inside a medium and make a storage item similar to a spatial ring.

He had conceived the idea after obtaining Imaginary Magic and Imaginary Space.

However, his attempts had failed time and again. Imaginary Space was not so easy to create, and over time, he had given up on the idea.

But now, Cao Ye picked it up once more.

With Jewel Magecraft, a gem infused with Cao Ye's magical energy bearing the "imaginary" attribute should be able to support a small Imaginary Space, especially with the enhancements from [Item Construction] and [Mystery].

Perhaps in this world, he really could create a spatial item.

With that, Cao Ye entered an excited state and began experimenting without pause.

Meanwhile, Freya had already arrived at the Guild with Ottar.