DanMachi: The Epic of the Heroic Spirits of Emiya Shirou

It sounded somewhat like a girl's exclamation.

With the demon sword in hand, Emiya raised the tip of the sword and pointed it at the labyrinth wall behind him.

In dungeons, humans can be more terrifying than monsters. At least the monsters on each floor have detailed information, but with humans, you never know what kind of people you might encounter.

A pretty figure peeked out from behind the wall. She had beautiful long golden hair, carried an oversized bag that didn't match her size, and was munching on a potato ball. Because she was peeking through the wall, her cute little face was covered in dust, which only made her look more vivid.

The girl was a few centimeters shorter than Emiya and looked to be no more than twelve or thirteen years old. She looked at Emiya.

"You're amazing!" the girl said expressionlessly, but her beautiful, jewel-like eyes sparkled.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Ais: I'm such a genius!

The blonde girl is Ais, a genius swordswoman from the Loki Familia.

She slaughtered the Minotaur monsters on the thirteenth to sixteenth floors of the dungeon, leaving them covered in blood and their backpacks nearly full. So Ais decided to try her luck on the twelfth floor.

She wanted to try her luck and find the baby dragon on the twelfth floor.

Rarity increases value. Because young dragons are so rare, their drops are no longer considered as materials, but rather as collectibles, with prices even higher than those dropped by the Lv.4 Labyrinth King, Goliath the Giant.

After all, Goliaths respawn every ten days or so and are then defeated. Over time, [Goliath's Fang] is no longer considered a rare material.

If you're lucky enough to encounter a baby dragon and then get lucky with its loot, you might just make millions of falies in one go.

With a few million Fali, Little Ais thought, "I could buy a hundred thousand potato balls." She excitedly went to the twelfth floor to find the baby dragon.

However, instead of finding the young dragon, they found the boy.

“Shirou Emiya, the one Lefia mentioned…” Little Ais immediately remembered. Red hair, projection, bow and arrow, swordsmanship… the features were very obvious. He was the person the elf girl had mentioned.

Lefia said at the time, "I feel that Emiya-kun's swordsmanship is just as good as Ais-san's."

However, the perceptive Ais immediately realized that Lefia's opinion might be influenced by their shared membership in the Loki Familia. Because Ais was closer to Lefia, Lefia believed that Emiya's swordsmanship was comparable to her own.

"Shirou Emiya may very well possess swordsmanship even stronger than mine!"

Ais, who might be a bit eccentric in other ways, is exceptionally sensitive at this time, and her intuition is frighteningly accurate.

Ais, who had actually witnessed Shirou Emiya's swordsmanship firsthand, even though he had only simply killed a few weak and vulnerable orcs, immediately realized...

This boy's swordsmanship is better than mine.

It should be said that he is probably stronger than anyone else in this world, except for those gods whose divine power has been sealed. In the field of swordsmanship, Shirou Emiya has surpassed the level of "humans".

His swordsmanship is like that of a god... no, it seems he hasn't reached that level yet; it should be said that he exists in the realm of a heroic spirit.

Ais earned the title of "Sword Princess" for two reasons: first, her outward personality is as cold and aloof as a sword; and second, in terms of swordsmanship, Ais stands at the pinnacle of this world.

Even though she was only Lv.5, there were several adventurers in the city who were Lv.6 or higher, but those people were only stronger than Ais in terms of physical strength and ability.

In terms of swordsmanship level and skill, both Lv.6 [Black Demon Sword] and Lv.7 [Fierce Warrior] are inferior to Ais.

It was precisely because the gods saw through this that they bestowed upon Ais the title of "Sword Princess".

Therefore, Ais immediately realized the essence of Emiya's swordsmanship. Unlike Lefia's confusion or Raul's ambiguity, Ais understood this matter instantly based on her comprehension of swordsmanship.

"Compared to me, this boy is the one who is truly favored by the 'sword,' and you could even say that he is the very concept of the 'sword.'"

The girl felt genuine joy, and all her worries about the debt were forgotten. Looking at the boy who walked up to her, she had only one thought: to immediately perform her secret technique, the 720-degree front somersault and sit down in front of him, and shout, "Master, I want to learn swordsmanship!"

If she can learn Shirou Emiya's swordsmanship, she can become stronger and take another step closer to realizing her long-cherished wish.

However, just as the girl was about to perform a tiger-landing flying dogeza, Riveria's voice appeared in her ear.

"It is extremely rude of you to inquire about the abilities or technologies that others possess without permission. You will bring shame upon the Loki Familia and upon me."

Little Ais forced herself to hold back, and she was surprised herself for a moment—why, when becoming stronger is the most important thing for me.

"Rivia, don't bother me at this time..."

Just then, Emiya, who had already arrived in front of Ais, sheathed his demon sword.

The other person looked like a little girl, and Emiya didn't sense any malice from her. Moreover, judging from her attire, she seemed to be a supporter.

Ais was carrying a large backpack that almost symbolized her status as a supporter. She wasn't holding a sword at the moment, but rather holding potato balls in her hands. The sharp aura of the [Sword Princess] was completely gone, and she looked like just an ordinary cute girl, which led Emiya to misjudge her situation.

In reality, Ais and Emiya are similar in that they both undertake adventures alone. However, Ais's level is high enough that she can also do the work of a supporter, while Emiya, because he is not short of money, does not need spoils and therefore does not need a supporter.

Emiya didn't recognize the other person's identity either. He knew that there was a genius in the Labyrinth City known as the "Sword Princess," a super genius who leveled up to Lv.2 in one year and broke through to Lv.5 in six years. However, he subconsciously thought that the "Sword Princess" should already be an adult.

After all, even if you become an adventurer at the age of 12, 6 years have passed, and you should be 18 years old now.

Who would have thought that Ais started her adventures at the age of 7 and is only 13 years old now? In fact, because of her baby face, she looks even younger than her actual age.

At a little over ten years old, it's a very delicate age. Sometimes she's so cute that you want to hold her in your hands, and other times she's so willful that her parents wish they could whip her.

Ais's situation is this: she shows her cute side to everyone, but leaves all the torment to Riveria.

"It's common knowledge that support personnel are usually the weakest members of the team, but this little support person in front of us seems to be alone?"

Emiya thought to himself, "I'm afraid it's one of those wicked adventurers who abandon their supporters when they encounter danger. And to make such a young child their supporter is really going too far."

Despite having made up his mind not to be a "partner of justice" anymore, Emiya is still an upright person and finds it hard to bear seeing such things.

"Hello, did you get separated from your teammates?" Emiya asked. "Why are you alone?"

“Hmm.” Ais nodded. Loki’s fellow members of the Familia were indeed not here; most of them should be at the Twilight Mansion at headquarters.

At the same time, Ais suddenly had an idea.

Riveria told me not to go to Emiya, saying it would affect the reputation of the Familia, but now that Mr. Emiya has come to me of his own accord, Riveria can't say anything now, can she?

“I made a mistake and was punished…” Ais replied, though her expression remained blank, her dusty little face still showed a hint of disappointment.

She was also aware that her actions had brought great trouble to her fellow clansmen, not only the failure of the expedition and the loss of property, but also putting them in danger.

However, when a black dragon-like enemy appeared before her, Little Ais couldn't control herself. By the time she regained her senses, her body had already instinctively rushed into the vertical cave.

"So she really is a child abandoned by her companions..." Emiya thought to himself as he walked up to the girl and asked her in the kindest tone he could muster.

"My name is Emiya Shirou, and I come from the Hephaestus Familia. May I ask your name?"

"He didn't recognize me?" Little Ais, who was used to being a big star, was taken aback: "There are people in Labyrinth City who don't recognize me?"

Then, she suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

Riveria said that challenging or asking Shirou for advice would bring shame to the Loki Familia. So, I'll just disguise myself and not let Shirou know that I'm Ais from the Loki Familia.

If you think about it carefully, you'll realize that this approach is completely unreliable. However, Ais, who is single-minded and acting impulsively, has given up on thinking about it.

What she's thinking right now is:

Now Riveria has nothing to say!

I'm a real little genius, not the idiot Riveria says I am.

Riveria always says I'm naughty, but I'm actually very obedient!

I'm all grown up now, I don't need Riveria to interfere anymore.

If Riveria scolds me again, I'll definitely talk back!

With these thoughts in mind, Ais spoke, "My name is Riveria..."

"Slap!" Little Ais slapped herself with her backhand.

Ais's inner thoughts: "Oh no, I wanted to use a fake name, but I kept thinking about Riveria. I thought about the name too many times and accidentally blurted it out!"

Using this name definitely won't work, unless the other person is new to Orario and doesn't know anything about the Labyrinth City...

Ais's mind was racing, but she remained expressionless, though her eyes grew increasingly guilty, and a bead of cold sweat trickled down her forehead and the back of her neck.

Seeing the girl's sudden strange behavior, Emiya looked very concerned.

He took out a handkerchief from his satchel, held Ais's cheek with one hand, and used the other to wipe the dust off her hair and cheeks.

After tidying up the slightly messy golden hair on the girl's forehead, Emiya gently rubbed the small red handprint on her right cheek.

He asked politely, "Miss Riveria, are you alright?"

Ais raised her slightly flushed face and said, "I...I'm fine."

"Hmm." Emiya said, taking the potato ball from Ais's hand, glancing down at the girl's not-so-clean gauntlet, and sighing softly.

"At least wipe your hands clean before eating." He handed her a handkerchief: "Miss Riveria, take off your hand warmers and wipe your hands yourself."

Under Emiya's gaze, Ais subconsciously nodded obediently: "Yes."

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Death of the Minotaur

Today was a nightmare for the Minotaur, the strongest monster on the sixteenth floor of the dungeon.

As the dominant monster in this level, the Minotaur possesses top-tier strength and durability at Lv.2. Although it has the disadvantage of low agility, it can pose a deadly threat to adventurers operating in this level with simple and brutal actions.

With immense strength and a body of bronze and iron, the Minotaur can paralyze even Lv.1 adventurers with just its battle cry, making them unable to move. It is a nightmare for low-level adventurers.

And then today, the Minotaur were slaughtered by a high-ranking adventurer who had no sense of martial ethics.

With a single sword strike, he killed one, tossing the magic stone and the dropped item [Horn of the Minotaur] into his bag, then killed the next one with another. His platinum-colored figure wandered through the labyrinth like the Grim Reaper, reaping the lives of the minotaurs.

The minotaurs could only curse the humans for their lack of martial ethics—"Lv.2 adventurers, I'm not afraid of any number of you. We're evenly matched. It's my skill to tear you to pieces, and it's your skill to chop me into beef. Even if you lose your head, you'll still be a fine bull eighteen years later."

But isn't it a bit much for a high-level adventurer to cause species extinction? He's incredibly fast at traversing the map, like a gust of wind, and he kills cows more efficiently than he harvests wheat.

Why not go to the deepest areas to fight Udeos and make a name for yourself, instead of staying here bullying the Minotaur?

Some of the minotaurs that were slaughtered by Ais learned to be clever. One of them ran away as soon as it saw Ais and managed to escape by sacrificing all its companions.

The clever minotaur realized that the Grim Reaper was coming for them, and that they should do the opposite.

Only by going up to the upper levels can one find a way to survive.

Charge forward and kill the low-level human adventurers!

Then, on the 12th floor, Shirou, who was leading Ais, encountered the Minotaur.

·

"Minotaur? How could a monster from the middle level appear here?" Shirou Emiya immediately projected a longsword, maintaining a vigilant stance.

Monsters in dungeons can occasionally break through level restrictions and arrive at adjacent levels. However, the Minotaur is a monster from around the fifteenth level, while this is the twelfth level.

The fact that the Minotaur would actually make it all the way here is definitely an "abnormal situation".

"Rivia, hide behind me." Shirou Emiya stood in front of Ais.

The girl introduced herself as Riveria of the Demeter Familia: The truly famous Riveria in the city is the highly respected Lv.6 adventurer, elven royalty, and vice-captain of the Loki Familia, known as [Nine Demon Princess].

However, Emiya, who had only recently become an adventurer, was unaware of this person.

He knew about Fiora because the goddess had mentioned Fiora's fastest leveling record.

As for the Demeter Familia, Shirou Emiya knew about this faction because he and Ryu had bought groceries at this store together.

Demeter is the Greek goddess of agriculture, grain, and harvest. Demeter's retinue was also a productive retinue that cultivated grains, vegetables, and fruits.

If the Ganesha Familia has the most adventurers, then the Demeter Familia has the most members, but most of them are farmers who may never enter a dungeon even once in their lives. The Demeter Familia also has quite a few adventurers, but their levels are generally not high.

The Demeter Familia maintains good relations with almost all other Familias, after all, they are responsible for more than half of Orario's food supply, making them, in a sense, the most important Familia in the labyrinth city.

Originally intending to bring "Miss Riveria" back to the surface, they unexpectedly encountered a dangerous and powerful monster like the Minotaur.

Ais's first reaction upon seeing the Minotaur was to draw her sword, but Emiya immediately stepped in front of her, causing her to instinctively stop her movement.

At this moment, the Minotaur in front of the boy and girl was beyond furious.

Minotaur: It's you again! I've already reached the twelfth floor and you still won't let me go. Are you trying to wipe me out?

Damn it, I'll fight you to the death!

The Minotaur let out a deafening roar, and then charged forward with the determination to die.

Then, he was immediately hit by a magic sword attack.

Throwing away the Frost Demon Sword he had taken from his satchel, Emiya glanced at the girl behind him, whose face was expressionless with nervousness. He took a deep breath and stared at the Minotaur.

"Skill [Oath Under the Snow] activated."

"When acting to protect others, attack power and durability are increased, and the effects of magic and skills are enhanced."

At that moment, as Emiya faced the Minotaur, his fighting spirit reached its peak, and one name flashed through his mind—

Theseus, the legendary king of Athens and a hero in Greek mythology, is often associated with the philosophical concept of the Ship of Theseus.