DanMachi: The Epic of the Heroic Spirits of Emiya Shirou

As for the person she was observing, it was Ryu, who was having lunch with the boy after finishing his hard work at noon.

"【Swift Wind】She...is completely different from before, meow."

Amidst the cheers of the silver-haired girl, [Swift] accepted the boy's head pat as a reward. She covered her face with her hands, but it was easy to guess what a happy expression the elf girl was wearing.

The boy gently stroked Ryu's hair, and whether he sensed Chloe's gaze or not, his pale golden eyes looked up at her.

Cloy, pulling her hood down to cover her eyes, turned and left like a wildcat. She passed several rooftops and silently jumped into a dimly lit alley.

"She's found a place for herself, meow?"

Kroy twitched her cat ears that bulged out of her hood and muttered to herself in the deserted alley.

She pulled out the wanted poster for "Swift Wind" from her pocket. This realistic portrait of an adventurer was not issued by the guild; it was mainly commissioned by adventurers and merchants.

Because of [Swift Wind]'s rampage and the many enemies he has made, he has been listed as a bounty target.

Kroy was hired by the merchants to deal with the "assassins" of [Gale].

Kroi Lolo, a legendary assassin widely known in the Orario underworld, is known as the "Black Cat".

She was born into a criminal kin ruled by an evil goddess. During her childhood, her only companion was her "partner"—a sister who silently protected her. However, this sister was actually her mother, who sacrificed herself in a mission to protect Chloe.

After learning the truth, Chloe parted ways with her former familia. Having completed the final task assigned by the goddess, she completely left that dark organization.

After leaving her clan, Kroy continued to make a living through assassination, the only means of survival she had learned since childhood.

However, as time went by, she gradually grew tired of this precarious life. Every mission she went on was a life-or-death situation, and after each successful assassination, the emptiness in her heart grew stronger.

"Ah~ I long for the elegant life of being served by handsome young men, meow~ Just letting them stroke my belly button and tail, enjoying that blush-inducing paradise on earth, meow~"

Koroi Lolo, sixteen years old.

"Shouldn't I retire, meow?"

The young cat-woman muttered flippantly to herself, "Besides, even cats don't want to do this job anymore, meow."

"【Hurricane】is a fellow fan of handsome young men, so the cat doesn't want to kill her anymore, meow."

Koro said willfully.

"But then again, isn't [Swift Wind] a little too lucky to be favored by such a handsome young man—"

This thought gradually fueled her envy, which eventually evolved into an uncontrollable fire of jealousy.

"It's decided. Tonight I'll teach [Swift Wind] a lesson, and then, the cat will retire, meow."

Leave the labyrinthine city, find a faraway country, and spend the rest of your life indulging in pleasure and debauchery.

The cat-girl dreams of a bright future.

Koroiro Lolo.

Lv.4.

Strength: F301.

Durability: G279.

Dexterity: B751.

Agility: B776.

Magic: E455.

Development capability.

[Abnormal Resistance] G [Harmony] H [Escape] I.

into the night.

Because they had to attend an important banquet, Mia and Seele left the tavern. As soon as the dwarf owner left, Anya and the others cheered "Yay!" and threw their aprons over their heads.

The shop assistants, who are usually treated like cattle and horses, were overjoyed by the unexpected temporary break.

While Mia was out, a group of people held a small banquet in the restaurant of a separate building, indulging in a feast.

"Shirou, come drink with me, meow~"

"Anya, don't corrupt Shirou!"

The tavern was bustling with noise, and at the same time, the human female bounty hunter and the cat-person assassin left their respective residences.

Lunova & Chloe: "After tonight, I'm retiring from this life!"

63

Chapter Sixty-Three: Gan Jiang and Mo Xie

The bright moonlight streamed through the window and into the room, falling on Emiya's face like a soft veil veiling his eyes.

He didn't drink today, but for some reason he slept exceptionally soundly, surrounded by a sweet aroma that lured him into an even deeper sleep.

boom--

A tremendous roar entered my dream, the bed and the floor beneath me shook violently, and the scene in my dream gradually fell apart.

Emiya opened his eyes with difficulty, but soon, due to intense drowsiness, his heavy eyelids drooped again.

What he heard in his sleep seemed to be a call from a distant realm, which was then reassembled in his dream.

Luminous Wind

Emiya suddenly opened his eyes.

"—This is Ryu's magic."

The next instant, he had already jumped out of bed.

At this moment, the persistent drowsiness had been thrown to the back of his mind. Emiya frowned, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the faint fragrance in the air.

"This scent... is it 'sleep fragrance'?"

"Enemy attack."

Emiya made a judgment immediately, and at the same time, his thought was: "How dare someone attack this place?"

【The Abundant Mistress】is no ordinary tavern; the number of high-level adventurers here even exceeds that of most of the familiars in Orario.

Is it a case of being fearless because of confidence, or is it a case of ignorance leading to fearlessness?

Emiya raised his hands: "Projection begins (Trace On)."

Longbows and arrows appeared out of thin air. Emiya, armed with weapons, didn't go through the door but instead climbed out of the room through the window. He stepped onto the windowsill, leaped up, and nimbly landed on the roof of the building.

Then, he witnessed a shocking scene.

Centered on the courtyard behind the "Abundant Mistress" tavern, the space surrounded by buildings is damaged in many places, with cracks appearing in the surrounding houses and thick smoke billowing out.

It was as if it had been struck by a powerful magic sword, or subjected to the annihilation magic of a high-level adventurer.

The smell of burning wood filled the air, irritating Emiya's nose and mind.

In his field of vision, four girls "crawled" out from four different directions.

Anya, slammed against the wall by the impact, leaving a dent in the shape of a cat; Ryu, who crashed into the living room; Lunova, who was blown into the warehouse; and Kroi, who rolled around on the ground a dozen times.

The elves, humans, and two cat-people—four Lv.4 level 2 adventurers of different races—had now truly come to blows.

"Damn it... They actually pulled this on me! Are they planning to take me down with them...!"

"Idiot Ryu!! The cat came here specifically to save you, what are you doing, meow--!!"

"You want to kill the cats, meow—!?"

"Putting Anya aside, Black Cat, you originally came here to assassinate me, didn't you?"

Black Fist and Black Cat, two "renowned" bounty hunters and assassins, infiltrated the tavern not long ago. Black Cat released a high-level Sleep Essence that she had personally concocted. Apart from Anya and Ryu, who have the ability to develop Abnormal Resistance, everyone else in the tavern was affected. Only Emiya had just regained consciousness.

The chaotic battle between the four Lv.4 second-level adventurers is still undecided.

"Ha, awesome! I'm so excited right now! It's because I sometimes run into idiots like you that I can't let go of this job!"

Lunova punched her right palm, revealing a ferocious smile.

Even though she knew her reaction wasn't cautious enough, Ryu couldn't help but smile knowingly at Lunova's straightforward nature.

And at this moment——

"Hahaha! As expected, it was a fight to the death, with both sides severely injured!"

A voice, clearly from a fourth party, appeared in the courtyard, besides Ryu and the others and the hidden Emiya.

Runova frowned and looked around. She found that there were countless thugs standing all around, and each of them was holding various weapons such as knives, swords, and clubs.

"Bruno Trading Company...? What's going on? Didn't we agree that I would handle [Gale] all by myself?"

Runova revealed a sharp look and glared at the human man who led this group of thugs.

Beside the man stood a dwarf with a lewd smile.

"That dwarf... is the client who commissioned the cat to carry out the assassination, meow."

Koro narrowed her eyes. Ryu and the others also vaguely sensed the situation before them.

"I see... You weren't just targeting [Gale] back then, you included us too..."

"That's right! [Black Fist] and [Black Cat], you're just as much of an eyesore to us!"

The human merchant—who was also an executive of the Bruno Trading Company—smiled and admitted it.

"First, let you fight [Swift Wind]. Once you're both badly injured, we'll take care of you all at once... That's the real purpose of this mission!"

The fact that the two of them both set their sights on [Swift Wind] was also a deliberate arrangement.

Two members of the trading company, who had secretly conspired, provided the same intelligence to lure Lunova and Chloe into choosing the same day to eliminate Ryu.

"The Dark Faction has fallen! This is all thanks to you, Ryurion! This city... Orario will be transformed because of you."

As many had predicted, the business executives echoed the same predictions and continued to make pronouncements:

"As for the completely transformed and revitalized Orario, it will be managed by our trading company! If rogue mercenaries and outlaws like you without any clans continue to exist, it will give us a lot of headaches!!"

The bank's executives, carried away by their pride, began to talk at length.

"Besides, how can we leave alive guys like you who know our relationship with the dark faction! Brothers, attack!"

The man stretched out his hand and gave an order to the burly men around him.

The thugs greedily licked their lips at the wounded, pitiful girls and began to tighten their encirclement.

but--

"Really boring."

"A clever cat with less than third-rate skills."

"If you want to deal with us, you'd need to send at least ten times the number of people like us. Your understanding of adventurers' strength can only be described as tragic..."

The girls complained helplessly.

"Ryu, can we beat those people to a pulp?"

"Should be fine—"

The sound of arrows piercing the air interrupted the girls' conversation.

"Ahhh, ahhh, my knees! Who did this?!"

The human merchant, the executive of Bruno Trading Company, had already collapsed to the ground, clutching his knees.

A dark shadow leaped down from the high-rise building, its black boots slamming into the face of the human merchant, silencing the man's groans into the floor.

"So, it was you who destroyed the tavern (home)?"

Emiya raised his right foot and then slammed it down, crushing the human male's head into the ground.

Ryu: ……

Now that things have come to this, it seems impossible for her to admit that she was the one who blew up the tavern.

The dwarf next to the human merchant shouted in panic:

"Yes, don't think you can get away with this after doing this to us...!! The ones backing up Bruno Trading Company are...!!"

"Shut up."