DanMachi: The Epic of the Heroic Spirits of Emiya Shirou

Emiya countered with a question.

Soma is a young deity of medium build. His slender figure gives him a delicate appearance. His loose-fitting robes, similar to his long robes, have a yellowish-brown tinge from being soiled.

Her unkempt, messy hair was shrouded in a haze of disarray, and her face, hidden beneath her long bangs, clearly showed dejection.

He remained motionless, simply staring intently at Emiya.

After a long while, Soma slowly spoke:

"What's the point of talking to those kids who...so easily drown in alcohol?"

Soma was disappointed, disappointed with the members of his own faction.

The collapse of the Soma Familia was initially due to Soma's reward of divine wine.

The chief god originally intended to reward the members with divine wine, using it as a catalyst for factionalism. However, the members of the clan unexpectedly became addicted, just as he predicted. Every member wanted to be the first to grab the divine wine, and in the end, they even began to engage in ugly acts of framing and harming other members in their struggle.

As for Soma himself, he probably just wanted to use the homemade, fragrant wine as a reward, paying only what he could afford. However, the children, instead, became addicted to the divine wine, repeating their foolish behavior. Seeing their utterly disgraceful state, the god couldn't help but feel a sense of near disillusionment.

So Soma gave up on the patheticly foolish inhabitants of the lower realm and began to exploit them by constantly bestowing rewards upon the annoying believers who clamored for "divine wine."

"The voices of children addicted to alcohol...are extremely frivolous."

Beneath his long, flowing bangs, deep disappointment was etched in his dark eyes.

Emiya understood the logic and emotions of Soma, the god of wine, and then—

He turned and left.

Don't you want to say anything?

Soma said in a low voice.

Emiya: "...What's the point of talking to a god who so easily gets lost in their own world?"

He responded to Him with the words that Soma had spoken.

Soma: "What?!"

"Soma God, the beings in the lower realms do not exist to fulfill your expectations."

Emiya's voice was calm: "You expect things from yourself, test yourself, and then disappoint yourself... I only feel arrogance in your thoughts."

Gods are beings whose level of life far surpasses that of humans. The divine wine brewed by Dionysus is so tempting that even many gods, let alone humans, cannot resist its allure.

To create something divine that shouldn't exist in the lower realm, and then be disappointed because the people of the lower realm can't resist its temptation... what's the point of that?

In Emiya's view, there was no difference between Soma's actions and picking up a sharp weapon to kill unarmed ordinary people, injuring them, and then feeling disappointed in their vulnerability.

To confuse people's minds and to mistake cause for effect.

"Ultimately, it's your business how you want to mess with your Familia. Correspondingly, it's my business to destroy the 'collapsed' and 'corrupted' Soma Familia, which brought about its own demise."

If Soma, the god of wine, felt disappointed in the people of the lower realms, Emiya felt indifferent and uncaring towards him.

Emiya said nothing more and went into Chanis's office.

Soma reached out his hand to the boy's retreating figure, but in the end, he said nothing and simply lowered his hand silently.

Only a soft sigh remained: "Did I... do something wrong...?"

Upon entering Chanis's office, Emiya quickly discovered what he was looking for.

Chanis's account books.

"The various misdeeds of the Soma Familia adventurers are not spontaneous acts, but rather organized behaviors induced by the [Divine Wine]. Once this is confirmed, the Soma Familia is finished."

The same guilt, stemming from the adventurer's personal moral depravity and from the guidance and organization of the clan, is two completely different things.

Emiya tapped lightly on Chanis's desk, then immediately realized that the sound was off.

With a single sword stroke, the wooden table was severed, and hidden ledgers fell out of the cavity inside.

"These are the transaction records between the Soma Familia and the Dark Faction: liquor trade, smuggling channels, fire stones, demon swords..."

Today is no ordinary day for the labyrinth city of Orario, as it lost two large Familias in a single day.

One of them was a large clan with second-level adventurers. Its main fighting force was completely destroyed by Mia Grande single-handedly. The Bruno Trading Company, which it supported, promptly turned to the light and provided a large amount of evidence that the clan was secretly colluding with the Dark Faction.

Finally, Bruno's Trading Company was punished by having half of its property confiscated by the guild, its supporting clans were forcibly disbanded, and the chief god was sent back to the heavens.

On the other hand, the Soma Familia, whose overall strength was much weaker but whose numbers were no less, met the same fate.

The evidence that the Soma Familia leader, Chanis, used "divine wine" to guide his members to make money through criminal means was enough to bring the Soma Familia to its knees, and the cooperation with the Dark Faction completely sealed the Soma Familia's fate.

Chanis provides funds to the Dark Faction in exchange for their protection and lends them access to smuggled liquor channels to purchase weapons from countries outside the city. This can already be considered a deep collaboration.

The Soma Familia was forcibly disbanded, and the chief god Soma was forbidden from brewing divine wine again. Considering that this god had long been sidelined by the guild leader and was completely unaware of the cooperation between Chanis and the Dark Faction, the guild did not send Soma back. He is currently being imprisoned in a solitary cell in the Tower of Babel, writing a self-criticism.

After Soma has reflected on his actions for a hundred years, he will probably be allowed to rebuild the Soma clan.

Even if the Soma Familia hadn't cooperated with the Dark Faction, the outcome would likely have been the same. The guild reacted very strongly to the "Divine Wine," believing its existence had an immeasurable potential impact on the order of Orario.

Aside from a few drunkards, most adventurers in the labyrinth city were delighted by the demise of the Soma Familia. This was because the Soma Familia had such a terrible reputation; many had had their equipment or loot stolen by Soma Familia adventurers, or had been forced to accept "monster gifts" from them.

Regarding the demise of the Soma clan, they could only say, "Good riddance," and "They should have been killed long ago."

However, because it was much weaker than another disbanded clan, the Soma Familia received very little attention, but some people still noticed the process of the Soma Familia's demise, and some legends spread in Orario.

After all, Emiya's solo attack on the Soma Familia was a huge commotion, and he didn't kill anyone during the process; the adventurers in the Soma Familia's camp were only knocked unconscious.

Moreover, some adventurers belonging to the Soma Familia were actually delighted by the Soma Familia's destruction. For example, a little girl whom Emiya casually knocked unconscious when he stormed the Soma Familia's territory even began to worship him as a hero.

Zanis, who had sealed away "God's Grace," was sentenced to life imprisonment. However, during his transfer to the Ganesha Familia's prison, he mysteriously disappeared. The Ganesha Familia's leader, Shakti, remained silent about it and hastily closed the case as a suicide out of fear of punishment.

Late at night, at the "Abundant Mistress" tavern.

Shaktifarma, the leader of the Ganesha Familia and a Level 5 adventurer, known as the "Staff of Ganesha," quietly arrived in the backyard of the tavern.

Ignoring the cat-girl Kroi, who was cowering in a corner trembling because of her appearance, Shakti threw down a huge black shoulder bag.

She looked at the silent elven girl, handed her an envelope, and then sighed softly:

"[Swift Wind]... Ryu, you'd better watch yourself."

68

Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Past of the Astrea Familia.

"Phew, she's finally gone, that scared the cat to death."

Kroi looked in the direction Shakti had left and let out a long sigh of relief.

While they were repairing the warehouse, they suddenly encountered that jinx. Roy was so scared that she dared not breathe, and her heart felt like it was going to stop beating.

"That must be Shaktifarma, the leader of the Ganesha Familia, the Staff of Ganesha."

Runova teased, "Silly cat, what's wrong with you? You look like a mouse meeting a cat."

"Damn it, cats aren't mice!"

Krooi was furious: "You have no idea how scary that woman is, meow. If you had ever fought her, you would have performed worse than a cat."

Anya: "You fought Shakti? Who won, meow?"

Chloe: "..."

That's a level one adventurer, and if I can win, why would I be afraid of her?

Kroy rolled her eyes at Anya, not uttering such an embarrassing remark.

"By the way, why are you fighting with Shakti, meow? Did you take on a mission to assassinate Shakti? Just kidding, no cat would be that stupid as to accept an assassination mission against a level one adventurer, meow..."

Anya smiled as she spoke, but seeing Chloe's somber expression, her smile slowly faded.

"You actually answered, meow!"

Anya was greatly shocked.

Chloe: "..."

"Um, did you know that the Ganesha Familia has a double-digit number of first-class adventurers...?"

Anya asked cautiously.

"Ahhh, back then, when the cat first arrived in Orario, it never expected that there would be such powerful adventurers here, like monsters."

Kroi frantically rubbed her hair: "I've never fought a Level 1 adventurer before, who knew she would be this strong?"

Clearly, Kroy was brutally beaten by Shakti and almost didn't escape alive, leaving her with severe psychological trauma.

"A cat actually went and tried to assassinate a level 1 adventurer? Hahahaha, what a complete idiot!"

Anya loudly mocked the cat-girl of her kind.

Kroy's face turned red with anger, but before she could explode, Lunova collapsed first.

"I'm actually just as stupid as this idiot cat..."

Lunova pounded the ground with her hands, her voice filled with immense sorrow.

"Lunova, you won't be like this too..."

"When I first arrived in Orario, I received a mission to defeat the Four Flame Warriors..."

Anya & Chloe: "..."

The Four Flame Warriors, also known as the Gulliver Brothers.

Members of the Freya Familia. All four are skilled adventurers.

The leader was named Alfred Gulliver, a warrior who had reached level 5 as a dwarf.

Together with his three younger brothers, all at Lv.5, they are known as the "Flame Gold Four Warriors," wielding a sword, hammer, spear, and axe respectively. They are considered the city's strongest team, their coordinated attacks demonstrating Lv.6-level combat capabilities.

Kroe exclaimed, "You're even more amazing than a cat, meow! The cat only dared to fight one at a time..."

"So, one of you provoked the Freya Familia, and the other assassinated the captain of the Ganesha Familia."

Xier, who was standing to the side, couldn't hold back any longer: "You two are really like 'Sleeping Dragon and Young Phoenix'."

As Emiya watched the noisy girls, Lunova and Chloe gradually blended into the environment.

"Perhaps it was under Boss Mia's protection that they finally felt a rare sense of security."

The girls' inescapable past was completely blocked by the iron fist of the Lv.6 [Little Giant] Mia Grand.

"I am both the 'law' representing this bar and the 'owner' of it. No matter what others say, they cannot shake this fact. Even those foolish gods cannot complain about my conduct."

As the shop owner, I am your "mother," and you are all my "daughters." Everything in the shop belongs to me, and if anyone dares to try and take advantage of me, I will make sure they regret it.

Mia's declaration was just like that—incredibly defiant, yet reassuring.

【The Abundant Mistress】This is a terrifying tavern where even the most formidable adventurers, outlaws, or villains can only flee with their tails between their legs.

Regardless of their past, the girls here can only work hard like slaves, doing their best to provide delicious food and wine, and share the joy with more guests.

"Ryu, what did Miss Shakti say in her letter to you?"

Seele looked at Ryu, who had been silent since earlier and had been looking down at the letter, and asked cautiously.

Ryu didn't answer immediately. She paused for about ten seconds, then slowly shook her head and said, "It's nothing, just some criminal records of the Soma Familia..."

She folded the letter and handed it to Emiya: "Shirou..."

"I've already seen it."

Emiya said softly.

The evidence that Shakti obtained was initially provided to the Ganesha clan by him.

Before they knew it, Anya and the others had fallen silent, while Lunova grabbed the back of the collars of two curious catgirls who were peeking out.

"We're going back first."

Without a word, Lunova pulled Anya and Chloe back inside.

"Ryu, Shirou, let me go pour you a cup of tea first."

Seele whispered to herself as she turned back into the tavern.

Under the vast starry sky, only Emiya and Ryu remained.

“During the ‘Great Conflict,’ Chanis, the leader of the Soma Familia, shared smuggling channels with the Dark Faction. He amassed wealth by smuggling alcohol to countries outside the city, while the Dark Faction used the alcohol smuggling as a cover to purchase equipment and items from outside Orario.”

Liu softly repeated the information on the letter.