DanMachi: Heroic Epic of Emiya the Great Hero

[🎉 Shoutout to Eval, Lu, Jarrod and Time Walker for joining patreon. Thank you very much.🤗]

Alicia spoke in a gentle voice that sent shivers down Lefiya's spine,"I can accommodate you on other matters, but I cannot overlook your unauthorized comments about Lady Riveria."

Even among the same elven race, the beliefs of different individuals can vary greatly.

Lefiya hails from the Vixen Forest, whose inhabitants possess particularly outstanding [Magic Power] even among elves. At the same time, Lefiya's hometown is located midway through the deep forest, and it had already been opened as a travel hub before she was born.

From a young age, Lefiya had many opportunities to interact with other races, so she holds no prejudice against different races and even yearns for the outside world.

Lefiya also has a pair of open-minded parents who not only encouraged her exploration of the outside world but also supported her further studies at the [School District]. Thus, at a young age, Lefiya left the elven-inhabited forest and traveled the world with the [School District], embarking on adventures.

Therefore, apart from her monstrous magic power, Lefiya is actually an elf unlike any other. She is unfamiliar with the elegant etiquette of elves, does not shy away from physical contact with other races, and holds no special reverence for royalty.

Lefiya's respect for royalty is limited to Riveria, and that is because Riveria herself is a respectable senior. Lefiya has no deep sense of devotion to royalty itself; she has never touched a bow and does not think that archery holds any special significance for the elven race.

As for Alicia, she is more like the majority of elves, and her loyalty to royalty is exceptionally strong even among elves. At the same time, as a master archer, she has a particular obsession with archery. In Alicia's view,archery is an important tradition and way of life for the elven race, something that represents the elves more than magic.

The time she spent hunting with a bow in her hometown alone is more than twice Emiya's age. How could she allow a fellow elf like Lefiya to place a human's archery skills above her own, let alone Lady Riveria? Even comparing them is an overstep.

Alicia does not hold prejudices against other races like some ignorant fellow elves who remain in the elven forest; she respects companions and friends of all races. However, when it comes to Riveria and the pride of the elves, she will never yield.

It can only be said that Lefiya, who was taught seeking truth from facts in the [School District], and Alicia, who grew up in the elven forest, have fundamental differences in their beliefs.

And at this moment, there is also a huge gap in their statuses. Alicia is a senior adventurer assisting Riveria in managing the familia, a cadre of the Loki Familia's magic unit, while Lefiya is just a newcomer who has not long joined the familia.

"Syr, who is Riveria?",Emiya asked quietly.

"She is the vice-captain of the Loki Familia, the elven princess, Lady [Nine Hells] of Lv.6.",Syr explained softly.

Emiya nodded. The elven princess, huh? That's fine then, not the same "Riveria" he knows. It seems to be just a coincidence of names.

"By the way, your elven friend seems to have gotten into trouble because of you.",Syr reminded Emiya. Because of Lefiya's straightforwardness, Syr's impression of this elven girl had improved quite a bit.

On the other side, Alicia took a deep breath and regained her elegant demeanor.

"My apologies, Shirou-kun, I did not mean to belittle you, and Syr as well, sorry for making you witness such a scene.",Alicia's tone was polite but cold.

"Alicia-chan is also quite skilled in archery, right?",Syr suddenly spoke up, using a cute tone that would make even unreasonable requests forgivable.

"Alicia-chan, don't listen to Lefiya-chan's nonsense, Shirou-kun is actually just a new adventurer, so if it's convenient, could you help guide him a bit?"

Syr's hands were clasped in front of her, showing a pleading expression. Looking into the girl's eyes, Alicia felt a momentary loss of composure. For some reason, she felt she couldn't refuse the girl.

No matter what the request was, Alicia felt she should agree immediately.

"As you wish, Miss Syr.",Alicia raised her right hand to her chest, responding like a gentleman. Syr's smile grew even brighter.

'As expected, being with Shirou leads to interesting encounters~'

.

.

.

"In the end, we still came to the dungeon.",Emiya muttered to himself.

"There's no helping it, there's not much space in the city for adventurers to move around freely, and high-level adventurers aren't allowed to enter and leave the city at will.",Lefiya replied.

Although Orario can compete for the title of the world's largest city in terms of scale, it also has the highest number of citizens. The entire city can be said to be every inch of land is precious, with no extra space to build facilities like archery ranges.

Not wanting to occupy the familia's training grounds for personal matters, they simply crossed through the large hole at the base of Babel and entered the dungeon's labyrinth.

This isn't anything particularly special; high-ranking adventurers from large familias often use the labyrinth as a stadium or gym.

Although the dungeon is dangerous, for adventurers above Lv.3, staying in the upper floors means they are almost never threatened.

So, even though Emiya and the others have reached the 12th floor, close to the middle floors, this trip can hardly be called an adventure.

Because their team includes two high-ranking adventurers of Lv.4, [Gale] Ryuu Lion and [Pristine Garden] Alicia Forestlight.

And both are elves; adding Lefiya, the team has three elven beauties, making the proportion of elves seem a bit too high.

The only human is Emiya, as Syr is not an adventurer and is not allowed to enter the dungeon. Although she wanted to sneak in, she was sternly refused by Ryuu.

Even using the forbidden coquetry skill was useless; Ryuu would not back down at times like this.

Syr could only return to the tavern in a huff, and because she incited Ryuu to skip work, she had to continue working on her precious day off.

Ryuu, on the other hand, was entrusted by Syr with the "important task of protecting Shirou," though Syr's original intention was for Ryuu to be wary of the two elves from the Loki Familia. However, Ryuu seemed to have completely misunderstood it as being cautious of monsters.

And in the dungeon, Emiya felt a bit exasperated being sandwiched between three elves.

"Miss Ryuu, are you skilled in archery?",Lefiya seemed quite curious about Ryuu, a fellow elf she was meeting for the first time.

"No, I haven't used a bow.",Ryuu replied. Although they appear to be of similar age, there is actually a significant age difference between Ryuu and Alicia. Like Lefiya, Ryuu left her hometown forest at a young age.

"Is that so? I thought I was the only elf who didn't practice archery.",Lefiya sighed in relief,"Good, not every fellow elf has practiced archery for 'a long time' in their hometown."

The key phrase a long time inadvertently spoken by the girl drew a death glare from Alicia, 'Little sister, what are you implying?'

"Eek!",Lefiya was so scared she hid behind Emiya.

Alicia snorted in displeasure, thinking to herself,'I've only lived a few decades more in my hometown, even now I'm still an eighteen-year-old plus three hundred months young girl.'

There's an interesting phenomenon among female elves: those who are very old, generally over two hundred years, mostly don't mind discussing topics of youth and aging.

On the other hand, female elves with a physiological age between thirty, forty, and up to a hundred years old are more likely to care about their age.

Even though, from appearance, twenty-year-old, fifty-year-old, and two-hundred-year-old elves all look the same, making it impossible to tell their age.

Alicia glared at Lefiya, then turned her gaze to Emiya.

"Shirou-kun, although you are not an elf, I am pleased to see a child interested in archery. I will teach you my archery skills without reservation.",Alicia said,"First, let me see your archery level."

Although she inwardly belittled the archery skills of outsiders, Alicia's capacity far exceeds that of ordinary elves. She prides herself on her exquisite archery skills but does not hoard them.

After all, the bow is a rather niche weapon among adventurers. As one of the few archers in Orario, seeing a child interested in archery genuinely pleases Alicia, and she truly intends to guide the boy.

As for Lefiya's remarks, Alicia paid no mind, simply attributing it to Lefiya's lack of experience.

However, when Emiya followed Alicia's advice, picked up a longbow, and drew the bowstring towards a distant stone wall, Alicia's mindset began to change.

'How is this possible? This boy… just from his stance, it's clear he's incredibly strong!'

Emiya's movements reflected in Alicia's eyes, smooth and fluid motions, firm and tight muscles, instantly sharp eagle eyes… Seeing all this, the girl's archer soul began to stir uneasily.

"Emiya-kun, how about we have a match?"

.

.

.

"I understand, before the arrows in the quiver run out, whoever hits the monster more times wins.",Emiya Shirou repeated the rules, looking at Alicia with a somewhat weird expression.

"These rules are fine with me, but are you sure you want to do this?",he said.

Alicia nodded,"Of course, we don't need to 'kill,' just 'hit' is enough, because we're comparing archery skills, not strength. But even so, I still have the advantage of higher basic abilities."

The [Agility] ability value increases an adventurer's weapon control and accuracy, but what Emiya is concerned about is not this, nor the issue of killing or not killing.

"Then let's do it.",Emiya took the quiver handed to him by Alicia, which contained only ten arrows. Alicia also had a similar one hanging at her waist.

They began to advance through the labyrinth, with Ryuu falling behind to guard the rear of the team, while Lefiya, at the center of the formation, happily watched the spectacle.

"Shirou-kun, do your best!",Wanting to prove her judgment to Alicia, the elven girl actually cheered for Emiya.

Soon, they encountered their first monster, a lone orc.

Emiya immediately raised his longbow and shot an arrow, but at that moment, a gale swept past his side.

The moment Emiya's arrow left the bowstring, Alicia made her move.

An arrow whistled through the air, tearing through it. Although shot later, it reached the target faster than Emiya's arrow.

The orc, known for its size and stamina, which could pose a significant challenge to a Lv.1 adventurer party, was directly pierced by this arrow, its body blown open with a large hole, even the magic stone shattered on the spot.

If using ordinary arrows, unless directly piercing through the eye into the brain, there's no way Emiya could instantly kill an orc. Yet, a Lv.4 adventurer's ordinary attack could make the orc die without a complete corpse.

As for Emiya's attack, it naturally missed. Not to mention the wind pressure from Alicia's arrow, he was aiming for the orc's eye, but now where is the orc's head?

"Alicia-nee, that's cheating!",Lefiya shouted.

"Shu-Shut up!",Alicia's face was red, ashamed of herself for using such tactics against a child, but even more, she didn't want to lose.

Seeing Emiya's archery movements, Alicia judged that he would definitely hit, and then her hand moved faster than her brain, acting without thinking.

With an extremely strong desire to win, Alicia absolutely did not want to lose.

"Don't, don't call me despicable, after all, you're also an adventurer, doing whatever it takes to win, that's the adventurer's way.",Although she said this, her flushed face completely reflected the inner struggle of the elven girl.

Watching from behind, Ryuu was so embarrassed she started scratching the floor with her thumb. Deeply understanding the elven race's quirky personality, she actually felt a bit of empathy with Alicia at this moment.

"It's fine.",Shirou smiled lightly,"Please, Alicia-senpai, go first."

The boy's attitude made Alicia even more ashamed, deeply feeling that she had failed as a senior. However, even though ashamed, the elven girl's hand holding the bow remained steady.

A perfect ten out of ten shots, killing monsters led by orcs, including dungeon goblins and silverback apes, even piercing two goblins with one shot.

In this case, no matter what, Emiya could not win, because he had already lost one arrow. Unless he could achieve multiple piercings with one arrow, but with his level and strength attributes, that was impossible.

'What am I doing, getting so worked up over this, it's so childish…',At this moment, Alicia felt her face burning even more, with no sense of victory at all.

However, Emiya seemed to have no intention of giving up,"Then, it's my turn next."

"Is there still a need? Because Alicia-nee cheated, Shirou can't possibly win.",Lefiya said, pouting.

"The rule is, 'before the arrows in the quiver run out, whoever hits the monster more times wins,' right?",Emiya said, and Lefiya was stunned, then suddenly realized.

"——Ah!",The girl couldn't help but cheer, finally realizing that because of this rule set by Alicia herself, Emiya could not lose.

She was like a fan seeing her supported team win, getting excited on the spot. Ryuu, who had seen through everything from the start, remained silent, only Alicia began to feel a strong sense of unease.

"Let's end this here.",Emiya said calmly. This time, the monsters they encountered were two silverback apes.

These are monsters covered in white fur with silver hard hair on their backs, equivalent in status to orcs, top-tier monsters of the upper floors, with strength comparable to orcs, slightly less stamina, but more agility and defense.

Shirou drew his bow, the first arrow hitting a silverback ape's knee. Because there was a qualitative difference in strength and attack power, he and Alicia were not comparing the number of monsters killed, but the number of hits.

So as long as the monster was hit before it died, it all counted.

He drew and shot arrows faster than Alicia, with such high shooting efficiency that it left Alicia dumbfounded. The boy seemed to unleash a rain of arrows by himself.

'One arrow, two arrows, three arrows… nine arrows, ten arrows, eleven arrows…'

'Wait? Eleven arrows?'

Only then did Alicia realize something was wrong,'where did the eleventh arrow come from?'

Her gaze quickly shifted from the silverback ape to Shirou, and then Alicia saw that the boy made no motion to take an arrow, he simply pressed his hand on the bow, and an arrow automatically appeared, then he drew the bowstring and shot.

In the quiver behind him, there were still nine arrows lying there.

No wonder his shooting action was so fast.

'Don't call me despicable, after all, you're a high-ranking adventurer, Alicia-senpai.'

The two silverback apes were directly shot dead, first their knees were destroyed, losing their ability to move, then their chests were pierced, but with the monster's vitality, they could still hold on without dying, and finally, their heads were blown off.

This is also the reason why Emiya had to impose some self-restrictions while adventuring in the upper floors. His arrows were too overpowering against the lower defense monsters of the upper floors, preventing effective training of his strength and agility abilities.

"The current score is 34 to 11, Alicia-nee, you've lost.",Lefiya said triumphantly, as if she was the one who had beaten Alicia.

"I lost!",Alicia, despite her strong desire to win, was unexpectedly satisfied at this moment.

"Even at only Lv.1, with just this skill, you could claim the title of the city's strongest archer, and your archery skills are completely qualified.",Alicia said seriously,"In terms of archery, I, Alicia, acknowledge you as the strongest."

"Thank you, actually, it's also a bit of cheating on my part.",Emiya said.

"No, you won using 'magic,' which is the same as me leveraging my ability values for an advantage.",Alicia said seriously,"Losing is losing, I won't disgracefully refuse to admit it."

The cheating he mentioned was not about the magic [Unlimited Blade Works], but about inheriting the archery skills of a heroic spirit.

Alicia had only practiced archery for twenty years in her hometown, shooting at rabbits, wolves, and silly roe deer, while Emiya's arrows were often aimed at other heroic spirits.

However, in terms of archery skills, Emiya himself wouldn't lose to Alicia, but the gap wouldn't be as large as it Is now.

"Attention, someone is approaching.",Ryuu suddenly warned, placing her hand on the hilt of her katana.

"Hahaha, finally meeting people, these monsters are all yours!",Ahead, the first to appear in sight was a man covered in mud, followed by a cloud of dust, with two similarly dressed men chasing after him, and behind them, a large number of furious monsters.

This is one of the specialties of the dungeon, [Pass Parade].

[Pass Parade], a specialty of the dungeon, as the name suggests, is the act of delivering gifts, but the gifts are monsters.

═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═

patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator

🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.

https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y