Danmachi: Is It Wrong to Be the Main Character in Orario?

"This is... a script I've never seen before."

Looking at the letters floating in the air, Hestia frowned slightly. She didn't recall any script like this.

Now, Bell was certain—his understanding of Runic Letters was correct. It seemed this world didn't have Runic Letters.

If that was the case, then there was no need to keep them hidden.

Without grasping the secrets embedded within the Runic Letters, it was impossible to use them. Otherwise, Bell wouldn't have spent nearly an entire night just to inscribe a single one.

After all, his studies and training were all part of his battle preparations.

In other words, even during his studies, Bell had triggered the Craft Essence effect of "Personal Training."

Under such conditions, a single night for Bell could be equivalent to one or two years of progress for an ordinary person.

This was the amount of time it took after Bell received the "Primordial Runes" extracted from Caster Hound's Spirit Origin by the Type-Moon system. Had he relied solely on his own ability, even one or two years would be a conservative estimate for an ordinary person to master them.

"Bell-kun, have you awakened a new magic?"

"...Goddess-sama, if I really had awakened a new magic, you'd be the one to know first."

"That's true."

If it were new magic, it would've already shown up during the last update.

Hestia also dismissed the idea that he had awakened a new spell.

But if it wasn't that, then what were these letters?

"Then what is this?"

"These are magic letters, but not magic themselves. However, when combined, they produce magical effects. That's why I spent yesterday learning how to control them."

Bell then took out a blank Spell Tome from his four-dimensional storage.

"It's a bit unexpected, but those magical letters were indeed written in this book."

"A Grimoire!?"

Hestia's eyes nearly popped out of her head.

A Grimoire was equipment on par with First-class weapons—and extremely rare.

Only one person could read it, and once read, the tome would be rendered useless. But the reader would have their latent abilities drawn out by the tome—meaning they'd learn magic.

Hestia quickly took the Grimoire from Bell's hands and inspected it. She finally confirmed—it was indeed a Grimoire, and it had already been used.

"Bell-kun, where did you get this Spell Tome?"

Grimoires were priceless. They weren't something you could just buy with money, since they were far too rare.

"Goddess-sama, would you believe me if I said I found it in the Dungeon?"

No way!

That's what Hestia wanted to blurt out instinctively.

While the Dungeon did spawn many rare materials, the idea of a Grimoires appearing there felt far too absurd. That wasn't the kind of item you'd find on the lower floors.

Even if it did appear, it would be something that only showed up during boss-floor encounters.

Yet seeing the serious look on Bell's face made Hestia hesitate.

The answer she'd been so confident in suddenly didn't feel so certain anymore.

At the very least, with Bell's absurd luck that could even affect the Dungeon itself, Hestia couldn't rule out the possibility of a Grimoire appearing on the upper floors.

But as she looked at the Grimoire in her hand, she still couldn't come up with any better explanation...

"In the Upper floors... maybe there's a chance to find a Grimoire... right?"

The possibility was nearly zero, but Hestia couldn't shake the thought—what if Bell had actually come across one?

No, it wasn't a question of "if." He had encountered one.

The used Grimoire in her hand was undeniable proof that Bell had really obtained one.

"So, does that mean what Bell-kun used just now was magic?"

"Uh... I don't think so."

Bell thought it over, then shook his head. The "Primordial Runes" that had been removed from his Spirit Origin shouldn't be appearing in his [Status] as a spell.

Still, that was based on the updated data. Bell wasn't sure if the Primordial Runes had actually shown up in his [Status] now.

To confirm it, he took off his shirt and turned his back toward the Goddess.

"Goddess-sama, could you take a look?"

"Alright, let me see."

Hestia pricked her fingertip with a needle and drew a line of divine blood across Bell's back.

His [Status] appeared.

She didn't bother with the stats and focused directly on the Magic section.

"It really isn't magic."

Hestia saw that under Magic, only Four-Dimensional Space and Lightning Command were listed—there was no third spell.

"You can put your shirt back on, Bell-kun."

After saying that, she glanced down at the Grimoire in her hand with mild surprise.

"So instead of gaining a new spell, he gained knowledge related to magical script? I didn't know Grimoires like this even existed."

But since it came from the Dungeon, anything was possible.

"Goddess-sama, has something like this ever happened before?"

"Never. Normally, after reading a Grimoire, the person just gains a spell that suits them. This is the first time I've seen something like this happen." Perhaps it just went to show how unpredictable things in Genkai really were.

All kinds of possibilities could occur.

Once her surprise faded, Hestia pushed the matter aside. Since it wasn't a bad thing for Bell, she didn't ask any more questions.

Whether it was magic or magical script, as long as it made him stronger, that was what mattered.

Still, she felt the need to give a warning.

"Bell-kun, don't let anyone find out about this."

"As long as you keep it to yourself and don't show your [Status] to anyone, no one will know that what you used earlier wasn't actually a spell."

"If word got out about magical writing, it'd definitely attract unwanted attention. Some might even try to learn those scripts from you."

"But if they think it's just a spell, none of that will happen."

Hestia understood all too well how much the gods craved the unknown, so keeping it a secret was the safest choice. It would save them a lot of unnecessary trouble.

"This works out, actually. Bell-kun, from now on, don't use your spells in front of others—just show them the magical script instead."

"And that script you used earlier is quite interesting. You could even position yourself as a supporter instead of an adventurer."

A supporter, not an adventurer—that, in Hestia's eyes, was the perfect cover.

...

(40 Chapters Ahead)

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