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

Finn and his party made their way through the Middle Floors, practically stepping over white ash the entire way, until they reached the safe zone on the 18th floor.

"There was white ash everywhere. Not even a single Minotaur, which are usually all over the place."

The journey had left Tiona completely bored.

She had assumed the person ahead wouldn't move so quickly—let alone clear out every monster along the way. Tiona had even prepared herself to get a look at who that person was.

But to her surprise, the person was incredibly fast. And not just fast—efficient. They cleared the path so thoroughly that she didn't see a single living monster the entire time.

"There really wasn't a single monster left."

Finn instinctively glanced over at Ais, noticing that she was deep in thought with a strange expression. He shook his head slightly and couldn't help but comment,

"That way of doing things is becoming more and more like Ais."

Ais paused, then suddenly understood why the style had felt so familiar—it reminded her of how she used to act.

Riveria cast a casual glance at Ais, then chuckled.

"Even though we don't know who that adventurer is, their style, combat approach, even their magic—it's all remarkably similar to Ais. I'm really starting to wonder who they are."

Another adventurer whose style resembled Ais's, and apparently had charged into the Middle Floors alone.

That kind of magic was far too distinctive. Just considering how closely it mirrored Ais's own methods, Riveria became convinced that the person had entered the Dungeon solo—and had even broken into the Middle Floors alone.

"An adventurer who just hit Lv. 2, rushing into the Middle Floors relying on a single spell... it's exactly like Ais back then." Maybe it was her age showing, but Riveria couldn't help thinking back to Ais as a child—especially when she had just reached Lv. 2. Even then, Ais had wanted to dive straight into the Dungeon.

The only difference was, back then, she had Riveria, Gareth, and Finn keeping her in check. Otherwise, Ais definitely would've tried to charge in alone at Lv. 2.

And now, someone had actually done what Ais once tried to do—but had been stopped.

"Riveria, how do you know the person's only Lv. 2?"

Tiona raised her question.

"Would a seasoned adventurer really bother to clear the 12th floor so thoroughly?"

Riveria had a solid reason for her conclusion.

"He cleared out every monster on his path. Only someone freshly arriving in the Middle Floors would do something like that."

Tiona's eye twitched slightly. Yeah, cleaning out the 12th floor like that wasn't something a veteran would bother with.

Riveria turned her gaze toward the stairs leading to the 18th floor.

She looked around—the entire 17th floor was surrounded by white crystal walls. This was the floor where the Floor Boss would be born, blocking adventurers from progressing.

"Goliath hasn't respawned yet. If he held him off, we should be running into that adventurer by now."

Thinking about Goliath's power, Tione furrowed her brows.

"Riveria, no matter how strong that person is, they wouldn't seriously go toe-to-toe with Goliath, would they?"

Riveria glanced toward Ais, who stood at the center.

"No. But there was someone who charged up before—back when they were Lv. 2."

Ais's whole body tensed. She instinctively looked away.

Everyone followed Riveria's gaze and focused on Ais. Then Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya all noticed how unnaturally stiff she'd become.

"Ais... so you've done something like this before?"

Now Tione understood why Riveria had made that remark—it was based on past experience.

Ais had done this before?

It was the first time Lefiya had ever heard of it. Challenging the 17th floor's Floor Boss, Goliath, as a mere Lv. 2?

How crazy did someone have to be to pull something that suicidal?

Even as a Lv. 3 artillery unit, she wouldn't dare attempt something like that.

Lefiya was certain—without someone tanking in front, she'd immediately become Goliath's target. At that point, forget casting magic—she'd be marked as the primary target and wouldn't even have a chance to run.

Ais, however, had no desire whatsoever to revisit her own embarrassing past.

"Hey, hey~ Ais, what exactly happened back then?"

Tiona noticed Ais's resistance, but that only made her more curious about this side of Ais she'd never seen before.

Ais had zero intention of answering. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand, making it clear—she wasn't saying a word.

"Tiona, no need to force Ais to talk. I'll tell you..."

Riveria, barely holding back her laughter, took it upon herself to fill in the blanks for the three who didn't know what had happened.

"Riveria!"

That finally broke Ais's composure. She almost jumped up to stop her.

"Hold on, Ais."

Tiona grabbed her right hand, locking her in place.

"Exactly, it's not every day we get to hear about your past. Let us enjoy it too."

Tione took the opportunity to grab Ais's left hand, teaming up with her sister to completely restrain her.

"Sorry, Ais."

Even Lefiya, who admired and looked up to Ais deeply, stepped in and covered her mouth to stop her from interrupting Riveria's story.

Held down like this, Ais couldn't break free just with brute strength—Tiona and Tione were physically stronger. Using force alone wouldn't work, and if she tried to use magic, it would definitely cause harm—something Ais couldn't allow.

Especially with Lefiya right there, Ais had even less confidence she could push Tiona and Tione away without seriously injuring her.

So, all she could do was sit there and watch as Riveria, grinning mischievously, began to recount her infamous past.

"It must've been around eight years ago, when Ais was just eight. Back then, she became famous in Orario for reaching Lv. 2 in the shortest time and at the youngest age. She was still a child, hungry for strength, always trying to act tough."

"That year. After she reached Lv. 2, she wanted to push even further. So during one of our expeditions, Ais went off on her own and tried to challenge Goliath—without any of us knowing."

"The result was... well, exactly what you'd expect. Even with 'Ariel,' she couldn't land a real hit on Goliath. Worse, because of 'Ariel,' her body pushed past its magical limits, and she nearly got swatted to death by Goliath."

Thinking back to that time when Ais was just a reckless kid brought both fondness and frustration to Riveria.

"Even back then, Finn, Gareth, and I already knew Ais's personality wasn't going to change much. She craved strength, and whenever something stood in her way, she'd try to force her way through. That's why she was always doing things no one else would ever dare to try."

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(100 Chapters Ahead)

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