"Got it!"
Bell nodded vigorously and led Linn into a bustling commercial street.
The nights in Orario were even more vibrant than the days. Gas lamps lined the streets, illuminating the steady stream of adventurers and citizens. The aroma of food wafted from various stalls, enough to make anyone's mouth water.
Bell was clearly a regular here. He expertly wove through the crowd with Linn in tow, finally coming to a halt before a stall selling deep-fried potato puffs.
"Boss, two orders of potato puffs—the extra-large ones!" Bell called out grandly.
"Coming right up!" The vendor, a cheery middle-aged man, deftly scooped golden-brown, crispy potato puffs from the fryer and tucked them into paper bags.
Linn looked at the steaming, spice-dusted snacks with a touch of curiosity.
"Here, Mr. Linn!" Bell handed one over. He couldn't wait to grab one himself, popping it into his mouth despite the heat and squinting his eyes in pure bliss.
Linn followed his lead, piercing a puff with a bamboo skewer.
The crust was crispy, the inside soft and fluffy, and the savory seasoning was just right. It was surprisingly good.
The two of them stood by the roadside, eating contentedly, oblivious to the world around them.
"Mr. Linn..." Bell asked through a mouthful of potato, his voice muffled. "Your... your way of fighting... can it really not be taught to others? Even just a little bit?"
"It can't be taught," Linn replied flatly. "That stuff isn't learned; it's forged through death."
"Death?" Bell froze.
"Yeah. Die about a thousand times, and your body just remembers it on its own."
"You watch the monster's moves. It raises its left hand, you roll right. It raises a blade, you get ready to parry. It's all patterns—nothing complicated about it."
Bell listened, dazed. He felt like he understood every word, but when put together, they sounded like some incomprehensible scripture.
Die a thousand times? Wouldn't you just stay dead? Are the trials of the god Hidetaka Miyazaki really that... hardcore?
He looked at Linn's profile—young, yet possessing a gaze that seemed to have seen through everything—and his reverence deepened even further.
"What about you?" Linn suddenly asked. "Why are you working so hard? To get stronger, sure—but then what?"
"I..." Bell was stumped. He looked down at the potato puffs in his hand and remained silent for a moment before speaking in a voice that was almost a whisper. "I want to be... a hero. Like the heroes in the stories my grandfather used to tell me when I was a kid."
"A hero?" Linn chewed on the word. He found it a bit amusing, yet also a bit nostalgic.
Once upon a time, he had probably thought about things like that, too. Unfortunately, in the Lands Between, heroes rarely met a good end.
"It's a good goal," Linn said, brushing the crumbs off his hands and giving a flat assessment. "Having a clear goal is better than having none at all."
Just as Bell was about to say more, a flippant woman's voice, carrying a thick Kansai-style lilt, rang out beside them without warning.
"Oh my? Seems like I've overheard a mighty interestin' topic. Hey there, little guy—are ya another one lookin' to be a hero?"
Linn and Bell turned their heads simultaneously.
A tall woman with striking red hair had appeared beside them at some unknown point. She was dressed in practical men's clothing with her hands tucked in her pockets. A sly smile played on her lips, and her crimson eyes darted between Linn and Bell with intense curiosity.
Seeing her, Bell instinctively took half a step back. This woman's aura was too powerful; just her presence there exerted an inexplicable pressure on him.
Linn's reaction was entirely different. He narrowed his eyes, his gaze lingering on the woman for a second.
This person... isn't human.
He caught a scent from her that was fundamentally different from ordinary mortals. It was faint, but it was there. It felt a bit like... the Demigods of the Lands Between.
"Who are you?" Linn asked directly, not bothering with pleasantries.
"Aww, so cold." The red-haired woman sighed exaggeratedly. Then, acting like an old friend, she leaned in and slung an arm around Linn's shoulder, using her other hand to give his arm a squeeze.
"The name's Loki. Seein' as y'all were havin' such a lively chat, ya don't mind if I join the fun, do ya?"
Linn wordlessly shrugged her hand off and took a step back to re-establish a safe distance.
"I do mind."
"Don't be like that." Loki laughed like a fox that had just raided a hen house. Her gaze finally settled on Linn, her red eyes shimmering with unconcealed scrutiny and greed.
"Little guy, you look pretty interestin'. So, what d'ya say? Interested in joinin' my Familia? I guarantee I can make ya a hero a hundred times faster than ya could on your own."
Familia?
Linn understood immediately. This woman was a goddess.
As for Bell, the moment he heard the name "Loki," he went rigid. The potato puff in his hand hit the ground with a soft thud.
Lo... Loki?!
The patron goddess of the Loki Familia—one of the two top Familias in all of Orario?!
In his wildest dreams, he never thought he'd run into such a legendary figure at a roadside stall! And even more, she was... personally scouting Linn?!
Bell's mind went blank, leaving nothing but shock.
Linn, however, didn't have much of a reaction. He just found it a bit annoying. No matter where he went, people were always trying to recruit him. It had been the same back at the Roundtable Hold.
"Not interested," he refused flatly once again.
"Eh—? Why's that?" Loki's jaw dropped in feigned shock. "My Familia is the strongest in Orario! We've got the money, and we've got the people! You've seen that Ais girl, right? She's my ace! Join us, and you can dive into the Dungeon with her every single day."
Linn stuffed the last bite of his potato puff into his mouth and said indistinctly:
"Ais is a good partner, but I won't be joining another Familia. It's too much trouble."
That response was so casual it bordered on rude, making Bell Cranel's heart nearly leap out of his throat.
That's Lady Loki! The goddess of one of the strongest Familias in Orario! A sanctuary that countless adventurers would break their necks just to get into! Mr. Linn... he just brushed her off like that? Without a hint of hesitation?
"Trouble?" Loki's smile stiffened for a split second before widening even further, as if she had discovered a priceless treasure.
"Little guy, maybe ya don't quite get it." She held up a finger and wagged it gently. "My Familia represents the pinnacle of Orario. Wealth, fame, the strongest comrades, top-tier gear... as long as ya nod your head, I can pile all that stuff up in front of ya like a mountain."
Her voice held a strange magic, thick with temptation.
However, Linn simply brushed the crumbs from his hands, his expression unchanged.
"Like I said, not interested." He finally looked Loki in the eye and said solemnly, "I have my own God to serve. I cannot change my allegiance."
At this reason, Loki was the one who froze.
She had initially thought Linn was the type of arrogant loner who looked down on Familia rules, or perhaps a free spirit.
But the excuse of "having his own God" changed the nature of the refusal entirely.
"Oh?"
Loki's interest grew even more. She leaned forward slightly, her handsome face close enough to Linn that she could almost feel his breath.
"Now I'm mighty curious. Just which rascal moved so fast they snatched up a fascinatin' sprout like you? Let me guess... is it that blacksmith Hephaestus? Or maybe that flashy vixen Freya?"
In her eyes, anyone capable of cultivating a monster like Linn couldn't be a nobody. In all of Orario, there were only a handful of gods who were capable yet chose to keep a low profile.
Bell also pricked up his ears. He was equally curious about what kind of great deity could command such loyalty from Mr. Linn.
Faced with Loki's interrogation, Linn's expression finally underwent a subtle change.
"My God is named Hidetaka Miyazaki."
He spoke each syllable clearly, though there was a nearly imperceptible hint of gritted teeth in his tone.
"Huh?"
Loki's mind instantly raced through the roster of every deity in the Heavens, from the mainstream pantheons to the obscure little gods in far-off corners. She could swear there was absolutely no one named "Hidetaka Miyazaki."
The name sounded more like a mortal from the Far East.
"Hidetaka Miyazaki?" Loki frowned, searching her memory. "Which pantheon? I've never heard of 'em."
"It's normal that you haven't." Linn gave her a look that suggested he was serving a "hidden great one" and explained calmly, "He is the God of Suffering and Smithing, the Witness of Fire and Ash."
"God of Smithing and Suffering?" Loki voiced her deep skepticism.
She could understand Smithing—Hephaestus held that domain. But Suffering? What kind of god would take "Suffering" as their divine authority?
Were the followers so bored with their lives that they went looking for misery?
Linn seemed to see through her doubt and continued with his established theory:
"My God believes that the strength of a soul does not come from the gift of comfort, but is tempered through death and trials again and again. Every time we defeat an insurmountable foe, every time we crawl back from the brink of despair—that is the finest smithing of the soul. Therefore, what my God grants His followers is not protection, but an endless cycle of trials. We call it—Linking the Fire."
He spoke with total seriousness, sounding like a mystic, yet his words carried a strange, undeniable logic.
Bell stood by, slack-jawed. His mind was already conjuring the image of an evil god clad in black robes, sitting upon a throne of skulls with a cold face, delighting in the suffering of all living things.
Dying a thousand times... so it was true! The trials of the god Hidetaka Miyazaki are literally trials of death!
So... so terrifying! But it also sounds so incredible!
Loki fell completely silent.
As the Goddess of Deceit, she had heard more sophistry and twisted logic than Bell had eaten potato puffs. But she had never heard anyone describe "suffering" and "seeking death" with such refined eloquence, elevating it to the level of faith.
Fire and Ash... Death and Trials...
For some reason, this rhetoric gave her a sense of... a familiar yet dangerous aura. It didn't feel like the "playing house" style of the Lower World's Familia games; rather, it felt closer to the primitive, cruel laws of the Age of Heroes.
"You..." Loki stared into Linn's eyes, trying to find a trace of a lie, but his gaze was nothing but tranquil. "This god you're talkin' about... is He... is He in Orario right now?"
"No, my God has not descended to the Lower World," Linn shook his head. "His Grace is bestowed directly through the resonance of the soul. As long as my faith remains, the trials will never cease."
This time, Loki was truly speechless.
A god who hadn't descended to the Lower World but could still bestow "Grace"? This completely overturned the understanding of all gods in the Lower World! This wasn't just a simple matter of Familias anymore; this touched upon the most fundamental rules of the "Falna" system!
Either this kid was playing her with a perfect set of lies...
Or... there truly existed a "God" in this world that none of them knew about, one who operated on entirely different rules!
Regardless of which possibility it was, Loki felt an unprecedented level of excitement.
The smile on Loki's face vanished, replaced by the focus and sharpness of a hunter who had spotted their prey.
"Hey kid, your name's Linn, right? I'll remember ya."
She didn't mention recruitment again because she knew the key right now was to figure out what exactly this "Hidetaka Miyazaki" was.
"And you," Loki's gaze shifted to the petrified Bell. "Little rabbit, what's your name?"
"I—I'm Bell Cranel!" Bell jolted and stuttered his reply.
"One of Hestia's brats, huh?" Loki grinned, baring her white teeth. "You really hit the jackpot today. But stickin' with a guy like this, be careful ya don't get dragged into those 'trials' of his someday."
With that, she didn't linger. She gave a cool wave of her hand and vanished into the bustling crowd.
It wasn't until Loki's figure had completely disappeared around the corner that Bell let out a long, exhausted sigh, feeling like his shirt was soaked through with sweat.
"M-Mr. Linn..." He looked at Linn, his eyes nearly overflowing with admiration. "You... you actually refused Lady Loki's invitation... and... and..."
"And what?"
Linn looked indifferent. He bent over to pick up the paper bag Bell had dropped, blew the dust off it, and handed it back.
"If she had invited you to join the Loki Familia just now, would you have gone?"
Bell: "Of course not! I would never leave Goddess Hestia."
"Then there you go."
Bell took the bag of ruined potato puffs, his feelings complicated. Everything that had happened today was simply too much for a rookie adventurer to process.
"Um... is the god Hidetaka Miyazaki really... a god who governs suffering?" Bell couldn't help but ask curiously.
"Yeah, pretty much." Linn shrugged. "He also really loves designing traps when you least expect them. You know, stuff like 'love around the corner' or becoming an 'Elevator Warrior.' Anyway, if you believe in Him, you never know if the next turn brings a surprise or a jumpscare."
Bell listened, only half-understanding, but he felt that this faith sounded incredibly dangerous.
Seeing his expression, Linn didn't bother explaining further. He couldn't exactly say that his "God" was actually a game director from his previous life who took pleasure in torturing players.
"Alright, the food's gone, and it's getting late. Time to head home." Linn waved his hand, preparing to leave.
"Ah, wait, Mr. Linn!" Bell quickly called out to him, grabbing a large handful of magic stones from the heavy bag on his back and trying to stuff them into Linn's hands. "You should take the lion's share of today's haul! I... I was just picking them up from behind..."
"I told you, you killed them yourself."
Linn frowned and pushed Bell's hand back. "I only take the share from what I killed. That's the rule."
"But..."
"No buts." Linn interrupted him. "If you want to get stronger, do the work yourself. If you want to be a hero, don't be so wishy-washy about things like this."
Having said his piece, he didn't give Bell another chance to speak. He turned and walked straight toward his own home.
Bell stood frozen on the spot, still holding the magic stones. He watched Linn's receding back for a long time, unable to snap out of it.
He tightened his fist, and a fire unlike anything he had felt before ignited in his ruby-like eyes.
A hero...
Today, he had seen a truly powerful person.
Even though the man's words and actions were nothing like the heroes in the stories, that composure, that strength, and that unwavering stance in the face of temptation were etched into his heart more deeply than any legend.
"I... I want to become as strong as Mr. Linn!" The boy made a vow to the night sky in his heart.
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Danmachi: My Primary God is Hidetaka Miyazaki? (Simulpub – Ongoing)
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