Chapter 56: Emiya Shirou, Just Who Are You?
In the dungeon's labyrinth, to reach deeper floors, one must pass through the stairs on each level. And the stairs to the eighteenth floor are located in the town at the center of the floor, Rivira Town.
This town was originally funded and established by the guild of Orario, with the purpose of creating a non-profit base within the dungeon's safe zone to provide services to adventurers.
However, although the eighteenth floor itself does not spawn monsters, monsters from other floors often stray into this area, requiring a large number of high-level adventurers to defend the base, resulting in huge operating costs. The guild ultimately had to abandon the construction.
Yet, the construction site left behind by the guild was not abandoned; instead, it became a gathering place for adventurers from various organizations on the surface who lacked fixed identities. They pooled their money and effort to establish Rivira Town in one go.
Of course, since it is a privately-run building, prices in Rivira Town are surprisingly high—it's a typical example of privatization.
"You must be coming to Rivira Town for the first time, right?" Perhaps because their relationship had warmed somewhat, Lefiya took the initiative to talk to Shirou during their approach to the town.
"I suppose so." Shirou nodded silently.
When he first climbed from underground to the surface, Shirou had seen this large town, but at that time, because he had little understanding of this world and the adventurers he met were hostile to him, he did not dare to casually enter such a seemingly dangerous place.
Looking back now, he realizes that his choice back then was indeed correct.
Rivira Town is a proper base established by official adventurers; if someone like him, without any status, barged in casually, it would probably immediately provoke hostility from the town's adventurers and possibly lead to an attack.
While Shirou was reminiscing, Lefiya seemed to feel she finally had a place from which she could look down on and instruct Shirou, speaking confidently: "When I went on expeditions with the Familia, I passed through Rivira Town many times. If you have any questions, just ask Lady Lefiya!"
Shirou smiled at Lefiya's childish behavior.
He did not deny it but quietly asked, "Then I'll ask: roughly how many permanent adventurers are stationed in Rivira Town? How is the defense system arranged here? And what's the exact price ratio compared to outside?"
"..."
Shirou's barrage of questions directly caused Lefiya's mind to tremble.
She had expected Shirou to ask about the town's customs or construction history, but she never imagined such detailed and specific questions. After hesitating for a while, she had to surrender.
"You, you're really too annoying!"
For Lefiya's triple complaint, Shirou was already completely accustomed. He ignored her sulking and began observing the labyrinth town before his eyes with his own eyes.
From the outside, it was almost no different from an ordinary town—numerous facilities such as inns, shops, and magic stone purchase stations were all complete. There were even decent defense facilities.
Because the town itself was located at the top of a cliff, the terrain advantage was very obvious, making it easy to fend off monster raids.
The town's architectural style was also quite nice, combined with the unique delicacy of the eighteenth floor, making it truly beautiful to behold.
"Before we go to the lower floors, let's first sell magic stones and dropped items at the purchase station." Lefiya suddenly said as they entered the town. "Although selling magic stones on this floor results in some loss, it will reduce the burden for moving forward."
"Huh? You mean we're supposed to use our own earnings to lighten this guy's burden?" An adventurer from the Apollo Familia immediately expressed his displeasure, pointing at Shirou's nose and shouting: "He already carelessly lost some magic stones. How can we make things easier for him? He should just carry all his magic stones honestly until the end! Or are you intentionally favoring this Hestia Familia kid?"
"..."
Lefiya was unhappy with the Apollo Familia adventurer's deliberate targeting. She was not favoring Shirou but thinking about the team.
However, since the adventurers in the team were already dissatisfied with Shirou due to his previous 'mistake,' no one spoke up for him.
Just as everyone was about to make Shirou carry the entire package down to the next floor, a beastman adventurer from the Freya Familia suddenly spoke up: "I agree with Miss Lefiya. Selling magic stones and dropped items at the purchase station can reduce the team's burden. After all, the dungeon's middle floors ahead are far more dangerous than the upper floors."
"What?" Lefiya and other team members showed surprised expressions at the unexpected support from the Freya Familia adventurer.
Of course, they did not think he was doing it for Shirou but believed he was genuinely thinking about the team's well-being.
Thus, the Apollo Familia adventurer could no longer object. The group officially headed towards the magic stone purchase station.
However, as they approached, they noticed something strange about the environment. The town was shrouded in a weird atmosphere, and the townspeople wore gloomy expressions.
Confused, Lefiya, as the leader, asked around town, and heard unbelievable news. According to the townsfolk, a murder occurred in Rivira Town last night. The victim was an Iv.4 adventurer, who was decapitated.
"The victim was Iv.4?"
Upon hearing this, the adventurers' expressions turned horrified.
Because if the victim was Iv.4, the murderer must be at least Iv.4 or higher. This meant that on the eighteenth floor and surrounding floors, a terrifying killer might be lurking. For their team, which was at the highest Iv.3 level, encountering such a person would almost certainly result in total annihilation.
"Should we just give up on the dungeon exploration?" Two Iv.1 adventurers from the Ganesha Familia could not help but feel like retreating. They originally just came to gain experience and build relations with other Familia members, never expecting to face such danger. For them, although giving up exploration would mean losing the trip's profits, it would at least ensure their safety.
"You guys are just too cowardly." An Apollo Familia member immediately retorted, "Don't say we might not encounter that killer. Even if we do, we have so many people here to fight back! How can one adventurer be an enemy to all of us?"
"..." The Ganesha Familia members wanted to argue but had no voice in the team due to their low levels. They could only look at Lefiya and the two Freya Familia beastmen.
Ultimately, whether to continue or retreat would be decided by the higher-level adventurers.
"We follow Goddess Freya's command to reach the twentieth floor with this team, then return."
The Freya Familia beastman said coldly, "We won't go back before the mission is complete."
Members of the Freya Familia were known for their absolute loyalty to Goddess Freya, a loyalty that would not waver even in the face of death.
Thus, only Lefiya was left without a decision. As the team leader, her decision would undoubtedly determine the team's fate.
Normally, Lefiya's timid personality would prevent her from taking any risky choice.
But perhaps due to Shirou's earlier remarks, which made her realize that this adventure was essentially a trial set by the Loki Familia, and also because Lefiya still harbored a strong competitive spirit towards Shirou, wanting to seize this chance to show off, she silently nodded and said: "Let's continue. The twentieth floor is just ahead. As long as we hurry there and back, it should be fine."
With Lefiya's words as the leader, the team's direction was decided. No one could oppose; they could only head to the stairs to the next floor and continue exploring the labyrinth.
During the process, though only a fleeting moment, Shirou saw triumphant expressions on the faces of the Apollo Familia members. They seemed happy about this outcome, showing considerable excitement.
Seeing this, Shirou wasn't worried about any trouble he couldn't handle, but he didn't want to reveal his true strength and let the gods' plan succeed. Besides, to prevent Lefiya from crying and seeking him out again, he felt he should take some action in advance.
.
.
.
Passing through the safe area of the eighteenth floor and arriving at the nineteenth floor was equivalent to leaving the upper floors of the dungeon and entering the middle floors.
The danger level of the middle floors significantly increased, with monsters everywhere that only Iv.2 level adventurers could handle.
Thus, even the Apollo Familia members could no longer be as relaxed as before; they had to be tense to avoid being eaten by monsters.
Under such conditions, everyone in the team remained constantly alert, leaving no time to observe each other.
Taking advantage of this, Shirou quietly approached the two Freya Familia members and casually said, "Freya sent you to test me, didn't she?"
"What are you talking about?" The two Freya Familia adventurers showed serious expressions, as if they didn't understand Shirou's words, looking confused.
"Hehe, your acting isn't good enough yet." Shirou waved his hand, "If you weren't sent because of me, you would have been angry just now. After all, I'm just an Iv.1 adventurer—how could the goddess, who pays attention to you, care about me? But you didn't get angry, which means you knew about my existence all along."
Shirou's words made the two Freya Familia adventurers fall silent. They hadn't expected such a simple flaw to be spotted and were troubled for a moment before finally speaking quietly: "As expected from someone the goddess Freya has noticed—you discovered our true purpose so easily."
"No, I said your acting is bad. Your previous protection of me was too obvious."
"That's because Goddess Freya told us to protect you as much as possible during the adventure."
"The goddess said that?"
"Don't be disrespectful to Goddess Freya!"
Seeing the two adventurers' devout, religious-like attitude, Shirou roughly understood the situation of the Freya Familia. He no longer said anything that might provoke them and quietly said, "Fine, I won't ask about you anymore. You'd better not ask me anything either. Let's pretend that conversation never happened."
"Hmm." The Freya Familia adventurers nodded slightly.
But after the conversation, Shirou didn't leave; he continued speaking: "Next, I'll talk to you as an ordinary team member. Don't you think something's wrong with the Apollo Familia?"
"No." The Freya Familia adventurers didn't seem to like Shirou.
Although they had accepted the goddess's order to protect him, their personal thoughts clearly were not aligned. If unnecessary, they probably didn't want any connection with Shirou.
Shirou understood their thoughts, so he continued: "In this joint operation, putting me aside, I understand the Loki Familia and Freya Familia joining because they are the two strongest Familia in Orario and help maintain order. As for the Ganesha Familia, I heard they are guild allies with close ties to the Orario Adventurers' Guild, so they're naturally on the order side. But why was the Apollo Familia allowed to join? Their stance and level are just too different."
"That's the gods' decision. It's none of our concern." The Freya Familia adventurers spoke quietly but answering Shirou's question indicated they also had doubts.
"Since you know about me, I'll be frank." Shirou looked at the two Freya Familia adventurers, "I think the Apollo Familia is the catfish deliberately placed by the gods—they are the saboteurs of this operation and part of the gods' test of me. Otherwise, the goddess Freya wouldn't have specifically told you to protect me. After all, the twentieth floor alone isn't that dangerous."
"Besides testing me, I think the gods also suspect the Apollo Familia, wanting to find out if they have dangerous intentions, so they specially organized this joint operation."
Though Shirou's speculation involved some guesswork, it was likely correct; otherwise, the many inconsistencies in this joint operation would be unexplained.
In fact, the Freya Familia members were already convinced by his words. Their complex eyes seemed to ask, 'Just who exactly are you?'
But Shirou naturally did not answer. Instead, he quietly said: "By now, you should understand what we might encounter on the twentieth floor. I think at times like this, we should cooperate in advance."
Upon hearing Shirou's words, the two Freya Familia adventurers exchanged glances and finally sighed helplessly—obviously having no choice but to accept.