DanMachi Vol.16

CHAPTER 1: A STORMY LOVE LETTER

I smell paper.

The scent of books, like the ones I remember falling deep into as a child.

"It should be around here..."

I'm standing in front of a neatly organized bookshelf in the library of our home, Hearthstone Manor.

This room facing the courtyard is filled with row after row of books that used to belong to Apollo Familia. The library and its contents came with the home we took as our spoils after winning the War Game.

The immense collection had been amassed by Apollo and his followers, so I had been a bit hesitant to read them at first. But Daphne told me, "Feel free to read whatever you want. You won them fair and square. Besides, no one bothered to take any on their way out, so they're all yours now." Our goddess even said the books wouldn't want to be left alone, covered in dust, so now I come here to read whenever I have a moment.

Haruhime and I use the library often. And our goddess does, too, though it's mostly because she loves all the different forms of entertainment the mortal realm has to offer rather than the books themselves. I've also been adding to the collection by buying anything that catches my interest from time to time with my small allowance, so the shelves are getting pretty packed. We are going to need to think about getting a new shelf soon.

At the moment, I'm looking for a certain book amid that maze of shelves.

"There it is."

I spot it on the upper shelf of the bookcase where the stories about heroes are kept. I stretch to reach the thick tome.

"Dungeon Oratoria..."

The chronicle of Orario. A compilation of the city's legends and the journeys of a great many heroes. I crack open the book I consider the bible of my youth. I flip through the pages until I reach the final chapter.

"The hero Albert..."

A legendary hero who was known for his unparalleled strength. Many considered him to be one of the greatest figures to ever stand in the mortal realm, a man who was recorded not only in the Dungeon Oratoria but in countless other fairy tales and stories as well. As I stare at the illustration of a spirit and him challenging a titanic monster with a single sword in hand, the events from the other day come to mind.

The morning after Elegia's tribute to the fallen heroes and adventurers, I ran into Aiz at the Adventurers Graveyard. She was leaving flowers at the jet-black monument erected for the ancient heroes, in front of the gravestone in the middle of the monument that had been placed for the hero Albert.

"Wallenstein...Valdstejn."

Albert the Great is known by many names and one of them is Valdstejn, the Mercenary King.

In ancient times, mercenary was a common label for someone who explored the labyrinth. In other words, the king of mercenaries was, in essence, the king of adventurers. And the Sword Princess had laid flowers at the Mercenary King's grave...

I can't help but suspect there's something more than simple coincidence linking the strongest of ancient times and the current generation's strongest.

"Valdstejn's name...apparently isn't in this Dungeon Oratoria."

I flip through the pages but can't find any mention of the king of mercenaries.

This is a copy of the Dungeon Oratoria. The original was written over a thousand years ago and has been transcribed countless times since then, but this is definitely an official printing.

The only reason I know the name Valdstejn is thanks to the copy that I read in my hometown back when I was a kid...the copy my grandfather wrote down for me.