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

Ais had woken up early but didn't disturb anyone else's rest.

The night before, she had seen how drained everyone looked before heading into their tents. The exhaustion from resisting the pressure of the dragon's roar must've taken its toll.

She knew from personal experience how intense that fatigue was—she'd had to grit her teeth just to endure it. Even now, thinking back on it, those few dozen seconds had felt unbearable.

Carefully sensing the flow of auras around her, Ais confirmed that nearly everyone was still asleep.

Only after that did she begin her usual habit—searching for a specific presence.

She'd only sensed it once, back at the Twilight Manor. Since then, she hadn't been able to feel it again.

There was a trace of disappointment in her heart, but she didn't show it. Instead, she sat quietly by the embers of the nearly extinguished bonfire.

Normally, she would've used this time to move between floors for her morning training, but today, she stayed put.

There were few people awake in the expedition party, and with not enough available combatants to respond to emergencies, she needed to stay and keep watch.

'Bell Cranel... it's so hard to see you.'

As she sat in silence, Ais kept thinking about how she might get a chance to speak with Bell Cranel alone.

...

At that same moment, Bell—the one on Ais's mind—was still asleep along the wall of the 39th floor.

Roughly two hours later, he slowly stirred from his slumber.

"Haa~"

Waking up naturally always felt great.

Ever since he'd experienced what real sleep quality was like without relying on Runes, he'd avoided using them unless absolutely necessary.

The moment he opened his eyes, he activated Runes to check the situation around him.

'Captain Finn and the others are still resting? Looks like the journey and the dragon's roar really hit them hard.'

Ordinary adventurers didn't have much resistance to mental pressure, so it was no surprise they struggled under those conditions.

What's more, the Black Dragon's intimidation wasn't just spiritual—it was species-level suppression.

Just like how gods could naturally impose their will on humans in Genkai, the Black Dragon possessed a similar authority. But unlike gods, whose power came from divinity, the dragon's pressure was born from pure battle instinct and madness—a power that mirrored the divine in its own twisted way.

What gods could do, the Black Dragon could do too.

Which led Bell to a conclusion: the only path to becoming godlike was to take down an entity on par with a god in single combat—and win.

Bell shook his head faintly.

After learning the truth behind the Black Dragon's connection to the gods, he had already suspected as much.

The gods in this world are already at full capacity, so for a human to ascend to godhood, there's only one path—

To bring "evolution" to the world.

By overcoming the "trials" the world presents, by finding hope in the depths of despair and darkness, and by ushering in a moment of ultimate transcendence, humanity can surpass its own limits and become divine. That is the only true path.

Bell had already mentally prepared himself for this the night before.

A showdown with the gods? So what?

To be honest, he'd been ready for that long ago.

But for now, there was no need to dwell on it. Challenging the Black Dragon would require him to reach at least Lv. 9 first.

And since he was only at Lv. 4, there was no point in wasting energy thinking about it now.

Sitting up in bed, Bell let out a yawn. The moment was peaceful, and he'd unconsciously lowered his usual guard.

He wasn't particularly hungry—just groggy. Maybe it was the side effect of too much downtime.

Or maybe it was because he'd faced the Black Dragon yesterday, and now, his body and mind were craving a bit of release after staying tense for so long.

'I'm only human... Sometimes, I just want a little more rest too.'

After all, he wasn't made of steel. Even his body got tired, just like anyone else's.

'Let's take it easy for a bit today.'

For once, the normally disciplined Bell gave himself a rare moment of indulgence.

After stretching out, he lay back down.

...

The 39th floor was as quiet as night.

Another five hours passed before the dim ceiling light began to fade—finally, someone stepped out of a tent.

"Ugh..."

It was Tsubaki. Her face still wore the haze of sleep, and her eyes looked like she hadn't gotten enough rest.

Glancing up at the sky, her sluggish mind slowly came back online.

"It's already this late?"

She realized it was already the afternoon of the next day. Which meant... she'd basically slept through the entire day.

And even so, she still felt drowsy.

"This damn effect is stronger than I thought."

Tsubaki couldn't help grumbling. She much preferred her usual energetic self...

As a half-dwarf, she normally had the stamina to work nonstop for several days without issue. This was the first time something like this had happened since she'd reached Lv. 5.

"Grroowwl..."

Her stomach suddenly let out a loud rumble, and that snapped her mind into full wakefulness.

She instinctively reached for her waist pouch, pulled out a piece of dry bread from the storage space, and immediately took a bite. Her growling stomach didn't give her the chance to resist.

In just a few bites, the rather large chunk of bread was gone.

But it had been dry enough to scratch her throat, so she grabbed a bottle of water from her pouch and gulped it down in one go.

"Tsubaki."

"Hmm? Sword Princess?"

Just as her stomach started feeling better, Ais' voice rang out. Tsubaki turned and saw her standing there.

"Hah~ 'Sword Princess,' you're looking pretty refreshed today."

Looking at Ais, she saw that her eyes were as clear and beautiful as always—no signs of fatigue, not even a hint of red in the whites. It told Tsubaki that Ais was doing just fine.

"Yeah, I'm alright."

Ais nodded slightly.

"Everyone was affected pretty badly by the dragon's roar, but it didn't hit me too hard."

"Wow... So that's the strength of a Lv. 6, huh?"

Tsubaki couldn't help but be a little impressed. She hadn't expected someone at Lv. 6 to be able to resist the dragon's pressure like that.

Thinking back to her own experience yesterday, she definitely didn't want to go through that again.

But Ais shook her head lightly.

"I don't think it's because I'm a Lv. 6. Finn, Gareth, and Riveria are all still asleep—they weren't doing well either."

"So it's just an individual thing, huh?"

If it wasn't because of the level, then it had to be something personal.

Ais didn't really know if that was the case. Either way, she didn't want to get into it.

"Tsubaki, have you seen Bell Cranel?"

"Hmm? You need Bell for something, Sword Princess?"

"Yeah, I want to ask him a few things."

"That might be tricky. I don't know where Bell is right now. You'd probably have better luck asking Finn—he's more likely to know."