Danmachi,The Legend of Emiya

I did it. I finally did it.  

I completed my revenge. I've successfully wiped out Evilus, who were responsible for my comrades death, along with their accomplices.  

In the process, I rescued a child from their clutches, a child with red hair, much like Alise's .  

I tried to save the other imprisoned children, but Evilus had preemptively planted kaenseki(explosive fire rock)in their prison as a booby trap. Caught off guard, not only did I not managed to save a single one, but I also ended up with many serious injuries.

Once again, I've accomplished nothing… No, at least this time, I managed to saved one child.  

Or rather, he saved himself. Though I don't know how he escaped, staying in that prison would have meant certain death. It was his own courage and bravery that saved him.  

That child should have survived.

After completing her revenge, Ryuu felt empty, no sense of achievement or satisfaction whatsoever, only an endless sense of loneliness filled her heart.  

She doesn't know where to go from here, nor is there a place she belong anymore.  

Her once crimson world has now turned black and white. The smiles of her friends and their tragic deaths, are slowly fading away.  

Their tears, their laughter, their pain and joy—all of it has slowly disappeared. With the completion of her vengeance, Ryuu has now become an empty shell.  

Envelop by an endless darkness. What once lit up that darkness was the burning flame of vengeance, but now, with the completion of her revenge, that fire has now extinguish, leaving behind an empty void.  

No, within the pitch black void, there still remains a small cinder, the last remaining embers of her obsession.

"I was always the one being saved by them, but this time, at least I want to save this child. Even if it's just him..." 

This might just be the last bit of justice remaining in her, someone who was twisted by hatred and anger, seeking somesort of self atonement.

Finally, just before she closed her eyes, she saw a beautiful girl reaching out her hand to her.

Good, at least, this child could be saved, now I can peacefully follow in their footsteps.  

....

"Alise, have you come to get me…" 

When Ryuu opened her eyes again, she was convinced she had arrived in heaven, she saw that signature red hair, that warm her like the autumn sun. She tightly embraced the long-lost figure in front of her, afraid that they would vanish into thin air like a fleeting dream.  

"Miss Ryuu?"  

Wait, something doesn't feel right, besides the red hair, their age, gender, and voice all don't match up.  

"Wow meow, has Shirou finally awakened the sleeping beauty with true love's kiss meow?"  

Anya reappeared at the door, but this time she was being carried by Mia, the tavern owner, who was grasping her by her nape.

Peeking out from behind the door, Syr whispered, "From the looks of it, it's more like Shirou was forced into it." 

Mia, however, focused on another issue: "Wait, isn't't [Gale] over 18 years old...."

As for Shirou, he looked no more than twelve or thirteen. 

"Whoaaaa—" Anya gave Ryuu a look that, to put it bluntly, was like looking at a criminal… no, more like a predator.  

Realizing the misunderstanding she had caused, Ryuu's brain short-circuited, and Anya's judging gaze also struck her like a truck, making her emit a boiling sound.  

And just like that, with steam puffing from her crimsoned face, Ryuu fainted once again.

....

Alise was the Captain of Ryuu Lion former familia, nicknamed the "Scarlet Harnel" due to her red hair, she was a deceased adventurer. In her daze, Ryuu confused Shirou's red hair for that of her late friend.  

It seems that Mia had know Ryuu Lion's identity from the beginning, but besides giving Shirou her name, she hadn't given him any more information, over the past few days, he had only been able to gather pieces of information about this world's indirectly through Anya.

All Shirou knew was her name and the fact that she was incredibly strong. 

This, however, seemed like a perfect opportunity to learn more about her.

When Ryuu woke up again, half an hour has past, the entire staff of the tavern had gathered, including the waitress Syr, the owner Mia, the new hire Shirou, and the ever-curious Anya. 

Yet, Ryuu appeared closed off, lying silently on the bed, refusing to talk.

"Why did you save me—" When she finally did speak, she questioned Syr with an emotionless tone.

"Umm." Syr responded with a troubled expression, then smiled gently. "If I see someone collapsed in the rain, covered in wounds, I can't just leave them there, can I?" 

It was a perfectly good answer, one that anyone present here would have done the same if they have been in a similar situation.

But Ryuu wasn't asking why Syr's saved her, she was asking this because she saw no meaning or reason for herself to be saved.

Ryuu then turned to look at Shirou, the boy with the warm, red hair that reminded her of someone dear. 

Yet, at this time, she was at a loss for words.

She was conflicted—she was grateful that the boy had survived, embarrassed for mistaking him for someone else, and torn about whether her actions had been motivated by genuine concern or just self satisfaction. This whirlwind of emotions rendered her completely unable to speak.

At this time, the boy suddenly stepped forward.

With a sincere and grateful voice Shirou said.

"Thank you for saving me, Miss Ryuu," while tightly holding her hands.

Ryuu didn't push his hand away.

"Wait, aren't elves supposed to be super clean freaks, meow? How can he… Ow! That hurts, meow!" 

The strange meowing sound and cries of pain from nearby, at this moment , should be treated as no more than mere background noise.

"He's the second one..." Ryuu stood went in to a daze.

Normally, if someone tried to touched her,  she would've reflexively attacked them, this wasn't a conscious choice but due to the inherent "cleanliness" nature among elves.

The first person she had ever allowed to touch herself was her former captain and best friend, Alise Lovell. She was both the first and the last person to be able to touch Ryuu without her reflexively attacking back.

And now, this boy was the second. Was it because he reminded her of Alise? Or was it something else...

"You know my name," Ryuu awkwardly tried to shift the conversation.

"It wasn't that hard to figured it out with your outfit and belongings. You're the [Gale]Ryuu Lion, right?" It was Mia who spoke. "The first class wanted criminal with an 80 million valis bounty."

Mia's words caused the atmosphere in the room to tense.

"So, what do you plan to do? Turn me over to the Guild?" 

Ryuu asked, her tone less of a taunting and more of a resigned manner—almost as if she welcome them to do that.

To avenge her fallen comrades, Ryuu had taken matters into her own hands, targeting various factions of Evilus and those that had worked with them, she even killed several member of Evilus working undercover in the Guild. Since these were all vigilante actions, with no formal trial, the Guild had placed a bounty on her head.

And due to her killing so many people, her bounty had kept rising. Now it stood at an astronomical figure of 80 million valis,

To put that in perspective, one jagamarukun [fried potato] costs about 30 valis, that means Ryuu was worth over 2.6 million jagamarukun—enough to last several lifetime.

But Mia merely scorned.

"Are you kidding me. Why would I bother with something that troublesome? You hopeless elf."

"H-hopeless elf?"

"Since you've woken up, whatever you do from now on is your decision. But you'll have to settle the bill for the past few days' of lodging first before you can leave." 

Mia's response left Ryuu utterly speechless.

"Miss Ryuu, if you don't mind, you could stay here for a while longer, this place is safe, and you can leave when things calm down outside." Syr suggested, while also adding.

"Shirou will also be working here as well."

What nonsense are these two talking about? How had they managed to survived this long in Orario? She was a dangerous first class wanted criminal, a powerful Level 4 adventurer. Any reasonable person would either try to get rid of her as quickly as possible or tempted to turn her in for her bounty.

Allowing her to stay here was like asking for trouble, if she wanted to commit any violent crime here, who could protect them? That rude dwarf woman? 

Ryuu's mind spiraled into confusion.

"Mama Mia is very strong, you know! She can protect you, Miss Ryuu. Also, I want to learn more about you, Shirou you feel the same, right?" Syr said. 

Mia...?

Hearing that name, Ryuu suddenly remembered something, but she quickly dismissed that as impossible and tossed them to the back of her mind.

"Miss Ryuu, I also hope you can stay here, at least until your wounds are completely healed." Shirou looked at her with sincere eyes.

No, don't saying that.

Ryuu's heart was in turmoil. 

No, please don't look at me with those sincere eye, I have no reason to live anymore. Please, don't remind me of my lost comrades. Please, don't disturb my mind any further— 

"I—I have!"

Without realizing it, her plead turned into a scream that was somewhere between a roar and a cry.

"I… I have already lost everything! My comrades, my home they're all gone… I've committed countless foolish acts, someone like me should have died a long ago. I have no reason to live anymore!" 

As Ryuu's shout echoed through the room——

"Gruuuuuu!!!"

A sudden loud growling sound interrupted her.

This cute noise came from none other than Ryuu's stomach.

"…"

Ryuu froze, Syr was dumbfounded, Mia was shocked, and Anya burst into laughter.

"Hahahaaaaaa, although you talk tough, but your body's being honest, meow."

Hearing the catgirl's frank remarks, the proud elf girl's face turned beet red.

"It appears as if your body still wants to live," Mia chuckled.

"Gruuu..."

The embarrassment was so overwhelming that Ryuu felt like her heart stopped, no, although she had long wanted to die, but not in such a humiliating way…..Even if she were to die, at least let it be in battle with an army of monsters, and not like, not like this…

Ryuu had been severely injured and fallen unconscious for three days due to fatigue. Naturally, her body has started craving nourishment.

The boy in front of her tightly bit his lips, trying his best not to laugh, while Syr couldn't help but chuckle. Shirou barely managed to held it together, as Ryuu's pointed ears turned redder.

At that moment, Syr came up with a bright idea and winked at Mia.

Mia raised an eyebrow in surprise but soon smiled in return.

"Honestly, letting someone starve to death in my tavern would ruin my reputation, so come on, I'll make you something to eat." 

"W-wait a minute, there's no need to—"

Before Ryuu could even finish her sentence, Mia had already grabbed her by her head.

"You stubborn, foolish elf. Stop saying such nonsense and behave yourself!" 

"Ugh…."

Mia's massive hand pressed down on Ryuu's head like a mountain, with just the right amount of strength to keep her down without hurting her.

The dwarf woman in front of her was so strong that she couldn't resist at all, nor could she react in time, but even if she somehow managed to react in time, her hand moved so fast that she most likely can't escape….single handily being subdue in less than a faction of a second, cold sweat pour out Ryuu's back.

At this point, she realized that her power was nothing compared to Mia's.

Just then, Shirou spoke up.

"Mama Mia, how about you let me handle cooking Miss Ryuu's meal."

"Oh?" The Mia raised an eyebrow, intrigue.

"I'd like to repay Miss Ryuu's favor, and I'm rather confident when it comes to cooking."

——————-

TN:I was conflicted about using, Useless Elf, Stupid Elf, Clumsy Elf, or Hopeless Elf as the translation in the beginning it was useless, but after thinking about it a bit more, hopeless might work better in the long run.

Alright more images

Ryuu with Alise

https://danmachi.fandom.com/wiki/Ryuu_Lion/Image_Gallery?file=Astraea_Record_Volume_1_01.jpg#Astraea_Record

https://danmachi.fandom.com/wiki/Ryuu_Lion/Image_Gallery?file=Astraea_Record_Volume_3_02.jpg#Astraea_Record

Ryuu crimson face

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/109520479#big_0