Danmachi : Strongest Supporter

Hemi was a man with kindness in his heart.

Every so often, he would go to the slums and distribute relief supplies to the poor for free.

In his memories, the first time he met "that boy" had been in the slums.

Unlike the usual situation, the frail boy had not been bullied in the slums.

On the contrary, everyone there showed him goodwill. Some of them were even willing to cut flesh from their own bodies to feed him.

That was far too abnormal.

And when Hemi faced that boy directly, the boy's fragile gaze instantly pierced the softest part of his heart.

Hemi, who had killed countless enemies on the battlefield and buried thousands, even tens of thousands, of enemy soldiers with his schemes without ever wavering, found his heart filled with endless affection when he faced that boy.

Walking through the corridor of memories, Noah also saw this demonic boy.

His warm gray hair was somewhat long, covering his eyes and two-thirds of his face, but it was still possible to see that his skin was fair and his bones were slender, unlike the build of an ordinary male.

Even so, he was indeed a boy.

Hemi brought him home and took care of him.

After spending a long time together, he proposed giving the boy a name.

A name.

But the boy said he already had one.

His name was Nia.

According to him, it was the name his deceased mother had given him.

As Nia stayed in the household longer and longer, General Nagakide came to visit one day.

He sharply noticed that there was something wrong with the people in General Hemi's household, and soon discovered the boy's strangeness.

He told Hemi about this phenomenon, and Hemi finally recovered a trace of clarity from the powerful charm.

Afterward, he felt a wave of terror.

A power that could make people unconsciously develop affection toward oneself—if such a power appeared in the Imperial court, what kind of effect would it have?

This power might even threaten the Emperor.

Even Hemi had ended up like this. If others also sank beneath that power the same way he had, wouldn't the young Emperor be deposed?

For a time, Hemi did not know how to deal with Nia.

He wanted Nagakide to meet the boy with his own eyes, then think about it together.

Seeing this, Noah also noticed a problem.

Nagakide had probably become a captive of that power too.

Because Nia was still alive.

Butler Pegina understood Minister Honest very well.

Knowing how terrifying and cruel the Minister was, he should not have betrayed the Minister even under torture, yet the power of charm was strong enough to make him abandon himself and act for Nia's sake.

It really was quite a troublesome ability.

This was the secret Hemi and Nagakide guarded together, though this was only the beginning.

As time passed, they mixed their dissatisfaction with the Empire together with their affection for Nia, and actually began to think of defecting from the Empire and making Nia the new king of the future.

As long as they had the power of charm, any enemy could be turned into a friend.

If this power belonged to a girl, she would undoubtedly be an existence capable of ruining a nation.

But the one who possessed this power was a boy.

He could be called a child favored by heaven.

Especially after Hemi and Nagakide discovered that Nia's charm ability was not only effective against humans, but also animals, and even Danger Beasts, with the same overwhelming strength.

At first, it was only the pets in the household.

Later, Hemi discovered that even the Danger Beasts used to pull carriages naturally felt goodwill toward Nia.

If this was not a chosen child, then what was?

After Hemi described these phenomena to Nagakide, the two of them decided on the spot that they would offer their hearts to Nia.

From then on, they began planning to defect from the Empire at the proper time.

In truth, their preparations were now mostly complete. But at this moment, they discovered that a certain "freak" could actually create Teigu.

Then that power had to be used for Nia.

"I see. So that's why you brought me here."

Noah now understood the sequence of events.

As for Hemi, the reason he was so fixated on killing Honest was actually because he feared the Minister would have a bad influence on Nia.

After all, affection had many different forms of expression, and the true nature of someone under charm would not change.

Even if the Minister were charmed, he would still be that cruel and greedy Minister.

No one knew what he might do to Nia.

That was why Hemi both feared and guarded against the Minister.

According to Hemi's past investigations, Nia was not a pure human, but a hybrid of a Danger Beast and a human.

He was an existence historically known as a "taboo," something forbidden and unaccepted.

This description was even older than the Empire's history and might have been passed down for thousands of years.

So far, Noah had seen some special individuals mixed with Danger Beast traits, such as Oarburgh's two unusual maids, Gilberda and Cassandra.

The difference between those two and Nia was that they belonged to ancestral reversion.

In other words, it was not their parents or grandparents, but far more distant ancestors who had once been "taboo" existences.

After so many years, the recessive genes in their bodies had been activated again, causing physical mutations.

But Nia himself was an existence known as "taboo."

Judging from the power he displayed, one of his parents had to be a Danger Beast, and not an ordinary one.

It was highly likely to be a super-class Danger Beast with a nearly human form, perhaps even a rare individual not recorded in ancient books.

From fifth-class to first-class, then to super-class, "super-class" was a special existence above those levels.

Hilarisors belonged to the category of super-class Danger Beasts, and with its ancient existence, it could also be called a legendary super-class Danger Beast.

Whether this power was exposed or the existence of a "taboo" was exposed, it would definitely place Nia in danger.

Unless he was crowned king.

"To protect that Nia, they classified his very existence as top secret. The only people who know are Hemi, Nagakide, and Nia himself..."

No wonder he had immediately attacked as soon as Noah asked about the charm.

Noah had obtained the information he wanted and was about to release the ability, but he suddenly sensed a peculiar power.

Following that feeling, he advanced through the Soul Corridor and arrived at the corridor's core.

The moment he entered this "space," the first thing Noah noticed was a strange mark suspended in the center of the interwoven film reels.

A pink rune floated there quietly.

Noah activated Truthseeker and Appraised the rune before him.

[Demonic Charm Mark]

・Type: Curse

・Curse effect: Mental interference

・Application condition: Hatred. The caster must harbor powerful hatred toward the target in order to apply the curse.

・Caster: Nia Echidna

"Nia Echidna..."

Was that the boy's full name?

Echidna was probably the name of the Danger Beast side among his parents.

Noah had never seen this name in documents or ancient books, but that was also one of the traits of super-class Danger Beasts.

Even super-class Danger Beasts did not have specific individual names and were named by species.

For example, El Monda, a super-class Danger Beast with flight ability, was actually not that rare.

If one found their nest, there would be large groups of El Monda there.

But super-class Danger Beasts were different.

Perhaps because they were truly too rare, the super-class Danger Beasts currently known often had no multiple sighting records, so they were also regarded as existences with "uniqueness."

Ordinary mammalian Danger Beasts were born through biological reproduction, so there were at least traces that could be researched.

But the birth method of super-class Danger Beasts had no basis to investigate.

At least, no current documents recorded anything about that.

The Forest Dragon was a special lifeform born from prayer and nature.

Although it was classified as a Danger Beast, and a super-class one at that, with such a method of birth, it would not be an exaggeration to call it a land god born in response to wishes.

After all, it was the will of the forest itself, completely matching people's impression of a land deity.

Because this world collectively classified all "monsters" as "Danger Beasts," those special individuals who surpassed human understanding were called "super-class Danger Beasts."

Many Teigu were named after myths, meaning that a thousand years ago, myths were still being sung by people.

A thousand years later, today, almost no descriptions of ancient myths could be found within the Empire.

Perhaps this world had once possessed so-called gods as well.

Those gods might even have been "Danger Beasts."

Thinking of this, Noah felt somewhat regretful.

The magic called Yog-Sothoth allowed him to see the future appearance of a world, but it could not look back into the past.

"Since this thing is in Hemi's soul, then..."

Noah now had the thought of destroying the rune.

He was currently inside Hemi's soul.

If he used Soul Drill here and aimed only at the rune itself, it should not damage Hemi's soul and turn him into an idiot or a vegetable.

Thinking this, he no longer hesitated. He raised his hand and gently pointed toward the pink rune from afar.

In the next second, the pink rune began trembling violently.

Translucent thorns drilled out from within the pink rune and directly tore it apart.

The torn rune's color grew paler and paler, then completely vanished within only a few seconds.

'So fragile.'

This rune had not rooted itself into the soul. It was merely a mark, not even a brand.

Using Soul Drill was overkill.

At this level, he could simply use Weaver's ability to manipulate the soul and gently tear the mark away.

"Now, Hemi's charm should be removed." Noah muttered, then released the ability.

After his consciousness returned, he looked at Hemi, who had collapsed on the ground with a horrified expression, and immediately understood that the man had now returned to normal.

Hemi covered his face with one hand, while supporting himself with the other. His fist was clenched extremely tightly.

His head was covered in cold sweat, and he looked as though he was about to collapse from exhaustion.

"You... what did you just do? I feel like I suddenly woke up. Damn it, what was I doing before?"

Hemi's face was filled with shock and disbelief.

He clearly remembered everything from before.

But the current him could not understand his own behavior at that time at all.

This was no longer something as simple as confusion or impulse.

"The power of charm... I was actually drawn to that boy and became that obsessed?"

Hemi was deeply confused about himself, while also sighing at the terror of charm.

He raised his head and asked Noah, "Was it you who removed the charm? What exactly are you..."

Could this man also be a "taboo existence" like Nia?

Noah ignored Hemi's question.

Under his Appraisal, the charm on Hemi had indeed disappeared.

It seemed that as long as the rune was destroyed or one avoided being attacked by that mark, this charm power could be dealt with.

He had to admit that after understanding the principle, he considered this ability extremely low-level.

As for charm, he knew of something far more powerful...

No.

Nia was only a hybrid of human and Danger Beast. Comparing him to a goddess was probably asking too much.

But this also made Noah understand something.

This power had no effect on him and did not pose a threat.

So he chose to leave it alone.

Although he was also somewhat interested in the other party's body and soul, it would be the same to study it later when he had free time.

"You don't need to know who I am, General Hemi, because you won't remember it."

Noah "fixed" Hemi in place, extended one finger, and touched it to his forehead.

Hemi revealed a panicked expression.

A strong sense of terror suddenly rose in his heart, as if something important was about to be taken away and he was powerless to stop it.

"I should thank you, General Hemi. Because of you, I learned more interesting things! Removing the charm can be considered my gift of thanks. The next time we meet, you won't recognize me anymore, but I'll still greet you."

After saying that, Noah manipulated the memories inside Hemi's soul, altering the memories related to himself.

From then on, in Hemi's perception, he had never taken any action against a scientist named "Noah."

At the same time, Noah also added memories of Hemi "accidentally" breaking the curse of charm and becoming wary of Nia.

It was Noah's way of doing a good deed to the end.

...

Only then did he remember Pegina.

Silently knocking everyone here unconscious, Noah carried Pegina away.

Later, he also removed Pegina's charm and altered his memories, changing them into memories of the two of them encountering robbers on the road and having their carriage stolen.

When this was explained in front of the Minister and Suzuka, Suzuka gave an extremely exaggerated "Hah?"

No, no, no.

With the monster's companion at his side, they're getting robbed by common bandits?

If that were true, then wouldn't the Four Rakshasa Demons be worse than some random highwaymen?

How were they supposed to keep working?

Although she did not believe it at all, Noah's calm statement and Pegina's account were completely identical.

Suzuka could only guess that Noah had suddenly felt playful and given the carriage to the robbers.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain it.

After all, if he resisted even a little and drew that hundred-meter blade of his, then even thousands of fully armed soldiers would not matter.

Minister Honest, on the other hand, did not care about this at all.

He only cared about longevity!

In every other regard, he would give Noah the greatest possible freedom.