Danmachi: Is It Wrong to Be the Main Character in Orario?-Chapter 831: You Did Very Well, Ais

"Very good, very good. You did great, Ais."

After her bath, Bell immediately gave Ais her promised reward — a pat on the head. Though this reward might seem childish, it was something she had personally requested.

Ais closed her eyes, quietly soaking in the warmth of the praise. Every time she grew stronger, her teacher rewarded her — an agreement they’d made long ago. It was as if she were reclaiming a piece of the affection she’d lost. She waited for this moment every single day.

To show her parents that she had become strong enough to live in this city, she trained relentlessly. To gain the power to save them, to become worthy of challenging them. And to earn her teacher’s praise, she pushed herself to be better than yesterday, every single day.

"Ais, we’ll be heading back shortly today."

"Teacher, this early?"

The moment Bell mentioned returning, Ais understood exactly what it meant. But it hadn’t even been a full month since their last trip back.

Bell knew that — but he had a reason for returning early. He looked at Ais, pressing his palm a little more firmly atop her head.

"This early return is because of you."

"Me?"

Ais tilted her head, confused.

Bell sighed helplessly. This child really had zero Cognition of her own condition. He ruffled her hair thoroughly before letting go.

"You really haven’t noticed? Your growth rate has already surpassed before — and now it’s slowed down a lot. That means your Status is reaching its limit."

"Haven’t you realized how difficult it’s become to improve any aspect of your physique recently?"

Ais froze. Then, after replaying his words in her mind, understanding dawned.

"I’ve felt it. My growth has slowed a lot recently."

Adventurers possessed a vague sense of their own development, even if not as clearly as updated numerical values. Ais had indeed sensed her growth slowing.

And why was she able to notice? Because she had to become stronger than the previous day, every single day. Under such a rule, once her progress hit its limit, she could naturally feel the slowdown. And that was exactly why she pushed herself even harder.

She had wondered whether her abilities had reached a limit. But based on her past experience, she didn’t think she’d reached a critical threshold. She simply assumed her growth was being restricted.

Reaching Level 6 took her three months, but less than three months to reach Level 7 — so she formed a wrong impression. Only now did she realize her slowing growth was because she had already reached her limit.

This realization made Ais let out a small breath of relief. Yet it also left her puzzled.

"How is it this fast? Isn’t it supposed to be slower?"

An adventurer’s growth rate usually decreased with higher levels, not increased. Her previous level’s growth had already been fast — was this one even faster?

"Normally, yes, it should be slower. But Ais, you don’t seem to understand just how hard you’ve been pushing yourself lately."

Bell had no clue what ran through this child’s head all day. Ais’s effort over this period had been in full view of Bell, so he knew exactly how hard she’d been working.

When fighting monsters, she could unleash greater power. When exploring, she could conceal her presence better. Her improvements were across the board.

Especially against those giant Salamanders — every time, she challenged foes stronger than herself. No wonder her Status had been rising so quickly.

Bell was not surprised in the least.

What did surprise him was that the person in question seemed totally unaware of her own immense effort. She treated everything as normal — living each day like she was staking her life on it. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Really?"

Ais blinked, unable to recall whether she’d been training harder than usual. To her, it all felt normal.

Bell sighed, lightly patting her shoulder.

"You’ve been pushing yourself too hard lately."

"I’ve wanted to tell you this for a while now. Even for your parents’ sake, you can’t push too hard. That’ll just damage your foundations."

He had been ready to stop her at any moment. But seeing how she wasn’t forcing herself, and instead was completely immersed in training, he allowed it.

Hearing this, however, Ais just looked blank. She genuinely didn’t remember doing anything particularly intense. In her mind, she did the same thing every day: be stronger than yesterday, earn her teacher’s praise. Beyond that, she couldn’t recall much.

"Go get ready. We’re heading back."

Bell knew she was slow in some things, so he didn’t press further.

"Today’s different. Loki and Finn are waiting for you."

Even so, Ais wasn’t especially excited. Perhaps it was because they had to go back once every month.

There wasn’t much to pack — the shelter wasn’t being abandoned. Even after she leveled up and began preparing to challenge her parents, she’d still need to stay in the dungeon.

Though they were heading back early this time, Ais wasn’t without motivation. She’d already ruined several essential outfits. This was a chance to restock earlier than usual.