Sand Sea's Mirage (砂の海のミラージュ) is a short story included in DanMachi Collection Extra 2021, a limited edition booklet sent to those who signed up for a campaign in conmemoration of the simultaneous release of volume 3 of the DanMachi II manga, volumes 19 and 20 of the Sword Oratoria manga, volume 1 of the Episode Freya manga, and volume 1 of Christmas Eve Träumerei manga.
Summary[]
Arry was caught in her sleep. While between dreams and reality, her thoughts were fixed on if she could become a better king and if she had gone against that silver revelation. She wondered if she could be proud of the woman that had guided her. She could hear someone calling her from somewhere far away, and wondered where she was and what time it was.
Arry was woken up by Bofman who, after asking if she was fine, told her it was almost time for the part to start. A long time had the war between Shalzard and Warusa, and Shalzard had become the first major power in the Kaios Desert. The party was to conmemorate that, with representatices from many of the world's powers attending.
After greeting everyone, Arry went to a corner of the salon where she met Talvi, Uskari and Lidari. Talvi thanked her for inviting them, but asked if it was fine to do it since their country was very rural. Arry found her amusing and told her she wanted to know about the spring in her country, with Talvi replying she'd tell her as much as she wanted.
The girl mentioned her negotiations with Orario, reminding Arry of the habit she had developed of forcing people she negotiated with to "choose between two options", the tactic she had learned from Hedin. However, just as she was leaving, Talvi asked her why she didn't refer to herself as "queen". Arry, Jafar and Bofman were left speechless, and while Arry was thinking about what to say the music changed, so she decided to ask Talvi to dance.
She decided to tell the princess about her life and her country while they danced, after which Talvi apologized to her. Both noted they felt they were similar, having wanted to sacrifice themselves for their countries. However, she Arry explained that after meeting a Goddess who told her to "give up on boring things like sacrifices" she decided to lead her country, guiding them by serving as an example, similar to a hero. Talvi for her part said she reminded her of Bell and Haruhime.
Once they finished dancing, Talvi told Arry that she liked her. Although initially surprised, Arry quickly understood she said it because she valued "once in a lifetime encounters" more than anyone else, and so simply replied that she liked her too and was glad to have met her. As she stood still in her place after Talvi left, Finn called out to her from behind. He and Ais had come as Royman's bodyguards, and while they had stayed away from most things as they did not want to get involved in politics, Arry had caught Finn's interest. The Pallum proposed that they played Halvan and she accepted.
Just like Freya back when they had played, Arry opted for the strategy of killing her king, leaving everyone in shock, although Finn also smiled when he saw it. After 200 moves, Finn won the game. However, similar to the Goddess, he showed her a way in which she would have won, showing Arry that if she had made a certain move 50 moves ago, he would have lost.
Arry had thought that he was more ruthless and willing to make sacrifices if it was effective, to which he responded that he would do whatever it took to win. However, even though he had been like how she had imagined him, he had changed. He told her that he used to consider himself an "artificial hero", but came across an opportunity and decided to change. He added that Ais had also changed, although he didn't know if it was because of the same opportunity. Upon following the adventurer's line of sight, Arry saw that in the distance Ais was talking to Talvi.
Aryy then asked if the Freya Familia was also there. Finn said no, but pointed out that another familia had come with them. However, he remembered that Freya had entrusted him with a message to give her: "I have found my Odr".
Later, Arry approached Bell. He exuded none of the presence or dignity that Finn and Ais did, making her wonder if it was really him. She was also jealous that he had stolen Freya's heart, but was left speechless when she saw his eyes, the "hero's eyes". She commented that she had heard about his adventures and wanted to know how he had overcome them. Without hesitation, the boy responded that because he had met many people who had helped him and taught him many things. Arry thought he was white, too white, and laughed when she realized that Freya had been impressed by that brightness, to which she was weak. Arry then told the adventurer that she wanted to know more about him.
While she was enjoying the miracle that was that desert, where all those people she had interacted with had gathered, Arry woke up. Bofman greeted her once again after she woke up with the same words as before, but now in a different place and at a different time.
He told her that while she had driven off Warusa's forces, the real challenge now began with the restoration of Shalzard in her hands, and informed her that Freya and her dependents had just left.
Arry realized she had been dreaming and remembered the joy and affection she had felt in said dream, even now as it was fading into white, forgetting who were in it and what they had said. She told her attendants present what it had been about and Jafar laughed happily, saying it was a good omen to bless her and Shalzard.
Arry wasn't sure if her dream would become true. Furthermore, she felt that, even if that were the case, there might be some whom she would never meet among the people she had seen in that dream, and that the stories she heard from the people she met might be different.
However, as she embraced the "mirage" that that sand sea had shown her, she renewed her thoughts, willing to risk herself nobly so she could meet those heroes again, as a hero too. And so, she decided to start.
Characters[]
- Arry
- Bofman Fazur
- Talvi (dream)
- Uskari (dream)
- Lidari (dream)
- Finn Deimne (dream)
- Ais Wallenstein (dream)
- Sanjouno Haruhime (dream)
- Bell Cranel (dream)
- Hestia (dream)