©Omori Fujino/SB Creative/Danmachi 5 Production Committee
So the little girl set off. At the intersection of two roads, she met bzou [werewolf]who said to her: “Where are you going? …Which way are you going? The way of the needle or the way of the needle?”
These lines come from little Red Riding Hood Variants grandma’s storyis largely considered one of the earliest versions of this story. although Duan Town Based on mythology rather than folklore (the difference being that the former is religious and the latter is literary), I still found myself returning to the exchange between the girl and the werewolf. Not because Bell is delivering food to his ailing grandmother, but because both paths he faces are painful and dangerous. Both stings and pins and needles hurt, and neither makes you feel comfortable. But no matter what, Bell and the girl in red have to choose one. Stopping at the intersection or turning back are not options.
All Freya is trying to do is force Belle to get a foothold in the fantasy she has created for herself, which makes his need to move forward even more urgent. Freya is banking on Belle eventually becoming exhausted from the endless battle with her family. Her goal wasn’t to make him stronger, but to force him to tire himself out and stop his brain from thinking. This was part of her abusive behavior, and at this point, even her devoted children seemed to be starting to have second thoughts. But they were also confused by what Hedin was doing; he was the driving force behind Bell’s “training” and even the Gullivers began to wonder why he was so harsh. Partly because they all seemed to develop a grudging respect for Bale, who proved to be tougher than anyone thought. But maybe they were also starting to have doubts about their goddess.
It’s not like this has never happened before. This week’s revelation that Mia is a deceased member of Freya’s family shows that some people have the courage to speak out against her, to her face. Due to her identity, Mia seems to retain memories of Belle, and interestingly her words to Belle are similar to Hedin’s language. Both men told Bell he couldn’t stand still and needed to move forward on his own two feet. The tide cannot take him away; he must choose the way to go and then actually do it. Needles or needles, it doesn’t matter. What matters is movement.
If Hedin was actually trying to sabotage Freya’s plans, he did a great job. Freya’s goal may have been to tire Belle out, but Hedin’s vicious combat training seemed designed to anger Belle, making him realize he was being taken advantage of and needed to stand up and stop it. Perhaps he was trying to help Bell remember the difference between fighting Freya Familia and training with Ais; of course, Mia’s words brought him directly to the door of the Loki family to confront her. There may be some truth to this theory, as even Freya’s spell couldn’t completely banish Bell from Ace’s mind. It also might not work as well for her as it does for others, since Ace isn’t very good at understanding emotions, including her own. Contrast her with Welf in this episode: Welf is confused by all the light armor he makes, but doesn’t think much of it beyond mentioning it. Ace was able to recall training sessions with Bell after very little prompting, even though she wasn’t entirely sure they were real. Therefore, Ace’s emotional illiteracy protects her, which makes sense considering Freya’s divine realm.
Speaking of the divine realm, Hermes may have helped him. He’s a trickster god (and frankly, he fulfills that role better) Duan Town Loki), which seems to amount to him realizing that Freya’s charm is deceiving him. The spell resets him every time he gets close to the answer, but he’s not a useless liar and he eventually finds the solution. (Who knew that speaking out about his love for Asfi would be his method of choice?) He finally becomes Hestia’s ally this weekend, and his plan to “build a hearth” almost certainly has something to do with her divine kingdom . Could a fireplace large enough contain fire powerful enough to destroy Freya’s spell?
I think so. After all, if the flame is hot enough, needles and pins will melt.
grade:
Is it wrong to try to strike up a conversation in a dungeon? V Currently playing on HIDIVE.
