Most likely they would throw out bait or create a disturbance somewhere in the city, and then… take the chance to retrieve the key once held by Goddess Ishtar.
---------------------------
The Loki Familia scattered their forces, putting full effort into investigating the missing key that had fallen into the hands of the goddess Ishtar, while also dispatching members into the dungeon's "Upper" and "Middle" floors to search for the suspected man-made dungeon's entrance.
In terms of intelligence work, it was always Anakitty, Finn, Riveria and Gareth handling the connections, so for the time being, the others found themselves idle again.
Taking advantage of this rare free time, Fron casually found an excuse to dump his search mission onto Bete alone, while he himself disappeared who knows where to busy himself.
As for work, that was impossible for him, at most, he would just tinker around with his hobbies.
Hidden knowledge had always ranked first on Fron's list of interests.
"All because of that damn Evilus, bunch of bored idiots. Can't they just live quietly? Isn't that happiness enough? Why do they have to stir up trouble all the time?"
Inside his magic workshop, Fron sprawled across a leather sofa like a slime, resembling a salted fish.
"While things are quiet, I should focus on studying. Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I really sat down to read in the library."
"My knowledge of magic has already formed into an independent system, but I still need to collect and review rare and obscure side knowledge, as well as advanced knowledge for my sub-professions…"
Fron suddenly jolted upright, his eyes gleaming like a wolf spotting prey, filled with greedy light.
When it came to knowledge, he could always rouse himself from his gloom and become active again.
In that sense, the young man was a natural-born researcher of mysteries. Just look at the names of his awakened skills, weren't they all leaning toward the mystical side?
So then, why did his combat style resemble a lancer's?
That was because, at his current peak strength, enemies weren't even worth his time chanting spells, not even with his ultra-fast chanting skills.
Even quick-cast magic wasn't worth using, it was like firing a cannon at mosquitoes.
As everyone knows, the power of magic is naturally ranked a tier higher than close combat skills. Simply put… magic is more "high-class."
"All right, let's maintain my equipment first, and then I'll stash it away in the vault."
…
Ever since the Loki Familia gained a new member, everyone's attention had been focused on Haruhime these days.
Of course… Fron, who had brought her back, also attracted plenty of eyes.
In the second-floor dining hall,
"Eh? Eh? Eh? Today's cook is actually Haruhime?" Tiona, Tione, Ais, and Lefiya came to the cafeteria at lunchtime, and just happened to see the renard in a cook's outfit, wearing a headscarf, busy behind the counter.
"Ah, Miss Tione, Miss Tiona, Miss Ais, Miss Lefiya, good afternoon. As for this work… I'm very satisfied. After all, I'm only Level 1 and have no combat strength, so being able to help out as support already makes me very happy."
"Hmph, don't tell me this was arranged by that guy Fron?"
Tiona exposed the truth with a single sentence. Sure enough, Haruhime's face instantly turned bright red.
"Y-Yes…"
"Such a playboy…" Lefiya frowned and muttered quietly.
Ais, however, remained as calm as ever. She knew Fron's personality too well.
Playboy? More like broad-hearted? His "good guy" personality made it hard to hate him. Of course… she also knew that his kindness was conditional, usually only beautiful women received that treatment.
"By the way, it's been days now. Have you guys seen that Fron? That annoying guy secretly updated his status and got stronger again, and now he's crushing us in training!"
Tiona clenched her fist angrily, clearly frustrated.
Her elder sister sat upright, eating elegantly bite by bite.
"I saw him while helping the captain with research. If I hadn't been familiar with his aura, I'd have thought the library was being robbed."
Thinking back to that library scene, Tione instinctively felt a headache.
Fron had been completely surrounded by stacks upon stacks of books, with no way to see over them.
For an Amazoness who valued fists and violence above all else, that terrifying amount of knowledge was basically a natural enemy.
"No way! He's studying again? How are we supposed to survive!!!!" Tiona threw her head back with a wail of despair.
Even Ais's eyes lit up with flames, the flames of fighting spirit and competition.
Among the executives and upper ranks, Fron's unique skill had long been an open secret. His secret to rapidly raising ability values after Level 6 was clear to them.
Unknown knowledge = ability values.
[T/N: Since when?]
Aside from being stuck at the "Great Feats" requirement for level-ups, Fron had no bottlenecks at all.
Unlike other adventurers, he didn't need to risk his life in the dungeon.
All he had to do was consume unknown knowledge, even if he couldn't understand it, as long as he recorded the information, thanks to his bug-like skill "Infinite Super-Magic," he could endlessly convert it into ability values.
As a Level 6, he had long passed the growth stage and entered a high-speed growth phase.
He had a premonition, once his second trump-card spell awakened, he would step into a whole new world. At that point, his growth would become even faster.
This vague premonition told him… the time was very close.
"…We've been slacking. Tione, Tiona, Lefiya, the dungeon tomorrow?"
"Ais?"
"We can't let Fron leave us too far behind."
Her face remained expressionless, but everyone could hear something different in her tone.
"Good. Besides, the others are already investigating the man-made dungeon entrance in the dungeon."
"Mm."
…
Fron was still buried in the library, reading not just newly collected grimoires and knowledge, but also digging up all sorts of ancient relics from dusty corners.
What he didn't know was that his unintentional actions once again sparked a training frenzy within the Familia.
"This guy, really…" Finn held a teacup in both hands, smiling wryly as he chatted with his two companions and Loki.
"Hahahaha, youth really is something. Just a little spark, and suddenly the whole group is burning with blood and passion."
Riveria rubbed her temples, her face full of fatigue.
"This guy always manages to cause unexpected ripple effects. Now even Suppressive Bracer sare being spread throughout the Familia, and our overall strength has grown leaps and bounds compared to last year. Sooner or later, we won't be able to hide it, especially since…"
Looking at the document in her hands, Riveria's elegant face darkened.
"That idiot Ares is stirring up his 'renaissance' again. Does he have nothing better to do!!!!"
Inside the base camp, people glanced at one another, gazing up at the top floor of the tower, unsure of what sort of mischief their own trickster god might be up to this time.