Rivira Street.
By the time Ryoji and Ais returned, the entire area had already been reduced to ruins by fire.
"You're back. How did it go?"
On the narrow mountain path outside the street, the surviving adventurers had all gathered. Though their numbers had clearly diminished, the remaining people had already begun work on rebuilding the town.
Seeing the two return, Finn, Riveria, and the others came up to meet them. Noticing that neither was seriously injured, they sighed in relief and asked for the outcome.
"The armored person was actually that woman in disguise. She's now fled into the lower floors, and it'll be impossible to track her down for the time being."
Ryoji explained with some regret.
Around the 24th floor, he and Ais had encountered dozens of man-eating flower monsters and were unable to break through, so they had no choice but to retreat. By that time, the woman had probably already entered the lower floors.
"But her objective has been uncovered, and we severed both her arms. She probably won't be coming back here to stir up trouble."
Without arms, she couldn't even hold a weapon, she likely wouldn't be able to continue as an adventurer.
"That's good enough," Finn said, also letting out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks to your valiant efforts, this incident was resolved. Rivira won't need to be disbanded."
Upon hearing this, the surrounding adventurers finally relaxed.
As long as it didn't interfere with their ability to make money, everything was fine.
Ryoji could read that very sentiment on their faces; what a bunch of money-over-life types.
"What happened here?"
"Oh, not long after you left, a large number of man-eating flower monsters appeared. We fought for a long time…"
The man-eating flowers had extremely tough outer skins, even a punch from a Level 5 adventurer couldn't break through. At first, the adventurers in town didn't know this and suffered greatly. Many were killed or injured.
In the end, Lefiya used up all her magic power to cast a large-scale multi-arrow magic spell, which finally wiped out the monsters, but it also burned down the entire street.
Thanks to that, she collapsed on the spot.
It was because these man-eating flowers were so troublesome that Ryoji and Ais had to return without success. Otherwise, they'd still be chasing that red-haired woman.
"Who exactly was that woman? She could control monsters. And that jewel… it was strange, too…"
Ryoji was thoroughly confused.
Not only that, but the name "Aria" she mentioned had even caused Ais to lose her composure, deeply mysterious.
"She was probably a Beast Tamer, someone who can tame monsters to serve them. The Ganesha Familia has quite a few Beast Tamers."
"There's a profession like that?"
"This world is full of wonders. Stay in Orario long enough and you'll see even stranger things."
"Oh right, Finn, here."
Ryoji pulled a colorful magic stone from his pouch and handed it to Finn.
"I've been an adventurer for years, and I've never seen a magic stone like this…"
Finn stared at the rainbow-colored glowing stone, his face filled with confusion.
Biting his thumb, his expression turned faintly worried.
"Looks like we've gotten ourselves into something big… Anyway, let's return to the surface and report to Loki and the Guild first. We'll figure out the next steps later."
Ryoji, Level 3
Power: I (57) → H (199)
Endurance: I (43) → H (169)
Dexterity: I (76) → G (259)
Agility: H (113) → F (357)
Magic Power: I (18) → I (98)
Development Abilities:
Hunter: I
Mind/Energy Recovery: I
Magic:
(Not specified)
Skills:
Ten Years of Sharpening a Sword
Brave Sword Heart
Charm
"Whoa, another big improvement, huh!" Loki made some tch-tch admiring noises. "I heard you even fought a Level 5 this time. Even if you weren't the main fighter, that's still a massive gain!"
She covered her eyes as if blindfolded and pressed the ability sheet down on Ryoji's chest like she was doing a blind impression of feeling an elephant, determined not to look at his bare upper body.
"You say, if I asked Tiona to help me with special training, how many days do you think it would take me to reach Level 4?"
"I don't think Tiona-chan would be able to go all out on you. It'd be impossible to raise your Proficiency that way."
"Just as an example. What about someone else?"
"Hmm… If they fought you with the same strong hostility as that red-haired woman did this time, then maybe ten days to half a month? But how could a Level 5 possibly do special training with you every day!"
That's true.
Training with Ryoji was a one-sided benefit, for him only. For Level 5s, it was simply a waste of time. If Ryoji asked them nicely, maybe they'd agree to help him train for a few days. But sticking to them for half a month? That'd be too shameless.
Asking for help once in a while shouldn't be a problem, but wasting their time repeatedly wouldn't sit well.
Using [Charm], of course, would make everything much easier.
But he had promised Loki not to use Charm on Familia members, and he couldn't go back on his word.
Should he go to Freya instead?
That wouldn't be wise either.
Freya Familia and Loki Familia were in a hostile relationship. If others in his Familia found out, he'd be in serious trouble. Besides, he didn't even know how Freya Familia's members viewed him, if they were all out to kill him, he'd be done for.
"Finn and the others are planning to go deep floor leveling, you could tag along," Loki said in a low voice.
She actually hadn't planned to tell him. This time, it was a small-scale expedition with only the Executives, not even Raul was brought along. But for some reason, the words slipped out of her mouth. The moment she said it, she wanted to bite her tongue off.
"So they went to the 18th Floor because they were preparing to level in the deep floors?"
Ryoji's eyes lit up.
No wonder, even though it wasn't a full expedition, five Executives gathered on the 18th Floor, so it was for this?
And they didn't even tell me? That's just cold!
Without hesitation, Ryoji rushed out of Loki's room and went straight to find Finn.
"You want to join our leveling team?"
Finn rubbed his forehead with a bit of a headache.
Of course.
Given Ryoji's enthusiasm for leveling, it was no surprise he'd come running the moment he found out.
"Isn't that great? Just say yes, Finn!"
Tiona jumped up joyfully and urged Finn to accept.
"…His strength is real. He can handle it."
Even the usually silent Ais spoke up in his favor.
"We'll need a few supporters anyway. Just bring him along."
Even Riveria chimed in at last.
This was in the Familia's office.
Those involved in the 18th Floor incident had gathered here to compile a report, which Finn would later submit to the Guild.
"You guys really…"
Finn let out a long sigh.
Was it because of that crazy charm of his? He couldn't shake the feeling that quite a few of the Familia's Executives were biased in Ryoji's favor, even someone as proud as Riveria wasn't immune.
"Fine, I'll take you. But fighting in the deep floors might be beyond your capabilities. If I assign you to be a Supporter, you're not allowed to refuse."
"Deal!"
Ryoji patted his chest confidently.
When it came to serious matters, he knew how to behave; he wasn't the type to act recklessly.
"By the way… Bete isn't going, right?" Ryoji suddenly remembered something and asked, a little hesitantly.
"Bete and Gareth are staying to guard the Familia."
"Good."
Ryoji let out a breath of relief.
If Bete were in the leveling party, things would've gotten much more troublesome.
"Meeting tomorrow morning. You just got back from the lower floors, right? Make sure your equipment and items are fully replenished."
"Got it!"
(End of Chapter)
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