Before long, Ryota arrived at Twilight Manor.
Just as he stepped into the courtyard, he caught sight of a familiar flash of blonde.
Ais was standing there quietly, that slender rapier he'd forged for her — the one imbued with Agility — hanging at her waist.
It was clear the Sword Princess had been waiting a while.
Ryota had just opened his mouth to greet her when Ais spoke first:
"...Five days, right?"
"Yeah, the first match is in five days."
Ais nodded, then lightly brushed her fingertips along her sword. A moment later, her voice carried more warmth than usual:
"That's enough."
"Huh?"
A question mark seemed to pop up over Ryota's head.
"The sense of bottleneck... it's gone."
Ais spoke in her usual calm, measured tone, though there was a faint ripple of emotion in it this time.
"This sword suits me. It made me realize what I was missing."
"I'm going... to the Dungeon, to fight a Floor Boss."
She paused for a breath.
"I think I'm ready to evolve."
Ryota was momentarily stunned. The usually reticent Sword Princess was speaking this much for once.
When she said "evolve," it was obvious what she meant: leveling up.
In the original timeline, Ais had once gone alone to the 37th floor, single-handedly defeating the Floor Boss Udaeus, and officially crossed the threshold into level 6, placing her among the best in all of Orario.
Such urgency to level up now...
"Wait... could it be..."
"She wants to take Riveria's place and fight Ottar?!"
It wasn't impossible.
Even though Ais was currently only level 5, she was the Loki Familia's genius Sword Princess — her combat ability far surpassed her formal level.
If she made it to level 6, then even against Ottar, she'd stand a fighting chance.
This doll-faced, soft-spoken Sword Princess was doing everything in her power, in her own way, to help Ryota.
Looking at her, Ryota felt a surge of warmth flood his chest.
She wasn't good with words, and she wasn't good at showing emotions — but she would act, clearly and decisively, to express what she felt.
Just like now, choosing to descend into the Dungeon alone, only so she might be able to help him in five days.
But...
Soloing a Floor Boss was an extreme risk for anyone.
Especially when the Loki Familia had only just returned from a large-scale expedition.
In terms of stamina, gear, even mental state, everyone was still in recovery.
At best, Ais had barely rested for a month.
Challenging a Floor Boss now was basically dancing on the edge of a blade.
With that in mind, Ryota spoke softly:
"Ais, let me handle the first match of the War Game."
The blonde girl, in the middle of adjusting her equipment, froze.
She looked up, tilting her head, a massive question mark practically appearing above her face.
In those clear golden eyes, Ryota could read one loud question — You? Fight Ottar? Are you for real?
"...What's with that look?"
Ryota's mouth twitched, but Ais still looked utterly puzzled, as if she couldn't believe her ears.
Faced with those gold eyes brimming with confusion, Ryota really couldn't handle that level 2 challenges level 7 expression any longer, so he hurriedly changed the subject:
"By the way."
"Did you ever give this sword a name?"
When he'd finished forging the rapier, he hadn't dared name it himself, leaving that sense of ceremony entirely to her.
Hearing his question, Ais glanced at the sword on her hip, then paused, her cheeks taking on a rare hint of pink.
She avoided Ryota's gaze, almost like she was worried he'd read her thoughts, and murmured in a soft voice:
"...Feather's Echo."
Ryota blinked.
Ais lowered her lashes, speaking even more quietly:
"When the wind blows... it echoes."
Ryota let out a soft laugh, looking at the sword, then back at the girl in front of him.
"Good name. It really suits you."
"Where's Loki?"
Ais pointed upstairs.
"Second floor."
"Perfect, I need to speak with them."
With that, Ryota started climbing the stairs.
Ais hesitated a moment, then obediently followed behind him.
On the surface she looked as calm as always, but inside her mind was a flood of question marks.
She was dying to know why Ryota would say he wanted to go up against Ottar personally.
Level 2 against level 7? That was just absurd.
So the two of them, one after the other, went up the stairs to Twilight Manor's second floor.
As soon as they reached the top, Ryota heard Finn's voice.
As Loki Familia's captain, the Pallum hero was in the middle of discussing tactics with Riveria.
Reminders about how she should maintain healing magic, how defense spells had to stay up before casting offensive magic — things like that.
Twilight Manor's second floor was filled with a tense, heavy air that day, nothing like its usual light-hearted atmosphere.
Knock knock knock—
Stopping before the meeting room, Ryota knocked and called out:
"Lady Loki, it's me."
The war room, busy with tactical discussion, went briefly quiet. At Loki's "Come in," Ryota pushed open the door.
Inside were Finn, Riveria, Gareth, and of course Loki herself.
"Ryota, you're here, and..."
The moment Loki's eyes fell on the obediently waiting golden-haired girl behind him, her smile froze, and her entire expression turned black.
"...You two alone again, huh?!"
She let out a low "hmph hmph hmph" of complaint through her nose, but seeing those two side by side, with their weirdly compatible aura, she couldn't even think of what to say next.
Finn stepped in to smooth things over, chuckling:
"Good timing. Ryota, Ais, come take a look at the battle plan we've drawn up."
As Ryota walked in, his eyes were drawn at once to the large operations table in the center.
Spread across it were sheets of parchment marked with a dizzying amount of data:
Ottar's fighting habits, his favored rhythms, match histories for comparison...
Even his Skills were listed out in detail.
Ryota couldn't help admiring it all deep inside:
This is what it means to be a top Familia.
They'd analyzed even Orario's strongest warrior down to the smallest detail.
All of it was to find even the tiniest sliver of victory, pouring in every drop of information and wisdom they had.
Even with just a 1% chance of success, Finn and the others never gave up — they just got more cautious, more thorough, trying to push everything to the limit.
Finn picked up one sheet from the table and began:
"I was thinking of having Riveria take the first—"
He hadn't even finished before Ryota interrupted:
"Sorry to cut you off, Captain Finn."
"I'd like to take the first match."
The air froze solid.
The entire room went so quiet you could hear the leaves rustling outside.
Several seconds later, Riveria finally blinked and asked, confused:
"...What did you just say?"
"I want to take the first match."
Ryota repeated calmly.
Finn frowned at once, shaking his head almost reflexively:
"No."
"No discussion."
Loki stood up then too, for once putting away her usual carefree grin, giving Ryota a complicated look:
"Ryota, we know you're no ordinary kid..."
"Let Mama handle this."
"There are just too many variables in a duel. We're not about to gamble your life."
Honestly, you couldn't blame them for trying to stop him.
Even if Ryota was a genius, even if he'd gone from level 1 to level 2 in less than a month —
In Orario, level was everything.
Every rank-up was a rebirth through death, a culmination of time, experience, understanding, and growth.
Level 7... that was the pinnacle of this city.
And Ottar wasn't just any level 7. He'd once defeated a level 7 named Zald while still only level 6 himself (though the other had gone easy on him).
Silence descended once more.
Everyone in the room looked at Ryota, their eyes filled not with scorn, but deep, heartfelt worry and concern.
Level 2 against level 7?
That wasn't a fight. That was suicide.
No one wanted him to die.
—Even a crippling injury would be enough to end the rise of this genius for good.
"Then please, Lady Riveria," Ryota looked directly at her,
"fight me first."
"Whoever wins will face Ottar."
"...Hah???"
Loki's jaw dropped, like someone had smacked her with a club, leaving her stunned for a good few seconds.
Then she looked at Ryota with an expression of total disbelief.
For a moment, she genuinely considered dragging him off to the Dian Cecht Pharmacy for a full "mental-soothing magic" workup to check if he'd fried his brain training too hard.
"Ryota, did you... get hit with some kind of mental spell or something?"
Ais, who had been quietly standing behind him, froze as well.
The blonde girl hadn't expected Ryota to try to seize the right to fight Ottar this way.
She was about to speak up, but in the end fell silent, stepping back half a pace and leaving the choice to Riveria.
"Ryota, are you sure?"
Riveria stood up,
"I won't hold back."
Ever since completing those wild, over-the-top quests and collecting those insane rewards, Ryota had never really had a chance to test how strong he'd actually become.
Sage Jutsu Chakra, the Mangekyō in both eyes, Hashirama Cells...
All of that was like a volcano buried inside him, waiting to erupt.
And now — was the moment to let it.
If he didn't fight someone within the Familia and earn their full acknowledgment, no one would ever agree to let him represent them against the mighty Ottar.
And the system's quest would stay stuck there, forever.
So right here, in front of him, the Loki Familia's strongest "Nine Hells" Riveria —
she was the perfect trial by fire.
If he couldn't beat a level 6, then what was the point of even dreaming of beating a level 7 like Ottar?
Ryota smiled faintly, looking at the ever-cool, ever-dignified high elf, and spoke softly:
"Please go all out, Lady Riveria."