While the executives of Evilus were holding a meeting, Orario was doing the exact same thing.
Once Shakti and Alise arrived, just about every representative from the city's "second-tier and above" fighting strength was present.
From Orario's perspective, the lineup could only be described as an all-star roster.
Aside from the lone Level 6, Ottar, there was Allen the cat-man, the black and white "Elf Kings," and the three pillars of the Loki Familia—six Level 5s in total.
And considering they were all battle-hardened elites with extraordinary talent, each of them had combat power that could easily rival Evilus's Level 5, Valletta.
And yet… even with a lineup like that, no one in the room felt any real confidence.
Because among those seven, four were currently suffering serious injuries.
As Orario's strongest fighter on paper, Ottar sat here carrying the humiliation of having been one-shot by Zard's blade.
Unlike ordinary adventurers, he hadn't been cleaved clean in two.
But the people here were all well-connected. Quite a few had already heard that a mere Level 2 hadn't been cleaved in two either.
In other words…
Was Ottar equal to a Level 2?
If his mental fortitude weren't rock solid, he would've wanted to sink through the floor under the weight of everyone's gaze.
Fortunately, he was a pure martial type with very few distracting thoughts—so he simply closed his eyes and waited.
For this meeting, he had requested exactly one helper.
Not long after, the person he was waiting for finally arrived.
It was someone who ordinarily would never attend a meeting like this.
A dwarf in chef's attire—standing a full 180 centimeters tall—strode into the conference hall and took a seat beside Ottar.
"Boar brat, I'm practically retired. You're really dragging me into this too? What, you can't handle it?"
"…Sorry. I'm still not strong enough."
Even being called "boar brat," even being told he "couldn't handle it," Ottar could only nod obediently.
The surrounding adventurers weren't surprised in the slightest—especially not after seeing how meek Ottar became the moment she sat down.
Publicly, Orario currently had only one Level 6: Ottar.
But if you counted semi-retired adventurers, then there were two.
That retired powerhouse was the burly dwarf in front of them now, bearer of the title "Little Giant"—
Mia Grand.
She had once been the captain of the Freya Familia, and Ottar had grown up under her brutal training.
She'd only retired three years ago. Plenty of people still remembered her reputation, and no one dared act out.
"And you—Gareth. What the hell happened to you?"
Seeing Gareth wrapped up like a mummy, Mia immediately—
Smack!—drove a heavy palm straight into his shoulder.
A shoulder injury? So what?
That was just how dwarves said hello!
"You fake dwarf—stay the hell away from me!"
Gareth bared his teeth in pain, his glare at Mia growing even sharper.
They were both dwarves, but Gareth stood at 151 centimeters.
Ten centimeters taller than Hestia—so, by dwarf standards, perfectly acceptable.
In fact, among dwarves, that height was above average.
But next to Mia?
It was nothing.
Every time Gareth saw her, his brain short-circuited.
One hundred eighty centimeters, and you call yourself a dwarf?!
And to make it worse, she was built like a boulder, higher level than him, stronger than him—absolutely infuriating.
"That hurt already? Then you still need training."
Mia laughed heartily and slapped him a few more times for good measure.
Most people wouldn't use the word "boisterous" to describe a woman's laughter.
But Mia's laughter was the very definition of boisterous.
"Mia, Manager! Everyone's counting on you to help hold Zard back—seriously, give it your all!"
Alise gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
What she envied most about dwarves was their sturdiness.
And among dwarves alive today, the strongest wasn't Gareth.
It was the woman right in front of her.
So the moment Alise saw Mia, she practically turned into a starry-eyed fangirl.
"It's you, red-haired kid. I'm not swapping bodies with you."
Mia recognized Alise immediately.
Which, honestly, was unusual.
These days Mia ran the tavern Hostess of Fertility, and the place wasn't cheap.
Everyone knew the Astrea Familia was perpetually broke—normally they wouldn't step into an expensive place like that just to splurge.
Mia had only seen Alise a handful of times. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't remember.
But every time that red-haired girl saw her, her eyes lit up like a predator—and she'd say all sorts of wildly inappropriate things with a straight face.
If Alise had Captain Ginyu's body-swapping ability, Mia had no doubt she'd aim it at her without hesitation.
That left a strong impression.
"I got rejected again… So I guess I'm stuck being an ordinary cute girl. Tragic…"
Alise sounded genuinely disappointed.
Having a body like Mia's really was one of her dreams.
Mia's physique was tall, thick, solid—hard as iron. If she were even taller, she could probably defend the paint against prime Shaquille O'Neal.
With a frame like that, you wouldn't even need to bread and deep-fry her—Alise was already drooling.
"Kid! Stop coveting my body!"
Mia feared nothing. She treated even the goddess Freya however she pleased.
But under Alise's I-want-your-physique stare, even Mia started to feel uncomfortable.
Back when she was younger, she'd been pretty cute—pretty enough that even Freya had "taken an interest" in her body.
Freya's gaze had been a horror Mia never wanted to relive.
But Alise's gaze somehow surpassed even that.
At that moment, Mia understood.
This red-haired little menace was her natural enemy.
She needed to avoid her in the future.
"Alright. Enough messing around—let's talk business."
Finn cleared his throat and formally moved the meeting into the main agenda.
Even with two Level 6s present, the command still fell to him.
Mia's joking around had loosened the atmosphere, and Finn was happy to let it happen.
Whether she meant to or not, it had helped.
But they couldn't waste time any longer.
Orario's situation was grim.
To say nothing else, civilians were currently being concentrated into five shelter zones, and plenty of people were trying to flee the city.
Even just calming the public would cost enormous time and effort. They couldn't afford to sit here in endless discussion.
"You called me here… because we're dealing with Zard?"
Mia flexed her fingers, clenching and unclenching her fist.
She'd lived through the era of the two great Familias.
Back in their prime, she'd been one of the people those heroes used to beat senseless.
"Yes. The enemy we need to prepare for is 'Gluttony,' who suffered a defeat last night."
Finn answered with a bitter smile.
The room instantly fell silent.
Everyone here had been through countless battles—saying "battle-hardened" barely covered it. They didn't normally pin their hopes on an opponent making mistakes.
But when the opponent was Zard, expecting him to get careless was one of the few effective ways to comfort yourself.
Because compared to anyone in this room…
He was overwhelmingly stronger.
Him being careless was, in a way, the most "reasonable" thing to hope for.
Ottar said nothing, his mind replaying that single slash from last night over and over.
In truth, he had originally intended to challenge Zard one-on-one—to test his insights and confirm a few suspicions.
But even he understood how terrifying a Tyrant was when fighting to wash away humiliation.
He couldn't gamble Orario's future on his pride.
"You people really know how to dump trouble on me."
After hearing Finn's explanation, Mia couldn't even keep smiling.
A monster like that, with renewed fighting spirit… how terrifying would he be?
Even if it was two Level 6s in a two-on-one, she didn't believe they could hold.
This wasn't "opening match" or "key match" anymore.
They'd skipped straight to the fight to the death.
And thinking about the enemy they'd soon face, Mia suddenly wanted to punch someone—hard.
Which only made her even more curious about something else.
"That adventurer who beat Ottar… did you dig up any information on him?"
....
My Patreon : patreon/RuneA
If you want to read the novel in advance, you can subscribe for early access. I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in
I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length. If you're following a particular series, please wait your turn a little
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it