Getting shut down by Jeanne didn't bother Leon in the slightest.
There was an old saying: a thief who tries every day will always outlast the guard who watches every night. And Leon wasn't even an outsider. He was already inside the house.
His buffs were stacked so high at this point that if Rose still managed to slip through his fingers, he might as well go drown himself in a bowl of soup.
He raised an eyebrow, spirits high, and headed back to his room. He sat cross-legged on the floor, laid out every piece of gear and supplies, checked them over one by one, then sorted and packed them into their respective bags with care.
"Oh, right. The cooking item I learned from Recipe: Bacon Potato Rolls."
He remembered the odd little craft and tucked it gently into his supply pouch.
As a seasoned adventurer, Leon knew the truth that governed people like him: you never knew whether tomorrow or disaster would arrive first. Preparing as thoroughly as you could was the bare minimum of respect you owed your own life.
With the Familia's first real outing the next day, everyone finished their work and turned in before midnight.
...
The next morning.
A fine rain drifted past the windows.
Leon opened his eyes and realized he'd slept like the dead. The fatigue that had been piling up in his body and mind over the past days was simply gone.
He threw off the covers and dressed. A glance at the wall clock told him it was still early, so he decided to knock out his chores first.
By the time the girls stumbled out of their rooms, rubbing sleep from their eyes, Leon was already in the courtyard tending to those high-maintenance little "royals" of his.
In the sitting room, Rose was yawning her way toward the washroom when she paused by the window. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Leon crouched in the corner of the courtyard, busy with something.
Curious, she draped herself lazily over the windowsill.
"Morning, Leon. You grew all these potted plants? They look wonderful."
He didn't need to turn around to know who that voice belonged to.
"Morning, Rose," he said, trimming a branch. "How'd you sleep?"
"Mm, not bad. The rainy season makes things a little stuffy and humid, but otherwise I can't complain."
She wrinkled her brow, a note of mild annoyance in her voice.
Leon shrugged. "Not much I can do about that, unfortunately. Orario sits on the far western coast. The geography guarantees rain most of the year."
"The coast? Orario is a coastal city? That's amazing, I've never seen the ocean!"
The mention of the sea lit her face up instantly, chasing the drowsiness right out of her. Sun, sand, and open water had that effect on everyone.
"Well... it's not impossible to go see it," Leon said after a moment's thought. "There's a little harbor town called Melen, less than ten kilometers from Orario. You can see the ocean from there. Once we're stronger and things in the city have settled down, I'll take you all."
As the boss of this outfit, Leon had a natural talent for dangling promises. He painted Rose a picture without breaking a sweat.
It worked immediately. Her eyes were already somewhere far away, full of longing.
Leon kept his expression neutral, but inside he was less optimistic.
Melen's probably an Evilus stronghold by now. Smuggled goods, contraband, restricted materials... nine times out of ten, it all moves through that port and onto ships bound for every corner of the world. A chokepoint like that? Evilus and whoever's bankrolling them would have it locked down tight. Walking in there as Orario adventurers right now would be no different from walking into a trap.
The promise was grand. When he'd actually be able to make good on it, even he had no idea.
They chatted a while longer through the window, then went their separate ways.
...
Eight o'clock.
Breakfast, wash up, quick shower. Armor on, supplies checked, packs secured. Busy, but orderly.
Leon sat at the stone table in the courtyard in his combat gear, his pack and wrapped staff at his feet. He watched the girls file out one by one, swung the heavy pack onto his shoulder, and swept his gaze over them, lingering on Laurier and Aura.
Laurier wore a hunter's outfit under a cloak, a Supporter's pack on her back, a short bow and quiver slung across her lower back. Her left hand rested on the hilt of her saber and her face was lit up with barely contained excitement.
Aura was dressed in a red-and-black formal combat dress with knee-high stockings and tall boots, an elven-style hooded cape draped over her shoulders. She carried a pack too, with a distinctive elven staff fastened to one side. Like Laurier, she was a skilled archer, and she'd equipped a short bow and quiver at her waist for situations where magic wasn't practical, so she could still support the front line.
"Weapons, armor, supplies, tent, cooking gear, sleeping bags, all the camping equipment. Everyone run through it one more time. Nothing left behind?"
Jeanne, Rose, Aura, and Laurier all looked at him, then nodded.
"We're good." The first three said it almost in unison.
"I'm good too!" Laurier's hand shot up, confidence radiating off her.
Leon nodded and opened the courtyard gate.
"When we're prepared, death doesn't come knocking. Let's move."
They filed out onto the tree-lined lane, and looking at the group ahead of him, Leon paused for a second, watching them go.
From one, then two... and now, without even noticing, the Familia's grown to five. Things move fast.
What he'd been through recently made everything before it look mundane by comparison.
He locked the gate and glanced back at the little house he'd called home since arriving in Orario.
More people will come. Five is manageable for now, but if the Familia keeps growing, we'll need a new place. This one's borrowed, after all. It's Lady Demeter's property.
The thought of eventually having to secure a proper Familia estate made his vision darken. How much would that cost? He didn't even want to start calculating.
He watched the girls, already a good distance ahead, and sighed.
"Must be nice, only having to worry about fighting and leveling up. Meanwhile the guy in charge has to think about everything else."
He shook his head, pocketed the key, and jogged to catch up.
...
City center. Babel Plaza.
The Hart Familia's party stood in the river of foot traffic flowing across the plaza, gazing up at the miracle of architecture that pierced the sky: Babel.
They'd all seen it before, but looking at it now as adventurers about to enter the Dungeon shifted something. Especially for Rose, Laurier, and Aura, who were setting foot inside for the first time.
"Feels different now, doesn't it?"
Jeanne stood to one side with her Banner Lance, a small smile on her face as she watched them.
Rose rested her gauntleted hand on the sword at her hip, eyes bright. "It does. There's something I can't quite put into words."
Aura stared at the tower, quiet for a long moment. "It's hard to believe. What kind of craftsman could build something like this?"
"Leon told me it was someone called Daedalus," Jeanne said.
All eyes turned to Leon.
He saw no reason to hold back. It was public knowledge, written plainly in Geography and History of Orario.
"That's right. Daedalus built it. He was a follower of Lord Ouranos, a thousand years ago."
"It wasn't... a god? A mortal built this?" Laurier tilted her face upward, her voice barely a whisper. "That's incredible."
They lingered a moment longer, taking in the tower's weight and scale in silence.
Leon pulled out his brass pocket watch, checked the time, and broke the spell. "Let's go. Time doesn't wait. If we move with the crowd heading down, we can avoid a lot of trouble on the way and save ourselves some time."
They exchanged glances, nodded, and fell into step behind him.
All five wore matching hooded cloaks, their faces lost in shadow. Leon had pulled up a face wrap on top of that, leaving only a pair of sharp, watchful eyes scanning the path ahead.
Anywhere else, they might have drawn suspicion. But in Orario, and especially near the Dungeon entrance, it was the most ordinary sight in the world. Almost every adventurer around them was wrapped up the same way, doing their best to stay anonymous. The Hart Familia blended into the current of bodies and vanished, drawing no attention at all.
...
Dungeon, Floor 10.
WHAM.
A rough, club-like length of deadwood smashed into the shield, the dull impact booming through the narrow corridor like a cannon shot.
But Rose, the one holding that shield, didn't move. Her frame looked slender enough to snap, yet she stood rooted like bedrock, and the bone-rattling force that should have sent her skidding simply vanished into the shield's face as if swallowed whole.
"Damn..."
He'd taken those hits himself. He knew exactly how much force was behind them. And Rose just ate it like nothing.
[Read 50+ chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/NiaXD]