Chapter 137

Chapter 138: Ais was just trying to be nice too~ (Three updates, please subscribe!)

By the time they returned to the surface, night had already fallen.

Due to returning with bountiful Magic Stones, drop items, and spoils of war, the team spent quite a bit of time navigating through the narrow upper-level terrain.

At this hour, Babel Tower became sparsely populated, with the vast night sky covering above.

The city was still awake, but at its heart, the Central Square in front of Babel Tower was eerily quiet.

Few pedestrians passed by the towering monument, and the noise from the nearby “The Bountiful Mistress” tavern seemed far away.

The return of Loki Familia’s expedition team was rather tranquil, not attracting any onlookers like their departure did.

After finishing their expedition, the members finally made their way home, heading towards Central Square, North Street, then the web-like branching roads.

Soon, they spotted several overlapping spires of a long mansion.

“Finally back…”

On a street slightly off the bustling main road in the northern part of the city stood a mansion much taller than the surrounding buildings, both long and large.

Izay let out a sigh full of emotion.

With his entire body still sore, all he wanted to do right now was lie down for a good night’s sleep.

And due to his broken ribs, he would need to rest for the next couple of days.

Just walking normally wasn’t an issue though.

When they entered Twilight Manor later, the members who stayed behind came out to greet them, filling up the courtyard.

Even at night, they were greeted warmly…

Loki, still in her pajamas, dashed out of the mansion and ran straight toward the group of women led by Ais.

As usual, Refia got caught up in it.

What a poor elf…

With such thoughts, Izay quietly slipped away unnoticed by the crowd and returned to his room.

…

The adventurers who went on the expedition returned to Loki Familia’s main base, Twilight Manor.

Upon returning, they each collapsed onto their beds and slept soundly through the night. When they woke up to the light of dawn that only exists on the surface, their expressions softened.

They knew they had left the dark and cold underground, that harsh Dungeon filled with roaring Monsters, and were back home.

Izay was one of them.

The morning sunlight streamed in through the window as Izay rubbed his eyes and sat up.

Perhaps because of the high-quality sleep last night, the pain in his ribs that was still present yesterday had significantly diminished.

He glanced at the clock by the bedside.

The hour hand was between six and seven.

“It’s not even seven in the morning yet…”

He seemed to have gone to bed around ten o’clock last night, so it had only been about eight hours.

There was still some time before breakfast.

“I’ll take a shower…”

Izay exhaled and got out of bed, grabbing his change of clothes and leaving the room with his somewhat messy blonde hair.

What puzzled Izay was that today, the members seemed a little strange.

The companions he encountered on his way to the bathhouse all looked at him with a subtle gaze, friendly but tinged with laughter.

“Is it because of the Tree Dragon incident?”

Uncertain of the reason, Izay could only guess randomly.

When he emerged from the bath feeling refreshed, it was just about breakfast time.

After putting away his old clothes, Izay started heading towards the second-floor cafeteria.

During breakfast, everyone indulged in bread they hadn’t eaten in a while, steaming hot soup, eggs, and grilled meat.

The sunlight, blue sky, and fresh food, which were usually taken for granted as blessings of the surface, brought smiles to their faces.

The returning adventurers restored the lively atmosphere to the mansion.

When they saw Izay after not seeing him for a day, everyone smiled even wider, waving and greeting him enthusiastically.

Responding to his companions’ greetings, Izay sat down with a plate of hearty breakfast in his usual spot, but couldn’t help but feel confused.

“A day apart? What does that mean? Wasn’t it just overnight?”

Taking a bite of the soft bread, Izay was utterly baffled.

“Woke up?”

A blonde girl who had gotten her breakfast a step slower than Izay sat beside him.

“Yeah, I rarely get such a good sleep, and my injuries seem to have healed quite a bit. How about you, Ais? Did you rest well last night?”

Izay smiled.

Ais tilted her head slightly, and although there was no expression on her delicate face, Izay could still sense something was off.

“Hmm… Did I say something wrong?”

The girl opened her mouth to reply, but someone didn’t give her the chance.

“Izay—finally awake!? I was so worried about you yesterday~”

A certain Amazon sister directly pounced onto Izay, hugging him tightly and rubbing against him.

???

“Wait, hold on… what do you mean ‘yesterday’?”

Struggling to push Tiona away, Izay’s small eyes sparkled with great confusion.

“What do you mean? Literal meaning…”

Following Tiona, Tione wore an air of matter-of-factness.

But soon, Tione realized something and covered her mouth with a teasing smile.

“Oops… Izay, you don’t know that you’ve been asleep for a day and two nights, do you?”

A day and two nights???

Izay froze instantly.

Glancing doubtfully at Ais beside him, she nodded lightly under his incredulous gaze.

So, this meant…

He didn’t just sleep for eight hours, but rather for a whole day plus another eight hours!?

“Today is the second day since we returned to the surface?”

“Yeah, or what did you think?”

And Tione added more bad news for Izay.

“When we couldn’t wake you up yesterday, Riviria was really worried, and Ais stayed by your side all the time.”

“In the evening, if Loki hadn’t dragged her away forcefully, she might not have left your room at all. But because of that, Loki kept yelling yesterday about wanting to settle accounts with you~”

Gulp…

Izay once again turned his gaze to the blonde girl beside him, but she shyly avoided it.

Ais quietly sipped her soup.

It wasn’t her fault that Izay had angered Loki.

She was just concerned about her companion, it wasn’t intentional…

In her heart, little Ais crossed her arms and tried to justify herself convincingly.

Izay understood.

The reason why the Familia companions he met earlier gave him strange looks was entirely because Loki was going to trouble him today, hence the amused glances.

Those were gazes waiting for a show…

But as the person involved, what could Izay do?

He could do nothing.

Ais was just being kind-hearted.

It’s Loki’s fault!