Chapter 357

Chapter 360: An Appointment with a Certain Sage? (Please Subscribe!)

The loading of supplies was carried out early in the morning. After the team members preparing to set off finished these tasks, Rine and Haruhi, who were staying in the large dining hall, had also prepared breakfast for everyone.

Today’s breakfast was probably the most serious one in history.

Although the atmosphere during meals before every expedition was always solemn and serious.

But this time it was obviously even more so!

After all, past expeditions wouldn’t have encountered those colorful new species of monsters; they were much tougher than traditional dungeon monsters, making the danger of this expedition self-evident.

The tension rising in each member’s heart made this breakfast much more solemn.

Of course, while there was tension, it wasn’t the only emotion contributing to this solemn atmosphere.

—There was also the anticipation and excitement of embarking on an “adventure”!

Indeed, the difficulty of this trip had greatly increased, but they were no longer the Loki Familia of old.

The current Loki Familia had undergone a complete transformation!

Without even considering the increase in basic ability values and equipment among all members, just focusing on the two major ace fighters that underwent a qualitative change:

Izay and Ais.

Both were undoubtedly at the “Hero Domain” level; compared to before, they had directly added two Lv.6 members!

The core mage of the second army, Refia, had also evolved into Lv.4, enhancing her magical firepower.

And another ace, Haruhi, could temporarily grant “Level Ascension” to multiple companions.

After several days of rigorous Spartan training by Riviria, she had now mastered five tails of the new magic ‘Ninefold’.

Even if during battle, to ensure she didn’t pass out after casting all her spells, she would reserve the power of one tail. That still allowed her to bestow the effect of “Level Ascension” to four people simultaneously!

They were already incredibly strong!

Adding the improvement in basic ability values of core members like Bert and Raul, everyone’s hearts were already filled with anticipation!

Especially the three officers who hadn’t leveled up yet.

Being caught up by Izay, surpassed by Ais, and even Refia catching up, their minds were full of thoughts about how to make great achievements in this expedition!

To accumulate enough experience points for their own level-ups.

…

As time passed, the eastern sky began to glow with the dawn light, and Loki’s heartfelt nagging came to an end as everyone finished breakfast.

Following her, Finn started to fulfill his duties as captain, gathering everyone to pack their gear and head to the central square in front of the Babel Tower to assemble.

This expedition would be accompanied by blacksmiths from the [Hephaestus Familia], and the expedition team would first meet the blacksmiths in front of the Babel Tower before setting off.

“The top blacksmiths of the greatest forging familia actually agreed to come with us on the expedition, wow! I just found out about this!”

On the way to the Babel Tower, Tiona recalled Finn’s description during breakfast and belatedly expressed her amazement.

The little angel was the type who was completely clueless about the affairs of the familia, so naturally, she didn’t understand the preparations for the expedition either.

If Finn hadn’t mentioned it earlier, she might have only realized when she saw the blacksmiths and then questioned them.

“That was something I had to beg Goddess Hephaestus for quite some time before she finally agreed, so don’t be rude, Tiona,” Finn said half-jokingly, having dealt directly with the goddess of forging.

“Isn’t ‘quite some time’ something you should emphasize? Captain~?” Izay laughed, who was also present that day.

“Don’t ruin my moment, Izay. It’s rare to have a chance to fool Tiona.”

“That’s mean—! I heard that, Finn.”

“Hm? My foolish sister! Are you questioning the captain!? (Clenches fists)”

“….Cough cough, no no!”

She wouldn’t dare, right?

In the advancing group, a few of them maintained good spirits as they conversed, bringing smiles to those around them.

In fact, the matter concerning Goddess Hephaestus wasn’t really a secret; everyone knew more or less what happened.

There was no difficult negotiation process at all.

Goddess Hephaestus and Loki had been close friends for many years.

Upon learning about the new species from her, she barely hesitated before agreeing to accompany them on the expedition.

Moreover, all the blacksmiths sent over were senior ones above Lv.3, including the pinnacle of Orario’s blacksmiths, the Lv.5 [One-Eyed Master Craftsman] Tsubaki Cobrand.

Almost all the core members of the Hephaestus Familia had come along.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Goddess Hephaestus was betting big alongside Loki!

This clearly demonstrated her trust in Loki and Finn.

“Oh—! Finn! You’re a bit late.”

At the north gate of the central plaza’s Babel Tower, when Finn arrived with the expedition team, a team of about twenty people was already waiting here.

Leading them was the blacksmith with her left eye covered by a black eyepatch—Tsubaki Cobrand.

Like Finn’s group, she too had equipped herself with dungeon exploration gear.

The uniquely red hakama pants from the Far East covered her lower legs, while the continental combat attire hugged her voluptuous chest. She wore protective gauntlets and shoulder guards on the outside, and two long knives in black sheaths were tucked into her waist.

She waved cheerfully towards everyone at that moment.

“Sorry, Tsubaki, for keeping you waiting.” Finn apologized sincerely.

Actually, according to the assembly time, they weren’t late. The blacksmiths had simply arrived earlier.

As blacksmiths, they were also adventurers.

For the ultra-deep regions of the dungeon that couldn’t be reached by their faction alone, they held a keen interest in the monster drops and rare treasures there, and this was a perfect opportunity to broaden their horizons!

The convergence of two major factions in Orario drew a lot of attention from the crowd, various emotions directed toward the team, and there were also many friends who came to see them off upon hearing the news.

Just Izay alone had to deal with Ryu, Hiel, Amide, and Letsha.

Ais had Asfi and Lulune coming to thank her; Refia with Lanti and Philais; Haruhi was waving to Aisha hidden in the crowd.

Such moments could be considered a tradition before expeditions.

“Oh, by the way, I almost forgot about this thing…”

While Finn stood on a cargo box boosting morale, Izay stared at the Babel Tower and suddenly remembered something.

He took out a blue crystal stone from his storage space and hung it around his neck.

“It seems you haven’t forgotten our appointment, Izay. Until just now, I was thinking whether I should try contacting you in another way.”

“Not at all, Fels, have a little faith in me, will you? I promised to take you to see the scenery on the fifty-ninth floor, and I won’t forget that.”

A moment later, Izay perceived the faint movement from the crystal and replied softly.

“I remember you saying last time that you’d treat me to a meal, but there’s been no sign of it until now~”

A sage’s plaintive tone floated out from the crystal.

Izay: “???!!”

Are you serious!?