Chapter 54

Chapter 55: Is Izay in Trouble?

The sun shone brilliantly in the sky, the time being just before noon.

During this period when many adventurers were diving into the dungeon, here, on the shopping street of the northern district, there were many ordinary civilians loitering about, adding much vitality to this city.

“Finally back……”

In the urban north, beyond the bustling northern avenue, by the roadside, lies the Twilight Manor.

A large group composed of dozens of adventurers passed through North Avenue, finished walking down the residential area’s small roads, and arrived at the headquarters.

“Ah——, it’s the air above ground ya——, feels like I’ve come back to life……”

“I want meat!”

“I’d rather go rest quickly……”

Listening to the comments from the Tione and Tione sisters, Refia awkwardly chimed in.

Finn and the others who returned from the dungeon to the surface have now arrived in front of the headquarters. The adventurer party, numbering in the dozens, each carrying or dragging supplies, paused in front of the main gate.

At the main entrance, two members responsible for guarding bowed to everyone.

“We’re back, please open the door for us.”

“Yes, yes!!”

“Waaaaaaaah——you’re back aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh——！！！”

With Finn’s one sentence, the main gate opened, followed by a shrill scream, unintelligible words, and someone sprinting at full speed from within the mansion.

She, with her crimson hair swaying, didn’t even glance at the surrounding males as she charged straight towards the girls.

“Is everyone safe——! I missed you all so much——!”

She stretched out her arms and lunged towards the girls; Ais, Tiona, and Tione effortlessly dodged without thinking twice, but the last one, Refia, was caught off guard.

Letting out cries of “Eh, wait, yaa~”, she was hugged, then pushed to the ground, starting to be manhandled by someone……

“Loki, no one died during this expedition, the harvest is decent, reaching the floor was somewhat complicated, we saw some sights of the ultra-deep layers, I’ll report the details later.”

The blond Halfling Tribe Leader Finn has seen such scenes countless times, very calmly giving Loki a simple report.

“Hmm… I understand, welcome home, Finn.”

“Hm. We’re back, Loki.”

After having her way with the elven girl’s body, the woman raised her head and grinned at him.

Her dusk-reminiscent crimson tresses, her squinted eyes now curved into crescents, together with her elegant beauty broke into a radiant smile.

Her gaze towards Finn was precisely what a deity should look like when welcoming her children safely home.

“By the way, did you see young Izay when you returned from the dungeon?”

Suddenly, Loki’s hands stopped while fondling the elf girl, hugging Refia as she asked Finn.

“Izay?”

Upon hearing this, an image of another blond youth immediately surfaced in Finn’s mind.

But soon after, he shook his head.

“No, I didn’t see him during our return. Is something wrong with Izay, Loki?”

“Hmm…so that’s how it is…”

Loki’s expression turned troubled, and all the Familia members around noticed her demeanor, a bad premonition suddenly rising in their hearts?

“Could it be……”

Refia, held in Loki’s arms, thought of a very ominous possibility.

“Something happened to the rookie in the dungeon!?”

Tiona bluntly continued, her expression also somewhat shocked.

“No, not exactly an accident. That kid went three days ago to Floor Fifteen to slay the ‘Enhanced Species.’ Now, the Guild has already spread the news that the ‘Enhanced Species’ has been defeated, yet he hasn’t returned yet, and I’m personally worried about him…”

Loki explained to everyone.

According to the accounts and descriptions from the adventurers who returned yesterday from the middle layer of the dungeon, the ‘Enhanced Species’ born on Floor Fifteen had already been solo-slain.

The killer had a head of golden messy hair, looked young, and wielded a silver-gray spear.

Isn’t that the kid Izay?

But if he had slain the ‘Enhanced Species’ yesterday, why hasn’t he returned to the surface until today? This made Loki slightly worried.

Now that their expedition team had just returned, she naturally wanted to inquire about Izay’s whereabouts.

Actually, Loki originally thought they might have coincidentally met, and Izay would return with them, allowing her to enjoy teasing the kids’ astonished expressions afterward.

However, reality often falls short of expectations, and Loki’s thoughts, as expected, came to naught.

“How many floors???”

“Fif… fifteen floors???”

“Are you joking, Loki? Are you sure you didn’t add an extra ten?”

The reaction was strongest from a certain werewolf youth, who almost instantly called out upon understanding Loki’s words.

Then came the Amazon sisters; all three wore expressions of disbelief.

“Anqi, slap me. I think I’m hallucinating…”

Hearing Loki’s words similarly, Raul pointed to his face with a somewhat dazed look.

“Huh????”

Beside him, Anna Keti gave him a look that said, “Are you losing your mind?”

(PS: Because the name is hard to pronounce, acquaintances call Anna Keti ‘Anqi’ for short.)

The situation wasn’t any better for the others, their first reaction being that Loki was playing a joke on them.

Some kind of shock mixed with disbelief.

“Can you explain the situation properly, Loki?”

Finn was the first to regain composure, opening his mouth with a rather serious tone toward Loki.

“Sure, but let’s go inside first.”

After all, the doorstep isn’t a suitable place for conversation.

Inside the Twilight Manor’s Central Tower meeting room.

The deity of the Loki Familia, along with three leaders and officers, gathered in this room.

At this time, they should usually be reporting the details of the expedition in the meeting room, but today was different. Before that, there was a more concerning situation that warranted their attention.

Everyone indoors fixed their gazes on Loki, waiting for her explanation.

“Ya… don’t stare at me like that, I get shy too~”

After a while, under everyone’s direct stares, Loki suddenly scratched her head and laughed, causing those who had been seriously looking at her to involuntarily fall over to the side.

“Hey!!!”

“Wowwwwww—don’t rush momma, I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you right away!”

Just as Loki was enjoying herself, seeing Riviria raising her wand with a darkened face, she immediately snapped back to seriousness.

“Cough cough, first of all, you heard correctly. I indeed said that Izay went to Floor Fifteen to slay the ‘Enhanced Species,’ three days ago.”

“Izay’s strength isn’t weak, in fact, it could be said to be quite strong. An ordinary Level 2 adventurer would definitely not be his match.”

“Huh????” Just two sentences made a certain wolf sit up uneasily.

“Wait, Loki, are you saying he grew strong enough to rival Level 2 adventurers in half a month? What exactly happened in these past half months?”

Bert voiced the shared concern of all Familia officers.

The Big Three were slightly better off; they had seen Izay’s Ability Values and were somewhat prepared mentally.