I could feel the wave of relief sweeping across us when we saw the First-Css Adventurers leading the massive party, we quickly put down our weapons once they approached us.

  Lisa herself was looking for absolutely star-struck to the point that she didn’t seem to be breathing; it took Garos spping her in the back of her head to snap her out of it.

  Leading an expedition party many times rger than us was a familiar spear-wielding blonde pallum, with a fully armored dwarf and long green haired elf fnking him on either side.

  Anyone living in Orario would recognise them as the ‘Braver’ Finn Deimne, the ‘Elgram’ Gareth Landlock, and ‘Nine Hells’ Riveria Ljos Alf respectively, the First-Css Adventurers and leaders of the Loki Familia, one of the strongest Familia in Orario.

  I’d heard that they often ventured down into the Deep Floors on weeks-long expeditions, so it was quite surprising to encounter them in the Dungeon just as they were returning from one such expedition; talk about a lucky break.

  “Looks like you lot have been through the wringer.” Gareth noted as he looked out party over, “Let me guess, you ran into the Amphisbeana on your way back.”

  “…That’s a real good guess.” Jirou noted.

  “Wait, I guessed it? Damn, talk about unlucky. But seeing as you survived, did you take it down?”

  “Well, not exactly…”

  “Hey, why is Jirou acting so chummy with Elgram?” Drake whispered to our vice-captain, “Are they close?”

  “Oh, those two are drinking buddies.” Garos expined, “Have been for almost two decades now. They often meet up once a week for drinks,”

  “Really? I didn’t know about that…”

  “Jirou isn’t the type to funt his connections.”

  At the same time, Jeanne took a step towards Riveria, Nine Hells doing the same and even folded her arms as they got into an arm’s length from each other.

  The air was tense between the two elves as they did nothing except stare at each other in silence, as everyone around them looked on the stare off in suspense and confusion.

  “What’s going on with Jeanne?” Tetra asked, “Does she and Nine Hells know each other?”

  “They have a history, if that’s what you meant.” Lisa pointed out, “Those two knew each other since the founding of their respective Familia.”

  “So, they are old friends?”

  “Well…”

  Riveria was the one to break the silence with a greeting, “Jeanne.”

  “Riveria.” Jeanne greeted back, “I see you’re doing well for yourself as always.”

  “I couldn’t say the same thing to you. Still dressed in such vulgar clothing? I thought you would have more self respect in the past two decades.”

  “…Because unlike a certain prudent princess, I’m not insecure about my own body. Maybe you’ll actually get a guy if you don’t look like a virgin ghost?”

  “And have people look at me like a piece of meat like you? Sorry, but I’m not yet starved for attention.”

  “At least I have meat to show. Tell me honestly, did you actually pad your chest to make yours look bigger?”

  Needless to say, barbed words were exchanged one after another in swift succession, with each insult getting more creative than the st; with how tightly their fists were clenched, it wouldn't be surprising if they started exchanging actual physical strikes.

  And judging by how everyone held their head in tired acceptance, this wasn’t the first time this argument happened between the two elves.

  Tetra could only look on in shock and confusion, “Uh, why are they…”

  “Yeah, they really don’t like each other.” Lisa sighed, “The first time they met, Ms Riveria called Jeanne a shameless harlot, which she responded by slugging her in the nose. Since then, a fight always breaks out whenever they run into each other.”

  “…No wonder elves hate us so much…”

  It was public knowledge that Riveria descended from royalty, and all of the elves treated her with great respect and reverence akin to one of the divine; and our captain had been picking fights with her for years.

  Maybe our Familia’s bad rep was actually due to her? Because Jirou couldn’t be the only one responsible for it.

  As the two elves continued their exchange of insults, I took the chance to walk up to the blond pallum, “Excuse me, Braver, sir?”

  “There’s no need to be so formal.” Finn assured me before his eyes widened with recognition, “Say, aren’t you that half-elf from a few months back? The new Record Holder, Biriken?”

  “…Ye-Yes, I am… but please, call me Dae.” I held back a pained groan from hearing that ridiculous name spoken in his voice, “I wanted to thank you for saving me and Tris back then. I wouldn’t be alive without your help.”

  “There’s no need for that. It was the least I could do for a promising rookie like yourself.”

  I couldn’t help but be amazed with the way Finn had presented himself; from the tone of his voice to his posture, to even the way he held his spear, the pallum truly had the presence of an inspiring charismatic hero.

  As expected from the Braver, he was exactly the kind of hero Leos dreamed of becoming.

  “Grr…!!”

  “Eh?”

  A shiver went down my spine as I felt an intense and extremely malicious stare burning into my back; I gnced over at the Loki Familia to see an amazoness growling while gring daggers into me.

  I was used to receiving uncomfortable stares back ever since I became Level 2, but this was something else all together; thankfully, she stopped once Finn turned around to face her.

  “Hey, Finn!” Gareth called out, “Jeanne wanted to discuss something with you!”

  “Ah, I’m on my way!” Finn answered before turning to me, “If you excuse me, Miss Dae. Ah, and congratutions on the Level Up. You earned it.”

  “Oh. Th-Thank you.”

  After fshing me a dashing smile that made my heart skip a beat, he gave his party the order to take a breather before walking towards where the dwarf was sitting, along with Jeanne, Jirou and Garos.

  Damn, that face truly was a dy killer; I could definitely see how Lisa could have developed such a massive celebrity crush on him.

  “Grr…!!”

  Then the malicious gre took whatever possible feelings I had for him out the window; I gnced back at the amazoness in question, who was gritting her teeth so hard that they might actually break.

  I immediately walked as far away from her as I possibly could, in hopes of preventing a possible confrontation with her over what was clearly just a simple non-romantic interaction.

  There was no way I was going to deal with the mispced anger of an envious woman in an unrequited love, especially when the woman in question was an amazoness.

  “What did you do to it!?”

  Otto’s cries echoing across the corridor caught the attention of almost everyone as the bcksmith looked in horror at the massive twin-bded greatsword in front of him.

  The weapon looked like it had been utterly wrecked beyond all recognition; with what’s left of what must be hefty bdes was just a chipped stud, and its guards were covered in every form of physical damage possible.

  The owner of said weapon, an amazoness that shared a simir face as the one gring at me, let out a small ugh while scratching her head.

  “Hehe… I broke it.”

  “Yeah, I can see that!! How did you even break it so badly!? It’s not an adamantite weapon, but it should be just strong enough to not shatter so easily!”

  “Hehe… I’ve tried really hard.”

  “Damn it, stop ughing! This isn’t funny!! All those sleepless nights… all those precious ores… all wasted…”

  I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Otto as he knelt in front of the broken weapon muttering to himself; I was no bcksmith, but I could tell that it was a really sturdy weapon and took a very long time to make.

  For such a weapon to be wrecked so completely, the Deep Floors really must be something else; the Loki Familia sure was a whole different league to be able to venture that far so frequently.

  “Um…”

  “Yes, what is it?”

  A soft voice called out to me, causing me to turn around to meet its owner; who turned out to be the ‘Sword Princess’ Ais Wallenstein, who was looking oddly timid for a First-Css Adventurer.

  And once again, I was greeted with the same strange sense of familiarity as our first encounter; though now my head didn’t feel like a drill was trying to pierce through it.

  “I… wanted to say I’m sorry…” She told me with a bow, “For what happened st time…”

  “A-Ah, you don’t have to apologise, Sword Princess!” I quickly assured her, “What happened back then has nothing to do with you!”

  “But…your head hurts after looking at me… isn’t that my fault…?”

  “No, no! It most definitely is not!”

  It was so weird to see the famous Sword Princess bowing her head to me in apology while looking so much like a sad little puppy; it didn’t help that she looked absolutely adorable doing so.

  Though it felt like this wasn’t the first time she gave me that look either; even though this was only the second time we ran into each other, and the first time we actually talked with each other.

  “Say… May I ask you something?”

  “What is it?”

  “Have we… ever met somewhere before?”

  “…In front of the Jagamaru stand?”

  A sigh left my mouth at the obvious answer, “No, no, I mean before that. Like, maybe years ago.”

  Ais pondered on the topic for a moment, “I… don’t think so…”

  “…Yeah, I figured as much…”

  It was clear from her reactions that she had clearly never met me before that day, and we were complete strangers before then; yet why did I feel like I know her more intimately than that?

  Had it to do with those dreams I had been getting for the past few months? Maybe I was getting them confused with my own memories…

  “Urgh… why is everything just so weird…!?”

  “Ah… I’m sorry to not be of any help…”

  “No, no! Really, don’t apologize for that!” I quickly assured the bowing Ais, “I’m just facing some troubles of my own.”

  It was truly hard to believe that this girl in front of me was considered the strongest Human in Orario and perhaps the entire world; if anything, it felt like she was way younger than she actually was.

  “Ais.”

  “Oh, Bete?”

  A grey haired werewolf walked up to the Sword Princess and told her, “The old hag wants to have a word with you.”

  “Riveria wants to see me? Why?”

  “Don’t know, she didn’t say.”

  “…I understand. I’ll be there. Excuse me.”

  After bidding me farewell, Ais walked away, leaving me alone with the werewolf, the tter letting out a huff the moment she was out of earshot.

  “Tch. Why is she even bowing to that weakling…?”

  The harsh tone took me by surprised as I gnced over to see a werewolf looking at me from the edge of his eyes, his sharp orange eyes gring daggers into me while his lips curved down in a disapproving frown.

  Considering that he looked retively unharmed and still in tip top shape down here, he most likely was a Second-Css Level 4 Adventurer at the least, possibly a Level 5 veteran.

  Like the amazoness’s moments ago, his gre was one hostile intent, but there was no actual malice behind it, mostly a sense of superiority with a hint of disgust.

  Did he not like me interacting with the Sword Princess? Or did he hate the idea of her bowing to someone weaker than her?

  When my eyes met his, he let out a snarl, “What are you looking at?”

  “You’re the one that’s gring at me.” I pointed out.

  “Heh. And you have a problem with that?”

  Just exchanged a couple of sentences with him, and I already didn’t like this guy; at least Ottarl was indifferent to the whole thing, this guy was straight up provoking me.

  “A little bit, yeah. I don’t need another person gring at me for no apparent reason.”

  “…And what if I don’t give a damn, hm?” The werewolf noted as he walked up to me with a malicious grin, “What are you going to do about it, Ms Record Holder?”

  My eyebrow twitched as a surge of anger flooded my veins for just an instance before I pushed it down; it would do me no good to sh out at him like this, that was just asking for a beating.

  I didn’t need a repeat of my blunder with Ottarl.

  With as much of a controlled tone as I could possibly muster, I told him, “Look, I just wanted to know why you were gring at me. It is already bad enough without you—”

  “Oh, you think you’re some big shot now?” The werewolf huffed, “The new Record Holder that broke Ais’s record, the up-and-coming rookie. All that praise must have gone into your head if you think that’s enough to be our equals.”

  My vision nearly went red with rage but I barely managed to hold myself back from charging right at him; it would do me no good in getting drawn in by his insults, even if it stung quite a bit.

  Letting out a shaky sigh, I told him, “I-I had never even once considered that—”

  “And you better get that through that big head of yours.” He interrupted me before getting up in my face with an intense gre, “You are not our equal, not even close; all you are just some rookie that got lucky in defeating an infant dragon.”

  I felt something inside me snapped at his provoking words, I instinctively clenched my fists tightly as I desperately kept the lid on my rising temper, though I was very tempted to just let loose all of it upon the bastard in front of me.

  Lucky!? He had no idea how much I had pushed myself past my limits just to defeat that damn Irregur in the first pce! And he dared to call my hard won victory as getting lucky!?

  “What? Got nothing to say? Not even going to defend your little accomplishment? That means you admit it then? That you are in over your head thinking you are now strong, when you are still just a weakling with her head in the clouds.”

  “Why you—!!”

  “You have said enough, Bete Loga.”

  Just as I was about to reel my fist back, Kyumaru stood between us with a hand on my shoulder, his other hand wrapped around his sheath with his thumb ever ready to pop his sword’s hilt free at a moment's notice.

  Just the sight of him was enough to calm me down a bit, though it couldn’t be the same for him; his thumb was pressing so hard against his katana’s tsuba to the point that its tip was a pale white.

  This was possibly the first time I saw Kyumaru act like this; he was usually so calm and collected even against adversity, so seeing him worked up like this…

  “Oh? What’s this? A guard dog of yours?” The werewolf, Bete scoffed as he leaned in close to the renard, “Have you come to defend your princess, Masked Fox?”

  Kyumaru remained as unfazed as ever as he barked back, “Back off, Bete Loga. We have no quarrel with you.”

  “If I have one with you?”

  “Do you?”

  “…Tch.”

  Faced with the renard’s ever unchanging expression and stone-cold stare, Bete clicked his tongue before stomping away, clearly annoyed by Kyumaru’s ck of reaction to his taunts.

  And with him finally gone, I unclenched my fist and let out a long sigh as all sense of rage swiftly left my body, leaving me more exhausted than I was fighting the Amphisbeana.

  Who knew that holding back one’s anger could be so tiring…

  “You doing okay, Dae?” Kyumaru asked me.

  I nodded in response, “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for stepping in.”

  “I had to; anyone can see that you are very, very close to losing it.”

  “I think I already have. Had you been a bit slower, I would have punched him.”

  And the result would have been a repeat of Ottarl’s months ago, only this time it might not end with just one punch.

  That werewolf bastard was definitely trying to get a rise out of me, and he clearly enjoyed tormenting those there who were weaker than him.

  Honestly, some of the things he said pissed me off to no end, especially when he dared to call my victory against the Irregur infant dragon as getting lucky; it was just down to dumb luck, I wouldn’t have become Level 2!!

  Head in the clouds? Maybe it looked like that to him, but I knew how far I had to go to be at their level.

  Equals? Please, I know I was in no way at their level yet! Not when I couldn’t even drive away the Amphisbeana on my own!

  Yet that bastard had the gall to say all those things to my face, knowing full well that I had no way or the strength to make him stop.

  I let out a growl, “This was probably the first time I had actually hated someone…!”

  “…You shouldn’t let his words get to you.” Kyumaru told me, “He clearly doesn’t have the full picture, so getting angry at him is pointless.”

  “…it is still frustrating to not be able to shut him up.”

  “You will get your chance, one day for sure.”

  “Here’s your bottle.”

  “Thank you!”

  “Keep up the good work.”

  “Finally, after so long…”

  A chuckle escaped Zanis’s lips as the captain of the Soma Familia watched another addict left his office with the bottle of his god’s oh-so-precious divine wine in his tight grasp, before adjusting his gsses and returning to the papers on his desk.

  On it were the profit margins from the sale of their famed Soma wine, as well as the amount of money he had gained from the monthly toll of the Familia’s wine addicts; which net him quite the decent profit in the end.

  More than enough for him to indulge in the many luxuries he found himself enjoying in the years since his rise to Familia Captain.

  “And all of this was thanks to this little drink…”

  Satisfied with the numbers, Zanis picked up a gss off the table before pouring himself some of the same divine wine he had just given out moments before, taking a sip and partaking in its delightful otherworldly fvour.

  For most mortals, the divine wine would entranced those that dared drink it, sending them into a state of blessful intoxication before leaving them addicted to its effects.

  But for a few like Zanis, they had the strength of will to not lose themselves to the drink’s soul-grasping properties and truly enjoyed it for the drink that it was.

  It had been many years since he was made captain of this wreck of a Familia, and many years since he started using its members to make as much money as he could possibly squeeze out of them.

  He had made use of the divine wine’s alluring and addicting effects to turn the ever bumbling drunkards into wine addicts, and used those addicts’ desperation for the drink to install a toll for it.

  The result speaks for itself, as the once unorganised drunk Adventurers soon started doing everything they could think of to raise funds for their fix, and he was soon rolling in more money he could ever spend.

  Though it had also resulted in many of the Familia’s members perishing in the Dungeon from trying to earn their keep; not that any of it mattered to Zanis in the end.

  For the man, nothing was more important to him than money.

  *Knock**Knock*

  “Ca-Captain, sir?”

  Zanis clicked his tongue in irritation of having his time of rexation interrupted, “What is it?”

  “We-Well… There’s someone here to see you.”

  “Who—”

  *BANG*

  Before he could ask any further, the door to his office was forced open with a kick, one of his subordinates quickly stepped aside to allow the uninvited guest to enter.

  Tall with long blonde hair and purple eyes, bangs covering his right eye, and dressed in a bck robe with gold trimmings, the man gave off an oppressive aura as he strutted towards the captain.

  Zanis instinctively knew that the man before him wasn’t one he could beat in a fight, nor was he someone he could take advantage of without suffering a brutal beatdown as a result.

  “Are you the captain of this Familia?”

  “Ye-Yes, my good sir! How could I be of service?”

  Happy with the captain’s subservient behavior, the blonde stranger withdrew from within his robes’ sleeves a bag filled with coins and dropped it in front of him with a loud thud, spilling its silver contents on the table.

  Zanis’s eyes couldn’t get any wider than it already were at the amount in front of him, his mental calcution had concluded to be worth at least a dozen bottles of the Familia’s best wine.

  “All of this is for you if you and your men accomplish a job for my god.”

  “Of-Of course! Of course! Whatever do you need us to do?”

  “He simply wants you to kidnap an Adventurer for him.” He pulled out a piece of folded parchment from his sleeves and handed it to Zanis, “This is her description. Have her brought in within the next couple of days, or we will take the money back.”

  Zanis quickly nodded with the best business smile he could muster, “Yo-You got it, sir! We’ll get right on it!”

  The blonde man nodded with visible satisfaction, before turning around and exiting the office as if it was his own.

  A sigh of relief left Zanis’s lips as he leaned back on his chair, his nerves now settled as he looked at the bag of coins in front of him and the parchment right next to it.

  He had once considered getting into human trafficking, but chose not to on account of it being too risky; yet now he had accepted a job that had possibly been reted to that.

  Still, he couldn’t exactly say no, especially when the pay was this ludicrous.

  “It’s just one girl, right? How bad can it be?”

  He then opened the parchment, and immediately realized what he had agreed to.

  …To be continued…

  Hey, here’s the next chapter! With season 5 now airing, I thought this would be a good time to focus on this fic for now.

  So, a reader had pointed out some things I need to improve on this fic, one of which was the inclusion of the more recognisable characters.

  As such, I included the Loki Familia into this chapter!

  Hopefully, I managed to do their characters justice and not reach into OOC territory with any of them, especially the three executives.

  The only one that I was the most worried about screwing up was Bete, because his was a fine line of being an good-hearted asshole and an actual asshole, which was hard for me to write without making him sound like a real bastard.

  Here’s hoping that I was able to do him right.

  With that, I thank you all for reading this!