Finn and the others exchanged glances. They hadn't noticed it before but during the battles in the artificial labyrinth, it became glaringly obvious.
Ais, Tione, and Tiona's strength had skyrocketed. They weren't using Haruhime's buffs and yet, all three of them had displayed combat abilities consistent with Level 7 adventurers. It had only been a short while since the trio leveled up to Level 6. Such a sudden surge couldn't be ignored.
"Hey, I can't really say anything..." Tiona scratched the back of her head, giving a sheepish grin.
"Yeah, it's like that. I'm sorry." Tione said coolly, crossing her arms and staring back at Loki without backing down.
"...Sorry," Ais murmured softly, fiddling with her fingers as she lowered her head.
Looking at their reactions, Loki's expression twisted into something between exasperation and resignation.
She wanted to scold them but even she could sense it. These girls didn't want to talk. Still, something of this magnitude couldn't be ignored.
"Can't you at least tell me this, is it because of the source of your power boost?" Finn asked gently, not pressing hard.
"Yeah… that's it." Tiona admitted with a quick nod.
"Is the condition for this strength that you're not allowed to talk about it?" Gareth chimed in thoughtfully.
"Exactly." Tione replied without hesitation.
"…Was it Leon?" Bete's low voice cut in from the wall behind them.
The moment his words fell, the trio jolted in surprise. That reaction alone told the room everything they needed to know.
Outside of divine intervention, the only one who could pull something like this off was Leon—a man surrounded by mystery, with a reputation to match. And given how close he was with the trio… well, it didn't take much to connect the dots.
"Alright, alright, enough already." Riveria finally spoke up, her calm voice soothing the tension. "It's not a bad thing. Their strength has grown. That's all that matters."
"Riveria… don't tell me you knew about this?" Loki turned to her with a squint, suspicion written all over her face.
Riveria's brow twitched ever so slightly. She didn't answer. But the sharp glare she sent Loki's way said enough.
"…Tch." Loki let out a breath and slouched back in her chair.
"Well, I won't pry into how that brat pulled it off."
"But…" Loki leaned forward again, grinning slyly, "Can you ask him if there's more of that good stuff to go around?"
Level 7. That was already among the highest echelons of Orario's power, right beneath Leon himself.
Loki wasn't the only one interested. Everyone in the room, except Riveria, was now staring at Ais, Tione, and Tiona with subtle anticipation.
The trio looked at one another but none of them spoke. The silence was deafening.
"…Forget it. Let's move on." Loki said with a sigh, shrugging off the topic. "Let's go over the aftermath of this operation."
Following the battle in the artificial labyrinth, Orario entered a rare period of heated discussion and excitement.
Over the past few days, the city's adventurers could talk about little else—rumors and accounts of the artificial labyrinth, the corrupted spirit, and the mysterious race known as Xenos circulated wildly throughout taverns, plazas, and Familia headquarters alike.
This flurry of conversation was not baseless. The Guild had officially made public information regarding the corrupted spirit incident and the existence of the Xenos.
When those who hadn't been involved in the suppression of the demi spirits read the contents of the Guild's announcement boards, their reactions were almost universally the same, shocked speechlessness followed by cold sweat running down their backs. They hadn't realized it at the time, but something truly monstrous had unfolded beneath their feet.
According to the Guild's reports, over a dozen demi spirits had appeared, each one possessing combat power equivalent to a Level 7 adventurer.
To put that into perspective, the only officially recognized Level 7 adventurer in Orario was Ottar.
Even though Leon had once bested Ottar and claimed the title of Orario's strongest, his actual level was still only Level 4 at the time.
And now, they were being told that Leon had gone on to face and defeat not one but more than a dozen of these demi spirits, all within the span of this battle.
The shock of it all made countless adventurers feel as though they'd unknowingly tiptoed along the very edge of death. Many were simply grateful they hadn't been part of that battlefield.
But once the initial wave of terror had passed, another emotion began to stir in the hearts of the adventurers, awe.
What truly caught their attention was the part of the Guild's notice that said Leon had single-handedly defeated more than a dozen demi spirits.
Before this incident, most adventurers acknowledged that Leon possessed Level 7-level combat ability, and had bested Ottar, but they assumed that was the ceiling of his strength.
However, after hearing about this feat, they realized the truth. Leon's power had risen to another level entirely.
There was no way someone with just Level 7 capabilities could wipe out that many high-tier demi spirits. This was a feat that required strength on the Level 8 scale at minimum.
The idea thrilled many. Orario had produced a new Level 8 adventurer. And not just any adventurer—Leon, the new symbol of power.
It lit a fire in those adventurers who had grown complacent. Those who still carried the ambition to grow stronger now had a new benchmark to chase. They finally had someone to look up to again—a new guiding star in Orario's sky.
Aside from the corrupted spirit matter, there was another topic stirring heavy discussion among the adventurers.
The Xenos.
After fighting alongside them, learning their stories, and discovering that many of them were reincarnated adventurers, more than 90% of the adventurers who had been in Rivira began to accept the Xenos and even befriend them.
That firsthand experience had left a strong impression and those impressions were soon brought to the surface world.
It was Bors who formally reported the situation to the Guild.
On top of that, the Gods, having previously seen Asterius through the Divine Mirror, had confronted Ouranos, and from the looks of things, had reached some form of consensus.
Riding that momentum, the Guild made the Xenos' existence public. Now, the entirety of Orario, every adventurer, every resident, knew about the Xenos.
Naturally, the city split into three factions in response.
The first group were the adventurers who had fought alongside the Xenos in Rivira. They fully accepted them as allies.
The second group comprised those who remained skeptical, wary, or even outright hostile. They refused to believe the Xenos were reincarnated adventurers or beings capable of coexistence. Many within this group called for their extermination.
And finally, the third group, those willing to give the Xenos a chance. They hadn't fought alongside them, but they trusted the judgment of those who had.
This group included friends and Familia members of those in the first group and, perhaps most importantly, they had Leon's endorsement.
The adventurers from Rivira had shared their stories, not just about the Xenos, but also about Leon's attitude toward them.
And Leon, now Orario's most powerful adventurer, had accepted them. That alone swayed countless opinions.
It was a phenomenon not unlike the star-chasing trend of Leon's previous world, the effect of a shining example setting the standard.
Backing this effort were Fels and members of the Ganesha Familia, further amplifying the credibility of the Xenos' case.