Tsubaki's tone and manner had changed completely, filled with a fervor that frightened everyone around her.
"What do you want?"
Leo's hand went to the Starlight at his waist, and he watched Tsubaki warily.
The way Tsubaki was acting made him seriously suspect that this person intended to snatch away his beloved sword.
But Tsubaki herself had no awareness of how she looked, and went on talking excitedly.
"Just one look! One look!" She closed in on Leo, worked up and nearly incoherent. "I can smell it already, the scent of a smithing technique that surpasses even mine, that thick iron smell and the heat of a scorching flame... only a creation close to perfection gives off something like that!"
What kind of bizarre description was that?
Leo didn't understand, but he got the general idea: the strongest smith in Orario had seen something in the Starlight with her own eyes, had realized this sword was no ordinary thing, and that was why she was this excited, this feverish.
"No... could you calm down first?" Leo backed up a few more steps, his eye twitching. "When you look like that, it's hard for me to feel safe handing the Starlight over."
It wasn't that Leo was petty, and it wasn't that he was stingy, but Tsubaki right now really was unnerving, less trustworthy than the black-hearted profiteers in Rivira, the desire in those eyes practically overflowing, making it hard for Leo to believe she wasn't looking for a chance to make off with the exclusive weapon he'd gone to so much trouble to obtain.
"Come on, relax. I'm the captain of Hephaestus Familia. Am I really going to steal your weapon?" Tsubaki said, growing impatient. "Let me have a look, and if anything happens to this sword in my hands, I'll compensate you on the spot with ten pieces of top-grade First Class equipment, plus ten Magic Swords of the highest quality. How's that?"
At those words, never mind Leo, even Ais beside him widened her eyes slightly.
Ten pieces of top-grade First Class equipment, in other words ten pieces of first-tier superior equipment. The production cost alone would run over a hundred million valis, and the sale price of each one would be over a hundred million valis as well, so all together it would certainly come to more than a billion valis, to say nothing of the highest-quality Magic Swords on top of that.
As the strongest smith in Orario, Tsubaki's own craft could fairly be called the finest in the world, and if she forged them herself, those Magic Swords would likely each be a match for First Class equipment, unleashing magic that could severely wound even a first-class adventurer.
Ten pieces of top-grade First Class equipment plus ten highest-quality Magic Swords would easily sell for one and a half to two billion valis all together, several times higher than the price of the Starlight, which Leo had bought for five hundred million valis.
Of course, the math didn't work that way. Leo had spent five hundred million valis to buy the Starlight, but first, that was a price beaten down by Loki's godlike haggling, and second, the craftsmanship and materials that went into the sword were things money couldn't buy, things others would struggle to find at all, otherwise Loki wouldn't have needed to exhaust her connections to arrange this weapon.
To put it another way, the Starlight's value was certainly more than five hundred million valis. Multiply that price ten times over and you still might not turn up a second weapon of the same quality.
A rare Great Spirit living in seclusion had made it with her own hands, employing a miracle close to divine craft, and had laid her own blessing upon it so it would never wear down and never break. Those things alone weren't something a word like "money" could buy.
The five hundred million valis was only the price Leo paid. What Loki paid was an enormous debt of favors and connections, and no amount of money could buy the latter.
So although Tsubaki's offer gave him a jolt, Leo still shook his head.
"Never mind. Having this is enough for me. I don't need other First Class equipment, and I don't need Magic Swords."
Tsubaki wanted to say something more, but Finn's voice cut her off.
"All preparations are complete. We can depart."
At Finn's order everyone straightened up, alert, which left Tsubaki no choice but to give up pestering him for now, rather unwillingly.
Leo let out a breath, and even Ais beside him relaxed her face on his behalf.
Not long after, under the eyes of everyone present, the expedition force jointly formed by Loki Familia and Hephaestus Familia officially set out, stepping into Babel and entering the Dungeon.
On this expedition, Leo's position had changed a great deal compared to last time.
The biggest change was that this time he wasn't a member of the second unit responsible for hauling supplies, but had been assigned along with the Familia's other executives to the first unit, where the faction's main combat strength was concentrated and which was responsible for clearing the way, in other words the vanguard unit.
As a Lv.5 first-class adventurer and a newly promoted Familia executive, Leo being placed in the main first unit was an inevitable development, so unlike last time he wasn't staying with Lefiya and Line, but was inseparable from Ais instead.
Of course, there were things that hadn't changed, namely that he was still designated a rearguard Mage, responsible for standing in place and dealing damage.
There was no helping it. The main unit had far too many close-range fighters.
Ais was a swordsman who could take the vanguard clearing the way and holding monsters, or serve as a roving middle guard for support. Tiona was a vanguard warrior as standard as they came, and nothing was better suited to opening a path than that great double-bladed weapon of hers. Tione could likewise serve as vanguard or middle guard. Bete with his extraordinary footwork often took the middle guard and occasionally the vanguard. Even Finn and Gareth were vanguard or middle guard types, and when they did take the rearguard, they handled command or protecting the Mages, with no ranged damage capability at all.
Among all of Loki Familia's first-class adventurers, only Riveria was suited to rearguard ranged damage, while the vanguard and middle guard weren't short of people at all. If Finn hadn't organized an Elf unit specifically for her to command, and if Riveria herself hadn't been Orario's strongest Mage with magical firepower no one could match, a team with only one person handling rearguard ranged damage would have been badly lopsided.
Given that, after assigning Leo to the main unit, Finn and the other two placed him in the rearguard almost without a second thought, having him handle ranged damage together with Riveria, which greatly made up for what the team was missing.
This position was only temporary. Once they reached Floor 18 and the two units formally joined up, the Second Army's Mages could fill it out. But once they reached Floor 50, the position would definitely be reinstated.
After all, once they reached Floor 50, most of the expedition force's members would have to stay there and make camp, while the assault on the unexplored territory, Floor 59, would be carried out by a small elite pushing forward. At that point the team's entire combat strength would come down to the first-class adventurers, with perhaps a few Supporters added, and Leo would certainly be placed in the rearguard again to complete the formation.
Thanks to that, although Leo was in the vanguard unit responsible for clearing the way on this expedition, and was part of the main combat strength, he had almost no chance to draw his sword.
His duty was still to support the front with magic and annihilate enemies with overwhelming firepower. If he wanted to draw his sword and charge to the front lines to fight like Ais, never mind Riveria standing next to him refusing, Finn, who was coordinating the whole operation, wouldn't agree either.
That was how group action worked. Everyone had to fulfill their own role, do their duty faithfully, and stay within what the tactics permitted, avoiding independent action. Otherwise throwing off the strategy decided in advance was the small problem, and if it triggered an accident or held the whole team back, that would be a serious matter.
So Leo could only stay obediently in the rearguard position, raising a hand to release magic, with no chance to use the Starlight at all.
Granted, the Starlight had other functions besides being a sword and could be used to amplify magic, but it was no boast on Leo's part to say that with his current firepower, even without a staff to amplify it, his magic would be more than enough all the way to Floor 50. Using the Starlight before Floor 50 was overkill.
So Leo didn't draw his sword at all, releasing his magic bare-handed the whole way, and even lowered his output to reduce the drain on his Mind, keeping the automatic Mind recovery rate he had from the Spirit Healing Development Ability balanced against the consumption rate of casting, so that his Mind stayed full at all times with nothing wasted.
Even with Leo deliberately holding his output down, his firepower was still sufficient before Floor 50, which showed just how strong he had become.
Unfortunately, even with Leo deliberately controlling his output like that, he still didn't get many chances to act.
Because before he could act, Bete, Tiona, Tione and the others, who had been poised and waiting, would all rush out at once and wipe out every monster that appeared in front of them, greatly reducing the number of times Leo had to step in.
"Hold on... who lit a fire under them?"
Watching Bete and the others charge into monster packs again and again with murder on their faces, slaughtering everything, Leo was dumbfounded.
They hadn't even reached the Deep Floors yet. There was no need at all for first-class adventurers of that caliber to step in, and not even the Second Army needed to. Having the ordinary Lv.3 members handle it would have been plenty, and that way they could accumulate excelia from the kills too.
But on this expedition, Bete, Tiona, Tione and the others, who usually left such chances to the ordinary members, couldn't restrain their bodies at all. Every time they saw a monster appear they charged out immediately, looking like people who had been waiting a very long time for this day, to the point that even Ais stared blankly.
"It's all because of the two of you."
Riveria shot Leo and Ais an exasperated glance and sighed.
"It's because you two caught up to them and passed them, one after the other, that they're this crazy this time."
To say it again, in order to catch up to Leo and Ais on this expedition, Bete and the others had been building up their strength for a long time.
They really had waited for this day impatiently, so much so that the moment they entered the Dungeon they let out all the frustration and drive they had been storing up, unwilling to leave even a single Goblin to anyone else, scrambling over each other to charge in and kill.
"...Never mind Bete and the rest, even Raul and the others are restless."
Finn shook his head as he watched.
They weren't up to Bete, Tiona and Tione's level, but Raul, Anakitty, Alicia and the others looked equally itchy to move, and the instant they spotted a monster nearby they rushed to finish it off, their movements far more impatient and sharp than usual.
"As expected of the strongest Familia's adventurers, they've got energy to spare."
Tsubaki, for her part, watched with great interest, and as she watched she drew the tachi at her waist and swung it casually, drawing a stunning arc of blade light that cut a monster lunging in from the side into two pieces.
Her movements were so crisp and decisive that she didn't look at all like a smith who only swung a hammer all day, but more like a warrior who had come through countless battles, forcing anyone watching to admit she deserved her title as the city's strongest smith.
The Hephaestus Familia smiths Tsubaki had brought were equally capable, needing no escort at all, each relying on their own skill to drive off the monsters that came at them, staying calm when something went wrong, following Finn's instructions, and coordinating with Loki Familia so smoothly that no one would have guessed this was their first time working together.
Except that these people were smiths in the end, and the moment they entered the Dungeon they acted as if they had walked into a treasure vault, nothing like Loki Familia's members who stayed on guard at every moment. The instant they spotted a monster or a spot that could drop rare materials, they would break off from the formation to go get it, and even Tsubaki's eyes would light up at the sight of a rare monster and she'd charge out. Finn told her off several times and she never learned, and only when Riveria finally lost patience and rapped her with her staff did she settle down a little, which was strangely exhausting for everyone.
Naturally, Leo was also thoroughly latched onto by this fanatical weapon smith, who came sidling up to him again and again, trying every possible way to get him to lend her the Starlight, going so far as to sneak into Leo's tent at night during the rest period to steal it, which shook Ais badly when she happened to see it in the middle of the night. She nearly drew her sword on the spot.
"They don't have to be in this much of a hurry, do they?"
Watching Bete and the others keep stealing kills, Leo didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Come on, you're all Lv.5. Even if you kill yourselves slaughtering monsters, how much excelia can you get out of weaklings like these?
No matter how many they killed, at these monsters' strength, the excelia probably wouldn't be enough to raise the proficiency of even one of their basic abilities by a single point.
Especially on this expedition, where there were likewise no Floor Bosses in the way.
Goliath, the Floor Boss of Floor 17, had been cut down by Leo in two strokes not long ago on the pretext of testing his sword, and there was still over a week left before its spawn interval ended.
Amphisbaena, the Floor Boss of Floor 27, had likewise been subjugated two weeks ago, with two more weeks before its spawn interval ended.
Udaeus, the Floor Boss of Floor 37, had been subjugated by Leo and Ais working together, and that was less than half a month ago, so the end of its three-month spawn interval was still a long way off.
As for Balor, the Floor Boss of Floor 49, subjugated by Freya Familia... its nine-month spawn interval was still counting down, and only about half of it had passed so far.
In other words, all the way to Floor 50, no matter how hard Bete and the others pushed, what they gained would be next to nothing.
"Well..."
Leo thought it over, and in the end decided not to stop them.
Let them work off some energy.
This expedition was going to be a long one anyway.
[Read 40+ chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/NiaXD]