For a moment, the adventurers sitting in a circle around the camp bonfire all turned their gazes toward Leo, the emotions in them thoroughly mixed.
Especially those who had once given him a few small gifts when he was starting out. Looking at Leo now, a figure of real weight in the Familia and the center of attention, they felt a tangle of emotions.
Back then, they had only wanted to help out a junior who worked diligently in the logistics, hoping he could avoid a few detours, or gain a little more confidence adventuring in the Dungeon, a better chance of surviving instead of throwing his life away like the reckless ones. That was why they had given him what little they had on hand as gifts.
Long ago, when they themselves were just starting out, the seniors of the Familia had helped them the same way, so now it was their turn to help their own juniors.
This was a kind of inheritance, and one of the reasons Loki Familia had been able to come this far.
They couldn't speak for other Familias, but everyone in Loki Familia was like a member of one big family, treating each other as brothers and sisters, always helping one another.
Everyone stood united and pushed in the same direction, which was how Loki Familia had grown into one of Orario's strongest Familias in the span of a few short decades.
So back then, they truly hadn't imagined that the newcomer who accepted a little gift from them and then charged into the Dungeon alone would rise so fast in the space of three short months, surpassing them in the end, becoming a Familia executive like Ais and the others, and holding an extremely high evaluation and standing with the Familia's leaders.
Among them, Raul felt it most of all.
"Who would have thought that Leo, who back then hadn't even earned the qualification of an official member and was only a trainee, would surpass us in such a short time, catch up with Miss Ais and the others, and become a Lv.5 first-class adventurer."
A Lv.5 first-class adventurer...
That was the height he and Anakitty and the rest, the core figures of the Second Army who had been stuck at the Lv.4 stage for no short time, currently longed to reach more than anything.
The gap between Lv.4 and Lv.5 was like a chasm, and the standing of a second-class adventurer and a first-class adventurer were worlds apart.
Anyone who made adventuring their profession set becoming a Lv.5 first-class adventurer as their first goal.
Who didn't want to be first?
To become a first-class adventurer meant securing a place among the strong in all of the lower world.
So over the matter of Leo coming up from behind and becoming a first-class adventurer ahead of them, the core members of the Second Army, Raul included, all felt rather down.
Of course, the Familia executives Leo had caught up with, Bete, Tiona, Tione and the rest, were equally at a loss.
Especially Bete, who not long ago had been calling Leo "small fry" at every turn, and who now felt he'd lost all face in front of Leo.
Leo had caught up in three months. If that was a "small fry," then what did that make him, who had needed more than a decade to reach the same goal?
Trash?
"Tch..."
The more he thought about it the worse he felt, so Bete simply turned his head away and stopped looking at Leo.
As for the senior smiths of Hephaestus Familia, they had long since started pointing at Leo and talking among themselves.
Tsubaki in particular kept staring at Leo with burning eyes, which made Ais warily shift over and move closer to Leo, meaning to block that line of sight.
Unfortunately, Ais had no idea that this behavior of hers sent the jealousy in a certain Elf girl's heart surging.
"There's no need to sit that close... nngh... wha... what..."
Lefiya wept silently inside while grinding her teeth.
It's just Lv.5, isn't it? I'm going all out this time too!
The ones with expectations for this expedition weren't only Bete, Tiona, Tione, Raul, Anakitty and Alicia.
Bete, Tiona and Tione hoped to reach Lv.6 on this expedition and catch up to Ais and Leo.
Raul, Anakitty and Alicia hoped to reach Lv.5 on this expedition and not lose face as seniors of the Familia.
Lefiya likewise hoped she could accomplish great deeds on this expedition and enter a new stage.
To that end she had been quietly working hard all this time, hiding in a corner of the library at night to study magical knowledge away from Leo, and by day finding every chance to enter the Dungeon, either practicing the Concurrent Chanting she still wasn't skilled at or simply training up her Magic.
Perhaps she really had worked too hard during that period, hard enough that she barely had any presence in the Familia, because when Lefiya last updated her Status before departure, her Magic parameter had already reached A.
If she could accomplish great deeds in one stroke this time, then perhaps she could raise her Magic parameter to the highest evaluation of S and rise to a new stage.
To reach that goal, Lefiya had even overcome her timidity.
In the past, she would have been on edge about Finn's coming roll call, both hoping to be valued and selected and worrying that once selected she would hold everyone back, torn to pieces over it.
But this time, though Lefiya felt nervous, she wasn't timid.
She wanted to be chosen this time.
Only that way would she have a chance to challenge the unknown and reach a new achievement.
And Finn didn't disappoint her.
"Besides the eight main force members including myself, Lefiya, Raul and Alicia, the three of you will join as well, as our Supporters."
Finn had named several undeniably important figures from the Second Army.
"Y-yes, understood!"
Raul straightened his back and stammered out a reply.
"I'll do my best."
Alicia sounded much steadier, speaking calmly.
Lefiya said nothing, only quietly clenched her hand.
She was called a Supporter, but with firepower equivalent to Lv.5 she was without question, like Leo, being slotted into the rearguard Mage position where people were in short supply.
Her firepower was likewise an important pillar for the team, so Supporter was only a side duty, and if anything went wrong she was reserve firepower, liable to be sent to the front line at any time.
"Do your best, Lefiya."
Seeing Lefiya say nothing, Ais quietly cheered her on.
"Yes!"
Lefiya nodded hard, her drive rising, and the eyes she turned on Leo burned with a fierce competitive spirit, which made him raise an eyebrow and smile.
"And last... Tsubaki."
Finn turned his gaze toward the Hephaestus Familia side.
"Your colleagues from Hephaestus Familia will stay in the camp and guard the base together with our companions, while you come along with us. Is that acceptable?"
She was a first-class adventurer too, and with combat strength like that right in front of them, it would have been strange not to make good use of her.
Besides, once they left the base and entered Floor 51, they would need Tsubaki to keep their equipment from failing.
If they ran into worm-type monsters on the floors below, as they had last time, Tsubaki's presence could at least ease the equipment shortages that might arise.
"No problem at all, of course."
Tsubaki accepted the arrangement readily, looking like it suited her perfectly.
On this expedition, the smithing materials that appeared on the floors below Floor 50 were the real prize, and having already come this far, if she didn't go see them with her own eyes, she wouldn't be Orario's strongest smith... Tsubaki Collbrande.
"Good." Finn nodded, then looked at the Cat People girl beside Raul. "After we leave, the camp is under your full command, Aki."
Anakitty Autumn, the Cat People girl known as Alchat, was without question at the highest level in the entire city for a Lv.4 second-class adventurer, and she was calm, composed, and remarkably bold, so whenever the first-class adventurers were absent Finn generally appointed her overall commander, and this time was clearly the same.
"Handle the defense the way I explained to you beforehand. If, as last time, those new species monsters appear after we leave, then use Magic and Magic Swords as your main means of meeting them, and avoid situations that require melee as much as possible. Understood?"
Finn instructed her over and over, and the Cat People girl listened carefully to all of it.
"Don't worry, captain, we'll hold the base."
Anakitty gave her guarantee.
"If it comes to the worst, abandon the base. As long as the people are safe, we can start over, so don't push yourselves."
Riveria couldn't help adding.
The base determined whether those fighting on the front line could be supported, and it was indispensable relief if anything happened to them, but if they returned in triumph only to find that the members left guarding the rear had all come to harm, then that victory would amount to nothing.
So Riveria would rather they play it safe, since what mattered was making sure people were unharmed. If the expedition failed, it failed, and they could simply try again.
Even if that meant the Familia's reputation would suffer and its finances would run into trouble, that was still better than people getting hurt.
"I understand." Anakitty knew what Riveria was worried about, and laughed softly. "I'll act within my limits."
"All right, that's everything I had to say." Finn clapped his hands. "For tomorrow's formal assault, everyone in the main force is to rest well tonight, and the rest will take turns keeping watch and standing guard, in four-hour shifts."
With that, Finn was about to dismiss everyone where they were.
"Wait."
Tsubaki spoke up.
"Not so fast. Let's hand over what's owed to you first, or when things start for real tomorrow you won't even have gotten used to your gear."
As she said it, Tsubaki hauled out from the luggage beside her a series of objects wrapped in white cloth.
They were clearly all weapons.
"These are what you ordered in advance, weapons with the Unbreakable attribute."
Tsubaki said it in front of everyone with her face full of pride, as if she were introducing her own sons.
Everyone's eyes went to the white cloth bundles laid out neatly on the ground.
The Unbreakable attribute, the special weapon property that Ais's Desperate had.
Weapons with this property only wore down and never broke, which was why when they encountered the worm-type monsters last time everyone's weapons had suffered while only Ais's Desperate had shone, becoming the main weapon against those monsters.
To guard against running into those worm-type monsters again on Floor 51, Finn and the others had decided to equip all the main force's close-combat members with an Unbreakable-attribute weapon.
Tsubaki was the smith behind these weapons, and she had forged every one of them herself.
"The Rolan series."
Tsubaki grinned wide.
"Adding the Unbreakable attribute unavoidably lowers the power, but I still worked to push it as high as I could, so every one of these has the attack power of Second Class equipment at minimum."
Just like Ais's Desperate, which, because the Unbreakable attribute had been added, had slightly lower power than First Class equipment despite being a piece of First Class superior equipment itself.
Tsubaki's Rolan series was also a work she had poured her heart and soul into, but compared to that weapon custom made for Ais alone, the power was clearly lower still.
For dealing with those worm-type monsters, though, it was enough.
Finn, Gareth, Bete, Tiona and Tione each picked up a weapon and undid the white cloth wrapping.
What appeared before them were silver weapons honed razor sharp, with the beauty of works of art, showing a hidden hardness and power at the same time, combining form and functional beauty.
Finn held a spear, Gareth a great battle axe, Bete twin blades, Tiona a greatsword, and Tione a halberd.
"It's lighter than I imagined."
Tiona swung the Unbreakable greatsword and said it with her lips pursed.
"Miss Tione is planning to use a halberd?"
Lefiya looked at Tione with some surprise, and got a cold response in return.
"If it's for dealing with those disgusting worms, a large weapon is better, isn't it?"
Remembering how frustrating last time had been, Tione felt a surge of anger.
Last time she had been driven angry enough to charge in bare-handed and tear monsters apart with her palms.
This time, to pay those monsters back, Tione had picked the most violent weapon without hesitation.
That halberd was over two meters long and even heavier than Tiona's greatsword and Gareth's great battle axe, and quite a few people including Lefiya broke out in a cold sweat looking at it, calling it terrifying in their hearts.
The five close-combat members each tested the feel of their weapons. Riveria and Lefiya, the two rearguard Mages, naturally had no need of melee weapons, and Raul and Alicia's main duty was as Supporters, so they had no use for Unbreakable-attribute weapons either.
Whether Tsubaki had already prepared her own share was unclear, but she likewise didn't move.
And Leo and Ais likewise didn't move.
"You aren't picking one?"
Tsubaki came up in front of Leo and said it, puzzled.
Ais didn't need one, since her weapon already had the Unbreakable attribute.
But Leo?
Did his weapon have the Unbreakable attribute too?
"I really don't need one."
Leo shook his head.
Did she know what it meant to never wear down and never break?
For the Leo of now, having the Starlight was enough.
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