"Are the daily lives of those large familias always this extravagant?"
"..."
Even with the interlude of the "War Game," neither Hestia nor Ron left midway. It was only after they had completely filled their stomachs that they finally departed.
Walking once more along the streets of Orario, when the girl recalled that exceedingly lavish banquet, filled with every kind of delicacy from land and sea, her heart brimmed with emotion. And because she had drunk red wine at the time, she naturally held Ron's hand.
Compared to the smooth skin of his palm at the very beginning, after this period of high-intensity training in the Dungeon, one could clearly feel the calluses that had formed at the base of his thumb.
Extremely reliable.
Even Hestia's mood calmed considerably.
"Maybe..."
"Once this turmoil completely comes to an end, Ron... we should be able to return to a normal state, right? During the day you'll explore the Dungeon, and I'll go work part-time."
"In the evening, after returning home, we'll sit together and have dinner."
Recalling the time when Ron had just become an adventurer, her eyes were filled with longing. There had been no need to consider any other factors—each of them had their own plans and arrangements, and in the end they would return to their warm lodging to huddle together for comfort.
But what about now?
Hestia's heart carried an indescribable complexity.
The Dungeon crisis from some time ago, which Ron had not explained in detail, and now—the War Game known to most of the gods in Orario.
Troubles, one after another...
In the final analysis, it was because she, as a goddess, had been inadequate, forcing him to shoulder all the burdens and drag the familia forward in Orario just to continue existing.
"I don't know..."
"Whether this conflicts with your dream of becoming an adventurer, Ron..."
The girl's sorrow was as gentle as the late-night breeze, voicing the guilt in her heart. But the only response she received was the steadily rising warmth of their clasped hands.
Looking at him as he suddenly stopped in his tracks—at Ron, who should have been at the age of high spirits, yet revealed a maturity that did not belong to this stage of life; with his straight back and relaxed smile—
Hestia murmured softly: "Will you regret it?"
"..."
"I have never regretted it. A person will ultimately strive for their ideals and beliefs for a lifetime. If the journey were always smooth, then one would surely miss the scenery along the way."
To be honest, having experienced far too many things in his previous life, it was difficult for Ron—returned to his youth—to feel hot-blooded enthusiasm. Yet the girl's guilty murmur seemed to awaken something within him.
It truly ignited.
His tone was matter-of-fact as he stated the answer in his heart: "Only by holding fast to one's convictions can one cut through thorns, overcome every difficulty, and reach the end."
"What's more, the Apollo Familia isn't qualified to make me regret anything."
"..."
"Then what is your ideal, Ron?"
Sensing the weight within his words, Hestia met the boy's gaze directly. She had never heard Ron speak of his own ideal.
Only, these words were destined to receive no answer.
Perhaps within Ron's blazing eyes, and in the reflection of herself mirrored in his clear light-brown gaze, the boy's so-called ideal was already within arm's reach.
"Mm..."
"Could it be me?"
The girl's slightly childish fair cheeks flushed red—whether from the faint tipsiness of the wine or from finally recognizing that feeling deep within her heart... a feeling she could never possibly relinquish.
Watching Ron smile and gently nod in affirmation, Hestia rose lightly onto her toes—after all, the difference in their heights was there.
She could only cross her arms and affectionately wrap them around Ron's neck.
Not until Ron took the initiative to bend down closer to her did she gently press her forehead against his. When their gazes met, neither of them looked away.
"Mm..."
"I'm very happy."
...
The War Game between the Apollo Familia and the Hestia Familia naturally stirred up quite a commotion in Orario. The former's reputation in the Labyrinth City was by no means low, thanks in part to the distinctive preferences of its god.
As for the latter...
only a small number of adventurers even knew of it.
And even those who did merely felt fortunate that, some time ago, they had not accepted Hestia's invitation to join her newly formed familia.
Not only that, even Orario's large and small casinos had opened betting pools for this War Game.
But none of this had the slightest relation to Ron. After all, all of his assets had already been wagered on his own victory in Hephaestus's betting pool.
As for the time before the War Game began, his life did not change in the slightest. Each day he went to the Dungeon to carry out high-intensity exploration, leaving early and returning late. Even when he came back to Orario in the evening to rest and reorganize, after only a brief pause, he would set out once more.
At the very beginning, members of the Apollo Familia had followed Ron's movements, until they confirmed that during this period he was simply soaking himself in the Dungeon.
Only then did they completely abandon their futile surveillance.
In Hyakinthos's words: "To think that in such a short amount of time you could gain strength comparable to the Apollo Familia is nothing but a fool's dream."
To this, Ron offered no comment. After shedding countless drops of sweat in the Dungeon, he finally completely eradicated the special monsters on the 11th and 12th Floors.
Total time spent: five days.
What was somewhat regrettable was that he had not encountered special existences such as a Floor Boss. Otherwise, in terms of great achievements, he might have reached the degree required for a level ascension.
"Very good."
"As for the middle floors of the Dungeon... we'll explore them another time!"
Gazing at the stairway passage before him, that familiar sensation once again surged within Ron's heart. The deep tunnel, whose end could not be seen, contained a danger that made the hairs on his arms stand on end for no apparent reason.
Compared to when he had first encountered a Goblin Guard on the 1st Floor, this feeling was unprecedentedly intense...
Perhaps the Dungeon believed that relying solely on the monsters of the upper floors was simply not enough to kill him, and was preparing to raise the difficulty for him in the middle floors?
After all, once one passed beyond the 12th Floor, the subsequent floors were referred to as the "First Death Line." The difficulty would increase sharply. With the current size of his party, he truly had no desire to explore further.
The upper floors of the Dungeon alone, with their extremely large numbers of Soulslike monsters and their exceedingly punishing mechanics, had already caused Ron no small amount of trouble.
This period of grinding in the Dungeon had been preparation for the War Game. He could hardly let himself be ganked by a difficulty spike in the Dungeon before it even began.
Most crucially, all of his Revival uses had been consumed in the monsters' successive waves of battle.
Noticing beside him the girl whose body radiated intense fighting spirit, eager to explore the middle floors and utterly unaware of the danger lurking in the depths—having a familia member with ambition was a good thing.
Still, Ron could not help but remind her: "The intensity of our Dungeon exploration during this period has already been maxed out. Next, let's return to Orario first."
"To update our ability values."
"And then..."
"For this final day, you can treat it as rest, or as preparation—preparation to welcome the War Game of the Apollo Familia!"
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