"Ron."
"Your title has already been decided. It's the one you wanted—'Tarnished.' We finally managed to secure it for you from the Denatus."
Just after returning to the Familia's base, even though the Familia had already grown to this scale, the girl still had that same innocent and lively personality. As usual, she was sitting on the steps at the entrance of the Familia residence.
The moment she saw Ron appear, she immediately rushed toward him impatiently.
As if—like a wife who had been alone at home, welcoming her husband back after a long day of work outside, while also telling him the news that she was carrying their child.
Even without the intervention of the beauty goddess Freya, Hestia was confident she could have secured the title "Tarnished" in the Denatus anyway. At worst, she would have simply given the gods present another shock!
However, before she could throw herself into Ron's arms, seemingly having heard the news, the other members living in the "Hearth Mansion" base began coming out of their rooms one after another to watch.
Still, that did not stop her from declaring her claim right in front of so many children.
Linking her arm with Ron's, she spoke proudly: "Too bad they didn't give me the chance to properly show off the fact that you've advanced to Lv.3 at the Denatus."
"But…"
"In a way, that's fine too. I actually think it's better to hide your strength a little."
"Lady Hestia is right."
After experiencing the War Game with the Apollo Familia, it was not that Ron had an inflated sense of self. In the current situation, wanting to completely hide his strength was absolutely a luxury.
Besides, now that his adventurer level had risen to Lv.3, he at least had the qualifications to step onto this stage, rather than always remaining in a passive position.
Ignoring the conflict with Zanis, his gaze swept over the gathered Mikoto, Daphne, and Cassandra, and he said with a relaxed smile: "All the matters in Orario have already been dealt with."
"Next—"
"Our exploration target will be the middle floors of the Dungeon. Make full preparations. We depart tomorrow!"
"I'm looking forward to it…"
As a victim of the Soulslike-style Dungeon, Mikoto clearly understood that what awaited her would be a road even more dangerous than the War Game.
But the improvement of her Falna gave her a constant stream of motivation to face monsters stronger than anything she had seen before.
On the other hand, Daphne and Cassandra, who had just joined the Familia, exchanged glances when they heard the next exploration plan. Their expressions were complicated.
They did not question the captain's decision.
The middle floors were not particularly difficult to explore. In a normal adventurer party, as long as the average strength reached Lv.2, it was basically possible to travel there and back safely.
"Something still feels a bit strange…"
Daphne frowned.
At present, within the Hestia Familia, both the captain Ron and Yamato Mikoto were Lv.3 adventurers, yet they had not even explored the middle floors.
Could it really have developed to this extent relying only on the monster difficulty of the upper floors?
The curiosity deep within her mind finally overcame her rationality, and she could not help asking: "Um… Captain Ron, isn't the exploration target a bit too conservative?"
So...
How exactly was he supposed to explain to them that his Dungeon was very unusual?
After all, relying only on words, it was difficult to describe the Dungeon's overwhelming malice. Only those who had experienced it personally could understand just how difficult Dungeon exploration could be.
Ron did not deny it.
"Normal progress."
"Daphne, I'll have to trouble you with the preparations before exploration. Once we reach the middle floors, you'll understand… why our exploration progress is so slow."
"No problem."
Having come to a brand-new Familia, Daphne naturally carried the mindset of growing stronger, not continuing to muddle along. Preparing before Dungeon exploration was also something that went without saying.
However, the words Ron had left unfinished not only failed to satisfy her curiosity, but instead made it grow even stronger.
"Leave this kind of thing to me."
"Do we need to hire supporters tomorrow?"
"No."
"Then let Cassandra take on the role part-time. After all, she's also a logistics-leaning healer in the party."
Daphne nodded seriously and did not pursue the reason further.
After all… through the Hestia Familia's recruitment of members, the general situation could already be roughly inferred.
Even though it was an excellent opportunity to expand, their own goddess and captain showed no intention of recruiting adventurers and still maintained the current scale.
The first thing that came to her mind was the ancient ruins located on the 10th Floor, as well as the final answer Ron had not denied regarding the "Dungeon anomaly incident."
None of the layers of mysteries had received a reasonable explanation.
Whether it was the unknown environment of the Dungeon or the secrets Ron possessed, Daphne was filled with anticipation.
And all those expectations would tomorrow receive a complete explanation.
"Let's arrange it like this for now."
Now that the Familia had developed to a certain extent, the advantage was clear—Ron no longer had to personally handle every matter himself. And before they set out to explore the Dungeon, there was only a little more than half a day left.
During this time, he could devote himself entirely to training and adapt to the qualitative transformation brought by his recent ascension.
At present, Ryuu and the foolish catgirl Anya both had things they needed to deal with. It would hardly be appropriate to keep troubling them over training matters as well.
Thinking of this, Ron turned his gaze toward Mikoto. Since both of them were Lv.3 adventurers and had only recently ascended, he decisively extended an invitation to the girl.
"Miss Mikoto."
"Would you like to spar and adapt to the power of the new level as soon as possible?"
"Gladly."
The adventurer who had once guided her had now grown to the point that she needed to chase after him. Mikoto could not help feeling somewhat complicated—especially after witnessing Ron's performance during the War Game.
Yet she was not discouraged.
'Compared with monsters, one would only feel frustrated.'
What she was more curious about now was this: with both of them at Lv.3 adventurer level, just how large was the gap in strength between herself and Ron?
The girl's eyes were filled with fighting spirit.
"Please go easy on me."
…
After joining the Hestia Familia, Cassandra's daily life had not changed much. If one had to describe it precisely, it was probably that she had been influenced by the hardworking atmosphere within the Familia.
As a healer, did that mean serving as the recovery tool after Ron and Mikoto injured themselves while sparring?
Compared with her former Familia—where everyone competed to win the favor of the gods—this atmosphere could not have felt more normal.
She had not forgotten that tomorrow they would be exploring the Dungeon.
As night gradually enveloped Orario, Cassandra chose to rest very early. The lack of other entertainment late at night was only a secondary reason; the main one was that today she had used healing magic at high intensity.
The price was extreme mental fatigue.
"Not bad."
"At least the atmosphere… isn't as strange as the Apollo Familia's."
"Mm…"
"I just hope tomorrow's Dungeon exploration goes smoothly. Though the exploration area seems to be the middle floors. With Captain Ron and Daphne's strength…"
"There shouldn't be any safety threats, right?"
Lying on her side on the bed, the girl carried out a bit of psychological self-suggestion before sleep.
As waves of exhaustion continued to wash over her, Cassandra soon sank into slumber. But when she opened her eyes hazily within her consciousness, the scene before her—made her jolt awake instantly.
A dragon…
A dragon capable of tearing them apart with ease was staring directly at her!!
And after that, Cassandra completely lost the ability to sleep.
...
Dungeon.
Middle floor region, 17th Floor.
Just as Loki had guessed, once the Familia expedition reached the 50th Floor and defeated the female humanoid monster, everyone began their return journey.
During that time, they also encountered worm-type monsters never seen before.
"I always feel… that many changes have been happening in the Dungeon recently—the Floor Boss that appeared on the 1st Floor, as well as worm-type monsters and a humanoid Floor Boss that the Guild has no records of."
While returning to Orario, the leader of the Familia, Finn Deimne, despite being a prum with a youthful appearance that did not match his age, had that deep and solemn gaze.
The events that had occurred recently kept giving him a very bad premonition.
"Perhaps… the commission to subjugate the Black Dragon is drawing closer and closer?"
The one who answered Finn was Orario's strongest mage, Riveria. Her smooth emerald-green hair fell over her shoulders, and as a member of the elven royal family, an icy aura naturally emanated from her.
As the purest-blooded elf, her beauty went without question, and the passage of time had left no trace upon her long-lived body.
They were carrying out a Familia expedition.
They had not gone purely to kill monsters. Their purpose was more to investigate information about the deeper floors so that other Familias could explore more smoothly.
Even though, for now, no other Familia had been able to reach the deep floors.
"Hard to say for the moment."
"Let's return to Orario and rest for a few days before dealing with those tedious matters. Hopefully Loki… that fellow won't cause too much trouble."
Once they had reached the middle floors, returning to Orario was only a matter of time. The faint pain in the thumb of Finn's right hand kept giving him an ominous premonition, as though something bad were about to happen.
Yet in the current area, there were no monsters capable of threatening the Familia's safety…
So, the root of the problem could only lie with Loki.
But just as the Familia's party was returning in an orderly manner, the ground in the distance ahead suddenly began to tremble. Immediately afterward, a gigantic monster came into view.
Its physique was extremely robust, and the striking bull's head clearly revealed its identity.
Minotaur.
An otherwise unremarkable monster.
However, the Minotaurs gathered on the 17th Floor stretched as far as Finn could see. Had the Dungeon produced a Monster Feast?
Before he could issue any command, the young man saw a very familiar figure—Ais Wallenstein, clad in armor and holding a short sword, had already launched the first attack against the herd of monsters.
There was little to say about the battle.
With Ais's Lv.5 level, dealing with Minotaurs posed no difficulty at all.
But as the Minotaurs were slain one after another, the intense panic it caused made the herd scatter in different directions, fleeing toward the shallower floors.
"This is bad…"
"We have to hunt down those escaping Minotaurs as quickly as possible. If those Lv.2 monsters manage to flee into the upper floors of the Dungeon…"
"It will definitely cause trouble for other adventurers!"
"…"
Finn felt a splitting headache and could only give the order to pursue.
"If this ends up causing a major incident, I don't even dare imagine how severe the Adventurers' Guild's fine will be!"
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---