At the Dionysus Familia residence—
After receiving the confirmed intelligence sent back by Filvis Challia, the god who usually maintained an elegant demeanor at all times now had his face completely swallowed by a rare gloom.
Once again, he had obtained information regarding Ron.
That was—the special nature he possessed truly could trigger abnormal incidents within the Dungeon, causing never-before-seen monsters and Floor Bosses to appear.
About this—
Dionysus was very pleased.
At the very least, as long as chaos could continue to spread throughout Orario's Dungeon, what he enjoyed the most was precisely the sight of those adventurers looking like powerless insects drowning in despair.
However—
Things never unfolded in the smooth direction he hoped for. It seemed that because Ron's special nature had been exposed, that annoying woman from the Loki Familia had already gotten ahead of him.
Which meant—
If he tried making contact with Ron on his own, the possibility of exposing himself would become much higher!
"As for Adler and the others..."
"They already fulfilled all of their obligations. As for the arrangements that follow, I'll have someone else assist you with them."
He did not vent his anger toward Filvis.
Mainly because her mission had already been completed successfully.
Using the identity of an adventurer from the Dionysus Familia, she had left Ron with a simple impression—that they were adventurers standing against Evilus.
This could also be considered—
The few meager gains bought by Adler and the others' deaths.
"Continue monitoring them."
"When there are further arrangements, I'll have you carry them out."
Dionysus showed absolutely no suspicion toward the loyalty of the black-haired elf girl before him.
As a Creature—
The driving force that allowed Filvis to keep living...
Was the sense of recognition tied to her identity after the successful execution of the "Chaos" plan. Only by continuing to follow his footsteps could she find meaning in life.
From this point onward—
He definitely could not act rashly anymore.
Just as Ron had guessed, the person who least wanted the information about "triggering abnormal Dungeon incidents" to become public...
Was none other than Dionysus himself!
Just dealing with the Loki Familia was already enough to give him a headache.
If the Familia led by the Goddess of Beauty Freya also joined the scramble over Ron—
Then every preparation he had made would become meaningless!
"Mm."
Looking at the now hideous-faced Dionysus before her, the black-haired elf girl only felt a sense of unfamiliarity.
While carrying out mission after mission in the past—
Filvis had already vaguely realized—
That to this god before her, the one who defined "the future," she was probably nothing more than a convenient chess piece with no thoughts of her own.
But—
Chess pieces would eventually be discarded.
Was the plan of allowing the Corrupted Spirit to rule the surface, turning all adventurers into creatures like herself, really the goal she wished to pursue?
At the very least, not anymore.
After coming into contact with another Creature who could still get along harmoniously with the adventurers around him and form bonds with them—
The girl's heart had already begun to waver.
If possible—
No one would willingly remain in the darkness.
They would rather stand beneath the sunlight outside, breathe fresh air, and enjoy the warm atmosphere brought by friends and companions around them.
"Then I'll continue the surveillance."
"..."
Faced with Dionysus's arrangements, Filvis did not refuse.
That might arouse his suspicion.
What she needed to do was simply obey.
It was just—
How exactly she chose to obey would depend entirely on her mood!
The girl understood clearly—
If Ron were dragged into the "Chaos" plan, then the companion she had finally managed to find would be placed in extreme danger.
What she could do—
Was buy as much time for him as possible.
'Hurry...'
'Hurry and grow stronger already!!'
This time—
The black-haired elf girl placed the "hope" within her heart onto Ron, a rookie adventurer who was also a Creature, yet still managed to be accepted within Orario!
Looking at the sunset nearing dusk beyond the Familia residence—
Even though the warmth cast upon her body by the setting sun was extremely faint, it still allowed Filvis to recover a slight sense of what it meant to truly be alive.
Watching Orario gradually become lively—
In the past, she had only felt completely out of place there.
But now, she probably needed to start thinking about learning from Ron—about how to slowly blend into it all.
Even the girl herself failed to realize—
That whenever she mentioned her "companion" Ron, the slight curve at the corners of her lips and that faint smile were gradually washing away the cold sense of distance in her beautiful face.
'Grow until...'
'Once you're truly capable of standing on your own, we should finally be able to meet openly, right?'
What Ron possessed—
Filvis truly envied it.
Those companions who trusted him completely, those bonds that would immediately reach out a hand whenever danger appeared.
However—
She also understood that the first thing she needed to control was the worsening mental state caused by the side effects of her Clone Magic.
...
"There's plenty of time."
"We only used two days to successfully reach the Safe Floor on the 18th Floor. Even if we slow down our pace for the remaining six Floors of the Dungeon—"
"We'll still be able to complete the expedition objective within the scheduled timeframe."
The unrest that had broken out in Rivira had caused already overpriced supplies to rise several more times above their original prices.
There was absolutely no way they could resupply here.
After briefly laying out the exploration plan for what came next, and after resting throughout the day, Ron could feel his mental state gradually returning to peak condition.
As for his encounter with "Filvis"—
He had not explained it to anyone else.
In fact—
He had a strong premonition that they would definitely meet again somewhere in the upcoming Dungeon Floors.
As for how to pull her over to his side—
Compared to Ryuu and Lefiya, Filvis was absolutely the easiest to win over.
What she wanted was recognition from companions who were also Creatures, a way to confirm the reason she should continue living.
So—
What he should do was respond to her wishes and gradually help her adapt to the life of an adventurer.
Reaching that level alone would already be more than enough.
There was no need for her to oppose Dionysus.
She only needed to remain neutral.
This was not exploitation.
Dionysus's plan was destined to fail from the very beginning, and Ron's actions would simply ensure that bastard lost even more thoroughly.
After all, even the target had already been locked onto himself.
He glanced around at the adventurers of the expedition party present and spoke in a relaxed tone: "Mm..."
"As long as we don't try heading into the Lower Floors, we won't run into mutated Floor Bosses. Once we return to Orario, the expedition mission will count as complete."
"No problem."
"..."
There were no longer any voices of doubt.
After experiencing countless mutated monsters and powerful Floor Bosses, they had long since become fully desensitized to Ron's underworld-style Soulslike Dungeon exploration routine.
Setting Ron aside—
There was no adventurer in Orario more knowledgeable about Soulslike experiences than them!
Just as this temporary meeting was about to end, Mikoto—who had already investigated the location of the hot springs beforehand—finally could not hold herself back any longer and excitedly made a suggestion: "Then..."
"Should we head to the hot springs on the 15th Floor next? After these past two days of high-intensity combat, only soaking in a hot spring can relieve the fatigue in our muscles."
"I've got no objections!"
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