The adventurers celebrated their victory over the floor boss for a solid fifteen minutes.
Only when the fever pitch of excitement began to cool did the accumulated weight of exhaustion come crashing in like a tide, drowning out the adrenaline and leaving everyone acutely aware of how deeply, thoroughly spent they were, right down to the bone.
During the celebration, a sizable crowd of adventurers from the town of Rivira on Floor 18's Under Resort had trickled in to watch the spectacle.
To their credit, they'd followed the unwritten rule of the trade and kept their hands off the Goliath fight entirely, content to stand on the sidelines and spectate. They only flooded into the battlefield after the dust had settled, joining in the revelry with the victors.
Everyone knew that the weakest adventurers who could hold their own in Rivira were seasoned Level 2 veterans, and a few of the top figures there had reached a formidable Level 3. The occasional Level 4 even surfaced from time to time with their identity kept under wraps.
Take, for example, the man currently rubbing his hands together and fawning over the women of the Astraea Familia with a simpering grin. Bors was a capable Level 3 elite adventurer, and Leon recalled that the man had built an impressively wide network among the upper echelons of Orario's major Familias. With what appeared to be the Goddess Alliance backing him, his influence in Rivira was self-evident.
No wonder the guy's the one running the show around here.
By now, Leon had made his way to the edge of Goliath's remains.
With everyone else scattered in small groups chatting or resting with their eyes closed, not a single person paying him any attention, he turned his back to the crowd with perfect nonchalance and gave the slightest crook of his finger. The treasure chest vanished from the spot.
Haul secured, he immediately slipped back into his exhausted shuffle and hobbled over to where the rest of his party was sitting.
"Got it?" Rose caught the subtle movement, her eyes crinkling with a knowing smile as she asked in a quiet, matter-of-fact tone.
Leon fought to keep his face neutral, wrestling down the excitement, and gave a stiff nod. "Mm."
Jeanne pretended she hadn't noticed his painfully obvious attempt at subtlety, glanced around, and turned to him. "So what's the plan? Do we stay the night in Rivira like some of the other parties, rest up, and head back in the morning, or...?"
She didn't really need to ask. Everyone already knew the answer.
Cautious as he was, there was no chance he'd agree to spend the night in Rivira. Who knew what complications might crop up? Any adventurer with a shred of experience knew how messy Rivira could get. On top of that, their levels were far too low compared to the crowd here, and if they got dragged into any kind of conflict, they'd have zero chance. Sticking with the Astraea Familia's main group and heading straight back to the surface was the safest, smartest call.
And sure enough, Leon announced the decision to leave immediately, brooking no argument: "Never test people's character, especially in the Dungeon. Sure, everyone was fighting shoulder to shoulder against Goliath just now, but the second a party gets separated or loses that common enemy, things can turn ugly in an instant. Down here, you never know whether tomorrow or disaster comes first, so we go with the safest option. The Astraea Familia is heading back right now, and we're going with them."
Nobody disagreed. Laurier and Aura in particular had no desire to spend a night outside, let alone in a place like Rivira that made every elf's instincts prickle with unease.
"Drink whatever Potions we have left and focus on recovering your strength. The moment the Astraea Familia moves out, we follow."
Leon didn't hesitate over the low-grade Potions at 1,000 valis a pop. They could always buy more, and if they bought in bulk, Miach over at the Blue Pharmacy would throw in a discount and a couple of freebies on top.
He tipped back a Potion and stole a glance at Alise and the others, who had just finished their conversation with Bors. Then he sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and settled into a light rest, squeezing every second he could out of the recovery window.
Ha. Bors probably got turned away empty-handed.
He smirked inwardly.
He could've figured out Bors's game plan with his eyes closed. The man had come sniffing around Alise hoping to lowball them on Goliath's Drop Items and Magic Stone, nothing more.
But fat chance of that working. Rivira's shops were notorious for gouging, and Kaguya and the others were far too sharp to fall for it.
More than that, Leon had picked up on a deeper reason for the Astraea Familia's presence here. With the surface city's public order in such turmoil, why would Orario's peacekeepers take time out to come down to the Dungeon and hunt a floor boss?
If he had to guess, the high-quality Excelia was a secondary objective at best.
The real reason was money. The Astraea Familia's finances were almost certainly stretched thin.
They were a mid-sized exploration Familia of only eleven members. Skilled, yes, but the economics never stopped being a problem. Higher levels meant higher daily expenses and equipment upkeep, and their peacekeeping duties on the surface left precious little time for regular Dungeon runs. Hitting the floor boss right when it respawned and cashing in the spoils to shore up the Familia's budget? That was the real purpose of this trip.
Once he'd worked through the logic, their sudden appearance down here made perfect sense.
Which meant Bors was doomed to go home with nothing.
...
Roughly half an hour later, the adventurers finished packing up and parted ways on the spot. Some headed for the surface while the rest made for Floor 18's Under Resort.
Leon watched the group following the Astraea Familia back shrink to less than half of what they'd started with, and the corner of his mouth curved up in a silent smile.
Good. Fewer strangers, fewer problems.
If only it were just our party and the Astraea Familia, that'd be perfect.
A small regret, but he'd take what he could get.
"Alright, everyone! Let's move out, back to the surface! Go go go~!"
Alise marched at the head of the column with Goliath's enormous Magic Stone hoisted over her shoulder, her steps practically bouncing, humming some tuneless little melody.
Leon stared at her back and his mouth twitched involuntarily.
He genuinely could not wrap his head around it. She'd just spent nearly five hours in the most grueling floor boss fight imaginable, as the primary damage dealer burning through more stamina than anyone, and she still had energy to spare.
His understanding of what high-level adventurers were capable of just leveled up.
"What kind of monster stamina is that..." he muttered under his breath.
"Hm? Did I just hear someone talking about Alise behind her back?"
A familiar voice laced with amusement drifted over from right beside him.
He assumed it was Rose and didn't filter. "Who else? Your captain just went five hours straight and she's still bouncing around. That's not stamina, that's a cheat code."
Halfway through the sentence, something felt off. He turned his head and the words died in his throat.
It wasn't Rose. Kaguya stood right there, close enough to count her eyelashes, wearing the satisfied expression of someone who'd just caught a thief red-handed.
"...Miss Gojouno. Good evening."
Somewhere behind him, Laurier and the others were shaking with barely contained laughter. They'd seen Kaguya coming and hadn't said a word.
While Leon was completely focused on Kaguya, on the side he'd left unguarded, Lyra stood with a front-row-seats grin and Ryuu watched with quiet curiosity, both studying the scene with obvious interest.
"I trust you haven't forgotten what you did back on the sixteenth floor?" Kaguya's voice carried a thin, icy smile.
"Huh?"
What he did?
Leon blinked, and then his face rearranged itself into the most bewildered, innocent expression he could muster.
The act only made Kaguya angrier. She laughed once, short and sharp, and the smile dropped. The look in her eyes made it very clear she wasn't here for small talk.
The innocent expression slid off his face.
The sixteenth floor... the sixteenth floor...
Hold on. I remember.
The food. The side effect. The one I deliberately didn't warn her about.
He met Kaguya's stare. She was smiling again. It was not a friendly smile.
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