Riveria's expression was complicated. She'd been genuinely surprised to see Leon and his group here, and had been about to introduce her elven compatriots from the squad, stepping forward to greet them.
And then she'd walked right into Leon's absolutely unhinged declaration.
Now she could feel the stares of those admirers behind her boring into her back, sharper than ever...
"Ahem, Mr. Leon, that was a bit too... extreme..."
Riveria chose her words carefully, offering a diplomatic take on his little speech.
The moment she spoke up, the onlookers latched onto her like she was their spiritual anchor, nodding so hard their heads nearly fell off.
Jeanne, Rose, and Kureha wore smiles that were polite on the surface while their hands secretly found the soft flesh at Leon's sides, pinching and twisting with vicious precision. He sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth.
Everyone: "..."
They were all experienced Adventurers. Did anyone really think they'd miss something that obvious?
But every single one of them, including a certain single-minded blonde elf, collectively chose to ignore Leon's increasingly distorted expression and instead struck up conversation with Jeanne and the others.
After all, Loki Familia's Nine Hell herself had vouched for them. Anyone with functioning eyes could see they were close with Astraea Familia. And on top of that, they belonged to the agricultural powerhouse that was Demeter Familia.
Background, connections, strength. They had it all.
Naturally, these ladies of exceptional bearing carried considerable weight in the Adventurer community.
"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Jeanne. I'm Asfi Al Andromeda of Hermes Familia. I look forward to working with you in the future."
When the bespectacled girl with aqua-blue eyes approached to chat with Jeanne, Rose, and Kureha, Alise, Lyra, Ryuu, and the others looked surprised.
"Huh? Asfi? When did you get here?"
Asfi pushed her glasses up, face blank, while internally screaming:
Am I really that invisible!? I got here before Braver, for crying out loud!
Swallowing her retorts, she said evenly:
"I've been here for a while. I was helping with the civilian evacuation, so you didn't notice me."
Alise's face lit up with understanding.
"Oh, that's why I didn't see you!"
Beside her, Lyra looked at her captain's guileless expression, pressed a hand to her forehead, and shook her head.
Rose smiled warmly and spoke in a gentle voice.
"We know who you are. Perseus of Hermes Familia. Appointed vice-captain the moment you reached Level 2, and a renowned master of magic items."
The composed mask Asfi had been barely holding together shattered instantly.
She waved her hands in a mild panic.
"I-it's not nearly as impressive as you make it sound! Making magic items is just... a little hobby of mine, that's all. Really, it's nothing!"
Leon watched this from his corner, stifling a grin.
One of the future "Big Three Workhorses," and the signs of her miserable fate were already showing.
Man, this Perseus girl was about the same age as Aura and the others, right?
And she was already vice-captain?
Well, if she'd already been given the title... and at Level 2 she'd have her Mystery Development Ability, so her skill set checked out too.
In that case... between that fun-loving blond god and the utterly unreliable familia captain Lidith Caverna, who people jokingly called the female Hermes, weren't they just going to work Asfi to the bone?
The thought crossed his mind, and Leon's gaze toward Asfi filled with pity.
Tsk tsk. Still... that bastard Hermes really lucked out finding such a useful, good-natured familia member. Hit the damn lottery...
Not that he was jealous.
His eyes swept over Jeanne, Rose, Kureha, Laurier, and Aura, each one a knockout in her own right, and Leon's heart swelled with pride.
Every single one of the beauties back home was the real deal. Not a single one was some fragile glass figurine. They were the full package: looks, substance, and absolute monsters in a fight. Top-tier legendary pulls, each and every one.
For a man with hoarding tendencies and a collector's itch, could there be anything more satisfying than this?
Meanwhile.
Asfi seemed to suddenly remember something mid-conversation and turned to Alise.
"Alise, if I remember right... the one you fought was Hazer, Dix Perdix?"
"What happened to him? Did you capture him?"
"He's a Level 4 Evilus member. If you caught him..."
At the mention of this, Alise and Ryuu instinctively glanced at Leon. He'd turned away and was making a show of whistling at the sky. Both their faces darkened like the bottom of a pot.
"!?"
Asfi was lost.
In the end, it was Lyra who couldn't stand it anymore and let out a derisive laugh, her tone dripping with amusement.
"Our scatterbrained captain over there went all out, magic and everything. Got a bit... well, a bit carried away."
She spread her hands.
"You know how it is. Once you're in the zone, you do all kinds of stupid things."
"So between our captain fighting with her brain turned off and the reinforcements showing up out of nowhere, things got chaotic, and the bastard found an opening to slip away."
Dix escaped?
Leon poked his head out, looking surprised.
But deep down, he wasn't shocked at all.
Alise might be a hero-candidate acknowledged by the gods, but Dix Perdix was no common thug either. Even high as a kite like that, the man hadn't played his final trump card. Which meant even against Alise going all out, he'd had plenty left in the tank.
He'd never been cornered.
And besides... Leon suspected Dix hadn't gotten involved in this incident by choice.
Piecing together the scraps of intel he had, compared to the pure chaos junkies like Valletta Grede, Dix clearly had a different objective he needed to accomplish.
That objective was his real life's work.
Stirring up trouble with Evilus in Orario? That was just his side hustle for entertainment.
...
...
More time passed. With the battlefield fully secured, the incident finally drew to a close.
The cleanup operation had nothing to do with Leon's group.
So after getting the general rundown on what came next, they exchanged a few pleasantries with familiar faces, then braved the pointed stares from Alise, Lyra, Ryuu and the rest to hand off the still-unconscious Miss Yamato Rindou into their care. Leon made his excuses and left in a hurry.
But hey, as the saying goes, every meeting is fate.
Having deepened his relationship with Miss Kaguya, just walking away without leaving anything behind would be plain rude.
What if she called him a scumbag again?
He'd already experienced the sharp edge of Kaguya's tongue firsthand.
So right before leaving... Leon darted down like a thief, leaned close to Kaguya's ear, and whispered in the faintest breath: "Thank you for the meal, Miss Kaguya!"
Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, he was already gone, bolting without looking back.
He didn't even remember to say goodbye to Alise and the others.
He couldn't afford to dawdle. He was terrified Kaguya might "rise from the dead" and put a blade through him on the spot.
Watching Leon flee like his life depended on it, the girls of Astraea Familia looked down at Miss Kaguya, trembling from head to toe, then back at the man's retreating figure, picking up speed until he was practically sprinting.
Someone couldn't hold it in. A single snort of laughter escaped.
That was all it took. Like a lit fuse, the dam broke, and the whole group dissolved into giggles.
Lyra's eyes sparkled with mischief.
She crouched beside Kaguya, poked one of her pale, exposed legs with a finger, and said, barely containing her laughter:
"Dear Miss Kaguya, how long are you planning to play dead? The sun's already setting."
"Everyone's waiting for you to tell us all about your Rindou Adventure!"
Unable to take it anymore, Kaguya's eyes snapped open. She ground her teeth, face burning with fury and humiliation.
"Ly~~~~~~~~~ra!!!!!!"
"Ahahahahaha!"
"She's mad! She's totally mad!"
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
The officers overseeing the battlefield cleanup nearby heard the commotion and turned to look, curious.
Then Finn, Gareth, and Riveria, having returned, exchanged glances and chuckled.
"Ah, to be young. Haha!"
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