Meanwhile, somewhere in a secluded area on the south side of the Under Resort on Floor 18.
Several figures draped in mysterious black cloaks and wearing masks, only their eyes visible beneath streaks of purple eyeshadow, were crouched in a thicket with extreme caution, whispering to one another.
"You're sure you saw right? It's really Loki Familia?"
"Positive! That jester emblem... there's no way I'd mix that up!"
"The jester emblem... then yeah, that's definitely Loki Familia."
"Heh heh, who'd have thought Loki Familia would launch a full-scale Expedition at a time like this? They really don't give a damn about us Evilus, huh? Should we report this up the chain? That'd be a huge score!"
"Report? You think the factions on the surface don't already know what Loki Familia's doing? This isn't some little adventuring party on a day trip. It's a full-scale Expedition. An Expedition! They're mobilizing most of their Familia's combat strength for a Dungeon Expedition! With that kind of movement, every spy in the city probably had eyes on them the second they stepped out of their base."
"'Huge score'? You think you're gonna earn brownie points from way down here in the Under Resort, middle of nowhere?"
"You..."
"Enough. Quit bickering."
The leader cut in, his voice low and raspy.
"Grunt A's right. The surface factions definitely already know. Even if Loki Familia moved fast, it takes a full day to get from the surface to the Under Resort with that many people and that much supplies."
"With that kind of window, if the people up top wanted to make a move, they'd have done it already. They wouldn't be sitting around waiting."
His tone shifted, turning cold and menacing as he warned the other two.
"And get this through your heads. Know your place. Our job is to investigate the rebuilt Rivira, not worry about some damn Loki Familia Expedition. That kind of juggernaut is way above our pay grade. Leave that hot potato to the big shots like Arachnia, Vendetta, the Dis Sisters, and the other officers."
He turned to Grunt B.
"Talk. What's the situation in Rivira? Focus on the Adventurers, especially the Level 3s you were told to watch."
"Rivira... the situation is, uh... not great. The Adventurer Hunt the higher-ups launched last time did take out some Adventurers, but from what I've seen..."
"What?"
"I've observed... a new batch of tough customers has come down from the surface to Rivira Town. Supposedly... they're all from the Goddess Alliance."
"The Goddess Alliance?!"
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!"
"Shit!"
Anyone who'd been around the block in the underworld knew that Rivira Town hadn't held its prime real estate in the Under Resort for centuries because its surface-level management was strong. A few Level 3s were nothing special. Compared to the heavyweights who roamed the Lower and Deep Floors, they were small fry.
So the question was: how had people that weak been raking in gold for so long without anyone besides Evilus messing with them?
The answer was simple. They had backers.
The Goddess Alliance was Rivira Town's patron. Every god and every major Familia in the city's upper echelons knew it.
And if they had backers, then the origins of these new Adventurers weren't hard to guess.
...
...
The Under Resort.
As nighttime fell on the surface world, the crystals in the ceiling gradually dimmed, as if a real night sky had descended, creating the illusion of day and night for everything living on this floor.
Persephone prodded the campfire with a branch, coaxing the flames higher. She pushed her gold-rimmed glasses up her nose and continued reading by the warm glow of the lantern and the fire.
Just then, a hand pulled back the flap of one of the tents, and Leon stepped out, fully dressed.
"You...?"
Persephone looked up at him in surprise, not understanding why he was out before his watch shift.
"It's only half an hour early. Go get some rest."
Leon had noticed during the day that Persephone was showing signs of fatigue. She hadn't done any high-intensity Dungeon exploration in a long time, and jumping straight into an Expedition with sustained heavy combat had taken its toll.
Having picked up on this, Leon considered himself a gentleman and wasn't about to let a lady keep standing watch in that condition. So he'd come out early for the shift change.
Persephone met his eyes and realized she'd been seen through again.
Her cheeks flushed slightly. She rose and walked past him in her brown leather heeled ankle boots, leaving him with an elegant, faintly aloof view of her back.
"Heh. The hot-and-cold gap... not bad at all."
...
...
Time flew, and before anyone knew it, the second day had arrived.
Since Leon's group had entered the Dungeon, they'd already spent a full day and night inside. Staying this long was rare even for them, and for Kureha, who'd never spent a night in the Dungeon before, it was a completely new experience.
Everyone tidied up quickly and stretched by a stream that glittered with shimmering scales of light.
"The air in the Under Resort... how do I put it? It feels really different."
Kureha gazed out at the sparkling surface of the stream, struggling to find the right words.
Persephone offered quietly:
"Peaceful?"
Kureha's eyes lit up. She grabbed Persephone's arm and nodded eagerly.
"Yes, that's it! Peaceful! Not the kind of peace you get in Orario, with all the bustle of everyday life. It's more like being deep in a vast forest, where your body and mind just... completely unwind. A peace of the soul."
Rose finished fastening her elegant plate breastplate, squeezed her gauntleted fist to test the fit, and added with a smile:
"When we went foraging in the forest yesterday, we did run into other monsters. But the ones living in this forest... they're nothing like their counterparts on other floors. They don't attack Adventurers at all."
"If I had to compare, they're more like tame wild animals on the surface. Even gentler than some predators up there."
Just then, Leon emerged from his tent with his hair a complete mess, a towel draped over one shoulder, wearing nothing but a fitted tank top, eyes half-closed and yawning nonstop.
"Well, the Dungeon's always had some counterintuitive design choices. The Under Resort basically copy-pasted a surface forest ecosystem down here. Besides the wildlife being monsters instead of regular animals, you can barely tell the difference."
"The Monster Rex on Floor 17 and the Great Tree Labyrinth on Floor 19 are both insanely dangerous, but Floor 18... is basically paradise for monsters."
"The Dungeon's a weird place, huh?"
Everyone laughed at his quip.
...
Since they were in the Dungeon and would be traveling with Loki Familia for a while, Leon kept the morning routine simple. No unnecessary complications.
Except, of course, for a hot breakfast.
That was one "bad habit" that neither Leon the foodie nor Persephone as Demeter Familia's captain would ever compromise on.
Sure, the others grumbled a bit, but the moment they dug into the steaming meat porridge and toast, they all ended up saying the same thing.
"Okay, fine, this is amazing."
...
...
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