Compared to the heartwarming scene on Leon's side that had no business existing in the Dungeon, the Loki Familia camp was a completely different story.
Tension and urgency filled the air as fully armed Adventurers threw themselves into their work.
Some were dismantling tents and packing gear. Others tallied supplies, potions, and spare weapons, logging each item before handing the lists off to officers for verification.
Most, though, were meticulously maintaining and inspecting their own weapons and armor.
They all knew what lay ahead. The earlier floors had been a warm-up. From here on out, the real Expedition began, and every moment would be a fight for their lives.
Outside the Big Three's command tent, Finn, Riveria, Gareth, and Tsubaki, who was heading up the expedition's attached smithing team, had gathered.
"It's getting late. Leon's group should be heading over soon," Finn remarked.
Gareth settled his helmet into place, adjusted it, then swung his massive double-bladed greataxe up onto his shoulder with a booming laugh.
"Demeter Familia, huh? Now there's a name you don't hear in the Dungeon very often. I can't even remember the last time I saw one of their members down here. Think the only one who ever drops by is that girl Persephone, and even she only comes to unwind between jobs."
Riveria shot the dwarf a look.
"Would you shut your mouth, you muscle-brained oaf? Don't measure a commercial Familia's combat strength by exploration Familia standards. And if we're being honest, Demeter Familia's influence in this city isn't all that much smaller than ours, or Freya Familia's, or Ganesha Familia's."
"Especially on the surface. Compared to exploration Familias like us who spend all our time underground, they're the agricultural powerhouse supplying eighty percent of the city's food. If anything, their reach up there might be even greater."
A flicker of gravity crossed Riveria's eyes as she spoke.
It was common knowledge that Orario's Familias existed in a state of perpetual, unspoken competition.
Some rivalries were out in the open, like the undisguised contest between Loki Familia and Freya Familia.
Others maintained a veneer of peace while jockeying beneath the surface, like Astraea Familia and Ganesha Familia.
And then there were cases where both sides had dropped the pretense entirely. Gods and recruits alike aired their hostilities for all to see, restrained only by Guild regulations that kept the conflict from boiling over completely. Freya Familia and Ishtar Familia had been a prime example.
Understanding that dynamic made it easy to grasp the nature of the competition between Loki Familia and Demeter Familia. At its core, it was a contest for Orario's invisible influence.
Leon himself might not have cared one bit about achievements or reputation, but that didn't mean everyone else in Demeter Familia felt the same way.
As a member of that collective, he didn't have to understand it. But he respected it.
...
Half an hour later, eight o'clock sharp.
Leon and his party emerged from the dense treeline at an easy pace.
"Finn, we're not late, are we?"
Leon greeted the Pallum leader first, then glanced over at the Loki Familia members who had already boxed up their supplies and were making final preparations to depart.
Thank god we made it on time. Showing up late on the first joint operation would've been embarrassing as hell.
"You're right on time. Just wait off to the side for a moment. We'll be moving out shortly."
"Got it."
Just then, Tsubaki, forge box strapped to her back and twin blades at her hip, spotted Leon and immediately lit up.
"Hey, kid! Long time no see!"
Same as always. She threw an arm around his neck and shoved his face straight into her chest.
"Hehe, who would've thought we'd run into each other again down in the Under Resort of all places! Talk about unexpected reunions, am I right, Leon?!"
Before Leon could get a word out, his head was already buried.
"Hey, wait, wait, wait... mmph mmph mmph..."
Jeanne and the others watched Leon thrashing between "bliss" and "suffocation," eyebrows rising in unison. Kureha's expression nearly cracked entirely, her hand already on her sword hilt, looking about one second away from drawing steel on a certain shameless woman.
Persephone let out a cold snort and turned away. Out of sight, out of mind.
But her quietly clenched fist said otherwise.
"Ngh... Tsubaki! I... I can't breathe...!"
Leon flailed wildly, like a drowning man grasping for anything to hold onto.
His struggles grew weaker and weaker until Tsubaki finally, reluctantly, let go, clicking her tongue in disappointment.
"Honestly, these things are nothing but dead weight. Always getting in the way when I'm hammering at the forge."
Everyone: "..."
A few flat-chested bystanders within earshot caught that remark, their mouths tightening and their faces going sour.
Jeanne, Rose, and the other women stared at Tsubaki's look of genuine regret and disappointment, exchanging speechless glances.
Laurier and Aura looked down at each other's conspicuously flat chests, and their faces fell in perfect synchronization.
Riveria just shook her head and covered her face with one hand. She couldn't even watch.
Nearby, Ais was staring at the scene with wide, unblinking eyes. Aki frantically slapped her hands over Ais's face with a yelp.
"Don't look! This kind of corrupting imagery must never be allowed to taint Ais!"
"..."
Raul stood clutching a wooden crate, gazing over with naked envy, muttering under his breath.
"So this is what a real man looks like... Someday, I'm gonna be the kind of strong, popular guy that Mr. Leon is..."
A veteran member behind him laughed and kicked him in the ass.
"Oh yeah? You're already thinking crooked thoughts at your age? Cut the daydreaming and get back to work! You want Finn chewing you out? The captain's watching you right now!"
"Huh?"
Raul whipped his head around, and sure enough, there was Finn, arms crossed, staring right at him with an unreadable half-smile.
"Captain, I wasn't slacking off!!!"
Finn: "..."
I was thinking about something else entirely. My eyes just happened to be pointed in your direction...
What exactly does Raul think is going on here?!
...
Back on Leon's side.
Freshly escaped from Tsubaki's "prison," he gulped down the sweet, sweet air like a man reborn.
He'd been breathing air his whole life, but never once had it tasted this crisp and refreshing.
"So what are you doing down in the Dungeon, Tsubaki?"
Jeanne, Rose, and Kureha were all well acquainted with Tsubaki too.
After all, once the Familia's finances had improved, they'd been handling battle spoils and fencing certain special items through Tsubaki's channels. Combined with their already good relationship, the reunion quickly turned into lively chatter.
"Well, as you can see, I'm here working for Loki Familia. But honestly, I've been wanting to push deeper into the Dungeon myself. See what's down there."
Tsubaki patted the forge box on her back and the katana at her hip, grinning as she explained to Jeanne and the others.
Rose nodded thoughtfully.
"A master smith who's also an Adventurer with a thirst for the unknown. That does sound like you."
Tsubaki scratched her cheek with an embarrassed laugh.
"I'm not nearly as noble as you make me sound. The real reason? I'm just after the materials and Drop Items from the frontier floors. Hahaha!"
...
...
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