"I hear the Expedition they put together this time was a huge production right from the start. There's hardly anyone in the circle who didn't know about it."
"..."
"Tch. Before they set out, that Lord Braver had to be pretty confident he'd pull it off. Otherwise, after three failures in a row, that mischievous goddess Loki really wouldn't be able to hold her head up in front of the goddess Freya."
"Heh, a battle of pride, huh? I get it, I get it."
"You know what... do you think the Loki Familia has some kind of secret weapon? Maybe they got their hands on a high-quality Magic Sword or something?"
"Why don't you go ask around over at Hephaestus or Goibniu's place?"
"Forget it. I'm not looking to make trouble for myself."
"Pfft, what a coward."
"Don't bother with him. So what if he did find out? Those top-tier Magic Swords and gear go for tens of millions, sometimes over a hundred million Valis at the drop of a hat. You think you could afford one? A measly Lv. 2..."
"Step outside and Solo, then!"
"Heh, like I'm scared of you?"
Seeing the two hotheads about to turn the hall into an arena, someone nearby quickly grabbed hold of them.
"Idiots, don't you see Ganesha's military police glaring right over there? Don't go dragging us into trouble!"
"Idiot!" ...
With the Big Three's power at the peak of Lv. 5, they naturally caught every word of those adventurers muttering under their breath.
Before the Expedition, these outside voices might have stirred up a few ripples in their hearts, but now...
It didn't matter at all!
The relaxed expressions on the Loki Familia's young members said everything you needed to know about how this haul had gone.
Behind the Big Three and the older officers, the moment the young Familia members stepped out of the passage and laid eyes on Orario, this city buried silver-white under the heavy snow, they broke into cheers.
"It's snow, it's snowing!"
"Whoa, what a downpour!"
"It's so so so pretty, wow wow wow wow!"
Faced with this snow-blanketed scenery, even Aki, the cat girl who always carried herself with composure in public, couldn't help but smile, and the cute tail behind her gave a little uncontrollable upward flick.
"Beautiful." "Phew... u-um, Aki, the snow really is gorgeous and all... but, but don't you think... it's freezing?"
Raul drew a sharp breath through his teeth.
The instant he walked out of Babel, Raul shivered from the cold. As a southerner, this was the first time he'd ever felt... that the weather could get this brutally cold!
By his estimate, Orario's temperature right now had to be below minus ten, and on top of that the wind cut like knives, making it hard even to speak.
Aki shot a glance at her fellow recruit, who was hunching his shoulders, curling in on himself, arms wrapped tight, teeth chattering with every gust of snow-laden wind, and gave a soft snort.
"Pathetic, Raul. You're a Loki Familia adventurer now!"
That said, once the novelty of the city of ice and snow wore off, Aki herself was honestly frozen stiff too.
After the wind battered the others for a while, they belatedly started cupping their hands and breathing into them. Clearly... with the thin armor they wore down in the Dungeon, it could hold up against monsters' bashes and claws well enough, but against the ice and snow it seemed to have no answer.
At a time like this, the elf Mages, wearing robes woven with elven protective cloth, fared considerably better than these front-liners and mid-liners.
Glancing back at the young ones who had first gotten rowdy over the snow and then been frozen back to their senses by the wind, the Big Three exchanged a smile.
Then Finn clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention and called out in a clear voice.
"Everyone, we're going home!"
"Whoooooaaaaaa!"
As the Loki Familia set foot on the snow-covered North Street, the scouts from every faction who'd been camping out at Babel's entrance for ages exchanged a knowing look, then swiftly vanished from where they stood.
Clearly, news of the Loki Familia's triumphant return would soon be sitting on the desks of every major faction's leadership.
"Orario's been quiet for a while. Looks like things are about to get lively again!"
...
...
While Leon was wholly absorbed in frantically grinding his magic and tailoring proficiency, he naturally had no way of knowing the Loki Familia had returned in triumph. Although, if he had heard the news, he'd probably have been over the moon.
Think about it: the Loki Familia's lineup, setup, and strength this time around were practically no different from the last two attempts, so why had they kept stumbling before, only to score a sweeping victory this time? What was the variable?
The Monster Hunter Special!
Now that the Loki Familia had gotten a taste of the good stuff, what would they do once they'd wrapped up their internal affairs?
Crank up the purchasing, hard, obviously!
What else?
And for Leon, that meant...
The money was rolling in, wasn't it!
After all, beyond Potential Points and Ability Points, his pay-to-win menu also had a starving Development Ability level desperately waiting to be raised. Unfortunately, the cost of 10,000 Excelia and 100 million Valis each time had always made Leon balk at upgrading his Development Ability.
That was 10,000 Excelia and 100 million Valis!
Who the hell could afford to level that up!
But things were different now.
If the Loki Familia expanded their orders further, and on top of that he had the strong backing of the Freya Familia and the Astraea Familia, then Leon could finally see a tiny sliver of dawn for raising his Development Ability.
At the very least, he had something to look forward to now.
...
Meanwhile.
Orario, First District.
Jeanne and the others had been at the Fine Tailor's Shop buying cloth and fur materials for Leon. After saying goodbye to the elderly elf shopkeeper, they'd just stepped out of the store, only to run straight into the main body of the Loki Familia heading home.
"The Loki Familia?"
Jeanne and the others looked a little surprised. The Loki Familia's appearance was clearly something they hadn't anticipated.
Based on what they'd talked over during their after-dinner chat at home, the Loki Familia's Expedition shouldn't have wrapped up for another few days. Jeanne had never imagined it would finish a good several days early.
It seemed the Monster Hunter Specials had played a big part in those high-difficulty battles.
"Captain Finn, your Expedition's over? Judging by your faces, it went smoothly?"
Jeanne led the group to the side of the road, making way for the main force.
Having noticed them as well, the Big Three, along with Raul, Aki, and a certain golden-haired girl, came to a stop and struck up a conversation with Jeanne and the others.
"Yeah, thanks to all of you, this Expedition lived up to expectations. We can finally give Loki something to show for it."
"May I ask, how many floors did you clear down to?"
Finn said with a smile.
"It's not exactly a secret, and knowing how the Guild operates, the whole city will probably know our results by tomorrow."
He paused for a moment.
"Floor 44."
...
...