The day of the Joint Expedition drew near again.
As it approached, every adventurer slated to take part buckled down to tune their bodies. Tiona and Tione were no exception.
Freshly promoted to Lv.5, they had already ironed out the post-level-up awkwardness through rounds in the Challenge Space. Because they needed to be in peak shape for the expedition, they'd nearly gone a full month without stepping into the Training Space—afraid that pushing growth too hard would throw their bodies out of sync again.
Which left the sisters… with a lot of free time.
"Haaah—"
Tiona sprawled on her bed in a big star shape. "Lately, I'm so bored…"
"Everyone in the Familia is busy getting ready," Tione reminded her. "They're either tuning their bodies or fixing gear. The ones who haven't leveled don't have to worry about growth throwing them off—unlike us."
Tiona let out a pitiful whine, planted her hands on the edge of the bed, and kip-upped to the floor. "But it's too boring."
She flopped onto Tione's shoulder—then noticed the little ornate tin in Tione's hand. "Hm? What's that?"
"This?" Tione dabbed her cheek. "A new product from the Dian Cecht Familia. Supposed to moisturize skin and help wound recovery. Weaker than a Panacea, so it's still in testing."
As one of Orario's big production Familia, Dian Cecht supplied six—maybe seven—tenths of the city's recovery medicine. They could craft the top-tier Panacea, and their everyday restoratives were solid too. Beyond the traditional adventurer tonics, they even made women's skincare.
Useful for mortals, if not so much for gods.
"Eeh—'moisturize'?" Tiona wasn't sure she needed that—her skin was great already—but she understood "help wound recovery." "If you want that kind of thing, just ask Tsunayoshi. I feel like what he makes works better than Dian Cecht's stuff."
"Of course I know!" Tione's fingers squeezed without thinking; the tin now sported clear finger dents. "But lately that dumb wolf Bete runs to Tsunayoshi's room at dawn and doesn't let him go until late. I haven't had time to visit at all."
They used to be regulars at Tsunayoshi's, dropping by whenever. Now a certain mutt had seized that slot. Tione ground her teeth.
"Bete, huh…" Tiona, equally restless from not seeing Tsunayoshi for nearly half a month, felt irritation spark. She wanted to go—but knowing the situation, could only give up for now.
"I heard from Alicia that Bete's been spending more than half the day between the Training Space and Challenge Space," Tione said. "Looks like we lit a fire under him—he's dead set on hitting Lv.5 before the expedition. And since the one who knows the Dying Will Flames best is Tsunayoshi, he's glued to him."
"At least until the very last days," Tiona sighed. "That dumb wolf will squeeze every hour he can, then go challenge Amphisbaena when it respawns. After he's done, he won't hog Tsunayoshi anymore. But then there'll be less than a week until the expedition—way too tight to smooth out post-level-up issues."
It had taken the sisters nearly half a month to sync their bodies after leveling.
"Fuu—"
Bete adjusted his breathing and sat cross-legged in midair. Invisible Dying Will Flames buoyed him up, letting him float as if seated on nothing.
"Your control really has surpassed most people, Bete," Tsunayoshi said. As the one who spread the Dying Will Flames, he understood everyone's control best. "Right now you're only a step behind Riveria."
Floating without any tools, and using the most destructive attribute—Storm—was far beyond the others.
Bete opened his eyes. "Still a step behind that old hag, huh?"
"Mm… Bete-san, maybe rein in how you address Riveria," Tsunayoshi said wryly. "No matter the long-lived race, age is a sensitive point."
The phrase "old hag" made the corner of his mouth twitch. He'd already noticed a certain someone sneaking up; his expression darkened as he hurried the warning.
Bete's neck shrank as he remembered the blood-chilling scream that had echoed through the Familia months ago—Riveria's "special lesson" for Ais. He wisely swallowed the words before fate could catch up with him.
"Tsunayoshi, how's my state now?" he asked instead.
"I think you're fine. For the upcoming floor boss challenge, the bigger danger will be Evilus."
"Those bastards…" Bete's face hardened. He knew about the ambush on Tiona and Tione in the Dungeon—Valletta leading the strike herself. If the two Amazons hadn't been prepared, she might've taken them.
"So this time, call Finn and Gareth along," Tsunayoshi said. "Make it different from last time—and let Evilus be sure that the trap before was Finn's plan."
He hadn't forgotten to close that loop. By moving with Finn and Gareth both, the Loki Familia would signal they weren't still laying hidden bait—confirming that the earlier move had been to draw Valletta out.
(End of Chapter)
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