"Alise... what kind of nonsense are you spouting?!"
As an elf, Ryuu was extremely sensitive and traditional when it came to matters of the heart.
Becoming some man's "possession" to pay off a debt—along with her best friend no less—was just too indecent!
Deep down, she honestly would not mind being with Alise.
But if they were together "like that" while sharing a man... it would be far too embarrassing!
Goodness, just imagining it made her pointy ears burn bright red and her head spin!
At that moment, the Pallum girl, Lyra, spoke up. "Isn't it a great deal? Alise, Ryuu, you two might not pay attention to the gossip, but in the various public rankings at the Adventurer's Guild, Noah is always sitting right near the top."
"Rankings?" The one who voiced the question was Noah himself.
He had absolutely no idea the Guild even compiled such things.
"That is right," Lyra nodded. "The Adventurer's Guild maintains many popular rankings with high informational value. They use a strict voting system: one vote per person, fair and square."
"Heeh..."
"If I may ask, what kind of rankings are there?"
Lyra smiled smugly. "Hmph, hmph. Then let me tell you. Let's just use you as an example."
"Me?"
"Ah, that is right! Speaking of the famous 'Artisan Spirit' of the Hephaestus Familia, your current high-ranking placements include..." Lyra cleared her throat and began counting on her fingers.
"The Most Promising Rookie Ranking: Fourth Place!"
"The Cutest Shota Ranking: Second Place!"
"The Future Partner I Want to Groom Ranking: Sixth Place!"
"The Male Adventurer I Want to Call Me 'Mama' Ranking: Fourth Place!"
"The Male Adventurer I Want to Call Me 'Big Sister' Ranking: Third Place!"
"And finally... the Marry into a Rich Familia While You Still Can Ranking: Third Place!"
Noah: "..."
Was he really this famous in Orario?
He hadn't even done anything particularly noteworthy to deserve this kind of attention!
Also, wasn't the Guild a bit too bored?
They actually had the free time to compile and publish all of this garbage?
Could it be that the ancient god Ouranos was secretly trying to usher in a modern era of Big Data and social media?
If so, should Noah just go ahead and invent the internet for Orario?
Lyra turned to her stunned companions. "Now you understand, right? Standing right before you is the ultimate dream of countless girls in Orario."
"I am so sorry. Please just pretend I never asked and please stop talking," Noah said, genuinely regretting his curiosity.
Why did he have to run his mouth and ask about these things? Now, he just felt incredibly awkward.
And because he was so embarrassed, he completely failed to notice that the looks in a few of the girls' eyes had truly changed.
"Well then, Noah, you should just stick with us for now!" Alise cheered. "After we deliver the goods for our request, we will all return to the surface together and we will treat you to a massive meal back at our Familia's home base!"
'Hey, hey, that is a massive death flag, isn't it?!'
The corner of Noah's eye twitched a few times.
He felt as if he could literally see the grim reaper standing right behind Alise.
He sighed and nodded. "I should be the one asking you for help. Alone, I definitely wouldn't be able to get back to the surface safely from the 30th Floor. I will have to trouble you to let me team up with you for now."
"Heehee, leave it to us!"
In a party full of beautiful girls, even the damp musty air of the Dungeon smelled sweet.
Noah got his gear ready alongside the girls of the Astrea Familia, helping them perform some quick maintenance on their weapons.
Then, they began to move as a group.
....
The mission details stated that they had to rendezvous with a client at the extreme southwestern end of the 30th Floor.
They were supposed to retrieve some heavy cargo, and they were strictly forbidden from opening the boxes to inspect the goods.
'The southwest, huh' Noah remembered reading a warning about that specific area on the Guild's map.
The southwestern end of the 30th Floor did not spawn any monsters, but the Guild's map also explicitly stated that it was not recommended as a resting zone.
This was because the southwestern end was a massive dead end.
If a party caused too much noise or a commotion while resting there, all the surrounding monsters from the main tunnels would gather at the entrance, blocking the only passage out and leaving no room to escape.
'If this delivery was a normal legitimate job, then the client might have chosen this location simply for its quietness and safety.'
'But if you looked at it from the opposite perspective... if the client's goal was to trap and slaughter the Astrea Familia... then this location was absolutely perfect.'
By using some monster-attracting items and using themselves as bait, an enemy could easily lure a massive horde of monsters to block the exit.
This was the 30th Floor.
If they were surrounded and trapped by hundreds of high-level monsters, even a fully equipped team of first-tier adventurers could be wiped out.
Their current lineup was decent, featuring several high-level Level 4s, but they absolutely could not handle the worst-case scenario Noah was imagining.
After quietly crossing through a grove of petrified crystal trees, Noah and the girls spotted the "delivery person" waiting at the southwestern dead end.
It was a single person completely shrouded in a thick black cloak.
Their gender was indiscernible and not a single speck of their skin was exposed to the air.
Behind them sat three massive, heavy wooden crates.
There was no telling what was inside them.
"Oh! Found them, found them!" Upon seeing the client, Alise smiled and was about to step forward to greet them.
But Noah suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into the shadows of the trees with a sharp tug.
He quickly clamped his hand over her mouth, causing the energetic girl to freeze in a rare moment of shock.
"Mmph?!"
Noah shot a fierce glare at the other girls, signaling for them to stay absolutely quiet.
He then cautiously peeked half his face around the petrified tree trunk to secretly observe the clearing.
One, two, three...
"There are thirteen people waiting over there," the boy murmured softly.
His low whisper reached the girls' sensitive ears, making them all freeze in shock before immediately drawing their weapons and raising their vigilance.
Kaguya furrowed her lovely brows and whispered, "The client has that many people hidden in the shadows?"
Noah nodded silently.
His expression was dead serious, he did not look like he was joking.
Alise also quieted down, her cheerful demeanor vanishing. "Just as I thought. There is a problem."
"So what do we do now?" The girls looked to their captain, Alise, for orders.
Noah raised a hand and said, "Wait a moment. I want to see exactly what is inside those boxes first."
"Eh?" Alise asked, puzzled. "How can you do that from here?"
Noah raised his wrist.
The silver bracelet glowed faintly, instantly transforming into his massive white sniper rifle.
The girls watched this magical phenomenon in total amazement.
They suppressed their intense curiosity and did not make a single sound.
Five glowing magic circles unfolded in a row along the rifle's barrel. Noah pressed his eye against the scope and expanded his magical vision.
"Appraise."
[Wooden Crate] > * Dimensions: 1098mm × 952mm × 993mm
Weight: 1.2 tons
Contents: Filled to the brim with highly volatile Firestones.
Owner: Rudra Familia (Evilus).
Noah gently lowered the Annihilator.
He extended a single finger into the air. Under the girls' astonished gazes, the boy manipulated raw mind to silently sketch a beautiful, complex magic circle out of thin air.
It was his Spell-Weaver skill.
"I have set up a soundproofing barrier around us. We can talk freely now, but let's still keep our voices down," Noah said to the girls.
"A chantless soundproofing barrier... amazing!"
As an elf, Ryuu knew exactly how difficult magic was to master and study.
She never imagined that Noah, a human blacksmith, could use such a wide complex variety of magic.
"Noah, did you discover something through your scope?" As the captain, Alise prioritized asking about the mission.
The boy nodded grimly.
He spoke in a low cold voice. "If those crates are the cargo you are supposed to pick up, then this is a trap. The people hiding in the shadows over there are members of Evilus—specifically, the Rudra Familia. The things hidden inside those boxes are explosive Firestones. Several tons of them. If we were to accept that cargo and begin transporting it back to the surface, and an 'accident' happened along the way... the explosion would be so massive we wouldn't even know how we died."
"What?! Firestones?!" Lyra's face darkened.
She gripped the short swords at her waist tightly.
Why would anyone pay a fortune to transport highly explosive Firestones from the Deep Floors up to the surface?
This was completely irrational.
In other words, this wasn't a delivery commission at all.
It was an assassination!
"It seems someone plans to wipe out our entire Familia in one go," Kaguya said softly.
She still maintained a beautiful smile on her face, but the freezing killing intent radiating from her body felt chilling and terrifying, even to Noah.
Was this to be expected from the swordswoman with the title "Yamato Rindou"?
Despite her lovely, delicate appearance, she was a complete battle-crazed martial artist on the inside!
The Astrea Familia was Orario's absolute vanguard against the remnants of Evilus.
They were a beacon of justice.
However, they were not as large as the major Familias like Loki or Freya, and their strongest combatants were only mid-tier Level 4s, with no Level 6 first-tier adventurers to protect them.
Therefore, the possibility of them being targeted for a revenge assassination was extremely high.
Evilus would not wage a war they weren't prepared for or confident in winning.
Those Firestones were meant to be their absolute guarantee of victory.
"So what now? Since we confirm the commission is a fake, how about we just go over there and slaughter every last one of those hidden Evilus members?" Kaguya suggested with a dark smile.
However, Ryuu immediately objected. "Wait, Kaguya! Have you forgotten how completely crazy Evilus is?! If we approach them rashly and they realize they are spotted, they might just detonate the Firestones and take us all straight to hell with them! Just like... just like what happened to Ardee."
The elf's tone was incredibly dejected and filled with painful grief.
She mentioned a person named Ardee.
Noah couldn't recall the owner of that name for the moment, but he completely agreed with Ryuu's tactical assessment.
In fact, at this distance, he could easily snipe them with a Bombard shot.
If he aimed directly at the crates of Firestones, a single shot would trigger a chain reaction massive enough to send all thirteen assassins straight to the afterlife in a fraction of a second.
The problem was what came after.
His soundproofing barrier had a limited range.
It couldn't possibly muffle such a massive, floor-shaking explosion.
Once the bombs went off, the deafening noise would attract every single monster on the 30th Floor to converge on the southwestern dead end.
Then, Noah and the girls would be like fish in a barrel.
They would be forced into a brutal battle of attrition against thousands of endless monsters until they collapsed from exhaustion and died.
"Everyone... are you willing to believe in me?" Noah suddenly spoke up.
"If you can trust me, then I can instantly seal all of those Firestones in solid ice, completely neutralizing the bombs. That will allow you all to safely engage the enemy in close-quarters combat."
His plan was simple.
He would have the girls casually approach the enemy as if it were a normal mission.
The second they were in range, he would snipe the Firestone crates with a Water Spear, immediately following it up by freezing the soaked Firestones with a sub-zero Ice Ray.
Simultaneously, he would cast powerful support buffs on the girls of the Astrea Familia.
This way, they could slaughter the Evilus assassins without triggering the bombs or making much noise.
For Noah, who possessed both the Truth Seeker and Spell-Weaver skills, no war was ever fair from the very beginning.
The scales of victory would always tip toward the side with more information.
In other words, the scales would always tip entirely toward Noah's side, creating a completely one-sided slaughter!
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