After obtaining the permit to leave Orario and bidding farewell to Eina, Roy left the Guild Headquarters.
Regarding the upcoming expedition mission, everything would have to wait until he returned. Ryu alone couldn't drag Daphne and Cassandra down to the Deep Floors. The Guild's mandatory missions couldn't be refused, or they would face massive fines.
However, the Guild also had to consider various factors.
If they pushed those blood-licking adventurers into a corner, it wouldn't look good for anyone.
The former Astrea Familia, without any Level 5 adventurers, had conquered up to the 41st Floor.
Now, the Guild assigning them the 37th Floor wasn't unacceptable. The biggest problem was that, aside from Ryu, neither Roy nor Tione and Tiona had ever entered the Deep Floors.
If an accident occurred, it would be hard for them to handle it individually. Ryu would end up babysitting them all.
Before the expedition, he needed to raise the Familia members' strength as much as possible. Even if they couldn't level up, they should at least max out their stats to their limits. He needed to find a Dungeon instance with a massive number of monsters.
Honestly, it wasn't easy to find.
Killing Goblin-level zombies was practically useless for adventurers Level 2 and above. hacking at them for a day and night might only yield twenty or thirty stat points.
Lost in thought, Roy returned to the Starlight Garden. Tione and Tiona were preparing the carriage.
Astrea had prepared plenty of supplies, afraid her children would freeze or starve on the road.
Whoosh!
With a wave of his hand, Roy stored all the supplies on the ground into his spatial ring.
This ring was incredibly convenient—a divine artifact for travel and Dungeon exploration!
Roy had once taken some time to study the spatial ring, attempting to replicate it.
But with his current forging skills, he couldn't even understand its internal structure, let alone forge one. He could barely discern that its material was a special stone containing spatial laws, which Goibniu had mentioned.
Its value was no less than that of top-tier Legendary equipment!
Roy could only pin his hopes on Dungeon instance rewards. If he opened enough treasure chests, maybe he'd find new rings. Then everyone could have one—wouldn't that be wonderful?
"Captain, the carriage is ready!"
Roy casually took out a bottle of milk. Gulp, gulp, gulp. Before he could finish drinking, Tiona ran over happily, waving at Roy as if expecting praise.
Hearing Tiona's voice, Roy spat out his milk with a Pfft!
"Ah—Captain, what are you doing?" Tiona, now covered in milk, made a sour face.
Roy glared at Tiona and declared solemnly, "By my supreme authority as Captain, from now on, everyone is forbidden from saying that phrase in the Familia!"
"Why?"
"It's too barbaric! This is a dictatorship!"
Facing everyone's protests, Roy ignored them with flair. If anyone dared to violate this taboo in the future, they would be punished with a spanking, administered by him personally.
Seeing her sister Tiona's disheveled state, a look of envy appeared on Tione's face. If it's the Captain's milk... that's not unacceptable...
After some playful banter, everything was ready. Roy, Tione, Tiona, and his Third Uncle Xilin boarded the carriage, leaving Orario to embark on the journey back to the Kingdom of Rakia.
They only needed the carriage because Xilin was an ordinary human. Otherwise, with Roy and the others' constitutions, sprinting on foot would be faster than ordinary horses.
Even so, the wealthy Astrea Familia used horses that were monster hybrids capable of traveling a thousand miles a day without issue.
Tiona drove the carriage from the front.
Roy, Tione, and Xilin sat inside.
Yesterday, he had only gotten a rough idea of the situation at home. Now that his uncle had rested and recovered, Roy continued his questioning. "Third Uncle, in past years, conscription only took about ten people. Why do they want so many this year?"
Roy had lived in that village for over ten years and knew the situation in the Kingdom of Rakia inside out.
Worry was etched on Xilin's face. "Yeah. I heard the nearby villages had the same grain and manpower quotas as before. I don't know why, when it came to us, it multiplied more than tenfold. And there are so many soldiers."
Xilin's eyes were bitter. For them, this sudden calamity was practically an apocalypse.
Other villages were the same as before?
Roy narrowed his eyes slightly.
Then, Roy asked for more specific details. Half an hour later, he had a rough understanding of the situation.
At first, the grain and manpower quotas for their village were the same as before. Then, suddenly, they were changed.
Shortly after, a large group of soldiers they had never seen before arrived. Clad in heavy armor, they looked formidable. These soldiers merely surrounded the village without harming the villagers, giving them a grace period.
Xilin, a farmer, might not have thought much of it.
But as adventurers, if Roy and Tione weren't shrewd, they wouldn't have survived this long. The two exchanged a glance and realized something: the two conscription orders came from different groups.
The Familia carriage was just a cover. Roy had originally intended to use the Thunderhoof Bull and Gordius Wheel (Divine Wheel) after leaving the city to rush back in three to five hours.
Now, that wasn't necessary.
He was ninety percent sure this was a trap!
Kingdom of Rakia, Village of Dennis.
The entire village was heavily besieged, surrounded by three layers of troops inside and out. Not even a mouse could escape. The villagers looked fearful, daring to be angry but not to speak out.
Meanwhile, in Old Village Chief Simon's house, a handsome man sat in the seat of honor with an imposing presence. He had a broad back and waist, a sturdy physique clad in bright red armor, and shining golden hair like a lion's mane.
A faint divine aura radiated from him, proving he was a god—and the ruler of the Kingdom of Rakia.
Surrounding him were numerous guards.
After Xilin escaped, they had no need to hide anymore.
A guard reported, "Lord Ares, as you predicted, that old thing's son escaped and went to Orario to inform the 'Justice Bud.'"
"Hahaha! As expected of me! To think of such a genius plan!" Ares placed his hands on his hips and laughed triumphantly.
Old Village Chief Simon and his granddaughter cowered in a corner.
But in this moment, no one paid attention to the helpless old man and child. Their plan had succeeded.
Roy's legendary leveling speed brought not only honor to the village but also disaster.
Ares had been attracted by it.
By using the conscription order to pressure the village and deliberately letting the chief's son escape, the "Justice Bud" would have no choice but to obediently return to save them once he heard his hometown was in peril.
"The 'Child of Miracles' that the gods of Orario seek but cannot obtain will henceforth belong to my command! Hahahaha!" Ares laughed heartily.
Old Village Chief Simon kept his head down, a trace of disdain flashing deep within his cloudy eyes. He had raised that kid, Roy, with his own hands; the boy was sharp as a tack. Unless Roy had been beaten silly by monsters in Orario, there was no way he would fall for such a simple trap.
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Danmachi : Starting with an Elf (444 Chapter – Ongoing)
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