"Then it's decided. Ten days from now, the Loki Familia will begin its first expedition of this new era…"
Everyone nodded in agreement. Loki was right—within this city, anything connected to the word hero was a matter of enormous importance. Something called a hero's legacy was even more worthy of attention.
A few days later—
After returning from his lessons, Xien was forced to sit through the entire Grand Familia Affairs Assembly held to address the coming changes in the situation. Only then did he finally make it back to his room, where he found a gold-stamped invitation lying on his desk.
The jester insignia emblazoned across it made its origin obvious.
He dropped himself into his chair, casually picked it up, and broke the seal. As expected, it was an invitation to join the Loki Familia's expedition.
The contents were simple enough: he was invited to participate in their expedition five days from now, and if he agreed, he was requested to send his reply within three days. The wording was extremely polite.
"Well, since the opportunity is right in front of me, I might as well go… Good timing, too. My newly created magic ought to make its debut."
Murmuring to himself, Xien let out a meaningful smile.
Though nothing major had happened during this stretch of time, he had not been idle in the slightest. He had continued training not only his magic, but also his martial skills. Everything he had been doing was akin to maintaining and honing a treasured blade—accumulating patiently, tempering its edge, waiting for the right moment to let it shine.
Even Fels had praised his learning speed again and again. With the eidetic memory granted by the system, combined with his own deep insight into the world, Xien had built up in mere days what would normally take others years of study.
Now that his studies could pause for a while, it was time to test the results.
The next day, Xien arrived at the Loki Familia's home.
After presenting the invitation to the guards, he was ushered inside with great courtesy.
Soon enough, he once again found himself in that familiar captain's office.
Receiving permission to enter, he came face-to-face once more with that handsome little prum commander.
"Please, sit. It's been a while, Mr. Xien. Have you been well?"
"Quite well, thank you for asking, Captain Finn. We already know each other, so just call me Xien. 'Mr.' sounds strange coming from you."
Relaxed as ever, Xien waved it off with a smile, signaling that Finn did not need to be so formal. Finn understood immediately and dropped the excess politeness.
"In that case, since you've come here, may I take it that you've accepted our invitation?"
"Of course. I'm not going to let an opportunity like this pass me by. I came here precisely because I wanted to discuss some of the details."
Finn nodded unconsciously. The boy's mind and judgment were already well known to him, so this decision was hardly surprising. In fact, hearing those words only confirmed that Xien truly intended to join the expedition.
Since that was the case, there was no need for him to dance around the point any longer.
"I do enjoy dealing with people like you. It saves a lot of trouble."
"Should I feel honored?"
"Hahaha… It seems you're not without a sense of humor either."
Though there was a gap in age, Finn saw no reason they could not become friends. In his eyes, this boy was someone he could form genuine mutual understanding with.
After all, they were both truly clever people.
"So then, do you have any requests? Speak freely."
Seeing that Finn understood him, Xien got straight to the point.
"If I join your expedition, what exactly is my assigned role?"
He had never intended to refuse orders. An expedition was no joke, and with a large team facing danger, there could only be one voice giving commands. He had no delusions about his ability to lead a major expeditionary force. What he wanted was simply to reduce friction between himself and the rest of the team.
"Oh? You mean you're willing to follow our command structure?"
Finn sounded genuinely surprised.
"Of course. This is your expedition, isn't it? I do have some self-awareness. No matter how fast my strength may grow, leadership isn't something that can be developed overnight. What I want now is simply to understand where you intend to place me, so I can judge whether it's suitable and make any necessary adjustments."
Those words made Finn nod slowly. Such clarity about one's own limits was rare. Xien not only understood his shortcomings, he was willing to state them openly without hesitation. A person like that—how could anyone ever hope to stop him from moving forward?
"That makes sense. Then I'll be direct. According to our current plan, your position would be rear guard, with Riveria responsible for your safety."
"…What?"
The look on Xien's face immediately turned strange. He stared at the prum captain with visible disbelief.
"I understand rear guard. But why Riveria? You know her condition, don't you? And you'd still put her at my side?"
Finn could only smile bitterly at that. This whole matter gave even him a headache. Since no one was truly at fault, even he could not arrive at a clean, perfect answer. In the end, he could only tell the truth.
"That was the arrangement we judged to be most appropriate… or rather, it was Riveria herself who insisted on it."
"…Do you people really not see the problem with that?"
Xien was stunned—not only by the elven princess's bizarre proposal, but by the sheer permissiveness of the people around her. Wasn't she their comrade? And they were just letting her do something so blatantly unreasonable? Simply allowing it to continue?
But Finn's reply caught him off guard.
"As adventurers, when we encounter difficulty, what we do is overcome it and turn it into nourishment for the next step forward. We trust our companions to do the same."
That one sentence silenced Xien.
It was not exactly wrong.
But it still felt… off.
Still, since that path was going nowhere, he chose to raise his own conditions instead.
"…Fine, then let me make my own request. I want to serve as a front-liner."
Finn looked troubled, but Xien kept going before he could answer.
"And by that, I mean a front-liner who also fulfills the responsibilities of a healer. I'm not abandoning my role."
Those words truly caught Finn by surprise.
"…You're saying you can perform both as healer and vanguard at the same time?"
"That's right."
"…I can't alter an established battle plan based on words alone."
In other words, he did not believe it.
Fair enough.
Xien answered bluntly, "I expected as much. I've always believed that truth is proven through practice. So let's have a test. You must have a sparring ground somewhere here."
His meaning was obvious. And it worked—Finn's interest was clearly piqued.
"Interesting. Yes, that would be the best way for us to understand each other. Come then, I'll take you to the training ground."
Neither of them wasted any more words. They left the office at once.
And just outside, sure enough, a certain goddess was crouched there listening in.
Xien did not even bother to hide his exasperation, looking at her dead-on as if to say: Yes, I know you were eavesdropping. What of it? Still, he had no desire to argue with her.
A little later, at the Loki Familia training grounds—
Sweeping his gaze over the place, Xien had to admit it again: a great familia really was different. This training ground alone was almost large enough to rival the central arena.
Present were not only Xien and Finn, but several others as well:
Loki, Riveria, Gareth, and a number of other members. Xien even recognized several familiar faces—the ones who had been present during the battle against the corrupted spirit.
Some had come because Loki made a scene. Others had clearly been paying attention all along.
"What's going on? That boy… isn't he Xien, the one who's been so famous lately? Is he… seriously about to fight our captain?"
"You've got to be kidding. He's only Level 3, right? And he's been an adventurer for less than half a year. There's no way he can beat the captain."
"Exactly. 'Hero candidate,' huh? Sounds more like arrogance to me."
Those remarks immediately irritated some of the members Xien had saved before.
"Watch your mouths. Mr. Xien has real ability. We were only rescued from that disaster because of him."
"Oh? Or maybe you lot were just too weak."
"You—!"
The voices were not loud, but Xien's sharp senses caught every word. He could only sigh inwardly. To think he'd actually ended up in a face-slapping scene like something out of a story. Somehow, those Loki Familia members up there seemed strangely cute to him.
"Since he's actually here, I may as well be the one to test him myself."
Finn casually picked up a training spear, his fighting spirit visibly awakened. Though most people thought of him primarily as a commander and strategist, at heart he was deeply battle-hungry. Even his personal skills were tailored toward drawing out the utmost combat power. The only reason he usually played the role of tactician was because, when calm, his intelligence far surpassed that of others.
The final strike Xien had unleashed before was still fresh in his memory. Finn had already seen his abilities as a healer—now was the perfect chance to see just what kind of combat strength he truly possessed.
Xien had no objection. But if this was a test, then the proper conditions needed to be in place.
"Fine. Then give me a few teammates. Front-liners and a rear guard. Enough to form a small squad."
"Very well. Anyone who wishes to serve as Xien's teammates, step forward."
The moment Finn said it, the members who had already fought alongside Xien moved out at once. And in addition to them, Riveria stepped forward as well.
Sensing the strange looks directed at her, she said flatly, "I'm the only rear guard here."
That single sentence made everyone look around—and realize she was right.
Xien merely let out a faint sigh and did not stop her.
"In that case, I'll act as referee."
The one who said that was Gareth.
A few moments later, both sides were in position. Finn alone on one side; Xien, Riveria, and two front-liners on the other.
Victory conditions: one side rendered completely combat-incapacitated. Any offensive or defensive means were permitted.
With both sides taking up their weapons, Gareth, standing off to the side, gave the signal.
The instant he spoke, Finn vanished from his position.
At the same moment, so did Xien.
Before the two front-liners had even fully processed what was happening, the clash of weapons sounded right beside them.
They instinctively turned—and went cold all over.
Their captain's attack had been intercepted mere inches from Xien's body. Sparks scattered against his skin, making it painfully obvious this was no illusion.
Before either of them could react, the two figures disappeared again.
What followed was a constant series of clashes—but no clear sight of either combatant. Only blurred shadows flickering in and out of view.
Riveria, meanwhile, had quietly halted the subtle gathering of mana she had begun.
Inside, however, she was even more astonished.
He had grown stronger than before.
Faster. More powerful.
As for Finn, the more he fought, the more startled he became.
He could tell that, in pure physical terms, the boy still lagged behind him. There was a clear gap between them.
And yet that very gap was being bridged by an extraordinary technique.
Apart from the opening moment, when his sneak attack had secured him initiative, he had been forced ever since into a reactive defense. Xien's angles were so sharp and treacherous that even with Finn's vast combat experience, he was being driven into a purely defensive state.
If this kept up, the moment he made a mistake, the match would be over.
In that case—
He'd break through by force.
His mind reaching a decision in an instant, Finn finally planted his feet at the point he had calculated.
When Xien pursued and attacked again, Finn suddenly shifted gears, bringing down a terrifyingly powerful spear strike.
Caught off guard by the abrupt change, Xien hurried to block—
Crack!
A sharp spinning impact rang out like a snapped top.
Xien's body was blasted backwards along the path he had come, sliding more than ten meters before finally stopping.
Without giving anyone time to react, Finn immediately rushed toward his own two front-liners—and Riveria.
Just as Riveria was about to move, her action suddenly froze.
A trace of doubt crossed Finn's eyes.
But then, following Riveria's line of sight, he instinctively looked in the same direction.
That direction—
Was Xien.
....
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