Leon lay sprawled in the rocking chair, face radiating contentment, the corner of his mouth curled upward.
Highlights from the evening flickered through his mind like a personal greatest-hits reel.
Tonight's sunset was particularly beautiful. He was thoroughly satisfied.
"Who knew the saintly Miss Jeanne had a side like that."
"They say everyone's got a little devil living inside them. Jeanne's no exception. If anything, all that long-term repression made hers even more... intense."
He murmured to himself, a quiet sense of conquest warming his chest.
"Mm. Jeanne with her hair pinned up has this different kind of sacred beauty to her. Nice."
He savored the memory like fine wine while his right hand worked on autopilot, cycling his magic circuits. On, off. On, off. On, off...
The flickering stopped. His status panel crystallized before his eyes.
Strength: G273 → F313 (S923) +40 Endurance: F355 → E401 (S966) +46 Dexterity: F348 → F391 (S978) +43 Agility: F329 → F387 (S958) +58 Magic: E491 → C633 (S989) +142
A total gain of 329 points across all five Basic Abilities. Nothing compared to Jeanne's numbers, not even a rounding error on hers, but by any normal adventurer's standards it was absurd.
The Scholar's Heart skill and its diligence-compensates-for-talent effect had played a crucial role.
"Only 329, huh."
He muttered it, then let out an easy laugh.
"Not bad, though. I'm no freak of nature like Jeanne."
"Been doing this adventurer thing for a while now, and this is still the biggest single-day jump I've ever had."
He'd run the numbers before. If he'd been solo, exploring at the same intensity for the same duration, he'd have been lucky to get a fifth of that.
And that assumed everything went smoothly. No surprises. Which was a fantasy in itself, because the Dungeon never missed a chance to ruin your day. It was generous with "surprises" and stingy with peace.
Think you can just grind monsters and farm gold in comfort?
Keep dreaming.
This was the fundamental divide between solo adventurers and parties.
Going alone meant lower kill efficiency, sure, but the real killer was bearing every risk yourself. One bad break, one Irregular, and the odds of dying skyrocketed.
A party changed everything. Even just two people meant an extra layer of insurance. More options when things went sideways. Higher margin for error. Better odds of making it out alive. And the math wasn't as simple as one plus one equals two.
A well-coordinated party with clear roles, polished teamwork, sound tactics, and complementary builds could punch well above their weight. One plus one equals three. Equals four. A solo adventurer could never match that.
Unless they were cheating.
Thoughts cycled through his head. Leon exhaled, grateful.
"Good thing my Basic Abilities don't depend entirely on combat and training."
"I've still got the pay-to-win option."
"Otherwise, with my natural talent, I wouldn't even see Jeanne's braids disappearing over the horizon."
"Should I buy stats now?"
Jeanne's meteoric progress gnawed at him. The pressure was real.
Here he was, the great transmigrator with a cheat system, patron god and captain of the Hart Familia, the lord whom the saint herself served.
And his own saint was leaving him in the dust. That couldn't stand.
But the moment he pictured the astronomical Excelia and gold costs of stat purchases, cold reason doused the impulse.
Excelia accumulation wasn't the bottleneck. Every Dungeon run fed his Excelia pool nicely. During his solo days, thirty to fifty points a day came easy. Paired with Jeanne, that number would only climb.
Take today, for example. A mess of unexpected events, first time exploring new floors, still in the pioneering phase, so efficiency had taken a hit. But the Irregular Monster Party ambush had more than compensated. Clearing it alone netted over a hundred Excelia. Factor in the monsters killed on the way up and down, and the day's total landed somewhere around two hundred.
No, Excelia wasn't the problem.
Gold was.
Excelia: 9,100Savings: 6,777,455 valis
After his last big stat-buying spree, he'd had roughly twelve million in the bank. Then came the shopping blitz: weapons, armor, and adventuring essentials for Jeanne, plus daily necessities and miscellaneous expenses. Ninety thousand valis, gone. Commissioning his primary weapon from the Great Sacred Tree Branch using the Scholar's Staff blueprint had cost five million flat between materials, processing, and craftsmanship fees.
Expenses in, earnings out. The final balance sat at 6,777,455 valis.
He stared at that pitiful number and surrendered.
"I'll hold off. While I can still grow fast through training and combat, burning precious gold and Excelia on stat purchases would be brain-dead."
Shelving the bad idea, he turned his mind to the gaps today had exposed.
"The Orcs taught me a few hard lessons. Plenty of weaknesses came to light, especially in close-quarters combat."
"As a mage, I should be elegantly raining down artillery from a safe position, or providing support from the back line. But plans don't survive contact with the enemy."
Getting rushed and mauled at point-blank range had driven the lesson home. He needed to shore up his combat framework, and fast.
"Hand-to-hand and staff fighting drills go on the schedule immediately. Top priority."
"The old saying's right: better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it."
Peace of mind came from having options.
"Then there's the bigger picture. The familia has to grow."
"With just Jeanne and me, income already jumped exponentially."
"Add a few more members and both our strength and our earnings accelerate even faster."
He opened his eyes and picked up the black envelope resting on the stone table beside him.
"This time, I need a vanguard or a frontliner. Safety first."
"Saint's blessing, here goes!"
...
...
The Kingdom of Sphendovadwania. A road leading to the neighboring nation's capital, Baltrein.
A lone traveler walked the sun-drenched fields of midsummer, pack slung over her shoulders, pace unhurried.
She moved lightly, each step sure and steady. The heavy luggage might as well have been empty for all it slowed her. Long blue hair caught the sunlight, gleaming like liquid sapphire. Despite the punishing heat and hours of walking, her gentle features showed not a trace of fatigue or irritation.
A white collared blouse. A deep blue high-waisted skirt patterned with small flowers, tracing curves that could stop traffic. A double-breasted brown corset cinched her waist, matching the mid-heeled ankle boots below. A pink shawl draped casually over her shoulders, and a blue braid swayed at her back with every step.
The overall impression was one of maturity and elegance, shot through with vibrant energy.
"Hm? What's this?"
She stopped, a puzzled sound escaping her lips.
A pitch-black envelope had materialized from thin air and drifted down, landing squarely in the hand she'd just happened to raise.
She stood there, pinching the envelope, completely at a loss.
"This... doesn't make any sense, does it?"
Turning it over, her eyes found the wax seal and its crest immediately.
Before she could process what she was looking at, the envelope opened on its own. A sheet of parchment floated free, unfurling before her, revealing lines of text forming a contract.
"What language is this?"
"Oh my... how strange. I can't read the script, but the meaning comes through perfectly."
"Hart Familia? A contract? What a fascinating thing!"
She'd already been in the middle of a journey. Reading the parchment's contents, her lovely face lit up with curiosity.
Slender, pale fingers plucked the floating parchment from the air. The moment she touched it, a wave of strange, mysterious energy pulsed through her.
Surprise flickered across her features. Then it melted into a warm, gentle smile.
Seen up close, hers was a face of exquisite, almost sculpted beauty, framed by golden eyes that radiated an aura of grace and quiet nobility.
"How interesting. A familia."
"I accept."
...
...
The Labyrinth City, Orario.
District Seven. Hart Familia headquarters, also known as Leon's house.
At that moment, lounging in the summer evening breeze, Leon had no idea.
Screened by the magic's rigorous selection, a beautiful woman who met every last requirement had already set foot on the path to Orario, crossing the boundary between worlds.