"B-Boss? Is that you, Boss? You're still alive? Thank god!!!!"
A dog-person lackey had been standing watch at Rivira's entrance, and he spotted Bors at a glance, coming over with a massive Magic Stone on his shoulder and a dark look on his face.
His eyes lit up. Covering several steps in one, he leaped over to the man and, without another word, launched straight into the flattery...
"That's our boss for you! Not only did you come back safe, you got your hands on Goliath's Magic Stone too!"
The other fellows who had fled back earlier watched this, inwardly cursing him as a simp, but their feet didn't slow one bit. They crowded around, piling smiles onto their faces and chiming in over one another, scrambling to outdo each other in praise.
In one form or another, it was all "the boss is wise," "another win," "the light of Rivira."
Anyway, boiled down to a single line: they'd won!
Yet Bors, enthroned in the middle of all this adulation, had a face black as thunder.
A slap cracked out, sending the still-fawning dog-person lackey spinning on the spot like a top. Murderous light blazed from Bors's lone eye as it swept across the faces before him, every one written with blank confusion and ingratiation, and he squeezed the words out from between his teeth:
"Motherfucker! Win? Win my goddamn ass! I'll..."
He thrust a finger at a cowering fellow in the crowd:
"You! Yes, you! Go drag that bastard in charge of the intel over here!"
Then he shot a vicious glare at another man:
"And you! Get the pepper spray and the thorn whip ready! Today I'm going to personally... look... after... him!"
The crowd traded looks, completely at sea.
"B-Boss..." Someone ventured cautiously. "D-didn't you still get Goliath's Magic Stone in the end? Th-then why are you...?"
"My Magic Stone?"
Bors laughed out of sheer fury, the flames in his lone eye all but erupting out.
"Goddamn it! This is fucking 'safekeeping'! It's 'safekeeping' for somebody else! You pack of blind idiots!"
The more he said, the angrier he got, and his hand rose and cracked down again:
"Watch me slap you to death..."
"Aaagh! Mercy, Boss! Mercy!"
The entrance of Rivira dissolved into chaos.
Plenty of adventurers who were staying awhile in the little town heard the ruckus, dropped whatever they had on hand in a flash, and came dashing out to rubberneck, pointing and gossiping as they watched:
"What's gotten into Bors?"
"Whoa, is that Goliath's Magic Stone? I heard the commotion earlier. Who knew Bors had real chops, huh? Wrapped it up that fast."
"Hey, weren't you listening to Bors? That's not their Magic Stone, it's just 'in safekeeping'! Get it?!"
"So... after all that huge fuss in town earlier, somebody still swooped in and sniped it out from under them?"
"...That's it?"
"Pfft. Someone actually dared touch Rivira's ATM. Wonder which of the big Familias up on the surface did the honors."
"Most likely those lunatics from Freya's Familia. They're the only ones who'd do whatever they want without so much as a word of warning. Loki, Ganesha, Astraea, they'd at least leave Bors some face; the Goddess Alliance is on decent terms with Loki and her people, after all."
"But Freya's bunch of lunatics are a different story... don't forget what the Goddess Alliance was founded for. It's the front-line organization against the goddess Freya!"
"True enough."
...
...
Leaving the farce playing out in Rivira aside, Leon's party had already crossed the open "grassland" and stepped once more into the Under Resort's verdant forest.
The deeper they went, the more tranquil everything around them grew. The "crystal sunlight" filtered through layer upon layer of branches and leaves into dappled flecks of gold, scattering over the moss-carpeted paths and murmuring streams. The change in atmosphere made everyone slow their steps, eyes sweeping their surroundings, wary and curious at once.
Some monsters were close by.
They did not come howling and lunging like their kin elsewhere in the Dungeon; instead they kept their distance, hiding behind trees and rocks or peeking through gaps in the brush, fixing Leon's party with almost "curious" gazes. A horned rabbit held its ears upright, scarlet eyes tracking the party as it moved; a brown bear lolled lazily against a tree trunk and spared them no more than a glance; a few Killer Bees hovered low, wingbeats soft, without the slightest intent to attack.
It wasn't the first time they had seen this harmonious scene, but every time they experienced it firsthand, they still felt a faint, scarcely believable sense of detachment.
Laurier stopped, pointing at the horned rabbit sitting quietly a short distance away, its eyes like blood-red diamonds, and whispered to Irisviel and Margaret beside her, her voice brimming with wonder:
"Look... they're all monsters born of the Dungeon, and yet the ones living in this forest manage to coexist so peacefully."
She paused, puzzlement and wonder threading through her tone.
"And... they never attack adventurers unprovoked. It really is so strange, isn't it?"
For Iri and Margaret, here in the Under Resort for the first time, the impact was far greater than any secondhand account.
"Standing here in person... is the only way to truly understand what they call the 'miracle of the Dungeon.'" Margaret murmured, her gaze still lingering on the tranquil green woods around them.
Irisviel nodded hard, her eyes sparkling:
"It's even more incredible than the books describe... That deep in a Dungeon crawling with monsters and brimming with malice toward the surface, there's a hidden paradise tucked away. It's almost impossible to believe."
Jeanne's clear voice broke into their reverie:
"All right. We'll camp here."
She clapped her hands and began handing out tasks with brisk efficiency:
"Same as always. Move fast; I want everything in place before dark."
"Yes."
At her word, the group scattered, each getting to work.
...
Kureha, for her part, could no longer hold back. She crossed to Leon in a few quick steps, caught his arm, and leaned toward him, golden eyes brimming with eagerness:
"Leon, can you update my Falna now?"
Leon shot the Sword Saint clinging to his arm a slightly helpless look, swept his gaze over the area, and finally settled it on a flat-topped stump off to one side:
"Let's go over there."
The two of them walking toward the stump happened to catch the eye of Laurier, who was passing by with an armful of firewood. She bit her lip, envy and frustration mingling in her voice:
"Ugh... Kureha's definitely making Level 3 with this Falna update. We were here first, you know... Aura!"
Aura didn't even raise her head. She kept bending to gather dead branches and tossed out one flat line:
"The hardest part of leveling up is accumulating 'Great Feats.' With the battles we've been through, the Great Feats were enough ages ago. Mr. Leon isn't letting us level up because our Basic Abilities haven't been trained to the limit yet." She paused, straightened up, and shot Laurier a glance. "The way I see it... a little while longer and we should be just about there? Provided you don't slack off."
"Really?!" Laurier's eyes lit up.
"Really. So right now... go gather firewood and get a fire started."
"...Okay."
By the stump, Kureha turned her back to Leon and briskly undid the fastenings of her combat top and armor, slipping them down to her waist. Her smooth back glowed faintly pale in the dappled light of the woods, but she showed not a trace of shyness.
Leon had long since grown used to this. Expression as calm as ever, he took out a fine needle, pricked his fingertip, and let a bead of blood fall onto the Falna on her back. A faint holy light welled up, the patterns shifting and flowing: update, level up, imprint, lock, his motions running like water, one seamless pass.
"Congratulations, Kureha!"
He handed the imprinted parchment to the girl who had been waiting impatiently all this time, a smile in his voice:
"Congratulations on your successful advancement... Level 3!"
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