Chapter 27: The Misunderstood Elf.
....
"I'm sorry. I couldn't get you a proper title."
"It's fine. It's just a title. There'll be another chance to change it when I reach Level 4. The dedicated weapon you commissioned for me is worth considerably more than any title."
"You're not angry?"
"I'll settle for having you scrub my back tonight."
"Yes! I love you the most!"
Two sentences and Hestia had gone from tearful to beaming. Kihara watched her run upstairs to change, and Shinobu surfaced from the shadow-space with the tone of someone who has been waiting patiently to say something.
[Master. You're actually pleased with the title, aren't you.]
[Facts are facts, but you will not catch me admitting that in public.]
[Why not?]
[Think about my history with titles. Kamen Rider. Clan Rider. Crimson Rider. Any one of them sounds impressive on its own. And now I'm the Knight of the Loli Goddess. Anyone who hears that without context is going to assume I have a very specific and concerning type.]
[Master, if you look at the current composition of the Hestia Familia...]
[...Let's talk about dungeon exploration.]
[The topic change! It's so transparent and yet so committed!]
He ignored her entirely and sat down to make a list.
Priority one: reach the twentieth floor.
Ouranos had been specific about conditions, and Kihara had no intention of sneaking Hestia away without completing them — that wasn't how he operated. The other two tasks Ouranos had assigned were visibly the kind of things that would require significant time and preparation. He'd handle the twentieth floor first and think about the rest afterward.
Priority two: continue accumulating potential before the next breakthrough. Solo floor boss clears were the most efficient method, and there were plenty of floors between seventeen and the bottom of the dungeon.
The Phantom Blade currently held four weapons: the Crimson Blade, Ebony and Ivory, the Sin-Cursed Orichalcum blade Kokorowatari, and Hestia's dedicated short sword. Four weapons was enough to unlock the skill's enhanced combat modes.
Sustained attacking built up Sword Intent — when the blade-shaped mark on his right hand lit up, it was full, and he could either activate Phantom Blade Combination, which boosted his speed and added phantom strikes to every attack, or Phantom Blade Finisher, which summoned all four weapons simultaneously for a concentrated assault that spent the entire gauge at once.
His honest assessment was that in standard operating mode, without Faiz transformation or Acceleration, he could probably hold an even match against a typical Level 5. The transformation and Acceleration were the emergency reserve — he hadn't needed them yet.
He shared the summary with Hestia and Lili. Both went quiet.
After a moment, Lili stood up from the sofa. Something had ignited in her eyes.
"Lord Kihara — give Lili a little more time. She's almost finished memorising the complete Orario dungeon atlas and monster compendium. When she has, please allow her to serve as your supporter again and provide real strategic assistance."
"Don't push yourself to the point of getting sick over it. I'll be genuinely annoyed if that happens."
Kihara's hand moved to the top of her head, and Lili's eyes closed with the contented ease of a cat finding a patch of sun.
"I'll balance it properly. I promise."
He looked toward Hestia. She met his eyes and smiled — warm and unguarded and entirely without performance.
"Go as deep as you need to. You're already the pride of the Hestia Familia, and you're already mine. I won't hold you back because of my own feelings."
She patted her own thighs and opened her arms toward him, one eye closing in a playful wink.
"And whenever you need a rest — the lap pillow is always available~"
"Then I'm looking forward to the back-scrubbing tonight."
"What? I want to help with the back-scrubbing too — don't leave Lili out—"
"You're welcome to join, but you are not coming in without clothes."
"Lady Hestia, if you're wearing clothes it defeats the entire purpose of scrubbing someone's back."
"...How exactly were you planning to scrub his back?"
Lili raised her chin with the air of someone stating an obvious truth.
"With my body, naturally."
"Wonderful. You are henceforth permanently banned from back-scrubbing activities."
"NOOOO—"
One hour before opening at the Hostess of Fertility. The staff worked through the pre-service routine, tables polished to a gleam.
"Ryuu! Big news — Kihara apparently—"
"Jumped two levels straight to Level 3. It's all over the streets. I already know."
Chloe's tail drooped with genuine disappointment. "You're no fun~ I was looking forward to seeing your reaction."
She recovered quickly. Her tail flicked back up as her eyes caught an angle of something useful, and she angled toward her fellow staff members with a murmur: "So she already knew he's going into the dungeon today. Interesting where she gets her information from..."
"Wait."
Ryuu's hand came down on Chloe's shoulder. "You said he's going into the dungeon today?"
"Hmm~ I thought you already knew, Ryuu-chan~"
"Chloe. Is this true or are you making things up."
"Meow~ True. He mentioned it to me on the way in this morning."
Ryuu was already turning toward the changing room. "Tell Proprietor Mia I need the morning. Something came up."
The remaining staff exchanged glances. Everyone who worked at the Hostess of Fertility had an unusual background, and everyone here knew Ryuu's — the Gale Wind, Ryuu Lion, currently carrying an active Guild citation.
Chloe set down her tray and smiled the smile of someone who has just correctly solved a puzzle.
"Ryuu is absolutely in love."
"Really?"
"I'll grant you Kihara is good-looking, but — elves are supposed to be proud, aren't they? Would Ryuu really fall for a human that quickly?"
"This is exactly where you're both wrong, meow~ Adventure novels are full of elves who have a specific weakness for humans who look younger than them. Ryuu might be exactly that type."
She paused for effect, then delivered her evidence.
"Also — have any of you noticed? Every single time Kihara comes in to eat, Ryuu finds a reason to be somewhere he can't see her. She positions herself just outside his sightline and watches him from there the entire meal. That is textbook secret admiration."
The confidence of the delivery was persuasive.
"So should we... help things along? Create some opportunities for them?"
"Exactly what I was thinking, meow~ Next time he comes in, I'll make sure Ryuu is the one who serves his table."
"I can make sure she's the one who brings the food out—"
"I can arrange—"
"Achoo!"
In a section of the dungeon that had nothing to do with any of this, a disguised Ryuu Lion sneezed sharply into the tunnel air. She was, in fact, down here to find Kihara and settle a score — specifically the matter of being physically handled without her consent during their first encounter.
She was entirely unaware that her colleagues, through a small and dedicated chain of misunderstandings, were in the process of arranging her love life on her behalf.
.....
Thank you for reading.