"..."
Rose stood with her hands behind her back. She leaned forward slightly and tilted her head up. She smiled as she looked into Ronan's eyes.
"?"
Ronan looked at her. His expression became playful, and he smiled. He reached out and pinched her chin with his fingers.
"Rose, are you testing me... or trying to tease me?"
"Oh."
As Ronan pinched her chin, Rose felt a jolt run through her. She jumped back two steps, her face turning bright red.
"Hmph, I just wanted to see what kind of person you really are."
Looking at how panicked and shy Rose was, Ronan asked with a smile, "And did you figure it out?"
"Not at all! You are just like any other man!"
She puffed out her cheeks and rolled her eyes. She quickly judged him.
"Correct. Congratulations, you're right. But you did get one thing wrong."
Ronan looked at her with a bold smile. His gaze made her freeze for a second.
"That's right, Rose. Ronan is a total scumbag. You have to be careful! Don't fall into his trap so easily!"
Just then, Jeanne's voice came from the doorway. She was leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed. She tilted her head and had a teasing smile on her face.
Jeanne's sudden appearance startled both of them, especially in such a strange atmosphere.
"Scumbag???"
Rose felt like she had found someone to protect her. She immediately ran to Jeanne's side and hugged her arm. Together, the two of them looked at Ronan with judgment in their eyes. Ronan didn't even change his expression.
"What scumbag? That is complete slander!"
Facing their judging looks, Ronan immediately defended himself.
"I admit, I am... well, close with a few ladies. But I always take responsibility! I treat them properly every time, don't I?"
"Pfft."
Lorie had been peeking from the side. When she heard Ronan's shameless words, she couldn't help but laugh. She held her stomach and started rolling around on the carpet.
Even Aura, who usually kept a calm face, had shoulders that were shaking. Her face almost broke as she tried not to laugh. If she weren't so good at controlling her expressions, her cool image would have been ruined.
"How shameless..."
Jeanne kept a straight face and walked away, pulling Rose with her.
Ronan puffed out his chest proudly.
If you want to survive in life, sometimes you need a little shamelessness.
However, when he thought about how the others in the house seemed to be forming a group against him, he felt a bit of a headache.
Forget it. He still had Lorie and Aura at home. He would leave Jeanne and Rose alone for now. They were already part of his Familia, so there was no need to rush.
Thinking this way, he felt much better. His confidence returned.
The living room.
Ronan enjoyed the black tea Jeanne had made. He sat back comfortably on the sofa and opened his notebook to look through it.
He felt that he still had a long way to go with Fireball. He wasted too much Mind during actual combat.
If it were a duel against another person, wasting Mind might be okay. Duels were usually decided by short bursts of power.
But exploring the Dungeon was the opposite. It required Ronan to use his Magic and Mind more carefully. He needed to reduce waste to make sure he could last longer and avoid mistakes.
He moved his fingers and opened his Status. He skipped over his Basic Abilities and Development Abilities and looked directly at his Skills.
Demon King Emblem gave him a hundredfold increase in Mind. But it also had a side effect: his Mind was so huge that it was hard to control precisely.
Luckily, the effect of Sharp Mind helped a bit. It stopped his Magic from exploding while he was charging it.
But the real cause of the problem was his low Level and lack of control. Once his Level increased in the future, this problem would go away.
For now, he didn't have a great solution.
Fortunately, this wasn't a big problem yet. His current Magic was fire-based, which was naturally wild. It didn't usually need very precise control.
But for the long term, he still needed to fix this weakness soon.
The situation with his defense was similar. Because of his Soul Snatcher effect, he had to make sure his Mind wasn't always full. This was the only way to use his resources efficiently and avoid waste.
Luckily, he already had an idea for a solution. If he could obtain a protection Magic that constantly used Mind, the problem would be solved.
"Sigh. Being too strong has its problems too. What a nice problem to have."
Ronan's shameless comment reached the ears of the others. Aura almost lost her calm expression again.
"Just ignore him, Aura," Jeanne said calmly. She was already used to this.
At this point, after getting Rose's permission, the three of them gathered around her to check her Status.
"Eh? What kind of ridiculous Status is this?! Two... two Magics and five Skills?! Miss Rose, this is too much!"
As soon as Lorie saw the information on the parchment, she started stuttering and screaming. Her eyes were wide. She looked at the smiling Rose in total shock and froze for a moment.
Even Aura, who tried to act like a calm Elf, was shocked. Surprise flashed across her face.
Compared to the two young elves, Jeanne had more experience and stayed calm. She was only a little surprised. She smiled and congratulated Rose.
"It looks like our Familia is getting a reliable vanguard, Miss Rose."
"Thank you." Rose tilted her head, looking confused. "But... is my Status really that strange? Lorie, why are you looking at me like that? Since everyone has a Falna, shouldn't Magic and Skills be common?"
Lorie opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. She stared at Rose with wide eyes. For a moment, she couldn't tell if Rose was actually confused or if she was just bragging.
Jeanne looked at Ronan, who was still focused on his notes and studying hard. She shook her head helplessly.
"Rose, let me explain the basics of the Gods, Falna, Familias, and Orario to you in detail."
Hearing this, Rose immediately sat up straight and listened carefully to Jeanne.
Ronan had already mentioned most of what Jeanne talked about. But since they were not from Orario, they were bound to miss some small details. So, whenever there was something they didn't know, Lorie or Aura would add more information.
They talked for so long that they almost missed dinner.
Fortunately, Ronan didn't forget.
To welcome Rose, he prepared a large dinner.
"Come on, everyone, it's time to eat!" Ronan called out to the living room while wearing an apron. He started taking drinks out of the cold storage.
"Wow! It smells so good! And it looks delicious!" Lorie was the first to run to the table. Looking at all the dishes, she couldn't stop staring.
"Here, we have orange juice and iced white grape juice today. This white grape juice is a new drink from Goddess Demeter. I tried it before, and it was amazing. You should try it," Ronan introduced.
For himself, he prepared Iced Orange Ale. He loved that flavor. He was even planning to buy some blueberries next time to try making a barrel of blueberry ale.
Once everyone was seated, Ronan raised his glass.
"First, welcome Rose to the Veyr Familia!"
"Before we knew it, our Familia has more members now!"
He paused and looked at everyone around him. He showed a big, sincere smile.
"And now! Forget everything else and enjoy tonight's food!"
"To life. Cheers!"
"Cheers!" the four of them replied.