At this moment, Twilight Manor was growing lively.
"The date for the next expedition has already been decided. It's eight days from now."
Once Finn announced this decision, the familia members, who had been buzzing with excitement over Riezel's new magic, immediately felt their nerves tighten.
"Well, there's nothing strange about that, right?"
"It's already been a month since the last expedition. No matter what, it's time to head out again."
Gareth and Riveria both spoke up from Finn's side, prompting the rest of the members to nod in agreement.
Since the last expedition had indeed taken place a full month ago, deciding to rechallenge the Dungeon was perfectly normal and entirely expected.
As for Bete, Tiona, Tione, and the others, this was exactly what they had been hoping for all along.
"Perfect timing. I was just about sick of messing around with trash mobs on the Lower Floors."
"Ais is already Level 6! I'm definitely catching up this time around!"
"If it's the Captain's call, then I've got no objections at all."
Needless to say, Bete, Tiona, and Tione, whom Ais had once left behind and then overtaken by Riezel, had already been feeling restless for some time, and the top executives' decision could not have suited them better.
"Unexplored floors…"
Ais did not know whether she was recalling the woman-like monster and the caterpillar monsters from the previous expedition, but she quietly clenched her hand, which was covered in faint particles of light.
Riezel, meanwhile, asked one additional question.
"What about those hybrids and Evilus?"
He leaned closer to Finn and the others, lowering his voice as he asked.
"About them... they will be handled by Loki for now," Finn replied, clearly understanding what Riezel meant. "Since this involves Evilus, as well as unknown incidents and unknown creatures within the Dungeon—and since their objective is the destruction of this city—we will naturally need to seek help from the city's ruler first."
Finn went on to explain that while everyone was away on the expedition, Loki would speak with the Guild to see if they could uncover any information or secure any form of support.
In particular, there was the mysterious magus Riezel had mentioned, someone who belonged to the Guild and was connected to the abnormal monster outbreak on the 24th and 30th Floors—and who had possibly even obtained the mysterious item known as the Jewel Fetus at one point—so the Guild was very likely aware of something related to the situation.
Because of that, Loki planned to begin her investigation with the Guild.
As for the expedition itself, it had actually been decided upon even before the incident on the 24th Floor had occurred.
After careful consideration and the organization of all available intelligence, Finn ultimately chose to proceed with the expedition and leave the investigation of the hybrids and the remnants of Evilus to Loki, who would remain on the surface.
"Unlike before, this expedition won't just be about reaching the 59th Floor," Finn continued, explaining his thoughts to Riezel. "If possible, we also need to investigate the cause behind the woman-like monster and the caterpillar monsters from last time, and trace whatever clues are tied to them."
"I see..." Riezel nodded in understanding.
He naturally had some thoughts of his own.
Based on the original story, during the upcoming expedition, they were bound to run into the schemes surrounding the Jewel Fetus.
Thinking about what might happen in the future and the many difficulties the Loki Familia would face, Riezel narrowed his eyes as thoughts raced through his mind.
Under these circumstances, the Loki Familia began preparing for the expedition scheduled eight days later.
Under the arrangements of Finn, Gareth, and Riveria, the familia members were assigned tasks one by one.
Riveria led Lefiya, Alicia, and the others to prepare items needed during the expedition, such as potions.
Gareth took Raul, Anakitty, and the others to prepare supplies like food and drinking water.
As for Riezel, Ais, Bete, Tiona, Tione, and the other executives, they were not given any specific tasks—or rather, Finn's instruction to them was simply to get themselves into proper condition and organize the equipment and items they carried.
After all, once they went beyond the 50th Floor, the true main force would be the executives, so their condition would become the most critical factor in the expedition.
Finn also assigned important tasks to some other members, such as going to the Guild to gather information—checking whether any abnormalities had occurred along the planned route, whether their schedule would clash with the strategies of other factions, and whether Monster Rexes had already respawned.
In order to carry out the expedition efficiently, this kind of preliminary intelligence work could not be neglected.
And so, the Loki Familia's expedition preparations proceeded at full speed.
'Should I still go to the Dungeon these next few days?'
Seeing the familia members all busy with their respective tasks, and even the executives making preparations—some repairing equipment, others purchasing items—and seeing that even Ais had temporarily set aside what happened on the 24th Floor and silently joined the preparations, Riezel wondered whether he should do the same and prepare for the expedition as well.
But after thinking it over carefully, he realized that he did not actually seem to have much to prepare.
Equipment?
Thanks to Lightweight, he no longer wore armor.
Besides, the combat outfit he wore was created entirely through magic, so there was nothing that needed to be organized or stockpiled.
Weapons?
Whether it was Fool or Hermit, both could be repaired and maintained with magic, so there was no need for any deliberate upkeep.
Potions?
Whether high potions for restoring stamina and injuries or magic potions for recovering mind, he—who possessed the highest-rank Healing Power—did not need any of them.
As for the other items, there was even less to say.
He seriously doubted whether they were more useful than his own magic, and he doubted even more whether he would ever need them when he was already carrying a sack full of ancient mystical treasures.
In the end, aside from going into the Dungeon, he realized that he really had nothing to do.
'No, that's not right.'
Suddenly, something came to mind.
'There's still one thing I can take care of during this time.'
Remembering that the manifestation of his new second magic, as well as the powerful level boosting magic he had newly acquired, had brought a significant boost to his strength, Riezel came to understand that now that he had returned to the world of Danmachi, there were actually many things he could do.
Deliberately suppressing his power, creating situations that required genuine adventure, and using the Dungeon's hordes of vicious monsters to accumulate high-rank excelia to see whether he could level up was one thing, while the appearance and acquisition of powerful magic was another.
Besides those, there was still one more thing he could try to do.
If he succeeded, his strength would increase yet again.
For this matter, Riezel went to see Finn.
"You want to go to the Hephaestus Familia?"
Finn, who was about to head out, seemed somewhat surprised when he heard Riezel's intention.
Coincidentally, Loki was here as well.
"What? You're gonna go look for Tsubaki?" Loki asked, sounding careless. "Don't tell me something's wrong with your sword. Brat, that thing cost me like 180 million valis!"
What she was referring to was Fool, which had been forged by Tsubaki after they commissioned her for the sword, and the money to forge it had originally been advanced by Loki.
However, the 180 million valis had actually not been spent on Fool alone, but also covered Hermit as a bonus.
While silently mulling this over, Riezel did not go along with Loki's words.
"No, I have business with Goddess Hephaestus."
Hearing this, Loki paused.
"You looking for Phae?" Loki asked suspiciously. "What do you want with her?"
Just as Riezel was about to answer, Finn raised a hand and spoke first.
"Since you want to see Goddess Hephaestus, then this works out perfectly. Come with us," Finn said with a smile. "We were just about to head over to see Goddess Hephaestus and Tsubaki as well."
"Oh?" Riezel raised an eyebrow and spoke thoughtfully. "Is it because of the caterpillar monsters?"
"Yes," Finn nodded, confirming Riezel's guess. "During the last expedition, we were attacked by them and ended up failing. But this time, no matter what, we can't let that happen again."
Even though those caterpillar monsters, like Violas and Viscum, were colorful new-species monsters, they were far more troublesome than those man-eating flower monsters.
It should be noted that their corrosive fluid was vicious enough to force even First-Class Adventurers like Finn and the others to retreat. Finn's, Gareth's, and Bete's primary equipment had all been corroded by that fluid, leaving them nearly helpless.
Subsequently, because of the same corrosive fluid, the entire expedition force's supplies—equipment, spare weapons, food, water, recovery potions, and more—were completely ruined, making it impossible to continue exploring any further.
Since things had gone that far, Finn naturally had to find a solution.
"I plan to bring blacksmiths who can repair weapons along with us this time," Finn said with a cunning smile. "As long as blacksmiths are with us to repair weapons anytime and anywhere, we can keep fighting with the same primary weapons and won't need backups. Meanwhile, the space we save can all be used to carry magic swords, specifically to deal with those caterpillar monsters."
He understood that the best way to deal with those caterpillar monsters was through long-range attacks. As long as they avoided contact with the corrosive fluid that could destroy their weapons, those monsters could be taken down without much difficulty.
And among long-range attacks, the most powerful option was undoubtedly magic.
For that reason, he planned to prepare a large number of magic swords to deal with the caterpillar monsters.
Magic swords were special equipment that allowed the user to instantly unleash bombardments equivalent to magic.
Although they had limited uses and would shatter once those uses were exhausted—making them expensive consumables—there was no denying how useful they were.
After all, they allowed anyone to cast magic instantly, which made them a powerful trump card against caterpillar monsters.
"Moreover, we need weapons with the Durandal attribute—at least for all the executives," Finn continued. "Otherwise, we'll end up in the same situation as last time, where we couldn't even fight and could only run."
For all these reasons, he decided to seek cooperation with a major forging familia.
And the partner he chose was the Hephaestus Familia.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
[Support me and read next chapters early at: patreon.com/VALRRR]