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The lower floors were already extremely far from the surface. Even seasoned adventurers needed more than half a day to reach this depth. That's why expeditions to the lower floors typically took two to three days before returning.
Ryoji had set his exploration cycle to three days: after three days, they would return to the surface, rest for two days, and then head back down.
He personally didn't mind going longer, but he had to consider Lefiya, the others, and their limited supplies.
Though the lower floors were crawling with Level 3 monsters, the narrower gap in power between him and the enemies had drastically slowed his leveling speed.
A single trip to the lower floors now only earned him around 200–300 points of Proficiency, completely incomparable to before. At this rate, it would take at least two to three months to level up to Level 4.
"No expeditions happening?" Ryoji often complained like this.
"What do you mean 'so soon'?"
Alicia sighed, clearly exasperated. "The last expedition just ended a few days ago. We won't have another for at least a month... Anyway, forget that, try this bento I made!"
Lefiya, on the other hand, had been uncharacteristically quiet. For the past few days, she seemed like she was deep in thought, as if struggling with something serious.
Ryoji was mostly just venting.
He understood perfectly well that an expedition required complex logistics, supplies, personnel, coordination, and couldn't just be thrown together in a few days.
Still, the experience boost from expeditions was something he really enjoyed.
If he could go on another expedition, he'd be able to reach Level 4 at nearly double the speed.
"Let's head back for today. It's almost noon," Alicia suggested after lunch, pulling out her pocket watch.
"Sounds good."
Ryoji let out a sigh.
"By the way, does Charm work on monsters?"
While taking a quick bathroom break, Ryoji came across a monster and decided to run a test.
The result? The monster's expression instantly turned fanatical. Even as Ryoji raised his blade, it made no attempt to flee, on the contrary, it looked like it was willingly offering itself up.
If only communication were possible, it would likely obey his every command. It was almost like brainwashing. Terrifying, to say the least.
Some might think, "Well, in that case, why not use Charm to gather and kill monsters en masse?" But reality wasn't that simple, gaining Proficiency required effort, not slaughter.
Killing helpless creatures, even higher-level ones, barely awarded any Proficiency.
Even Level 5 adventurers who slaughtered large numbers of Level 4 monsters would only gain single-digit Proficiency. Just from how Ais only gained around 20 Proficiency from a whole expedition, one could tell how significant the drop-off was.
The group made their way back from the 25th Floor entrance, fighting their way up until they reached the 18th Floor.
By the time they arrived, it was already nearing evening. The three decided to take a short detour to Rivira, the adventurer outpost town on the safe floor, planning to rest, have dinner, and recover their energy.
However, as soon as they arrived on the 18th Floor, something felt very off.
"It seems… kind of empty," Ryoji said, confused as he looked around the eerily deserted main street.
Rivira wasn't very large, but at least 500 adventurers lived here regularly. It wasn't exactly bustling, but it definitely wasn't normal to see no one at all the moment you walked in.
"This shop's goods are still here… but no one's around," Lefiya said as she approached a shabby item shop. She called out twice, but there was no response.
"...Sounds like something's going on in the plaza," Alicia murmured after listening intently for a moment.
The three exchanged quick glances and decided to head toward the plaza to investigate.
They had already eaten through all their food, even the emergency rations, so they needed to find a shop and eat something soon.
Crystal Plaza.
The twin crystal towers that had once been destroyed by the frog-woman Phryne had been restored, now standing tall in the center of the plaza. They sparkled with radiant color, bathing the entire area in shimmering light.
At this moment, just like before, all the adventurers in the town had gathered in the square, making the area extremely noisy and chaotic.
And once again, the one at the center of the commotion was someone familiar to Ryoji and the others.
"Miss Ais?!"
Lefiya exclaimed in shock.
She spotted the golden-haired girl standing in the center of the plaza, and couldn't help but panic.
'What do I do? What do I do?!'
'Miss Ais seeing me together with Ryoji, will she misunderstand and think there's something going on between us? How should I explain this…?'
Lefiya's thoughts spiraled into chaos, her nerves on edge.
Meanwhile, Alicia made a point to remind everyone she wasn't just background noise.
"Ryoji, you're here too?"
When Ais saw them, a trace of surprise flashed across her face. She then took the initiative and walked toward their group.
Lefiya froze up on the spot.
Wait, huh??
Wasn't I the one who called out to her just now?
So why did Miss Ais only call out Ryoji's name first?!
"What happened here?" Ryoji asked.
"Someone was killed." Ais responded softly.
The incident had happened the previous night.
The victim was Hashana, a Level 4 brawler from the Ganesha Familia. Based on the investigation, the killer was likely a woman he had brought back to the inn.
None of the victim's valuables had been taken, but his luggage showed signs of being rifled through. His head had also been brutally stomped in. Investigators concluded that the woman had been searching for something in his belongings. Unable to find it, she had taken out her frustration on him in a violent outburst.
That woman was most likely still somewhere in the Rivira outpost. Everyone had been gathered in the square in order to flush out the culprit.
"That's Finn's plan," Ais said, pointing not far away.
Finn, Riveria, Tione, and Tiona were all present, methodically searching the crowd, men and women separately.
"Since when did the Loki Familia double as detectives?" Ryoji quipped.
"The safety floor is important. If the culprit isn't caught, no one will feel safe doing business here."
It usually took a typical Level 3 adventurer two hours to return to the surface from here, not counting time spent dealing with monster attacks. That's why the Rivira outpost on the safety floor was so valuable and heavily relied upon by high-level adventurers.
If Rivira became unusable for commerce, adventurers would have to waste massive amounts of time and supplies going back and forth between the surface and the lower floors. That wasn't worth it, for anyone, including the Loki Familia.
So it was essential for them to resolve any disputes that occurred here.
Moreover, the fact that the woman had been able to kill a Level 4 brawler implied that she was at least Level 5 in strength. At present, only the Loki Familia was strong enough to deal with someone like that.
"Is that Dogman trying to run?"
While Ais and Ryoji were talking, Alicia suddenly pointed something out.
She was referring to a Dogman girl in the crowd, carrying a medium-sized pack. Her normally bronze-tanned face had gone deathly pale, as if stricken with illness. She stood at the edge of Crystal Plaza, staring at the chaos before her in fear.
Then, without drawing anyone's attention, she began backing away… and quickly slipped out of the plaza altogether.
"I'll chase her!"
Without hesitation, Ais moved like the wind, sprinting off in pursuit.
Overhead, a massive white crystal bloomed like a flower in the ceiling of the floor.
The light it emitted gradually dimmed… and eventually vanished completely, replaced by the glow of the surrounding blue crystal clusters.
The town had entered nightfall.
(End of Chapter)
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