"Although I already screened as strictly as I could, in the end, I still accepted quite a few orders," Goddess Hephaestus said somewhat helplessly.
The greatsword custom-made by Tiona, the weapons for first-level adventurers in the Ganesha Familia, and the sword ordered by the Apollo Familia. Originally, she didn't want to accept Apollo's request, but that guy threw a tantrum right in front of her, mainly complaining about Artemis.
Artemis didn't choose him to be part of the "council," and this cold treatment made him feel quite upset.
As Artemis's "younger brother," Apollo had initially received the divine will of the Moon Goddess as well.
However, in the end, Artemis only chose goddesses, there were no male gods included.
And Apollo made a very frightening statement about it, "I can be a 'goddess' too."
Fortunately, now she didn't have to worry about Apollo having any improper intentions toward Shirou.
"I don't want to be beaten to death by Artemis," Apollo's tone was unusually calm.
It would take Artemis at most ten thousand years to revive. In fact, she had already revived by now, though the gods in the lower world were completely unaware.
But in any case, Apollo definitely didn't want to experience such a "long slumber" of being lost for ten thousand years.
"Shirou, with so many requests, you may have to work a bit harder. But there's no need to rush, take it slow," Goddess Hephaestus said.
She gently closed the order book in her hands and then said, "Actually, many of the orders just require a first-level weapon. Such weapons are already enough for them."
Emiya nodded, "Mm, I understand."
"By the way, Shirou, do you need me to help you update your status?"
"Yes, please."
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Emiya Shirou]
[Lv.3]
Strength: D528
Endurance: B703
Dexterity: B725
Agility: E499
Magic: A818
(Omitted below.)
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Goddess Hephaestus stared at the updated status record and, after pondering for a moment, said, "Mm, as expected, let's not level up for now."
Emiya's level had already reached Lv.3, and the feat used to level up was his achievement in subjugating the Antares.
The feat of forging a divine weapon hadn't fully manifested at that time due to special reasons, but now, he had already met the conditions to level up to Lv.4.
However, the goddess was still not satisfied with Shirou's current status values.
For ordinary adventurers, reaching such stats before leveling up was already extremely impressive. But whether it was the goddess or Shirou himself, they clearly had higher standards and expectations.
All stats breaking the limit. That kind of thing couldn't be forced, but at the very least, Magic and Dexterity needed to reach S rank, and the other stats should at least reach A.
She understood that these goals were already extremely high for most adventurers, but for Shirou, Hephaestus knew his potential went far beyond that.
In fact, the goddess wasn't worried about Shirou's stat growth. What she was more concerned about was that his growth was simply too fast, which meant the dangers he would face were growing more intense as well.
"Now, I'm starting to doubt whether sending you to join the expedition with the Loki Familia was the right decision."
Hephaestus let out a light sigh, "To think you all advanced straight to the fifty-ninth floor in one go… and Riveria even leveled up directly."
Shirou quietly listened to the goddess's concerns, then smiled slightly, "But at least this expedition had some important gains. We obtained key intelligence. It should have also dealt a significant blow to those hidden rats. They must be confused right now."
That fallen spirit clearly hadn't reached her full potential yet. Aside from her Magic, the rest of her abilities weren't that frightening.
"The most concerning situation right now is that the enemy has completely gone into hiding," Shirou said in thought.
Goddess Hephaestus showed a gentle smile and reached out to lightly rub Shirou's hair, "Don't worry, no matter how dangerous, it can't be scarier than the threat of the Evilus back then. Besides, the power of the Labyrinth City now is far stronger than it was at that time."
Shirou also smiled and nodded gently.
"By the way, there's news from the Ishtar Familia. Another one of their members is about to level up to Lv.4, and they even specially sent an invitation," She spoke while chuckling, "Why does it feel like they're the ones benefiting now?"
Before, even with Haruhime's help, the Ishtar Familia could only temporarily level up one member at most by relying on taboo items like the Sessho-seki.
But now, four adventurers who were originally Lv.3 in the Ishtar Familia had successfully advanced to Lv.4. This was a genuine level-up, not a temporary enhancement granted by the [Uchide no Kozuchi].
Although the feats needed for leveling up were mainly achieved through their own strength and battles, it was undeniable that Shirou's presence had played an extremely important role in pushing their growth forward.
Shirou nodded, "Got it. I'll go over there later."
———
"Lefiya, are you alright?"
The elven girl, while shopping with her friends, was suddenly called out by an unexpected person.
"Eh? Miss Filvis…", Lefiya turned around and, seeing who it was, let out a surprised call, then answered a bit shyly, "I'm fine, thank you for your concern."
Ever since that chance encounter, Lefiya had started to occasionally seek out Filvis. Now, her relationship with both Filvis and Aura had become much closer.
It seemed that because Lefiya served as a mediator between them, Aura no longer held any hostility toward Filvis.
Lefiya's friends saw what was happening, smiled kindly, exchanged glances, and then said to Lefiya, "Then, Lefiya, we'll head back first."
Lefiya watched her friends leave, then turned back to look at Filvis and asked with a bit of confusion, "Um, Miss Filvis, are you… worried about me?"
Filvis's expression relaxed a little, and she gently nodded, "I heard that your Loki Familia recently went on an expedition… I was a bit worried about you. Now that I see you safe and sound, I can finally be at ease."
Lefiya heard her words and showed a grateful smile, then shyly scratched her cheek, "With Lady Riveria and Mr. Emiya protecting me, I was fine."
She paused, a bit of self-reflection showing in her eyes, "Although in the end, I didn't contribute much…"
"Is Mr. Emiya alright too?", Filvis asked again.
Lefiya nodded, showing a reassuring smile, "Mm, although Mr. Emiya got a bit injured during the battle, he recovered quickly."
Filvis heard this and slightly let out a breath of relief, the worry in her eyes gradually fading. She softly said, "As long as you're all safe, that's enough."
"Miss Filvis…"
Filvis paused for a moment, then looked at Lefiya seriously.
"Do you want to… learn my magic?"
———
After the expedition ended, no matter what, it was time to take a good rest.
For the Loki Familia, although from an economic point of view, the harvest of this expedition was not much. In fact, it could be said to be a total loss. Riveria's successful level-up made all these losses seem insignificant.
Whether it was the morale of the adventurers or the overall strength of the Familia, both had seen a great improvement.
Now, except for Ais and Bete, those two young people who never wanted to stop, everyone else had temporarily relaxed.
In the courtyard of the Twilight Manor, several members gathered together, sunlight shining on them, and the air was filled with a leisurely atmosphere.
Tiona walked over and saw a group of boys sitting together, asking with a smile, "Raul, what are you guys gathered here talking about?"
A dwarf adventurer heard the question and instinctively replied, "We're talking about Pleasure Street… pfft…"
Before he could finish, he was smacked hard on the back by Raul, forcibly cutting off the topic.
"Ahem, nothing important!", Raul hurriedly added, but looked particularly guilty.
Tiona raised her eyebrows and showed a contemptuous expression, "Pleasure Street? I heard that loud and clear."
At this moment, Anakitty also walked over, glanced sideways at Raul and the others, and said in a flat tone, "They've been talking about Pleasure Street this whole time."
"Eh? Y-You heard?"
Raul showed a surprised expression.
"Of course, your voices are so loud, at least to me it was very obvious."
The catgirl Anakitty spoke as she lifted her ears slightly. As a cat person, her hearing was far more sensitive than normal.
Although the Loki Familia was already one of the top two Familia in the dungeon city Orario, in fact, its establishment wasn't very long ago.
The first member of the Familia was the current captain, [Braver] Finn, and now the core members like Raul were only around twenty years old.
For men of this age group, the appeal of Pleasure Street was obvious.
"Speaking of Pleasure Street… Sister!", Tiona suddenly turned and shouted, "You've heard about that too, right?"
Tione, who was resting not far away, walked over slowly, "What is it?"
"It's about the Ishtar Familia's style suddenly changing."
As the most famous Amazon adventurers in the city, the Hiryute sisters naturally wouldn't be unaware of the changes in the Ishtar Familia.
After all, the Ishtar Familia was also known as the "Amazon Nation" of the dungeon city.
"Oh, that matter," Tione nodded, "Yeah, now the Ishtar Familia has started leaning toward expeditions… I remember someone even came to ask you for training recently."
"Mm, well, we're the same race after all," Tiona answered with a grin.
Some members of the Ishtar Familia, especially several Lv.3 adventurers, had recently sought out Tiona for special training. For requests from fellow Amazons, Tiona didn't refuse, and did her best to provide guidance.
The two sisters talked about "Pleasure Street" and "Ishtar Familia" without any scruples, making Raul and the others feel very awkward.
"Tiona, keep your voice down…"
"Huh? What's the big deal? Raul, you go there all the time anyway, everyone knows," Tiona exposed him without mercy.
Raul's face turned red, "Actually, we were discussing… if we happened to run into Emiya-kun at Pleasure Street, maybe it'd be easier to get him to accept an order."
At the mention of that name, the atmosphere around them immediately quieted down.
[Saber], Emiya Shirou, the top blacksmith of the city, without equal.
His forging commissions were now booked solid; it was truly hard to find an opportunity.
Tiona was one of the very few people who had successfully submitted a commission. Her application had already been approved by the evaluators from the Hephaestus Familia.
As for Raul's commission—
[For a 'Super Ordinary Guy', second-tier equipment is already sufficient. Lord Emiya's sword… please apply again after your level-up.]
That was what the reviewer from the Hephaestus Familia said.
"That little pallum girl who acts like a mischievous devil, really shows no mercy at all," Raul was nearly in tears.
"That's why I was thinking, if we meet Emiya-kun in a relaxed setting like that, maybe he'll be easier to talk to," He added dejectedly.
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