Among Jeanne's five Skills, there was one Lucas had been deliberately avoiding—Crest of Affection.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he summoned his Status Panel, expression unreadable. The skill list appeared before him, lines of glowing text floating in the air.
While he focused, Jeanne—finally freed from the weight of his lingering gaze—let out a quiet sigh of relief. For reasons she couldn't quite explain, whenever Lucas stared at her like that, her heart fluttered in the most confusing way.
What's wrong with me? He was just… looking.
The Holy Maiden found herself wrestling with a rather unfamiliar kind of problem.
Lucas, on the other hand, was far too absorbed in his own thoughts to notice her little crisis. His attention was entirely on the strange resonance between his Skills and hers.
His eyes flicked across the display until he found it:
Blessing of Affection
・Bestows divine favor upon one's beloved, granting protection to members of the same Familia.
・The more female members in the Familia, and the higher their intimacy with the user, the stronger the blessing's effect.
He frowned. "That's… vague as hell."
Still, the connection was obvious now—Jeanne's Crest of Affection was clearly the byproduct, or perhaps the secondary manifestation, of his Blessing of Affection.
He'd never fully understood how it worked before, but that wasn't his fault.
Reason one: he hadn't had a Familia. The description said "grants protection to members of the same Familia"—and without one, there were no members to bless.
Reason two: even if he'd wanted to test it, there had been no way.
That thought made him break into a cold sweat.
If that invitation had summoned a guy instead of Jeanne… that would've been a complete disaster.
Thank the gods the System clearly had a built-in "compatibility filter" that understood his… core preferences.
Mystery solved.
And now that he compared Blessing of Affection to Jeanne's Crest of Affection, the unspoken implication behind their linkage clicked into place.
He exhaled through his nose, muttering under his breath, "C'mon, what kind of person do you think I am? An all-girls Familia? Really?"
But deep inside? He was grinning like a fool.
System. You know me too well.
By the time the chores were done, they both retreated to their rooms early.
Lucas stayed up, using the downtime from his injuries to analyze the synergy between his new Magic and Skills, trying to rework his combat flow.
Jeanne, after a day that had gone from death to resurrection to becoming part of a Familia, was completely wiped out. The moment her head hit the pillow, she was gone.
The language textbook she'd been studying slipped from her fingers, landing open beside her.
Morning sunlight streamed through the window, glinting off the dew that clung to the garden leaves like scattered pearls.
Click.
Jeanne pushed open the window.
A cool breeze brushed against her cheeks, carrying the scent of grass and sunlight. She tucked a loose strand of golden hair behind her ear and stretched, eyes half-lidded in contentment.
"Mmm… that feels amazing…"
Peaceful. Gentle. Normal.
The kind of morning she hadn't experienced in… who even knew how long.
For a moment, she simply basked in it.
Then a quiet rustling in the courtyard drew her attention.
She looked down to find Lucas watering the little patch of flowers near the fence, moving at an unhurried pace.
Sensing her gaze, he turned—and their eyes met.
He flashed her a bright, boyish grin. "Morning, Jeanne! Sleep well? Getting used to the place?"
That easy smile—and the memory of his intense stare from last night—made her cheeks flush faintly. She nodded, almost too quickly. "Yeah… I slept well. Better than I have in a long time."
"Good," he said, satisfied. "Once I finish taking care of these little guys, I'll get breakfast started."
Jeanne hesitated, guilt flickering in her eyes. "Wait—let me help. I can handle breakfast."
"You?" Lucas raised an eyebrow, voice teasing but not unkind. "Maybe later. You should get familiar with the kitchen first. I'd rather not watch the Holy Maiden have a duel with a frying pan at sunrise."
Jeanne puffed her cheeks slightly, imagining that exact scenario. "…Fine."
Breakfast was a hearty mix of Orario's local flavor—sweet and spicy beef crepes, creamy corn chowder, and crisp pickled greens.
Lucas had clearly gone the extra mile. Alongside the local dishes, he'd prepared toasted bread with jam and butter, plus orange juice, milk, and coffee.
To him, breakfast wasn't something to rush. Even when everyone else treated it like an afterthought, he believed the first meal of the day deserved care.
When Jeanne sat down and spotted the familiar foods, her eyes widened. "Wait—you actually know my homeland's taste?"
Lucas smirked, sliding a warm cup of milk toward her. "Who do you think I am? Everything's on the sweeter side, just how you like it. Try it. If the jam or coffee's not to your liking, we'll pick up different brands when we go shopping."
She stared at him for a long moment—the rough-edged adventurer who, somehow, noticed the smallest details—and felt something stir quietly in her chest.
Warmth. Comfort. The fragile kind that felt… safe.
"I'll start, then." She smiled softly and picked up her fork.
The meal turned out to be shockingly good. Jeanne's appetite seemed to double, maybe triple.
Lucas could only watch, dumbfounded, as she polished off nearly two-thirds of everything on the table.
He blinked. "I'm sorry—where exactly are you putting all that? Is this… a talent thing?"
As someone without any real "innate gifts," who mostly relied on his System to stay afloat, Lucas was genuinely shaken by the gap between "normal" and "natural genius."
Everyone in Orario knew it—how much you could eat often reflected how much potential you had as an adventurer. And Jeanne? She was clearly exceptional.
Her face reddened again. "I—I don't know! I just… got hungry."
Lucas rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It's probably your Falna kicking in—your body's trying to rebuild itself and fill in the gaps from before. It's normal to crave nutrients when your potential's awakening."
"Really?" she asked, blinking.
"Yeah, sure. Probably," he said, half-confident, half-making it up as he went.
Don't ask too much, he thought. It's just… the mysteries of the lower world.
After breakfast, they cleared the table together, cleaned up, and headed out.
The streets were lined with trees, birdsong mixing with the hum of the waking city.
Soon, they joined the crowd flowing into Adventurer's Avenue.
Jeanne's eyes darted from one sight to another, her expression a perfect blend of awe and wonder.
"I can't believe it… so many races, all living together…" she murmured. "Elves, dwarves, beastfolk, Amazons, Pallum, humans… this city really is a melting pot."
Lucas couldn't help smiling. He'd been the same once—wide-eyed, overwhelmed, and utterly lost in the chaos of Orario's diversity. It had taken him days to process it all, and even months later, he sometimes still caught himself wondering if it was real.
Yeah, he thought. That's the true isekai experience.
He walked beside her, answering her questions as they went.
"Lucas," she asked softly, "is the rest of the world like this too? I mean… all these races living together in peace?"
He gave a small, knowing smile. "Of course it is." A beat. "Not."
When she blinked in confusion, he chuckled. "This place—officially called the Labyrinth City Orario, the Center of the World—exists because of the Dungeon. It's the only city built directly above it, and it's the main producer of Magic Stone goods. That's what draws adventurers, merchants, nobles—you name it—from every corner of the map."
He gestured toward the bustling street. "That's why you see this kind of coexistence here. Everywhere else—villages, towns, even cities dominated by humans—you'd be lucky to spot another race once a year. Especially elves; they prefer their forest enclaves."
He glanced at her. "Out there, most races just… stick to their own. Peaceful enough, as long as they don't cross paths."
Jeanne's expression softened with understanding.
Even among humans, conflict was inevitable—so between entirely different races? The outcome was obvious.
"Then Orario really is… a miracle," she said quietly.
"Maybe," Lucas replied. "Or maybe it's just necessity. Because the Familia System—and the gods behind it—made this coexistence possible."
He looked toward the distant Tower of Babel, sunlight glinting off its surface.
"And because somewhere beneath us," he added softly, "lurks an enemy that every race, every god, and every mortal has to face together."
Jeanne followed his gaze, silent.
For the first time, she understood: this city wasn't just a miracle.
It was humanity's last line of unity.