After returning to the surface, Roy and Ryuu followed their usual routine and headed to the Guild Headquarters to exchange magic stones for money.
Today's earnings—2.42 million valis!
The fragment of Goliath's magic stone was in relatively good condition and sold for nearly 1.5 million valis, placing yet another heavy sack of gold coins in front of Roy and Ryuu.
Seeing the two of them carrying away massive bags of gold every single day, the surrounding adventurers had already grown numb to it.
What kind of money-making speed was this? It was even more absurd than a mint's production line.
Of course, it was only natural.
Though Roy and Ryuu appeared to be just two people, in practice it was more like five… six… or even seven or eight people working.
The two of them slaughtered monsters in the Dungeon, while multiple thunder incarnations followed behind, scooping up loot nonstop. Free labor that didn't need to be paid—absolutely perfect.
They left the Guild Headquarters.
Walking side by side with Ryuu, Roy rolled his eyes and deliberately let out a sigh.
"So slow… Just how long is it going to take to repay this debt?"
Over the past week, their total earnings were around eight million valis, and that was with the extra income from Goliath's magic stone. But Goliath couldn't be farmed daily—the respawn interval was a full week.
Unless they descended to the lower twenties and searched for rarer materials, earning seven to eight hundred thousand valis a day was already the limit.
To gather sixty million valis, it would take at least three to four months—and that was assuming nothing went wrong.
And going deeper meant Ryuu would need to teach Roy everything about those floors, which would take a great deal of time as well. No matter how one looked at it, it would take at least three months to repay the debt.
The elf girl suddenly slowed her steps.
Roy's words successfully caught Ryuu's attention, and a trace of guilt surfaced deep in her eyes.
This matter had nothing to do with Roy to begin with. He had already gone above and beyond by helping her wipe out the Rudra Familia, yet she was still dragging him along as unpaid labor.
Ryuu spoke earnestly, "You don't have to stay with me. You can focus on your own goals."
With Roy's current Lv.2 strength, as long as he avoided especially dangerous areas and remained cautious, his life wouldn't be in danger…
Suddenly, Ryuu lowered her head dejectedly.
She had almost forgotten—Roy was the type to deliberately walk into danger. Without her watching him, who knew what might happen?
"That won't do. I don't like quitting halfway," Roy said with a smile, shaking his head.
His words only deepened Ryuu's sense of guilt.
"Actually, I have a more stable and faster way to make money. I don't know if you'd be interested," Roy said, the corners of his mouth lifting as he stared straight at her.
Ryuu keenly caught the dangerous glint that flashed in his eyes.
"Do I even have a choice?" she asked.
"Nope!"
Roy answered cheerfully, the domineering tone in his voice making even a Lv.4 like Ryuu feel helpless.
Ryuu sighed. "I'll just listen."
"Let's go after the Apollo Familia!"
"—What do you mean?"
Roy's next sentence nearly made Ryuu choke on her own saliva, sending her into a fit of coughing.
Lowering his voice, Roy said, "Through a War Game, we seize the Apollo Familia's assets!"
"???"
Ryuu's rosy lips parted slightly as she stared at the boy beside her in disbelief, as if silently asking whether he completely misunderstood the word 'stable'.
The Apollo Familia was no pushover.
From their battle in the Dungeon, it was clear that the Apollo Familia was nothing like the loosely organized Rudra Familia.
Many of their members had been forcibly recruited, and the iron-fisted authority from top to bottom allowed the Familia to be controlled as a whole—like a strictly disciplined army.
In a War Game on the surface, the two of them versus hundreds of people… there was no chance of victory.
To avoid prying ears, Roy leaned close to Ryuu's long, pointed ear and whispered,
"First we do this… then that… and in the end, we add a little extra twist…"
His warm breath brushed against the elf girl's ear, causing it to flush red. Ryuu shot him a reproachful glance.
But after hearing his plan, she had no mind to care about such trivial things. Her sky-blue eyes widened.
She suddenly recalled how, a week ago, Roy had pulled Remmel aside to discuss something, as well as how Roy's adventurer information still hadn't been updated.
Pretending that his magic required chanting during the Goliath subjugation.
Everything seemed to connect at this moment.
It was likely that back in the plaza, when the Apollo Familia had provoked him, Roy had already begun crafting this plan—setting everything up step by step.
This guy really couldn't tolerate even the slightest loss.
Get punched once, and he'd repay it tenfold—no, a hundredfold!
Ryuu couldn't help but feel pity for the Apollo Familia.
Provoking Roy would surely be the thing they regretted most in their lives.
"Are you really confident? If this fails…" Ryuu looked at Roy with a complicated expression.
"Trying won't hurt. What if they take the bait?" Roy said with a grin.
"Besides, the Apollo Familia isn't exactly innocent. Forcing people to join, even injuring bystanders… they deserve what's coming. Instead of letting that wealth rot away, it might as well contribute something useful."
"What you say makes sense, but—"
Ryuu's expression twisted in conflict. Starting a War Game purely for money felt hard to justify.
"And that sixty million valis debt…"
"I'll think about it!"
Seeing her reaction, Roy revealed a smile just as he had expected.
Adventuring was a profession that gambled with one's life—no one knew when disaster might strike.
Ryuu was no exception.
She worried that the debt might never be repaid, that Lady Astraea would be forced onto the streets. She also wanted to free up time as soon as possible to hunt down those connected to the Dark Faction…
Roy had no patience to waste three months on this matter.
And neither did Ryuu.
Walking behind Roy, Ryuu hesitated for another reason as well. This was the Astraea Familia's problem—there was no reason for Roy to put himself at risk.
What if they failed…?
At that moment, Ryuu looked up and noticed the faintly manic smile on Roy's side profile.
She seemed to understand something.
She had been overthinking it. Revenge, debt repayment—none of those were truly what drove him.
The real reason was simple.
Roy wanted to do it.
Because the adventure was right there.
Realizing that Roy wasn't choosing to sacrifice himself eased the burden on Ryuu's heart considerably. Before she knew it, she nodded.
"…Alright. I agree."
"Take this. I'm heading to the Guild."
Roy's eyes lit up. Afraid she might change her mind, he tossed the heavy sack of gold coins straight into Ryuu's arms and bolted into the crowd, vanishing in an instant.
Ryuu stood there dumbfounded, holding the massive bag of coins, regret flooding her heart.
What was she even doing?
Her desire to do something for Roy and her reluctance to refuse him intertwined with her guilt over fearing that he might sacrifice himself for the Familia.
She had never experienced such complicated emotions before.
Roy rushed back into the Guild Headquarters and grabbed Remmel by the collar.
"Update my adventurer information—now!"
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