'The Loki Familia frontline team continued on their way across the plains'

'This is how an excursion plays out:

The way it works is that there will be a front team composed of high-level adventurers, they will clear the way for the others.

The others will clear the remaining weaker mobs and collect the loot while doing whatever job they were assigned to do.'

'Bete and everyone started to do some small talk when...'

'Bete's ears suddenly twitched.'

"Someone is coming… "

'From the mist, a group of 5 appeared'

'An Elf, Weretiger, Witch Loli, a blue-haired Human and a Dog girl.'

'It was the Hermes Familia.'

"Hum? What a coincidence to meet so soon! Asfi Al Andromeda" Said Finn

According to the time, we were supposed to meet with them on the Middle floors and receive their report from their investigation, so what were they doing up here?

"No need to be formal Captain Finn, just call me Asfi… And this isn't really a coincidence, I was expecting to meet with you guys right now anyway." Replied Asfi

"Oh? Did something happen?" Asked Riveria

"Kind of… The monster has been found."

"!" x Loki members

"Ha! Doesn't that make our job easier? Where is the monster?" Said Tiona

"It wasn't a monster, it was a person, an adventurer."

"!" x Loki members

"WHAT? You're not mistaken right?" Asked Lefiya, shocked

"Unfortunately, it is true." Said the Elf from the Hermes Familia

'Ais gripped her sword as she put all of her previous thoughts to the back of her head'

"Where is he?" She asked, clearly angry as she frowned

"He is dead" Replied Asfi

"!?" x Loki Familia

"What happened?" She asked

"... It's quite hard to explain… But an adventurer already took it out. Didn't you all see it already? A tall red knight with a large sword? He was walking on this path." Said Falgar

"Pretty hard to miss… With him being almost 2 M tall and all." Complimented the Dog Girl

'It's normal that during an excursion, the adventurers would be in a battle against exhaustion, so choosing the most cost-effective path was a necessity.

This is especially so when the target is the Deep floors like this one. They won't have many opportunities to restock their supplies, and the few they will have will be rather... Expensive'

'It just so happened that for the Upper floors, the path also ended up being the fastest.'

'And the one Silver took was exactly that path, his fight happened right on top of the road. Some may say he was lucky, others may say he was unlucky... '

'The Loki Familia members looked at each other in surprise.'

"So someone took care of things before us?" Asked Riveria

"I would say it's a shame, but this is also good since fewer people will end up hurt." Said Tiona

"I agree with you on that sister." Said Tione

"..."

'Ais released the grip on her sword, she seemed more relaxed but she was still upset.'

"It's good everything came to an end, could you tell us what happened?" Asked Finn

"Of course, let me see, we were investigating the Middle floors..."

'Asfi proceeded to explain everything they did, but she sneakily omitted Silver's appearance during her report.'

'Her team members didn't say much, as they trusted their captain and her choices.'

"... Eventually we tracked the perpetrator to the Upper floors, but by the time we arrived the fight was already happening..."

"Hum..."

'Finn's thumb started to hurt a little.'

"That's not even the start! We didn't see much but I will tell you what I saw!..." Said the Dog girl

'She proceeded to tell all of the events and her own opinions of the fight, she made it sound heroic in a sense.

She also started to draw on the ground, being a very proficient mapper comes with high drawing skills.'

(She is an excellent mapper.)

'This only made the story more interesting for the listeners.

Especially for Tiona who loved hero stories.'

"... So you are telling me the red knight, who was clearly weaker than the murderer, defeated him?" Asked Finn

"Sigh… Although her story was a little bit exaggerated, that was what happened." Said Asfi

Although she omitted the very end when the murderer turned into smoke…

"Wait, didn't I hear about a Red knight some time ago?" Asked Tiona

"You must be talking about the Goliath event right? I also thought about that." Said Finn

"Loki was looking for him right?" Asked Gareth

"Do you think they are the same person Tiona?" Asked Lefiya

"Well… It's not every time you hear about a Full-plate, Red knight in Orario." Replied Tiona

"Tsk. I wanted to deal with that bastard on my own" Said Bete

"It's good this all ended in any case, we took this commission since it was on our way, but there was a chance we wouldn't be able to complete without jeopardizing the operation." Said Gareth

"Hey hey, Asfi. Did you see his face? Is he handsome?" Asked Tiona

"..."

"Now that you say... We didn't. I mean, we did see him remove his armor and… Just a minute I need..." The Elf tried to speak but he got some nausea and sat on a rock nearby.

"... It's just as Thane said. We didn't see his appearance, if you are so curious, just pass by the Guild, he will have to collect his reward eventually." Replied Asfi

"But!... I will only be back in the next week or two… If you see his face, make sure to tell me later okay?" Said Tiona

"Of course." Replied Asfi with a smile

'They talked a bit more with each other and parted ways since the Loki Familia was a little behind schedule already.'

…

/On the surface/

'Silver left the Dungeon and made his way to the Guild as he always did'

'There were many things to do'

'He had to exchange his loot for money and complete his commissions.'

'There was also Frederic's last request'

"Although I don't have any intention of actually doing it, I might learn something about what happened."

The plot has started to change and I need to know why. The diary might have the answers I need.

Was it my actions or is this world naturally different?

'Silver was ready to face an unknown future, but if that's the case, seeking knowledge will eventually become one of his top priorities. Just like everyone else.'

"Know thy enemy they say. A war is won through strategy and not just plain numbers."

"In any case, that's for tomorrow, today, I just want to rest and update my status after I return from the Guild."

'Silver paid a wagon driver and rested as the wagon made its way across the busy roads of Orario.'

…

/Several hours later/

'The moon was bright and the wind was chilly.'

'Sitting on a balcony of a two-story-high house, a man took a sip of what seemed to be a very expensive wine.'

'His eyes were green and his hair was blond, he looked like the perfect prince charming.'

'Someone suddenly appeared from the ceiling like an assassin and sat on the same table as him.'

/BAM!/

"I want some answers, this wasn't in the plan."

"..."

'The atmosphere was tense as the other person in the balcony hit the table, almost sending the wine flying.'

'This man was wearing a cloak, covering his whole body.'

"I know your habits and we were fine with them… as long as it does not affect the plan!" Said the cloaked man

"... As far as I know, the ones at fault were you guys no?" Replied the blond man

"Stop creating excuses! You could have very well stopped but you only added wood to the fire!"

"It's easy to place the blame on me when it was one of your agents that caused all of this… It even cost a precious member of my Familia… How are you guys going to repay me?" Replied the blond man

"WHAT? After all of this, you still want remuneration?" Asked the Cloaked man in a deeper tone

Tsk! So he was aware the Elf was a double agent. Looks like we need to tie some loose ends…

'The blond man looked at the cloaked person as if he could read his mind. And he said:'

"This situation wasn't that bad… We managed to test the waters and see how things would go in a real situation." Replied the blond man

"People might get suspicious." Said the cloaked man

"Yet… The plan isn't near completion so I don't see any problems. We have enough time to wait, and let things lay down. By the time everything is ready..." Replied the blond man

"There was a change of plans. The time was brought forward." Said the cloaked man as he interrupted the blond man

'The smile of the blond man deepened. It was as if he expected all of this to happen...'

'But who knew what was passing through his head?'

"I see, it's just a shame. I wanted to play with those pieces for a little bit longer."

"We will contact you later. Get ready by then." Said the cloaked man as he jumped to the ceiling

"..."

'A small paper fell from the air, there was a full moon inscribed in it.'

"The time and the target have been set..."

'The blond man got up and made his way inside the house.'

…

'The moment he entered the house, he saw an Elf girl waiting for him inside'

"Lead me to Kori, Filvis." He said to the girl

'She bowed and led him down the hallways of the mansion.'

'Eventually, they arrived in a room where an Elf was waiting on a couch.'

"Dionysus-Sama. What is that you need?" Said the Elf

'Although he looked calm on the outside, the Elf was sweating a little bit'

"There's no need to be direct and stiff, sit down and relax please."

'The blond man sat on the couch slowly and picked a glass of wine to drink.'

'This seemed extremely slow for the nervous Elf.'

"... Kori… I heard some very bad things about you lately..."

'The Elf was stunned'

"This! It must be a misunderstanding!"

"Of course it is… How could my child do such things… That's why I came to talk with you today… There is something I need you to do. To prove you aren't such a bad person."

'Dionysus proceeded with explaining his plan and after he was done, the Elf left the room with a smile.'

"... Should I take care of him Dionysus-Sama?" Asked Filvis

"No need, they will take care of this on their own… And he still has his uses..."

'He went to a window and gazed at the moon.'

"What a bunch of fools… They are severely underestimating Orario… But isn't that fun?"

"I wonder how long they will last…"

'Although the girl couldn't see, Dionysus had an extremely macabre smile on his face. It looked… Euphoric?'

Such an interesting board… I wonder what expressions they will show me!

"Ha… Just thinking about it..."

FILLS ME WITH GLEE!

"I wonder… How good will be this time's 'Orgia'..."

This order… It's so unpleasant.

'He turned around and looked at the girl.'

"Come here."

'She walked to Dionysus and gazed at him.'

'Her eyes were beautiful, they shinned under the moonlight... However, they seemed sad and empty.'

"The time has come, you know what to do right?"

'Filvis nodded and left.'

"..."

This Orgia can only be enjoyed by me, it's already time to clean the competitors away…

"No… I have an even better idea..."

'He smiled widely.'

'The scene of the blond-haired man with his green shining eyes under the moonlight seemed macabre yet magical.'

…

/Earlier that same day, by the time when Silver arrived in the Guild/

"... You look like crap. I mean, crappier than usual." Said Loiju

'Silver did look terrible, his clothes were torn in some places and he was considerably dirty.'

"... No, 'Good job' or, 'Welcome back'?" Asked Silver

"What am I? Your girlfriend?" Said Loiju

"..."

"Who am I kidding… Which girl would fall for you? So let me rephrase that..."

"What am I? Your mom?"

"..."

/Crack/

He is asking for it…

'As he cracked his knuckles, Silver was truly considering if he should use his Plasmids to teach a lesson to this Elf.'

"Your face is scary man..."

"... Sigh… You were this close to suffering my revenge, but I will spare you for today." Said Silver

"..."

"But well, I meant it. Your clothes are scraped, what happened this time? Did you try to invoke a monster party or something?" Said the Elf as he gazed at his adventurer with a doubtful expression

This guy is always making dangerous experiments, one time he tried to forcefully feed a goblin magic stones to see if it would evolve…

I wouldn't be surprised if he angers the Dungeon one day...

"Nothing of the sort, I just finished the commissions."

"... You actually finished those? So fast?... I am surprised, I thought it would take a few days at least."

Tsk. You weren't supposed to do that so fast… How am I going to prevent you from going into the Middle floors now?

"... It was the freaking Infant Dragons. They did this to me." Said Silver

A small half-truth. He doesn't need to know I solved the murder case as of yet.

But how am I going to collect the prize money?...

"You actually killed one? Silver, your progress amazes me. In a sense, you are being faster than even the Sword Princess!"

"Chiu! Speak in a lower tone please."

"I know you don't want to attract attention, but everything is going to be disclosed once you Level up and receive an Alias anyway. At least most of it."

"People are going to find out you Leveled up fast and problems are going to come either way."

"So why hide it? It's better to show yourself now and gain some good achievements so you can gain a cool Alias."

'He stopped to think for a while.'

"It's your choice at the end of the day."

I am bound by the contract so I can't disclose any information on him until he reveals himself…

Damnit! I really want to show off by saying the adventurer I'm training is so talented…

"..."

'Looking at his face, Silver definitely had an idea of what this pesky Elf was thinking.'

"I don't mind showing myself off, the problem is that it's a bit too early. I am not going to Level up anytime soon, so I would like to make some more time."

"Yeah… I am being too hasty, it will probably take at least half a year for you to Level up… You have more than enough time to build some reputation." Replied Loiju

"..."

Half a year?

Perhaps If I try to max my stats…

"In any case, this is something for the future. For now, let's focus on the present."

'He got up and led me to one of the balconies.'

"Let's start… Commission number… Orc Hides… The buyer is willing to fork additional money for each additional hide."

"Sure, I have a couple more..."

'Silver and Loiju went over all of the commissions and around half an hour later, Silver gave him a farewell and made his way not towards his home, but to Babel!'

'There was one Goddess he had to fetch there before going home.'

'Not before stopping at an alley to switch his clothes and give himself a wind bath first. He can't go to such a luxurious place in scraps...'

'Although adventurers going there is very common, the very minimum of decency should be required. Otherwise he is going to become a laughing stock.'

…

'On the sides of Babel, there were multiple entrances, some of which led to the first floor of Babel, the Guild branch.

One of those led to the staircases that connected the floors, and finally, the last one was the elevator.'

'Today was quite empty, so Silva had the chance to use the elevator.'

"... Let me see… The 8th floor?"

'Silver clicked the button and the elevator started going up.'

"..."

Looking at the luxury, the only thing left is some nice elevator song…

"This is so strange... "

I feel as if I am back in…

"Rapture..."

'Silver let out a sigh'

"Forget it. That already passed, this is my life now."

/Ding/

'With a chime sound, the elevator stopped and the doors opened to a nicely decorated corridor.'

'The ground and the ceiling were made from a nice brownstone, the bricks on the wall were golden and they looked metallic due to their sheen.'

'There were many lamps and chandeliers scattered around the corridor, lighting the way for the visitors.

They were definitely magical since Silver couldn't spot a power cord.'

'Multiple shops were aligned perfectly, all of them filled with expensive gear each costing at least 5 Million Valis.'

'But the average price was at least 10 Million Vallis, Silver even saw a sword costing 80 Million.'

'Even the consumables here were outrageously expensive.'

'Anything pricier than that is usually commissioned in private by an adventurer. Unless it's a magic sword like the ones from the Crozzo Familia.'

'Or if the equipment is made from an incredibly rare ore. Like Ais' spare sword, it costs 70 Million Vallis.'

'If that wasn't enough, expensive Magic stones were placed as decorations besides the items in order to make them more appealing, implying that if you had that gear, those stones could be yours.'

'At least, that was Silver's interpretation.'

"This place is quite grand… To think all of this is from Hephaestus Familia alone."

There should be several dozen shops just on this floor, right?

This is to show just how many advanced blacksmiths they have, it's much more than what they show in the anime.

'Silver took out a paper from his pocket'

"Let me see… Shop number 31."

'He looked around and noticed that he was close to the 67 and 66 shops'

'There are two lines of shops, one with an Odd number and another with an Even number.'

(Image)

"I should get to it."

…

'Silver went slowly, taking a look at every shop, he sometimes talked with the clerks, but most were just normal people working as shop clerks.

The ones that were actually blacksmiths were dismissive of his questions.'

'It's normal, they are competing against many others, if it was so easy to get information from them, then they would've been thrown out of the competition long ago.'

"In that regard, Espínter was much more open than these guys."

Although I wonder, with his abilities he could've easily secured a spot in this place, after all, he was selling 3 Million Valis products in a normal shop on the streets, and he even had some influence within the Familia…

And they were certainly not overpriced.

Just who was that old fart?.. Perhaps, he was just a retired old man that decided to live humbly...

"Urg… I still need to apologize to him… It's been two weeks, he must've forgotten about me at this point."

'Silver finally arrived at the shop, it looked like any of the shops, the only difference was that this shop seemed to be focussed around armor.'

"Every blacksmith has his/her own specialty after all."

It's impossible to master everything. Doing so is just a waste of time.

"The only people who can probably take on such a mantle are the blacksmith Gods."

/Ding cling.../

'The door to the shop opened as a petite girl wearing a cute red white clerk outfit left the shop with a smile.'

"Good day customer what may I..."

'Hestia stopped mid-sentence. But Silver didn't look at her.'

"Ah yes… I am looking for something very particular. You see, I am looking for a Goddess, around this tall, she has beautiful blue eyes and is very noticeable with her twin tail dark hair, would your shop happen to have what I am looking for?"

"..."

'Hestia smiled.'

"I think I know what you are looking for! Please come inside!"

'The excited Hestia entered the shop and Silver couldn't help but smile a little.'

'It seemed that Silver wasn't the only one working hard in this Familia.'