The next morning, at dawn.
Twilight Manor was noisier than usual.
Today was the day the Familia would depart on its expedition, so the entire household was up early. The courtyard echoed with the sounds of equipment being hauled back and forth.
Isis stood at the edge of the courtyard with Loki, watching it all unfold.
"Well, kid? Makes you want to join the Familia's expedition, doesn't it?"
"This time they're going all the way down to the fifty-first floor to hunt Cadmus."
"Too bad you haven't made it to Level 2 yet. Otherwise, even if Riveria objected, I'd still tell you to go and see the world a bit."
Loki lightly nudged Isis with her elbow as she laughed.
She liked this child quite a lot. He was outstanding in every way. The only bad point was that he was a little too good-looking, which made it easy for the girls in the Familia to start paying attention to him.
Though from the looks of it, there was probably no need to worry. Compared with spending time around pretty girls, this child seemed to prefer training.
Sleeping early and rising early—before the expedition members were even awake, Loki had already seen Isis on the training grounds working on his elemental control.
All she could say was that with this kind of diligence, Isis's future ceiling was bound to be high, even without mentioning his heaven-defying talent.
"Then I'll wait until I reach Level 2."
Isis could only smile helplessly.
Just as the two of them were chatting, Lefiya came jogging over.
And nearly tripped over the strap of her own bag in the process.
"Lefiya? What's wrong?"
Seeing his favorite meal companion hurrying over in such a rush, Isis asked in confusion.
Ever since joining the Loki Familia, Isis had always sat with Lefiya at meals—breakfast, lunch, and dinner alike. You could say they had become perfect meal partners.
"It's nothing, really. I just came to say goodbye."
"But Isis, even while I'm gone, you still have to make sure you eat properly, okay?"
Lefiya gave a slightly silly grin and finally said what she had come over to say.
Loki had originally been eyeing Isis and Lefiya with suspicion, but after hearing that all Lefiya wanted was to remind him to keep eating on time, she could not help feeling speechless.
So they really were just meal buddies.
It actually got to the point where she had to remind him to eat properly.
"Mm, don't worry, Lefiya."
"You be careful in the Dungeon too. I'll be waiting for all of you to come back safely."
Isis smiled as he answered.
At his words, Lefiya gave him a very bright, earnest smile. Then someone behind her called her name. She answered, turned back to him, mouthed I'm off, and ran back toward the group.
The golden-haired elf fluttered away like a gust of wind and vanished into the crowd.
After that, Loki patted Isis on the shoulder and went over to join Finn in giving the pre-expedition address. Listening to them, even Isis felt his blood start to boil a little.
He even found himself getting impatient to reach Level 2 already. Once that happened, he could join expeditions too—and fight even stronger monsters.
Soon the entire force began moving out in grand formation. Morning light rose over Orario, illuminating the courtyard clearly.
Riveria, however, was walking at the rear of the formation. She did not hurry to catch up to the group. Instead, she came over and stopped in front of Isis.
There was gentleness in her eyes as she reached out and lightly adjusted his collar.
"Take good care of yourself. If anything happens, go to Loki."
"And remember—don't go too deep into the Dungeon."
Her voice was soft, but more than anything, it carried concern for him.
"I know."
"Auntie, you be careful too. Make sure you come back safely."
Isis smiled as he replied.
"Mm."
Riveria nodded, then turned and left, though inwardly she felt a quiet spark of happiness.
After all, this child truly cared about her.
At last, the expedition set out.
The sound of footsteps, the clatter of equipment, the occasional exchange of voices—all of it flowed out through Twilight Manor's great gate and disappeared into Orario's morning light and streets.
And then, suddenly, it was quiet.
Isis stood in the courtyard, looking at the now-empty gate.
Twilight Manor had never been this silent before.
…
After watching the expedition leave together with the members who remained behind, Isis followed his usual habit and headed for the second-floor dining hall.
"Oh… right. There's no meal service."
He tapped himself lightly on the head.
Loki had mentioned it two days ago: while the Familia was on expedition, no one would be cooking, and everyone had to handle their own meals. Of course, the Familia would provide a food allowance.
The reason was simple: most of the Familia's cooks were battle members serving in that role part-time, usually Level 2 or Level 3 adventurers.
Since they all had places in the expedition force, the members left behind had to solve all three meals for themselves.
"Perfect excuse to go have breakfast at the Hostess of Fertility. Honestly… the food there really is excellent."
"And I should try exploring the seventh and eighth floors today too."
Stretching lazily, Isis made up his mind. After a simple round of tidying up, he got ready to head out in search of food.
"Hm? Isis, are you heading into the Dungeon?"
At that very moment, just as he stepped out, he ran into Loki face-to-face. Her eyes immediately took in the staff in his hand, the backpack slung over him, and the combat clothes he was wearing.
"Yeah, though before that I'm going to find somewhere to deal with breakfast and lunch."
Isis nodded.
"You really are hardworking. But that's a good thing."
"With your talent, plus this kind of diligence, I'd bet you'll catch up to Ais and the others sooner than you think. I've got a lot of confidence in you on that front."
"But this time you're exploring the Dungeon alone. I'm sure Riveria and Alicia already told you everything important, so I won't lecture you too much. Just remember one thing—don't trust other people too easily."
Loki stretched lazily and spoke with a satisfied grin.
And none of this was encouragement.
She was simply stating facts.
After all, Isis's Dark Eyes skill was far too terrifying. It boosted not only his basic growth, but the growth of his ability values as well.
In other words, Isis's status growth very likely could be twice that of a normal adventurer.
Thinking of that, Loki could not help feeling excited to see Isis's first status update.
"Mm, I understand, Lady Loki."
Isis nodded seriously.
"Good. That's all, then. I'm heading back for a second nap. I'm dying here, getting up this early~"
Seeing that Isis had taken her words to heart, Loki yawned and wandered back inside.
As far as Isis's strength went, she felt perfectly at ease—especially after hearing from Riveria that the child had fought and killed three War Shadows by himself.
As long as he did not do anything stupid like charging into the middle floors, nothing would happen to him.
And besides—
he understood that himself too.
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