The dazed Ais stared at the heavily injured and unconscious young adventurer, muttering:
"So strong—"
She spoke everyone's thoughts.
The body drenched with "Advanced Healing Potion" slowly healed, but broken bones and damaged organs couldn't be fixed in an instant—even with a 500,000 valis bottle of "Elixir", it would take a while.
Whether in stamina or spirit, Fron was completely spent—his body in shambles from the inside out.
Even with a god's blessing, he would have to spend a few days in bed.
--------------------------------
"What should we do, Finn?"While casting healing magic, Riveria asked the Pallum.
"Hmm, we don't even know which Familia he belongs to. We can't just leave him here, right? And we don't even know him. At this point, let's just use that potion to take a look, but only the symbol of his Deity. Once we know his Familia, we can contact them when we return to the surface."
"An "Status Thief" potion, huh... It's over the line, but I guess we have no choice."
"Raul."
"Y-Yes, Captain!"
As a core member of the Familia's second team, Raul was Level 4 and had long supported the first-line adventurers.
He took out a rainbow-colored potion from his backpack and dripped a drop on the young man's back under everyone's gaze.
Immediately, the blessing of a god—proof of his Familia—surfaced.
It was a symbol they were very familiar with.
It appeared in front of their eyes in an instant.
This time, everyone, including the three veterans, was completely dumbfounded—
"Nani— You've—got to be kidding me!!!!!!!!!!!"
The werewolf Bete felt like he had just heard the most ridiculous joke of his life.
"Th-That—That can't be—"
The elf girl Lefiya looked like she'd seen a ghost, her lips trembling, unable to form a complete sentence.
The Amazoness sisters were equally stunned.
Even the three veterans—Finn, Riveria, and Gareth—had shock written all over their faces.
Even the emotionless, golden-eyed girl nicknamed the "Doll Princess" had her expressionless face shattered into surprise.
"To think he's actually one of our own... but I don't remember anyone like him in the Familia—"
Finn quickly composed himself and smiled as he spoke to Raul:
"Think about it. None of us have seen him before, and he was on the fifth floor with no backup weapons."
"That means he's either inexperienced or broke, a newbie. And he must've become an adventurer during our 'Expedition'."
"In other words, a new member."
"—"
Then, the normally dazed Ais suddenly had a sharp moment.
"Then—how did he get so strong in such a short time?"
Bingo.
The three veterans: "..."
Amazoness Sisters: "..."
Bete: "..."
Raul and Anakitty: "..."
Everyone twisted their expressions in confusion at that piercing question. It was too ridiculous.
Not getting the answer she wanted, Ais tilted her head with a blank, puzzled look.
'S-So cute.'
'So cute—'
'So cute—'
That was what the other members were thinking—
But no one could answer Ais's question.
"Uhm—should we maybe check his skil—"
Just as Raul was about to say something unnecessary, Riveria raised her hand firmly and stopped him.
"Since he's a companion of our Familia, it's better to ask him directly. If he's willing, he'll tell us."
"Yeah! Since he's one of us—"
Finn raised his spear and smiled.
"Let's go home. And while we're at it, we'll ask Loki about this new member!"
With the strength of their nearly monstrous group, returning to the surface wasn't any harder than eating or drinking.
Smoothly, they crossed the last five floors and reached the surface.
The surface was like a star-studded black veil.
Orario, beneath the curtain of night, stubbornly revealed a corner of itself.
"The air—it smells like the surface! Ah! Orario, we're back!"
"Alright, Tiona, let's hurry home. I'm dying of curiosity!"
"Yeah!"
The sisters turned to glance at the unconscious young man Anakitty was carrying.
Since it was late at night, the northern district—away from the city center—was quiet.
The group walked through the main street, turned onto a small path, and finally arrived at the gates of the "Twilight Manor."
"We're home!"
"It's—It's the expedition team!!"
"Please notify the others, thank you!"
"R-Right away!!!!"
"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa—"
The previously quiet Twilight Manor suddenly lit up—all the magic stone lamps in the courtyard flicked on, the hallways blazed with light, and figures in pajamas started emerging one after another.
Then, at an absurd speed, a certain deity flew out with arms wide open.
"You're finally back, my—"
Screech!
But Loki abruptly hit the brakes, like she'd just seen something shocking.
"Huh? Loki didn't tackle Lefiya this time. That's weird."
"Yeah, super weird."
Everyone looked at their goddess with puzzled expressions.
"Tch, is this kid seriously that unlucky?"
Loki opened her divine eyes, but her twisted face—trying to smile but failing—looked painfully conflicted.
"You picked him up in the Dungeon?"
Looking at the badly wounded, unconscious youth, Loki squinted again.
Finn shrugged and nodded:
"Yeah, on the fifth floor."
"Hah? The monsters on the fifth floor could beat him that badly? Tsk tsk... must've been an 'irregular situation'?"
"Loki, do you know something?"
"Ahh, you're not seriously trying to talk about this here, are you? Let's go inside!"
"Right."
The expedition team had returned. Even though it was late, the Twilight Manor was bustling with excitement.
The unlucky fellow was carried to his room and received thorough treatment.
After all, with the expedition over, they were low on supplies, which was part of why they rushed back.
As the deeply sleeping youth lay there, everyone gathered in the small room, staring at Loki with curiosity, waiting for an explanation.
"Well, it's nothing major. This kid came to Orario seven days ago. Yup, a total newbie—didn't even have a blessing. Then, I don't know how, but he heard about our Familia and wanted to join. I happened to be out wandering and dragged him back."
"Right, today was his very first Dungeon exploration. And this happened. Super unlucky."
Recalling the incident, Loki looked like she didn't know what face to make.
She knew exactly how strong this kid was, and yet he flopped on the fifth floor—
Could anything be more ridiculous?
"So what did happen, Finn? Give me the details—"
Everyone looked at each other, then turned to Finn.
"...Alright, I'll explain."
Meeting Loki's gaze, Finn recounted everything.
"And that's about it. When we arrived, the fight was already over."
The red-haired goddess looked at the unlucky youth with pity.
"Let's head out. Not like we can wake him by talking here anyway."
Finally, everyone left the room one by one.
Only Ais remained, staring intently at the unconscious Fron, hesitating to speak.
"Come on, Ais. You're curious how he got so strong so fast, right? Just ask him when he wakes up."
"...Okay."
Everyone knew how obsessed Ais was with getting stronger.
She'd been at Level 5 for two years and hit a plateau.
Even during expeditions, her stat growth was down to single digits.
For someone with a sorrowful past and burning desire for power, this kind of rapid growth was bound to affect her.
As the door closed, the room went dark again.
Only the steady rhythm of breathing remained—