After breakfast, the adventurers of the Loki Familia were assigned their respective work tasks.
"Alright everyone, ti is limited. Let's talk about the upcoming arrangents. Just like before, we still need to exchange the spoils of war for money," The goddess spoke.
Anakitty: "Yes, yes, I know... The losses from this expedition were really huge, especially those shattered magic swords and corroded weapons..."
"Ah—don't bring that up again! My head's about to burst!"
"By the way, is there a banquet tonight?", Ais asked curiously.
Loki perked up again, "Of course! Tonight we're holding a post-expedition appreciation party, and a celebration for Riveria's level up to Lv.7."
After that, the mbers of the Loki Familia headed directly to the city to begin the post-expedition procedures, mainly selling off their spoils for cash.
All mbers left the headquarters, each carrying goods and dispersing to various corners of the city.
"I'm Finn Deimne of the Loki Familia. As previously notified, our expedition has been completed successfully. Please help us convert these magic stones into cash," Finn handed a bag of magic stones to the Guild staff, with more loot piled behind him.
"Alright, thanks for waiting. Misha Flott will be providing full service today. Welco back, adventurers!", Guild staff mber Misha Flott welcod them enthusiastically.
The conversion of magic stones was relatively simple, as the Guild had a unified purchase price, reasonable rates, and convenient procedures.
If one looked for buyers privately, perhaps they could get higher prices, like from smiths in urgent need of specific stones to make equipnt, but that would take too much ti and effort.
"This ti, we encountered many unconfird monsters in the deep floors. Although this intel is currently only useful to so factions, I'd still like the Guild to warn other Familias, expeditions below the 51st floor in the deep zones are very dangerous."
While handing over a thick report, Finn added, "This report also contains detailed information on the mbers' level-ups."
"Wow, Lv.7, even though I already knew, it's still shocking!", Misha exclaid in awe.
"What is it, Miss Misha?", Noticing her gaze, Finn looked up and asked curiously.
"Well, Captain Finn, you're also amazing, so please keep up the great work!", Misha smiled encouragingly.
Finn gave a wry smile. As captain, he'd recently been surpassed in level by the vice-captain Riveria, this had beco a hot topic in the city.
After all, typically the captain is the highest-leveled mber in the Familia.
Finn didn't really mind, but being encouraged by a staff mber like this still left him with mixed feelings.
"Thank you," Finn thanked her honestly.
Besides Finn, other adventurers from the Loki Familia also took their drops or materials collected from the dungeon to rchants or business-type Familias, engaging in intense "battles" of negotiation and haggling.
Currently, the Familia with the closest cooperation and highest trading volu with the Loki Familia was naturally the Hephaestus Familia, where Emiya belonged.
The task of delivering the dungeon loot to the Hephaestus Familia's base, the Etna Volcano, was assigned to the newly promoted Lv.7 adventurer Riveria, along with Anakitty for support.
Riveria glanced at the paper in her hand, frowning slightly, and her mouth twitched a little.
This was the "price hike secret manual" Loki had given her. At the ti, the goddess had explained seriously that it was a secret weapon to deal with the Hephaestus Familia.
However, the content of the note was ridiculously simple.
To summarize in one sentence: she was to act cute and sweet to Emiya.
'There's no way I could do sothing like that,' Riveria looked at the note and shook her head, 'But if it's for the sake of the Loki Familia...'
———
"Lady Riveria, Lady Anakitty, welco!"
As soon as they arrived at the Hephaestus Familia headquarters, they were greeted by a small pallum girl. She wore a neat work uniform and had a professional smile on her face.
"Hello, Miss Lili," Anakitty returned the smile kindly and nodded, "Riveria-sama and I are here to trade the expedition loot."
Lili adjusted her glasses, "Understood! Please wait in the lounge for a mont. We'll arrange for soone to catalog and appraise the loot. After that, we'll provide a guideline price, and then we can discuss the final amount. Does that sound alright?"
Anakitty nodded, "No problem."
Lili then signaled several employees to step forward and carry off the large number of drops, handing them to experienced smiths for appraisal. Among these drops were many rare materials collected from deep dungeon floors.
To ensure the safety of these valuable items, she specifically asked the Loki Familia to assign an adventurer to supervise the entire process, avoiding any misunderstandings.
This supervision task was assigned by Anakitty to an accompanying adventurer. His job was mainly to carry and guard the items. Anakitty, anwhile, followed Riveria to the lounge to rest.
"Emiya-sama is also in the headquarters. I've already inford him," Lili added before leaving the room sensibly.
However, before Emiya arrived, Anakitty suddenly did sothing that completely stunned Riveria.
Riveria watched with wide eyes as Anakitty pulled out a small bottle of fruit-flavored cocktail from her pocket. Taking a deep breath, as if psyching herself up, she tilted her head back and drank the whole bottle in one go.
A determined light flashed in Anakitty's eyes, as if reaffirming her resolve. She whispered, "For the Loki Familia."
Riveria asked, alard, "Aki? What are you doing?"
At that mont, the door opened, and Emiya stepped in.
Before Riveria could react, Anakitty stepped forward lightly and leaned close to Emiya.
She tilted her head slightly, her cheeks blushing, and her tail subconsciously wagged.
With a cutesy voice, she said softly, "Shirou-kun~ could you raise the buy-back price a little? Nyaa~"
Seeing this, Riveria instantly realized what had happened. She instinctively felt for her pocket, only to find the note was gone.
She rembered. Perhaps she had accidentally left it in the carriage on the way here.
Maybe, possibly, perhaps... Anakitty picked it up?
Riveria scread internally, 'AKI, THAT NOTE WASN'T ANT FOR YOU!!!'
Anakitty sat down blushing, her flushed cheeks especially conspicuous against her fair skin. On the other side, Riveria was also blushing, lips tightly pressed together.
'Loki, you idiot!' ×2
They both cursed her in their hearts.
In fact, Emiya had nothing to do with the loot buy-back.
It was simple. Emiya was busy with dungeon adventuring and training, and spent a lot of ti forging equipnt. He had no ti to worry about how much drop items were worth.
Besides, with his personality, he was completely unsuited for cold-blooded business matters. His equipnt sales were all handled by brokers.
So trying to act cute to Emiya in hopes of raising prices was pointless. It was all just a prank orchestrated by the goddess Loki for her amusent.
And the worst part? This clumsy prank had holes obvious enough to see through with a little thought, yet they both fell for it. Not just one of them, but both.
'Willing fish bite the hook,' Riveria realized with sha just how easily Loki played them.
"Um... Riveria-sama, Shirou, you two chat—I'll go check out the gear for sale... ngh," Anakitty quickly made up an excuse and hurriedly left with her head down, nearly fleeing in embarrassnt.
The room was suddenly left with only Emiya and Riveria.
Silence spread instantly. Even their breathing could be faintly heard in the quiet air. The two sat facing each other, neither speaking, as a heavy, invisible barrier of silence lood between them.
Riveria glanced nervously at Emiya. He had his eyes down, seemingly deep in thought.
Just as Riveria gathered her courage to speak and break the silence, Emiya suddenly stood up.
Just like he told Hephaestus before, he had made up his mind.
Riveria froze slightly, not yet reacting, when Emiya walked to the door in a few steps and locked it with a click.
That "clack" of the latch echoed loudly in the quiet room.
The elven princess's body tensed. Her heartbeat quickened. She felt pressure on her chest and swallowed nervously.
The boy's footsteps echoed closer. His presence heated the air, making her feel inexplicably tense.
"Shirou, don't... don't bully like this...", Riveria said softly, "It's still too early... mm..."
———
In a luxury tavern located in a bustling district.
A soundproof private room had been booked, perfect for secret talks.
Loki dragged a chair and sat opposite Hers.
"Well? Any findings?", Loki asked.
Though the Loki Familia's adventurers were strong, everyone had their specialization. So things were better handled by "small-tirs."
So Loki left the "search for hidden dungeon exits" to the Hers Familia, which excelled at intelligence work.
Hers might not be entirely trustworthy, but Loki knew he wouldn't cooperate with the Evilus, that much she could rely on.
Normally, he disguised himself as a frivolous playboy, but his core was unexpectedly simple and clear, he was a fan of heroic sagas.
Hers shrugged. The dog girl standing behind him shook her head.
"No findings yet. The target is hiding very well," she said.
"Is it possible the entrance is outside the city?", The dog girl thought and asked.
Loki considered, "Maybe. But those controlled monsters showed up in Daedalus Street, so there must be an entrance inside the city too."
Compared to hidden exits from the dungeon, secret tunnels leading in and out of the city were surprisingly nurous.
For Loki, the top priority now was finding a passage that led directly from the dungeon into the city.
"Daedalus Street's structure is way too complicated. Investigating it piece by piece would be like finding a needle in a haystack," Hers said, "But I have an idea."
"I've seen many similar cases in cities I've traveled to. City underbellies are often used to hide filth and secrets."
"So, what if the entrance is hidden in the city's underground sewer system?"
———
That night, after successfully selling the loot, the adventurers held a grand party at the tavern. Laughter and cheer filled the air, and the entire place was soaked in celebration.
The party celebrated not only the success of the expedition but also Riveria's advancent to Lv.7.
"Riveria, did you change your hairstyle?", Little Ais tilted her head, eyes full of confusion.
Riveria, who normally wore her long jade hair down, had it tied into a side ponytail today, the smooth locks draping over one shoulder.
Ais leaned in, scrutinizing her closely. Her sharp eyes noticed sothing unusual, a bandage faintly visible beneath the elven princess's hair.
"A bandage? Riveria, are you hurt? Why is there a bandage on your neck, and why are you hiding it with your ha—", Before she could finish, Riveria quickly covered her mouth.
"Kids shouldn't ask about these things," Riveria said while hurriedly shooing the curious Ais away.
anwhile, on the other side, Emiya was being surrounded by Loki Familia adventurers, clearly asking about forging-related matters.
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