Dungeon City Orario, headquarters of the Loki Familia.
A blonde girl with spirit blood sat curled up in an armchair, hugging her knees.
A faint trace of worry appeared on her perfectly delicate, statue-like face. She seed to be deep in thought.
The Loki Familia's common lounge was decorated mainly with warm-colored furniture.
Aside from Ais, many others were also relaxing there.
"Eh? Ais, what are you thinking about so seriously?"
A dark-haired girl with wheat-colored skin leaned over and asked the Sword Princess, who had lightly buried her face in her knees.
Her upper body was covered only by a sports-bra-like top, and her ethnic clothing revealed large areas of healthy brown skin.
Ais raised her face and looked at her Amazon companion, who was dressed like a dancer.
"Tiona… I'm fine."
"But you've been like this for more than a week."
Tiona's face showed an affectionate smile as she hugged Ais by the shoulders.
"Is it because you still haven't been able to level up from Level 5, so you're troubled?"
Ais shook her head slightly.
Just as she was about to thank her companion for her concern, a cold snort ca from nearby.
"Forget it. That violent woman will only make the problem ssier."
"Bete, you're so annoying! I'm talking to Ais. Don't butt in!"
Just as Tiona retorted, another Amazon girl with the sa clothing and skin tone as her teased,
"The worst part is that Bete actually has a point, right? That's what annoys you the most, isn't it?"
"Hey, Tione!"
Tiona puffed up her cheeks and pounced at her older sister.
"It's fine no matter who you help, but why do you have to help Bete? What right does he have to call soone else a violent woman?"
"Hmm… in terms of violence, I'd say you two are about the sa."
"Sis, your title is Jormungand. That sounds pretty wild too, you know."
"You two are so noisy! Shut up!"
Seeing the small argunt caused by her, Ais wanted to stop them, but she did not know how to speak.
At a ti like this, no matter what she said, it would only add fuel to the fire, so she decided to remain silent.
In one corner of the lounge, there was a completely different, peaceful scene.
Perhaps because the two people playing chess there were the captain and vice-captain of the Familia, no one dared disturb their quiet.
"Checkmate."
"Mm…"
After the Pallum boy declared the decisive move, the beautiful elf with green hair slightly furrowed her delicate brows.
She thought for a mont before finally sighing and giving up the piece in her hand.
"Checkmate. I concede."
"You gave up so cleanly, Riveria."
Finn, the captain of the Loki Familia, showed a victorious smile.
"If you had moved this way, you might still have found a chance to reverse the situation."
"I do not like dragging out a match whose outco has already been decided, Finn."
After leaving her focused state, Riveria noticed Ais's gaze and looked toward her.
"What is it? Does Ais want to play chess with us too?"
"Haha, the Sword Princess as a chess player? I would like to see that."
Finn also showed an interested expression beside her.
After all, Ais usually did not seem very interested in entertainnt activities.
"…No."
Ais shook her head slightly.
"I also heard what Tiona and the others were talking about just now."
Riveria walked over and asked with concern,
"If Ais has any worries, you can discuss them with ."
Being cared for by both the captain and vice-captain of the Familia at the sa ti, even Ais could not refuse.
She thought for a mont and tried her best to blur the subject.
"Riveria, Finn, if you were giving special training to an adventurer, but the training was very strict…"
"Then one day, he suddenly said he had sothing to do and would not co to train for a long ti…"
"In that kind of situation, does it an that I… that the person doing the training was disliked?"
Hearing this, Riveria and Finn looked at each other.
Although, given their height difference, this action would have been difficult if they had not both been seated.
"You heard that, right, Riveria?" Finn whispered to the vice-captain. "This person is Ais herself, isn't it?"
"You mustn't expose a girl's feelings, Captain."
Riveria smiled and nodded toward Ais, speaking gently.
"Depending on the situation, there are actually many possibilities."
"For example, after witnessing too great a gap in strength, he may have begun to lose confidence…"
Ais suddenly interrupted,
"His strength improves very quickly. It should not be that."
That is exactly why, little Ais, this is obviously about you!
"Eh? What, what? Did Ais say sothing?"
Seeing that this side had already entered the vice-captain's heartfelt advice session, the Amazon sisters stopped arguing and ran over.
After hearing Ais repeat the question, they each reacted differently.
"Ais, why are you suddenly asking this? Did sothing happen?"
"When you say training an adventurer, you an an adventurer whose level is lower than yours, right?"
"It's not …"
Ais awkwardly tried to remove herself from the question, but it seed she had failed.
"If it were , I would make him ditate constantly. Everything starts from understanding oneself."
"For , I'd take him into the Dungeon. Real combat is the most effective!"
"But you also can't train him too hard. Too much is as bad as too little."
"I can't believe Tiona actually knows such a profound principle. As your older sister, I'm so touched."
"Don't talk like I can't even read!"
Ais quietly listened to her companions' lively discussion, and sothing stirred in her heart.
"Why did Ais suddenly think of asking this?" Riveria asked with so confusion.
"I…"
The reason Ais asked was simple.
Ever since the last training session, Drake had not appeared again.
Even at his shop, only two employees were busy working.
There was no sign of him.
That was why she wondered whether she had been too strict with him and had ended up being disliked.
Since she began serving as Drake's instructor, about a month had passed.
At first, she had only wanted to use training to repay the cost of the weapon.
But now, it had changed into a desire to explore the secret of why he grew so quickly.
Drake's growth speed…
Even Ais found it astonishing.
It was not only his basic abilities that were improving rapidly. Even combat techniques were absorbed by him like a sponge.
Perhaps before long, if she did not take her battles with him seriously, she would fall into a disadvantage.
Being able to witness Drake grow rapidly in front of her eyes made Ais feel both happy and sothing else she could not quite describe.
It was like personally planting a seed, watching it take root, sprout, grow into a sturdy sapling, and eventually beco a towering tree.
However, recently, this sapling no longer seed to want to see her.
Had she treated him too strictly?
Or had she been too rciless when she attacked?
"Do not overthink it."
Seeing Ais's expression, Riveria gently stroked her hair.
"Perhaps the other person truly just has no ti, so he postponed the training."
"When you et again next ti, talk properly, and everything should be fine."
"Mm…"
Ais nodded. Then she suddenly reacted and turned her head to say,
"This is about a friend of mine."
"Thank you, everyone, for thinking about this for her."
Tiona and Tione imdiately gave her very subtle looks.
'Ais…'
'This friend you're talking about is actually you, isn't it?'
Just then, a shout suddenly ca from inside the lounge.
It seed the mbers of the second-tier group had discovered sothing.
"Have you heard? The owner of Adventurer's Ho is back! There are finally new products in the shop!"
"Really? The owner of Adventurer's Ho—isn't that the famous Heroic Smith?!"
"Damn it… Last ti, I spent all my savings to buy that sword. Why are there new products already?"
"We're only going to look. It doesn't an we have to buy anything… Everyone, let's go!"
"Don't leave! Wait for ! I'm going too!"
The owner of Adventurer's Ho.
A mber of the Hephaestus Familia with the title Heroic Smith.
A young man's figure instantly appeared in Ais's mind.
She suddenly stood up and walked toward the lounge entrance.
This action startled the Amazon sisters.
"Ais, where are you going?"
"…For a walk."
Looking at Ais's figure gradually disappearing into the depths of the corridor, Tiona and Tione could not help whispering to each other.
"She's really easy to understand. The adventurer little Ais was talking about… is the Heroic Smith, right?"
"It's way too obvious. If we wanted not to expose it, we'd actually have to endure it pretty hard."
"I wonder how far those two have developed already. It really makes curious."
"So this is what love feels like… Damn it, I want to hurry up and find a man too."
"Forget it. Your Level 6 status is already enough to scare away every suitor."
"Aren't you the sa?!"
The Amazon sisters, who had exposed each other's weaknesses, looked at each other for a mont before sighing in unison.
"Sigh… who exactly stole all the good n?"
As they spoke, what no one noticed was that the Familia's vice-captain, Riveria, also showed a slight change in expression and quietly left the lounge.
...
Babel Tower, Fifth Floor, Adventurer's Ho.
The shop's business was so explosive, and the space so crowded that there was almost no room to stand, that Drake once again put "expanding the shop" on the agenda.
"I'll discuss it with Hephaestus later. I might as well buy out the neighboring shops too."
In any case, these floors were all Hephaestus Familia property.
Changing the shop owner would be nothing more than moving sothing from the left hand to the right hand.
After returning this ti, Drake had brought a large number of new products.
These included, but were not limited to, the frost version of Flaming Arrows: Frostburn Arrows.
There were also Unholy Arrows, which had greater power and a piercing effect.
Both required only a small amount of materials to mass-produce, yet their effects were powerful, so they were extrely popular.
In addition, Drake also launched a brand-new adventuring item—Campfires!
Of course, publicly, they were naturally called Magic Campfires.
As long as one placed them down, they could rapidly restore stamina and accelerate wound healing.
Even if they were not used during adventures, placing one in a fireplace at ho would provide a constant buff.
This ti, Drake learned from the lesson of the torches selling poorly and personally used Stigma Alchemy to improve the Campfire recipe.
After the recipe was improved, fewer materials were needed to synthesize a Campfire.
The buff provided by the Campfire remained the sa as before, but it was no longer permanent. Instead, it would burn out and need to be replaced.
For Drake, this was undoubtedly a degraded improvent. He definitely would not use it himself.
But for adventurers, this was the normal situation.
Once the Magic Campfire was released, it received widespread praise.
After all, besides torches, campfires were also essential items when adventurers made camp.
In addition, Drake also placed several brand-new armor sets in the display window to attract high-level adventurers.
For example, Molten Armor, crafted entirely from Hellstone Bars.
It looked as though the entire body was wrapped in lava, appearing extrely mighty and domineering.
There was also Aerospec Armor, made from Aerialite Bars.
Its style was completely different from Molten Armor, looking lighter and more elegant.
Drake directly priced these armor sets in the tens of millions.
In the DanMachi world, weapon prices were generally much higher than armor prices.
That was because crafting armor required a large amount of matching materials, making it very difficult to create top-tier armor made entirely from advanced materials.
On top of that, armor was often damaged, and repairing it consud both ti, effort, and money.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, adventurers naturally spent all their money where it mattered most: on their weapons.
As for armor…
They could make do with whatever worked. If it broke, it would not hurt too much.
Even the light armor Ais wore was only worth tens of thousands of valis.
"Oh? Isn't this Riveria?"
After the shop closed, Drake saw Nine Hell still waiting near the entrance and imdiately understood why she had co.
"Sorry. I've been rather busy recently, so I didn't have ti to take care of our transaction."
Seeing that Drake still rembered their previous transaction, Riveria let out a sigh of relief.
What she had feared most was Drake suddenly changing his mind.
"As agreed, I brought the things you needed."
Riveria took out a heavy pouch and lightly shook it, producing a crisp clinking sound.
Judging from the sound, what was inside was either gemstones or so kind of tal, and the amount was not small.
"Perfect. I also have newly made Mana Crystals."
Just as Drake was about to exchange money and goods on the spot, he saw Riveria look at him helplessly.
"Are you not going to invite inside to sit?"
"This kind of place… is not convenient for a transaction."
"Oh… that was rude of ."
Thinking that there was still the step of collecting Soma afterward, Drake smiled a little awkwardly and opened the shop door.
For this transaction, Riveria had brought many jewels.
They were all types Drake had requested, such as rubies and sapphires.
After these gemstones were processed through Appraisal, they could beco crafting materials and be used to make other equipnt.
Drake's demand for gemstones was extrely high, not to ntion that he also needed to make large team gems for the Cursed Children.
As for Riveria, she could obtain Mana Crystals that were extrely important to the elf race.
It could be said that both sides benefited.
...
"Slow down. I'm not going to run away."
Riveria looked at Drake, who was acting like a little baby, and a strange feeling could not help surfacing in her heart.
Although Loki always jokingly called her "Mama," she was actually still an untouched maiden!
After all, for elves, even letting soone touch their body was considered rude.
Let alone breastfeeding soone from another race.
As royalty, Riveria had naturally been watched even more strictly.
It was precisely because she could not stand that birdcage-like life that she had fled from her people.
"Whew… thank you for the al."
Seeing the additional status effect on his body, Drake was quite satisfied.
After obtaining the inheritance of the Shadow Monarch, Soma, which could permanently reduce mana consumption, beca even more important.
After all, maintaining Shadow Soldiers also required a continuous consumption of mana.
"Since the transaction is complete, I will take my leave."
After tidying her clothes, Riveria, who looked as though nothing had happened, bowed slightly and was about to leave.
However, very soon, as if she had seen sothing, she retreated again.
"Do you have… a back door here?"
"I do. It's this way."
Drake was still wondering why she did not use the front door.
Then, he heard a familiar voice co from the entrance.
"Drake… are you there?"
"It's , Ais."
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