Chapter 30: Upgrade Achievement Confirmed (Patreon)

Unfortunately, for over half a month now, every written request Finn had penned himself, asking to meet the rune scroll maker, had been sent back without exception as soon as it reached the Astraea Familia.

As for sending people to keep watch on the Astraea Familia...

The Justice Familia was no powerless little faction. And thanks to the way Alize and the others had conducted themselves over the years, the Astraea Familia enjoyed a very high reputation in Orario.

If Finn did it and went unnoticed, fine. But the moment it came to light, a great deal of friction would spring up between the two factions, and clashes would follow.

Even the rune scrolls they could get right now would probably dwindle in number, or be lost entirely.

So Finn, Riveria and Gareth alike had all been waiting for a chance to bump into someone from the Astraea Familia... or more precisely, into the boy who might be traveling with Astraea.

And today, they had finally gotten to see him.

But the result...

Finn had originally assumed that the Astraea Familia was hiding the boy. Now it was plain that the rune scroll maker himself simply didn't want contact with outsiders.

At that thought, the golden-haired 'Braver' let out a helpless sigh.

"Looks like from here on, the only way to get rune scrolls is slowly, through the Astraea Familia."

Riveria seemed to have thought of something. There was a trace of hesitation in her voice. "The boy I met today may be able to do more than just make rune scrolls."

"Oh?" Finn turned his gaze toward her. "What did you notice?"

Riveria held nothing back. "While we watched the fight with Goliath, I counted. He used at least five completely different types of magic, which shouldn't be possible under normal circumstances."

"And when he used the magic with an effect similar to a Levitation Scroll, it was faint, but I definitely saw light on the boy's boots, like the glow of a Falna update. So..."

Riveria didn't finish the thought, but Finn and Gareth had both understood her perfectly.

"Another 'Perseus,' is it?" Gareth sighed, after pouring a mouthful of liquor down his throat.

'Perseus' was the title of Asfi Al Andromeda, captain of the Hermes Familia, who excelled at crafting all sorts of magic items. The best known were the invisibility helmet and the flying boots.

There were also explosive potions, freezing explosives and the like.

As the largest exploration-type faction in Orario, the Loki Familia's demand for magic items with special effects was bottomless.

Yet the Hermes Familia never sold the gear Perseus made to outsiders.

As a result, every expedition the Loki Familia mounted burned through huge amounts of supplies, with no guarantee of reaching its goals.

And now another adventurer who could make magic items had appeared in Orario.

To say Finn, Riveria and the others had no designs on him would be a joke.

In the captain's office, the atmosphere turned somewhat quiet.

After quite a while, Finn, who had been biting his thumb, finally raised his head. "Perhaps the Loki Familia's next expedition could be a joint one with the Astraea Familia."

At his words, Riveria and Gareth, seated on the sofa, brightened at once.

Since the rune scroll maker sold his goods to the outside world through the Astraea Familia, then conversely, his relationship with the Astraea Familia had to be quite good.

Starting from there, if the Loki Familia and the Astraea Familia could reach a deeper partnership, that thread might really pry open a gap, and they could ask him to craft a few magic items for them.

Having reached that conclusion, Riveria and Gareth nodded in turn. "Let's do that." "I agree."

…

Of course, Renan had no way of knowing that from simply being watched in a single battle, the Loki Familia's three heavyweights had deduced most of his situation.

Since he didn't want to travel with Riveria and the others and risk giving away more information, after beating Goliath he, Alize and Kaguya Gojouno simply stayed a night in the town of Rivira on Floor 18. They only strolled back up to the surface the next day at noon.

The three had just reached the vicinity of Star Hall, still more than thirty meters from the front gate.

From far off, a brown-haired figure had already come into view.

"Lady Astraea," the three greeted her in unison as they drew near.

Astraea nodded at their greeting. She was anxious to check Renan's Falna, but she hadn't forgotten the children of her own Familia.

She turned at once, looking first at Alize and Kaguya Gojouno, concern on her face. "None of you are hurt, are you?"

The captain and vice-captain of the Justice Familia shook their heads.

Alize even touched briefly on how things had gone in the Dungeon. "Going down and coming back up, Renan did all the fighting. Honestly, Kaguya and I didn't get a chance to lift a finger even twice."

"I see." Seeing that the children were unhurt and in excellent spirits, Astraea finally turned her gaze to the black-haired boy, wrapped from head to toe in thick plate armor.

Then, without half a second's hesitation, she reached out and caught his arm. "Renan, come inside with me!"

Renan had meant to confirm whether he'd accumulated enough Feats anyway, so naturally he didn't refuse.

Ten minutes later...

"Congratulations. You've met the conditions to level up."

Instead of standing beside the bed as she had before, the goddess sat astride the boy's back with her legs spread. She'd half expected this result, yet a flicker of amazement still crossed her eyes once the words were out.

"Meeting every condition to level up barely a month after becoming an adventurer... Renan, you've set the fastest level-up record in Orario's history."

Lying face down on the bed, Renan let out a long breath at the answer he'd been waiting for.

He'd worried that Goliath wouldn't put enough pressure on him, and that his plan to earn a Feat would fail.

Now it seemed he'd been worrying over nothing.

Thoughts flashed through his mind, and Renan spoke. "Lady Astraea, there's no need to rush my level-up. I plan to stay at Lv1 for a while longer."

Actually, he needn't have said it. Astraea hadn't been planning to do it right away anyway.

She didn't say so aloud, but she held considerable expectations for the boy.

After all, ever since the Zeus and Hera Familias failed to defeat the Black Dragon, not a single true powerhouse had appeared in the lower world.

Even Ottar, the 'Strongest' now reigning over Orario, and Loki's three heavyweights.

At their core, they were just people who had tearfully licked up the leftover experience of 'Gluttony.' Of course, the Astraea Familia hadn't fared any better. It was 'Tranquility' who gave up her own death as a payout of experience, and that was the only reason the girls all gained a level two years ago.

Even so, to take up the will of the Zeus and Hera Familias and kill the Black Dragon, the handful of 'top-tier' adventurers they had now simply weren't enough. It was impossible.