Is It Wrong to Explore the Dungeon Even Though I’m Overpowered? (Danmachi SI- WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 67: Preparations and Partings

“I believe that’s enough for today.”

As our spar came to an end, I relaxed my stance and sheathed the practice sword before offering my hand to Ais. She was on her knees, breathing hard, sweat glistening on her forehead.

She took my hand gratefully. I helped her to her feet and quietly handed her a towel, which she accepted with a small nod.

Just as I was about to wipe my own face, the sound of clapping and cheering rose behind us. We both turned, remembering we still had an audience.

I smiled and raised a hand in acknowledgment as several voices called out my name. Behind me, Ais blinked in that slightly owlish way of hers before a faint blush of embarrassment colored her cheeks.

“That was amazing, Senpai~”

“As expected of Reinhard~”

“Hihihi, that was incredible~”

“Reinhard-sama is so strong~”

Their praise made heat rise to my own face. I scratched the back of my head and turned to Ais with a slightly sheepish smile.

“Sorry about them,” I said quietly so only she could hear. “Everyone’s just a little too excited.”

Ais shook her head gently. “It’s okay,” she replied, wiping her face. Then she suddenly paused, as if remembering something.

Under my curious gaze, she reached into her cleavage without the slightest hint of embarrassment and pulled out a folded letter. She held it out to me in silent invitation.

I took it, feeling my face grow even warmer when I noticed the paper was slightly damp. Trying very hard not to think about where it had been stored, I opened it and began to read.

My expression quickly shifted from flushed to serious as I saw that the name of the sender was Finn, captain of the Loki Familia.

The letter explained that the Loki Familia was planning an expedition in a few days. Finn wanted to speak with me in person to discuss whether I would be interested in joining and, if so, to work out the details.

I folded the letter and slipped it into my pocket, then looked up at Ais. She was watching me with quiet anticipation, clearly she already knew what the message contained.

“I’ll need to speak with the others first before I make a final decision,” I said calmly.

Ais nodded in understanding. “…Okay. Though I hope you’ll join,” she added softly.

“Hehe. We’ll see,” I replied, not wanting to commit until I had talked things over with everyone.

“Would you like a snack before you head back?” I asked, changing the subject as most of the onlookers began to disperse. “We did work out for a few hours.”

“Mn. Thank you,” Ais agreed without hesitation this time. She seemed to have taken a real liking to our cooking.

“Great. Follow me,” I said with a friendly smile, gesturing for her to walk with me.

“Reinhard-kun~ I already have snacks prepared!” Rem called out cheerfully from a short distance away, one hand raised as she waited for us.

“Thanks, Rem,” I said with a warm smile when we reached her. I gave her head a gentle pat, and she immediately preened, leaning into my hand with a content little hum.

We quickly ate an early snack before dinner. Afterward, Ais said her goodbyes, promising to return another day. This time, she would come early in the morning before the sun rose so we wouldn’t end up spending the whole day like we had today.

As soon as she left with a small wave and a pleased look, I turned back to find everyone waiting for me. They had clearly noticed the letter Ais handed me and were watching with expectant expressions.

“Lili knew she wasn’t here just for a spar,” I heard Lili mutter to herself with a small, satisfied look at having called it correctly.

“What did that girl want, Reinhard-sama? Your face grew pretty serious when you read whatever was in that letter,” Ram asked curiously.

The others shared the same expectant look.

“Let’s talk in the living room,” I said with a small shake of my head. “Though I wish Hestia-sama and Artemis-sama were here, since I’ll need their opinions too.”

My words only seemed to confuse or intrigue them further as I led everyone inside and asked them to get comfortable.

Once everyone was seated, I saw that every member of the Hestia Familia was present, along with Est—which made sense, given that she was my spirit weapon. I nodded, pleased.

“Ahem. I’ve been invited by Finn, Captain of the Loki Familia, to meet with him personally,” I began lightly. That immediately caught everyone’s interest, and a few eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“Hoh. What does a big shot like that want with you?” Aisha asked, raising an eyebrow in intrigue.

“Have you met him before, Reinhard?” Naaza asked curiously.

“No, I haven’t,” I replied with a shake of my head, leaving some of them even more curious. Then my expression turned serious.

“The Loki Familia is going on an expedition in a few days, and I’ve been invited to join if I want. If I accept, Finn wants to speak with me in person so we can work out the details,” I finally revealed calmly.

Various reactions spread around the room.

Some widened their eyes in surprise—Rem, Daphne, Cassandra, and Haruhime among them. Others narrowed their eyes in suspicion, like Lili, Ram, Naaza, and Aisha. The rest—Est, Wiene, Marie, Lucia, and Bell—simply blinked in confusion, not fully understanding what it meant.

“I don’t trust them,” Ram said immediately, frowning as she crossed her arms beneath her chest. Her figure had grown nearly as full as her sister’s by now.

“Lili agrees,” Lili added with a matching expression. “It’s just too suspicious in Lili’s eyes. And they only invited Reinhard-sama, which makes it even worse.”

“Why tell you now?” Aisha asked thoughtfully. “An expedition requires a lot of planning, materials, and preparation in advance. Yet you were only informed a few days before it starts? There’s definitely something more to this.”

“I-I haven’t gotten any weird dreams lately,” Cassandra softly muttered to herself, no doubt referring to her prophetic visions, which should have actually grown clearer with the power-up from the Shroud.

At their responses, the others also grew more serious, even the innocent Marie and Wiene. Though they didn’t fully understand the situation, they could see the concerned looks everyone was wearing and cuddled closer to my sides.

Lucia and Bell, being completely new to adventuring, looked thoroughly lost. Thankfully, Daphne, who was sitting near them, leaned over and began explaining.

“…Maybe they just want to invite Reinhard-sama because he’s really strong?” Haruhime asked nervously, raising her hand. A blush colored her cheeks, and when my gaze fell on her she quickly ducked her head, her face growing even redder.

“That’s—”

Naaza didn’t get to finish her response, because Hestia and Artemis chose that exact moment to walk into the room.

“That’s only part of the reason, actually,” Hestia said, wearing a rare serious expression that caught us all by surprise.

“Hestia-sama, Artemis-sama. Welcome back,” I greeted them with a small wave. They both nodded in return before I tilted my head. “And what do you mean by that? Do you know something about this?”

“Yes,” Artemis answered with a nod as she and Hestia took seats facing the rest of us. “Hestia and I were at the Guild most of the morning talking about something important…” She trailed off, glancing at Wiene and Marie for a moment before turning back to me with a meaningful look.

I nodded subtly, immediately catching on to what she meant.

‘I see. Then they must have spoken with Ouranos. I wonder what he told them?’ I thought to myself, but I set the thought aside as Hestia continued where Artemis had left off.

“As we were returning, we found Loki-No-Boobs somehow waiting for us outside. She wanted to talk to me, and against my better judgment I decided to hear her out,” Hestia admitted with a small pout, clearly not having enjoyed it due to her rivalry with the other goddess and them clashing all the time.

“Loki asked me if I would be willing to let you join her Familia on their expedition in a few days. And despite hating the fact that I know she has ulterior motives for inviting you…” Hestia’s expression twitched as if she were struggling to continue. She took a deep breath and pressed on.

“I know this would be an invaluable experience for you, so I didn’t immediately throw her offer back in her face like I wanted to.” By the end, both of her cheeks were puffed out, making her look like an extremely cute squirrel.

“There’s also the fact that other Familias will be involved, like Hephaestus’s, so you won’t be completely alone with the Loki Familia,” Artemis added with a small sigh.

Silence settled over the room for a while as everyone took in what had been said, thoughtful expressions on their faces.

“…Do you think they want to observe me in a situation where I’d be forced to show some of my real strength, so they can try to learn more about me?” I eventually asked, looking up at Hestia and Artemis with a serious expression. It was the only idea that made sense to me.

“More than likely,” Artemis sighed again with a nod. Hestia huffed cutely in anger and started muttering under her breath.

“You’ve shattered every growth record available, and we knew it would eventually attract the attention of other Familias.”

Her answer caused worried looks to spread among some of them as they turned toward me. Haruhime, Marie, and Wiene especially showed the strongest reactions.

“Tsk, that damn Loki,” Hestia muttered with narrowed eyes and clenched fists.

“It’s fine, everyone,” I spoke up, drawing their attention as I gave them a reassuring smile.

“We knew this day would eventually come, so there’s no need to stress about it more than this. We just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing and get stronger, so even if some Familia tries something, we can properly defend ourselves,” I explained calmly. Some of the tension eased, though not all of it disappeared.

“Besides, Hestia is right,” I continued, taking on a more serious look as I rested a hand on my chin. “This is an opportunity I can’t just pass up. I was already planning to accept anyway, and this only made my decision clearer.”

“This might be my only chance to experience what an expedition to the Deep Floors is like in a relatively safe environment, with all the strong adventurers from the Loki Familia taking the lead,” I explained logically, though it didn’t do much better at fully reassuring them.

“I still don’t like it. I say you let either myself or nee-sama accompany you, Reinhard-kun,” Rem said with a serious expression on her cute face. “There’s no telling what those strangers might try if you go by yourself.”

Rem’s declaration caused most of them to blink in surprise. After thinking about it for a moment, they began agreeing one after another.

“I can also tell Lyd to keep an eye on you just in case!” Marie said happily, raising her hand with a determined expression clearly trying to be helpful.

Est then walked up to me, sat in my lap without reservation, and looked up at me with a cute expression. “I’m going too.”

“Yes, that would be for the best,” Lili said with a nod.

Outnumbered, I let out a sigh before turning to the Oni twins. “Well, it seems I’m outnumbered. Very well, I’ll tell Finn about it when I go speak with him. You two will have to decide who joins me, though.”

Rem and Ram turned to each other and seemed to have a silent conversation before nodding and looking back at me.

“Let Rem join you, since she knows healing magic and she’s the better cook between us,” Ram declared a bit reluctantly. She clearly wanted to come too, but prioritized my safety, which sounded just like her.

‘I should do something nice for her once I return. Come to think of it, with our Familia getting bigger I might need to assign a Vice-Captain soon.’

“Leave everything to your Rem, Reinhard-kun~ Rem will make sure we have enough food for the trip,” Rem declared with a happy chirp and a thumbs-up.

“Thanks, Rem,” I said with a smile pulling myself from my thoughts, earning a happy giggle in return.

With that handled, I turned back to everyone and cleared my throat.

“Ahem. With all of us here, I think this is also the perfect opportunity to come up with a plan to divide the remaining members into two teams, so you can continue going to the Dungeon while Rem and I aren’t here,” I advised, receiving surprised looks from everyone.

“We have quite a few people who are still pretty new to the life of an adventurer, after all,” I said, glancing at Bell, Lucia, Wiene, Marie, and Haruhime.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Naaza said with a nod.

With everyone’s agreement, the teams were eventually decided.

The first team would be led by Ram and consist of Wiene, Marie, Bell, Lucia, and Naaza. In other words, Ram would be taking most of the least experienced members. With her overwhelming strength, though, she shouldn’t have any trouble keeping them safe, especially since both she and Naaza were ranged fighters.

The second team would consist of Lili, Haruhime, Cassandra, Daphne, and Aisha, with Lili taking the lead, much to her surprise. The others agreed to support her whenever she needed it. This team was more experienced overall: Lili and Aisha were Level 3, while Cassandra and Daphne were Level 2 and close to ranking up. That left Haruhime as the only Level 1, so they shouldn’t run into any serious problems.

After everything was settled, I was pulled into a meeting with Hestia and Artemis about what they had discussed with Ouranos.

I learned that Ouranos had already sent a team to investigate Knossos, but they had met resistance from strong monsters.

Because of that, he was planning to have our Familia clear it out with the help of another Familia—possibly the Loki or Ganesha Familia—though nothing had been decided yet.

Thankfully, all of that would happen weeks from now, after we should already be back from the expedition, so we still had some time.

=====

Several Days Later

A few days had passed since I received the invitation from the Loki Familia, and I had found myself extremely busy ever since.

Between training the new members, making sure they were properly equipped, and informing Syr and Ryuu of the situation—which hadn’t gone nearly as smoothly as I hoped, since both of them had been really worried and fretted over me—I had very little free time left for anything else.

Thankfully, my meeting with Finn had been brief and to the point. He accepted my request to bring Rem along, simply reminding me that she would be my responsibility. The entire conversation was finished within an hour, and I was in and out of the Loki Familia home so quickly that I only ran into Ais and Riveria, who had been expecting me.

Hephaestus had also stopped by during those days and reassured me that she would tell her Captain to keep an eye on me whenever possible, which we were all thankful for.

The day had finally arrived. After some tearful goodbyes, plenty of hugs, and well wishes, Rem and I set out for the meeting point where we would join the rest of the expedition.

‘If I remember correctly… wasn’t this around the time the Loki Familia ran into those Demi-Spirits?’ I thought silently to myself.