Restless Orario

"."

Silence.

When the monster whose entire massive body had been completely pierced gradually lost its breath and crashed to the ground, all the onlookers fell into an uncanny silence, unable to speak for a long while.

"Cough, cough."

It was not until a cough rang out that Riezel, who had also fallen to the ground, staggered to his feet with difficulty. Only then did the people present snap out of it, their gazes immediately converging on Riezel.

Ais and Lefiya in particular ran toward Riezel the moment they came to their senses.

"M-Mister Riezel! Are you all right!?"

Lefiya looked utterly flustered, tears already welling at the corners of her eyes.

"I'm fine."

Riezel shook his head, but a wave of pain wracked his body, making his knees buckle as he nearly collapsed again.

Fortunately, a slender hand reached out from beside him and caught him.

"Don't move around." Ais's clear golden eyes fixed on Riezel, as though she intended to engrave the sight of him fighting while covered in blood into her heart. "You overused Wind Spirit Sprint. Your body took too much strain, and your injuries aren't light either. It's best not to move around carelessly right now."

As the true owner of Wind Spirit Sprint, no one understood this magic's side effects better than Ais.

For an enhancement-type auxiliary magic capable of bestowing such special and powerful reinforcement with only a short chant, its side effects were obvious: it placed an enormous burden on whatever received the enhancement.

Whether it was the body or a weapon, anything enhanced by the Wind Power of Wind Spirit Sprint would bear that burden.

Thus, after unleashing Wind Spirit Sprint at maximum output, Riezel's weapon had shattered outright, while his body had endured an unimaginable strain, leaving him looking as though he might collapse at any moment.

"Th-This is a panacea!"

In a frantic rush, Lefiya pulled a panacea from her backpack, uncorked it, and clumsily began feeding it to Riezel.

Riezel did not refuse. After taking the panacea, he immediately felt a cool current begin flowing through his body.

The injuries on his body healed at a visible rate.

The pain in his body, which had borne such an immense burden, finally began to ease as well.

Riezel let out a soft breath and straightened up with Ais supporting him.

"Don't move around."

Ais admonished Riezel again, with a faint trace of reproach in her voice, as though blaming him for not listening to her and moving around carelessly.

"All right."

Riezel had originally wanted to pull away from Ais, but seeing her frown at him in reproach, he could only give up.

"Lefiya." Only then did Ais turn to Lefiya, who had been standing there at a loss, and say softly, "Help Riezel collect the spoils. Let's head back first."

Knowing that what Riezel needed most right now was rest, Ais made the decision decisively.

"Yes!"

As though granted a reprieve, Lefiya finally found something she could do and hurried over to the giant beast.

Just then, the giant beast's corpse turned into a pile of ash and scattered away, leaving behind only a transparent crystal and a faded claw.

Lefiya collected both the crystal and the claw before running back to Riezel and Ais.

"Let's go. We'll head back first."

Ais swept her gaze across the surroundings, looking at the adventurers who seemed to be inching closer. Supporting Riezel, who was still having trouble walking, she turned and left.

Lefiya followed as well, leaving with Ais and Riezel.

The many adventurers present were the only ones left behind. They had originally wanted to approach Riezel, but seeing Ais take him away directly, they could only stop in their tracks.

"Who was that adventurer?"

Someone asked.

"No idea."

One after another, everyone shook their heads.

"Judging by the Sword Princess's attitude, could he be from the Loki Familia?"

"Why haven't we seen him before?"

"Could he be a newcomer?"

They exchanged opinions among themselves. Clearly, Riezel's battle had moved many of them and stunned many more.

"Let's go. Take the news back."

Some of them exchanged glances, then promptly left.

The rest did the same, either preparing to spread the news or intending to take the information back with them.

The scene quickly became deserted and gradually returned to silence. Only the damaged terrain slowly repaired itself on its own, unnoticed by anyone, making for a rather eerie sight.

An Abnormal Situation had occurred on the 6th Floor of the Dungeon.

Not only did the news spread in an extremely short time, it also caused quite a stir.

Because there had been heavy casualties.

When the Abnormal Situation occurred, many adventurers had been on their way back and passed directly through the 6th Floor, where they encountered it.

Worse still, the Abnormal Situation had occurred on the 6th Floor, relatively close to the surface—a floor even novice adventurers could reach.

In other words, many of those who encountered the Abnormal Situation had been weak Lower Class Adventurers.

Those Lower Class Adventurers had unsurprisingly met with disaster. Some died, some were injured, and the resulting uproar was considerable, making the entire night in Orario restless.

People rushed to spread the news, and the Guild was naturally alerted. It dispatched personnel to investigate the scene, speak with witnesses of the Abnormal Situation, and gather information.

Before long, the Guild released several notices to the public.

"This Abnormal Situation will be classified as Lv.2."

"The source of the Abnormal Situation was the birth of an unknown monster, suspected to be a rare species that has never appeared before. It has been provisionally named the Crocodile Dragon and classified as a Dragon species monster."

"This Abnormal Situation has already been resolved by an adventurer suspected to belong to the Loki Familia. Over the coming days, Guild specialists will conduct an inspection. The findings will be announced once it has been confirmed that there is no issue and no further danger of recurrence."

"During this period, Lv.1 Lower Class Adventurers are advised not to visit the 6th Floor for the time being."

This notice was not only posted on the bulletin board at Guild Headquarters, but also sent to the major familias.

That night, many people were destined to lose sleep.

Loki Familia's headquarters, Twilight Manor.

In the God's Chamber, Loki looked over the Guild notice that had just been delivered to her. After reading the contents written on the parchment, she tossed it onto her desk.

"So, that's what happened. What do you all think?"

Loki was asking the familia's Big Three, whom she had summoned to the God's Chamber.

Finn, Riveria, and Gareth, the three members of the leadership faction, had been called to Loki's God's Chamber and informed of the entire incident.

"An Abnormal Situation classified as Lv.2?" Gareth crossed his arms and said in a muffled voice, "And it happened on the 6th Floor, so close to the surface. Looks like people who are too low-level won't be entering the Dungeon for a while."

"It doesn't affect us much, since almost everyone in our familia is an Upper Class Adventurer." Finn bit his thumb as he spoke. "But for a Dragon species monster to appear in a place like the 6th Floor—and a rare species at that—is certainly unexpected."

Among the monsters found on the various floors of the Dungeon, those that appeared only rarely and were far fewer in number than ordinary monster types were known as rare species.

They were not necessarily powerful, but they always possessed some kind of unusual trait.

But Dragon species monsters were another matter.

Dragon species monsters were widely recognized as the strongest type of monster currently found in the Dungeon.

There was no need to mention Dragon species monsters that appeared in the Deep Floors. Even in the Upper Floors, once a monster had anything to do with dragons—legendary creatures—it would be unimaginably powerful.

For example, the Dragon species monsters known as Young Dragons, rare species that appeared only on the 11th and 12th Floors and numbered fewer than five in total, possessed abilities far surpassing ordinary Lower Class Adventurers. They were strong enough to wipe out a party made up of several Lower Class Adventurers.

Like the Young Dragons, the Crocodile Dragon that had appeared this time was both a rare species and a Dragon species monster. It had even been classified as Lv.2, meaning its strength could surpass that of a Young Dragon. Forget Lower Class Adventurers—even Lv.2 Upper Class Adventurers might not be able to handle it alone.

A monster with that level of strength should have appeared in the Middle Floors beyond the 13th Floor. Yet it had appeared in the Upper Floors, which were collectively classified as Lv.1. It was practically a cruel joke played by the Dungeon.

It was easy to imagine that once word of today's events spread, Lv.1 Lower Class Adventurers would certainly not dare to enter the Dungeon rashly. Even Lv.2 Third Class Adventurers would have to carefully consider the risks before taking action.

"As expected, the Dungeon is the Dungeon. It wouldn't be strange for something unexpected to happen at any time."

Finn murmured to himself.

Having fought in the Dungeon for decades, Finn understood well that many unknown mysteries within that demonic lair remained unsolved.

That was precisely what drew countless people to explore it, but it also brought unimaginable threats to those of the lower world.

No one knew whether the Dungeon might one day erupt in an uprising, or whether the monsters that had once been forced back would once again flood onto the surface.

Therefore, no amount of vigilance or caution toward that demonic lair could be considered excessive.

It was just that no one had expected this.

"No one expected a monster of that level to be taken down by that kid Riezel." Gareth laughed heartily. "That kid really is capable."

At those words, everyone smiled.

Who could have imagined that a Dragon species monster classified as Lv.2 would be defeated by the newcomer who had only recently joined their familia?

Finn, who had already learned the details from Ais and Lefiya, smiled faintly as well.

"He's only had Falna for a week, yet he challenged an Lv.2 Dragon species monster with Lv.1 Ability Values—and succeeded. Our newcomer is something else."

Finn could already imagine just how much of a sensation this would cause once the news spread.

"How is he now?"

Riveria asked out of concern.

"According to Ais-tan and Lefiya, that kid went straight to sleep after coming back." Loki spread her hands. "Can't be helped. He challenged that kind of monster, after all. It wouldn't have been strange if he'd died. The fact that he came back in one piece is already impressive enough. His injuries aren't serious either. The main issue is the excessive burden from using Ais-tan's magic. He needs to get some proper rest."

Finn and the other two immediately exchanged looks.

"So the reason really was Ais's magic?"

Riveria's murmur plunged everyone into silence.

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