Loki Familia, Set Out!

Time flew by, and the days and months passed in the blink of an eye.

Four days slipped through his fingers in an instant, and before he knew it, the day of the expedition had arrived.

After putting on his newly crafted equipment, Shirou Emiya looked at his reflection in the mirror and could not help exclaiming, "I'm so handsome!"

The light armor, made of red and white, covered Shirou Emiya's body, while the short sword strapped diagonally across his back highlighted his valor.

This was Shirou Emiya's latest masterpiece—a Level One piece of equipment, Blood Glory.

He had named it Blood Glory to display his resolve. During this expedition, he would forge his own glory with the blood of his enemies.

"Although I'm only a rear guard."

Shirou Emiya complained resentfully as he put on the backpack he had prepared.

To be honest, he wanted to serve as the vanguard too. Unfortunately, his strength was lacking, so he had been forced to become a rear guard.

That left Shirou Emiya feeling very unhappy.

Although he was originally an Archer, what proper Archer used a bow? At any rate, he did not want to use one.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do. Circumstances were stronger than people, so he could only obediently accept his rear-guard assignment.

After packing away every item he needed to prepare, Shirou Emiya opened the door.

Outside, Ais and Lefia were already waiting for him.

"Good morning, big brother!"

"Good morning!"

After greeting each other, the three of them headed together for the courtyard of Twilight Manor. The members of Loki Familia were arriving there one after another.

At that moment, Loki stood in the central courtyard with her arms folded, gazing at everyone.

She was completely different from her usual careless self. With her presence fully unleashed, she gave off an overwhelming sense of existence.

That was a true goddess.

"Everyone, fight to your heart's content. The time has come to display the spirit of our Loki Familia."

"Yeah!"

After Loki's speech, the morale of Loki Familia's expedition party was exceptionally high.

"Then we'll be leaving, Loki."

"Mm. I'll leave everything to you, Finn."

"Yes!"

Turning around to face the fully prepared members, Finn radiated a sharp, chilling aura.

This was the leader of Loki Familia, its captain—Finn Tmina.

"Prepare to depart. Gather at the central square beneath the Tower of Babel."

"Yes!"

Carrying his heavy pack, Shirou Emiya followed the crowd as they continued forward.

Beside him, Ais and Lefia were constantly chatting.

Of course, in reality, it was always Lefia who spoke, while Ais responded.

Ever since Ais had begun studying Hundred Head Slayer with Shirou Emiya, she had also started calling him big brother. This gave Lefia and Ais far more topics to discuss.

That made Lefia, who had always admired Ais, even happier.

Not only did she have Shirou Emiya as her big brother, but Ais was also Shirou Emiya's little sister. It was practically a double dose of bliss.

"Lefia, how is your Parallel Chanting coming along?"

Hearing her big brother Shirou Emiya's question, Lefia quickly snapped out of her bliss and answered seriously, "I've mostly mastered it, but I'm still not very proficient."

As a talented mage, Lefia's gifts were beyond question.

Under Shirou Emiya's guidance, even her most important confidence had been strengthened. As a result, she had encountered almost no difficulties while learning Parallel Chanting.

All that remained was grinding away through practice.

Shirou Emiya nodded slightly. In his opinion, Lefia's progress was already quite good.

Although she had not improved as rapidly as she had in the original story, that was because she had not yet met the man she called her rival—Bell Cranel.

Thus, unlike in the original story, she was not practicing Parallel Chanting through mock battles. Instead, she was learning it through a more orthodox method.

That was also why her progress was comparatively slow.

"It seems I haven't paid enough attention to her lately. After all, I've been preparing equipment and teaching Ais, and I ended up forgetting about her."

Realizing his mistake, Shirou Emiya gently stroked her head and said, "Then after we return from this expedition, I'll train with you properly."

"Mm!"

Lefia answered cheerfully.

Seeing this, Ais, who was walking beside them, could not help revealing a faint smile.

She really liked this warm atmosphere.

So she extended her own hand and began patting Lefia's head as well.

"Keep it up, Lefia!"

"..."

Feeling the intimacy expressed by both of them at once, Lefia thought happiness had arrived too suddenly.

It really was a double surprise.

"Yes!"

Blushing, Lefia answered shyly, her steps unsteady.

The long procession traveled down North Main Street, attracting countless gazes along the way.

The pedestrians and adventurers on the road all wore astonished expressions as they looked at Loki Familia's procession.

"It's [Brave] Finn Tmina, [Nine-Headed Demon Princess] Riveria Lios Alfr, and [Heavy Master] Gareth Landrock. Are these Loki Familia's Three Greats?"

"Look, it's [Great Cut] Tiona Shylut and [Angry Snake] Tione Shylut, the Level Five Amazonian twins. They're so amazing!"

"And there's [Fierce Wolf] Bete Rocca. He's another incredibly stylish Level Five. He's so cool."

"And then there's the strongest female swordswoman in the city, [Sword Princess] Ais Wallenstein, a darling who possesses both beauty and strength."

Looking at Loki Familia's executives, the adventurers on both sides of the street could not help discussing them.

"Wait, are those [Thousand Fairies] and [Magic Sword Shooter] walking beside the Sword Princess?"

"Where? Where's [Magic Sword Shooter]?"

"He's so cool! Is that [Magic Sword Shooter]? The legendary hero."

"..."

Hearing the discussions coming from both sides from time to time, Shirou Emiya and Lefia could not help blushing.

Yeah, this is a little embarrassing.

That was how titles worked. When they were written down, they really did look cool.

But when people shouted them out on the street, it was embarrassingly over the top.

Fortunately, this was not the modern world. Otherwise, Shirou Emiya probably would have been so embarrassed that he could have dug out a three-bedroom apartment with his toes.

Soon, the members of Loki Familia arrived at the central square beneath the Tower of Babel.

Looking at the flag that had already been raised, Shirou Emiya's slightly embarrassed heart instantly calmed down.

The jester flag fluttering in the air represented Loki Familia's glory.

Looking at that flag, Shirou Emiya honestly felt his blood begin to burn.

"So Ais is in the first group, while Lefia and I are both in the second?"

After receiving Finn's notice, Shirou Emiya learned which group he belonged to.

"In that case, we'll meet again on the 18th Floor."

After greeting Ais, Shirou Emiya led Lefia to the position of the second group. The leader here was Gareth, one of the Three Greats.

"Boy, you'll be following this old man from now on."

"Please take care of me, senior."

"Haha, don't worry, don't worry!"

Gareth laughed and patted Shirou Emiya on the shoulder.

"All personnel, the expedition begins now!"

Hearing Finn's voice, everyone turned to look at him.

"This time will be the same. As we advance through the floors, we'll divide into two groups. The first group to depart will be commanded by Riveria and me, while the second group will be commanded by Gareth."

"After regrouping on the 18th Floor, we'll head straight for the 50th Floor. We have only one objective: the unexplored region located on the 59th Floor."

"Everyone, let us go and see the unknown that even the gods have never witnessed."

"Yeah!"

Hearing the objective Finn had set, everyone shouted loudly.

Indeed, that was a sight even the gods had never witnessed—the ultimate unknown.

"Loki Familia, set out!"