With Finn's speech, the atmosphere of the banquet visibly grew livelier.
Watching Bete and Tiona bicker nonstop nearby, Shirou Emiya glanced at Ais sitting beside him and snickered. "I heard Finn reprimanded you today, Ais!"
Lefia, sitting on Shirou Emiya's other side, couldn't help snickering when she heard his question.
"Big brother, you're so mean!"
Sure enough, Shirou Emiya's teasing displeased Ais. Although the girl's expression barely changed, her tiny pout was undeniably adorable.
"Hahaha, you can't blame me for this! You were the one who disobeyed orders, Ais. I went to a lot of trouble to cover for you back then."
Pretending not to care as he voiced his concern, Shirou Emiya saw Ais lower her head slightly after hearing him.
"I'm sorry for making you worry."
After being lectured by both Finn and Shirou Emiya, Ais now felt regretful.
"Then be more careful from now on. Don't make anyone worry about you again!"
Shirou Emiya reached out and gently stroked Ais's golden hair as he spoke tenderly.
"Mm!"
Ais nodded slightly, then narrowed her eyes and began enjoying Shirou Emiya's caress.
Lefia, who had witnessed the entire scene from the side, couldn't help feeling envious. She envied not only that Shirou Emiya could comfort Ais, but also that Ais could receive comfort from Shirou Emiya.
Looking at the warm scene between the two of them, Lefia truly wanted to shout, I want both of them! and pounce over.
Unfortunately, although Shirou Emiya's training had made her considerably more confident, she could only imagine doing something like that in her head.
As for actually doing it—sorry, she still didn't dare!
After the lively banquet ended, everyone sat around the flames and listened to Finn's arrangements.
"Our objective of exploring and opening up regions we have yet to reach remains unchanged. However, before that, we have an adventurer commission to complete."
"An adventurer commission? If I remember correctly, we received it from the Dian Cacht Familia, right?" Tione asked doubtfully, suddenly recalling Finn's words.
"That's right. The commission is to draw a certain amount of water from Cadmus Spring on the fifty-first floor."
The water of Cadmus Spring was one of the ingredients used to produce the highest-grade Elixir. As a famous Medical Familia in Orario, a commission like this was a perfectly normal request for the Dian Cacht Familia.
"Cadmus Spring? What a troublesome mission! Why did we accept it?"
Tiona had some unpleasant memories of Cadmus Spring.
"Because the reward is substantial. Besides, this concerns relations between familias, so we can't reject it casually."
"Honestly, those people do nothing but assign troublesome missions!"
After Riveria finished answering, Bete added a few harsh words of his own.
"That's enough. No matter how dissatisfied we are, we've already accepted the mission. Next, we'll arrange the personnel heading to the fifty-first floor."
Because of the difference in strength, starting from the fifty-first floor, the Loki Familia had to select elites and form teams for missions.
"While collecting the water, avoid unnecessary battles as much as possible. Because of the amount of water we need, we'll have to split into two groups and collect it from two different locations."
After listening to Finn's explanation, Tiona and the others immediately began discussing things animatedly.
In the end, after Finn confirmed and divided the personnel, the two teams for this mission were finalized.
First group: Ais, Tiona, Tione, Shirou Emiya, and Lefia.
Second group: Finn, Bete, Gareth, and Raul.
Riveria would remain behind to defend against enemies and recover her magic power, preparing for the exploration of the fifty-ninth floor after this mission.
Lefia and Raul would serve as the supporters for the two groups.
Lefia in particular was going in Riveria's place at Riveria's request.
After all, in Riveria's eyes, Lefia was someone who could inherit her legacy in the future.
"But I have to ask—are the people in the first group really going to be all right?"
"Uh..."
Hearing Bete's undisguised concern, even Finn fell silent and began thinking.
To be honest, in terms of firepower alone, even without a Level 6, the first group's firepower was still greater than the second group's.
Although Ais was only Level 5, with her Princess of Vengeance skill enhancing her, her combat power against monsters was no weaker than a Level 6's.
And if they faced dragon species, her strength would be even greater.
On top of that, the sisters Tiona and Tione were both among the strongest Level 5 adventurers.
There were also Shirou Emiya and Lefia, two exceptional fighters whose magical firepower had reached Level 5.
Therefore, Finn wasn't worried about their strength.
Their personalities, however, were quite troublesome. After all, Ais, Tiona, and Tione were all famous problem children of the Loki Familia.
Finn wanted to hand command over to Shirou Emiya, but setting aside whether he could control Tiona and Tione after they entered their berserker states—
Shirou Emiya was entering the fifty-first floor for the first time as well. With no experience at all, Finn had no expectations for his command ability.
After a brief silence, Finn raised his head and said with a smile, "Tione, I'll leave them to you. Don't let me down, all right?"
"Please rest assured, Captain!"
Tione harbored romantic feelings for Finn. Upon hearing his words, her cheeks flushed and she agreed with complete confidence.
Seeing this, Shirou Emiya and the others all complained inwardly, That's a Honey Trap, Finn. You're really something!
After arranging the next day's itinerary, everyone split up and returned to their respective tents to rest.
Although they were in the Dungeon, the members of the Loki Familia still maintained a normal schedule and rested accordingly.
Lying on his bedroll, Shirou Emiya was troubled as he thought about what had happened that evening.
The situation had developed somewhat beyond his expectations!
Where was the monster attack?
Weren't the monsters supposed to launch their attack during the day?
Could it be that it wouldn't happen this time?
That was unlikely. Finn generally wouldn't let Ais make the same mistake twice.
Or was it...?
At that thought, Shirou Emiya's expression immediately turned worried. His understanding of the DanMachi world came entirely from the anime and fanfiction. As for the original light novels, he had never read them.
Therefore, aside from the main DanMachi anime, his only understanding of the Loki Familia came from the one anime, Sword Princess's Holy Tale!
"So the damn animation team changed the plot again?"
Shirou Emiya could guess the reason immediately. After all, as a longtime anime fan, he had experienced this sort of thing countless times.
He often watched the arguments between anime-only viewers and original-work fans because he enjoyed reading the comment feed.
Therefore, this sort of thing was nothing new in the anime world.
"If that's the case, my understanding of the plot is going to be much weaker! Still, although the process may change, the ending shouldn't."
"In any case, tomorrow we'll face the threat of New Species Insects. Looks like it'll be another tough battle tomorrow!"
At that thought, Shirou Emiya couldn't help perking up.
He knew at least a little about how dangerous the New Species were. Therefore, he had to make sure to protect Lefia's safety tomorrow.
As for Ais?
To be honest, Ais's ability to survive was far greater than his own.
Before you continue