The Loki Familia

Early the next morning, Lu Qiming gently pushed away the two cat-eared young women lying on top of him. He carefully moved Tiya's pristine thigh off his stomach, then slowly climbed out of bed and left the room.

At the door, Lu Qiming looked at the four still fast asleep inside and chuckled. They'd talked heart-to-heart until nearly dawn last night, and the four young women had left him completely drained—not a drop left. Fortunately, his physique had improved greatly by now; otherwise, he really might not have been able to handle four such enthusiastic young women.

"Qiming, you're so young and already so lacking in restraint. Be careful you don't end up unable to keep up when you're older."

Nearby, a young woman who'd gotten up early teased Lu Qiming as he stood by the door.

"(ˉ▽￣~) Tch~~, Lina, are you looking down on me? Believe it or not, I could go another hundred rounds!"

"Really? Then how about you come talk heart-to-heart with me, too?"

"Ahem, well, I've got something to take care of. Maybe another time."

Lu Qiming gave an awkward laugh and turned to leave the Tea Shop. He had to visit the Loki Familia today, and he was already running late. If he stayed to talk heart-to-heart with Lina, they'd be at it until nightfall.

It definitely wasn't because he was worried he'd regret wasting his youth when he was old and could only cry over beautiful young women.

"You little rascal."

Lina smiled faintly as she watched Lu Qiming hurry off, then turned and went into the room. She'd had a long night herself, too. She'd only been teasing him just now, but if he really was willing, she'd gladly keep him company and have a nice, long heart-to-heart.

Outside the Loki Familia.

Lu Qiming had a steamed bun in his mouth. Before him stood a building made up of spires and attic towers. It didn't look strange at all—in fact, the parts fit together quite harmoniously.

"Hey! Look, isn't that the guy called Lu Qiming?"

The Loki Familia's guards had noticed Lu Qiming standing there with an air of confidence.

"Lu Qiming—the guy who took down a Floor Boss solo yesterday and beat the captain!"

"What's he doing here?"

"I heard he wants to join our Expedition Team. He's probably here about that."

"Yeah, I came here for that. Can you let me in?"

While the two guards were muttering to each other, Lu Qiming had already crept up beside them without making a sound.

"You—you! When did you get here?"

One guard noticed Lu Qiming suddenly standing beside him and jumped back in fright, pointing his spear at him.

"Just now. You two seemed so engrossed in your conversation that I didn't want to interrupt, so I let myself in."

Lu Qiming smiled at the two tense guards. He paid no attention at all to the toy pointed at him.

"Could you tell your captain I'm here?"

"Sure. I'll go inform him, but don't come any closer."

The guard put away his spear, exchanged a look with his companion, and hurried inside.

After his companion left, the other guard kept his eyes fixed on Lu Qiming, as if he thought that the moment he looked away, Lu Qiming would do something.

Seeing this, Lu Qiming stood there patiently, bored. After all, he was the one asking for a favor, so he ought not to act too casually.

Before long, the other guard returned, accompanied by a group of people.

"Lu Qiming, you're here. You're quite a bit later than I expected."

Finn greeted Lu Qiming with a smile as he stood there looking bored.

"I had something to take care of this morning, so I got up late."

Lu Qiming gave an awkward smile and went inside.

"By the way, about the Expedition Team—"

Lu Qiming had just started to ask Finn about the team's preparations when the next moment, someone beside Finn rushed forward and swung a fist at him.

"Stop, Tione!"

Finn was startled by his companion's sudden attack and hurried after her.

Across from them, Lu Qiming gave a helpless look and casually raised his left hand to block Tione's incoming punch.

"I have to say, the Loki Familia has a rather unusual way of welcoming people."

Lu Qiming gave Finn, who'd just rushed up to him, a knowing smile. Tione, whose fist he had caught, glared at him in indignation.

"I'm sorry!"

Finn hurriedly apologized, then turned to look at Tione, who still seemed displeased.

"Tione, what are you doing?"

"That guy treated you like that yesterday, Captain..."

Tione glared at Lu Qiming, annoyed. Finn was the captain of the Loki Familia, and this guy had toyed with him like that yesterday. Just thinking about it made Tione want to give Lu Qiming a good beating.

"All right. I don't mind what happened yesterday. And come to my room in a bit."

Finn looked sternly at Tione. Lu Qiming hadn't taken their fight seriously yesterday, but Finn had accepted his defeat fair and square. That was no excuse for Tione to attack him.

"Yes!"

Hearing that Finn wanted to reprimand her in private, Tione seemed almost as happy as if she'd been praised. She wrenched her fist free of Lu Qiming's grasp, shot him an annoyed look, and hurried back to Finn's side.

"..."

Lu Qiming stared speechlessly at Tione, who'd just attacked him and now looked excited after Finn said he'd reprimand her in private. She didn't seem bothered about what had happened yesterday at all. Was that the whole reason you attacked me?

"Um, Lu Qiming, I'll give Tione a proper scolding later. Come on in for now."

Finn seemed used to this. He gave a wry smile and led Lu Qiming farther into the Familia's grounds.

"You and Tione have a pretty... interesting thing going on, Finn!"

Lu Qiming gave Finn a look that said every man would understand. He hadn't expected the seemingly honest Finn to be into this sort of thing.

"Don't get the wrong idea. We're just captain and member, nothing more."

"Sure, sure. I get it. Just like the boss and secretary back home—'nothing more.'"

Seeing that Lu Qiming didn't believe him, Finn stopped explaining. The more he tried to explain, the worse it would sound. Lu Qiming would understand once he joined the Expedition Team.

Seeing this, Lu Qiming stopped teasing Finn. He already knew all about Finn and Tione from watching the anime. Tione was actually a pretty nice person; she just went into a Rampage whenever something involving Finn came up.

Then he began looking over the people around him. The blonde elf girl at the front, with an expressionless face, was probably Ais. She was known as the Sword Princess and was one of the Loki Familia's top adventurers. She was currently Lv5, but had already hit a bottleneck.

One of the purposes of this expedition was to help her achieve a Great Achievement and break through to Lv6.

As for the person beside Ais, she was the one who'd attacked him: Tione, an Amazon, known as Hiryute. She was currently Lv5. The girl beside Tione looked much like her, but was flat-chested. She was probably Tione's younger sister, Tiona, who was the same level and known as the Great Slayer.

"Hey, nice to meet you!"

Tiona noticed Lu Qiming looking at her and happily waved hello, not at all bothered by her sister's earlier attack on him.

"Hello."

Lu Qiming nodded, then looked at the others.