I, Ritsuka, Siscon Grand Hero

The girl before me was not only mysterious, but her personal preferences were also quite strange!

"Riveria..."

Startled by her name being called out of the blue, Riveria flinched. "W-what is it?"

Ritsuka said nothing, just looked at her silently, her gaze shifting between the bowl in front of her and Riveria's eyes.

"You've been staring at this, are you very interested...? I'll make you a bowl too then."

"Ehh!! Uh, no, really, no need..."

A few minutes later, Riveria, sitting in a corner, shakily picked up her chopsticks.

Before her was an improved version of Mapo Ramen, with half the spiciness of the original, but with enhanced numbing and aroma.

Having witnessed Kishiya's disastrous reaction, Ritsuka hadn't made the original version for anyone else since.

That old man named Kishiya was strong, giving Ritsuka a sense of mortal danger. Riveria was nowhere near that level. In Ritsuka's assessment, Kishiya Zelretch Shuvain Oug was undoubtedly the strongest person she had ever met.

Even someone like him couldn't handle the original Mapo Tofu Noodles.

Unless the gods of this world wanted to challenge it, or she herself was craving it, the original version would likely never be made again.

Of course, the Mapo Water used was the original...

Cold sweat trickled down Riveria's cheeks. The intense red, spicy broth before her stung her eyes. She quietly cast a non-verbal magic spell on herself. It wasn't strong, but it should be enough to resist the spiciness.

'Fully prepared,' Riveria picked up a mouthful of noodles and put them in her mouth.

"So spicy!! Spicier than I expected, a spicy ride through the afterlife!!"

The magic she had cast beforehand took effect. Riveria's expression shifted, and she didn't immediately collapse.

Under Ritsuka's astonished gaze, her arms stiffened as if mechanical. She picked up another mouthful of noodles, mixed with large chunks of tofu, and ate them.

Riveria's fingers suddenly froze.

Her grip slipped, chopsticks fell, and the bowl of noodles flew over. The magic was now useless. As an Elven royal, she toppled forward onto the table, her forehead hitting the wooden surface with a crisp thud.

The noodle bowl tumbled in the air for a moment before landing upside down on Riveria's head...

"Riveria!?"

"...My mouth... my stomach feels like it's burning, like a volcano exploding in my gut... I'm going to die..."

After uttering her 'last words,' Riveria lost consciousness.

Chapter 63: Chapter 57 Loki Familia

In Orario, the city of adventurers, there are two Familias known as the Twin Kings: Freya Familia and Loki Familia.

Compared to the more low-key and less active Freya Familia, Loki Familia's influence was immense, and no one dared to ignore this colossal entity.

But on this day, everyone was shocked.

'Nine Demonesses,' the strongest mage in Orario, Riveria, who had gone out and hadn't even returned for lunch, was brought back to the Familia by a strange girl, completely unconscious the entire time.

Instantly, Loki Familia was thrown into turmoil.

However, since several of the Familia's core members were not present, the gatekeepers, unsure of what to do, could only let the girl who brought Riveria back leave. Moreover, according to her, she was just the owner of a small dessert shop.

The girl who brought the unconscious Riveria back to the Familia left immediately after achieving her goal, leaving them clueless as to what had happened.

In Riveria's room, the green-haired Elf Princess rested quietly.

"Loki, is Mama Riveria okay?"

The Amazon girl with brown skin uttered a phrase that would make Riveria's veins bulge.

Unfortunately, her usual cold gaze was absent. For the first time, the green-haired Elven royal showed a vulnerable side in front of her junior.

"She's fine. Although we can't determine the cause of her unconsciousness, her condition is stable, and there will be no after-effects."

Loki, the God of Deception and Fire, the Sovereign of the Familia, sitting by the bedside, turned her head slightly.

Her narrowed eyes opened for the first time, a chilling aura swirling in their depths. The blood-red color made Tiona uneasy.

In Orario's central plaza, Ritsuka walked into the dungeon under the scorching gaze from the Tower of Babel.

Her dessert shop wasn't profitable, and the money she had was dwindling. Since she couldn't exchange her goods through official channels, she always lost a portion of the reward.

Once, she was almost double-crossed, and she had to resort to her fists to get back what was hers.

"I'll go straight to the fifteenth floor."

Opening the map in her hand, Ritsuka muttered.

As a non-adventurer, the dungeon maps she could buy were only from low-level adventurers, covering routes from the first to the tenth floor.

After the tenth floor, the monster spawn intervals and appearance rates change drastically, making it easy for inexperienced novice adventurers to get discouraged.

Therefore, maps beyond the tenth floor could only be purchased at the Guild by Level 2 adventurers.

Ritsuka held the lowest-grade dungeon map, its usefulness limited to saving time in the earlier floors. The floors more suited for her were the fifteenth to seventeenth, where monsters were numerous and valuable.

Going any deeper wouldn't be practical, as she wasn't a professional adventurer and it would take too much time.

"Alright, let's go."

Stepping into the first floor of the dungeon, Ritsuka skillfully descended the stairs. Goblins she encountered along the way were smashed into the wall with a single punch.

Clean and efficient, without any wasted movement.

After physically pinning nearly twenty monsters to the wall, Ritsuka arrived at the sixteenth floor. Familiar Minotaurs appeared in droves.

Ritsuka's lips curved upwards.

The next moment, before she could even project anything, the monsters turned tail and fled.

"Damn it! You're monsters, have some backbone, won't you?!"

A brutal slaughter began. Since she was hunting monsters that updated every 12 hours and lacked intelligence, Ritsuka showed no mercy.

Where her sword pointed, the Minotaurs' bodies, like clanging metal, were torn apart without resistance. The girl's monster-fighting skills were becoming increasingly proficient, especially her technique against Minotaurs.

After all, she had the most experience fighting them.

She tossed all the dropped crystals and materials into the Crystal Dice, which had two slots holding large burlap sacks.

They were big enough to cram a Minotaur into, even if it was a tight fit.

Wielding a sword-axe crafted from a temple's foundation stone in one hand and a projected longsword that could be changed at any moment in the other, Ritsuka began to move like a phantom on the sixteenth floor. Screams of agony would occasionally echo from various locations.

The slaughter-like hunt continued for nearly five hours.

Roar—!!

On the seventeenth floor, the Lonesome King of the labyrinth, Goliath, roared.

Its massive size made its presence incredibly intimidating. Just standing upright, its head nearly touched the cave ceiling, and its entire body exuded a terrifying aura.

Its dark red hand smashed downwards, forcing several people to scatter, easily dodging the simple, brute-force attack.

"Lefiya, leave the main damage to you. Go!"

The small man, clearly the leader, issued the command. The girl behind him, an orange-haired Elf Girl with pointed ears, instinctively took a step back.

Just looking at the monster made her heart pound. What was she supposed to do...

The girl wailed internally.

Their purpose here was to prepare for an upcoming expedition. These mere three individuals were the absolute core of Loki Familia.

Level 3 Human, 'Brave' Finn Deimne.

Level 6 Dwarf, 'Heavy Giant' Gareth Landrock.

Level 3 Elf, 'Thousand Fairies' Lefiya Viridis.

Among them, the girl named Lefiya was much weaker compared to the other two, but given her talent and her Elven heritage, her future strength was undeniable.

Once the older generation faded, she would become the strongest Magician.

This was the assessment of Riveria, the current strongest Magician in Orario, and she had been recognized by Loki Familia.

Goliath was certainly no match for Finn and Gareth, but their presence here also served the purpose of training Lefiya, so she wouldn't be too intimidated by powerful enemies to fight back.

'But it seems the training plan is unlikely to succeed now.'

Finn looked at Lefiya, whose legs were already trembling just from meeting Goliath's gaze, with a look of helplessness.

He exchanged a glance with Gareth and prepared to attack together.

"Hooaoooaah..."

Goliath roared, tearing a crystal from the cave ceiling and throwing it directly towards Finn and Gareth. The heavy crystal exerted a strong pressure.

Gareth grabbed Lefiya, and the three of them jumped away.

Bang—!!

Dust billowed. Finn twirled his spear, the shaft vibrating as it shot out like a startled dragon.

As one of Orario's top combatants, Finn displayed strength befitting his reputation, easily inflicting massive damage on Goliath.

After putting Lefiya down, Gareth also joined the fray.

The Level 4 Floor Master Goliath was subjected to a relentless assault.

'No, I can't just stand here and watch...'

Lefiya tightly pursed her lips.

She wanted to catch up to that person. She was still too weak. As a Level 3, her actual combat ability, protected by the Familia, was pathetically low.

"Release, Light Arrow! Bow of Sacred Wood, I am the master of the bow."

"Intercept, Archer of the Fairies..."

Magic surged around her. Lefiya's long dress fluttered as if in a wind, and her white over-the-knee socks were a striking sight.

"Lefiya... that's wonderful."

Finn gave a slight smile.

As a 41-year-old hobbit male, even though he looked like a child, he was an elder in Loki Familia.

Seeing Lefiya's actions, he was genuinely happy for her.

However, the situation suddenly changed. Just as the dwarf uncle Gareth swung his battle axe, severing the Goliath's arm, the seemingly simple-minded, hulking floor boss's eyes flashed with ferocity.

Its hard head met Finn's spear, forcefully pushing aside its own severed arm. The colossal creature, several meters long, then plummeted towards Lefiya.

Lefiya, who was in the final stage of her magic chant, suddenly panicked. The magic she was about to complete was ruined.

Her magic dissipated like a bubble.

PS: Today was the final exam for the semester, and I had something to attend to, so the update is late.

Section 64: Chapter 58: Hero Saves the Damsel?

"Lefiya!?"

Finn watched the girl make no move to dodge, and in his haste, he charged directly towards the falling giant arm.

Flames burned from his spear. He hesitated, wondering if he should use his secret technique. At this speed, he definitely wouldn't make it in time, but the cost of using that magic...

"I am the bone of my sword!"

"Steel is my body."