Exploration, Start

Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Finn were already at the meeting site when Riveria and Lefiya arrived after their preparation, "It seems that everyone is already here. Let's go."

"Please wait, Finn," Riveria called out to the Pallum before they started moving, "I have something I want to say."

Finn and the rest stopped their steps and turned to Riveria, "Hmm? What is it?"

"I'd like to take some people with us if you all don't mind."

"Some people? Who are they? They're not from our Familia?" Finn asked while the rest had visible confusion on their faces.

Riveria nodded on his question, "Yes. They're from the Hestia Familia. The three who defeated the Minotaurs."

Tione, Tiona, and Ais's eyes widened as they recalled the three girls, who're supposed to be Level 1, defeated the six Minotaurs that shouldn't have been possible.

When they met in the pub last time, they really wanted to ask how they were able to achieve it, but they knew the importance of secrets of their abilities as Top-Class Adventurers so they didn't pry any further after some question. And now they want to join their Dungeon exploration, they all looked towards Finn, hoping that he'll approve of this.

Finn could feel the girls' stare and intent and could only smile wryly. Of course, he too wanted to see those from the Hestia Familia in action as he had some doubts about them defeating six Minotaurs by themselves even if the report came from his trusted Vice-Captain. But before he could agree, he had to confirm some things first, "Why are they coming with us?"

"Their Captain, Kisuke Urahara, requested me to take them with us so that they could gain some experience from veteran Adventurers. They're going to act as supporters in this exploration and I don't see any problem in bringing them along. I hope you can agree to this."

Finn nodded and said, "It's rare for you to request this kind of thing, so if you're fine with this, I don't see any reason to disagree."

Riveria smiled and gave her gratitude, "Thank you."

"It's fine. But you have to take charge of them."

"I'll do just that."

"Heh~. They're coming, huh~. I look forward to it~." Tione excitedly swung her Urga around.

"They're not coming for you! And stop swinging that around! You'll blind someone!" Tiona immediately retorted, "But as long as they don't get near Captain, then I'm fine with them going with us."

"I don't think someone getting hit with that will just end up blind!" Lefiya also retorted. She, however, is confused with their reactions. As someone who doesn't know the truth, although a group of Level 1s on the verge of a Level up defeating a single Minotaur is a very rare feat, it shouldn't warrant this kind of attention from them.

"...They won't approach Finn... They are their Captain's lover." Ais suddenly uttered.

It was then that everyone recalled that Hestia Familia is a big harem of its Captain.

"...Although it's a normal thing for Gods, you don't really see it among people, right?" Even Tione didn't know what to think of this situation.

"Well, that's not really important right now. When are they arriving?" Finn immediately changed the topic.

"They should be arriving any moment now," Riveria replied. And just as she said that the group saw three familiar girls walking towards them. They are wearing the standard Adventurer's outfit which consists of some steel plates in vital areas, arm guards, and leg guards. One of them, however, has some eye-catching armor. The white-haired Cat Person is wearing an oversized gauntlet that looks very comical and bulky due to her petite stature.

Each one of them are carrying backpacks that are only big enough to cover their backs, in contrast to Lefiya, who's carrying a bag at least three times as big as her.

As for weapons, while each one of them has a knife for a side arm, the brunette-haired girl has a strange two-meter long curved sword strapped on her back, the Cat Person has a long-handled war hammer which is also strapped on her back. However, the last one, the black-haired human isn't carrying a staff like they were expecting but instead, she's carrying a short bow on her back.

Once they got near, the first one to speak up was Sona, "Good morning to everyone, sorry we're late. Thank you for waiting. I assume that Riveria-san already told you that we would like to come with you and act as your supporters."

"Yes. And we already agreed to it. Have you prepared for everything that you'll need?" Finn replied and asked.

"Yes. We have enough supplies that will last throughout the whole duration of the exploration."

Finn and Riveria looked at each other and both of them thought that the backpacks they're carrying are similar to the purse that Kisuke gave them. But before they could ask, Tione asked in confusion, "Are you sure that you have enough? Did you bring just the bare minimum and those very hard rations? Or do you not know that we'll take at least a week in this exploration? You'll get sick of those snack bars almost immediately." She asked because of the size of their luggage and the other girls also nodded in agreement.

Sona only smiled and answered, "Yes. We have enough even if we took two weeks." Though the three of them very much wanted to say that they are prepared and can live in luxury inside the Dungeon for a few months.

Tione, Tiona, Ais, and Lefiya became even more confused and thought that they're underestimating the amount they needed for long explorations. However, before they could say that it's important to stay energetic inside the Dungeon, Finn suddenly asked an even more mind boggling question, "Do you still have some space to fit that?" He then pointed towards Lefiya's oversized backpack.

Finn is expecting a no or just a bit of the bag's contents can fit theirs. However, he and Riveria didn't anticipate Sona's answer, "Yes. The space is still big enough to fit everything."

Finn and Riveria's eyes widened at her claim, 'If that's true, then we underestimated those bags severely!' Both of them thought as the bags worth in their minds just jumped multiple times.

"Hahaha..." Finn laughed wryly and urged everyone to walk along, "Let's go."

Sona understood that he wants to pass them their supplies inside the Dungeon where there are no prying eyes as he didn't want to reveal the bag's existence to others yet, "Understood. Thank you for taking care of us."

Riveria immediately followed them while the other girls of the Loki Familia could only stare blankly after the mysterious exchange of their Captain and the black-haired girl.

Editor:

28th00