After my chat with Pops the day before, I’d bought our supplies for the expedition, handed them to the Zavah merchants for safekeeping, then dropped in to invite Lis and Shuna, and headed back to camp. For whatever reason, Lady Gladwein decided to tag along, so I treated them all to lunch. The herculean goddess seemed pleasantly pleased with the curry, merrily savoring the spicy stew infused with Éa’s original blend of spices. Strangely enough, Lady Mythlanica and Lady Gladwein appeared to know each other. They only exchanged words two or three times, but I could sense familiarity in their tones.
Untold mysteries enshrouded Lady Mythlanica, even for me, her devotee. Although an ancient currency bore her name, suspiciously few people recognized it, almost as if their perception of her had shifted out of place in their minds. Had she ever had devotees like me in the past? If so, where were they now? The curiosity killed me, but the topic felt somehow taboo to discuss.
Everyone has secrets in their past they don’t want others dredging up. I could only imagine how that must apply to the divine, how many of their secrets could endanger your life.
This might not have had much to do with anything else, but once I got back, Lanceil accosted me, saying, “Souya, I smell another woman on you. Who is she?”
“Huh? What do you—?”
“I said, WHO. IS. SHE?!” Her smile terrified me to my core. I feared for my life. What was I supposed to do about this? I had a lot of explaining to do to Tutu, too. But before I got to any of that, I had to think about talking or, rather, making up with Lana.
The previous day, we hadn’t said a word to each other. My elven wife ate all her meals in silence, asked for no seconds, and offered no reviews. She didn’t even have a sip of alcohol. In part, I had my own cowardice to blame. But in my defense, I wanted my actions to speak for themselves first. Yeah, I know, it’s selfish as hell.
We did sleep in the same tent for what it was worth, though Éa and Lady Mythlanica barged in as usual, joined also for some reason by Lanceil. In the end, we were squished together like a can of sardines. Surprisingly, though, I slept like a baby.
The next time I opened my eyes, the day of our mission had dawned. After a quick breakfast, we headed to town and got our things from the trade group, then picked Shuna and Lis up at their dorms. We then made for the Adventurers Guild and met Freyja, Lazalisa, and Gaslark on the first floor of the dungeon. Lana remained silently composed the entire time, her expression never once bordering on displeasure; she even went as far as completely ignoring Freyja’s “good morning.”
Being so early in the morning, we were the only party at the Guild. Evetta hadn’t started her shift yet, so I submitted our planned dungeon excursion forms to another counselor. After that, we ducked into the portals, and our two parties stepped out onto the fifteenth floor. One that consisted of me, Lana, Éa, Shuna, and Lis (Bel), and the other having Freyja, Lazalisa, and Gaslark.
And our final addition— “Listen up, everyone. We have a special helper today.”
“The name’s Medîm. Well met, lads and lasses.”
With Pops rounding out the group, we stood at nine members strong—a huge party by adventurers’ standards. We’d only brought rations for three days, but even that added up to a ton of food. I usually asked everyone to carry their own portions, but this time, I only gave them emergency provisions and had Lazalisa bear the rest. Her backpack and travel bag both bulged at the seams.
“Lord Souya, how do you two know each other?” she asked, her face impassive, after surveying Pops.
“Lazalisa, are you acquainted with this gentleman?” Freyja didn’t seem to know him at all.
“Yes, milady, he is the illustrious Medîm, hailed as the father of adventurers. His great deeds have been recorded in the biographical Lives of Brave Warriors of the Central Continent.”
“My, that is indeed noteworthy. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Master Medîm. I am Freyja Deus Gastolfo. Allow me to thank you in advance for your kind instruction today.”
“Ga-Gastolfo?” Unusually frazzled, Pops dragged me by the arm away from the group. The middle-aged man and I began whispering like schoolgirls. “Souya! You didn’t tell me a Gastolfo was coming!”
“No, I didn’t. I can’t say much for her personality, but she is an amazing mage. Her maid is also pretty damn talented.”
“Don’t you dare bring up the parlor or Eltalia.” Eltalia, as I recalled, was the Goddesses of Slumber and Fertility Parlor’s proprietress. I’d only met her once, but she and Pops had a little somethin’ somethin’ going on.
“Okay, but why?” If I didn’t ask now, things could get troublesome later.
“Lady Lowomen and Lady Gastolfo are sister goddesses, and their hatred for the other cannot be understated. Also, Eltalia used to be called Marcia Merua Gastolfo, but she disapproved of her family’s practices and cut ties with them. To think, all this time I’ve spent avoiding the Gastolfos, and now I run into one here of all places.”
“What does it matter? It’s just a coincidence. And what the hell am I supposed to do with that information?” I said, ending the patently boring gossip. I shook off his arm and got back to introducing Pops to the group. “Pops, you’ve met Lady Freyja, a title-bearing Champion of Light. This is her attendant, Lazalisa, and their party member Gaslark.”
“Master Gaslark? Hmm? And you are…?” Pops narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“Gaslark is a dwarf.”
“A dwarf? Come off it; he’s—” Any more, and his cover would be blown. I guess it wasn’t that easy to fool someone who’d seen the real thing.
“A dwarf, Pops. By the way, how has the shop been faring these past few—?”
“Ah yes, a dwarf.”
“Exactly, a dwarf.”
“Real dwarf right there.”
Remind me to apologize if I ever do meet a real dwarf. “So in my party, we’ve got Lana, Éa, Shuna—”
“I can’t wait to explore with you!!” Shuna exploded, practically jumping out of his pants with excitement. I had let everyone know the day before that Pops would be joining us. Shuna bounced with about three times as much energy as usual.
“And lastly, Be—Lis.”
“Hmm, you’ve changed since the last time I saw you. You, lad, are doing fine. As for you, little lass, can’t say I approve of that.”
“………” Lis averted his gaze. Pops didn’t seem to have anything special to say to the elven sisters.
“Right, I’ve got a feel for you all. So, Souya, what’s your strategy?”
I explained my general plan to Pops and the rest of the group. “Éa and I will be on search and recon. If we get into battle, I want Pops and Shuna up front, followed by Lis, Lana, and Freyja. Lis, watch out for those two.”
“……Understood.” Well, that’s unusual. Didn’t think Lis would answer so quickly.
“Lazalisa, you’re on lookout for attacks from the rear. Gaslark, you keep an eye out for any risks from the sides. We can change things up depending on how quickly our loads lighten or where we all stand in terms of stamina, but let’s try this formation out for now. And here, Freyja, Lana, Pops, you too. Take these.” I handed them all throat microphones.
“What is this, a collar?” Lana muttered dryly.
“Is it, now? I imagine I’ll look rather dashing in it.”
“You’d look better with some humility, milady.”
Ignoring her reptilian maid, Freyja put the mic around her neck. Only after she saw Freyja do so did Lana begrudgingly put hers on. Looking very dubious about the whole thing, Pops followed suit. I jogged a bit away from the group and tested the communication system through the receiver on my glasses.
“Testing, testing. If you can hear me, say something.”
“Aye, I hear you.”
“Goodness, how clever. All clear with me.”
“Lana?”
“Yes.”
Mics, checked. Now, the only thing left was— “So, Pops, would you, um…?”
“Aye.” He slipped me a couple maps, one for every floor from the fifteenth to twentieth. I grinned. What a treat we were getting this time. I’d be terrified if other adventurers ever found out.
“If you’ll excuse me a sec,” I said. Turning my back to the man, I spread the papers out on the ground, then had Yukikaze scan them into digital files. These maps were so detailed it was almost scary. Each came complete with the shortest and optimal routes, intel on the species of monsters you’d encounter, and even the best way to fight them. It felt like they weren’t so much for personal use but to show someone else.
“Scan complete. Map displaying,” Yukikaze announced, then pulled it up on my glasses. “Which route would you like to use?”
“The shortest.”
“Understood.” She highlighted the quickest route.
Every five levels ran about twenty kilometers in length, which meant about five kilometers per level if we took the fastest routes. Looking at the Tower of Legions from outside, you’d expect the floors to grow narrower the further you explored. However, mysteriously, they only got bigger, each map with each level growing more expansive. Truly mysterious.
“Thanks, Pops. Let me return these.”
“What?” Pops blurted out in surprise when I handed the documents back.
“I won’t be needing them anymore. I’ve saved all the data,” I explained.
“So quickly? That doesn’t sit right.”
Showing him how my equipment worked was risky, but he had also taken one by sharing the maps. He wasn’t going to blab about this to anyone.
“Éa, here.”
“Hmm? Ooh, what’s this?”
I gave my sister a backup pair of glasses. “Those will connect you to the others and show you the map of each floor. The green dots are our party members, and red dots are enemies.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Huh. How does it look?” She put them on and struck a smug pose.
“Good, very nice.” I gave her a thumbs-up. Éa in glasses—not bad. Not bad at all. They made her look twice as intelligent and twice as adorable. Feeling someone’s gaze on me, I turned around to see Lana—who quickly looked away with a huff. I bet they’d be great on her, too, though it could end up being a chaotic mash-up of accessories.
“Last thing, Shuna. We’ve got a pro swordsman here. You could learn a lot from watching Pops. Don’t miss a second of it.”
“You better believe I won’t!” His enthusiasm threatened to crush me. I had the hardest time dealing with this kind of energy.
I surveyed the group one last time, saw everything checked out, and said, “Let’s go.”
On to the Deranged Stratum. Only the gods knew what we’d find there. As the saying goes, “Will we see a demon or a snake?” Or something else entirely?