"Shirou~ I came to do the cleaning…", Syr's words cut off halfway.
What unfolded before the girl's eyes was a bright and spotless hall. Every piece of furniture and item had been tidied away in perfect order. Compared to how it looked yesterday when she left, the change was enormous.
"The room's layout… has been changed," Syr narrowed her eyes slightly, one eyebrow beginning to twitch.
The arrangement of the main hall's furniture was something Syr herself had designed and decided. When this mansion was completed, Emiya was away subjugating "Lochness," and he had entrusted the move-in and decoration to Syr, Lili, and the others in advance.
From the results, they had done very well. Especially Syr, who displayed extraordinary "aesthetic" ability in interior design. Even Lili complained that instead of being a waitress, why didn't she just quit and go find a job as a designer.
And now, Syr's carefully crafted layout had been altered. And what angered her the most was that she felt the new arrangement was even better.
In the field of "aesthetics," few could challenge the girl's skill. But what made Syr feel like she was facing a formidable enemy was that the space, changed by someone else's hand, now carried more of the warmth of a "home."
"Ah, you must be Miss Syr. Shirou mentioned you to me," A side door opened, and the goddess Artemis, dressed in a maid outfit, stepped out. She recognized Syr and smiled in greeting.
'So it really is a goddess,' Syr smiled, though inwardly sneering, yet outwardly still returning a gentle smile.
"Hello, Lady Goddess. May I ask, you are…?", the girl asked politely.
Of course Syr knew her identity, but she deliberately asked anyway.
"I am Artemis," the goddess said somewhat shyly.
"Ah, so it was Lady Artemis," Syr tilted her head slightly, feigning puzzlement, "Lady Goddess, you are…?"
"I am now working here in Shir–Lord Emiya's mansion," The goddess Artemis said this while bowing slightly, "Please take care of me."
Syr very "obviously" froze, then flusteredly said, "How can this be? You, a dignified goddess, how could you do such work? Shirou, honestly, how could he treat Lady Goddess with so little respect."
"No, this was my wish…", Artemis hurried to explain.
"I'll go tell Shirou right now. And please, consider at least a little what it means to have 'the dignity of a goddess'," Syr said this, clearly not intending to leave Artemis any room to argue, already planning to go find Emiya.
"But I… ah, Lady Tiamat!", Artemis exclaimed in panic. And in the next moment, as another figure entered the room, the name she uttered made Syr stop in her tracks.
"Tiamat… wait, that Tiamat?", Syr instinctively turned her head toward the goddess.
Tiamat tilted her head slightly, her sparkling eyes showing a trace of puzzlement.
Syr's heart skipped a beat.
This was bad. This was a "great goddess," and one with exceedingly high divine authority.
With a voice of confusion, Tiamat said, "Beauty, war, love, gold… but not Ishtar… so you are… F—"
"Lady Goddess!", Syr rushed forward, grabbed Tiamat's hand, "Let's speak privately."
———
"Shirou-kun, what's the matter? You look troubled," Gareth stepped forward, handing Emiya a cup of coffee.
Taking it, Emiya nodded helplessly, "There is something."
Originally, he had only hoped to hire one or two full-time maids to lighten Haruhime's workload and spare Syr from tiring herself too much.
Many wanted this job, including several high-ranking adventurers who had undergone level ascensions.
By rights, he should have selected suitable candidates from among them. However, at the crucial moment, the goddess Tiamat had appeared uninvited. This Creator Mother Goddess displayed overwhelming might, driving away all other contenders.
As for the job of maid, the profession of "taking care" of one's master, no one could compete with the absolute maternal essence of the Creator Goddess.
Faced with this outcome, Emiya truly didn't know whether he should accept it. Wasn't having a goddess serve as a maid just a little too arrogant?
But the goddess Tiamat was very insistent. And thinking it over carefully, there were already gods doing things like selling fried potato balls. Paying thirty valis for one would even let you pat their heads. Compared to that, working as a maid didn't seem so bad. At least the salary he was offering was high.
The only issue was that Orario's many male gods would probably have far more opinions about him now.
"By the way, it's been a while, Gareth-senpai. Congratulations on your level up," Emiya said.
"Mm, thanks to you, everything went smoothly," Gareth stroked his beard as he answered.
Back during the "Artificial Dungeon War," Gareth had been part of the reserve forces. Before he could even take the field, the Evilus had already been annihilated.
Not having fought any powerful enemies, and unlike Finn, who commanded as the leader, Gareth's level ascension had been delayed. He thus became the last of Loki Familia's "Big Three" to reach Lv.7.
And for high-level adventurers, gaining a feat wasn't easy. Only after Emiya and the others departed for the subjugation of the "Heavenly Bull" did Gareth descend into the deep dungeon, fighting alone for days and nights. Upon his return to the surface, he finally completed his upgrade.
Not only Gareth, Alicia had also advanced to Lv.6 thanks to her feat of defeating the "Monster" Phryne. Bete, Tiona, and Tione were slightly later, but they too had now ascended.
Within Loki Familia, it was Lv.5 that had nearly gone extinct, currently only the [Noble Cat] Aki remained.
Gareth looked at Emiya, his gaze lingering a moment on the boy's shoulder.
"Shirou-kun, how about a test of strength?", Gareth said, "Let's try arm wrestling. But… I'll need to use both hands."
To invite a Lv.6 junior to test strength, yet demand the use of two hands, such conduct from the Lv.7 [Heavy Champion] seemed rather lacking in dignity.
But Gareth was serious. The fact he merely asked for two hands already showed dwarven pride.
Emiya did not refuse, extending his right hand.
Gareth didn't lower his voice. Many adventurers nearby heard and quickly gathered.
"Raul, I'll trouble you to act as witness," Gareth said, removing his coat to reveal arms as hard as steel.
"Yes, sir!", Raul shouted excitedly, eyes wide.
A contest of strength between [Heavy Champion] and the [Grand Saber], this was far too entertaining.
In terms of combat power, Emiya was without question stronger. Loki Familia adventurers had no dispute about this.
Though Gareth's level was higher, they had all witnessed Emiya's combat ability surpassing all bounds.
Now, among Loki Familia adventurers, there were two opinions on Emiya's strength.
The radicals believed Emiya was already stronger than the Lv.8 [King].
The conservatives thought the radicals were being too conservative, Emiya was stronger than the Lv.9 [King] armed with the [Uchide no Kozuchi].
"But, if it's just brute strength, maybe…", Raul and the others thought.
After all, Gareth was a dwarf, a race beloved by "strength."
With the same combat experience, dwarves gained more from strength ability values. And even with equal values, their actual physical strength was greater.
It was precisely thanks to absolute strength and endurance that dwarves were the most sought-after front-liners among adventurers.
However, watching Gareth's movements, the crowd's faces froze.
Emiya had already raised his right hand, while Gareth unhesitatingly brought out both hands to grip it.
"Raul, give the countdown."
"Eh—yes!", Raul blinked in surprise, then hastily spoke.
"Three, two, one… Begin!"
"HRRAAAH!", Gareth roared, veins bulging in both arms. As he exerted full force, it was as though a wave of pressure surged around him.
And yet, Emiya's arm didn't move in the slightest.
A few seconds later, Gareth released his grip and donned his coat again.
"About how big is the difference?", he asked.
"Roughly… about one level," Emiya thought for a moment before answering.
———
"While you were away from Orario, we carried out several expeditions down to the fifty-second and fifty-eighth floors. Mainly for Bete and the others' feats, and to help them adapt mentally and physically after their level-ups."
In the conference room, Finn spoke seriously, "Now, preparations are complete. With you both back in Orario, the next expedition can be scheduled."
Riveria and Emiya were the core combat strength of the joint expedition force. Without them, Loki Familia truly could not risk an unprecedented expedition.
But Finn had always been preparing for the future expeditions. With Riveria and Emiya back in the city, they could depart at once.
"Of course, it depends on your condition. Do you need to rest any longer?", Finn asked.
Riveria: "No need. We already rested plenty on the way back."
Finn nodded, "Aki, please brief Riveria and Emiya on the situation of the sixtieth floor."
Freya Familia had already reached the sixtieth floor once. Finn had traded with them for the relevant intelligence.
Although the two familias were rivals, when it came to dungeon intel, they tacitly shared. Even the [King]'s solo victory over Balor had owed in part to information from Loki Familia.
"Yes, sir!", Aki answered, standing and presenting the information she had organized overnight.
In Loki Familia's highest-level council, there was one new member. Not one of the higher-leveled elites like Ais or Bete, but the Lv.5 Aki.
After Aki became a first-class adventurer, Finn had not moved her into the first squad, but instead kept her leading the second squad. This wasn't to suppress her, but rather to show trust in her.
Currently, Loki Familia's command positions were only Finn and Riveria. The new generation of first-class adventurers, [Sword Princess], [Ferocious Wolf], [Hiryute Sisters], were all powerful, but utterly lacked command ability.
Alicia was slightly better, but only skilled at small-scale tactics, not large-scale army maneuvers.
Thus Aki was being cultivated as the next commander. Keeping her in the second squad as its leader instead of moving her into the first squad as a fighter was precisely to train her leadership.
Another commander Finn valued was Raul, but unfortunately, his level lagged far too far behind Aki's, so he couldn't bear the weight of leading the second squad yet.
Aki carefully laid out the intelligence about the sixtieth floor, especially concerning the Lv.8 Labyrinth Lone King.
The girl knew well that in "charisma," "decisiveness," and "leadership," her talent could never match Captain Finn. So she relied on diligence and thoroughness to make up the gap as much as she could.
After Aki's briefing ended, Finn turned to Emiya, "Regarding the goal of this expedition, Shirou-kun, what are your thoughts?"
Emiya considered, "On the sixtieth floor, the main difficulty is the environment. Last time we entered the fifty-ninth floor, the presence of the Fallen Spirit weakened the [Glacier Territory]'s extreme cold quite a bit. This time, it won't be so easy."
"As long as we prepare thoroughly to withstand the extreme cold, the rest poses no real issue… As for the Labyrinth Lone King, I'll handle it."
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.