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Afternoon.
The exploration team — made up of Lyre, Ryuu, Neze, Maryuu, Asta, Celty, and Dan — officially set out on their mission.
After personally seeing them off with careful instructions, the goddess Astraea finally turned back reluctantly, heading to the Hephaestus familia accompanied by the team captain.
Second Floor Balcony.
Iska stood there watching the familia's figures disappear into the distance, worry written all over her face.
"Will they really be okay? Even as supporters, the dungeon's no safe place for someone without a Blessing."
"It's fine," someone replied. "This time they're not going to explore unknown territories — just earning some activity funds."
"Besides, everyone can see that he's still hung up on what happened with the Evilus. If he wants to get revenge personally, he'll need strength — and the dungeon's the best place to grow fast."
Kaguya gazed at the beloved sword Higanbana temporarily lent out and now hanging at Dan's waist. She smiled softly like a perfect Yamato Rindou… but her eyes squinted mischievously like a cat, lips curling into a teasing smirk.
"And if he gets scared in the dungeon and decides to stay obediently in the familia, letting us spoil him — that wouldn't be such a bad outcome either, would it?"
Iska shivered, rubbing the goosebumps off her arms as she glanced sideways at Kaguya, who was practically radiating a strange aura.
"Uh… You and Lyre didn't happen to know Dan before all this, right? The way you two treat him feels kinda… weird."
A flicker of confusion passed through Kaguya's eyes.
"We're still trying to figure that out ourselves."
Beneath the towering Babel Tower.
"What's wrong?"
Lyre followed Dan's gaze upward cautiously, but besides the blinding sunlight, she saw nothing unusual.
Dan looked away and shook his head slightly.
"Nothing..."
The beauty goddesses in this world really could mess with people's perception even down here in the lower world. No wonder having a virgin goddess nearby felt so much safer.
Technically, Astraea was a virgin goddess too… but it wasn't clear if she had counter-measures like Hestia.
So yeah… just for protection against those beauty goddesses — Hurry up and descend already, Blue Ribbon…
Lyre squinted thoughtfully but didn't press further.
"Dan, do you know how a professional adventurer party operates once they're inside the dungeon?"
Dan didn't even pause to think.
"Search, fight, retreat."
Lyre, caught off guard, was about to launch into an explanation but had to choke back her words. She looked up at Dan in stunned silence.
Dan tilted his head.
"Did I get it wrong?"
Lyre scratched her head and looked at him with genuine admiration.
"Uh... no, actually. I gotta say, that's a surprisingly accurate and clean summary. Didn't expect a rookie to get it so perfectly. Guess I underestimated you!"
Dan's image in Lyre's mind suddenly took on a mysterious glow.
His reliability shot up the familia ranking, even surpassing the dumb fairy girl!
"Alright, let's go. Once we're inside the dungeon, don't drop your guard — even against the weakest monsters. That goes especially for supporters."
Supporters handle things like collecting magic stones and dungeon loot. Sometimes they even carry backup weapons or items for the team.
In other words, they're the pack mules.
But if you want a dungeon run to be truly efficient, you need a supporter.
Even a team made entirely of high-level adventurers might not perform as well as one with a skilled supporter.
That's why smart and sensible adventurers never look down on supporters.
"If the team doesn't have a pro supporter, then usually someone with the lowest combat ability fills that role."
Maryuu, the party healer, chuckled as she and Dan stayed protected in the center of the familia.
"Since I'm the last line of defense when it comes to keeping everyone safe, I sometimes double as the supporter. But this time, we're counting on you, Dan!"
"Got it. It's my job, after all."
[C-Rank Wish Activated]
[Wish Requesters: Lyre, Ryuu, Neze, Maryuu, Asta, Celty]
[Mission: Support the exploration team and bring back as much loot as possible.]
[Reward: Randomly gain one ability from one of the requesters, plus wish points based on how well you do.]
Dan lit up inside.
Knew it — triggered a Wish!
Though… only one person's ability?
Tch. He was hoping to bug the system and grab all their powers.
Still, not a bad outcome.
The Mangekyo Sharingan he won from the lottery — with Kamui, one of the most OP powers in the Naruto world — was a spatial ability that was nearly unique in the world of Danmachi.
Forget the insane offense and defense — just having Kamui's near-limitless dimensional space could completely change how a dungeon party functions.
Only downside: using it drains a huge amount of eye power. So for now, he couldn't afford to use it carelessly.
The best move was to let the loot pile up to the max, then store it in the Kamui dimension — most energy-efficient option.
"....."