Because they clearly saw that Her Highness Riveria was standing behind Elfy.
"Elfy," The Elven Princess's voice was somewhat low, "Your roommate, Lefiya, has already advanced to Lv.3. And you? How long do you plan to stay at Lv.1? With your talent, your progress shouldn't be this slow."
"Starting today, go and train extra with Tiona and the others."
Upon hearing Riveria's voice, the girl's pretty face instantly lost its color, and her voice couldn't help but tremble, "Y-Yes… I understand, Your Highness."
Then, Riveria looked around, and the elven girls exchanged glances with each other and, in unison, quietly dispersed.
As for Raul, who had sparked the topic, he couldn't withstand the pressure and hurriedly fled in panic.
Finn smiled slightly, looking at Riveria standing by the window, "Are you angry, Riveria?"
"No!", Riveria almost answered immediately, her tone revealing a hint of displeasure.
After a moment, her voice softened somewhat, as if speaking to herself, "I'm not angry because of Emiya… I'm just sighing, why have today's elf girls become so undisciplined?"
Finn shrugged gently, a trace of helplessness flashing in his eyes, "Well… if we must find a reason, it's probably because they've been living in the city too long. Without so many restraints, naturally they're no longer as 'pure.'"
"That's right, it's all the humans who corrupted our originally pure elves," Riveria said irritably, placing all the blame squarely on humans.
Finn looked at her and couldn't help showing a teasing smile.
Riveria snorted, turned her head away, clearly not intending to keep arguing over this topic.
"By the way, Ais came back too?", Finn changed the topic.
"Mm, she's at the training ground, testing her new weapon," Riveria's tone was somewhat gentler.
Today, just like always, she had taken Ais to practice swordsmanship with Emiya. During that practice, they also brought back the new sword forged personally by Emiya.
Pseudo-Noble Phantasm, [Storm King]
At present, the swords crafted by Shirou Emiya can be divided into four tiers.
The first tier is general Grade 1 weapons. These swords are basically made casually by him, and compared to weapons made by other advanced blacksmiths, their sharpness and durability are slightly better, but in essence, there's no big difference.
Like the [Izumo] he gave to Yamato Mikoto is such a weapon, with a market price of about one hundred million valis.
The second tier are weapons imbued with magic. These weapons not only have strong physical properties but also possess specific magical effects, making them more powerful in combat.
For example, the [Wind Guardian] reserved by Lefiya is a magic-imbued sword, priced at one hundred eighty million valis.
The third tier, pseudo-Noble Phantasms. These weapons contain deeper craftsmanship and magical power from Shirou Emiya, already surpassing ordinary gear, and can be considered not inferior to the weapons in heroic legends.
Boxing gloves [Hrunting Kai], [Naegling Kai] and the [Storm King] made for Sword Princess Ais belong to this tier.
The last tier is true Noble Phantasms, or rather prototypes of Noble Phantasms. These weapons are the ultimate expression of Emiya's craftsmanship, condensing his understanding and re-creation of Noble Phantasms' essence, possessing unimaginable power.
Moreover, such swords cannot be created just because Emiya wants to.
Finn held a cup, gently swirling it, looked up at Riveria, and asked with a bit of curiosity, "So, how much does that sword cost?"
Riveria answered, "Two hundred eighty million valis. It will be directly deducted from the Rakia Kingdom's war compensation."
Upon hearing this price, Finn raised an eyebrow, "In that case, we really should thank the Rakia Kingdom."
Without the Rakia Kingdom's compensation, a sword of this level would indeed bring huge financial pressure to the Loki Familia.
Riveria, upon hearing Finn's joke, showed a trace of helplessness in her gaze, "Even so, I'm afraid the kingdom's compensation still might not be enough."
She paused and continued, "Tiona and the others are also waiting to commission new weapons from Emiya."
"Looking on the bright side, being able to buy a sword from the [Saber] now is already lucky. Also, the Hephaestus Familia is already giving us a discounted price," Finn said.
"Even so, we still have to increase income and reduce expenditure. We also have to prepare for the next expedition, and the funds required aren't small, so we must try to save."
Just as she was speaking—
BOOM!
A loud noise broke their conversation, shaking the ground slightly. Riveria and Finn looked at each other and silently stood up, walking toward the window.
In their gaze, the wooden annex beside the training ground seemed to be completely lifted by a storm, the roof and beams all blown into the air.
Under the sunlight, they looked like fragile paper pieces, rolling in the air with the wind's force, then crashing heavily to the ground.
At the center of the training ground, Ais Wallenstein stood dazedly, tightly gripping the newly forged sword in one hand, her eyes filled with clear confusion.
"Riveria, I-I just… wanted to test the new sword's power," Little Ais's voice trembled.
As for Riveria, she was already ready to take out the copper-headed belt again.
———
Emiya, Ryuu, and Haruhime walked into the [Viches] Café together, and a light aroma of coffee immediately greeted them.
The afternoon sunlight streamed through the curtains into the room, adding a warm atmosphere to the entire space.
However, when they saw Aura sitting in the corner, their moods were still somewhat heavy.
Aura, on the other hand, seemed to be in great shape, her face radiant with a bright smile, eyes sparkling with energy, looking completely lively.
Just as Emiya was about to speak, Aura suddenly stood up excitedly and ran toward him.
"Lord Emiya!", She called out happily, her voice crisp and affectionate, as if reuniting with a long-lost family member.
Then, before Emiya could react, Aura had already pounced, hugging his arm tightly, her face full of unreserved joy, snuggling up close to him.
This action stunned Ryuu and Haruhime on the spot. Their eyes widened, unable to believe what they were seeing.
Ryuu's face instantly turned bright red, "Sh-Shameless!"
Beside her, Haruhime was also shocked, her eyes wide and hand covering her mouth.
Emiya tried to pull his arm out from Aura's embrace, calming himself and softly asking, "Aura, I have something to ask you, about Filvis…"
Upon hearing that name, Aura tilted her head slightly, a trace of confusion flashing in her eyes, "Filvis?"
A moment later, she suddenly seemed to remember and showed a look of realization, her tone relaxed and indifferent as she said, "Ah, oh, our Familia's captain."
Then, she looked up at Emiya, still smiling, "Lord Emiya, whatever you want to know, I'm willing to tell you."
"Any request of yours, I'll agree to."
———
[The Next Day, Etna Volcano]
Emiya spoke thoughtfully, "So Loki Familia is preparing for another expedition?"
Goddess Hephaestus nodded,n"Yes, because in the last expedition, they successfully defeated Balor. Now is the perfect time to follow up on that victory."
Balor, with a potential level of Lv.7 and a subjugation difficulty of Lv.8, has always been the biggest obstacle for adventurers to break through the forty-ninth floor.
However, because Loki Familia successfully killed it, this hurdle was temporarily removed in a short period.
As a deep-floor dungeon floor guardian, Balor's revival cycle is as long as six months. During this time, adventurers won't have to worry about facing that terrifying one-eyed demon king again.
Hephaestus chuckled and continued, "Even the Ganesha Familia organized an expedition and directly reached the fiftieth floor."
This event indeed surprised many, as deep-floor expeditions in the past were usually carried out proactively only by Loki Familia or Freya Familia.
Without Balor stationed there, the Lv.4 brute monsters on the forty-ninth floor became significantly less threatening.
Combined with the detailed intelligence provided by Loki Familia, the Ganesha Familia advanced steadily this time. Even though they couldn't deploy all their members due to needing to maintain city order, their combat power was more than enough to break through the forty-ninth floor.
"The difficulty of a floor guardian far exceeds that of normal monsters in the next level, so once a guardian is defeated, entering deeper floors becomes much easier," The goddess explained.
They're like guardians of the labyrinth. Once defeated, the path to the deeper layers opens temporarily.
Just like the Ishtar Familia, with their strength, there was no way they could defeat the thirty-seventh floor's guardian, Udaeus.
Yet, Ishtar Familia's deepest record reached the forty-fifth floor.
So, among all members of Emiya's team, whether it's Lv.4 Lunoire and the others or Emiya himself, the deepest floor they've explored doesn't actually compare to the little fox Haruhime.
"This time, should we go on an expedition with Loki Familia? After all, your previous early-stage target, Amphisbaena, the twin-headed dragon, has already been defeated," Goddess Hephaestus asked.
Not long ago, Emiya's group completed an expedition, breaking through the twenty-seventh floor and successfully slaying the floor guardian with potential Lv.5 strength, Amphisbaena.
The battle went unusually smoothly. They used a pre-prepared ice magic sword to freeze the entire water surface Amphisbaena operated on, successfully limiting the dragon's most dangerous aquatic combat ability, stripping it of mobility and terrain advantage.
During the fight, Haruhime cast [Uchide no Kozuchi] on Anya and Lunoire, boosting their levels to Lv.5, enough to confront the dragon head-on. With enhanced abilities, they withstood the onslaught on the frontlines.
Emiya and Lefiya provided long-range support. With their powerful offensive capabilities, they poured firepower into the fight, dealing massive damage to the twin-headed dragon.
In the end, Emiya projected the dragon-slaying magic sword [Balmung] and finished the battle.
Honestly, due to absolute advantages in intel and preparation, this dragon slaying was even easier than their prior fight against the enhanced tree dragon.
The entire battle process went almost exactly as planned. Except for Lunoire suffering a minor bone fracture from being tail-whipped, no one was seriously hurt.
From departure to return, there were no unexpected events, no encounters with enhanced monsters, nor any anomalies.
After this battle, Yamato Mikoto also achieved a feat worthy of leveling up. After ten months, this girl leveled up to Lv.2, becoming the second upper-tier adventurer of the Takemikazuchi Familia.
Not only that, she also awakened a rather powerful skill, a wide-range gravitational control magic [Futsunomitama].
[Futsunomitama] can generate a gravity field within a certain area, affecting all targets within it, including enemies and allies.
The field's range can be adjusted according to the situation, with the currently known maximum being a 50-meter radius, enough to suppress and control enemies on a large scale during battle.
"To go on a joint expedition with Loki Familia?", Emiya muttered to himself.
At present, their team's expeditions have hit a bottleneck. After defeating Amphisbaena, the deeper they go, the more dangerous the dungeon becomes, and the stronger the monsters get. The environment's harshness also becomes increasingly severe.
Relying on their own strength alone, the next stage of adventuring may require slow and steady honing.
Not only that, with Loki Familia's expedition, Lefiya would temporarily leave the team, which would weaken Emiya's team's overall combat strength.
Therefore, a joint expedition with Loki Familia, pushing all the way to the deepest levels in one go, also seems like a good choice.
Right now, Emiya's strength is at least enough to take on Lefiya's role as a "long-range artillery" in Loki Familia's main force.
After thinking for a moment, Emiya made his decision.
The goddess Hephaestus, seeing this, nodded, then suddenly changed the subject, "Speaking of which, Shirou, how are those girls from the Dionysus Familia doing recently? How is the progress in your relationships?"
Emiya thought for a moment and answered frankly, "I've become friends with Filvis and Aura."
———
"Oh! This time Shirou is going on an expedition with us, that's awesome!", Tiona shouted excitedly, then hugged the blonde girl from behind, "Ais, Ais, did you hear? This time we can go on an adventure with Shirou!"
Ais had already known that Emiya would be participating in this expedition, but seeing Tiona so happy, she couldn't help but smile in response. The two stood side by side, the innocent and lively Amazon girl and the cute Sword Princess laughing and chatting together.
"Oh, if it's the Hephaestus Familia's [Saber], then he won't be dragging us down," The wolf-man youth nearby said coldly.
"Ah, here we go again, Bete just loves to act all high and mighty," Tiona said, clearly already used to his attitude.
The Loki Familia's [Ferocious Wolf] Bete Loga was a werewolf youth with a lightning-shaped tattoo on his face and a rough demeanor.
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