Quite an arrogant personality, always looking down on weak adventurers with disdain, a typical power supremacist.
However, those who truly understand Bete all know that, although his words are venomous and his attitude crude, he's actually someone who's tough on the outside but soft on the inside.
Even though he always speaks harshly, sometimes even excessively, in action he often goes against those sharp words of his.
"Bete, you can't speak to others like usual, Shirou is helping me forge equipment, you know? If your attitude gives Shirou a bad impression of our Loki Familia, that'll be a problem."
Tiona smiled at Bete, "If that happens, I'll kill you, okay?"
The surrounding adventurers also turned their gazes toward them, and for a moment, all eyes seemed to be on Bete.
Facing this kind of collective "attention," even the usually condescending [Ferocious Wolf] Bete Loga couldn't help but feel his hackles rise.
He turned his head away and coldly said, "Hmph, I got it."
"What's this, even the [Ferocious Wolf] has his obedient moments," Alicia said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Bete immediately retorted with displeasure, "Hah? Elf, you looking for a fight?"
Alicia didn't back down at all, her smile brimming with confidence, "Last time, someone got beat up pretty bad by me. You sure you want a round two?"
Bete's face reddened slightly from being poked at his sore spot, but he couldn't rebut and just let out a cold snort.
On the other side, Amazon girl Tiona's sister, [Raging Snake] Tione, bit her handkerchief in frustration and grumbled, "Grr…[Saber]!"
"Sis, not this again," Tiona looked at her sister's vexed expression, spread her hands helplessly, and shook her head, "That matter really has nothing to do with Shirou-kun."
But Tione ignored it completely, her voice full of discontent, "A woman's misplaced anger is beyond reason."
The reason she was so angry was that among the slaves rescued by Emiya and Riveria, one was a Pallum girl, and that person had now joined the Loki Familia, with her relationship with the [Braver] Finn rapidly growing closer.
Despite Tione's desperate efforts to prevent this from happening, trying every method to monopolize Finn, she still couldn't stop the budding intimacy between those two fellow adventurers.
As members of the same Familia, Tione couldn't lay hands on her companion, and could only watch helplessly as she increasingly became a "loser in love," her inner frustrations growing more and more difficult to dispel.
And the origin of it all was Emiya and Riveria's actions.
No matter how angry Tione felt, she didn't dare lash out at Riveria, so all her resentment was bottled up inside, directed silently at Emiya.
The reason she could only bottle it up, of course, was that she couldn't afford to offend either Riveria or Emiya.
If she really made Emiya angry, it wouldn't be just Riveria who'd punish her, probably the entire Loki Familia would join in.
Therefore, Tione only dared to grumble quietly in front of her younger sister.
Now it was the day before the expedition, and the adventurers of the Loki Familia were busy at the camp, organizing gear and preparing everything needed for the expedition.
Some of them even planned to use the remaining time for a status update, to ensure they were in top condition.
The last expedition had been a great success. Although no one had managed to level up in the end, almost everyone had shown remarkable stat improvements.
Especially Ais, who had performed brilliantly in battles against both the Dungeon's Lonely King and the powerful dragon, resulting in significant growth in her abilities.
Now, [Sword Princess]'s stats had caught up with, and even surpassed, those of Tiona and others who had leveled to Lv.5 earlier than her.
"Ah, Shirou-kun's here!", Tiona stood off in the distance watching, and the moment Emiya appeared in view, she immediately waved excitedly and called out. Alicia, who had already been waiting by the side, rushed forward at once.
"Shirou~", The elegant elf lady stepped up and gently held the boy's hand.
"Long time no see, Sister Alicia," Emiya replied.
For this joint expedition, Emiya, Lunoire, Chloe, and Yamato Mikoto would be joining, while Anya and Haruhime, due to various reasons and considerations, would not be participating this time.
Currently, as the team leader, Emiya had come alone ahead of time to the Loki Familia camp to coordinate and discuss the expedition details.
"Shirou, the sword you made is amazing," Tiona exclaimed, full of awe, "Ais blew up a whole house with one swing!"
Hearing this, Ais lowered her head in embarrassment, a hint of shame on her face.
"Shirou, can I commission you to make me a sword too? I want a greatsword, something that feels really powerful to swing," Tiona followed up, eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Hmm... sure, I can, but it still has to go through official channels, and the commission should be submitted to the Familia," Emiya said.
Because there were simply too many people wanting to request weapons from him, Emiya had to leave the handling of such requests to the Hephaestus Familia.
In the end, most of those requests were directly rejected by the goddess Hephaestus herself.
However, if it was a request from Tiona, it would certainly be accepted.
But in that case, her current weapon, the double-edged greatsword Urga, which cost 120 million valis, would end up being a bit of a waste.
"With Shirou around, this expedition will definitely be a huge success," Alicia said with a smile.
She paused slightly, seemingly remembering something, "Oh right, Lady Riveria said she has something to discuss with you. Shirou, let me take you to her."
———
"Shirou, you've come," Riveria greeted him gently.
Lately, Emiya and Riveria had been meeting quite frequently.
Most of the time, it was when Ais came to the Hephaestus Familia for sword training.
Riveria would always personally escort Ais to train, no matter how busy she was, she never seemed to trust Ais to go alone.
As for whether Ais, as a top-class Lv.5 adventurer and the famous [Sword Princess], might be capable of walking alone to the Hephaestus Familia's residence...
That was a question Riveria never considered.
Anyway, to Ais, Riveria always personally brought her over to find Emiya.
At first, Emiya and Ais would usually have simple sparring sessions, practicing basic sword techniques or counters during battle.
Then, after each session, Emiya would point out some minor issues and have her train on her own.
As for Riveria, she and Emiya would always head into the workshop after the sparring ended, leaving Ais alone on the training ground to continue swinging her sword.
Every time, Ais would watch the two of them disappear behind the workshop doors, and then, after a long time, Riveria would return. [T/N: 😏]
"Shirou, these are some details for this expedition. Please take a look," Riveria handed over a document to Emiya.
Emiya took it, nodded, and quickly scanned the paper.
His relationship with Riveria was already very close, and he also got along very well with the Loki Familia members.
However, the more familiar they became, the more Riveria felt that all details and agreements needed to be clearly defined in advance.
"First is the usage of magic swords," Riveria began to speak.
"This time, Hephaestus Familia lent us thirty magic swords, worth a total of 90 million valis. If unused, we'll return them to Hephaestus Familia; but if used, we'll pay 90% of their original price."
Emiya nodded, "If they're used because of me, then there's no need to pay. I'll cover that portion."
But Riveria shook her head, "No, that would mess up the accounting. It would be hard to clarify responsibilities. Regardless, any used magic sword will be considered purchased by our Loki Familia."
She paused, "Next, there's the matter of your projected magic swords. I have a proposal."
"To ensure the expedition proceeds smoothly and safely, we may have to rely on your projected magic swords in certain situations."
Riveria continued, "But to avoid unnecessary waste and dependence, I suggest charging a certain fee to adventurers who use projected magic swords."
Upon hearing this, Emiya slightly furrowed his brows, "Projection of magic swords only consumes my mental energy. Charging a fee for that seems a bit unreasonable…"
"This is a 'penalty measure,' mainly to prevent overreliance or abuse of the swords," Riveria explained.
Magic swords are life-saving tools for emergencies. Naturally, Emiya's projection ability shouldn't be squandered.
But monsters killed with magic swords rarely provide experience points, which is detrimental to adventurers' growth. If teammates rely too much on Emiya's projections, it'll hurt their development in the long run.
Emiya thought for a moment, then nodded and suggested, "We could set a small penalty fee. I won't take the money, but it can be used to buy potions or craft equipment for the group."
Riveria thought it over and agreed, "That works."
In the end, they established a specific policy: Emiya would provide projected magic swords, but they shouldn't be used recklessly.
If they were used, the user would pay a 300,000 valis penalty, which would go into a communal fund.
The 300,000 figure wasn't high enough to discourage critical use, but enough to prevent careless usage.
Aside from the magic sword agreements, Riveria also laid out other protocols, such as Emiya's and his team's role during the expedition, their tactical positioning, and other details.
There were no issues with these agreements; in fact, some even clearly favored Emiya and his team.
Of course, this was primarily because of the importance of cooperation with the Hephaestus Familia, not due to Riveria's personal emotions.
In short, both parties were trustworthy adventurers, with enough mutual understanding and trust, so the negotiation proceeded smoothly and was quickly concluded.
Riveria glanced at the open documents on the desk, nodded with satisfaction, then softly exhaled and turned her gaze to the window.
The room fell quiet for a moment, the golden light of sunset streaming in, painting a soft golden hue on the princess's profile.
"There's still a bit of time left now."
Riveria turned her head slightly, not meeting Emiya's eyes directly. Her voice was very soft.
Emiya, understanding her hint, walked forward without hesitation and gently embraced her.
Their silhouettes intertwined in the dimly lit room, the sunset outside casting a gentle and peaceful glow over them.
A moment later, Riveria gently pushed Emiya away and lowered her head to wipe her lips, seemingly regaining her usual calm demeanor.
She tilted her head slightly, speaking in a casual tone, "How are those two elves from the Dionysus Familia doing?"
Hearing her question, Emiya honestly reported on the two elves' situations.
Filvis was still the same as before. Though now willing to talk with Emiya and Lefiya, she remained mostly quiet and rarely expressed her thoughts.
As for Aura, she had become particularly cheerful… but sometimes overly enthusiastic, seemingly a bit too dependent on Emiya, even showing signs of easy devotion.
This led to Chloe and the others forming an increasingly fixed impression of her as a "bitchy elf."
Currently, Ryuu remained highly alert around Aura, who often came to see Emiya, whereas Haruhime surprisingly got along well with her.
Riveria listened to Emiya's report, her gaze dropping slightly, long lashes casting long shadows under the sunset.
She was silent for a moment before softly sighing, "...Such pitiful children."
Emiya spoke, "They are elves too… your people. So I especially can't ignore them."
Since arriving in this world, Emiya had received a lot of help from the elven race.
Riveria was slightly startled, then gently smiled, "Is that so?"
Emiya looked straight at her, his gaze filled with sincerity.
Being looked at like that, Riveria's expression subtly shifted, and a slight waver stirred in her heart.
She sighed softly, the corner of her mouth revealing a faint helpless smile, "If you look at me like that, then no matter how absurd the excuse, I can only believe it."
———
Tiona: "Alicia, are you okay? Your nosebleed won't stop!"
"N-No problem, just imagining Shirou and Lady Riviera together, that kind of double, no, quadruple happiness, ohoo…"
Alicia's face carried a dreamy smile.
"Too wonderful～"
"Then, same as before, from here, the [Vanguard] and [Main Force] groups will reunite, and from now on we'll act together."
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