Chapter 163: Another invite

The adventurers were none other than Loki Familia. Bete's pissed expression and Riveria's tired eyes showed their exhausted state as if they speedrun the entire dungeon. The adventurers in the back lifted barrels on a wooden base. Gareth, the dwarf, was carrying on all by himself.

I just stepped aside to let them pass. Ais spotted me and hastened her steps. The change in pace was almost unnoticeable.

"Marikawa… san."

"How was your dungeon run this time?"

"Everything was smooth," Riveria answered, resting her arms on Ais's shoulders. She waved at Gareth. "You guys go ahead, I'll return to base with Ais."

Okay, this has something to do with me.

"Marikawa-san, can we talk for a moment?"

"Sure, let's find a safe place first. You looked pretty tired."

Finding a place to sit was rather easy for us cheaters with the specs to conquer the mist. Inside one of the closed caves, Riveria sat down on the natural bedrock platform and sighed.

"How did you find it so easily?"

"Just some skills I learned from my family."

Klyscha, my wife, counts as a family.

(Fufu.)

'Don't forget today's big night.'

(Ur… okay. I shall prepare my best.)

I transferred a sweet bread to my pouch and handed it to Ais. She just stared at the bread.

"Not feeling hungry?" I asked.

"No…" she said. However, a grumble in her stomach denied her refusal. She turned her head and pouted a bit.

"Come on, take it."

"Thanks…" she took the bread and nibbled a small bite. "It's sweet."

I smiled and ruffled her hair. Rini quietly snuck up to Ais's side and whispered something. Ais nodded and tore her bread in half to share with Rini.

The two silent berserkers kinda went along on their first meeting.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

Riveria stopped staring a hole through me and gave a tiny smile. "Loki-sama wants to invite you and your wife to our Familia."

Now, that was sudden.

"We are still level 1 though."

"Loki-sama still wants you on our team."

This offer came out of the blue. Did Nao's magic earn a spot in Loki's mind?

Countless fascinating possibilities revealed themselves. I could use them to ditch Apollo's advances and use the big brain goddess to do more things. With the biggest Familia on my back, I could easily dive into the deepest floors.

However.

"I can't join."

Astraea wasn't willing to accept any male in her Familia, more so if it's a playboy like me. She could have offered me shelter to avoid Apollo's troubles, but she didn't. My dream of conquering Ryuu could still be done with or without entering any Familia.

Other than her pupils dilating slightly, Riveria's stoic expression nicely hid her surprise. "Can I ask the reason?"

"The wolf guy gets on my nerves."

Riveria nodded her head and fell silent. Ais stuffing her cheeks with the bread looked cute as a timepass. The torch of the wall crackled as Riveria pondered.

"I'll convey your intention to Loki-sama."

"It's your goddess choice between four level 1 adventurers and a rebellious wolf."

"Bete isn't bad. His past messed his head."

Like I care.

Now Loki will have to decide if it's me or Bete. I'd love to get that wolf kicked out by his owner. Quite a sight to behold with some popcorn.

"Then, we will head out now."

"We're up too, so let's go together."

I suppressed the itch to see my new skillset. Ais was smiling a tiny bit at my suggestion. This will also give Riveria a better idea of my, Rini, and Grayfia's skills. Just a glimpse of her ice magic conjured by demonic power would influence the high elf lady.

For the rest of the journey to the surface, Rini suppressed her berserk side and smacked the monsters like a ragdoll, leaving Riveria and Ais in awe. Grayfia's magic though blew away her mind. Standing frozen just like the monsters before us, Riveria forgot every bit of her elegance.

"Are you really a level 1?"

"Yep, we can show our backs if you'd like."

We had no marks carved by a god.

Riveria pondered with her hand on her chin and shook her head. "No need."

I also showcased my dagger's abilities, carving wounds on the ogre's back. I felt the force behind my attacks had somehow increased. The level up brought some surprising results this time. Although my movements were nothing compared to a combat genius like Saeko, I was skilled enough to be called a veteran. The dungeon didn't focus on the movement anyway; this place was all about killing and surviving.

The journey went smoothly, and before long, we were at the dungeon's door.

I spoiled Ais with some headpats and chuckled at Riveria staring at me curiously.

"You want some too?"

She shook her head, though a hint of a smile on her face showed she was somewhat pleased. "Think again. I take pride in my headpats."

"What are you, a father?" Riveria muttered her retort and bowed her head. "I'll meet you later."

And she dragged Ais out of the dungeon. Rini bowed to send her new friend off.

Nao touched my shoulder. "Asahi-kun, why does flirting come so naturally to you?"

"I was born to seduce."

The first woman I seduced was my lovely mature maid! Those days were worth remembering. My gaze drifted to my new maid, standing stoically in the face of the adventurers' burning gaze.

Grayfia took a step back. "My Lord, your eyes… are scary."

"My bad… you guys go ahead. I'll sell this stuff to the guild."

The pouch was filled with magic stones. Even Rini won't be able to consume all of this and the stash stored in my ring.

"I can do it, My Lord."

People will hit on her if she goes alone. Some might lose their balls if this maid became furious. That'd be… too much.

"Go home and rest. I'll take care of this."

Nao took Rini's hand and headed for the inn. Grayfia bowed and followed them.

With the sun setting over my head, I passed through several streets and arrived at the guild.

Eina had quite the queue today. The longest queue was still the one with a redhead with two cute ears on her head. She was loaded in the boobs department, her gaze was anything but friendly. Yet, people flocked all over her. A kuudere beastman, her popularity was understandable.

I queued up at Eina's desk. Flirting with Klyscha helped me lose track of time as such my turn arrived soon.

Eina nodded with a subtle smile. "It's you, Marikawa-san."

She didn't forget my name. Our first meeting left that deep impression on her, or her memory is just sharp.

"Yup. I wanted to sell some magic stones."

"That won't be a problem. Please follow me."

Following her swaying ass, I arrived at the exchange room to trade the magic stones.

Everything went smoothly, not the guys who tried to pick on me near the inn. I gently broke their left hand. Breaking the right hand would be similar to ruining their life.

I'm not that cruel. Waving at the innkeeper lady, I got upstairs and entered the room.

"Grayfia, can you sit there?"

Grayfia looked confused as she plopped down on the bed. As I laid to position on her thighs, Grayfia let out a sigh.

"My Lord, please… feel at home."

Her dry comment earned a light chuckle from Nao. I rested down on her supple thighs and shut my eyes.

"Girls, I'll be taking a nap."

Ten seconds, that's all it took to sleep and arrive at Klyscha's realm. Snuggling with the loli goddess in the kotatsu, I made my request.

"Show every notification now."

"With pleasure."

The previously dismissed notifications appeared again.

***

Kuhahahaha, another cliff.