As Finn's speech concluded, the atmosphere of the evening party visibly livened up. Looking at Bete and Tiona bickering nearby, Shirou glanced at Ais, who was sitting next to him, and chuckled, "Ais, I heard you were reprimanded by Finn today!"
Lefiya, sitting on Shirou's other side, also couldn't help but chuckle at Shirou's question.
"Brother, you're mean!"
Indeed, Shirou's actions caused Ais's dissatisfaction. Although the girl's expression didn't change much, that slight pout was truly adorable.
"Hahaha, you can't blame me for this! It was you, Ais, who didn't follow orders. I went to great lengths to cover for you back then."
Shirou spoke nonchalantly, but Ais lowered her head slightly, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry for making you worry."
Having been lectured by both Finn and Shirou, Ais now felt regretful.
"Then be careful from now on, and don't make others worry again!" Shirou said gently, extending his hand to lightly stroke Ais's golden hair.
"Mm!"
Ais nodded slightly and closed her eyes, enjoying Shirou's caress. Lefiya, who had witnessed this scene, couldn't help but feel envious. She not only envied Shirou for being able to comfort Ais, but also envied Ais for receiving Shirou's comfort. Watching the warm scene between the two, Lefiya truly wanted to shout, "I want both of them!" and then pounce on them. But unfortunately, despite her newfound confidence after Shirou's training, she could only imagine such things in her mind. Actually doing it? Sorry, she still didn't dare!
---
After the lively banquet ended, everyone gathered around the fire, listening to Finn's arrangements.
"Our objective of exploring and pioneering uncharted territories remains unchanged, but before that, we have an adventurer's request to fulfill."
"An adventurer's request? I remember it was received from the Dian Cecht Familia, right?" Tione asked, suddenly remembering, upon hearing Finn's words.
"Exactly. The request is to retrieve a certain amount of water from the Cadmus Spring located on the 51st floor."
The water from the Cadmus Spring is one of the ingredients for producing top-grade elixirs. As Orario's renowned healing Familia, such a request was a normal one for the Dian Cecht Familia.
"Cadmus Spring? What a troublesome mission! Why did we accept such a request!" Tiona grumbled, recalling her bad memories concerning the Cadmus Spring.
"Because the reward is substantial, and it also involves relations between factions; we can't simply refuse."
"Seriously, those guys always come up with troublesome missions!" After Riveria finished answering, Bete also grumbled.
"Alright, no matter how dissatisfied you are, the mission has been accepted. Next, we will arrange the personnel heading to the 51st floor."
Due to strength considerations, from the 51st floor onwards, the Loki Familia would also select elites to form teams for missions. "During the water retrieval process, try to avoid unnecessary combat. Due to the amount of spring water needed, we need to divide into two groups and retrieve water from two different locations."
After listening to Finn's explanation, Tiona and the others immediately began a lively discussion. Finally, after Finn's confirmation and division, the two teams for this mission were confirmed.
Group 1: Ais, Tiona, Tione, Shirou, Lefiya.
Group 2: Finn, Bete, Gareth, Raul.
Additionally, Riveria would stay behind to deal with enemies and restore her magic power, preparing for the 59th-floor exploration after this mission. Lefiya and Raul would be the supporters for their respective groups. Notably, Lefiya was going at Riveria's request, replacing her. After all, in Riveria's eyes, Lefiya was someone who could inherit her mantle in the future.
"But I say, is there really no problem with the people in Group 1?"
"Uh..."
Hearing Bete's undisguised worry, even Finn fell into silent thought for a moment. To be honest, purely in terms of firepower, even without an LV.6, Group 1's firepower was still superior to Group 2's. Although Ais was only LV.5, with the boost from her skill Princess of Vengeance, her combat power against monsters was not inferior to an LV.6. And if facing Dragon-species, her strength would be even greater. In addition, Tiona and Tione, the sisters, were also top-tier LV.5s. Furthermore, there were Shirou and Lefiya, two over-leveled experts whose magical power reached LV.5. Therefore, Finn wasn't worried about their strength.
However, their personalities were quite troublesome. After all, Ais, Tiona, and Tione were all well-known "problem children" of the Loki Familia. Although Finn really wanted to hand over command to Shirou, putting aside whether he could command Tiona and Tione, who might enter a berserker state, this was also Shirou's first time entering the 51st floor. Without any experience, Finn held no hope for his command.
Finally, after a brief silence, Finn looked up and smiled. "Tione, I'm entrusting them to you. Don't betray my trust!"
"Please rest assured, Captain!"
Tione, who harbored romantic feelings for Finn, blushed upon hearing his words and confidently accepted. Watching this scene, Shirou and the others all inwardly thought, "That's your 'beauty trap,' Finn. You really got them!"
After arranging the next day's itinerary, everyone dispersed and returned to their respective tents to rest. Although this was the Dungeon, the Loki Familia members still maintained a normal routine.
Lying on his sleeping mat, Shirou was agonizing over the evening's events. The development of things was somewhat beyond his expectations! What about the monster attack? Weren't the monsters supposed to attack during the day? Was it not this time? That seemed unlikely. Generally, Finn wouldn't let Ais make the same mistake twice. Or was it...?
Thinking of this, Shirou's expression immediately became troubled. His knowledge of the DanMachi world came from the anime and fan fiction; he hadn't read the original light novels. Therefore, his understanding of the Loki Familia, aside from the main DanMachi series, was only from the single anime season of Sword Oratoria!
"So, is the damn anime production team changing the plot again?"
Shirou could guess such things. As a veteran Otaku, he had experienced this situation countless times. Being someone who enjoyed watching bullet comments, he often saw disputes between anime-only viewers and original source readers. Therefore, such things were not new in the anime world.
"In that case, my understanding of the plot will be much weaker! However, although the process might change, the outcome probably won't. In any case, we will be threatened by new types of bugs tomorrow. It seems tomorrow will be another tough fight!"
Thinking of this, Shirou couldn't help but steel himself. He knew a little about the dangerousness of the new species. Therefore, tomorrow, he absolutely had to ensure Lefiya's safety. As for Ais? To be honest, Ais's survival ability was much stronger than his.
--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter