Chapter 287

Chapter 287: Chapter 287

For a moment, silence fell over everyone in the tent.

The attack by the strange worms had not caused any major casualties thanks to the timely return of reinforcements and the competence of those who had remained behind at camp.

Their supplies, however, had suffered severe losses and were no longer sufficient to support the entire Familia continuing its exploration of the Deep Floors.

Even if they only sent an elite team onward, the remaining personnel might not be strong enough to deal with another swarm of those worms.

As the leadership of the expedition, Finn and the others had to take responsibility for the safety of everyone in the group.

"I’ll go."

Ais was the first to break the silence.

She stepped forward until she stood in front of Kiriya, then looked toward Finn with unwavering determination.

Since this involved a Spirit, there was no way she could simply stand by and do nothing.

"Ais..."

Riveria looked at her with complicated emotions.

This child still cared that deeply about Spirits.

"In that case, Riveria, you should go as well."

Finn turned toward the green-haired elf beside him.

"Hmm?"

Riveria looked back at Finn, but it did not take long for her to understand what the prum captain was thinking.

’Keep an eye on Ais. Don’t let her do anything reckless.’

Since the matter involved a Corrupted Spirit, Finn needed reliable information about whatever was happening in the deeper floors.

And as a half Spirit, Ais would be able to confirm the truth immediately if the enemy truly was a Corrupted Spirit.

She might also be able to interpret any information they discovered with greater accuracy.

From that perspective, sending Ais was the most valuable option.

The problem was that the girl had a tendency to become impulsive when certain things were involved.

That was why Finn wanted Riveria, who was almost like both an older sister and a mother to Ais, to accompany her as insurance.

More importantly, as Orario’s strongest mage, Riveria could provide overwhelming magical support and dramatically increase the scouting party’s chances of survival.

A man strong enough to defeat Ottar, Ryuu and Ais as two Level 5 adventurers, a Level 6 mage in Riveria, and Jeanne, whose strength was no lower than Ryuu’s—

That lineup was more than sufficient for an intelligence-gathering mission.

As Finn considered the arrangement, his thumb did not throb particularly strongly.

That only made him more confident that his decision was sound.

"I don’t mind going, but... what about the expedition?"

Riveria asked.

"If we’re no longer pushing deeper, Lefiya can handle the magical support here."

Finn smiled slightly.

"Aren’t you always saying we need to train the next generation? This is exactly the sort of opportunity you’ve been asking for."

"Eh? Me?"

Lefiya suddenly found herself promoted into the strongest mage remaining with the main expedition, and panic immediately appeared on her face.

Truthfully, she wanted much more to accompany Ais on the deeper expedition.

But she also understood perfectly well that with her current Level 3 strength, going along would only make her a burden.

She could only suppress the restless feeling in her heart and silently swear to herself,

’I have to work harder. Next time, I’ll definitely become a mage strong enough to fight beside Ais-san.’

"Hahaha! Exactly. Leave things here to us."

Gareth laughed heartily and assured Riveria there was nothing to worry about.

"Tch. If that’s the case, then I’ll—"

Bete clicked his tongue and had only just begun to speak when Finn interrupted him.

"Bete, we’ll already be losing two first-class adventurers from the main group. If we lose another one, the defensive line here could become dangerously thin."

"...Got it."

Bete could only close his mouth in frustration.

Tiona had wanted to go as well, but her favorite weapon had just been destroyed, and Finn’s reasoning made sense.

Someone still needed to help protect the expedition, so she could only pout unwillingly.

"Kiriya, you absolutely have to take good care of Riveria and Ais."

"Tiona, what’s that supposed to mean?"

Riveria turned toward the Amazon with a pleasant smile.

"You have that little faith in me?"

A thin layer of cold sweat immediately appeared on Tiona’s forehead.

"Hahaha... of course not! Riveria, you’re the strongest mage in Orario!"

"What Tiona said is also what I wanted to ask of you."

Finn looked toward Kiriya.

"I’m entrusting those two to you. We’ll wait for your return here."

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"Rest for one day. Recover completely and set out tomorrow."

"Five days."

Finn’s gaze became unusually serious.

"You must return within five days."

"Don’t worry."

Kiriya answered calmly.

"Even if we can’t win, escaping won’t be a problem."

Remembering Kiriya’s almost miraculous spatial movement technique, Finn nodded, feeling somewhat more reassured.

He then turned toward Riveria.

"Bring plenty of potions and supplies. We’ll mainly be operating around Floor 50, so we won’t need much of the reserve stock here."

"I understand."

Riveria nodded.

"Then there’s one more thing."

Finn looked back toward Kiriya.

"The information I’m about to give you will be extremely important for your investigation, so I want you to remember it carefully."

"Go ahead."

Kiriya’s expression became serious.

Ryuu and Jeanne did the same.

...

"Ais, Riveria, these are for you."

After the meeting ended, Tiona and Tione came running over with an enormous pile of potions and equipment in their arms.

"Do we really need this much?"

Ais looked at the stack in confusion.

"You’re going even deeper into the Dungeon! Of course you need to prepare properly."

Tiona answered as though it were obvious.

"And it’s not all for you two. Some of it is for Kiriya and the others too."

Kiriya, Ryuu, and Jeanne all looked surprised.

"For us as well?"

"Of course."

Tione nodded.

"You probably weren’t planning to go all the way to Floor 59 during this expedition, right? So I doubt you brought any Undine Cloth meant for extreme cold."

Starting from Floor 59, the Dungeon entered a glacial region.

Extreme cold covered the entire area, making proper heat-retaining equipment indispensable.

According to Finn’s memories, the Loki Familia had explored the floors above 58 several times before without encountering anything particularly abnormal.

Therefore, if the suspected Corrupted Spirit truly existed, it could only be somewhere on Floor 59 or below.

That made the appropriate preparations absolutely necessary.

"As expected of Finn the Brave."

Kiriya accepted the supplies and praised him.

"He really thinks everything through."

"Hahaha, of course! Captain is the best."

Tione lifted her chin proudly, clearly taking the compliment personally.

"So, Kiriya, if you really run into trouble, don’t force yourself to keep going. Captain said it too—there’s no point winning one battle if you lose everything afterward."

"Don’t worry."

Kiriya smiled.

"I’ll definitely bring Riveria and Ais back in one piece."

"Hehe, Kiriya’s even stronger than Ottar now."

Tiona sounded far more confident.

"As long as you’re careful, there’s no way anything will happen."

Then she grabbed Tione and Ais by the hands.

"All right, go get some proper rest. We won’t bother you anymore."

Before they left, Kiriya handed one Flying Thunder God kunai each to Ais and Riveria.

"For better coordination once we’re down there, please keep these with you."

Neither Riveria nor Ais fully understood what the kunai were for, but both accepted them without objection before saying their goodbyes.

"Mm."

Kiriya watched them leave before turning toward Ryuu.

"So? Nervous?"

"A little."

Ryuu answered honestly.

"It is the Deep Floors, after all."

As she spoke, however, both Kiriya and Jeanne reached out and took one of her hands.

"Don’t worry. I’m here."

"Don’t worry. I’m here."

The two spoke almost at the same time.

"Mm."

Ryuu nodded.

After that, everyone returned to their respective places to rest.

The night passed without incident.