The early morning in Orario was still filled with wisps of mist, but the sky had already brightened, and figures slowly began to appear throughout the city’s streets and alleys.
People waking from their dreams once again began a new day of life.
Ize first returned to the inn where he had stayed the previous night and slung the backpack he had left in his room over his shoulders.
Inside were the documents he had obtained from the Guild yesterday.
After packing his things and saying goodbye to the yawning elf clerk, Ize made his way lightly toward the northern district of the city.
Along the way, Ize bought a serving of fried potato balls for thirty valis as breakfast.
Yesterday, while shopping with the goddess, Ize had tried this Orario specialty out of curiosity.
And honestly, it was really quite delicious.
On top of that, it only cost thirty valis.
It could be called both cheap and good.
There was a reason why so many fried potato ball stalls existed in Orario.
In the northern part of the city, by a road outside the bustling main street, stood a mansion far taller than the surrounding buildings.
It was long, massive, and imposing.
The large mansion, formed by several overlapping high towers, resembled a mountain of swords.
Its reddish-bronze exterior also made it look like a vigorously burning flame.
Atop the tallest central tower stood a flag bearing the image of a jester.
At this moment, it was fluttering gently in the morning breeze.
This was the headquarters of the Loki Familia—Twilight Manor.
In front of the main gate, gatekeepers holding weapons carried out their duties with meticulous seriousness.
After all, this was one of Orario’s greatest Familias.
Naturally, they could not allow people to enter and leave as they pleased.
The gatekeeper originally thought this would be another quiet morning, but the figure slowly walking over from the distance made him discard that idea.
“Please stop there.”
When Ize arrived in front of the main gate, the gatekeeper could not help but speak.
“Ahead is the territory of the Loki Familia.
If you do not have a proper reason, I cannot allow you to proceed any further.”
As he spoke, the gatekeeper gestured slightly with the weapon in his hand.
Beneath his armor, the outline of well-trained muscles could vaguely be seen, showing his powerful strength.
Anyone who could guard the main gate here was, at the very least, an adventurer who had received a god’s blessing.
If one were to make a bold guess, then the man standing before Ize right now being Level 2 was not impossible.
“Ahem.
I came here because I want to join the Familia.
There’s no need to start waving weapons around, right?”
Ize stopped as instructed and helplessly explained his purpose.
Then he took out the document Eina had prepared for him at the Guild yesterday from his backpack.
“Look, this is the certificate issued by the Guild.
I think they said it would make passage easier?”
In truth, Eina’s original words had been that this certificate was merely a pass.
Over the long period of time before this, there had been no shortage of supporters who had noticed the Loki Familia’s announcement at the Guild and come to recommend themselves.
Especially during the period right after Loki had posted the announcement, the Guild had issued quite a number of these certificates.
That was also the reason Eina had said Loki’s standards were very high.
It was just that Ize’s situation was somewhat different from those people’s and could not be lumped together with them.
Seeing this, the gatekeeper took the certificate from Ize and examined it.
The long string of text on it was directly skipped over by the gatekeeper, whose eyes moved to the very bottom.
When he saw the Guild’s unique seal, the gatekeeper had already confirmed the truth of Ize’s words.
He could indeed be allowed through.
However, after returning the certificate to Ize, the gatekeeper sized him up for a moment, and his gaze became strangely complicated.
“Join the Loki Familia?
Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come here.”
Hiss.
What a familiar-sounding confident declaration.
The gatekeeper felt as though he could see his former self in the young man before him.
Back then, he had also rushed over to join the Loki Familia after hearing of its great fame.
He had been just as stubborn and just as confident, believing that he would definitely make a name for himself.
Although he had fortunately managed to join, as time passed, he gradually ended up in his current position as a gatekeeper…
It was not that he felt resentful, jealous, or anything like that.
It was more that he had come to see reality clearly.
Even if one entered the largest Familia in Orario, it did not mean one was truly exceptional.
In the end, he had only reached the point where he could guard the gate.
Within the Familia, adventurers stronger and more talented than him were everywhere.
One more or one less of him made no difference.
“In that case, follow me.
I’ll take you to see our goddess.”
The gatekeeper called over one of his companions nearby and asked him to temporarily take over his post.
Then he opened the gate and led Ize into Twilight Manor.
“Let me warn you in advance.
Whether you can join the Familia or not depends entirely on our goddess’s will.
If you fail, you’d better not make a scene.
Otherwise, even if our goddess doesn’t care, I’ll still throw you out.”
Because he had seen this kind of situation many times before, the gatekeeper gave Ize a warning first.
“Mm, I understand.
If I can’t join, then it means my own ability is lacking.
It has nothing to do with anyone else, and there’s nothing to resent.”
Ize nodded in understanding.
“As long as you understand.
Quite a few ignorant newcomers make trouble after failing to join our Familia.
Personally, I can’t stand that kind of behavior. The source of this chapter is g.com.
It’s not that I have any particular hostility toward you.”
Seeing that Ize had answered without hesitation and did not seem to be pretending, the gatekeeper’s originally stern expression relaxed quite a bit.
Then he walked ahead, leading Ize deeper into Twilight Manor.
Perhaps because he held a faint hope that Ize might join the Loki Familia, the gatekeeper chatted with him about various bits and pieces of daily life along the way.
After entering Twilight Manor through the main gate, the enormous mansion occupied more than seventy percent of the entire grounds.
This headquarters, built on limited land, seemed to have decided that if it could not extend outward, then it might as well extend upward.
As a result, the central tower’s presence was extremely prominent.
After passing through the gate, the courtyard ahead did not feel particularly spacious.
The space between the main gate and the entrance had truly only been used to create a small garden.
A few planted shrubs and flowers of various colors swayed gracefully under the gentle caress of the wind.
At this moment, in the courtyard of Twilight Manor, a beautiful figure was already training.
The figure held a wooden sword and continued swinging it again and again.
Even when the blade struck only air, it still produced a sharp whooshing sound.
Long golden hair fell behind her, and her clear golden eyes were focused, allowing nothing else to enter them.
“The Sword Princess… huh?”
Following the gatekeeper through the courtyard, Ize could not help but stop and watch the scene.
Sword Princess, Ais Wallenstein.
A powerful Level 5 adventurer, one of the executives of the Loki Familia, and currently an existence beyond the reach of Ize’s strength.
It seemed she had maintained this kind of morning training for seven or eight years.
While possessing astonishing talent, she also silently continued putting in effort.
No wonder she was so strong!
“Stop staring.
It wouldn’t be good to disturb Lady Ais’s morning training.
Newcomers shouldn’t aim too high.
Even if you’re lucky enough to join the Loki Familia, reaching the level of an executive is still extremely difficult.”
Ahead of Ize, the gatekeeper noticed that he had fallen behind and spoke with sincere earnestness.
Executives in the Loki Familia were the absolute main force for conquering the Dungeon.
All of them were first-class adventurers at Level 5.
A level that most other Familias did not have at all existed in the Loki Familia in a full count of four.
It was truly enviable.
“Come on, it’s not like looking a couple of times will hurt anyone.”
Retracting his gaze and returning to the gatekeeper’s side, Ize said with a grin.
“You brat, I get it.
After all, Lady Ais is so charming that even our goddess herself can’t escape it.”
The gatekeeper felt as though he understood something and gave Ize a suggestive look, wiggling his eyebrows.
“…”
You understand already?
Could you possibly be the King of Understanding himself?
Leaving behind the diligently training Sword Princess, Ize followed the gatekeeper across the courtyard paved with red bricks and entered the mansion.