Over the next few days, everything seemed to return to how it had been before—calm, yet busy.
Aside from Riezel causing quite a stir in the Entertainment District and subsequently being called in by Finn for a lecture, he encountered no further trouble.
Of course, when the female members of the familia, led by Ais, learned that Riezel had gone to the Entertainment District alone, their feelings were rather complicated. Lefiya, in particular—this pure and upright elf—practically exploded upon hearing the news, as if the sky had fallen, her entire world turning gray with despair.
To calm her down, Riezel had to explain himself repeatedly before finally convincing her that he had not gone there to indulge in pleasure, but to pick a fight. After all, the Ishtar Familia had already messed with him twice, so it was only natural for him to take the time to retaliate.
As for Loki, upon hearing of the matter, she applauded repeatedly and even muttered about why Riezel had not made an even bigger scene.
In response, Riezel could only roll his eyes.
"If you make it any bigger, the Guild won't let it slide."
In the end, with this single sentence, Riezel shut Loki down.
It was not that he did not want to escalate things, but that he could not afford to escalate them too much. Otherwise, with a single wide-range magic attack, he could have wiped out the entire Entertainment District in one go.
At that point, the Ishtar Familia would have been utterly devastated, and Ishtar herself would likely have died from rage on the spot, becoming the second god to be sent back to Heaven in recent times, after Thanatos.
Yes, the only reason he did not act that way was that he could not get past the Guild.
After all, the Guild was the official authority managing Orario. If he caused a large-scale disturbance within the city, the Guild would never ignore it, which was why Riezel had not taken direct action against the Ishtar Familia. If he had, even if the Guild could not do much to him personally, they would still impose penalties on the Loki Familia as a whole.
While Riezel didn't care about himself, involving others was a burden he had no intention of bearing.
"Anyway, the Ishtar Familia won't be around much longer..."
Riezel muttered quietly to himself.
Soon after, true to his words, the disturbance began.
In the morning, while Riezel was still in the dining hall, Raul approached him and delivered a piece of news.
"Oh, the Ishtar Familia started a war with the Hestia Familia?"
Riezel, who had been holding a glass of milk mid-meal, raised his eyebrows at Raul's words.
At the moment, only Ais and Lefiya were sitting with him, while Tiona and Tione had already finished eating and gone down to the basement to accompany the Kali Familia.
For reasons unknown, ever since the Kali Familia had been confined to the basement, the twin amazoness sisters had gone there every day—not only to stand guard, but also to fight Argana and Bache from time to time, calling it 'revenge.'
As a result, tremors would occasionally echo from beneath Twilight Manor, and the sisters would periodically reappear covered in wounds, startling everyone.
At first, Finn and the others had tried to intervene, but seeing that Tiona and Tione could not be persuaded and were only getting injured without serious consequences, they eventually stopped interfering.
It was said that because of this, the two sisters' statuses had been rapidly improving, much to Bete's envy.
Today was no different.
Early in the morning, Tiona and Tione had already gone to the basement and were not present.
Bete had also departed with Anakitty, continuing their exploration of the Dungeon to locate the orichalcum door leading to the Man-Made Dungeon Knossos, while also clearing out portions of the green flesh to secure the route to the 10th Floor of Knossos.
As usual, Finn, Gareth, and Riveria were not present.
As the top executives, the three of them were perpetually occupied—either preparing supplies, devising strategies to conquer Knossos, or negotiating with the Guild, the Ganesha Familia, and the Hephaestus Familia.
In short, they were so busy that they were rarely seen.
Today, Riezel, Ais, and Lefiya also had a task.
Apparently, there had been signs of green flesh appearing in the Under Resort on the 18th Floor of the Dungeon, suggesting that a hidden entrance or exit of Knossos might have malfunctioned, allowing it to spill out, so they were supposed to head there after they had their meal.
However, before they had even finished their meal, Raul, who needed to visit the Hephaestus Familia to confirm the backup equipment list ordered by Finn and the others, came over to deliver this news.
"Hestia Familia?"
Beside him, Lefiya, who had been eating a fruit salad, froze momentarily before reacting.
"Is that the familia of that Little Rookie who overestimates himself enough to compare himself with Mr. Riezel?"
Lefiya's words caused Riezel, Ais, and Raul to exchange glances.
"Overestimating himself…"
Riezel's expression turned subtle.
"Hey, that's a bit much, isn't it?"
Raul laughed awkwardly.
"Lefiya?"
Ais looked at her in surprise.
It could not be helped.
Lefiya rarely spoke in such sharp and forceful terms, so her sudden remark startled both Ais and Raul.
"I-I'm just stating the truth…" Lefiya said, her charming face flushing slightly as she lowered her voice. "Everyone keeps comparing that person to Mr. Riezel, saying he might catch up to him or even surpass him. How is that even possible?"
Rising from Level 1 to Level 3 in just over two months—such talent had initially impressed Lefiya as well.
However, unlike Riezel and Ais, who frequently ventured into the Dungeon and rarely lingered in the city, Lefiya was quite sociable within the familia and had the typical interests of a young girl, so she was often invited out by Alicia Forestlight and others—sometimes shopping for clothes, sometimes going out for afternoon tea—living a rather fulfilling daily life.
Because of that, she inevitably heard many discussions around the city and had a certain awareness of public opinion. And what she heard were rumors that deliberately praised Bell while putting Riezel down.
Such rumors were almost inevitable.
Although the Loki Familia was one of Orario's strongest familias and widely admired, prominence often attracted hostility. Any narrow-minded individuals who could not stand others standing out would inevitably feel jealousy and resentment toward geniuses they could never hope to match.
Riezel, being both a member of the Loki Familia and an undeniable genius, was naturally a target of such envy. Consequently, those who did not dare to provoke the Loki Familia or him openly would resort to speaking ill of him behind his back.
As for the Little Rookie, Bell Cranel, being the second monster rookie after Riezel, he was inevitably compared to him and used by such people as a tool to elevate one while diminishing the other.
Lefiya, who regarded Riezel as her object of admiration, found this absolutely intolerable.
And so, unfortunately, Lefiya had come to resent Bell, showing clear disdain toward him.
"How could that Little Rookie possibly compare to Mr. Riezel?"
"He only reached Level 3 after more than two months?"
"Back then, Mr. Riezel reached Level 3 in just twenty-two days, you know?"
"He's over a month slower than Mr. Riezel, and he still has the nerve to be compared to him?"
"Isn't that just overestimating himself?"
Lefiya relentlessly muttered to herself, her resentment clearly evident.
It was obvious that, after hearing such rumors repeatedly, she had begun to take them quite seriously.
"C'mon… that's already pretty impressive, isn't it?"
Raul spoke with a wry smile.
"Mm, it's impressive."
Ais nodded frankly as well.
Less than a month?
More than two months?
Was there really that much of a difference?
It should be noted that even Ais, who once held the record for the fastest level-up, had taken an entire year to advance from Level 1 to Level 2, and another one to two years to reach Level 3.
In comparison, Bell advancing two levels in just over two months was, in the eyes of those who might take several years—or even over a decade—to advance a single level, not all that far behind Riezel.
Needless to say, this was precisely why so many people compared Bell to Riezel.
To most, a difference of one or two months hardly counted as a gap—it was merely a matter of who crossed the line first.
However, Lefiya was clearly unhappy with that perspective.
"So Miss Ais and Mr. Raul also think Bell Cranel is stronger than Mr. Riezel?"
Lefiya pressed them aggressively, momentarily stunning the two First-Class Adventurers.
"Of course not!"
Raul shook his head immediately.
"Riezel is the strongest."
Ais also expressed her firm stance without hesitation.
Even though Bell was indeed impressive, in the eyes of Ais and Raul, Riezel was unquestionably far superior.
Naturally, this was not merely because Riezel was one of their own—it was because they genuinely did not believe Bell could surpass him.
They knew that Riezel's strength was not limited to his rapid growth.
As a swordsman, his swordsmanship had already surpassed Ais's, to the point that he had become her instructor. Every morning, he sparred with her in the courtyard, guiding her in Wind Breathing and accelerating her progress at an extraordinary pace.
In terms of magic, Riezel possessed talent that rivaled—if not exceeded—that of Riveria and Lefiya. He had mastered exceptional enchant-type magic, such as Ariel, as well as irregular, rule-breaking magic like Uchide no Kozuchi, in addition to various strange forms of magic that even Riveria and Lefiya could not fully comprehend.
Riezel's mastery of magic was, without exaggeration, already the finest in Orario.
In swordsmanship, he was second to none among all swordsmen in Orario.
In magic, he was likewise unmatched among all mages.
Now, the title of Orario's strongest magic swordsman was no longer an exaggeration—it had become an established fact, widely recognized throughout Orario and even beyond. Coupled with his ability to fight across levels and his fearless combat style, even Ottar—known as King—had begun to regard him as a rival, let alone anyone else.
If Bell's only advantage was his rapid growth, then no matter what, he could not compare to Riezel.
Of course, according to rumors, Bell also possessed the ability to challenge opponents above his level. Not long ago, he had defeated a Level 3 captain of the Apollo Familia while still at Level 2, accomplishing a feat worthy of leveling up. Even earlier, as a Level 1, he had defeated a Minotaur classified at Level 2.
Logically speaking, his overall capabilities were far from weak, but even so, Ais and Raul could not imagine a scenario in which he could stand on equal footing with Riezel.
To put it plainly, when Riezel was at Level 3, he could not only challenge higher-level opponents, but also defeat a Level 4 Monster Rex—Goliath.
Could Bell accomplish that?
It was impossible.
A Monster Rex was a colossal monster, far stronger than ordinary monsters of the same level.
Take Goliath, for example—it specialized in END, with defensive power exceeding even that of Level 5 adventurers. To defeat such a monster, merely having the ability to challenge above one's level was not enough, because one's offensive power had to exceed it by at least two levels to even break its defenses.
Back then, to defeat it, Riezel had pushed the output of Ariel to its maximum, combining it with the wide-area annihilation magic he had learned from Riveria and Lefiya. Only then had he managed to break through its defenses and kill it.
If Bell wished to achieve something similar, his fast-attack magic alone would never suffice. He would need some other explosive trump card, or else he could only flee before Goliath.
Needless to say, this was also why even someone like Ottar, when at the same level, had been unable to defeat the Monster Rex Balor on the 49th Floor, and only after finally defeating it had he accumulated enough high-rank excelia to level up.
Likewise, when Ais was at Level 5, without the exceptional enchant-type magic Ariel, and a degree of support from Riezel, she would not have been able to defeat Udaeus, the Monster Rex of the 37th Floor.
In short, for those like Ais and Raul, who had a clear understanding of Riezel's true strength and capabilities, Bell could not compare to him under any circumstances.
Especially Ais, who sparred with Riezel every day, had even begun to feel that Riezel was the true strongest within the Loki Familia. Even Finn, Gareth, and Riveria, who had just reached Level 7, might not necessarily be his match.
With such ability, how could Bell possibly compare?
"Yes!"
Only then did Lefiya smile in satisfaction.
"You really shouldn't underestimate that guy."
Riezel, who had been listening silently from the side, could not help but smile wryly.
Perhaps only he truly understood just how special Bell was.
"Anyway, let's drop that topic," Riezel continued, setting down the milk in his hand and turning to Raul. "Tell me the details—how'd the Ishtar Familia and the Hestia Familia even end up going to war?"
Of course, although he asked, Riezel already had a clear idea in his mind.
Strictly speaking, he had been one of the driving forces behind this incident, so he understood the situation perfectly.
And sure enough...
"I heard the Hestia Familia secretly hid one of the Ishtar Familia's members."
Raul explained with a serious expression.
"A few days ago, one of the Ishtar Familia's important members went missing."
"Because of that, they pretty much turned all of Orario upside down trying to find her. In the end, they found out the Hestia Familia was sheltering her."
"Goddess Ishtar even stepped in personally and demanded that the Hestia Familia hand her over, but they refused outright."
"So the Ishtar Familia declared war and sent people to attack the home of the Hestia Familia."
"Now that Little Rookie's already been captured. He's stuck in the Entertainment District and can't get out."
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