With the first twenty promotions, the mood across the entire Loki Familia became eerily unified.
At this moment, they'd lost interest in everything else—fixated only on that space where training rocketed one's parameters upward.
The low-level adventurers had gone completely mad.
And of course, the high-level adventurers were no exception.
Earlier, Finn had confirmed and explained that the training space's effects were remarkable.
Knowing that, the high-level members of the Loki Familia couldn't sit idle either.
One after another, they plunged into the training space.
Still, Finn and many others considered that if too many entered at once, the Familia's visible numbers in the city would drop sharply and cause problems.
So everyone's entry times into the "Training Space" were staggered.
Basically, adventurers at Lv.4—including Lv.4—were split into three waves.
Each session was separated by two days, which served as rest periods.
Naturally, those below Lv.4 were only allowed to enter the "Training Space—Weakened Version."
Under this arrangement, roughly two-thirds of the Familia remained active on any given day.
With that cover, outsiders could hardly spot anything odd inside the Loki Familia.
"Lately there really isn't much to do."
Loki had been staying quietly at home.
Her children were simply too competitive; every day they hunted for a slot to dive into the space Tsunayoshi had made.
Loki loved the sight, but it also meant most of her Familia had lost interest in external activities.
Everyone was either waiting for their chance to enter the space, or—after coming out—resting, trying to keep themselves in perfect condition for the next session two days later.
"Tsunayoshi, how long do you think this will last?"
Loki tilted her head to look up at his face.
Right now, Loki was lounging with her head on Tsunayoshi's lap; bored in her room, she could only seek out the most relaxed person in the Familia.
Everyone else was strung tight; even their "rest" felt taut.
They were bursting with energy—but the biggest problem was that Loki herself was bored.
"I think half a year or so is about the limit."
Tsunayoshi had anticipated something like this.
"After half a year, once they've pushed their parameters to the cap, those who can will choose to level up, then push their stats to the cap again."
"When your parameters are maxed, what's missing isn't something that 'grinding' can fix. What comes next is the excelia needed for leveling."
"At that point, I expect they'll focus their energy back on 'expeditions.'"
"That makes sense."
Loki thought it over and found Tsunayoshi's judgment quite accurate.
"After getting your help, those kids have turned into walking lightning bolts—every one of them pumped full of fighting spirit."
"Each of them has rekindled the hunger for strength."
"The belief that 'effort truly bears fruit' is honestly terrifying."
It was.
That belief was terrifying—and the Blessing that could make it real was just as terrifying.
Tsunayoshi added that silently in his heart.
"And you."
Hearing the topic pivot to him, Tsunayoshi blinked at Loki.
"I've been controlling the intensity of my training lately. Even with the gravity bracelets squeezing me, my daily workload isn't that high."
"I'm not talking about training."
Loki shot him a look.
With the children in this kind of fevered state, even Tsunayoshi had gotten swept up in it.
"You've been in this world for three months. Don't you want to go out and look around?"
"Not really."
Tsunayoshi thought for a moment and finally shook his head.
Sightseeing in another world was never in his plans; even a different world didn't have that much he wanted to see.
"Back home I only went camping in the back mountains sometimes, or fishing. The rest was daily training and reading. I'm not that interested in going out."
"And right now, plenty of eyes in this labyrinth city are on us."
"If a stranger showed up at your side and you went out together, I'd immediately be a prime suspect."
"That's true."
Loki opened her mouth, then sighed.
She'd noticed it too—more and more people were watching her Familia from the shadows.
Her divine friends were hardly pushovers. One by one, they'd sensed something had changed in her house.
"It's them as usual—nerves stretched thin out there. Anyone can guess something's up with us."
"That bunch doesn't know the details, so they're all lurking at our doorstep."
"I'm bored out of my mind because of it. I haven't even tasted Soma's divine wine in ages."
Loki shook her head. She'd practically taken a vow of temperance lately.
She worried that if she got drunk and went out making a scene, she might accidentally spill Tsunayoshi's secrets.
"The Soma Familia, huh?"
The name "Soma" made Tsunayoshi flinch a little.
"Hm? You know Soma?"
Now Loki was interested. Since she couldn't go out easily, this kind of topic hooked her even more.
"Mm… because a Pallum thief girl crossed paths with that 'protagonist' early on, so I kept half an eye on them."
That explanation piqued Loki further.
"Eh~ so that shut-in's kid even managed to convert someone over?"
"What's with 'thief' as an identity?"
Since Loki wanted to hear it, Tsunayoshi gave a brief outline.
"In short: a Pallum girl with a special magic that lets her change her appearance became a thief and a hunter for Soma-kami's wine. That's the gist."
Hearing the short version, Loki understood immediately and flipped over lazily.
"That's Soma the shut-in not knowing how to handle things—using divine wine to test a bunch of kids."
"Even without digging deeper, you can tell those children were bewitched by the god-wine, and with a money-grubbing captain running an internal racket, it all turned into that mess."
"Not one kid in that shut-in's Familia turned out well."
"Even if some started out good, soaked in that environment, good turns bad sooner or later."
(End of Chapter)
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