Genichi glanced at Eina. The faintest, perfectly timed flicker of annoyance crossed his face, like she'd interrupted him at the worst moment, and his voice carried a clear "I need to get out of here" impatience.
"Demeter Familia. Level 1. I became an adventurer eight days ago. The week before that, a few seniors in my familia took me down into the Dungeon a handful of times."
After hearing Genichi's answer, Eina nodded thoughtfully, studying him from behind her lenses.
"Then may I ask whether you would like a Guild advisor?"
Following procedure, Eina asked dutifully. "For new adventurers, especially those preparing to explore a bit deeper, having an advisor to offer suggestions, share intel, and even plan a safe early route can greatly improve your survival rate."
Genichi immediately shook his head. The refusal was crisp and decisive, with that uniquely youthful resistance to being watched over.
"No, thank you. The seniors in my familia are all great, and they have plenty of experience. If I run into any issues, I can ask them directly. Miss Eina, if there's nothing else, I really need to hurry and get into the Dungeon."
As he spoke, he shifted his body slightly, toes angled toward the Dungeon entrance, posture set like he could leave at any second. The urgency on his face practically overflowed, a flawless performance of a sheltered rookie's hotheaded confidence, desperate to prove himself.
Watching Genichi act like a newborn calf that doesn't fear the tiger, Eina Tulle felt a thick wave of worry rise in her chest again.
She'd seen far too many faces like his. People who carried dreams of adventure, cravings for power, or who were simply drawn in by the Dungeon's legends of riches. They would plunge into that dark labyrinth, and many of them would never return.
She let out a quiet sigh, heavy with helplessness and professional responsibility.
She knew she couldn't forcibly stop an adventurer with valid paperwork and a clearly registered familia from entering the Dungeon, especially when he had explicitly refused advisor support.
"Adventurer."
Eina's tone became unusually solemn. She pushed up her glasses, eyes locked on Genichi, trying to carve the warning into his mind.
"Please, please don't take risks."
"The Dungeon isn't a playground. It's alive. It's malicious. At Level 1, you might be able to manage on the upper floors, but once you enter the middle floors, the monsters' strength, the terrain's complexity, and the abnormal situations that can occur will all be far beyond what you're imagining."
"Please be careful. Be cautious. Know your limits. Don't let a good haul go to your head. Always remember this: coming back alive matters more than anything."
"Adventurers can't afford to be reckless. Please remember that."
Her words were earnest, and they came from the heart.
She truly didn't want to see yet another young face vanish into the Guild's cold list of the dead.
"I understand. Thank you for the warning. Then, Miss Eina, goodbye."
Genichi's response was still quick, almost perfunctory.
He nodded, accepting the goodwill, but his feet were already moving. He didn't give Eina any chance to add more. In moments, his figure slipped into the descending passage at Babel's base, where magic-stone lamps cast interwoven bands of light and shadow along the corridor leading down.
Eina stood where she was, staring at the direction he'd vanished for a long time. In the end, she could only turn it into another long, drawn-out sigh.
She had a faint sense that this Demeter Familia newcomer was… unusual. Not just his equipment, but something in his presence. A quality that didn't match his apparent age or the experience he claimed: that overly calm gaze, and the occasional flash of icy, sharp light that slipped through its depths.
But she couldn't explain exactly what felt wrong.
Maybe she was just overthinking it, made too sensitive by having seen too many tragedies.
"I hope you come back safely."
She murmured to herself, then turned and rejoined the bustling crowd in Babel's hall, continuing her busy work and the responsibility that never really left her.
For Genichi, Eina's appearance and her warnings were nothing more than a trivial aside, like a pebble tossed into deep water. A few ripples, and then it vanished into stillness, forgotten.
His thoughts were already flying deeper into the labyrinth, toward Rivira, toward how to efficiently use Devour and Greed to roll an even bigger snowball on the new Level 2 platform.
He even had the spare mental space for a faintly mocking thought.
In the original plot, Miss Eina Tulle was the "rabbit" hero's key guide and caretaker. Gentle, responsible, approachable. Without question the kind of big-sister type many adventurers would idealize.
If it were another time, under another set of circumstances, if he had the absolute strength and leisure to stay unhurried, he might not mind letting a relationship with a beautiful half-elf like her drift beyond the boundary of ordinary advisor and adventurer. Someone easy on the eyes who could also offer convenience… who wouldn't like that?
…But unfortunately.
Right now, he didn't have that strength, and he had even less room to spare.
Unnecessary contact often meant unnecessary variables.
So, minimizing contact with important figures from the original story, blurring his presence in Orario's narrative until he had enough power to ignore it or control where it went, that was the optimal strategy.
He cleared away the last stray thoughts, and Genichi's eyes returned to their cold, focused clarity.
He checked his direction, drove power into his legs, and began accelerating through the Dungeon's tunnels. Like a fish slipping into a dark current, he moved with agility, cleanly avoiding the scattered monsters of the upper floors as he sped downward at a pace and efficiency no Level 1 should have.
His goal was the eighteenth floor.
His battlefield was the entire Dungeon.
What Genichi didn't know was that the moment he entered the Dungeon, someone with intent noticed him.
After seeing Genichi go in, that person immediately contacted Riveria.
Riveria was very curious about one thing: why could Genichi use Alfia's magic?
Alfia had been dead for many years, while Genichi had only been an adventurer for seven days.
Even if Genichi had a magic like Lefiya's, the kind that could learn other people's spells, Alfia had been dead for seven years. Where would Genichi even go to learn Alfia's magic?
And so, a bold thought surfaced in Riveria's mind.
Maybe Alfia never died at all.
Because of that, Riveria paid special attention to Genichi, collecting information on him in secret.
For now, she only knew that Genichi had previously tried to join multiple familias, but all of them rejected him for having poor physical fitness. After that, he disappeared for a period of time.
When he appeared again, it was when Loki Familia's expedition returned and brought Genichi back to the surface.
After that, Genichi joined Demeter Familia.
(End of Chapter)
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