Everyone was on their best behavior.
Aihara Enju and Kohina Hiruko, though — the two little troublemakers — weren't nearly so well-behaved, huddled together and squabbling over the last slice of watermelon left in the fruit bowl.
"Everyone, settle down."
It was only once Haimer spoke that the hall actually went quiet.
Aihara Enju, still tugging at the watermelon a moment before, snatched her hand back at once. Kohina Hiruko obediently swallowed the mouthful she'd been chewing and wiped the juice from the corner of her mouth.
Every eye in the room turned toward the far end of the long table.
"I called you all here today because I have an announcement to make."
Haimer planted both hands on the tabletop.
"Tomorrow is the day you'll join [Loki Familia] on the deep-floor expedition.
"A deep-floor expedition is nothing like the sweeps you've done on the middle floors before," Haimer's voice turned serious.
"The conditions down there are brutal. The monsters' strength, their numbers, their cunning — all of it goes far beyond anything you can imagine."
"This will be a long expedition, full of dangers no one can predict." Haimer paused. "I have high hopes for you. I want this high-pressure environment to draw out the full potential you've gained now that you've risen to Lv.3."
"So that you can put every ounce of your focus into fighting and staying alive," "for the whole of this long expedition, [Loki Familia]'s Second String will serve as your logistics and support team from start to finish."
"From hauling supplies and setting up camp to treating the wounded, they'll handle every tedious detail." "And beyond that..." Haimer's gaze shifted toward a spot near the edge of the long table's right side.
There. — The captain of [Hephaestus Familia], Lv.5, "the One-Eyed Master Craftsman," Tsubaki Collbrande.
"And beyond that," Haimer began again.
"Miss Tsubaki has also accepted an invitation from [Loki Familia] this time. She'll be joining you as your accompanying blacksmith for the deep-floor expedition," "responsible for maintaining and repairing your weapons and gear whenever needed."
"Hey there, little monsters — looks like we're off adventuring together again," Tsubaki said, her voice booming with easy, unpolished swagger.
At those words, delight bloomed instantly across Onigawara Rin's delicate, doll-like face.
"We really get to explore the Dungeon side by side with Senior Tsubaki again tomorrow?"
Tsubaki meant something special to all of them.
After all — the first time this group had ever set foot in the Dungeon, and again when they'd pushed into the middle floors, it had been Tsubaki's experienced hand leading the way.
But faced with Onigawara Rin's enthusiasm, Tsubaki, still seated, gave a wry laugh and waved both hands.
"Let's drop the 'senior' business, all right?"
Tsubaki reached up and ruffled her own messy black hair.
"Sure, I've got a Lv.5 to my name, and I've knocked around Orario for plenty of years."
"But!" Tsubaki's tone sharpened as she pointed at the row of girls lining both sides of the long table.
"Next to you little monsters who came out of nowhere, whatever talent I've got isn't worth mentioning."
"In just a few short days, you all jumped straight to Lv.3!"
"At the rate you monsters are growing," "I'd bet money that within a year, tops —"
"you'll have blown right past me and be standing at the very top of Orario."
"By then, I'll probably be the one calling you 'senior.'"
Tsubaki's barbed self-deprecation eased the tension in the hall at once.
Listening to Tsubaki's grumbling, Haimer's mouth curved into a gentle smile.
He nodded and turned his gaze toward her.
"There's no need to be so modest, Miss Tsubaki."
"That this batch of girls adapted so quickly to the Dungeon's brutal ecosystem, that they never lost their way down there in the beginning — that's owed to your dedicated guidance early on."
"I've kept that debt of gratitude in mind ever since."
Hearing Haimer's formal thanks, Tsubaki looked almost embarrassed, scratching her cheek as a flush rose across her wheat-toned skin.
"You're giving me too much credit, Lord Haimer. Besides, I really do enjoy watching prodigies grow."
Tsubaki mumbled her way past the awkwardness. Haimer, helpless, huffed a small laugh and looked away.
He turned back to the girls lining both sides of the long table, drawing everyone's attention back to him.
"Besides announcing tomorrow's expedition plans," "there's something more important I called you all here for today."
"Once this meeting ends," "remember to come to my room on the second floor this evening — all of you."
"I'll personally update your Graces one last time before the expedition."
"And besides that..." Haimer deliberately let his voice trail out.
"I have a special gift for each of you, one I'll be handing over personally."
"A special gift?" Mary Kikakujou blinked.
Evening? Going to Kami-sama's room? And a special gift?!
Put together, those words set off an earth-shaking explosion inside Mary Kikakujou's mind, already crammed full of every scenario imaginable.
Remembering what had happened a while back, her cheeks flushed red at a visible speed, the color spreading all the way to her ears.
Sitting beside her, Onigawara Rin noticed and felt a vein throb at her temple.
Come to think of it — why did this girl keep blushing so much lately?
Still, Mary wasn't the only one worked up. Amou Kirukiru's interest had been piqued too.
After all, whatever their own god was solemnly presenting at a moment like this couldn't possibly be simple.
Watching the girls, each lost in her own private thoughts, Haimer shook his head, helpless.
"Don't get any ideas." Noticing Mary's blush and how obviously her thoughts were running wild, he cut in.
"This gift is meant to give you one more layer of protection for the deep-floor expedition ahead."
"I believe that once you receive it and come back having weathered the deep floors' pressure," "your strength will have undergone a transformation nothing short of earth-shaking."
Haimer rose to his feet, planting both hands on the table for his closing remarks.
"As for me, there's no need to worry."
Haimer glanced out at the courtyard, where the several hundred newly arrived Cursed Children were chasing each other across the lawn, their bright laughter carrying in through the glass.
"With those children around the compound, I doubt I'll be getting bored anytime soon.
"So go ahead — fight in the Dungeon without holding anything back!"
"Yes, Kami-sama!"
Their crisp, resolute reply rang out.
The girls answered their god's expectations. With that, the meeting came to an end.
The girls filed out of the meeting hall one by one, and soon the corridor filled with their bickering over who'd get to bathe first.
Tsubaki stretched lazily, said her goodbyes to Haimer, and sauntered off, saying she needed to head back to the workshop to prepare tools for tomorrow's expedition.
Before long, the spacious meeting hall held no one but Haimer.
He settled back into the broad, high-backed chair.
He wasn't in any hurry to head up to his second-floor room and prepare the gift.
After all — not long ago—
a long-unheard mechanical chime had sounded deep in his mind.
[Host's Familia membership detected to have surpassed one thousand.]
[Milestone Quest: Lord of a Thousand — Complete.]
[Congratulations, Host. Quest reward obtained:]
[1. World Selection (Advanced) x1: Upon use, specify a general developmental direction or power-system requirement; a world will be randomly selected and locked from among infinite planes for exploration and connection.]
As the chime faded, Haimer gazed at the empty long table.
World Selection (Advanced). Haimer didn't hesitate for even a moment.
Deep in his consciousness, he issued the command to the System directly.
In his mind, he intoned: "Use item."
[Command confirmed.]
The System's utterly flat, emotionless voice rang out at once.
[Item consumed: World Selection (Advanced) x1]
[Initiating first random Advanced World search....]
With that chime, Haimer felt his consciousness wrenched instantly from his body, plunging into a vast, boundless void.
— the Sea of Possibility. Same as always. Within the sea of Haimer's own mind—
countless brilliant points of light, each representing a different plane, flickered like stars across the pitch-black ocean.
Some burned a fierce, fiery red; others glowed a deep, somber blue. Behind every single point lay an entire, vast universe.
[World-line disturbance in progress... the Sea of Possibility churns...]
[Host, please set the criteria for the Advanced World Selection...]
Haimer gazed out at the sea of stars, his mind racing through the current state of his Familia.
The several hundred "Cursed Children" he'd just brought back from the wasteland world possessed monstrous potential thanks to the "Gastrea virus,"
but what they lacked most right now was a relatively safe stepping stone where they could quickly master that power.
As for his core fighters — Onigawara Rin, Amou Kirukiru, and the rest — though Divine Blood had let them ascend at a blistering pace,
the weapons in their hands, even after his own forging, remained nothing more than mundane Lower World iron in the end.
— anything rooted in the mundane matter of the Lower World would always have its ceiling locked firmly in place.
What they needed was an armament system that could truly resonate with the soul itself — one capable of limitless growth, limitless evolution.
With that thought, Haimer laid out, one by one, the conditions he'd already worked out in his mind.
"Condition One: the world must contain a large number of high-potential qualifiers, with an extremely high ceiling for growth."
"Condition Two: the world's foundational rule system must show a high tolerance for conceptual interference."
... Haimer answered each requirement in turn, out there in the Sea of Possibility.
[Selection criteria confirmed.] [Applying rule set...] [Selection complete...]
[Locking onto the single world that meets all conditions....]
As the System's final chime faded, the boundless sea of stars in Haimer's view began to change violently.
Whole swaths of brilliant points winked out in droves, like lightbulbs whose power had been ripped away all at once.
The once-dazzling starscape rapidly sank into dead, silent darkness.
In the span of a few short seconds, hundreds of millions of possibilities were ruthlessly stripped away.
In the end, against a backdrop dissolved into pure black nothingness, an unseen force seized Haimer's gaze and dragged it through countless barriers of space.
It came to rest at the very end. There, only a single point of light remained.
It was a strange celestial body, giving off a faint black glow.
It turned slowly, quietly, in the dark.
Right after, the System's verdict arrived as expected, stamping itself directly into Haimer's mind.
[Target world locked: World Designation W-521]
[Alias: Chivalry of a Failed Knight]
[Timeline calibration complete: Host will arrive at a point ten years before this world's original main storyline begins.]
[Mandatory quest requirement: Host must remain on this ten-years-prior timeline for a full thirty consecutive calendar days (30 days).]
"Chivalry of a Failed Knight? And a timeline ten years before the story even starts?"
Haimer opened his eyes. His consciousness snapped back from the System's space into the quiet meeting hall.
Still seated in the high-backed chair, he raised his right hand and rubbed his chin.
"Chivalry of a Failed Knight, huh."
"This world does match my conditions pretty well."
After a brief moment of surprise at the System's result, deep satisfaction welled up in Haimer at once.
A sharp glint flashed in the depths of his eyes.
"As for ten years ago..." Haimer quickly ran the timeline of this world through his mind.
"If I remember right, the male lead who'd later be known as the Uncrowned Sword King — Ikki Kurogane — would, ten years back, still just be a pitiful little kid getting treated like trash by the Kurogane family day after day."
"As for Stella, the Crimson Princess of the Vermillion Empire—"
"ten years ago, she was probably still just a kid who couldn't even control her own overwhelming mana.
Bullying two little brats still busy playing in the mud clearly wasn't the style of an ancient god who'd lived over a hundred million years — nor did he have that kind of twisted taste.
Still, Haimer's gaze slowly deepened.
"Sure, they haven't grown into themselves yet."
"But at this point ten years back, the top-tier powerhouses who ruled that world, the ones already standing at the very peak of the pyramid — those are not existences to take lightly at all."
A name surfaced in Haimer's mind at once.
"Take, for instance, the woman living alone in seclusion atop Mount Edelberg, over nine thousand meters above sea level."
"Hailed as the world's strongest swordswoman, someone even the International Magic Knight Alliance dared not provoke — 'Twin Wings,' Edelweiss."
By this point in time, that woman's swordsmanship had probably already reached a transcendent level, brushing up against the very edge of conceptual causality.
"If this is the timeline ten years before the story begins—"
"then, five years before the story's original start, she'd already have single-handedly waded into the war between the Union and the League, wiping out three hundred thousand soldiers from both sides all on her own.
"Though she carries a wicked reputation, she shows leniency toward the unripe and unformed, drifting free of the world's mundane rules."
"Paying her a visit sounds like a decent way to pass the time."
Haimer rose to his feet and walked over to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.
As for the System's mandatory requirement to stay in that world a full 30 days—
"Just thirty days." "Time's flow has never been an obstacle for a god."
Haimer looked out at the night beyond the window.
Beyond that, what interested him even more about Chivalry of a Failed Knight was that world's unique power system.
— Blazers. Devices.
____
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