Leon's gaze drifted over Rose.
She had her crystal-blue hair pinned up at the back of her head and was wearing nothing but a knit halter-style camisole, hot pants, and flip-flops, an outfit that managed to look sweet and edgy all at once.
A single glance was enough for his much-tested lower back to throb in phantom pain.
He sucked in a breath through his teeth, straightened his spine, and pushed himself upright in the wicker chair.
Then he wrapped an arm around the slim waist of the beauty seated in his lap and let out a quiet sigh.
"Leveling up, it really is something..."
"When you're at a low level, your view's pretty narrow. All you can think about is hurrying up and hitting Lv.2. Nothing else even crosses your mind."
"But once you actually reach Lv.3..."
He gave a wry laugh.
"...you finally realize how naive you used to be."
Rose blinked, then turned to loop her arms around his neck, settling her whole body against his chest and nuzzling her face affectionately into him.
"Because you've climbed high enough, you can finally see... that beyond these mountains lie ten thousand more?"
Then Jeanne's voice came from behind him.
"You can only see far when you stand high enough. Before, all you could see was the little bit of scenery at Lv.1 and Lv.2. Your understanding of high-level adventurers was still locked inside your own imagination."
"Now that you've experienced it for yourself, you finally understand just how hard the road ahead really is."
Leon caught Jeanne's hand and absently stroked her fingertips as he murmured.
"Yeah. I get it now."
Even saying it felt a little shameless, but Leon knew full well that even with his cheat backing him up, the difficulty of climbing past Lv.3 was on a different scale entirely from the levels before.
"Sigh. From here on, the bare minimum for grinding Excelia is going to mean trips down to the Water Capital. That's going to throw a wrench in everything, daily hunts and proper expeditions alike."
He had long since worked out the routine for grinding bonus Excelia.
The rule was clear. Killing or defeating monsters below your own level only granted one-tenth of the original Excelia value, a flat 0.1.
In other words...
If he set aside the natural growth that came from combat and training and relied purely on dumping Excelia and gold straight into his stats and potential...
Then he would need to grind through a full 15,000 same-level monsters.
If he factored in the potential gains from leveling up, plus the natural growth that came from fighting and training, that number could come down a bit.
Optimistically, perhaps 7,000 to 8,000 points of Excelia would be enough to push his level up to Lv.4.
Of course, all of this assumed one prerequisite: that the targets being hunted possessed potential matching his current level, in other words, same-level monsters.
If he were hunting things weaker than himself, the kill count he'd need would be that 15,000 figure multiplied by ten.
That would be a full 150,000.
Just thinking about that number was suffocating.
"Alright, stop worrying about all that for now. Hurry up and get washed up. We're going out today."
Right as he was working out how to handle the post-Lv.3 grinding problem, Jeanne's words yanked him back to reality.
He twisted around in surprise, shifted his hold on Rose, gave Jeanne's small hand a squeeze, and arched an eyebrow.
"Going out? It's pouring rain... and we're heading out in this?"
This time it was Jeanne's turn to look caught off guard.
"You don't know?"
Leon was completely lost. He had no idea what she was talking about.
"Wasn't the Goddess Festival cancelled? But to make up for it, the Guild has organized a relief grain distribution as a substitute."
"And the source providing the grain this time, naturally, is our Demeter Familia."
Leon: "..."
What the hell?
What kind of brain-dead idiot came up with this scheme?
Gathering crowds together to hand out grain at a time like this...
"Uh, this wasn't proposed by that pig at the Guild, was it?"
Leon thought back to the meetings between the major familias that the Guild had hosted some time ago.
They hadn't attended, but news of something that big had spread through every street and alley within days.
Hearing his snipe, Jeanne's lips curved into a smile.
"It was indeed Guild Master's proposal, but every major familia has signed on to it."
The major familias had all agreed?
He turned the city's current situation over in his head, weighed it for a moment, and offered an analysis.
"Releasing relief grain to lift the city's morale? Hmm... and most importantly, a move like this hands every party involved a massive boost to their reputation."
Rose, still curled into his lap with her arms around his neck, straightened up, smiled, and added.
"That's only what's on the surface. How do you know... this isn't Order Faction fishing?"
"Fishing?"
Leon and Jeanne both knit their brows, looking at her with puzzled expressions.
Rose gave a light hop and slipped out of his arms. She stretched lazily, displaying every line of her figure for Leon's viewing pleasure, and let out a soft laugh.
"You two are stuck in a blind spot..."
"Fishing for Evilus, of course."
"Put yourselves in their shoes. If you were Evilus, just imagine..."
Rose didn't need to spell it out any further.
Leon and Jeanne both tried to picture themselves as members of Evilus, then took another look at this grain distribution plan...
"Tch, tch. Tasty bait laced with poison. A blatant open scheme. They're telling you flat out that it's a trap and just waiting to see whether you'll bite. That about right?"
The pieces clicked into place, and Leon let out a chuckle.
"Looks like I owe Lord Guild Master an apology. I didn't think he had a plan like this in him."
But Jeanne shot back.
"You really think that's likely? From the way it's set up and the familiar style of execution, this is clearly the Braver's handiwork."
"And don't forget, the bait in this fishing operation is the gathered citizens themselves."
"Sure, the moment Evilus takes the bait, Order Faction can claw back ground in the struggle between them, but..."
"At what cost?"
The room fell silent.
But while a flicker of pained reluctance crossed Rose's and Jeanne's faces, Leon's expression stayed strikingly calm.
"You can't run an army on kindness, and desperate times call for harsh measures. If this really is Finn's work, I think there's nothing wrong with what he's doing."
"From the perspective of the entire city, the sooner you cut out tumors like Evilus, the smaller the overall loss. If there's a chance to drive Evilus out of Orario completely, even if the cost is a few sacrifices, knowing Finn's character, he'd act without a moment's hesitation."
When his words trailed off, all three of them sank into silence.
The topic was too heavy. Leon had no desire to keep dwelling on it.
He drew in a deep breath, let his body slacken, and sank back into the wicker chair once again.
A glance at the finances and Excelia entries on his panel, and the headache started up all over again.
...
Assets: Reserve: 3.62 million | Cash: 471.92 million
Excelia: 3 points
...
Damn it. Before I was sweating over money, now I've got the opposite problem and I'm short on Excelia.
The world's gone upside-down.
Beside him, Jeanne and Rose watched Leon snap straight back into his usual routine. They exchanged a glance and shook their heads at him.
"Still lying around! Get up and go wash up!"
"I'll go fix breakfast. Jeanne... you go wake Kureha?"
At the mention of the Sword Saint, Jeanne hesitated.
"Let her sleep a bit longer. After all... uh..."
Leon piped up next to her with a wicked grin.
"After all, her body isn't built quite as sturdy as you two!"
"Get out of here!"
...
...
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