The sudden knocking abruptly broke the quiet of the snow-watching in the courtyard.
Laurier's smile froze, and she pursed her lips in reluctance, muttering under her breath.
"Talk about bad timing..."
Leon straightened up slightly from the rocking chair, exchanged a glance with Jeanne, Rose, and Kureha, then gave Aura a nod, signaling her to go answer the door.
As Aura went to open it, Rose moved behind Leon and leaned down to murmur in his ear.
"Someone's already at our door, the second day after we got back from the Dungeon... this uninvited guest is awfully well-informed."
Leon raised an eyebrow, amusement in his eyes as he looked toward the courtyard gate.
"Intelligence-gathering that efficient means it's either a professional, or... one of the few super-factions sitting at the very top of this city. Care to guess which one?"
As he spoke, his gaze swept over Jeanne, Rose, and a curious-looking Kureha.
Seeing how composed Leon was, Rose felt reassured. At the very least, she now knew their visitor probably wasn't here to cause trouble.
And if it wasn't an enemy, then she could rule out a rival.
After all, they nominally belonged to the goddess Demeter's familia, and there were always a few rivals who found them an eyesore.
Her thoughts raced, and she mused aloud.
"It can't be Loki Familia. They're still on their Expedition, and going by the supplies they took with them... they won't be back for at least another week."
"Ganesha Familia serves as the military police guarding the Dungeon entrance, so it'd be easy for them to know we're back. But aside from crossing paths a few times in combat, we don't really interact otherwise. And given Ankusha's way of doing things, it's probably not them either."
"So that means..."
With the two large familias ruled out, the last remaining large familia went without saying. However unexpected the answer, Rose had to admit it was most likely that bunch of "crazy fanatics."
"Don't tell me it's... those zealots?"
Leon nearly spat out his mouthful of black tea.
"Cough, cough... they're the goddess's devout believers! What do you mean, zealots!"
He caught sight of Aura standing frozen at the door, stunned by the identity of the visitors, and immediately corrected Rose's wording with a serious face before rising to walk over to the two unexpected guests.
"This should be one of Demeter Familia's residences, am I right?"
"Looks like we haven't come to the wrong place."
The blond male elf pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose. The instant Leon approached, those sharp, scrutinizing eyes behind the lenses locked firmly onto him.
"Indeed. I never imagined the renowned captain of Freya Familia, the King Ottar, and Mr. Hedin Selland of the Hildrsleif, would grace my humble home. You truly do us a great honor."
With that, Leon smiled and extended his hand toward the King Ottar.
He knew full well that although Ottar was Freya Familia's captain and the strongest in the entire city, when it came to external negotiations, bargaining, and communication, the one who truly held the say was usually Hedin of the Hildrsleif, whom other adventurers privately called the "real captain of Freya Familia."
But Leon was no green newcomer.
As a veteran adventurer who'd been grinding it out in Orario for years, he understood this city's rules of survival inside and out.
To become a proper adventurer in Orario, you needed more than just the skills and knowledge to fight in the Dungeon. You also had to know how to deal with different peoples in this melting pot at the center of the continent where so many races converged: which customs to respect, which taboos must never be touched. Cross a red line, and unnecessary trouble would come one after another.
Things like the prums' faith, the delicate relationship between dwarves and elves, the standing of humans among the various races, certain fervent traditions of the Amazon warriors, and... the well-known fastidiousness of the elven race.
It was precisely for this reason that Leon naturally chose to offer his hand to Ottar.
He had no desire to court a snub in front of Hedin.
After all, it was common knowledge that this elf Mage's venomous tongue and cold face were no less fierce than a certain close-quarters combat expert in Astraea Familia. If anything... they were even worse.
Ottar glanced at Leon's outstretched hand, then sized up this man, the "ridiculous Mage" that a certain pink-haired, twin-tailed junior in his familia kept mentioning. Sensing the aura of a Lv.4 adventurer that the man radiated openly, even brazenly, he narrowed his eyes slightly and clasped Leon's hand in his broad, massive palm.
Feeling the strength coming through that rough, large hand, something shifted in Leon, and the smile on his face slowly faded.
So strong, the very top of Lv.6. The strongest in the city, just one Great Feat away from crossing the threshold to the next level, no surprise there.
This human's not bad.
An unreadable look passed through both their eyes before they released their grip.
Hedin, beside them, had noticed the covert clash between the two from start to finish. Brief as it was, a trace of surprise still showed in his eyes.
This guy...
He pushed up his glasses again out of habit, thinking to himself.
Leon Hart, is it? Interesting... he's actually got the nerve to test himself against that dumb pig. Doesn't look like the type to be all flash and no substance.
And besides... is he the junior Mage with that excellent mental strength we brushed past outside the tailor shop the other day? Who'd have thought he was the man given the title Shadow of Sorcery at the Denatus.
Right, he must be the person Heith's been bringing up so often lately.
Hedin silently ran through the intelligence he had on this man, and combining it with what he was observing firsthand, he quickly set aside his arrogance and that last shred of disdain, replacing them with a serious appraisal.
"Forgive us for intruding at this hour."
The moment Ottar spoke, Leon felt as though he'd heard the very sound of "invincibility."
"Not at all."
Leon smiled easily and turned to the side with a welcoming gesture.
"This isn't the place to talk. Please, come in, both of you."
"Laurier, Aura, get some tea ready."
"Black tea's fine for you two?"
"We'll leave it to our host."
With that, Leon led the two of them toward the sitting room.
"Orario's getting its first snow of the year. Seems like a good omen."
"May our talk go... smoothly from here."
"Let's hope so."
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