Two days had already passed since Freya's confession, and Elise continued to remain within the Familia as usual.
Because the research on the new Stigmata had entered a critical phase, Elise had not yet begun the one-month special training for Ryuu.
At present, Ryuu's training was being handled by other members of the Familia—for example, the cheerful Alise, as well as Ryana, who held a certain expectation for Ryuu's magic.
Of course, aside from the two of them, there were also other members who harbored some special feelings toward Ryuu, but those would not be mentioned for now.
However, even without Elise's guidance, the members of the Familia were now capable of training on their own, which made Elise feel very gratified. Her companions had finally grown up!
Thinking about it that way, Elise herself felt like she was starting to resemble an overbearing mother...
"Sigh! I just hope that no overly young children join the Familia in the future, or I'll really end up raising kids."
When she had first arrived in Orario, there had been some misunderstandings. Because she often held Est's hand—despite Est's youthful appearance and actual age far exceeding hers—she was frequently mistaken for a young mother.
Fortunately, now that her reputation had spread, those unnecessary misunderstandings rarely happened anymore.
"In this world, the mysterious places aren't limited to the Dungeon... it seems there are two other secret realms as well?"
The original story hadn't mentioned those places much, so Elise had no idea what existed within them.
If another powerhouse beyond her expectations were to appear, that would be troublesome. Just to be safe, she should wait until her Level increased further before going there.
After more than a year of accumulation, Elise had successfully reached the limit of Level 4—and had been stuck there for quite some time.
Of course, publicly she claimed that she had only recently reached Level 4, but even that alone was already shocking.
"Sigh!"
Although Elise had a skill that allowed her to accumulate Great Feats without being stuck at a level indefinitely, her leveling speed was still too slow.
In Orario, she hadn't found any suitable opponents either.
When her level had been low, it had been fine—her growth speed had been like a rocket, skyrocketing rapidly.
But now, as her level increased, the ability values she gained from exploring the Dungeon had become fewer and fewer. Unless she fought those extremely high-level floor bosses, she couldn't accumulate much experience at all.
Thinking carefully about her leveling journey, there was one notable point worth mentioning.
At Level 1, Elise's ability value limit had been 1999. At Level 2, it had been 2999. When she advanced to Level 3, she had also paid attention—her ability value had been 3999.
And now...
All attributes Max—4999.
In addition to that, she had gained a brand-new Development Ability.
This ability hadn't appeared in the original story either. In a sense, it was unique to Elise.
[Creation]
It appeared to be an extremely rare ability. Perhaps it was because, after gaining "mystery," Elise had spent a considerable amount of time crafting things.
Even Astraea had been shocked when she first saw it. After all, "Creation" was, in a sense, a divine authority—yet Elise had reached it as a human.
Thanks to this Development Ability, Elise could now create a wider variety of items with even better effects, no longer limited to just Stigmata.
Even the small shop she had once entrusted to Lyra to manage had grown increasingly famous.
Stigmata, weapons, tools—whatever one could want, the shop had it all!
Thanks to Lyra's unyielding negotiating style, the Astraea Familia's wealth had risen to a new level. Even her personal savings of valis had grown steadily, bringing her closer to Finn.
Elise had once heard a rather amusing story: the chief god of the Loki Familia had, in order to obtain some discounts from Lyra, specifically asked Finn to come and make purchases.
When Lyra saw Finn back then, her eyes had sparkled. That time, the Loki Familia successfully purchased a large amount of supplies and equipment at half price.
However, Finn seemed to have been somehow traumatized afterward and never came to shop again. This left Lyra quite dissatisfied, and afterward she never offered discounts to the Loki Familia again—in fact, she even had plans to overcharge them.
The root of it all seemed to be that a certain god had meddled and provoked Lyra... as for who it was, there was no need to say.
"We're running out of materials again. Looks like I'll have to find time to head into the Dungeon, or the shop won't be able to keep up with demand."
...
Shop: Starry Sky.
The name symbolized how the goods in the shop shone like stars. It was a name chosen together by Elise and Astraea.
Lyra sat behind the counter as usual, waiting for customers in need to enter and make purchases. If no one came, she would read books to supplement her knowledge.
Jingle!
As the bell on the door rang, Lyra lifted her head and looked toward the entrance.
"Oh? What a rare guest."
Even Lyra was surprised. She hadn't expected that today's customer would be someone from the Freya Familia.
A blond male elf wearing glasses stood at the entrance, with a figure in a black cloak behind him. Judging from the silhouette, it was probably a woman.
However, since she couldn't see the face clearly, Lyra didn't know if she recognized her, so she simply spoke to the elf instead.
Hedin Selland.
Known as Hildrsleif, a Level 6 mage and also the commander of the Freya Familia.
It was said that Hedin's command and strategic abilities were no weaker than Finn of the Loki Familia. Lyra naturally knew this, so she showed a slight hint of displeasure.
Just a few days ago, Elise had clashed with Allen from their Familia, so Lyra had already made up her mind—if they were here to buy something, she would definitely fleece them thoroughly!
"What wind has blown Hildrsleif of the Freya Familia here? Could it be you're here to cause trouble for our Familia over that meeting last time?"
"That cat brought trouble upon himself. We won't clean up after him."
Although they belonged to the same Familia, the relationships among its members were far from harmonious.
Lyra could tell from Hedin's tone that he held clear disdain when speaking of Allen. Was it because Allen had lost to Elise?
"I'm here today to purchase some Stigmata and weapons. Pallum, do you have any recommendations?"
Hedin raised his head and looked around the shop. Although the displayed items were of decent quality, what was shown might not be the best. The higher-quality Stigmata and weapons were likely kept deeper inside the store.
"That depends on who they're for. I need to know your requirements before I can give any suggestions."
Before Lyra could react further, Hedin's next words left her wide-eyed in shock.
"For the eight upper members of our Familia—we need a full set of Stigmata for each, along with specialized equipment. Price doesn't matter. Quality must be the best."