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"Why are they all unfamiliar faces?"
In an instant, the entire guild hall was buzzing with whispers.
Alex didn't pay them any mind. He smiled at the guild worker. "Can we get this counted?"
"Ah—yes, of course! Please wait a moment!" The staffer snapped back to his senses and straightened up respectfully.
He quickly called over a few assistants, and they set to work.
It didn't take long before everything was tallied.
1,866 magic stones.97 monster materials.
They'd only spent half a day in the Dungeon today, so their haul wasn't as large as yesterday's. But the quality was higher—half of today's stones were from mid-level monsters, and among them was a Goliath's core.
The final price for the magic stones: 5.13 million valis, with the Goliath core alone going for 5 million.The rest of the stones amounted to about 130,000.
Monster materials sold for 180,000.Altogether: 5.31 million valis.
In Orario, as long as you have strength, you'll never be short on money.
And in Alex's case, thanks to Unlimited Blade Works and its endless weapon projections, he didn't have to spend a single coin on buying or repairing gear. Add on the fact that he knew healing and detox magic, he didn't even need potions.
Just these savings alone were huge.
Leaving the exchange, the four of them headed to the Hostess of Fertility and ate a feast.
Back at the church, Hestia and the others had already eaten. After yesterday's experience, they weren't going to sit around starving while waiting for Alex's team to return.
Right now the girls were all downstairs, gathered around a table sorting through today's earnings.
The second squad, led by Roxy, had reached the twelfth floor today and did quite well.
Their magic stones and materials sold for 110,000 valis.
Hestia, counting coins, looked up excitedly when Alex entered. "Alex, how did you guys do today?"
Alex hid a smirk. Time to show off.
He pulled several chests out of Unlimited Blade Works. Each one was overflowing with gold coins.
"The harvest was decent. Only a bit over five million," he said casually, almost too casually.
"What? Five million!?" Hestia screamed, eyes wide.
Roxy and the others were just as stunned.
They all made money in the Dungeon… so why were his results in a different universe?
Hestia quickly snapped back to reality. "Wait—you didn't rob the guild's exchange, did you!?"
"What are you imagining? We sold magic stones." Alex nearly laughed. If he were going to rob the place, he definitely wouldn't settle for this little.
"Sell magic stones? In half a day? How are you killing that many monsters?" Roxy was unconvinced.
Merlin stepped forward to explain. "It's true. This is all from magic stones. Five million was from a single Goliath core."
"Goliath? You went to the seventeenth floor!" Hestia exclaimed.
"That's right. And the Goliath was soloed by the captain," Merlin added proudly.
"Whaa—Alex, you're amazing!" Hestia squealed and jumped onto him, clinging like an octopus.
Alex had no choice but to support her by the butt so she didn't fall.
The others were in shock too. After these few days, they'd learned enough about Orario to know how strong a floor boss was. Even the weakest Goliath fought at around level four.
Yet half a month ago, Alex had been an ordinary human.
The speed of his growth was absurd.
Roxy suddenly jumped up. "Tomorrow we're going to the seventeenth floor too! We're killing a Goliath!"
Yotsuya Miko poured cold water on the idea. "The guild materials say Goliath respawn times are unstable, but at minimum a week apart."
Shinobu added, "And I can't go to the Dungeon tomorrow anyway. I completed my mission yesterday. My stay here is almost over… I have to return."
Hestia slid off Alex and said, "Before you go, let me update your Falna."
Shinobu nodded with bright anticipation. "Please do."
Alex was promptly kicked out of the basement.
Hestia updated Shinobu's and Miko's Falna first.
A few minutes later, she called Alex back in.
He checked the parchment. Shinobu's growth was significant—she'd slain plenty of monsters these past two days. Miko's, however, had barely moved, which left her looking miserable.
Alex smiled reassuringly. "It's fine. Take your time."
"You can say that because your growth is ridiculous. I'm the one who's panicking!" Miko puffed her cheeks.
Ever since she began seeing ghosts, she'd lived in constant fear. She desperately wanted to grow strong enough that she wouldn't tremble at every encounter.
Alex had watched Mieruko-chan in his previous life and understood her situation. Her mutated eyes let her see spirits—terrifying, overwhelming ones—and she couldn't let them know she could see them. Meanwhile, the spirits were everywhere.
Even the chat group couldn't give her a permanent solution. They could protect her for a while, but not forever. Even if Hestia used her unsealed divine power to slaughter every ghost in that world, new ones would form the moment someone died.
After thinking it over, Alex suddenly asked Hestia, "If you unseal your divine power, could you seal Miko's eyes? Make it so she can't see spirits anymore?"
Miko's eyes lit up instantly. She stared at Hestia with desperate hope.
Hestia hesitated, then said, "I can't say for sure. I'd have to unseal my power and examine her in person."
"Then let's try. Miko, once you return, post a mission and have Hestia go to your world to check." Alex told her.
"Captain, you're the best! I love you so much!" Miko flung herself into his arms, completely forgetting any sense of maidenly propriety.
Alex's face heated up.
Shinobu teased, "Looks like our familia is turning into the captain's exclusive harem."
All the girls blushed.
Hestia, however, angrily pried Miko off him. "Alex is mine!"
"Tch, stingy goddess," Miko muttered.
"What was that?" Hestia smiled sweetly, in the kind of way that meant say it again and your eye-sealing request goes straight in the trash.
"…I didn't say anything." Miko clammed up immediately.
After some playful chaos, Miko and Shinobu departed, the chat group teleporting them back to their worlds.
Merlin and Morgan exchanged a look.
By now they were certain: Alex, Shinobu, Hestia, Miko, Busujima Saeko… all of them shared some secret. They could communicate across worlds, post missions, and even travel between universes.
But Merlin and Morgan asked nothing. Some secrets were meant to stay hidden until the right time. And when the time came, Alex would tell them himself.
Afterward, Hestia updated everyone else's Falna.
Except Sakura, Illya, and Shizuka—they'd been cooped up in the church for days, so their stats hadn't changed at all.
Once updates were done, everyone compared notes.
Roxy, Merlin, Morgan, and Artoria had grown insanely fast—several abilities were already at D-rank, and they could upgrade to level two anytime. But none of them chose to. Like Alex, they wanted to max out their stats before leveling.
The others—Irisviel, Saeko, Sella, Leysritt, Sieg—had also made solid progress, just not as explosively.
Of course, the most outrageous one was still Alex.
Since leveling to two in the Nasuverse, he'd fought multiple battles, slain the Assassin servant, absorbed the Greater Grail's magic, then spent two days in Orario fighting above his level. Today he even soloed a floor boss.
Those accumulated feats sent his stats skyrocketing to terrifying levels.
Name: Alex
Level: 2
Stats:• Strength: I0 → SSS1200• Endurance: I0 → SSS1210• Dexterity: I0 → SSS1222• Agility: I0 → SSS1237• Magic: I0 → SSS9999
Development Ability: Luck I
Magic: " ", " ", " "
Skills: ——
"My goodness, Alex! You can level up again!" Hestia squealed in delight.
"Then let's do it." Alex grinned, just as excited. He'd gotten stronger again.
Hestia began helping him level up. After a bit of fiddling with the falna, it was time to choose a development ability.
The options this time were almost the same as before, and "Mystery" was still on the list.
Alex didn't hesitate for a second and picked Mystery.
At the same time, his first development ability, Luck, rose from rank I to rank H.
...
Meanwhile, back in her own world, Yotsuya Miko immediately posted a new mission in the group.
[Group member Yotsuya Miko has issued a mission: "Eye of Sealing." Difficulty: 3 stars. Reward: 50 points!]
The moment Hestia saw it, she clicked accept.
[Group member Hestia has accepted the mission!]
With a difficulty rating of only three stars, Alex already knew how this was going to end.
Misaka Mikoto: "Why'd you suddenly put up a mission?"
Busujima Saeko: "The Lord High God is going to help Miko seal her eyes so she won't be able to see ghosts anymore."
Erza: "That's actually a great idea. If we'd thought of it earlier, Miko would've suffered a lot less."
Tsunade: "Whose idea was that?"
Roxy: "@Alex, our brilliant guild leader of course."
Erza: "Impressive!"
Tsunade: "Smart!"
Shinobu: "As wise as the Crouching Dragon!"
Misaka Mikoto: "Above even the Young Phoenix!"
Alex: "Why do I feel like you're all roasting me?"
Roxy: "No no, absolutely not!"
Alex closed the chat. He turned to Roxy, who had been holding back laughter so hard her face was red. "You little brat, are you asking for a beating?"
Roxy quickly exited the chat too. She puffed out the completely-flat expanse of her chest and said, "Alex, you may be the guild leader, but don't forget I taught you. I'm technically your master!"
Alex glanced at her chest and burst out laughing. "With that tiny body of yours? You think you can be anyone's master?"
"You bastard, I'll kill you!" Roxy exploded on the spot.
Her height had always been a lifelong sore spot. Nothing pissed her off more than being treated like a kid.
This time, Alex had stepped right on the landmine.
Irisviel saw the situation and hurried to grab Roxy before she lunged, then shot Alex a glare. "Why are you still standing here? Go!"
Alex snapped back to reality and didn't dare linger around the church. He turned and ran.
What he didn't expect was that Merlin, Morgan, and Artoria all followed after him.
"Why are you three coming too?" he asked, baffled.
Morgan answered first. "The church is uncomfortable. Too many people crammed into one place. I can't sleep properly."
Merlin nodded. "Pretty much the same for me."
Artoria looked a bit embarrassed. "I saw Merlin and Morgan leaving. I thought something was happening, so I followed."
Alex could only stare at them. He waved a hand. "Fine, whatever. You can all stay at the inn with me tonight."
He brought the three of them back to the same inn as yesterday and rented three more premium rooms.
They ended up right beside his. Four rooms in a neat row.
Back in his own room, the first thing Alex did was change into loose sleepwear and flop onto the bed.
Instant bliss.
He'd barely dozed off when someone knocked on the door.
He got up and opened it.
Standing outside was the Amazon woman who had given him a massage yesterday.
And this time, she hadn't come alone. She brought a friend.
"..."
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