บท 69: Riezel and Ais

"What's up with you guys?"

Tiona's gaze wandered back and forth between Riezel and Ais, her curiosity evident as she asked.

"Hmm, what's going on?"

Tione, not maintaining her usual composed demeanor, showed a rare expression of interest, staring at Riezel and Ais with a teasing glint in her eyes.

As everyone knows, amazonesses were a rather warlike female warrior race, known for their bold and adventurous nature. Since this race only consisted of females and lacked males, they had to rely on males from other races in order to reproduce.

Because of this, amazonesses had a tendency to plunder men and highly valued relationships between men and women. In this regard, they always acted boldly, without the shyness that other races had.

Thanks to this, among the amazoness race, there were many with chaotic lives. Since the entire race consisted only of females, their behavior was considered quite vulgar by more conservative races like the elf race.

Although Tiona and Tione had grown up in Loki Familia since childhood and weren't as vulgar as other amazonesses, the reverence for relationships between men and women was deeply ingrained in their genes.

Usually, Loki Familia's members were quite disciplined. Even the familia top executives, who were at least forty years old, hadn't displayed any overt romantic relationships.

Within the familia, there was no one getting married or even forming romantic relationships.

Now, with the sudden appearance of such signs, involving Riezel and Ais at that, Tiona and Tione couldn't help but feel a rare excitement.

While others may not be as excited as the twins, they all still wore subtle and peculiar expressions.

Especially Lefiya, with her cute mouth agape, looking stupefied.

Unfortunately, Riezel's and Ais's next actions didn't satisfy the onlookers.

"What about Bete?" Riezel, as if nothing had happened, withdrew his gaze, put away his smile, and calmly asked.

"Bete didn't come." Ais, also resuming her usual somewhat aloof and stoic expression, replied to him.

"It doesn't matter what that stinky wolf is up to." Tiona, not caring about Bete's whereabouts, instead focused on Riezel's and Ais's recent eye contact and smiles. "I mean, did you two do something we don't know about?"

Her question gave off a sense of mischief.

*Whistle~* Tione couldn't help but whistle and frivolously remarked. "Riezel and Ais, huh? To be honest, that's a possibility I never imagined."

When girls gather, gossip is an inevitable topic since they never shy away from discussing such private matters.

Who's showing signs of developing certain relationships, who's exchanging meaningful glances, and even who might have a secret crush or plans to confess—these were the usual subjects.

Yes, familia was akin to a big family, but not everyone in familia was related by blood. With dozens, even hundreds, of people coming together, both men and women, it was impossible for nothing gossip-worthy to happen.

Surprisingly, Ais rarely partook in such discussions. Not that she was unpopular, far from it. With a beauty comparable to a goddess and someone considered a princess by various gods, her popularity in Orario had always been in the top three.

In the familia, aside from Riveria, who was a high elf royalty, hardly anyone could match Ais's popularity. Countless admired her, and admirers of this doll princess could fill the city gates if they gathered together.

Rumor had it that the number of individuals with ulterior motives approaching Ais had easily reached a thousand. However, due to an overly protective elf figure with an almost unhealthy affection for her and thanks to her relationship with the goddess who always acted unreasonably, all these people met their untimely end, including some gods.

Even within Loki Familia, among the male members, more than half secretly admired Ais. Nevertheless, the female members themselves couldn't be excluded.

Lefiya, who somehow got her eyes spinning in confusion at this moment, might have something to say about that.

Even Bete, the werewolf with a seemingly rough personality that bordered on gangster-like, hadn't hidden his affection for Ais. Almost everyone in the familia knew about his feelings for her, except Ais herself.

But what about Ais?

There had never been a hint of scandal surrounding her.

Topics teasingly discussing who was getting close or acting suspicious with whom had never been associated with her.

The reason was simple.

Ais spent her days either in the dungeon or practicing her swordsmanship. She was the kind of person whose expression rarely changed, appearing aloof to others—a bona fide doll princess.

How could such a person have any ambiguous scandal?

So far, there had never been any indication within the familia that Ais was developing any kind of relationship with the opposite sex. If there were, that person would likely find themselves tied up in a sack, candles lit, and guaranteed to be the subject of envy, jealousy, and hatred from fellow familia members, including the goddess herself, which would lead to their ultimate destruction.

Ais had also never gotten particularly close to any member of the opposite sex. Although she had been with Loki Familia for quite some time, the opposite sex closest to her, aside from Finn and Bete, was probably Riezel, who had been sparring with her frequently and gradually getting to know her better.

Now, with these two suddenly showing signs, not just Tiona and Tione, but the others also lowered their voices, perked up their ears, and silently paid attention to Riezel and Ais.

Unfortunately, when it came to this topic, Ais tilted her head, looking completely clueless, while Riezel remained calm throughout.

"You guys are thinking too much; nothing happened between us." Riezel said calmly while shaking his head. "Only last night, when I was updating my status, we had a little chat about our growth."

"Um." Ais nodded, indicating agreement.

"Hmm~ Really~?" Tiona seemed a bit skeptical.

"Yes." Riezel remained calm. His serious demeanor convinced many that he was telling the truth.

"Hahh... As I thou—Gah!"

Raul let out a sigh of relief and mumbled something on the side, only to be elbowed by Anakitty, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Umu, umu! Mr. Riezel and Miss Ais often discuss topics related to their growth! It must be just that!" Lefiya, who had finally recovered, declared loudly, seemingly enthusiastic.

"Meh, lame..." Tione regretfully said. "I thought Ais was finally catching on."

"???" Ais tilted her head again, a question mark appearing above her head.

That expression, that appearance, directly overwhelmed many men and women present.

'So cute!'

'What cute creature is this?!'

In their hearts, everyone was howling like a beast, especially a certain elf who was on the verge of screaming right then and there.

"What are you doing?"

At this moment, a voice from the direction of the manor suddenly intervened.

Finn, Riveria, and Gareth walked out of the manor together, arriving at the entrance.

"Why is it so noisy? What are you guys talking about?" Gareth asked with a furrowed brow.

"No-Nothing!"

Seeing their superiors all appearing together, everyone immediately shook their heads, sitting up straight.

"It doesn't feel like nothing to me..." Riveria gave a meaningful look to everyone.

Finn seemed to have a suspicion; he looked at the calm Riezel and Ais, then at the other members sitting upright, and chuckled.

"Since there's nothing else, let's get ready to set off." Finn briskly changed the subject.

"Set off? Now?" Tiona asked in astonishment. "What about Bete? That dumb wolf hasn't shown up yet."

"Forget about him!" Gareth said, fuming with rage. "That rascal ran off to the dungeon alone and doesn't give a damn to anyone."

Everyone exchanged glances and then simultaneously looked at Riezel.

"..."

Riezel remained silent and unconsciously averted his gaze.

He could guess what was the reason.

Bete running off to the dungeon was definitely because Bete got stimulated by him. The lone wolf was naturally proud, and it was simply impossible to expect him to admit defeat to Riezel like how Tiona, Tione, and others were.

The top executives also knew Bete's personality. Though they said otherwise, they were only somewhat worried that the werewolf youth, stimulated by Riezel, might take unnecessary risks to enhance his strength to level up.

Exploits were difficult to achieve after all, especially for Level 5.

If Bete went to challenge powerful monsters or venture into dangerous territories, the likelihood of losing his life was at least seventy to eighty percent.

"Let him be; he should know his limits." Finn consoled everyone for a moment before speaking up. "I'll start organizing the tasks, so listen up, everyone."

With that, Finn started to give instructions.

"As usual, Riveria, Gareth, and I will handle the magic stones at the Guild for valis."

"Raul and Aki, each of you takes some drop items and sells them at the familia we visited before."

"For the commissions of Cadmus's Spring and medicine-related drop items, Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya, you four will handle it together."

Finn turned to Riezel.

"Riezel, you'll go with them and take a good look. Perhaps in the future, you'll need to handle these tasks independently."

"Yes." Riezel naturally had no objections to this arrangement.

Finn then went on to give instructions one by one, make arrangements, and finally, applauded.

"Okay, everyone, follow the planned itinerary and head to your respective destinations. Lastly, there's a celebration feast tonight for those returning from the expedition; make sure not to miss it. Any questions?"

Finn scanned everyone, checking each face. Seeing no one raise their hands, he clapped his hands.

*Clap!*

"Okay, let's set off!"

""OHHH!""

With a chorus of acknowledgments, everyone began to disperse.

"Let's go, Riezel." Ais called out.

"Yeah."

Riezel nodded and soon followed the four girls.