Reiger had a feature slightly similar to that of Ais.
It was the faint glimmer of light held within their eyes.
Even though Reiger's eyes were pure black, strikingly different from Ais's dazzling golden color, and no similarity could be seen by others, when they looked into each other's eyes, a third party who saw them would be surprised to find an unusually similar appearance in their eyes.
Both had a translucent light.
Both carried a sense of detachment.
And... both held a resolve difficult for outsiders to perceive.
As the involved parties, Reiger and Ais were momentarily stunned the first time they locked eyes.
Because they, too, noticed that the other's eyes closely resembled their own, giving rise to the eerie sensation that they were looking at another self, seeing the eyes of their own reflection in the mirror.
This sense of déjà vu curiously held their gaze, as though they had forgotten about the others around, forgetting even to shift their eyes away, and they remained silent for a long time.
Eventually, Reiger was the first to break this enchanting state, nodding respectfully to Ais before turning away and joining the family members who had stayed behind at headquarters to help transport the spoils brought back by the expeditionary force.
Ais watched Reiger's movements, her transparent golden eyes flickering slightly.
"Miss Ais?"
A voice suddenly snapped Ais out of her reverie.
It was an elf girl standing behind Ais, who seemed less a companion than a follower.
The elf girl had her camellia-colored long hair tied into a ponytail that hung behind her, and from strands of hair at the sides of her face, leaf-like slender ears emerged. She appeared younger than Ais but already possessed a beauty that could be described as resembling the moon in bloom.
"Rephia..."
Ais subconsciously called out the elf girl's name upon realizing.
"Yes," the elf girl nodded repeatedly, but then she asked with a puzzled and timid tone, "What are you looking at?"
"I..." Ais began to respond but was interrupted by another girl who jumped on her back.
"I saw it!"
The voice full of vigor belonged to Theona, an Amazonian girl who was also a Rank Lv.5 first-class adventurer like Ais, the same age as Ais, and a fellow officer of the Loki Familia.
"Ais was just looking at that young man! Teehee!" Theona teased and then looked puzzled in Reiger's direction, asking, "Who is that? I haven't seen him before, have I?"
"Idiot." Theone, who seemed also drawn by the conversation, crossed her arms and glanced at the busy Reiger, speaking indifferently, "Since he's someone we haven't seen before, he's either a new member or not part of our familia at all."
"But, but he's helping with carrying things," Rephia, holding a Magic Wand, couldn't help but take several glances at Reiger, murmuring, "If he's helping here at our headquarters, doesn't that mean he's a new member?"
"That makes sense!" Theona exclaimed as if struck by realization, saying, "A new, male, member, huh? Loki hasn't recruited a male into the familia for how long?"
"You don't get it, do you? Loki's favorite are cute, pretty girls," Theone snorted, "But it's unusual for you, Ais, to be interested in a new member, especially a male. That's rare."
Rephia immediately nodded vigorously, her gaze at Reiger suddenly taking on a trace of fierceness for some reason.
Ais, oblivious to this, remained silent under the relentless verbal bombardment of others, her gaze continuously following Reiger's figure, lost in thought.
This behavior struck the Amazon twins as they looked at each other.
"This is truly the first time we've seen Ais like this," Theone remarked in surprise and with a giggle, "Could it be that our doll princess has finally reached that age?"
"It would be so much fun if everyone knew," Theona added with innocent enthusiasm, especially Loki and Bert, "Teehee."
Theona's words successfully caught the attention of the concerned.
"Hey, you stupid Amazon, what nonsense are you spouting about me now?"
The werewolf youth, Bert, glared at Theona.
"Lalala!" Theona stuck her tongue out at Bert, saying, "I won't tell you. Just stew in your confusion, hmph!"
"This stupid Amazon..." Bert instantly showed a face of annoyance.
Just as the two were about to start quarreling, Dwarf Warrior Grace broke away from a conversation with Finn and Loki and called out to the group.
"Stop fooling around now. Go in and take a shower and go to sleep; there's a queue waiting to use the bathroom!"
The chiding from the familia head soon quieted everyone, and they hastily entered the tower, scrambling to clean up and rest.
Only Ais stayed where she was, prompting Revilia to slowly approach her.
"What is it, Ais?"
The elven royalty still spoke solemnly but looked at Ais with a gentleness warmer than she showed anyone else, not as if viewing a female member of the familia but rather her own daughter.
"...It's nothing,"
Ais chose not to share her thoughts, nor did she look back at the busy Reiger, and after a brief response, she turned and left.
Revilia watched Ais's retreating figure, a touch of compassion surfacing in her eyes, then her gaze shifted to Reiger.
"A new member...?"
Revilia pondered thoughtfully.
No one knew that everything happening here was being thoroughly observed by an interested supreme god.
"Did you discover that kid's presence so quickly?"
Loki observed without any outward change, yet she felt an inexplicable joy in her heart.
"Loki?"
Finn, who was in conversation with Loki, called out to her as she suddenly fell silent.
"Sorry, sorry, I spaced out for a moment," Loki returned to her senses and laughed loudly, saying, "You guys go handle your own affairs and take a good rest for now. We can talk about anything else later tonight."
"Alright," Finn nodded and said, "Then I'll go in first. I'll deal with the trophies tomorrow."
"Go on, go on," Loki waved her hand, shooing away her first child and clan leader.
Only after all the expedition clan members had entered the headquarters did Loki crack a smile and shout in the direction of Reiger.
"Kid, come back early tonight, don't make a ruckus for too long!"
The shout from behind made Reiger pause slightly in his actions.
He knew that Loki was preparing to fulfill last night's promise to introduce him to a "teacher."
"Understood."
Reiger could only suppress the slightly restless ideas in his heart, abandoning his plan to delve further into the underground city today.
...
Time always passes exceptionally quickly.
As night fell once again, Orari once more welcomed back the adventurers who returned safely from the underground city and the civilians who had finished their day's work.
It seemed that only at this time did people disregard status and race differences, mixing together on the bustling, relaxed streets.
And this atmosphere was undoubtedly most intense at today's Twilight Pavilion.
Perhaps due to the expedition members all returning, the Loki Clan was much livelier than the past few days, and the atmosphere was very active.
After ample rest, many returning expedition members finally shook off the fatigue from days of campaigning, removed their gear, and immersed themselves in the relaxed and comfortable clan atmosphere.
Normally, this would be the time when the clan internally begins to settle accounts for the post-expedition gains.
Even though Finn, as the leader, considered the hardships of the expedition and decided to deal with the trophies tomorrow, it was only fitting to handle matters other than the trophies at this time.
For instance, many clan members couldn't wait to find Loki to update their power values to see how much they had grown from this expedition, and whether they could accumulate precious experience points to level up.
Unfortunately, Loki didn't seem in the mood to deal with this today, exercising her capricious divine rights and postponed the task of updating power values.
"We'll talk in a couple of days!"
Loki simply dropped this response to the clan members, leaving them resigned yet compelled to comply.
Fortunately, after the expedition, the main work for the clan was dealing with the trophies, and there were few other tasks to complete, allowing the people a rare moment of leisure before the next expedition, so many were not in a rush for the time being.
In such circumstances, in Loki's Divine Room, the clan's leaders and officers gathered.
"It seems everyone has rested well, I'm relieved," Loki remarked with satisfaction as she looked at the spirited state of the top-tier adventurers in the clan.
At this, the werewolf Bert seemed somewhat displeased.
"What is it exactly? Why suddenly summon us all?"
Bert seemed to complain about the Main God disrupting his schedule, his eyes repeatedly drifting towards Ais, his tail wagging, proving his words betrayed his feelings.
"It's indeed rare for her to call us all together like this,"
Rephia, holding onto one of Ais's arms affectionately, made the young werewolf secretly envious and jealous.
"I thought she would only call the leaders over to talk," Theone said while clinging, yet she quickly changed her tone, "I don't mind, though. As long as the leader is here, I'm here."
Finn, faced with the Amazon sister's bold declaration, could only show a helpless expression.
Revilia too shook her head, sitting by Ais, waiting for Loki to speak.
"What's the matter that you've summoned all the officers together?"
Grace stroked his long beard, looking at Loki, and made his inquiry.
In the room, only Ais was completely silent, sitting there without making any move.
In response, Loki, with her hands on her hips and a look of pride and smugness, began to speak.
"Don't rush," Loki said, "I just wanted to introduce an unreliable rascal to everyone and let you all get acquainted with him."
At this, everyone was momentarily taken aback.
"Introduce someone?"
Everyone became even more puzzled.
Who could be so important that their unpredictable Main God treated this matter with such gravity, gathering all the officers and leaders?
The group looked at each other, everyone curiously knit together.