The Cloud-Raised Brave Man's Travels

Reed: "There is a clan in Orario who knows about the existence of us heretics and is searching for and capturing us with a purpose—"

Uranus: "There is a clan in Orario that hunts heretics and sells them as precious commodities to dignitaries outside of Orario."

Reed's words reminded Koya of the Daedalus Familia whom he had left behind on the nineteenth floor. As the most well-known architectural family in Orario, it was incredible that they appeared on the nineteenth floor of the dungeon, and they were obviously following him and his group.

How should I put it? While there's no direct evidence that the Daedalus Familia are the ones hunting heretics, it's pretty close. And the reason they're following Koya and the others is probably because they hope to learn Reed and the others' hiding place through them. But... how do the Daedalus Familia know about Albion's existence?

Let's talk about this question later. The banquet ended, and the meeting with the gods was over. When Koya and his party walked out of the dungeon, the sun had just passed over the wall of Orario. A day was not long, but the secrets he received that day made Koya feel overwhelmed. He was only a Lv. 4 adventurer. How could he know so many secrets?

When Koya and his group returned to Hestia's base camp, the Hearth Hall, Hestia and Elle were standing at the door waiting for their return. Hestia was relieved to see the four people return safely.

In front of Hestia, Koya asked her with a little confusion.

"Hestia, what exactly is a dungeon? And what exactly are intelligent monsters like Albion..."

"A dungeon is a dungeon."

"Ellie?"

"Sorry, Koya, I can't tell you either."

Hestia clearly had no intention of saying anything. Elle, who had been with Hestia as her guard and knew everything, also rejected Koya's question. The others walked into Hestia's Familia in silence, and then they saw Tiamat and...Cassandra! Sitting on a sofa in the hall!

"Ka-Cassandra?"

Koya and Hestia were stunned, then they glanced at each other and saw the embarrassment in each other's eyes. Oh no... I forgot that Kassandra and Danev were also members of Hestia's Familia. It's not their fault. After joining Hestia's Familia, Kassandra spent most of her time messing around in her room, while Danev seemed to be with the people of Aphrodite's Familia, usually studying potions, forging, and the like...

"Well, Captain, Lady Hestia, you haven't forgotten about me and Danev, have you?"

"How, how could this happen~~"

Hestia smiled awkwardly and tried to make amends as best she could.

"It seems you and Danev don't really like dungeon adventures."

"But you didn't even tell me about the mandatory mission. It was the goddess Tiamat who told me."

Of course, Cassandra wasn't here to blame them; she was simply upset that Koya and the others had abandoned her on a dangerous mission. She loved the Hestia Familia; everyone there was friendly and wouldn't pressure her into anything. Even though they knew they had the ability to predict dreams, they wouldn't ask her every day if she'd dreamed about them. It was completely different from when she was with the Apollo Familia. So, she truly accepted herself as a member of the Hestia Familia, but now Koya and the others had forgotten her!

Even if I stay in my room reading books every day and don’t like to communicate with other people, I can’t do this!

Seeing Cassandra's aggrieved expression, Hestia pushed Koya over. She knew that dealing with little girls was something that only an expert could handle. Hestia had long since smoothed over her jealousy through group sex, and was willing to accept any child from her family.

Koya walked forward and hugged Cassandra. When it came to comforting girls, Koya was not very experienced. The girls he knew were all very strong, even the girls in the doomsday world. They might be sad or scared, but they would never show their uneasy side to Koya. This led to Koya wanting to comfort her but not knowing how, so he could only hug Cassandra.

Fortunately, Cassandra was just a little angry and aggrieved, and she was fine after venting it. Koya's hug gave her a way out.

"By the way, Koya, I had another prophetic dream last night. It's just strange that you weren't in the dream this time. It was a group of people pushing caged monsters out of Orario. Oh, right, those caged monsters could even talk—"

·Dividing line·

"You bastard!!"

Bang! There was a loud sound of kicking the cage, and the people in the cage screamed in fear, and the chains that bound their limbs made a sound.

"It hurts so much, let me out, I want to leave here." These cries mixed with human voices stopped abruptly as if they were afraid of the curser.

The man's heavy breathing could be heard in the hall.

"Gran, you're so noisy! Do you believe I'll feed you to the monster?"

“Ugh… S-Sorry, Deeks. But, we’re only one step away from finding the monster’s ‘nest’, but…!!”

The human named Gran clenched his hands and growled.

The man in goggles sitting on the black cage—Dix—tapped his shoulder with the handle of his red gun.

"When we were tracking the Hestia Familia, it was going smoothly—"

He looked around at the orcs, humans, Amazons and other outlaws gathered around him and sighed deliberately for them to hear.

They were members of the Daedalus Familia, and they knew of Albion's existence because they had inflicted the wounds on him before they met Koya and his companions. They had also noticed the gauze-wrapped figure Koya was carrying on his back in Rivera Town on the 18th floor. Naturally, they could guess where Little Dragon Girl had gone, but they couldn't figure out where the Hestia Familia had hidden her, so they kept a close eye on the Hestia Familia.

Thanks to the desolate surroundings of the Hestia Familia, their surveillance went smoothly.

As Koya and his group of four headed into the dungeon, Dex and the others naturally followed. They knew they couldn't stand up to Koya head-on, so they decided to follow behind to see if the Hestia Familia truly had any connection to the monsters. They also hoped Koya would lead them to the lair of those strange monsters.

In fact, they almost succeeded.

however--

"Damn it, we were just one step away. How on earth did he find us?"

Their plans were dashed after the fire Koya unleashed. They could find no trace of Koya at all, as if they had vanished on the 19th floor. Just as they were expanding their search, preparing to begin searching for the monster's lair here since they couldn't find Koya, another group stopped them.

While they were following Koya, adventurers from another faction were secretly following Dicks and the others.

Truth be told, their discovery of the Hermes Familia, who were tracking them with magical gadgets, was pure chance. It was Dex who noticed something was amiss with the bear beast's keen sense of smell, and ordered the group to stop following and flee immediately. After being discovered, the Hermes Familia adventurers didn't hesitate and immediately gave chase. The group scattered throughout the Great Tree Maze, having long since given up on Koya.

"Damn it, that Lord God is really enough. I just thought he was useful, but as expected, he's holding me back again."

Dix cursed his own god.

Daedalus, who had provided them with a base and then ran over to report with a smile that they had been captured by Hermes' men, was not here at the moment.

He was probably waiting to see how the three-way struggle would unfold—whether something interesting would happen with his own Familia at the center. He was certain that he and the others had become mere pawns on the chessboard, playing to please the gods. As for whether he would face any punishment, Daedalus didn't care. He didn't care what became of the children of his Familia; he simply wanted to complete his work. The work he had devoted his whole heart to since arriving in the netherworld.

Daedalus also knew that Dix and his men were capturing strange monsters and selling them, but he didn't care at all. As long as these children provided him with enough money to complete his work, they could do whatever they wanted, and Daedalus didn't care at all.

Of course, regardless, this meant Daedalus wouldn't offer Dix any help; providing him with a secret base was simply a whim and a bad taste. This was one of Daedalus's few pastimes besides his work, and Dix had experienced similar things several times before. Knowing the god's whims well, Dix had no choice but to curse.

"That shitty god."

"It's the Hermes Familia who's been investigating us everywhere... No, since the smuggling has been exposed, does that mean the guild knows about it too? Tsk! This is so troublesome."

In the secret compulsory mission issued by Uranus and others, Koya and his companions not only went to get to know Reed and his companions, but they also played the role of "bait" without knowing it, luring hunters such as Dicks who were trying to capture heretics. This is the full picture of the compulsory mission.

"The Hermes Familia didn't kill us all. They probably wanted to find out the location of this secret base."

They wanted to catch Dicks and the others red-handed when they returned to their residence.

Deeks interpreted the other person's thoughts in this way and laughed.

"H-what should we do, Dex? If this continues..."

"What else can we do? How can we stop something so fun? You guys are obviously having a lot of fun."

Taking a casual look at the figure that looked human but had monster organs sticking out of the cage, Dex let out a laugh. That cruel and mean laugh made most of the caged beings tremble.

"If the guild is involved, they definitely don't want to reveal a talking monster to the world. We have limited pieces to work with... Let's keep hunting. The client wants ten prey, and we haven't even caught half of them yet."

Dicks stood up and played with the spear in his hand as he walked.

"I almost know the floor where the 'nest' is located, so I'll use this trick that I haven't used for a long time." He took ten steps in front of the black cages lined up horizontally.

Then it stopped in front of a cage that was holding its breath and keeping quiet. A tiny scream of "Ah!" leaked out from the cage, as if it was frightened.

"It's you—you have to be put to good use, okay?"

He thrust the twisted spear into the cage, and soon, a deafening scream broke out.

Chapter 205: New Member of the System

Three days later, on the twentieth floor of the dungeon, the heretic [secret place].

Today, Koya came here again, but this time he came alone, and this time he was not the only one in this nest.

"Fels, is it okay for me to leave these people to you?"

"Yeah. Thanks to you this time. Uranus has been troubled by these guys for a while. This time, not only did we catch them all, but we also have all the evidence."

Around Koya and Fels were more than a dozen humans tied up with hemp ropes, while Reed and the others were comforting and treating the heretics who had just been rescued from cages.

"But how did you know about this group's actions?"

"Yeah, it's a secret. Okay, if everything's alright, I'll leave first. By the way... are you sure they won't cause me any trouble?"

"Do not worry."

After receiving Fels's answer, Koya left without looking back. He didn't want to get too involved with Reed and the others, as it would be a huge problem. But the Daedalus Familia were targeting him. After learning about Cassandra's prophetic dream, Koya went to the dungeon to find Reed. Through Reed, he contacted Fels. Using Koya's description, Reed and Fels, two dungeon veterans, searched several locations over two days and finally found the Daedalus Familia's hideout.

Thanks to their prompt arrival, Dex intentionally injured the caged heretics to capture more prey, hoping their blood would attract their kind to rescue them. If Koya and his companions had arrived just a day later, the caged heretics would surely have died. However, considering Dex's motives, they probably wouldn't have let their wares die like this. After all, heretics are quite rare.

Koya hoped that this would be his last collaboration with Heretic, at least he would not have anything to do with them again before the Hestia Familia grew into a Familia like Loki Familia and Freya Familia.

When Koya left the dungeon and headed to the guild exchange office to exchange the magic stones he had earned for fari to repay his debt, he ran into Lefiya and Ais. They also seemed to have just emerged from the dungeon, carrying bags of magic stones.

"Ais, Lefiya~~"

"Koya? Are you planning to exchange for magic stones as well?"

"Together?"

"Uh-huh."

Koya's schedule for today is confirmed. He's going on a threesome date with Ais and Lefiya~~

Keqing: [Damn it, damn it! Seeing this guy living so comfortably makes me feel bad when I think about myself!]

Jizi [Keqing has been getting more and more irritable these days. What happened? ]

Keqing: [A demon in the sea broke free from its seal. It was eventually repressed, but so much remains to be done. Coastal housing damage and reconstruction, port damage assessment and reconstruction, design of new tidal dams... Ah, just thinking about it makes my hair fall out. I love working, but don't give it all to me all at once, and keep asking for it. I haven't slept well these past few days. I shouldn't say it's because of that skill I bought for Koya; I've been working in my dreams these past few days.]

Doctor: "I can see you're quite resentful. Let me help you. I'll give you some mature designs for a new type of tidal dam."

Keqing [Thanks! ]

Sirona [Demon God? Then Keqing, are there casualties on your side?]

Keqing: "This is a bit strange. Aside from a few Thousand Rocks soldiers who died in the battle with the Fatui, the civilian population suffered no casualties. Even when their houses were washed away by the waves, the people living under the rubble were miraculously unharmed. Perhaps this is the Emperor's final act of protection for us, the people of Liyue."

Fujimaru Tachibana: "So why didn't you ask Koya to help? With Koya's strength, it shouldn't be difficult to deal with that demon."

Keqing: [This is the test for our Liyue as it moves from divine rule to human rule, and it must be accomplished by us personally.]

[Ding—Newcomer joins the group, Rias Gremory.]

Keqing: [Hmm? Is there a new person here?]

Jizi: [Hmm, I wonder what the newcomer's world will be like this time?]

[Ding—The group has been checked for membership, and Keya Constantine has met the criteria.]

Doctor: [Hmm? Koya finally joined the group. That's good, I can finally contact him.]

Keqing [Koya!! Die!]

·Dividing line·

"Cloud-raised Hero, is this a game?"

Rias looked at the newly added app and its accompanying chat group on her phone, feeling a pang of melancholy. She'd read a fair amount of entertainment since arriving in the human world, so she naturally understood its significance. But why had it come to her? Could it be the work of that "Demon King"?

But since demons, angels, and fallen angels are illusions to ordinary humans, could the "system" also exist, but ordinary people just treat it as an illusion? Mistaking an unexpectedly awakened artifact for a system? Could this object before him also be some special artifact?

As the saying goes, practice is the only way to test truth. Rias glanced at the dazzling array of items in the game store and the prices listed below, and without hesitation, she started spending money. While she didn't know why so many powerful items and skills could be purchased with real money, as the eldest daughter of the Gremory family, Rias had plenty of money. Even if she spent money and got nothing in return, she could just consider it a lesson learned.

Rias: [Hello everyone, I want to purchase an item in the system mall to verify its authenticity. Does anyone have any recommendations?]

Doctor [Recommends purchasing items that absolutely do not exist in this world.]

Jizi: "This newcomer is quite interesting. He doesn't believe in the system, yet he's asking for opinions in the chat group. Hmm...he's testing us."

Keqing: [Compared to all this... @Koya, you scumbag, you bastard, die ten thousand times over!]

Koya: "Um, Ms. Keqing, I don't even seem to know you. Why are you so hostile to me?"

Sirona: [Because you were dating other girls while she was working hard, our common hero~~~]

Doctor [Long time no see, Koya. When can you come to my world? Amiya misses you a little.]

Koya: "Oh, Doctor, how's everything going over there? What's going on with Tallulah?"

While Koya was shopping with Lefiya and the others, choosing weapons and equipment, he was also chatting with his friends in the chat group. He was very happy to have the company of beautiful girls both online and offline.

This only intensified Keqing's resentment... As a Liyue native, Keqing's outlook was both modern and traditional. Modern, of course, was reflected in her open questioning of Geo Emperor, despite being one of the Seven Stars of Liyue, while traditional was evident in her treatment of her "lover." After so long, Keqing had long considered Koya her husband. She was well aware that it was not nice to lose her temper with him for no reason, but she felt a little wronged, hoping that this way, Koya would recognize her and care about her a little more.

We don't know how many people in the group saw through Keqing's intentions, but the direct beneficiaries of Koya's system saw it very clearly. According to the system, everyone in the chat group is basically his designated wife. After all, the favorability system is there...

Meanwhile, Rias, having received the advice, quickly selected an item from the store: a smart energy shield. The item wasn't expensive, and according to the product description, its maximum defense was limited to intelligent missile defense. Rias was drawn to its technological capabilities. In their world, angels and demons all wield magic. While angelic creations may have a certain technological feel, their essence is still the application of magic. The current technology of the human world is definitely not capable of producing an energy shield.

In other words, as long as this object really appears in front of her, she will be able to determine whether this system is real or fake.