Weeks have passed, and the Leville party has continued to hunt almost every day without rest. Suffice it to say, when they got beaten down by Riley without even as much as making him sweat, there was a fire that lit up within them.
Riley did not mind, of course—he even went with them every time. And each time, he pulled all the monsters toward the Levillle party.
Suffice it to say, the three were completely different from how they were just weeks ago. After all, even though Riley was pulling the monsters toward the Leville party, he wasn't helping them to defeat the monsters at all.
If they die, then they die. But so far, aside from being heavily wounded and covered in blood each time they hunt, the three of them were still alive and well.
Riley wasn't going to lie—it was fun. It was almost as if he was playing a game where he pitted the Leville crew against the monsters. It was sort of exciting to see if they were going to live as Riley pulled more and more each day.
And of course, because of the… incredible results that the Leville party was showing, they have also been slowly gaining popularity in the local city of Arunafelt. None of them noticed it, however, as they were all just incredibly exhausted after every hunt. They just focused on getting stronger; sleeping and hunting—that was their life for an entire month.
As for Riley, he didn't rest. Each time he went back to the tavern, he tells Aerith of the things that happen to him that day.
And then, finally, the time for the Expedition has come.
"Aunt Lilly!"
"Jacob? Is that you!?"
The Leville party were currently outside the gates of Arunafelt—and it wasn't only them, there were more than a hundred people there; all bringing their own carts and supplies for the long hunt ahead.
The Leville party also has a new cart—much larger than before and even had a roof and drapes, making it closed from the outside world.
And as Bert said, he brought his son with him, who was already leaping into Lilly's arms.
"Look at you!" Lilly lifted the small boy, lightly pinching his cheek as she gritted her teeth in excitement, "You're so tall now, even taller than Roan."
"...I'm minding my own business here, why do I keep hearing my name!" Roan's head then peeked out from the cart as he pointed at Lilly and Jacob, "And you, if you don't stop growing taller I will hit you, okay!?"
"Stop scaring the child, Roan," Lilly could really only roll her eyes as she gently placed Jacob back on the ground.
"Sorry, I'm late. I waited for Jacob to wake up," Bert then forced out a chuckle as he approached Lilly, "Where's Nathan?"
"Right there."
Bert quickly looked at where Lilly was pointing, only to see a man tending to their carriage birds.
"Nathan! You don't need to do that!" Bert waved his hand at Lilly's husband.
"It's fine! I'll take the first shift in driving!" Nathan waved back, before just continuing to brush and feed the giant birds, "This is my job, anyway!"
"..." Bert glanced back at Lilly, only for her to giggle and shrug in response,
"What about our overpowered Porter?" Bert then asked, "Is he… going to come?"
"I'm right here, Bert."
And almost as if in cue to his query, Riley appeared from the gates of the city—and beside him was Aerith, and like him, she was covered with a cloak.
"I apologize for my tardiness," Riley said as he approached the group, "I forgot about the Expedition."
"...Of course, you did," Lilly could really only sigh and shake her head. But afterward, she quickly stretched her hand to Aerith.
"Hello, my name's Lilly. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Aerith."
"..." Aerith shook Lilly's hand, but she didn't really say anything and just nodded.
"..." Lilly was a little weirded out at first, but she just smiled as she introduced the rest of the Leville party to her. Aerith didn't talk, but she still acknowledged the others as she continued to nod.
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