Seizing the moment when no one was paying attention, Eiji darted out of the Familia's front gate.
During breakfast, the atmosphere had been electric—almost every beautiful girl in the Familia had clung to him, their usual restraint completely forgotten.
The shift in his relationship with Ais had triggered a seismic change within the entire Familia.
Before, everyone had kept each other in check, preventing anyone from making the first move, resulting in an endless back-and-forth. But with Ais as the turning point, the girls saw an opportunity to get closer to Eiji, and they all went wild, crowding around him.
Then Ais went on a rampage, silently tossing aside any girl who tried to get near Eiji. With a fiercely protective glare, she clung to him, making it clear that no one else was allowed to touch him.
It took everything Eiji had to escape the dining hall.
He retrieved his backpack from his room and headed to a laundromat near the street, dumping the foul-smelling bedding into the arms of the clerk.
The clerk, seemingly unfazed, accepted it with practiced calm.
"Can't go back to the Familia just yet. Might as well go shopping first."
Recalling the chaotic scene at breakfast, Eiji decided to stay out a little longer.
After all, he had already accomplished everything he needed to in this world.
Having defeated even the Evil Dragon—albeit with Haruhime's Uchide no Kozuchi—Eiji was now widely recognized as the strongest in the world.
With the fall of the One-Eyed Black Dragon's Familia, only two Level 7 adventurers remained in the entire world.
One was Ottar, Orario's former strongest. The other was the "Shadow Knight," said to be active overseas, whose true name was unknown. Both had reached the pinnacle of Level 7.
But honestly, if Eiji faced either of them now, it would probably be no different from an instant kill.
Even without Uchide no Kozuchi's enhancement, he was still the undisputed strongest in the world.
"Now that I've become the strongest, there's no point staying here any longer."
That was Eiji's conclusion.
He had fulfilled his ambitions in this world. With nothing left to do, the only option was to set sail once more.
After all, he could always come back if he wanted to. He couldn't just leave Ais, Freya, and the others behind.
For now, he'd focus on shopping.
Preparing for the next world.
Elixirs, spirit potions, stamina potions—he'd buy only the best.
Wait a minute, didn't Freya have some incredibly skilled alchemists under her?
"Hey, Bell, what are you doing here?"
While passing through the southeastern district, Eiji suddenly spotted a familiar boy.
Bell was walking along the cobblestone path, looking around suspiciously, as if deep in thought.
Beside him were the red-haired Welf and the chestnut-haired prum Lily, along with a black-haired girl Eiji didn't recognize—probably from the same Familia.
The group was trying to act casual, but to Eiji, their movements seemed stiff, their coordination far worse than usual.
"E-E-E-Eiji?! Wh-wh-what are you doing here?!"
Bell's tongue tied itself into knots.
His panicked expression made it clear he'd been caught completely off guard.
At the same time, he deliberately took a step back, as if trying to hide something.
His subtle movements were quite discreet, showing far more maturity than when he was still a rookie, but such gestures were impossible to conceal from Eiji's sharp eyes.
"Is she also from your familia?"
Eiji's gaze landed on the center of the group.
There, a petite figure was shrouded in a gray cloak. Though her face was hidden behind Bell, it was clear she was a young girl.
But her aura felt somewhat wild.
"Ah, yes yes yes! That's right!"
Bell nodded hurriedly.
Welf and Lily beside him also chimed in eagerly, the whole group clearly on edge.
"Hoh?"
Eiji narrowed his eyes.
His gaze pierced through the gray cloak like an X-ray, calculating the muscle structure and bone alignment beneath the fabric in his mind.
The girl under the cloak shuddered violently, like a cat with its fur standing on end.
"Ah—right! I actually recently forged an incredibly powerful magic sword!"
Welf suddenly exclaimed loudly.
He grabbed Eiji's arm enthusiastically.
"Let's go to that teahouse over there and take a closer look, come on! You love magic swords, don't you?"
Nice one, Welf!
Bell maintained a polite smile on his face while mentally giving his companion a big thumbs-up.
"...Fine."
Eiji glanced back at the clearly suspicious group, then after a moment's thought, followed Welf toward the teahouse.
"Speaking of this new magic sword, it's my proudest work yet—absolutely amazing! Even that evil dragon from the other day was intimidated by it..."
Welf launched into an animated explanation.
"Oh, now that's interesting!"
Eiji had initially been focused on the girl in the gray cloak, but Welf's words quickly captured his attention.
Trouble following the protagonist was practically a given.
Though that girl didn't seem quite human or demi-human—if anything, she seemed more like a monster... But if Bell was protecting her, she probably wasn't a bad person. It should be fine to leave it be.
"Thank goodness Welf managed to distract him!"
On their way to the Dungeon, Bell let out a huge sigh of relief.
"If that person had found out, we'd really be in for it!"
Lily also looked terrified, her face showing the relieved smile of someone who'd narrowly escaped disaster.
"Is that person really strong?"
The girl under the gray cloak peeked out, her bright eyes revealing vertical pupils like a beast's—a sight that might make one sigh in regret, were it not for the pure, likable innocence in her gaze.
"Strong doesn't even begin to cover it! You probably couldn't find anyone stronger in all of Orario!"
Bell praised effusively.
His tone overflowed with admiration for Eiji as he enthusiastically recounted the man's legendary feats.
"Here we go again. Bell-sama has completely become a fan of Eiji the Aurora, hasn't he?"
"What's wrong with that? He's the hero who saved Orario!"
"..."
Welf insisted that Eiji simply had to see the power of his new magic sword, dragging him into the Dungeon.
To be honest, Welf's craftsmanship with magic swords left even Eiji astonished.
While slightly lacking in raw power, when considering its rapid-fire capability and the advantage of not requiring incantations, Eiji felt this magic sword's value might even rival that of Orario's strongest mage—Riveria!
"What a lucky find!"
Eiji thought to himself with delight.
Then he reached out to touch the new magic sword, sensing that the Bling Blade had gained another transformation, and couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.
Seeing him content, Welf also breathed a sigh of relief and quickly took his leave to catch up with his companions.
"Loki, help me update my status!"
As night fell, Eiji stealthily returned to the Familia.
Avoiding the patrols that appeared repeatedly, Eiji made his way to the top floor of the central spire and met with Loki.