Facing Iris's question, Leon smiled, patted the back of her hand, and said:
"Just stay calm. If Brellita can't be relied on, then during this expedition, focus on finding a suitable advancement item and push to advance as soon as possible."
"Understood."
"Iris, remember—when you were growing up, your mother was your support. Now it's your turn to become hers."
Leon's words struck straight into Iris's heart.
She tilted her head and looked toward the distant west, meaning to see whether Brellita's group had arrived yet—but her gaze drifted unconsciously to an eagle's nest atop the clock tower, where a young eagle was trying to flap its wings and fly.
"Thank you, Leon. Right now I feel like I'm full of strength."
"Good. And on our route, we can also keep an eye out for light-element monsters. For that, I just picked up a decent map. In the 42nd floor's side-path region and the 37th floor's side-path region, there have been traces of powerful light-aspect monsters."
Drawing on his previous-life experience, Leon offered a chain of suggestions:
"On the 42nd floor, the light-element monster is most likely a fourth-tier Light Faerie. It isn't a 'power monster,' but its skills resemble charm-type monsters—innately capable of multiple illusion spells. They're good at hiding and hard to find, and the 42nd floor is dangerous, so treat it as a backup option."
"Second is the 37th floor—it should be a third-tier power monster: Cosmicglow Moss, the mythical creature said to pave the dwelling of the gods."
"And third—intelligence I got through other channels—there's also a third-tier power monster in a 39th-floor side-path region: Divine Lightflame, a creature said to have been controlled by humanity's progenitor, bringing light and heat to resist ancient ice."
Divine Lightflame was the advancement item Leon knew Iris would use in his previous life—but in the story, she only found it after Hamla's fall.
Light-aspect monsters were generally powerful and often tied to mythic history.
That was one reason the continent considered light the strongest element.
Because anyone—or any monster—with light affinity usually left a name in history.
Hearing Leon provide such detailed intelligence, Iris felt both happy and ashamed.
And the shame was stronger.
Because she realized she'd been relying on Leon more and more—and over these seven days, she hadn't even looked up any information about her own advancement item.
Leon noticed the shift in Iris's mood and gently touched her cheek.
"Iris—when I see that expression, do you know what I'm thinking?"
Iris pressed her hand against Leon's. "What's wrong with my face?"
Then she realized she'd accidentally let her emotions show.
"What I'm thinking is," Leon said, "you really have grown. The old you—proud and self-important—would never have shown that look."
Iris's cheeks flushed instantly, and the red spread all the way to her ear tips.
She didn't speak—she just lowered her head and kept holding Leon's hand tightly, refusing to let go.
[Iris Affection +1%. Current Affection: 84%]
Leon noticed the panel update and his heart stirred. After so long, affection finally went up again?
Looks like at this stage, what mattered was deeper understanding and emotional connection.
"Sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds—time to depart."
Brellita's voice suddenly came through.
It carried a focused, penetrating quality. Though it came from a distance, only Leon and Iris could hear it.
The moment Iris heard the word "lovebirds," she released Leon's hand like a startled rabbit.
Leon turned and saw Brellita approaching, flanked by four sword-bearing knights. Her pace looked unhurried, but she covered ground quickly.
Behind them was a small escort of priests and knights.
A proper entourage.
Even the novices lining up near Oradu's entrance craned their necks as if watching a big shot pass.
Leon also got a clear look at Brellita's outfit today.
She still wore an ornate holy robe, but the trailing skirt had been gathered and tucked up, revealing a hint of pale calf and the gap above her boots.
On her feet were silver combat boots—clearly worn specifically for today's training run—at least third-tier, possibly fourth-tier.
As an aside, Brellita's holy robe was even more ridiculous: a fifth-tier item. Leon had known that from his previous life.
It was called the Sacred Relic Iridescent Weave—woven from a fragment of Astalia's sacred relic and prismatic spider silk. Each of the church's top four Holy Maidens had one.
Beyond strong defense and concealment, it also repelled negative-status magic.
Even curses, toxins, and bindings cast by seventh-tier monsters had a chance to be resisted outright.
Brellita's expression, however, was a little subtle.
Was it because she'd seen him and Iris touching hands?
But her affection was only 40%—so it shouldn't be that.
Brellita spoke:
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's depart."
She made a hand gesture. Her attendant priests and knights stopped, while only the four older-looking knights at her side continued forward.
Leon understood: these four were Brellita's paladin candidates.
As they walked toward Oradu's entrance, they introduced themselves.
Soon, names, affiliations, and tiers were exchanged.
Strangely, the front-most knight—the one with the strongest presence and broadest build—Karl, stared at Leon with a burning intensity that gave Leon a cold shiver, like being targeted by a guy in his previous life.
What was with this dude?
Surely he didn't have that kind of interest?
Leon's memory ran through Karl's character profile.
Karl was also an important supporting character in Part One.
Plot Weight B, Potential B+—he had the potential to become quasi-legendary.
In the party, his role was mainly "aggro pull" and tanking—a heavy-armored knight.
With an extremely strong warrior-type talent, he stood out early among the church-raised orphans. After reaching second tier through constant fighting, he happened to enter Brellita's newly rising knight order, grew rapidly during the North Forest campaign, and quickly reached third tier.
During that campaign, the naturally solitary Karl was won over by Brellita's charisma and firm faith, swearing to become her strongest blade.
But because he grew up in an orphanage, fought monsters constantly, and focused purely on training, his emotional intelligence was very low.
His combat power was fierce, and his win rate was extremely high within the same tier.
But he often offended people with arrogant remarks without realizing it, causing a lot of disputes.
And because he was strong, fellow knights flattered him on the surface while secretly setting him up. His personality gradually warped, eventually becoming wildly arrogant. In Part One's finale, he was exploited by villains, nearly causing Brellita's final boss battle to fail.
After Brellita died together with the final boss, Karl realized his massive mistake, underwent a major shift, and became a church ascetic. He lived all the way into Part Four, once even touching the threshold of legend—yet he chose not to advance.
In a way, he was half a "potential-breaker."
Leon thought: if the Part One plot truly followed Brellita's route, then since they'd be on the same side, Leon could try to correct Karl's personality.
After all, "trash" is often just a resource in the wrong place—and weird personalities can still be sharpened into useful blades.
As they walked, Karl moved closer to Leon. He forced a stiff smile, then extended his hand:
"Lord Leon, first meeting. I'm very interested in you. Let's shake hands."
That single line drew several strange looks.