Approval from former teammates

At the appointed time, Loya arrived at “Westai’s Gift.”

The wealthy Holy Sword family had booked out this top-tier hotel in Florence for the entire night.

Elegant and magnificent music played, a string quartet.

The spacious hall was lavishly decorated, filled with the laughter of ladies and the hushed conversations of gentlemen.

It was still early, with only about thirty to forty percent of the guests having arrived.

This banquet was only inviting talented young nobles,

Young men and women gathered in small groups around the sofas by the walls or the round tables with light refreshments, chatting and laughing. No one was in the center of the hall.

Typically, such banquets would start a bit later, and this tendency was even more pronounced for higher-ranking royal and noble events.

Loya was accustomed to this.

However, being a commoner who didn’t fit into the noble social circles, his presence alone felt somewhat out of place.

He simply asked a waiter for a glass of red wine to hold onto, found an inconspicuous spot, and pretended to drink while waiting for Timos to arrive.

“Loya?”

After waiting for quite a while,

a voice, tinged with surprise, called out to him from the side.

Loya turned his head in the direction of the voice:

“Yo, Hanni, it’s been a while.”

His former teammate today had shed her usual heavy armor,

replaced by an exquisite and glamorous dress.

Her blue hair was elegantly tied up, revealing her bronzed neck.

From a brave and capable magic warrior, she had transformed into a striking noble young lady on the social scene.

“I didn’t expect it, but this attire suits you quite well.”

“Thanks for the compliment. If anyone else said that, I’d just take it as insincere flattery.

Compared to this flashy dress, I’m still more accustomed to chainmail and a hammer, hahaha.”

Despite the change in attire, a stark contrast to her usual tomboy image,

Hanni’s straightforward nature remained unchanged.

“By the way, did… Kalandria invite you here?”

“No, it was the Holy Sword family’s second young master, Mossolen.”

Loya paused,

“Hearing you say that, will Kalandria also be here for this banquet?”

Hanni blinked:

“Of course. Didn’t the invitations sent to each family yesterday state that it was co-hosted by Lewensite and the Holy Sword family, inviting the young nobles of Florence?”

“I see.”

Loya nodded thoughtfully, feeling like he had grasped a crucial piece of information.

Without time to ponder further, Hanni added with a smile:

“But I didn’t expect you to have a connection with that second young master of the Holy Sword family. I thought Kalandria was the one who persuaded you.”

“This… it’s a bit complicated. We just happened to meet by chance.”

Loya managed a dry laugh.

He couldn’t possibly say that the scion had taken a liking to his student and was trying to get closer to him through a roundabout way.

“Besides, it wasn’t exactly an invitation. He just gave me this crest and asked me and Timos to be sure to attend.”

“Is that so…”

Looking at the silver sword emblem Loya presented, Hanni didn’t think too much about it and instead looked around:

“I don’t see Timos.”

“She’s probably on her way. After all, the Riverside Manor isn’t close to here.”

“Ah… that girl is still with the team.”

Hanni’s expression darkened.

Although she knew Timos’s personality, and that she always wore her displeasure on her face,

Timos had mentioned earlier that Hanni had also had a disagreement with Kalandria and had temporarily left the team.

But Loya knew to maintain a proper distance,

since they didn’t bring it up, he wouldn’t ask.

As if struck by a thought, Hanni finally sighed, unable to hold back:

“Loya, there’s something… how should I put it… After you left, the situation in ‘Swan Lake’ was not good—no, it was getting worse and worse.

I’m ashamed to admit it, but only after taking over your responsibilities did I realize that it wasn’t just about having one more or one less person. Without you, ‘Swan Lake’ is truly unsustainable.”

Listening to her sincere tone,

even though the current state of “Swan Lake” was within his predictions,

Loya was still somewhat touched.

“It might be too late to say this now, but I still want to say thank you for all your hard work back then.”

Having said that, Hanni placed one hand over her chest and gave her former teammate a respectful warrior’s salute.

Loya returned her smile:

“I was a part of ‘Swan Lake’ back then, and doing my best to fulfill my duties was only natural. Since it’s all in the past, please don’t dwell on it too much.”

“You’re still as humble as ever.”

Hanni gave a wry smile.

In her opinion, perhaps this young man in front of her, always so reserved and not good at expressing himself,

was precisely why Kalandria had looked down on him, thinking his contributions were insignificant and that everything he did for the team was taken for granted.

That exceedingly arrogant woman hadn’t realized her own arrogance even after he resigned,

and still fantasized that he was just a cog that was useless outside the team, expecting him to come crawling back after hitting a wall.

Thinking of this, Hanni felt her former teammate was being treated unfairly.

“Loya, even if you’re not good at front-line combat, your team management skills alone would make you a top-tier manager in any team.”

It wasn’t flattery; she genuinely believed it.

Even with Kalandria, such an unreasonable leader, he had managed “Swan Lake” with great order.

With any other team that wasn’t so flawed, they would surely soar.

“Perhaps. However, I don’t plan on being an adventurer anymore.”

Loya shrugged,

“Consider me too tired. Adventuring ultimately isn’t suited for me.”

Hanni pursed her lips in resignation.

It wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

Dealing with a leader like Kalandria would be exhausting for anyone.

She herself couldn’t stand it after only half a month.

Keep in mind that Loya had single-handedly managed the team’s logistics since its inception, for a full two years.

Even the most spirited and ambitious youth would have had their edge dulled by then.

She had initially thought of recruiting Loya to start a new team.

But now, it seemed Loya had no such intentions.

Kalandria had lost such a valuable talent without even realizing it.

The more she thought about it, the more unreasonable Hanni found that young lady.

She sighed with a look of regret, her tone laced with comfort:

“It’s good to change your environment and rest. I’m not very good at comforting others, but I just want to tell you that if you need help in the future, you can always come to me.”

“Thank you.”

Loya returned a relaxed smile.