After returning to the inn, Adam joined the rescue work along with other able-bodied Adventurers.
Originally, someone of his merit shouldn't have been doing such physical labor — even the innkeeper strongly insisted he should rest.
However, defeating the monsters earlier hadn't taken much effort. He wasn't tired, and his mental state was excellent. Most importantly, his loot from the past few days was still buried underneath, worth a considerable sum in Valis.
His participation in the rescue was purely incidental, mainly because he worried some greedy Adventurers might secretly make off with his loot.
Though this was the truth, with Adam's high emotional intelligence, he naturally kept this to himself.
This led the other Adventurers to believe he was genuinely volunteering for the rescue effort. His reputation among them instantly surpassed that of Finn, the Braver.
While working alongside the others, Lefiya arrived. To Adam's surprise, Ais had come with her.
"Um... I came to thank you! You saved me again, thank you so much!" With a slight blush on her face, though shy and embarrassed, Lefiya bowed deeply and expressed her gratitude.
"Ah haha, it's nothing." Adam responded cheerfully to help the shy thousand elf relax.
But what he didn't know was that Lefiya's shyness and embarrassment stemmed from his previous complaints.
"If you're here to thank me again, forget it. Your captain already came by, so there's no need..."
"No! This is my personal matter, something the captain can't do for me, so I must thank you properly." The shy elf was unusually adamant.
With determination in her eyes, she seemed intent on both expressing gratitude and offering a thank-you gift.
She continued, "For saving me twice, Mr. Adam, I must properly thank you! Whether it's labor or money, as long as it's within my power, please feel free to ask!"
Hey! Don't say such dangerous things! What if I took you seriously, you silly elf!
But Adam knew well that the innocent Lefiya had no ulterior motives; she was simply speaking without thinking in her eagerness.
"Yes, yes, yes, I understand. If I need anything, I'll trouble you." He brushed her off diplomatically.
This was the only way to handle such stubborn people — otherwise, it could drag on endlessly. Better to agree now and forget about it later.
But Lefiya declared firmly, "Yes, if you need anything, I'll definitely lend my strength!"
"And you, Sword Princess, you're not just here as an escort — you have something you want to tell me, right?"
"Why are you surprised? I can tell from your expression." Adam pointed at her seemingly expressionless face and said to the stunned elf girl, "It's clearly written there that you have something to say."
"Really?" Lefiya studied Ais's face but couldn't detect anything suggesting she had something to discuss.
"Of course, it's written all over her face." Adam stated confidently, then continued, "...Let me guess, the culprit got away, right?"
This was something he knew from the start.
Although Ais was famous throughout Orario, he had briefly crossed swords with the culprit and knew that even at Level 5, she was no match for them — even with one arm cut off.
The culprit wouldn't risk a prolonged fight, likely forcing their way through the blockade with sheer determination before escaping.
"Yes, I'm sorry, I let the culprit escape." Ais lowered her head and apologized softly.
"Don't apologize, you didn't do anything wrong." Adam waved dismissively, "You're not as strong as her — even with one arm cut off, you couldn't have stopped her."
"..." Ais remained silent.
These words had struck a nerve, leaving her unable to argue back. After all, this was indeed her failure.
She had pursued the culprit without following the captain's arrangements. Worse still, not only had she failed to catch the culprit, but she had let them escape. This was a serious mistake.
"If only I hadn't acted so rashly..."
"Ah, stop, stop." Adam interrupted her attempt to apologize further, frowning impatiently, "At the time, you chose to pursue the enemy while I chose to stay and defeat the monsters — this was a normal division of labor."
"Besides, if you want to apologize and blame yourself, you're apologizing to the wrong person." He pointed at Finn, who was still directing operations, "Reprimanding you or punishing you — these are your captain's duties, they have nothing to do with an outsider like me... So stop giving me headaches, Sword Princess."
"...Yes, I'm sorry for troubling you." Hearing his words, Ais apologized again, this time for her inappropriate behavior rather than abandoning her team to pursue the culprit.
Adam accepted this apology.
He then asked them both, "Well, do you ladies have anything else? If not, I need to continue with the rescue operation."
"Ah, if that's possible."
Eager to repay her debt, the elf lady volunteered, and Adam had no reason to refuse, smilingly accepting this free labor.
"Um... I have one more thing I'd like to ask." The usually cold and expressionless Ais showed rare signs of hesitation and anxiety, "Please tell me, why are you so strong?"
"Well, I want to know the reason for your strength." She stepped forward and said softly, "That culprit, even I couldn't catch them, but you easily cut off their arm. I want to know why you're so strong."
Ais was undoubtedly a genius.
Although she had rapidly risen to Level 5, she hadn't been able to increase her parameters for a long time and was desperately seeking ways to improve her strength. Having questioned countless strong individuals about this, she was now asking someone even stronger than herself.
"Even if you ask me that..." Adam scratched his head, unsure how to answer her. After thinking, he said, "I was able to cut off the culprit's arm mostly because of a sneak attack. Actually, my true strength isn't enough to defeat them."
Of course, this was a lie.
Because it was too troublesome. His current priority was grinding ability parameters to raise his rank to Level 2. He didn't have time to teach her how to increase her strength. Besides, a Level 5 asking a Level 1 how to get stronger was somewhat absurd.
Still, he could give her a hint.
"Hey, Sword Princess."
"I'm guessing you can't increase your parameters anymore, right?"
"Yes, that's right." Hearing these words, Ais's expression changed slightly, but she still said flatly, "I don't know why, no matter how much I fight monsters, they won't increase."
"It's not that they won't increase — they're just not increasing dramatically like before, right?" Adam corrected her choice of words, "Have you considered that it might be because the monsters you're fighting are too weak to increase your parameters? For example, monsters above the 10th Floor probably have no effect anymore because killing them is as simple as crushing an ant for you. Killing ants won't give you basic abilities, you know."
"No, that's not it." Ais shook her head, rejecting this theory, "Earlier, our familia expedition went down to the 50th Floor, but I still didn't gain any parameters."
"Do you know something?"
"Your Vessel is full." Adam spoke unhurriedly, despite her eagerness, "Sword Princess, you know about the concept of Vessel that we Adventurers have, right? When the Vessel is full, no matter how much we train, we can't increase our stats anymore."
Lefiya suddenly chimed in from the side, "Yes, I know about this! The beginner's guide mentions that when Adventurers can't increase their skill points anymore, it means they've reached their limit — that's when they can rank up!"
"That's exactly right, Miss Lefiya!" Adam clapped his hands, acknowledging her knowledge.
Ais listened with a blank expression, "Then, what should I do?"
"It's so obvious, yet you still don't get it — is your anxiety clouding your judgment?" He sighed lightly, then declared loudly, "You need to achieve a Great Deed, Sword Princess!"
"Exactly! Make a tremendous contribution that will amaze everyone — even the gods! A Great Deed! Isn't this something you've done many times before? In other words, you need to go fight an unbeatable enemy, Sword Princess."
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