Eli stepped out of Joanne’s office and closed the door behind him. The hallway was quiet, save for the snore echoing somewhere.

He looked around to find the source, and when he lowered his gaze, he saw a drooling Juli sitting on the floor against the wall fast asleep, her legs stretched out and her head tilted back.

’Of course she is.’

Exasperated, Eli crouched down beside her and poked at her cheek.

"Juli."

Not a movement whatsoever.

"Juli!"

Her brow twitched ever so slightly, but the drool still ran, almost to her ear now.

"Julianna!"

An eye cracked open as she smacked her lips.

"...Ugh, Elise?"

"Yes, it’s me, sleepyhead."

Juli stretched her arms over her head and groaned loudly.

"You took forever!"

"Wipe your drool. You look disgusting."

She yawned wide, then rubbed her face with both hands.

"Don’t we share food and drinks all the time? We basically trade our saliv—MMPH!"

Eli immediately grabbed her face and squished her cheeks together, forcing her lips into a pout and shutting her up. He should have expected that every word out of her mouth would be wildly out of pocket.

"Heyrr!"

"Can you act normal for once?"

Suddenly, he felt a strange dampness on his palm.

’...No way.’

Eli instantly retrieved his hand and looked down. A thin line of drool glistened across his palm.

"J-JULI!"

She grinned behind her fingers, eyes sparkling with pure, unbothered mischief.

"You grabbed my face! That’s on you. You’re lucky I didn’t do that at Grandma Nella’s house because I’m such a nice guest."

Eli frantically wiped his hand on his trousers, shuddering from head to toe.

"You are vile. Absolutely vile!"

She shrugged.

"And you love me anyway."

Eli heaved the biggest sigh.

’Unfortunately!’

Juli hauled herself to her feet and rolled her shoulders, her restless energy returning like she had never been asleep at all.

"So? What did you two discuss? What’s the plan?"

Eli breathed in and out, calming down.

’The plan...’

Now that the negotiation had been settled with Joanne accepting his proposal, he just needed to count the days until the attack happened.

Eli thought about what he could do in the meantime, and he found a perfect use for the days ahead.

He straightened and turned to Juli.

"Feel like going on a walk?"

She tilted her head.

"A walk? Where?"

"Just some place. I need to check out something."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Check out for what?"

"You’ll see."

***

The landscape around Florentine flourished in its natural state. The late Marchioness had always believed that Sienne’s greatest treasure was the land itself.

She refused to let roads carve through the hills or quarries tear open ridgelines just to build another manor or marketplace. Florentine was the capital of the fiefdom, yet the city sprawled only so far before the green took over.

It was a philosophy Eli had admired from the game’s text, but walking through it in person was an unforgettable experience. The trail south of the city dissolved into tall grass within minutes. Beyond that, the woods thickened into a lush canopy. The glaring sun was filtered through in scattered gold coins across the forest floor.

Juli walked beside him with her hand resting lazily on the pommel of her sword.

"Elise! Where are we even going? You do know that there are monsters deeper in, right?"

Eli nonchalantly nodded without saying a word.

Juli gasped, raising her trembling hand and pointed at him.

"...Don’t tell me. You — another monster mania!?"

He pushed her hand away and huffed.

"You’re the only person who can’t call me anything "mania" when you’re a battle maniac yourself."

Juli locked her arms at her sides and leaned forward, pouting with her fists tightly clenched.

"Because monsters are boring! Monsters in the southern parts of the continent are so weak. And I’ve killed a bunch of them here!"

Eli picked up the pace, heading deeper into the woods.

"Well, I’m going to need your strengths this time."

"You sound so ominous."

He shook his head and kept walking. The trail had started to thin, and the canopy overhead grew denser with every step.

After about thirty minutes of walking, the birdsong stopped.

Juli noticed it before Eli did. Her hand slid from the pommel to the grip, and her stride shortened.

"I think we’re far enough from civilization," she said quietly.

"...Yeah."

Eli glanced at the trees around them. The trunks here were wider, older, and they were covered in moss so thick it looked like dark green fur. The underbrush had swallowed the ground, and the light was mostly blocked by the dense canopy.

’Alright. We’re here.’

In HOTA, this forest was called Academy’s Forest because it was regularly used by both academies as a training ground for students. The outer area served as a practical exam zone for first and second years, while the inner zone housed creatures strong enough to challenge even senior students and faculty.

So what was Eli doing in a forest that could be his resting place?

Somewhere in this inner zone, there was a labyrinth that would be discovered years later, once the academy was up and running again after House Lagranche’s revival. But since the story was in visual novel form, Eli was essentially at a loss for where to start in this ginormous forest.

The story described how a group of students, including one future heroine, stumbled upon it during a practical exam, and the battle stages that followed took place inside the labyrinth itself.

Eli could only piece the general location that was the inner zone, but he didn’t remember any details about it.

’I mean, who could? I skipped the descriptions... Probably shouldn’t have done that.’

Even if he hadn’t skimmed those parts, he was sure nobody had that kind of super memory anyway!

’Don’t lie to yourself now. I know everyone doesn’t care about those long ass descriptions!’

One saving grace, however, was that he remembered the layout of the labyrinth because it was one of the limited farming stages. It was a multi-floor dungeon filled with creatures far above what the surface offered. Each floor was filled with rare crafting ingredients and massive experience.

And at the very bottom, past every floor and every boss, there was a chest that contained the ultimate reward.

Of course, Eli had no intention of clearing the entire labyrinth now. That would be suicide at his level. Even Juli wouldn’t be able to handle the middle floors.

But the first few floors might be doable, and they gave generous rewards, to boot.

In other words, Eli was here to farm!

If he couldn’t find the labyrinth, then this forest had the perfect mobs to challenge himself. It was a win-win situation.

With that in mind, he turned to Juli with a confident smile on his face.

"Let’s go farm!"