The Outcome of the Meeting.

Loki sat down on the sofa, exhaled slowly, and let her body go limp against the cushions.

After she entered the room, the rest of her companions followed one after another through the doorway.

Inside the room, Lefiya had just finished brewing tea, pouring it into cups and waiting quietly at the table.

Riveria, who was sitting in the room, reached out to take the teacup Lefiya brought over, observing the slumped Loki and the others who had just returned.

She took a gentle sip from the cup; the rising steam and the warmth of the tea brought a touch of color back to Riveria's somewhat pale face.

In the Loki Familia meeting room, Once the companions who had accompanied Loki to the Gods' Conference had settled down, Riveria turned to Finn, who was sitting behind the desk.

"What was the specific outcome of the conference, Finn?"

"Please, have some."

"Thank you."

Finn, sitting behind the desk, took the tea Lefiya offered and nodded his thanks to her.

Hearing Riveria's inquiry, he held his tea and replied.

"As it stands, it seems the matter has come to an end. As for the results of the Gods' Conference..."

As he spoke, Finn took a light sip of black tea, then turned his head to look at Loki, who was sprawled out on the sofa, and continued.

"Loki, you aren't just going to let this slide, are you? You didn't say a word on the way back. Since the executives are all here, why don't you tell us."

Loki, who had been as quiet as a log on the sofa, slowly turned her head at these words, straightened her face, and pouted.

"Tonight's incident was caused by the spontaneous actions of that woman's Familia; it wasn't a direct order from her personally.

There was no way to push through any punitive measures against her at the conference."

Loki engaged her core to sit up straight, bracing her hands on her knees as she said unhappily.

"I wanted to save face, of course, but unfortunately, everyone present was unwilling to let the situation escalate further.

After all, the city has only been quiet for a few years, and tonight's chaos has already caused panic among many.

If I were to declare war, I fear Orario would lose a massive portion of its population."

She reached out to grab the teacup on the table and gulped it down.

"So hot."

Loki stuck out her tongue, set the cup down, and continued.

"The result is that the Guild will commission the Ganesha Familia to tally the damages from tonight, while the Freya Familia will be fined double the amount to compensate those who suffered losses."

"Huh~ That's it?! We were attacked for no reason, and Riveria was nearly killed in their ambush!"

Hearing the outcome Loki described, Tiona slammed her teacup down and shouted with wide eyes.

Gareth, sitting across from Riveria, stroked his beard and said to Tiona in a low, rumbling voice.

"Quiet! Loki isn't the type to take a loss. Let her finish, Tiona."

"Got it, old man."

Tiona, who had been boisterous just a moment ago, immediately lowered her voice.

"Idiot."

Bete, standing behind the sofa, glanced sideways at the scolded Tiona and mocked her.

"The one who got pinned down and beaten has the nerve to talk about others."

Tiona looked back, tilted her head, and narrowed her eyes at him, retorting in a hushed voice.

"Tch."

Hearing this, Bete didn't continue bickering with Tiona as he usually would; he let out a sound of dissatisfaction and then fell silent.

"Let me help you, Lefiya."

Seeing the tea Lefiya had placed in front of her, Ais moved to get up and assist her.

Lefiya shook her head, stopping Ais's movement.

"I didn't manage to help with anything tonight, so let me at least do this small thing. This is the least I can do."

"Is that so."

Ais, who had been pressed back into her seat by Lefiya, said softly.

Tiona, on the side, noticed Bete wasn't continuing to argue with her and stared at him with some surprise.

Seeing Tiona's surprised expression, Bete tilted his head away, refusing to look at her. Even though he had already taken a potion, he felt as if a dull pain still lingered in his abdomen.

Recalling the fight against Allen, his resentment grew even heavier.

Loki heard Tiona's dissatisfaction and, once she had quieted down, continued.

"Well, the content the Guild is about to release is basically what I just said—that is, publicly informing the people of the city about the punishment the Freya Familia received."

"Publicly? Then what about the rest?"

In terms of losses, our Familia didn't suffer much damage to our property, and the consumption of healing potions wasn't significant either.

Double the compensation isn't much money to us, but the important thing is that if that's all we get, the reputation Loki Familia lost in this incident won't be recoverable.

Finn's face was full of a serious expression upon hearing this.

The matters about to be made public would strike a blow to Loki Familia's prestige. For Finn, the status and achievements of the Familia were tied to his ideals, and they were things he needed to consider with the utmost caution.

"Rest easy. Although Freya herself is unwilling to issue a public apology, the Guild will inform the people of the city that this incident was caused by internal chaos within Freya Familia. Everyone knows they aren't exactly on friendly terms anyway. As for our Familia, it will be framed as a sneak attack carried out while we were preparing for an expedition, with members scattered for supplies and our defenses thin. We'll minimize the loss of reputation as much as possible," Loki explained to Finn.

"Expedition preparations? Although I have already begun planning for the next expedition, considering the previous abnormal situation, we need to make more preparations and reserve some funds at the base. If that's the case, I'm afraid it will take some time before we can launch another expedition. Could it be...?" Pondering Loki's words and considering the reputation boost brought by expeditions alongside his own plans, Finn suddenly understood her meaning and asked Loki.

Snap.

Loki watched Finn, who had realized the truth, and snapped her fingers; the somewhat gloomy look on her face gradually turned bold and confident.

"That's right. There is no better way to boost our reputation than exploring the Dungeon. The public punishment will be just as I said—we'll suppress the events of tonight as much as possible. But that won't make up for the losses our family suffered."

"As compensation to us, Freya Familia will privately provide all the supplies for our next expedition. At the same time, the monetary compensation will be five times the amount of our itemized losses."

Watching Finn's expression lose its severity, Loki grinned.

"Finn, double the supplies for the expedition. Let's fleece them for all they're worth."

Hearing Freya Familia's compensation plan, Finn's mood was no longer as heavy as before. Looking at Loki's increasingly triumphant expression, he said with a smile, "If it's too exaggerated, the people of Freya Familia won't accept it. But we can still make a killing."

"Seriously, Riveria was injured so badly. Is it really over just because they pay a bit more money?" Tiona looked at Loki's smug expression and spoke with dissatisfaction regarding what Riveria had endured.

"Tione." Her sister whispered her name from the side, gesturing toward Riveria with her chin.

Seeing the two sisters secretly looking at her, Riveria set down her teacup and said calmly, "There is no need to worry too much about me. Such injuries were common back when the Familia was struggling. To me, it is not a rare occurrence. In the end, the fact that everyone is safe and sound is what matters most."

"I... is that so?" Hearing Riveria's words, Tiona scratched her cheek and said awkwardly.