The Outcome of the Conference

Loki dropped onto the sofa and let out a long breath, her body going limp as she leaned back against it.

After she entered the room, her companions filed in one after another through the doorway.

Inside, Lefiya had just finished brewing tea. She poured it into cups and set them on the table.

Riveria was sitting in the room, reaching out to take the teacup Lefiya offered her. She glanced at Loki, who was sitting sprawled out, and the others as they returned.

She lifted the cup and took a small sip. The rising steam and warm tea brought some color back to Riveria's pale face.

In the Loki Familia's meeting room,

once the companions who had accompanied Loki to the God's Conference had settled down, Riveria turned to Finn, who was sitting behind the desk.

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

"Here you go."

"Thank you."

Finn accepted the tea Lefiya brought him and nodded his thanks.

Hearing Riveria's question, he replied as he held his teacup.

"For now, it seems the matter is settled. As for the outcome of the God's Conference..."

Finn took a small sip of tea, then turned to Loki, who was sprawled across the sofa, and continued.

"Loki, you're not going to let this matter just slide, are you? You didn't say a word on the way back. Since all the executives are here, tell us what happened."

Loki had been sitting as still as a log. At his words, she slowly turned her head, then straightened her face and said with a pout,

"Tonight's events were caused by members of that woman's Familia acting on their own. She didn't give the order herself.

At the conference, there was no way to punish her directly."

Loki straightened up, bracing her hands on her knees, and spoke irritably.

"I'd like to get even, but unfortunately, no one there wanted this to escalate any further.

The city has only been peaceful for a few years, and tonight's disturbance has already frightened a lot of people.

If we went to war, Orario would probably lose a huge number of its residents."

She reached for the teacup on the table and gulped down its contents.

"That's hot."

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

"So the Guild will ask the Ganesha Familia to assess the damage from tonight, then make the Freya Familia pay double to compensate those who suffered losses."

"Huh? That's it?! They attacked us for no reason, and Riveria was ambushed by them—she nearly died!"

When Tiona heard Loki's account of the outcome, she abruptly set down her tea and cried out, eyes wide.

Across from Riveria, Gareth stroked his beard and spoke sternly to Tiona.

"Quiet! Loki isn't someone who lets herself get cheated. Let her finish, Tiona."

"Got it, old man."

Tiona, who had been making a fuss just moments ago, lowered her voice.

"Idiot."

Standing behind the sofa, Bete glanced at the scolded Tiona and sneered.

"You got beaten senseless, and you've still got the nerve to criticize someone else."

Tiona turned around, raised her chin, and narrowed her eyes at him as she shot back in a hushed voice.

"Tch."

Unlike usual, Bete didn't keep arguing with Tiona. He just grumbled in annoyance and fell silent.

"Let me help you, Lefiya."

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

Lefiya shook her head and stopped her.

"I didn't manage to help with anything tonight. Let me handle this little thing, at least. It's the most I could do to help."

"I see."

Ais spoke softly as Lefiya gently pressed her back into her seat.

Nearby, Tiona stared at Bete in surprise when she saw that he wasn't continuing their argument.

Noticing Tiona's surprised expression, Bete turned his head away and stopped looking at her. Even though he had taken a healing potion, he could still feel pain in his abdomen.

As he recalled his fight with Allen, his self-reproach grew even stronger.

After hearing Tiona's complaint, Loki waited for her to quiet down, then continued.

"Well, the Guild is about to announce roughly what I just told you. In other words, they'll publicly inform the city of the punishment imposed on the Freya Familia."

"Publicly? What about the rest?

In terms of losses alone, our Familia's property wasn't damaged much, and we didn't use up many healing potions.

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

Finn's expression was grave.

The news about to be announced would damage the Loki Familia's reputation. To Finn, the Familia's status and achievements were tied to his ambitions, so he needed to consider this carefully.

"Don't worry. Freya herself refuses to apologize publicly.

But when the Guild makes its announcement, it'll tell everyone in the city that the incident was caused by infighting within the Freya Familia. Everyone already knows they aren't exactly on good terms.

As for our Familia, they'll say the attack happened while the Loki Familia was preparing for an expedition, with its members scattered around the city buying supplies and its defenses weakened. They'll do what they can to minimize the damage to our reputation."

Loki explained it to Finn.

"Preparing for an expedition? I've already started planning our next one, but given the unusual events we've faced, we'll need to make extra preparations and set aside some funds for the home base.

At this rate, it'll be a while before we can set out again. Could it be...?"

Thinking over Loki's words and the reputation boost an expedition could bring, as well as the plans he had made earlier, Finn suddenly understood what she meant and asked her,

"Snap."

Loki snapped her fingers as she saw that Finn had caught on. The gloom on her face gradually gave way to a triumphant grin.

"That's right. There's no better way to boost our reputation than exploring the Dungeon.

The public punishment will be as I said: we'll keep tonight's events from escalating as much as possible.

But that won't make up for the losses our Familia suffered."

"As compensation for our losses, the Freya Familia will privately supply all the materials for our next expedition.

They'll also pay us five times the amount of our documented losses."

Seeing Finn's expression soften, Loki grinned.

"Finn, double the supplies we're preparing for the expedition. Let's squeeze her for all she's worth."

After hearing the Freya Familia's compensation offer, Finn no longer looked as troubled as before.

Seeing Loki's increasingly triumphant expression, he smiled and said,

"If we go too far, the Freya Familia won't accept it. But we can still make a tidy profit."

"Honestly, Riveria was so badly hurt, and they think paying a little extra is enough?"

Tiona said, displeased by what had happened to Riveria, as she watched Loki looking so pleased with herself.

"Tiona."

Her older sister quietly called her name and nodded toward Riveria.

When Riveria saw the two sisters stealing glances at her, she set down her teacup and said calmly,

"Don't worry too much about me. Injuries like this were common back when our Familia was struggling.

They're nothing unusual for me. All things considered, the most important thing is that everyone is safe."

"I... I see?"

Hearing Riveria's words, Tiona scratched her cheek awkwardly.