Family Throne

Emerald Tablet raised a hand in objection.

"Hold on a second. Isn't it too early to switch formations now? I think we should maintain the mobile formation and explore as far inward as possible first."

"After all, changing formations would completely remove the party's buff spells, and the mobile party should be enough to handle the monsters we've encountered so far."

"Can't we just switch to the assault party before we encounter the BOSS?"

Bukubukuchagama shook her head.

"That may be true, but shouldn't we be as careful as possible? Considering that the developers are trash, there's a good chance the BOSS could suddenly appear in the middle of the dungeon."

As the two spoke, the other guild members began chattering among themselves. Siyou Qilong gently nudged Mu Fengyu and whispered,

"Captain, is everything Teacher Bukubukuchagama said true? How come the dungeons we ran before never had a BOSS appear midway through? What's going on?"

Mu Fengyu nodded seriously and leaned close to whisper in his ear.

"I admit that Teacher says all developers are trash, but that was in the past. Nowadays, aside from a few dungeons, BOSSES are usually at the final stage. I only forced that rule on everyone after we got burned a few times."

After saying that, Mu Fengyu proudly puffed out his chest, waiting for his little fan to applaud. Siyou Qilong humored him with a single clap.

After everyone had discussed it, while there were some differences in the details, they were able to combine the opinions proposed by the two. Once everyone had voiced their thoughts, Bukubukuchagama realized they would never reach a conclusion this way and turned to Momonga.

"What do you think, Momonga? Should we change formations before advancing, or keep our current formation and push forward slowly?"

This was a difficult question for Momonga. Neither choice could be considered absolutely correct, but he also knew that everyone understood that. No matter what he chose, they would follow his orders.

But if he chose wrong, his stomach would definitely start hurting again. The weight on his shoulders felt even heavier now. Was this the pressure only a guildmaster could feel?

Momonga pondered it again and again. What would Touch Me, who had once been the group leader, have done? At times like this, he would usually take the lead and guide everyone forward. But now, was it enough for Momonga to simply imitate him?

Yet the moment he thought of that, a sharp pain twisted through Momonga's stomach. Back when there had only been nine of them, an argument had caused Ulbert's friend to quit the game forever.

Momonga greatly respected Touch Me's commanding presence as a leader, but he still had not forgotten that incident. No, Touch Me must have cared about it deeply as well.

That was precisely why he had voluntarily given up the leadership position, and eventually allowed someone unlike himself to become his successor.

If that was the case, then Momonga should take a different approach from Touch Me. So he said,

"Then let's go with majority rule. Those who want to change formations, please stand to my left. Those who wish to keep the current formation, stand to my right."

Amid quiet discussion, everyone gathered in the direction they believed was right. Momonga silently counted their numbers.

"Looks like more people want to advance without changing formations. Then we'll proceed as we are."

"Also, everyone, how about we vote this way whenever we have disagreements like this in the future?"

"If the votes are tied, the proponents can settle it with rock-paper-scissors. Uh, though some people might have difficulty playing rock-paper-scissors, so we can think of another method when the time comes."

"In any case, we'll decide things this way. Does anyone object, or does anyone have a better suggestion?"

No guild member raised any objections after hearing Momonga. Whether they truly had none or simply did not dare speak up, Momonga could not tell. Company meetings were often like this too—those with objections generally would not speak up on their own, yet private discussions never stopped afterward.

It seemed he would need to find several people with high standing and discuss this properly later.

"Then let's settle this matter for now?"

After all the members indicated their understanding, everyone began heading outside. They chatted as they walked, and then Peroroncino's voice reached Momonga's ears.

"Damn, I thought you and Yu were the same kind of person as me, Flatfoot."

"No, we're not the same. I do like them flat, but they don't have to be lolis."

Peroroncino grinned mischievously and teased him.

"How could that be? You named your weapon [Smooth Flat Board], yet you're still trying to deny it. Don't tell me you like feminine boys?"

Flatfoot sucked in a breath and said in surprise,

"Wh-what? Feminine boys?"

"Huh? Isn't that right? Don't you like flat-chested girls who aren't lolis? In that case, wouldn't feminine boys be perfect?"

At that moment, Mu Fengyu slowly stroked his chin and said,

"Actually, that wouldn't be bad either. It mainly depends on their vibe."

Momonga desperately wanted to shout, Hey, you two, enough already! Stop talking about this! But he restrained the urge, because Bukubukuchagama was nearby.

He was rather speechless about his two friends' preferences. Whenever they had free time, they always ended up discussing topics like this.

Just as he was hesitating over whether to speak up for Flatfoot, Bukubukuchagama noticed them after all. She approached the three of them and gently said to Peroroncino,

"People might just laugh it off when you say such things in public, but could you please not shout nonsense when there are ladies present, my dear little brother?"

Bukubukuchagama's voice was gentle and affectionate, but the surrounding companions noticed what was happening. Everyone immediately sensed something ominous.

Noticing his older sister's tone, Peroroncino figured she would not beat him up during an event and thought he could still push his luck a little.

"It's because you have no chest, Sis, that men don't—"

Before Peroroncino could finish, Bukubukuchagama shouted in the voice chat.

"Hey, do you want me to spill everything you did when you were twelve right here?"

The voice channel fell silent for several seconds. Then Peroroncino dropped to his knees and slid before Bukubukuchagama, bowing his head in apology.

"My apologies, esteemed sister. It was this lowly one's fault. Please be merciful and spare me."

Mu Fengyu, who had been waiting to enjoy the show, had no idea what Peroroncino had done. He immediately jumped out to egg him on.

"Peroroncino, don't chicken out! How can we men be so—so—"

Bukubukuchagama merely tilted her head and looked at him without saying a word. She had just started to turn toward Mu Fengyu when, before she could fully face him, Mu Fengyu also dropped to his knees and slid before her like Peroroncino had.

"My apologies, boss lady. This lowly one spoke out of turn. I'll never dare do it again."

Seeing Mu Fengyu behave so obediently, Bukubukuchagama turned back to Peroroncino.

"Didn't I just tell you to shut up? Did I sound like I was joking? You little—"

Before Bukubukuchagama could finish, Momonga hurried forward to calm her down.

"Bukubukuchagama-chan, calm down, calm down. Once this event is over, I'll discipline those two for you."

"Ah, Momonga-san..."

At Momonga's words, the anger in Bukubukuchagama's voice immediately receded somewhat, though her fury had not yet died down.

"Um, well, we're about to raid Nazarick, so I think it would be better if you calmed down."

Seeing Momonga with his hands pressed together in a pleading gesture, Bukubukuchagama felt the tension leave her shoulders. Ulbert, who was nearby, also walked over to Momonga and made the same pleading gesture with his hands together.

"That's right. I understand how Bukubukuchagama-chan feels too, but we still have an important raid ahead of us. Please let those two off for now."