But the pin-drop silence did not last long.
Soon, several lavishly dressed young nobles rose to their feet, clapping and cheering as they openly mocked the way the Fryce Family's youngest son had died.
It was as though they had witnessed a spectacular play. Another person's death stirred not a shred of empathy in the Drow. Only excitement and satisfaction showed on the bloodthirsty spectators' faces.
One student imitated Kaino's dying voice, shouting in a shrill tone:
"You can't kill me! My mother is a Ruling Matron Mother-"
His exaggerated, affected delivery drew a roar of laughter from those around him.
Gradually, the entire Combat Tower returned to the merry atmosphere it had enjoyed before the match.
Among the young students who had wagered against one another, some sat ashen-faced and silent for a long time after losing their living expenses; others, having won several hefty sums, jumped straight onto the tables in excitement and sprayed the crowd with swaying wine bottles. Wine splashed over students who failed to dodge, drawing screams and curses.
The instructors who had drawn their weapons quietly sheathed their blades and slunk away from the crowd.
Only the incompetent died, and the dead received nothing but contempt.
This was Sammoril. This was Drow society. Even if Matron Mother Fryce came after Renato later, it would be for her family's prestige and reputation, not for anything like "revenge."
The worthless deserved to be trampled underfoot. Every Drow lived by that creed.
Besides, Renato was not afraid of her coming after him. He, too, represented the will of the Nightwind Matron.
A family's rank did not fully reflect its current strength. The seventh-ranked Mizzrym Family, for example, was widely acknowledged to be far weaker than the eighth-ranked Nightwind Family.
So even though the dead man came from