"...Yes..." The man lifted his tea and drained it in one gulp. "So, in the end, over the next few days, we simply accept every challenge, wherever it comes from, and win. Correct?"
"Precisely."
"Good." The man exhaled, all emotion disappearing as his expression settled into calm. "When it comes to fighting and killing, Seven Flood Dragons are old hands."
He poured the little tea remaining onto the table and drew two circles in it with his finger, one large and one small.
"This round..." He stared expressionlessly at the two circles, his thoughts unknown.
Dialogue-heavy scenes really are hard to write. I kept agonizing over it, so this is late. Sorry. (Though it seems I'm rarely on time.)
Chapter 173: A gathering to talk
The One-Eyed Man looked for a while, then started a new row, drawing one large circle and three small ones below.
The man opposite looked at him as he bowed his head in thought. "That's settled, then."
He rose to leave.
The man looked up and said gravely, "So you really aren't leaving? Once you decide today, there'll be no chance to change your minds."
The other man had already reached the door. He turned back. "There's nothing to reconsider. The letter has already arrived. And actually... one more thing: even if that letter hadn't come, we weren't planning to leave anymore."
"Oh?" The man was slightly surprised. "Weren't you leaning more toward withdrawing last time?"
"Because we discovered something new," the other man said. "Just last night, this fruit became rather too tempting. We took it upon ourselves to decide that we must eat it, no matter what."
"..." The man frowned, not understanding.
But the other man had no intention of elaborating.
"Contact us promptly if anything happens." Leaving those words, he turned