"But, Rei, you could go first as our representative." Indeed.
As a siren with a beautiful human face,
Rei had delicate, fair features and a pitifully endearing air. Aside from the birdlike traits of her lower body, her upper half would qualify her as an impeccable beauty even on the surface. Just as Lido finished his suggestion,
"Me too! Me too!"
With a flurry of hurried wingbeats,
a female Xenos with striking rouge-colored hair, likewise half human and half bird, immediately darted out of the group and pushed her way to the front.
The half-bird Xenos, Fei.
Her young, lively face was full of anticipation.
"Let me go too!"
"I don't look scary either! I'm the most interested in stories about the surface! I promise I'll behave!"
Fei spoke eagerly. However,
"No." Seeing this, Rei put on a stern face and rejected Fei's suggestion.
"Fei might not look frightening, but she's far too flighty."
"She's always rushing around recklessly."
"In a complicated environment like the surface, with human Adventurers everywhere, your curiosity about absolutely everything would make it easy for you to lose control and cause unnecessary trouble for our god."
In her role as an older sister, Rei was especially thorough in her considerations.
At the merciless rejection, Fei's proudly raised tail feathers immediately drooped. Disappointment covered her little face. Pouting, she retreated forlornly to one side, crouched down, and began tracing circles on the ground with her talons.
Nearby,
among those who had remained silent,
a War Shadow wearing a full suit of battered black armor, its body seemingly composed of pure darkness, silently raised a black, blade-like claw, trying to attract attention.
-The War Shadow, Orn.
As it turned out,
before he could even rasp out his wish to participate, Lido turned and rejected him without mercy.