" ..... "
Watching Bete's departing figure, everyone looked at each other in confusion.
Only the words the werewolf left behind kept echoing in their ears.
"Just stay here and wallow in self-pity, you bunch of small fries."
...
Fron had no idea that Bete had used him as an example, running his mouth to motivate the others.
If he knew, he would definitely shout that it was a misunderstanding.
He was just eating calmly like always, was that really enough to trigger this whole chain of events?
The atmosphere inside the familia was already extremely gloomy. Good lord… as if that wasn't enough, he had to pour oil on the fire. What if someone with a fragile mindset got provoked, snapped, and ran madly into the Dungeon to "train" themselves?
Do they really think the Dungeon is a levelling ground?
That place is a living hell, a cave of death.
Even now, Fron, already a Level 6 adventurer, wouldn't dare treat the Dungeon as some simple levelling spot. One careless slip and things could easily go wrong.
"Fron!"
Walking down the corridor, just as he was thinking of which shop to visit next to buy some materials, a messenger called out to him from behind.
Judging by how out of breath the person was, they had clearly been searching for him for quite some time.
After all, the Twilight Manor was absolutely not a small place.
"Hm? What is it?"
"Well… Finn, Riveria, and Gareth are waiting for you in the top floor office."
Fron raised an eyebrow, thoughtful.
If those three were looking for him, then it was surely to discuss matters regarding the Knossos and the gathered intelligence.
Thinking for a moment, Fron nodded to show he understood and dismissed the messenger.
"Two days… the follow-up investigation should be finished by now, right…"
Muttering to himself in a voice only he could hear, Fron turned around, changed direction, and strode toward Finn's top-floor office.
········
"Knock, knock!"
"Come in."
Fron pushed the door open, and as expected, Finn, Gareth and Riveria were inside.
Looking at the towering stack of documents piled high on Finn's desk, Fron's mouth twitched subtly.
Being a captain is really no easy job… what a miserable position. Especially for a big familia like the Loki Familia…
Muttering inwardly, Fron maintained a neutral expression as he walked into the office and took a seat.
"What's up, Finn? I was in the middle of repairing my gear, you know… this time's consumption wasn't small."
He even shrugged as he said it.
This artificial labyrinth subjugation battle was completely different from the usual Dungeon expeditions.
Dungeon expeditions brought enormous honor, fame, and influence to both the Loki Familia and each individual, simply through exploring unknown floors.
But more importantly, they allowed members to increase their status and raise their levels.
Aside from personal growth, the other benefits were intangible yet absolutely real, but compared to those intangible things, what people cared about most were the tangible ones: the precious materials and magic stones dropped by monsters, and the rare resources produced on certain floors.
Herbs, ores, spring water, gems, and more.
The deeper you went, the rarer and more valuable the loot. And since there were only a handful of familias in all of Orario capable of reaching the deep floors, supply never matched demand.
When production couldn't keep up, the value of the items would skyrocket, that added margin was the familia's biggest gain.
That was why, even though every expedition drained the Loki Familia's treasury dry, they still continued.
Because the massive profits always made up for the losses.
Even if they failed… they wouldn't lose much.
Overall, it was still a net gain.
But this time, the expedition was different.
This was a one-sided resource sink, the responsibility that came with carrying the Loki Familia's name.
Yet no one expected the results to be this bad. Naturally… the familia's funds and stockpiled supplies were practically wasted.
Even Fron, as a smith and mage, was left empty-handed.
And don't forget, this had been a man-made labyrinth, the enemy's home base, a place full of traps.
The result, after just a single push, the Loki Familia nearly went bankrupt.
But the situation had changed so quickly that no one had yet stopped to consider the problems of logistics, materials, and funding.
So most members still didn't know that the Loki Familia was on the verge of financial collapse.
But Fron, holding the dual positions of one of the top four executives and the logistics manager, was far more sensitive to these matters than the rest.
The familia's losses were one thing, but Fron himself also had to spend ridiculous amounts of time, energy, and money repairing his own equipment.
And as everyone knew, the better the equipment, the pricier the repairs.
This was exactly why he felt like coughing up blood.
...
After spacing out on the sofa for a while, Fron gradually calmed his restless thoughts.
Finn didn't answer immediately. Instead, he exchanged a glance with Gareth and Riveria before speaking.
"Just as you've guessed, we still need to properly review the situation."
Looking at Finn, who was almost buried alive under all the documents he and Riveria and Gareth were sorting through, Fron felt like laughing but couldn't.
Even in such a serious setting, he had to give these three big shots some face.
"According to the investigation and summary of the past two days, the only ones who suffered direct damage were the Dionysus Familia. Whether it's us or the Hermes Familia, we didn't take too heavy a hit."
"But on the other hand… morale is crashing hard. Watching our fellow adventurers get swallowed whole and barely escaping with our own lives… for the others, it's just too much to bear."
Fron fell silent, thinking quietly.
If he hadn't lived two lives, he probably would've been one of those deeply depressed members too.
What he didn't notice was that Finn, just like him, simply listened silently to Riveria and Gareth's reports.
His expression didn't change at all, no regret, no hatred. He didn't even look pained.
Clearly… as a leader, Finn was more than qualified.