By the time the town gates came into view, lunch had happened, the dishes had been abandoned, and somehow nobody had talked me out of walking toward a dungeon to free someone called the Tyrant Dragon Empress. The title still felt unreal in my head, like something I should have heard in a story instead of from a glowing system panel over lunch.
Celeste walked a few steps ahead with the kind of body language that made people move before she had to ask. She had taken charge after lunch, mostly because I had stared at the quest panel too long and Reika had politely suggested that letting me plan the trip might lead to our deaths.
Reika stayed beside me with her ears turning toward every noise she heard, curiosity pulling her attention in every direction. Valka followed on my other side, quiet in a way that made me more nervous than her 'special' room ever had.
