Chapter 247: Not Good Enough
The clinks of utensils against ceramic faded one by one. Chopsticks rested gently atop bowls. Forks were set down beside the plates. Gradually, a hush swept across the table as the idle chatter gave way to a growing tension. Every set of eyes turned to the woman at the head.
Talia cleared her throat and began.
"This evening was meant to celebrate survival, and I hope you’ve all felt welcome. Because what you just endured was no minor event. It was a disaster narrowly averted, and not just avoided, but reversed. Every single one of you made it out alive. Not only that, you returned with four vampire-origin artifacts in hand."
She let the words hang for a beat. "That’s not a loss. That’s a major victory."
She smiled. "At the same time, Nova Circuit’s dive, accompanied by Diaz, encountered no such ambush. Not even a lone vampire. Their route was without any such irregular encounter, and their report shows no signs of dungeon instability. Which means..."
She leaned forward in her seat, looking as if she was letting them in on the secret. "The worst is behind you. We have cleared the danger. It was a one-time, unfortunate encounter. The rest of the dungeon seems to be regular."
There was a moment of quiet.
Then Luna spoke up. She was visibly struggling to remain respectful and not shower the Smith-type woman in an assault of gamer girl curse words.
"You speak with a lot of confidence, Guildmaster," she managed to mutter politely. "But even rookies like us have heard the saying: nothing is certain in the dungeons."
Talia hadn’t spoken yet. Luna pressed on.