Chapter 320
Por, hearing the last part, had a look of panic on her face as she dropped her spoon. The sound of it hitting the table caught everyone’s attention, and they all turned to her.
Seeing their eyes on her, Por stood up and took a step back before bowing. "I would like to apologize for forgetting something as important as this and getting carried away. I didn’t mean to hide it, but as we talked about our development, it slipped my mind."
Turning to the young ratman who was their chief, she said, "I believe my group and I are the ones the Tower Master was asking about."
Hearing Por’s confirmation, everyone began whispering among themselves. The chief raised his hand, silencing the room before asking, "What did you do on the surface that got the mages’ attention?"
Ikenga and Keles, who had been listening in the entire time, exchanged glances. Por took a deep breath and began to explain, "Earlier today, during our last hunt in the forest, we came across a dozen huge, magical boar piglets.
"We successfully captured the piglets, but somehow, the mother boar managed to track us down. Following our hunting rules of preservation, we didn’t engage it and made our way back underground.
"On our way back, one of my group members, Scraps, noticed that the mother boar had somehow breached the city walls and changed its target to a surface ratman.
"The boar must have mistaken him for us, as it targeted the young ratman. We couldn’t let that happen, so we had to intervene." Turning to the settlement engineer, Por pulled out a cylindrical device from her belt—the magnetic disruptor that interferes with magical energy. Tossing it to him, she said with a smile, "I don’t know how you did it, but it worked. We brought the boar down with ease."
The room was tense as Por recounted the day’s events. The chief’s eyes narrowed when she tossed the device to the engineer, who caught it mid-air with his clawed hand. He inspected it briefly, the soot and grime from his fingers smearing the metal, before looking back at Por.