Leon had just gotten the campfire going and the pot set up. The water for the soup hadn't even come to a boil yet when Laurier and Aura came hurrying back, quickly filling everyone in on their chance encounter with Loki Familia.
"Loki Familia?"
He tossed a couple more split logs onto the fire, put the lid on the pot, and stood up with a thoughtful hum.
"I was wondering who it could've been. Now that I know it's Loki Familia, Goliath getting wiped out instantly makes a lot more sense."
He turned to Aura.
"Did they say anything?"
Aura exchanged a glance with Laurier and nodded.
"Mr. Finn said that once they're done setting up camp, they'd like to come pay us a visit."
By then, Jeanne, Persephone, and the others had gathered around as well. When they heard that Loki Familia had actually offered to come to them, surprise flickered across every face.
"Given the gap in strength between us, they had absolutely no reason to be this polite. But if they're volunteering to come visit, they obviously need something from us. And whatever it is, it's probably something only we can provide."
Jeanne looked at Leon, laying out her theory.
"Something only we can provide? Besides the Monster Hunter Specials, I can't think of anything else connecting us to them."
"But... didn't we just deliver this week's batch four days ago? If we do the math, assuming they haven't wasted any, all the accumulated Monster Hunter Specials should've been earmarked for this Expedition. Unless something happened that we don't know about, something that left them desperately needing to resupply."
"That's why... running into us gave them the idea."
Persephone frowned slightly, her gaze instinctively avoiding Leon as she turned to Rose instead.
"If we're talking about something we don't know about... I think I can guess what it was."
"Remember the Evilus attack from the other day? According to the post-battle tally, when Evilus hit Loki Familia's headquarters, they deployed not just a massive number of mages but also a staggering quantity of Magic Swords."
"Granted, most of those mages were only Lv. 1, with the rare Lv. 2 at best, and the quality of their Magic Swords couldn't even begin to compare with the work of Hephaestus Familia or Goibniu Familia. But they made up for it with sheer numbers."
"It was exactly that kind of human-wave, war-of-attrition approach that inflicted devastating losses on Loki Familia."
She swept her gaze across the group, and when her eyes nearly met Leon's, she awkwardly looked away and continued in a low voice.
"If I'm right, that battle burned through a huge chunk of Loki Familia's stockpiled supplies. And timing-wise, those supplies were originally meant for this Expedition. Evilus caught them completely off guard, and now they're stuck. They can't afford to go on the Expedition, but they can't afford not to, either."
Leon listened to Persephone's analysis and let out a quiet laugh.
"After half a year of back-to-back failed Expeditions, Loki Familia's finances are... let's just say 'heartbreaking.'"
"We already knew that much from when they came to us to negotiate the Monster Hunter Special deal."
"I honestly didn't think they'd have the funds to organize another Expedition. If I were Finn, I don't think I could've pulled the trigger on it. This isn't exactly the kind of thing you just gamble on."
Rose narrowed her eyes with a sly smile.
"You don't think Loki Familia borrowed heavily from other Familias, do you? Otherwise, why would they launch an Expedition without full preparation? That'd be way too reckless."
The moment she said it, everything clicked for everyone.
"Borrowed? Of course... if that's the case, it all makes sense!"
"If they can't pay it back, Loki Familia's reputation, their credibility, everything they've built over the years, goes up in smoke. So Finn's betting it all on this Expedition."
"Damn. He's walking a tightrope."
Leon clicked his tongue, equal parts surprised and impressed by Finn's guts.
Same thing he'd said before: if he were the one backed into that corner, there was no way he'd take that risk.
Even if it meant taking a step back, he'd never roll the dice like that.
And that... was probably the fundamental difference between him and a true Adventurer.
Once everyone had discussed and pieced together a picture of Loki Familia's situation, Leon and the others had a solid foundation to negotiate from when the visit came.
In fact, as long as the terms weren't too outrageous, given the pressure Finn and Loki Familia were under, they'd probably have no choice but to agree.
...
...
In the Dungeon, sitting down to a hot meal was a luxury for any Adventurer.
Even Loki Familia only had a dedicated logistics team handling food during large-scale Expeditions. The rest of the time, even First-Class Adventurers just choked down awful rations and jerky to get by.
The campfire crackled and danced, painting every face gathered around it in warm shades of orange.
Leon stirred the stew with a long ladle while chatting with Persephone and Kureha about an old story.
"You guys have no idea. Back then, counting the girls from Astraea Familia, the whole Monster Rex raid party was around thirty to forty people."
"Every squad was gnawing on salty, rock-hard jerky and choking down tasteless rations. And then there were the few of us over here with a fire going, cooking up all kinds of hot food."
"The awkwardness... you can't even imagine."
When the stew seemed ready, Leon scooped up a spoonful, blew on it, tasted it, then took the wooden bowls Rose handed him and started serving everyone.
Kureha accepted her bowl from Rose, said a quick "Thank you," and asked with obvious curiosity:
"So... what happened in the end?"
Leon set the ladle down, sat back on a fallen log, savored a mouthful of stew, then smacked his lips.
"What do you think happened? It was Floor 16. Better to blend in with the crowd and not make waves."
"At our level back then, if someone decided to screw you over behind your back, you wouldn't even know who to go after."
"And come on... it was just a hot meal. Not worth risking your neck over."
"So yeah..."
He shrugged with a self-deprecating grin.
"We ended up eating jerky and rations with everybody else."
"It was actually kind of novel, doing it once. The jerky was a bit salty, but with some water it went down fine. The rations though, honestly, they were so dry I nearly choked."
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