"They were blind? Nearly fifty of them..."
Ilmarë trailed off.
"Did you inform that dumbass about this?"
"Yeah."
"About there being a lack of manaliths?"
"I — I'm not sure if I specified that, but I did say it was in a dark chamber."
"What did he say after that?"
"Nothing."
"THAT FUCKING IDIOT!!!" She slammed the table hard as she stood up. "I've got to go."
"Finish your food."
"I can't! I need to see that fucker right now!"
"I won't cook for you."
"Fine!"
She sat back down and resumed eating. Even though Ilmarë was older, it really seemed like Petra held seniority in their relationship.
"Why's the lack of manaliths such a serious matter? Isn't it normal for some areas to not have manaliths if people mine them out during dives?"
"Every diver knows that you have to leave manaliths in areas. You will never and should never mine a section so clean that it turns pitch black. Especially manaliths lying overhead, by the ceiling. These manaliths are the main source of light in a dungeon."
Her gaze sharpened as her voice gained an edge.
"There is no possible way that the complete lack of manaliths is caused by something natural. It's an intentional act worthy of scrutiny. I would even go so far as to say, it's malicious. Completely and utterly hostile."
"Then, there's also the matter of the blind goblins." She carried on. "Blind goblins on their own is fine, genetic disorders in monsters occur and that's natural. A completely blind whole group of goblins is unnatural. That coupled with the lack of manaliths paints a picture of malevolent intent. It's not yet time-sensitive, but it's something we have to investigate."
This... was more serious than I thought. I could practically read Vera's mind.
"Vera..."
"Yes?"
"Are you excited?"
"NO!"
I laughed. "A bit defensive, no?"
"I'm not!!!"
Her vehement refusal drew looks from the rest of the table. She covered her ears with her hands while trying to wipe the smile from her face. Her excitement was palpable by the slight shake of her shoulders.
Ilmarë crossed her arms and spoke with a teacher's tone. "Vera, is there something you'd like to share with the class?"
"Umm..."
"Stand up when you're called upon."
Vera slowly got up, her arms behind her back, looking perfectly like a student when admonished by their teacher.
"I — uh, I read a lot of academy stories."
"And?"
"It's... starting to sound like the beginning of an academy story with how we discovered an anomaly in the dungeon." She giggled, eliciting a smile from all of us.
This was what I was talking about. I knew she'd love academy life.
"Oh? What else do you want from your academy life?" Ilmarë leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table.
Petra slapped her elbows away. "Manners."
"Jeez. At least let Vera answer first." Ilmarë harrumphed as she went back to crossing her arms instead.
"Sorry! Not telling!" Vera acted coy.
"A school festival?"
She looked away, the smile ever-present on her face.
"Thrilling exams?"
A shrug.
"What else is popular in those novels?" Ilmarë placed a finger on her chin in mock thought. She pointed her index finger upwards. "Ah! What about school proms, balls, and dances?!"
Vera's shaking got even worse.
"You've gotta say something, Vera." Ilmarë stood up from her seat and walked over behind Vera. "Remember, I'm a dean."
She whispered into Vera's ears. "I can make your wishes come true..."
A breathy trill. "You, just, need, to, say, the" She drew out every syllable one by one. "Word."
She broke.
"YES YES YES! YES PLEASE! ILMARË! PLEASE DO!" Vera couldn't hold it back any more and her emotions burst out.
"Don't you dare go back on your word! Now that you've said it!" She playfully punched Ilmarë's shoulder. "I'll really really hold you to that! Okay? I'm never talking to you again if you don't!"
She was even bringing out the big guns of threats of ostracization. She really was adorably cute.
Ilmarë leaned into her ear and whispered something. She used some kind of spell to make her words silent as I couldn't hear what she was saying at all. Whatever it was that she said, it made Vera put her hands on her cheeks in embarrassment.
"YES! I'LL BE FOREVER IN YOUR DEBT LADY ILMARË!"
What? She's placing Ilmarë in the same pedestal as Lady Artanis?
I shook my head.
"Are you really resorting to buying respect instead?"
Ilmarë just stuck her tongue out. "You're just jealous that Vera loves me!"
I let out a chuckle at her words. "Sure, sure. Whatever you say Ilmarë."
"You don't think I can buy your respect?"
"I know you can't."
She giggled suspiciously. "Sure I can't. Whatever you say Dina. Time will tell."
I shrugged at her words, fully confident in my win.
Throughout all this, Reina had a serene smile on her face. She looked at peace and relaxed, a far cry from her demeanor earlier today.
Petra approached her. "Having fun?"
Reina looked down at her hands holding a cup. She smiled and replied with a quiet "Yeah."
It was nice to see the two less-spoken people in our group getting along together. I think Reina's inquisitive nature and dedication to improvement made her incredibly endearing to Petra.
"Okay, I've got to go and talk to a dumb bum." Ilmarë patted her hips and looked over to Reina. "Reina, you staying the night here? Or do you wanna come back to the academy with me?"
It seemed like Reina was about to agree, but a quick glance at Vera made her change her mind. "I'll stay here. Thank you for the offer Professor Ilmarë."
"Drop the professor Reina. Don't worry, it's fine."
"You brat! Why are you talking as if she's referring to you?!"
I laughed.
"Anyways! Cya! Good night, thanks for the food Petri baby!" She waved us off with a laugh as she left the house.
With dinner now over, we had some free time that I kind of wanted to use productively.
"Let's have a meeting?"
Vera and Reina both nodded. We moved to the living room and held it there. Petra kindly served us some desserts and hot chocolate to combat the slight chill of the night. We gave her our thanks as we started the meeting; we had Petra on the side listening to see if she could or would chime in with an advice or two.
"Okay. Let's start." I initiated our discussion.
"Vera, what's your thoughts or take-aways from our dive earlier?"
She pursed her lips. "I need better mental processing to the point where I can run multiple spells concurrently."
"By the way, were you okay earlier?"
"Ah. That."
"Yeah. I was fine. I just needed to take a breather. Your presence was enough to calm me down."
"I see."
"How about you Reina?"
Reina looked down at her hands as she leaned back to the sofa. "I let my emotions get the best of me earlier. I'm sorry."
I held my hands out to her in a show of comfort. "It's fine. I — we don't mind."
"During the fight, you had to cover for me."
"And it's okay. We're a team, after all."
"I got too reckless."
I didn't want to touch a nerve or to pry too much, but since future actions like these will affect our team, I couldn't just ignore it either.
"Can we... ask what made you act like that?"
"It's just... I take dungeon diving seriously. To the extent that others have said I took it too seriously. It's not that I don't see where they're coming from. But..."
Vera sat beside Reina and clasped Reina's hand into hers.
"I've seen too many people lose their lives in the dungeon... my full name is Reina Feredis Aeglos."
Her voice was quiet and the mood was solemn, but I couldn't help but chuckle when I saw Petra's reaction to that information. She actually did a double-take when she heard Reina's name.
"I'm sorry Reina. I didn't mean to laugh at you, I promise."
Her piercing stare went right through me; I had to explain myself.
"It's just, Petra's reaction to your reveal was too funny. You really should've seen it."
Two heads turned to Petra — who I swear was just doing her best to remain nonchalant.
"Just admit it Petra! I saw it with my own two eyes."
"You probably just need glasses."
"My vision's a perfect twenty-twenty, thank you very much."
"You were in the dungeon a while ago where it was completely dark and your eyes got used to the lack of light. Now that you're back here in the surface, it's natural for you to sometimes start seeing things that didn't really happen."
I clicked my tongue as I let her slide with it for now.
"Sorry for that Reina. Please continue."
"Reina Feredis Aeglos. Daughter of the Aeglos family. The same Aeglos family that fell from grace."