"Can someone explain this to me?!"
A tired voice came from a woman seated behind a desk.
She was tall, dressed in a sharp suit with a striking figure, her sharp eyes fixed intensely on the report in her hands.
Standing before her was the party led by none other than Matthew, who stood proudly while the others, Cordelia included, nervously avoided her gaze.
"I think it was better for us to take the opportunity for good PR, Guild Master." Matthew was proud of his actions. They were, after all, the first party to enter the zone.
"You idiot! Just because you are C-rank does not mean you can steal another person's work!" The older woman's anger cracked through as she slammed the file down on the table.
"Mother, please calm down..." Cordelia said meekly.
The woman who led Silver Claw was none other than Cordelia's own mother, Cassandra.
"I am not calming down! Just because whoever cleared the break did not wish to reveal themselves does not mean you can simply take credit for it!" Were it not for Matthew being C-rank and his brother being A-rank, she would have fired him on the spot.
"But I believe it was our best course of action. Even Red Pellet agreed with the move. If we had passed this up, the fallout could have tainted our name." Matthew brazenly pushed back, fully convinced he had done the right thing.
And in a roundabout way, the results had proven him partially correct. But it was a scummy thing to do regardless.
Cassandra sighed and waved her hand, her voice heavy with exhaustion, too worn out to continue the argument. "Just don't do it again. And if the person who actually cleared the break ever comes forward, contact me immediately. I will handle it."
What was done was done. She could not change what had happened, only control the damage. She turned to her secretary and said, "Make sure the press does not do anything clever like digging for evidence. The survivors must be drowning in questions right now."
It may have been wrong, but her people had her name tied to their actions.
There were many witnesses in the area, and the report also mentioned a group of students rescued from inside the break. While reporters could not go after children, there were still two other names mentioned in the file.
Kale and Lee.
"Understood." Her secretary bowed and stepped out of the room.
"That is all for today. You are all dismissed." Cassandra waved them off, then added quietly, "Cordelia. You stay."
"Yes, mother..." She could already guess what her mother wanted to talk about.
"Good luck," one of her teammates called out before filing out with the rest.
After the door shut, Cassandra rose from her seat and walked toward her. Cordelia straightened up instinctively, but her eyes immediately dropped to the floor, unable to hold her mother's gaze.
"How long are you going to play hunter? You have a business to look after, and it is clear that without being carried, you are going nowhere." Her voice was cold and straight to the point.
Cordelia might be D-rank with her mother as guild master and a B-rank hunter herself, but Cassandra had more than enough experience to know exactly how dangerous dungeons were.
"Even with this break, it was your party's responsibility from the start, and you all nearly died in there. If you had retreated even a moment later, none of you would have walked out."
Cordelia swallowed hard. "I'm sorry, mother. I just need more levels..."
It had been her job as a fire mage to deal with the poison flowers. But with her lack of experience, her flames were too slow to spread and not fast enough to clear them in time, which had resulted in one casualty.
The reason she had a place in the party at all was because fire mages were a highly sought-after class.
Their area attacks and massive damage output made them invaluable in almost any situation, which was why she had been allowed to enjoy the perks of a professional party even without passing the guild entrance test.
Having the guild master as her mother had not hurt either.
"Luckily, the others do not know that your boyfriend is one of the survivors," Cassandra said, picking up the report and flipping to the page with Lee's photo on it.
"A doctor in the making who still wants to join raids." She let out a quiet, humorless breath.
"I suppose similar people do find each other." She held the report out toward Cordelia and spoke in a cold, measured voice.
"Find the man who soloed the break and bring him to me, or forget about joining any party ever again."
Cordelia knew her mother well.
She was very strict and direct, which was why her father had divorced her and left, and why Cordelia had been held under her thumb ever since.
But she could not accept this. "I won't do it." She stood her ground.
"Hm?" Cassandra raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised by her daughter's reaction.
You know what will happen, don't you?"
"Yes. But I cannot bring Lee into this. Just let it go, Mom. There is no need for this."
Cordelia was not stupid.
She had already spoken to Lee and knew exactly who the other survivor was.
Or to be more precise, who the real savior was.
And she could not betray that man.
If he had chosen to stay hidden, then it was her duty to help him keep it that way.
Cassandra studied Cordelia's eyes.
She had never seen such determination in them before.
Still, as both a mother and a guild master, she could not afford to show weakness.
"Fine. Keep your secret." Cassandra pulled the file back. "But I am cutting your allowance in half, and you are forbidden from joining any of my guild parties. And if you have any sense of self-worth left, do not join anyone else either."
"And I will be taking the motorcycle. Key." She held out her palm.
Cordelia hesitated, then tossed the key onto the table and stormed out.
"Such manner," Cassandra sighed to herself.
"I wonder who she got that from." She had thought she had raised a proper, independent woman, only for her to turn into a delinquent.
'But something must be going on...' Her daughter had always stayed within the lines she drew. She would not have changed this much overnight.
Even with her little boyfriend in the picture, there had to be something else.
Or someone else.
She opened up her daughter's raid history and scrolled back only three dungeons before stopping.
With her authority as a guild master, she had access to the government's hunter registry system. It came with a considerable fee, but it was invaluable for tracking the progression of her guild members and scouting for new talent.
Welcome to America, where even your personal data is a product for sale.
"Two deaths and three survivors in an E-rank dungeon? And she wants to be a hunter."
Cassandra pulled up the member list and then her eyes caught on one of the surviving members.
"Rowan?"
And with a simple search, she uncovered a secret.
The discovery made the corner of her lips curl upward.
"Oh, my sweet child." Cassandra could barely contain her laughter.