Loki Familia had already begun their operation, but their large-scale movements inevitably attracted the attention of an ignorant Guild official, Royman, who came questioning.
The situation grew so unusual… that this so-called "noble" pig even showed up in person.
"Finn, I'm warning you! Right now! You must! Immediately, withdraw from Daedalus Street! I don't care what tricks you're pulling here, but you've already seriously disrupted the daily lives of the city's residents!
"And don't you dare spout nonsense about monsters invading the surface, that's such a ridiculous joke it makes me want to laugh out loud."
"That kind of thing could never happen! If it did, the Ganesha Familia, as the city guard, would certainly have reported it to me."
"Since I haven't heard a thing, that proves the city is safe! So, I order you to stop your activities and leave immediately!"
Looking at the blustering "Fat Pig" before him, Finn couldn't help but feel amused.
If not for the intelligence Fron had brought back proving that the Ganesha Familia and the Guild's backer Ouranos were working together, deliberately concealing information about the Xenos, Finn might really have been intimidated by Royman.
But after thinking it through, he realized, even as the Guild's figurehead chairman, Royman didn't have the authority to know those deeper secrets. With that, Finn relaxed.
After all, Fron's intel revealed that those Xenos possessed reason. Such a truth could shake the entire world and obviously touched upon far deeper secrets.
"Hehe, Royman, you wouldn't want to lose your chairman's seat and return home to farm, would you? That decadent, indulgent lifestyle of yours would be gone in an instant."
"If you don't want that, then you'd better not get in our way. Perhaps you could go and beg your great god Ouranos for help instead?"
"What did you say? You despicable little Pallum! You dare, you dare threaten me!!?"
But the only reply was Finn's infuriating smile.
…
In the end, faced with the overbearing Loki Familia, Royman, who had been kept in the dark, could only retreat back to the Guild headquarters with his tail between his legs.
Soon after, employees passing through or coming to the chairman's office to report work were all surprised to find their usually "respected" chairman in a dazed, muddleheaded state, his eyes vacant, his face utterly bewildered. For a time, it became a running joke within the Guild.
Clearly, Royman wasn't well-liked inside the Guild. In fact, most of the great familias didn't care for him either, this man who devoured everything without leaving even bones, and spoke only of profit.
The Loki Familia's command post was set up on the rooftop of a tall building.
As the familia's "brain," occupying the high ground allowed them to oversee all directions, listen for reports, and issue orders quickly via signals, swift communication was critical.
Thus, one of the few tall buildings in Daedalus Street had been requisitioned.
At this moment, only Finn was present; the other two of the three, Riveria and Gareth, were elsewhere.
Riveria led the Elf Mages, guarding the breached mid-level tunnel and sealing nearby entrances to the underground waterways in cooperation with other squads.
The dwarf, on the other hand, was positioned at the opposite end of Riveria's line. There, they had discovered the second and third exits.
As a frontline warrior, Gareth was stationed to prevent enemy diversions and sudden strikes.
"Are these deployments really sufficient? With your intelligence, surely you don't think the enemy is just monsters? Perhaps we'll be facing not only the Evilus Faction and the Xenos, but other enemies as well."
Fron felt little concern about this campaign. Their fighting power wasn't even on the same scale; even if surprises appeared, with him holding the line, the risk was minimal.
The only worry was if something occurred beyond their foresight.
"Of course. We know what kind of beings those Xenos are, don't we? Bell Cranel choosing to stand with them doesn't surprise me. But we are the Loki Familia. We bear the duty of exterminating monsters, whether they possess reason or not."
Finn's eyes gazed deeply at the night city. Clearly, after much thought… Finn had already made his decision.
Seeing the answer in Finn's look, Fron only shrugged and smiled indifferently.
'Hero? What does that even mean?'
As long as his own and his companions' interests were protected, he would use any means necessary.
That was the kind of man he was. He had never believed in the ideals of saints or hypocrites.
"Report, Captain! In the city's underground waterways, from the north to the northwest, there have been frequent monster sightings! And… according to reports, adventurers who encountered them were all driven back. What should we do? Do we need to send reinforcements?"
Taking his eyes off the messenger, Finn exchanged a glance with Fron. Both caught a flicker of amusement in each other's eyes.
"No need. Such an obvious bait. Are they really fishing with a straight hook? Or do they underestimate the Loki Familia that much?"
"If we march from the southeast corner of the city all the way to the opposite northwest district, then their aim is clearly to lure us into abandoning our current position."
"Yes, understood, Captain."
After the messenger departed, Finn turned to Fron.
"You should go meet the key figure in this incident. I've heard that the Hestia Familia has begun to act too. Aside from Bell Cranel coming here alone, none of their other members have been seen."
"Alright."
Fron nodded. He, too, wanted to see, if Finn, who knew the entire truth of the matter, decided to slaughter the Xenos, then as someone who pursued heroism as his life's goal, what would Bell's answer be?
Watching Fron's figure descend from the rooftop, Finn couldn't help but let out a bitter smile.
"To harbor emotions, not just instinct but intelligence… for 'monsters' to possess a 'heart' like humans… what an absurd 'abnormality.' I suppose… this really is the Dungeon, after all."
Yes, after discussions between Loki Familia's top three, Loki herself, and Fron, they reached this final conclusion, one absurd to both gods and men alike:
The Xenos were an abnormal phenomenon of the Dungeon itself.
This was not a trial of mere strength and willpower, but of ideals and of the heart.
As adventurers sworn as mortal enemies of monsters, would they still raise their blades against the Xenos?
But the Dungeon did not know, this world had someone like Fron, who possessed a unique perspective and his own worldview and values.
Rational monsters? Such a thing could never test Fron's heart.
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[T/N: The rest of the normal adventurers who went to fight against Xenos without hesitation: Only you have such a unique perspective and will fight the Xenos after thinking. Yes, you are great~]