The morning after trials brought the tedious bureaucracy Rama had been dreading.
The Hunter Association's regulatory board meeting convened at nine AM in a sterile conference room that smelled of stale coffee and political maneuvering. Rama and Sekar sat on one side of a long table. Hendra Wijaya and his legal team sat on the other. Between them, Director Hartono and four board members who looked like they'd rather be anywhere else.
"Let's begin," Hartono said tiredly. "We're here to address escalating tensions between Eternal Bond and Dragon's Gate guilds. Recent events—champion trials, sabotage allegations, public accusations—have created instability in the hunter community. Both guilds need to de-escalate."
"We're not the ones who need to de-escalate," Sekar said immediately. "Dragon's Gate sent saboteurs to murder our trial candidates. We have confessions. Evidence. They should be facing criminal prosecution, not regulatory mediation."
