Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 629: Truth and honesty Part 1
"It is my pleasure to announce that after the valiant efforts performed by our hunters and the joined efforts of both the army and private companies the crisis has been averted." Lister spoke under a heavy rain of camera flashes that seemed to sharpen the predatory glare that hid beneath his smile.
"Governor, you say that, but we suffered heavy losses! The entire Novorus company, one of the most important pharmaceuticals in our city, was razed to the ground. What is the government doing to...?" Asked a reporter aligned with one of the affected companies whose headquarters was obliterated by Allegro.
His motivations to be there weren't pure since he was bound to get a share of any money he managed to get in the form of a government subsidy, but none of his crooked intentions leaked out of his neat appearance and worried face he complimented with a sweet voice.
"To bring back the dead? I'm sorry but this administration lacks that incredible ability. If on the other hand you're asking for monetary compensation, are you sure this is appropriate when families all over our city are mourning their dead?" Lister cut the man short, then nodded at another reporter before giving him any time to rebuke.
"Up until today everyone believed there couldn't be cryptids inside city walls, that we were safe as long as we didn't venture outside. But today proved us wrong..." The reporter's tone was on the offensive trying to corner Lister with his imposing stature and muscular build common for heavenly rank hunters.
Most professions needed qualified people, but seeking for news was often a dangerous work which explained why most of them were also hunters.
"Is there any question or you just want to monologue? If you want to spout nonsense you may as well do it elsewhere Lister sternly said.
"He has a point. Are you an incompetent who failed at noticing we were infested by cryptids or a liar who keeps the truth away from our honest citizens?" This time it was a female journalist the one who spoke. She was also a heavenly rank hunter, but contrary to most of her colleagues she climbed her way up as a hunter first and then as a reporter.
This was one of the reasons that made her so popular since she often put herself in danger to scoop up news from the wilderness where only the most daring reporters went and only the strongest ones returned. It was also the reason why Lister couldn't afford to disregard her questions since her popularity turned her opinion into that of the masses.
"I beg to differ. The presence of cryptids inside the city has always been theorized by people burdened with paranoid delusions of conspiracy. What happened today was a breach in our wall due to an old building in the outer rim of our city that crumbled down leaving a gap in our defenses.
We are currently trying to determine who's responsible for..." Lying was a second nature to politicians like Lister and Uriel was tempted to turn off the TV, but Nika stopped him by throwing a bunch of popcorn he couldn't dodge due to the cervical collar Luna forced him to wear despite him being completely healed.
"What a crapload of bullsh..."
"I know he's a lying bastard, but that's his job and I want to see if he mentions us. Besides, it's not like you're the embodiment of honesty yourself." Nika's words were true now more than ever, after he decided to keep the system's warning to himself and Uriel made a pained grimace.
"Watching TV is less fun without the watching." Medusa pouted cutting Uriel off from his brooding and getting him to keep watching the news.
"Are you claiming this was a one time event and we are safe now?" June, the reporter, asked with a disbelieving tone.
"Unfortunately that isn't the truth. We don't know how long the breach remained open and how many cryptids may have leaked inside our city. We are doing our best to reduce casualties to a minimum, but we expect many more encounters with cryptids inside the city." Lister said in a calm manner, though it wasn't difficult for Uriel no notice his distress.
Most people thought it was due to the stressful situation or his worry about the city's fate, but Uriel knew better.
In Uriel's eyes, the reporters were a pack of starving hyenas trying to take down a lion. A single misstep and the mighty king of the jungle would fall to a bunch of opportunistic predators that wanted nothing but to sate the hunger for controversy.
"It is not enough! Our hunters are out there everyday putting their lives at risk to keep us safe and we share a substantial portion of our produce to support the army who fights on enemy territory while you, the governor, sits on your own ass doing nothing!" June accused unaware that she had been the one to make the first mistake.
"But our hunters aren't out there, are they? I closed the city and kept our hunters inside precisely to avoid this kind of situation. We suffered some casualties, but I did everything in my power to prevent something like this. I didn't foresee it, I just prepared in accordance to the protocol I wrote while sitting in my ass as you so blatantly put it.
It is the duty of our detectives to keep people safe and they did it to their best effort, but their failure is also mine..." Lister continued in a very passionate speech with absolutely no substance, precisely the kind of propaganda Uriel disliked the most.
"He didn't even mention us!" Nika stood up after turning off the TV.
"Maybe it's better that way. At least we can hunt inside the city without issues." Medusa said in a poor attempt to comfort her friend.
"But I killed a horror level cryptid and nobody even knows!?"
"Calm down, Nika, it works in our favor. I was actually the one who gave him the idea to share the presence of cryptids inside the city with everyone. This way, we can hunt however much we want, but even if we stop hunting the city will still be cleansed of cryptids."
"Are you feeling okay? You're not a skinwalker are you? I can't believe you're letting the opportunity to make money away without a fight." Medusa asked dubious of his words.
"Just because we won't monopolize the market doesn't mean we won't make any money. Besides, it's about time we start to look for new dungeons to explore and we also have to find what happened to Cassandra." Uriel explained.
"About that, where's Luna?" Medusa asked after realizing she hadn't made a sound.
"Right here. She's mad at Uriel for being too reckless." Nika patted Luna's back so Medusa could hear her.
At times like that Luna would have loved to let out a chain of swear words to convey just how frustrated, annoyed and angry she was, but her sister had taught her that swearing was bad and instead just fumbled a single 'uhm' which Nika misinterpreted as her enjoying being touched.
"So cute!" Nika attempted to hold Luna in her arms receiving a low growl as a warning.
"I'm not just mad. He's an inconsiderate person and I'm not speaking to him anymore." Luna said.
"How am I inconsiderate? I just said we should look for your sister!" Uriel tried to defend himself, but Luna wasn't having it.
"I've told you this multiple times, but you refuse to listen. I will be clear this time, Cassandra is an adult and she chose her own path in life. I don't have anything against meeting her from time to time, but I can't worry about her each time she's in danger because we're all in danger all the time.
This is also the reason why I think you're inconsiderate, because you refused to become a holy rank hunter without thinking how would I feel about it." Uriel didn't know the reason why he felt so guilty he could barely hold her glare, but refused to back down.
"So now even my decisions are about you? I'm an adult too in case you haven't noticed." He sneered.
"it's different, because you're our boss and you're supposed to take care of us. You're strong, stronger than people think but weaker than you believe yourself to be. Today you almost got yourself killed and we would have soon followed.
If you, instead, had said yes, you could have taken care of the poltergeist without risks." Luna's words made the atmosphere so dense, Nika was forced to change the topic before it turned into a fight.
"What was that thing anyway?" Giving Luna the chance to speak about cryptids was the only thing that could dispel the bad vibes in the room.
"I already presented the report to the Cryptid hunting agency to help the city fight against the ones that escaped. If you want to learn more you can ask for a copy." Luna retreated to her room, inwardly regretting taking out her frustration on her friends.
