Royman, mocked by Fron over there, was now standing in the hall where the Guild usually issued important announcements.
His whole posture was full of cold arrogance, and the neatly maintained formal suit sitting on his pig-like body made the other members of his race present look at him with visible disgust and loathing.
Royman shamelessly spewed nonsense.
"According to our investigation afterward, the Ikeros Familia possessed a large number of new monster species, and because the adventurers failed to deal with them properly in time, the incident escalated into what it became."
"Of course, including the previous Xenos incident, we caused anxiety to many citizens living in the city, and this has made us, the Guild responsible for managing the city, feel extremely ashamed. Taking this opportunity, please allow us to offer our solemn apology."
In short, summarizing Royman's intent into one sentence:
Everything was an unexpected 'abnormal phenomenon', and had absolutely nothing to do with the Guild. You could only call it a miracle of the Dungeon.
As everyone knows, the Dungeon is alive, and its unpredictable nature often creates all sorts of phenomena no one can understand...
So if they dump all the inconvenient and unexplainable blame onto "abnormal phenomena," wouldn't that cleanly push everything away from themselves?
As for the gods standing on the second floor, this blame was being carried by Dionysus.
As expected of Royman, he really did have a few tricks up his sleeve.
In his explanation:
The earlier earthquake, the red light, all of that, was just a coincidence, a result of monster-attracting magic power drifting around.
The confused citizens shouted with relief.
The adventurers, meanwhile, listened in utter bafflement.
Magic-power residue? What kind of magic-power residue could cover the entire city?
That amount of magic power, if the Dungeon hadn't collapsed entirely already, it was considered lucky.
However, the adventurers who understood the situation knew that since the Guild was saying this, something was definitely being hidden, something they were not meant to know.
If that was the case… the truth might be something that would keep them up at night.
Those who realized it had their expressions stiffen.
...
As for the truth itself, whether it was the Guild, the Loki Familia, the Freya Familia, the Hermes Familia alliance…
Everyone in the meeting agreed unanimously: the truth, was absolutely impossible to disclose.
Not to mention the incident involving the Fallen Spirit, according to the new information, a Corrupted Great Spirit was the root cause, and was still free in the diungeon.
Of course, all of that was the most classified of classified information.
More importantly, there was another piece of information.
That was: Knossos, the second entrance to the Dungeon. For all who knew of it, that was a red line.
To maintain the order of the city and even the world, this secret absolutely, definitely, could never be made public.
Although several upheavals had occurred, and with the Loki Familia and Guild staff constantly coming and going through Daedalus Street, a few sharp-eyed adventurers had already sensed that "something" existed, there was still no confirmed information.
If they openly admitted it in public, then the moment the news came out, that information would become the seed and source of chaos. Without a doubt,, some sinister, dark-hearted people would take advantage of it.
At that point, the whole world would turn its eyes toward Orario, making it the root of a great disturbance.
Moreover, information like "Orario almost got blown sky-high" might shake the entire continent.
Just like that world-shaking incident fifteen years ago, after the disappearance of the great gods Zeus and Hera, the Evilus caused the Dark Period of Orario.
Chaos in the "center of the world," Orario, would directly affect the order of the entire Lower World. Obviously, neither humans nor gods wanted to see that.
At the same time, as for Orario whose era of chaos only ended five years ago due to a certain incident, the term Evilus was still a symbol of terror for adventurers and civilians.
Most citizens still remembered the chaotic, lawless state of the city back then, living days where one didn't even know if stepping outside might get them caught up and killed.
What they would never forget, the seven days of that Great Strife.
Therefore, exposing this information would bring no benefit at all. It was meaningless to everyone.
Weighing the pros and cons in the end,
Royman did not use the word Evilus.
Of course, his speech couldn't fool everyone. There would always be troublemakers, and overly serious types.
However,
God Njord, "Yes, the same phenomenon occurred in the port town Melen as well. It probably came all the way to the Great Waterfall Lake through that underground waterway leading from the 27th floor."
Goddess Demeter, "I assume many children have been worried because they haven't seen my familia recently. In truth… it's because I was also caught up in this incident."
God Njord's words, along with Goddess Demeter's, greatly increased the credibility of Royman's explanation.
...
From the poorly planned Mosterpheria to the Xenos invading the surface, incidents had happened one after another, throwing the city into chaos and dropping the Guild's credibility to rock bottom.
Royman's reputation and public trust took a massive hit.
But, if it was confirmed by gods, then it was different.
God Njord, Goddess Demeter. These two were not those idle amusement-seeking deities.
They were the two gods of Familia supporting Orario.
Their factions provided nearly eighty percent of Orario's food and logistics.
Especially Demeter, beloved by countless citizens as a compassionate goddess with excellent reputation. Thus, most citizens felt sympathetic and understanding.
...
As for why Demeter agreed to this approach, in her words: "I caused a great deal of trouble, so… at the very least, I must quell the city's confusion. Otherwise, I would be ashamed before the children who returned to the heavens."
In short… with the gods' indirect confirmation, Royman and the upper management could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Of course, a unilateral announcement from the Guild was useless. Having Fron and the first-class adventurers involved, along with the major top-tier familias unifying their statements, was crucial.
Lastly, Royman skillfully brought up those pillars of light, that pierced the heavens and the earth.
There was no way to hide that. After all, that sky-piercing radiance, everyone could see it.