The restaurant buzzed softly that night. It wasn't a formal dinner but a special gathering—one Finn Deimne himself had organized. Every single member of the Loki Familia was present.
"Since everyone's here," Finn said, stepping to the front of the room, "let's begin."
As both the host and the captain, he naturally stood in the center where all could see him. The adventurers turned their eyes toward him, curious about why he had called this meeting.
"The main purpose of tonight's gathering," Finn began, his tone calm but deliberate, "is to address one question—not for our high-ranking adventurers, but for those of you still struggling near the bottom."
He paused, scanning the faces in the crowd.
"Do you still have the desire to move forward?"
The question made many adventurers frown. Some lowered their gazes, unsure how to respond. Finn's words struck right where it hurt most.
"I'm not here to mock you," Finn continued evenly. "I simply want to know your answer."
"What you lack isn't talent, or potential. What you lack is pressure—something that forces your abilities to grow."
"What I want to know," he said, his voice rising just slightly, "is whether you still have the will to keep moving forward. Do you still carry that longing you once had—to stand among the high-level adventurers?"
Everyone in the room could hear the undertone behind his words, even if Finn didn't say it outright. His speech wasn't an accusation; it was a test—a probe to see whether their flames still burned.
Did they still want to move forward?
Of course they did. But what could they do about it?
They had tried—again and again—but reality was merciless. No matter how hard they trained, their Status refused to improve. They had earned Excellia, completed Expeditions, shed blood and sweat, yet their numbers barely moved.
Their dreams had dulled. Their hope had faded to gray.
Even if they wanted to keep climbing, how could they?
Then suddenly—like a spark flickering to life—they all thought of the same thing.
That "irregular."
The one who had shattered the limits of logic and done countless impossible things in recent days.
And now, hearing their captain's question, it clicked. Everything made sense.
Chairs scraped against the floor as several of them stood up at once. Faces flushed with excitement, voices rang out, trembling with newfound determination.
"Captain, of course we do!"
"We all want to keep going! It's just… our talent's limited. No matter how much we train, our Status barely rises. Even those who've earned plenty of Excellia can't level up if their stats don't meet the standard!"
"But we've never given up on effort!"
Yes. No one in the Loki Familia had ever stopped trying.
They were, after all, an exploration-type Familia—constantly diving into the Dungeon and taking on Expeditions. Reaching Level 2 should've been relatively simple for them.
The true wall wasn't Excellia—it was their Status itself.
Even outside Expeditions, they trained tirelessly every day, hoping to push their stats just enough to trigger that long-awaited Level Up.
But fate was cruel.
No matter how hard they worked, their growth would eventually slow to a crawl. After a certain point, no amount of training yielded progress. The numbers simply stopped moving.
That was why they had started losing hope—not because they didn't want to advance, but because they couldn't.
Working endlessly with no results… it crushed the soul.
The Falna gave them power, yes—but it couldn't break their limits.
And so, outside their training, they turned to alcohol to dull the pain—to forget that their progress had frozen.
But tonight, it felt different.
Tonight, they sensed something—like a lost opportunity had returned, brighter than ever.
How could they not be fired up? To sit still now would be an insult to all the effort and dreams they'd once held.
Off to the side, Loki nearly burst out laughing. She leaned over to whisper to Tsuna, barely containing her grin.
"These guys… they're all the same—so predictable," she snickered. "The moment Finn brought it up, their faces looked like someone had stepped on their pride. Now they're standing up like they're pledging eternal loyalty."
"But," she added with a smirk, "their reaction time's way better than that idiot Raul's."
Despite her teasing, there was genuine satisfaction in her tone.
"Like they said, they've been working hard all this time, even if the results weren't showing," Loki murmured. "The fact that they picked up on Finn's hidden message so fast means they're still sharp."
"If they didn't care anymore, they wouldn't have reacted that quickly."
"Of course," she added with a grin, "I bet part of it's thanks to Bete yelling 'small fry, small fry!' all the time. Keeps them fired up and ready to prove him wrong."
Tsuna tilted his head. "Miss Loki, I thought most people hated Bete?"
"That was at the start," Loki chuckled. "Back when he first joined, that mutt's mouth was downright toxic. Every word out of him could stab you straight in the heart."
"But after a few Expeditions, everyone figured him out. He's got a foul mouth, sure—but he's reliable where it counts."
She rubbed her temples, remembering those early, chaotic days. That wolf had caused no end of trouble back then.
But now? He'd become their loudmouthed motivator—the tsundere wolf of the Familia.
"'Hey! I can do that too!'—that's what all of them want to yell at Bete right now," Loki said, laughing quietly.
Tsuna blinked. "Wow… didn't see that coming."
Loki just grinned wider, her crimson eyes gleaming with amusement—and something like pride.
The spark of joy spreading through the room was impossible to miss.