The command room quieted the moment Albert, Ward, and the three adventurers stepped inside.
It wasn't a decorated room. No banners, no elaborate throne, no draped royal curtains. Just clean metal floors, reinforced walls, a long conference table, and several screens humming with faint electronic noise. Uniformed personnel stood at their stations, acknowledging the commander's presence with curt nods.
To Lyris, Mira, and Ragna, however, the room was overwhelming. Lights that never flickered. Glass panels that shifted images with a touch. Voices echoing through small boxes on the walls. Everything felt alive—yet not alive at all.
Ward motioned them to sit.
"Relax," he said. "No one's hauling you to a dungeon."
"We don't have a dungeon," Albert added.
Ragna muttered, "You say that like it's a bad thing."
