After Meld extended her offer, Li noticed that Jeanne, Sylvie, and, in the back, Azhar were looking to him for a response. He did not often like taking the lead on things, but it felt more natural now. After all, he had been the one to kick this whole ordeal into motion in the first place.
But what did Li want to do? He could not help but feel suspicious of Meld and Thunderstrike. From what he heard, they, as two of the ten strongest heroes of the duchy, were essentially superweapons. It was odd that they would even be here in the first place.
The thought did occur to Li that they were observing his actions but having two of them here was overkill. On top of this, there was no reason for either of them to show themselves if they were here solely to observe him. Rather, they were more incentivized to stay quiet and see what he wanted to do.
Sorry for the delays. I've been dealing with a whole host of stuff ranging from increasing schoolwork to personal issues, so the updates will likely slow down for the near future.
In any case, I hope you enjoy this chapter!