Chapter 21 - Castle Tour
“Everyone will be surprised when we return to base.”
“Because the captain brought along a support mage?”
“Because His Excellency personally recruited sobody,” Axion explained, eliciting nods of agreent from the others.
I still couldn’t wrap my head around it, though. Players had a nickna for Mayer: Cao Cao. Yes, that Cao Cao from the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history. The reason for the nickna was the collector-esque talent trait given to Mayer; the majority of the useful characters in the ga were under his flag. All the recruitable characters of the Dark Knights had good stats, and naturally, Axion was included, despite being non-recruitable. This begged the question: How is it that a talent collector like Mayer had never personally recruited sobody?
I couldn’t hold back my curiosity and asked, “But isn’t the captain quite the greedy one for talent?”
“That he is. And he’s ritocratic too. He treats his n according to their ability rather than their social standing.”
“The captain is incomparable to those other expedition corps that give out positions based on noble status or sum of donations.”
“It isn’t like he lacks money, after all. In fact, His Excellency has ample finances, being a grand duke.”
“Whew… It really ain’t easy having a boss like him, one with power, skill, and lots of money. Isn’t that why you joined as well, team leader?” Spearman Vegan asked and Axion nodded. Vegan was in his early 40s and was the eldest in the corps, but his rascal personality belied his age.
I shot a quizzical look at Axion, who shrugged and explained, “You see, I’m not one to listen to those weaker than .”
“Ah…” I nodded. It was questionable whether that was sothing that anyone should be proud of, but the man held his head high, so what could I do? Uncomfortably play along, it seed.
Vegan smirked and continued, “As a Dark Knight, your most important task is to be useful in a dungeon.”
“Exactly. No matter how much potential you have, if you aren’t ready for imdiate action, you start from the 3rd corps.”
“In that sense, Jun was really amazing. She was so well coordinated, it felt like she had been with us for 3 years already. Totally His Excellency’s type.”
“Exactly. Completely His Excellency’s type.”
Those two seed to be omitting so words, making everything sound misleading… Couldn’t they say ‘His Excellency’s preferred talent‘?
“Speaking of which, didn’t Jun say it was her first ti in a dungeon?”
“Wow, then she really must be a genius.”
I had been so certain they’d be displeased with suddenly joining the team as their superior… To my surprise, they were being quite friendly. Whether that was because we cleared a dungeon together or because Mayer had given them a warning, I didn’t know. However, this warm atmosphere—incomparable to what I had experienced during the first playthrough—was certainly unfamiliar to . Still, one question remained: why had Mayer never stepped up to recruit sobody before? It was odd, especially considering his ritocratic personality.
Another corps mber called Zinnia—a little older than and in charge of taking the vanguard as a shield keeper—spotted the wondering look on my face and giggled. “Dear , we ended up going off-topic,” she said. “Anyway… The Dark Knights is the expedition corps furthest in the lead, is it not? The force people all over the world aspire to join.”
“You an, there’s no need to go scouting for people because they’ll co looking to be recruited on their own?”
“Yep.”
“But, but… For example, maybe you co across soone of fine caliber on the road, by coincidence! And then maybe you scout’em! Were there really no cases like that?”
“Not until now, but…” Zinnia paused for a mont. “With you as the precedent, I don’t know how His Excellency will act from now on.
“Now that Jun’s one of us, there’ll be more people from high society hoping to get recruited by the duke. They’ll go ‘I’ll beco the 2nd Jun’ or sothing along those lines,” Vegan said with a teasing laugh.
People from high society wanted to join? The very thought of it made shudder; I was against the idea of having my na beco synonymous with Cinderella’s.
As we continued to chat, we ended up talking about enlisting with the Dark Knights. “Normally you’d take an enlistnt exam to join the corps. You’ve heard of it as well, right, Jun?”
“I have,” I nodded. The Dark Knights enlistnt exam was famous, nothing short of a grand event where talented people from all over the world ca to exhibit their skills. So would challenge the examination many tis over, while others would apply only once before trying their luck with another corps.
“That’s how we joined too… Oh, by the way… our team leader was the best among the other candidates in his ti.”
“I’d say that I’m top out of the entire Dark Knights, not just compared to the exam candidates back then,” Axion declared confidently. The other mbers seed used to his attitude; they rely glossed over his remark with disinterest.
“Co to think of it, it’s already ti for us to start receiving rookies.”
“Indeed. It’s supposed to begin a few weeks after we arrive at the base, so it’s probably not that far off.”
“Jun will probably have to attend, I think?”
Silently, my expression twisted in an odd grimace, involuntarily expressing my reluctance. Zinnia quickly noticed it and worry flashed across her face. “In any case…” she began in a concerned tone. “There are many who’ve had to fight to join the Dark Knights. You can expect so envy directed at you for just popping in from nowhere, Jun.”
“Well… I suppose I’d react the sa way if I were them.” I nodded understandingly. A vice-captain dropped out of nowhere and just so happened to be one of those mages? It would be strange if people saw favorably. Even during my ti with Fabian, I was ignored and ridiculed for being what I was. Because I had been a regular mber of a corps at the ti, it had ended at unkindness, but now that I had beco a vice-captain…
It wasn’t like I was going to get bullied, right? Getting bullied at this age?
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