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 somebody,” Axion explained, eliciting nods of agreement from the others.

I still couldn’t wrap my head around it, though.
Players had a nickname for Mayer: Cao Cao.
Yes, that Cao Cao from the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history.
The reason for the nickname was the collector-esque talent trait given to Mayer; the majority of the useful characters in the game 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 somebody?

 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 meritocratic too.
He treats his men 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 me.”

“Ah…” I nodded.
It was questionable whether that was something that anyone should be proud of, but the man held his head high, so what could I do? Uncomfortably play along, it seemed.

 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 immediate 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 seemed to be omitting some 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 time in a dungeon?”

 “Wow, then she really must be a genius.”

I had been so certain they’d be displeased with me 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 me.
Still, one question remained: why had Mayer never stepped up to recruit somebody before? It was odd, especially considering his meritocratic personality. 

Another corps member called Zinnia—a little older than me and in charge of taking the vanguard as a shield keeper—spotted the wondering look on my face and giggled.
“Dear me, 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 mean, there’s no need to go scouting for people because they’ll come looking to be recruited on their own?” 

“Yep.”

 “But, but… For example, maybe you come across someone 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 moment.
“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 become the 2nd Jun’ or something along those lines,” Vegan said with a teasing laugh.

 People from high society wanted to join? The very thought of it made me shudder; I was against the idea of having my name become synonymous with Cinderella’s.

 As we continued to chat, we ended up talking about enlisting with the Dark Knights.
“Normally you’d take an enlistment exam to join the corps.
You’ve heard of it as well, right, Jun?”

“I have,” I nodded.
The Dark Knights enlistment exam was famous, nothing short of a grand event where talented people from all over the world came to exhibit their skills.
Some would challenge the examination many times 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 time.”

“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 members seemed used to his attitude; they merely glossed over his remark with disinterest.

 “Come to think of it, it’s already time 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 some envy directed at you for just popping in from nowhere, Jun.”

“Well… I suppose I’d react the same 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 me favorably.
Even during my time with Fabian, I was ignored and ridiculed for being what I was.
Because I had been a regular member of a corps at the time, it had ended at unkindness, but now that I had become a vice-captain… 

It wasn’t like I was going to get bullied, right? Getting bullied at this age?