“Fortunately, we have yet to appoint that member. It saved me the trouble of dealing with another one.”
“Well, that’s one thing to be glad about, I guess.” There was no need for someone else to get tangled up in this matter for nothing, after all. And thanks to this, it seemed my place among the elites was secured easily. And I was wondering how I would squeeze in among the seven elites.
Mayer gave me a firm warning then. “In any case, now you know. Even if Tragula returns, do not get too close with him. In fact, do not run into the man. And never meet with only the two of you. There is a chance he may think of getting up to no good. Make sure to stick around August.”
“Didn’t you tell me to keep my distance from the reverend before?”
“Argh…” Mayer let out a troubled groan, caught in his self-contradiction. It was ridiculous to see him brooding over this. The man didn’t seem to even take into account that I had spent almost half a year raiding dungeons with August. But Mayer seemed to have put my safety first as he added with a grumble, “Anyway. Never go around by yourself. Understood?”
“Okaay, okaay.”
“Ignore Tragula even if he tries talking to you.”
“Okaay, okaay,” I replied in mock obedience as I tossed back the last of my drink. Inwardly, though, I was having other thoughts. Tragula’s abilities weren’t bad. He lived up to being an elite of the Dark Knights as a very capable character among those recruitable in “The Sacred War”. It would be a waste to banish him like this. At this rate, Tragula would leave the Dark Knights to join Fabian, who knew of the former’s skills and would never let him walk by. I felt conflicted between letting Tragula go over to Fabian and unwilling to let the latter gain even a single person. Clearly, seeing how I felt inclined to go against Mayer’s opinion to make Tragula stay, my desire to spite my former leader was more powerful than I had imagined.
I decided to discuss the matter of Tragula later. As for now… I glanced at the clock and said, “Then I’ll be taking my leave now. Too much time has passed. The kids will be waiting for the after-party.”
“Very well.” Mayer let me go without a fuss… or so I had thought. The moment I put a hand on the table to balance myself up, he grabbed my wrist suddenly and said, “By the way, Jun.”
I was taken aback by the abrupt physical contact and the awkwardly friendly call of my name, but I hid my feelings and responded calmly. “What?”
“I want to ask you something.”
“What is it?”
It had to be displeasing to deal with a subordinate that always talked back bluntly without ever politely saying “yes”. Yet Mayer had never warned me about my attitude before as if it wasn’t important. He gazed at me for a long time, making me feel like I had become prey as an inexplicable chill ran down my spine. “From information about the changing dungeons, the level of dungeons, the dragon’s appearance, the dragon’s orb… How do you know all that? It is too much knowledge to be passed off as memories of the first playthrough.”
Right, I knew he’d ask this. I clicked my tongue and sat back down. “You should’ve asked a question like that before telling me to go to the after-party.”