Technically, it had been a little over a year since I had separated from Fabian, but it felt more than that. During this time, I had repeatedly wondered how I would react when I met Fabian again. Would I feel angry? Would I cry out of fury upon seeing his face again? But in reality, what I felt was a wave of intense ecstasy. I felt a smile tugging at my lips from the joy of our reunion. Was I that happy? Well, of course I was. How could I not be happy at this moment when my seat was at the top, and that traitor’s seat was at the bottom? But I couldn’t show a telling reaction here. I didn’t want to give Fabian even the slightest hint that I remembered the first playthrough.
I barely managed to keep my mouth in line before I showed any mirth. As I passed by my former leader, I pretended not to know him. His gaze blankly followed me, looking as if he was possessed by a ghost. Fabian muttered to himself, “How?”
His voice rang in my ears. Was he curious about how I joined the Dark Knights? Or… was he wondering how I had survived when I was supposed to have died in a dungeon? I felt like laughing out loud, but I kept on moving, concealing my mirth until the very end. But it was hard to suppress my emotions after passing Fabian. My lips twitched upwards on their own, and I realized I had let my guard down without knowing it.
Not long after the Dark Knights took their seats, the emperor entered the ceremonial hall. Everyone cried in unison, “All hail His Imperial Majesty, the Champion’s descendant and wise sun of the empire!”
Even if he would soon be stepping down from the throne, he was still the emperor. Any slight toward him could become a pretext for aggression to the next emperor. As such, everyone showed respect and courtesy to the ruler of the empire. The old emperor smiled benevolently as he nodded. “It moves me beyond measure to be able to greet the heroes defending our empire again this year.”
He gave moderate praise to the expedition corps gathered in the hall. The old politician’s instigating words made them proudly hold their chests out like they had become knights in a fairy tale. While the emperor’s speech continued, I felt a prickle at the back of my head. I guessed that Fabian had not given up his staring.
After a long-winded speech, it was time to settle the achievements made during the past year. “This year, a total of sixteen expedition corps were established. Let us begin by introducing the new ones.”
Upon the emperor’s command, the palatine started calling off the list of corps in a dignified voice. “Black Goats, make your report!”
The captain of the Black Goats stepped forward nervously and answered, “Yes…! B-black Goats, reporting!”
A year later, this expedition corps was fated to proceed with a dungeon raid exceeding their capability. After losing most of their members, they would fall apart. Time after time every year, new expedition corps would be formed, only to disappear later on. All of them would rush into dungeons like moths to flames, driven solely by the hope for a brilliant future. But all that awaited them, in the end, was a fate of ashes. The thought made me cast bitter eyes across the expedition corps that filled with banquet hall.
The report on new corps came to an end and next were the groups that had closed the fewest dungeon gates in the previous year. Fabian Corps had ranked in the latter middle of the bunch back then. As the meeting proceeded in the order of last year’s gathering, their turn came rather quickly. Perhaps he hadn’t managed to regain his calm yet, because Fabian still looked confused as he stood before the emperor. It was probably why he made a series of blunders that he wouldn’t have usually committed. It was his “second life”, after all.