Chapter 4 - Join Me, I Say!

Sweat began to form on my forehead. Had he been watching me the entire time I was fumbling to get away from the cyclops…? But I didn’t even sense his gaze! I hadn’t felt such chills down my spine even as I was trapped in the dungeon, being chased by a monster. “That’s… Well… I’m a support mage, and—”

“How is that a problem?” he interjected.

“But you don’t even truly know my skills, Your Excellency!” I cautiously told him what I thought. After Mayer had rescued me from the cyclops, he had immediately summoned me to his tent, only to begin doggedly persuading me to join his expedition corps. What a joke. Did he think the Dark Knights needed to just act overbearing and people would just suck it up and join?

…Then again, I suppose some people would do that.

“Hmm…” As I contemplated a way to dissuade Mayer from having me in his squad, he seemed to be deeply immersed in his thoughts. He rubbed his chin for a moment before saying, “Fine. I admit I was impatient.”

Feeling saved, I couldn’t restrain the delight I felt the moment Mayer retreated and involuntarily displayed it. Elated, I hastily smoothed my expression and put on an awkward smile, trying to show him how sorry I was. “Haha… Well, I’m thankful that you’d consider giving such a good opportunity to a support mage like me, but—”

“Very well,” he cut me off. “Let us have another talk after I take a look at your skills. After all, we have yet to finish raiding the dungeon.”

And so, after he said that, Mayer sent me out of the tent so briskly, it made his earlier persistence seem like an illusion. Interestingly enough, I was firmly convinced that he was never going to let me escape.

As I trudged out of Mayer’s tent with heavy footsteps, determined to lay low, I wondered how I could dissuade him from recruiting me… Either way, I needed to hide my skills as best I could.

* * *

I was doomed.

* * *

“I shall ask you again, Jun Karentia: will you join my expedition corps, the Dark Knights?”

As I entered the duke’s tent for the second time, I was struck with a strong sense of déjà vu: the same words, the same voice, and the same suffocating atmosphere.

The source of my suffocation stared at me with a self-satisfied smile, very much like a snake leering at an ensnared prey. “By raiding the dungeon together with you, I have learned more about your skills. As a support mage, you drastically reduced the time needed to clear the dungeon. You are an indispensable talent necessary for our expedition corps; therefore, I insist that you join the Dark Knights,” he said.

“Haha…” I let out a hollow laugh, feeling the urge to cry. I had tried my best to do nothing during the raid, but I couldn’t actually stay uninvolved, not with Mayer Knox staring at me with his terrifying gaze the entire time.

“Jun Karentia. You must find the dungeon a cozy place since you do not seem like someone who wants to get out of it,” he had said, and his implication? If I didn’t show him what I was capable of, he would leave me to rot in here. He already looked like he would truly abandon me inside the dungeon if I made the slightest mistake. In the end, I had to swallow my tears and do some work.

Upon starting the second playthrough of the game, players would inherit all the ability points and skills they had acquired during the first iteration. This was a display of consideration from the game company that aimed to keep players from getting bored. Naturally, inherited abilities were vastly superior to regular abilities of the same level.

Perhaps it was because I had transmigrated, but my body possessed all those game-like characteristics—including inherited abilities. Of course, I already had a complete grasp of my abilities, which was why I was able to deliberately lower the level and effectiveness of my support magic. But the problem was the experience I had gained during the first playthrough. I ended up discovering the optimal timing to cast my spells, which made them more effective than I expected, and as a result…

I completely failed in “laying low”.

But I couldn’t join the Dark Knights… Not like this! I tried my best to explain once more why I could not join the duke’s team. “The expedition corps under Your Excellency the Grand Duke’s command has such cohesive teamwork that… I don’t think there’s any way I can fit in—”

“Do you not feel it yourself how poor of an excuse you are giving me?” he interrupted me, and I couldn’t give him a response.

He didn’t have to point that out like that…

Unlike the other time, where he had quietly let me go, Mayer seemed to be bent on recruiting me this time. Just as one would drive a fellspawn to a corner, the duke continued to press me hard. “What is the reason that makes you so reluctant to join my expedition corps?” he questioned.

“That’s…”

“You will find prejudice against support mages no matter where you go,” he continued. “Our expedition corps is the only group that can fully utilize your talent.”

“I’m grateful that our Excellency acknowledges my skills, of course, but—”

“Then is there another reason why you refuse to join?” he asked, cutting me off again. “Perhaps… another corps you have already promised to go to?”

My heart sank at his probing question. His golden eyes seemed to pierce me, an intense and unrelenting gaze that kept me rooted in place—he was the hunter, and I was his prey. As I then realized that he had herded me straight into a trap, my back became drenched in a cold sweat. What was this, an unavoidable event? Was it even possible to refuse? Licking my dry lips, I forcefully pulled the corners of my lips into a semblance of a smile and attempted to explain. “Another corps? I’ve lived in this village since I was born, Your Excellency. The Dark Knights are the first expedition corps I’ve ever come across.”

“…The first one, you say?” Mayer asked, lips curling upward ever so slightly. I blankly stared at his smile and couldn’t help but think, ‘So he can smile too…’

I was snapped back to my senses by the sound of his fingers tapping on the table and hurried to say, “I just—”

“So you still have some lingering attachments to Fabian?” he abruptly asked, rendering me speechless.