Chapter 29 - Strong Muscles, Stronger Heals

I assumed that it had something to do with the demon lord’s core inside Mayer, but I couldn’t say anything about that.

“Whenever His Excellency hears about an open dungeon, he can’t be satisfied unless he goes and closes it. It must be why there was an incident two years ago where he closed three dungeons in a row,” Axion said.

“Three in a row?”

“Yes. Thanks to that, we had to stick it out with nothing but jerky and dry rations for half a year. It took a whole week to get rid of the stench of monster blood on our bodies. It was just horrible.” Even as he said that Axion looked strangely elated as he recounted the suffering he went through. Clearly, he wasn’t sane either.

The incident of closing three dungeons in a row was publicly known because the Dark Knights often mentioned it in pubs during performance meeting days. As a country bumpkin from a rural village, I wouldn’t normally know about this, so I feigned ignorance and nodded. “That’s awesome.”

“That, Jun, is your future. You mustn’t run away.”

“I won’t.”

“Truly?” Axion jokingly asked. “I couldn’t wash properly for months. Because our uniforms are black, I couldn’t tell how dirty it actually was. Oh, the streams of blood that came out whenever I did laundry! Phew.”

Was he indirectly telling me to run? “The faster we close dungeons, the faster we can defeat the Demon Lord, and then I’ll be completely free. I’ll have an easier time in retirement if I work hard in advance,” I replied, shrugging. Besides, I had already gone through such experiences many times when I was with Fabian—late runners had to work their legs to the bones to barely catch up. Moreover, the Dark Knights had plenty of funds and didn’t need to be miserly. Fabian Corps, on the other hand…? I could only sigh whenever I thought about them.

“In a way, I think you’ll get along very well with His Excellency,” Axion muttered with a frown, unaware of my circumstances.

“Thank you for the compliment.” Coming from him, that could indeed be considered a compliment. For some reason, though, when I gave Axion a nod of thanks, he scrunched his brows even more, inexplicably muttering ‘birds of a feather’ under his breath.

“But it seems that your goal isn’t to close dungeons.”

“Well, of course. I plan to sit on the honorary post of the Last Seven and live gloriously.”

My apathetic reply made Axion smile sadly. “At times, His Excellency gives the impression that closing dungeons is his only purpose in living. Honestly, it’s to the point where I’m curious about his plans after the demon lord dies and everything is over,” he said. Then, with a sigh, he confessed, “I’m telling you this because you said you’re not running, but we have the occasional deserters here too.”

“Deserters?”

“Pushovers attracted by the glory of the Dark Knights,” he explained. “They have decent magical abilities but are wimps with no backbone. Every one of those fools tried to gain some fame with the contribution of casting a few spells from the rear line, but they have dropped out.”

It was understandable. Mages capable of joining the Dark Knights would be eagerly welcomed in other expedition corps. Here, though? On top of the regular member treatment, there was darn hard work to do…

“However, there are those who remain despite it all. Of course, they all have some other motive in mind rather than improving themselves.”

“Could they be enduring it for the sake of the future after the demon lord is slain?” I wondered.

“Yes. Only the officers will join the final battle anyway, so they’re avoiding the truly dangerous fight. Wouldn’t the world belong to the Dark Knights after our elites finish the job?” Axion sneered. “They’re fixed on the petty gains they’ll get from being one of us by then.”

“Figures. The Dark Knights have a relatively low death rate since they thoroughly prepare before entering dungeons. It wouldn’t be difficult to just hang in there.”

“You even know the death rate among us? You must’ve been researching a lot.”

“Haha,” I laughed it off innocently. I knew already, but I was glad he had misunderstood it.

“Going back to the main topic… The duke has firm ideals and he tends to march straight towards them. It’s an aspect of him I admire a lot.”

“So, you mean to say…?” I prompted.

“He’s a bit far from what you’d call being tactful as he’s crazy about dungeons.” Admiration aside, Axion’s appraisal was rational.

“Yes, well. He didn’t seem to be much of a listener.” I thought back to how Mayer had dragged me around the castle despite my obvious reluctance. But Axion firmly shook his head at my reply.

“No, you haven’t even seen all of it.”

“…I haven’t?”

“Whenever you’re involved, he becomes extremely, exceptionally considerate!” Axion exclaimed. “Although only relatively,” he added.

“Oh… Is that right?”

I wondered what he meant by ‘considerate’, but I didn’t need to ask out loud—Axion began to explain every little thing. “His Excellency asked what sort of room you’d like, didn’t he, Jun? That’s the thing… He’s not the kind to even give such an option, to begin with. And what about the enlistment gift? Hah!” He chuckled. “How about guiding you around the castle himself? It was two days ago that I realized, for the first time, he even had the common sense to do that!”

I stared at him, speechless, as he went on. “Also, didn’t His Excellency tell you to call him ‘Captain’? Within the entire Dark Knights corps, you’re the only one to call him that way.”