***

“Do we have to do this?”

Deca anxiously asked Fabian, who returned to his original state after meeting Countess Nerus.

Fabian pretended not to hear it and took off his jacket. However, Deca did not back down smoothly. He followed Fabian and continued to show signs of dissuasion.

“Are you really going to join hands with Countess Nerus? You know well that a colleague earned like that can’t be said to be a true colleague, Fabian. To become a colleague requires trust and bond…”

“But she can supply us with the necessary talent.”

Fabian, who shed one ear of Deca’s worries, said straight away.

Then he rather got angry.

“Do you think we’ll be able to attend this performance report unless we borrow the power of Countess Nerus? Thanks to this, we can leave the name of the Fabian expedition as it is. What’s the problem?”

“What’s the problem…”

Deca was flustered and slurred his words.

But Fabian didn’t give Deca a chance to choose words. He blamed Deca, furious as if he were on fire.

“Or are you tired like April? Do you want to end our trip in vain like this? Do you want to go back to a life where you can just watch others play heroes?”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. Why are you in such a hurry? Even without Countess Nerus’ help, our power will be able to catch up with others soon.”

“How soon?”

Deca, who was discouraged by his sharp blue eyes, replied under Fabian’s glance.

“… About 2 years?”

“That’s not soon enough!”

Fabian screamed nervously.

2 years? Nonsense!

There was not much time left before the appearance of the Demon King. In the first round, Jun joined the expedition team, and after three performance reports, the Demon King Gate was opened.

‘But there is no guarantee that it will be opened again at that time. The Black Knights are closing dungeons at a terrifying speed.’

The Demon King’s Gate might be opened after this performance report. Then of course, under the current circumstances, the Black Knights would be selected as the expedition to defeat the Demon King…

Meyer Knox, the mere thought of him defeating the Demon King and being revered as a hero sent shivers down his spine.

But Fabian had already lost so much. There were only two ways he could recover from his early days.

Either compose an expeditionary force with people who were better than those who had left, or drag the Black Knights down…

Ridiculously, he needed excellent human resources to hamper the Black Knights.

But human resources couldn’t just fall from the sky.

There was no way they would come under Fabian from other expeditions, and only those who came in like that were the way.

So, the support of Countess Nerus was a must.

‘I’m glad she’s ambitious. Thanks to that, she accepted my proposal easily.’

Of course, that alone was not enough to bring relief.

Although he had told Countess Nerus that he was the only one who had information about the future and had gotten his support, he also could not afford to relax as long as Jun knew the future.

Deca, unaware of Fabian’s impatient true feelings, constantly showed his skeptical true feelings.

“Don’t just say no, Fabian, tell me why. You’re really weird these days. Do you know that?”

Fabian’s lips, which had been tough so far, hesitated for the first time and squirmed.

He had told Countess Nerus that he knew the future, but he was rather more hesitant to tell his closest aide, Deca.

They were closer and they knew more about each other…

Moreover, in Fabian’s retrospect, the attitude that he had shown to Jun at the past performance report was clearly strange.

Deca had good senses, so when he found out about the future, he would definitely dig into it… and if he did, it would have been difficult if he knew it more deeply.

‘With April and all that… Maybe it’s better not to know.’

Sure enough, Deca, who had no choice but to compromise as Fabian continued to shut up, was the first to bring up April.

“Yes, if those are your intentions, there’s nothing we can do about it. But let’s ask April again at least as much as the healer. If April finds out that our situation is like this, she will change her mind no matter how angry she is.”

“That’s enough. If she had changed her mind like that, she wouldn’t have said she was going to leave the expedition in the first place. Rather, seeing that the situation in our expedition is not good, she’ll tell us to give up and might lose her strength.”

Fabian responded quickly. Deca shook his head with a frown on his face because of the blatant distance to April felt in Fabian’s words.

“No way.”

“Don’t expect anything, Deca. If you look at it, it’s all because of April. That Jeanne, Aegis…”

“…”

Fabian made a mistake belatedly. He was too sensitive.

Even if Deca found out that there was no April in their hometown, he had a lot to say.

Whether April deceived them and joined another expedition, or…

Fabian, who wondered if Deca would feel suspicious, quickly added.

“But if you want to do so… It’s not bad to visit our hometown for a while.”

“…No. Never mind. As you said, we don’t have enough time… We have to be more diligent to go up.”

Fortunately, Deca soon shook his head.

He wondered what he would do if Deca got suspicious and started questioning him… Fabian felt a small sense of relief at the situation, which he had overcome more honestly than he had expected.

Perhaps it was because he had relaxed his nerves for a while.

Fabian didn’t notice Deca’s glare flashing at that moment.

***

Again, the time for the performance report meeting had returned.

This year, elite troops and their members headed to the capital.

However, Tragula and the Yellow Lightning Unit were excluded this time. It was Tragula’s request.

“… Please allow me not to attend this performance report.”

“Hm… Let’s do that.”

I nodded gladly, thinking that it would be awkward to meet Countess Nerus.

“Then, while you’re on your way, I’ll try to refine the new Yellow Lightning unit.”

When I told Meyer that Tragula would not be going to the capital, he looked unusually pleased.

Anyway, Tragula still didn’t deserve it. I clicked my tongue.

And so, for the first time in a year, all of the elite troops, except for Tragula, gathered.

“Hey, Jun. I knew you’d do it, but you really did. Special Forces level 60! Wow, that’s amazing. In comparison, our Red Wolf unit is… Whew.”

”Why the Red Wolf unit? If the troop leader was the vice commander, there would have been 60 levels left.”

Ginia said categorically. As soon as the conversation dropped, Began shuddered and elbowed Gina.

As soon as Ginia was about to look back, Began whispered quietly.

“Don’t think about taking our precious Vice Commander to our humble unit.”

Maybe he doesn’t want to play dungeons with me that much.

I could tell on his face that he didn’t want to play dungeons.

Began smiled and quickly turned around.

“Come to think of it, I heard that your title, Vice Commander, has been confirmed. Congratulations.”

At the mention of my title, I felt angry again. I decided this was the time to vent my frustration about my title.

“That’s true, but what’s Tyrant? Isn’t that too much? It doesn’t suit me at all.”

I wanted everyone to sympathize with me that Meyer was too much. But the elite troops and everyone else in the vicinity were indifferent.

Axion said as if what was the problem.

“I think His Excellency chose it well.”

“Yes. Jun, to be honest, you have a bit of a violent side.”

Even Robur that I trusted!

I shivered with a sense of betrayal and claimed injustice.

“I’m such a calm and easygoing wizard! What do you mean violent? Do you know that my strength starts with D-rank?”

“It’s different from strength stat. Kind of… Yeah. You have the qualities of a tyrant.”

“I agree with what Sister Robur said.”

Yeah. I didn’t expect anything from August.

But I was looking forward to my popularity… It was all in vain. I sighed in a sense of betrayal.

***

The capital city was once again crowded with people to welcome the Black Knights.

Following last year, this was already the second time that the Special Forces had done a performance report.

Once experienced, the trio of the special forces resolutely received the people’s cheers.

However, Jeanne and Anasta shrank their shoulders and glanced around, perhaps because such hospitality was awkward.

“… The Black Knights are amazing.

“You’ll get used to it soon. We were very nervous last year.”

Julieta smiled and relaxed Anasta.

“I feel at ease when I find out that people are not interested in us as much as I thought. Listen. Who is everyone interested in?”

It was a familiar line.

I laughed at Julieta’s translation of what I had said before.

At Julieta’s words, Anasta and Jeanne pricked up their ears. They were very nervous, so they didn’t even know what people were saying until now.

“…Black Knight! The savior of mankind, the hero of the empire!”

“Summer Saint, please give us a hand of mercy!”

“Kyaaa, it’s really the Flame Mage!”

The cheers were focused on elite troops. Only then did Anasta mutter with a mixed look of despondency and relief.

“…I see. Just because you’re a Black Knight, not everyone recognizes you.”

“It would be nice if they recognized me.”

Sevi grumbled with dissatisfaction, putting his interlocked hands on the back of his head.

When I see something like that, it’s a kind of interest. Maybe it’s because I’m in a period of strong ego…

Later, when puberty comes and rebellion comes…

As I was pondering about the right personality and emotional education as if I were a parent with adolescent children, a suddenly round voice broke through the cheers and made my ears ring.

“Oh, it’s Tyrant and the special forces!”