Chapter 16 - Comeuppance


    I gave him an awkward smile. I couldn’t help it; how was I supposed to exin that it was thanks to the information I had about the Mayer from the first ythrough? “Well… You just need to look at the man and you’ll know, don’t you think?”


    Although my reply was evasive, fortunately, it seemed to work on Axion since he nodded in agreement.


    * * *


    My ce was right behind Mayer, slightly angled from where Axion was. In other words, the very front. Even after I had be an old-timer in Fabian’s corps, I had never been in such a position—it had belonged to his childhood friends and close aides, Da and April.


    Thinking about it now, I was not like them, so why did I think Fabian wouldn’t cast me aside? Myst self, in retrospect, seemed all tooughable and the good treatment I was receiving at the Dark Knights made the contrast even more obvious.


    But that didn’t mean I could fully trust Mayer Knox; giving my heart away only to receive betrayal in return wasn’t an experience I wanted to repeat. I swore to myself I’d keep the rtionship between us as coborators only, nothing more and nothing less. This time I would draw a line, bold and clear.


    I nced at Mayer Knox, who was facing forward. His sharp side profile that almost seemed like it had been carved with a knife was exceptionally eye-catching. “Let us depart,” hemanded and the Dark Knights immediately began their march.


    The vigers could only watch us leave from afar. Some among them spotted me riding a horse right behind Mayer, kitted out in the corps’ uniform, and turned wide-eyed. “Over there… Isn’t that Jun?”


    “She was alive? I mean… Why’s she over there?”


    “Could it be that Jun… with the Dark Knights…?”


    “But ain’t she a support type?”


    “A mere supporter joining the Dark Knights? That’s absurd.”


    “Hey, Mr. Karentia. What’s going on? Do you know anything?”


    Even with so much distance already between us, I could hear their chattering. Apparently, neither the vige chief nor my parents had said a word about me. They must have been too embarrassed to say anything, considering how they were chased off and carried away by several of the expedition members.


    “Tsk.”


    I heard Mayer click his tongue, annoyed. If I could hear them so clearly, then he surely could hear them even better. I felt a bit embarrassed by those people’s behavior, like a shameful side of me had been exposed.


    He slowed down his horse and waited for me to catch up until we rode side by side. As I shot him a wandering look, he began talking loudly as if he wanted everyone to hear what he was saying. “What do you think of receiving this province as a gift for your enlistment, Jun?”


    “This province?”


    “Yes. Bing a provincial lord is not a bad option,” he continued, voice still raised. “You get steady taxes and you can rece whomever you like, be it a vige chief or whatnot.”


    Not even a moment after Mayer finished speaking, I heard the gasp of an old man in the distance. Probably the vige chief. “Giving them some support is not bad either, considering this is your home. If there is a guild you want to establish, I will amodate you to the best I can,” he added.


    It was only then that the vigers looked at one another in realization. “Why, it looks like Jun truly is one of the Dark Knights?”


    “You fool. She’s wearing their uniform, isn’t it obvious? Must be quite the high position if she’s going to be grantednd…”


    “Then shouldn’t we be buttering up to Jun?” They murmured among themselves, finally figuring out how far I’d climbed up the socialdder.


    “Our vige would grow in leaps and bounds even with just a singlerge guild established…”


    “I know, right? It’s always hard going to the vige beyond the mountain for work.”


    “Lots of other vigers woulde over, so we’d have more businesses, too.”


    The vigers became radiant at the thought of their dreamsing true. So long as they received proper support, it would only be a matter of time for their small rural vige to develop into a city.


    “But… would Jun be willing to support our vige?”


    “Speaking of that, the chief was the one who had Jun forced inside the dungeon. She won’t be forgetting that.”


    “Besides, her parents were always unfair to her. Figures why she’d be through with them.”


    Theplexions of the vige chief and my parents worsened more and more as the vigers continued talking. Concluding that their opportunity had been stolen by the three, te vigers red at the culprits with bared hostility.