Chapter 133: Bribery

Of course, I had been the one who insisted to Fabian on recruiting Tragula. At the time, though, I had no idea that his joining would put my status as an elite member at stake. Tragula eventually took my spot in the raiding parties. At first, the switch took place once or twice in a while. As my leveling speed gradually lagged behind as a support mage, I was outright replaced. Had Tragula not gotten injured during a raid, I would’ve never had the chance to fight the demon lord.

Being forced out of my position had caused me so much stress back then… I had such a hard time; I couldn’t even figure out if it was a good or bad thing that white hair didn’t stand out among my grey hair. Thinking back on it now, things had been shaky at that point. My position as an elite member was in danger, yet I still believed that Fabian’s heart wouldn’t turn away from me. Looking back, that had been a ridiculous thought. Swallowing back my self-mockery, I continued, “Anyway… I don’t particularly like Tragula.”

“Is there a reason to have a man you don’t particularly like to stay with us and keep seeing him?”

“I don’t like him much. On the other hand, I really hate Fabian.” To interfere in Fabian’s goal, seeing Tragula’s face was nothing. I could do it from morning to night.

“So you are suggesting that we include Tragula in the dragon raid?”

“Because there’s no reason not to.”

“He will not thank you for that,” Mayer pointed out.

“I know. But he’ll have to acknowledge that I’ve got a lot of influence within the corps,” I said. Mayer treated Tragula coldly, and the other elite members had strong individualistic tendencies. Since they all followed the captain’s decisions, they definitely wouldn’t listen to Tragula. No matter how much he complained, it’d be useless. “Then he’ll try to get into my good graces to try and somehow overcome the situation of being the thorn in your eye. I just have to make good use of that.”

“You seem full of confidence.”

“Of course. I am confident,” I replied with a shrug. Not everything would go the way I expected, of course. But sometimes there was a clear reason behind something, like a kind of algorithm. Entering the same command would always give the same result, after all.

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“If you say so, then…” Mayer nodded. “Since the list of members that will be joining is up to you, do as you like.”

I smiled brightly at receiving the answer I had wanted. “Trust me. I won’t disappoint.”

* * *

After much deliberation, the members for the Furka dungeon got decided. Squad Darkfall led by Mayer, the Red Wolves led by the flame mage Axion, the special unit led by myself, and squad Purity who were still 2nd Corps members. The raid would be handled by squad Darkfall and the Red Wolves. Meanwhile, the special unit and squad Purity would support them and accumulate experience points. Everyone had expected the special unit to be selected since it was my team. No one could have guessed that squad Purity would be chosen too—not even themselves.

The squad leader of Purity darted their innocent-looking eyes around. After a moment, they asked disbelievingly, “D-do you mean we were chosen?”

Squad Purity didn’t stand out in any particular way. That was probably why the decision came across as even more unexpected. Since Mayer and the elite members, including me, were taking part, there wasn’t a need for more firepower. And it just happened that I intended on developing one of the 2nd Corps squads after the special unit became established to some extent.

The special unit would be dedicated to combating the demon lord, while one of the 2nd Corps squads would be dedicated to closing dungeons. Of course, considering the experience points obtained when killing a dragon, there was no real need to take a 2nd Corps squad along. But I needed some people who would spread the word about the special unit among the Dark Knights. The result we achieved was made public through the level measuring. However, to gain proper acknowledgment, we also needed to show some concrete skills. We had to prove that we didn’t level up by the experience points earned by Vegan. Thus, squad Purity was chosen. They were a relatively friendly and docile bunch and rarely clashed with others. In short, they didn’t talk behind my back. If I was going to push somebody up the ladder, I would rather it was someone I had no grudges with. I had received Mayer’s approval as well, so I only had to prepare for the dungeon raid.

But someone among the members discreetly came to me in dissatisfaction: Tragula. “Instead of having me join the special unit, wouldn’t it be better for squad Yellow Lightning to come and join instead?”

Forget being grateful for being picked, the man was coveting squad Purity’s place. I gave him a seat yet now he was trying to lie down with feet outstretched, the rogue. Still, seeing how he brought some good liquor as a bribe, he wasn’t ignorant of how things worked around here. Not that I could accept the bribe, of course.

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