Chapter 38: House Cleaning

Mayer rubbed his strong jaws, pensive. “Death in a dungeon due to a lack of ability is one thing, but a competent member dying from a stab to the back is a problem,” he muttered solemnly. “So then, how do you wish for this matter to be solved?”

I was taken aback by his cold reaction, even though the life of a fourteen-year-old was at stake. I barely swallowed back my bewilderment and replied, “Since Team Leader Wipera is a founding member, other members will protest if he’s questioned. We need proof of his wrongdoing. I plan on catching him off guard and red-handed to procure irrefutable evidence.”

“That will not be easy.”

His words made me laugh a little. “I’m a support mage, and my reputation is bad,” I said. Who would’ve known that my devaluation would end up helping me? Living and learning, wasn’t that the saying? “They’ll ignore me for sure; no one thinks I’m capable. If I join their team alone with the pretext of gaining dungeon experience before becoming vice-captain, they won’t be too wary.”

“Would that not be putting you in danger?” he pointed out.

“Well… They might try killing me instead of Sevi—no, they’ll try that for certain.”

“What?” Mayer’s face twisted into a frown and he immediately protested. “If you will be in danger, then I reject your idea. Better to send someone else or give up on Sevi at once.”

“Dungeons are always dangerous. Besides, I won’t join without a plan. I value my life the most.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“I can use transformation magic,” I explained.

Support mages could use all kinds of magic aside from elemental, offensive, defensive, and healing types. At first glance, it looked like they had no spells at their disposal, but all null elemental magic fell under the branch of support. Long story short: support mages were good at miscellaneous things that were utterly useless in dungeon raids. “Of course, the spell is nothing more than a trick for the eyes,” I added. “But if I use it to transform someone on my side into one of Blue Flames’ team members, I’ll be prepared for that dangerous moment.”

Transformation magic sounded amazing and all, but what use could it have in clearing dungeons? What use, when the world would end if those dungeons weren’t closed? And even worse was that to use the transforming spell, unlike other support magic, one first had to obtain the consent of the spell target. It was unusable if the target refused, so its usage was very obscure. Still, it was fortunate that it could be useful in this matter.

Mayer gazed at me, impressed. “Every single time, I am surprised by your abilities…”

“I think you’re about the only one who says that, Captain,” I replied shyly. It was embarrassing to see him react like that to something so trivial. Even so, his gaze was as serious as ever.

“Fabian truly is a foolish man,” he remarked.

“I think so too. Well, then… I’ll take this as the plan being decided?”

“Very well. However, I cannot rest easy letting you go alone. I shall accompany you.”

It was my turn to protest. “What! You will?”

Closing high-level dungeons already kept him busy enough so I didn’t even know what he was talking about. Disregarding my shock, Mayer stared at me stoically as he said, “Did you not mention transformation magic? If I use that as well, it will not matter if I follow you.”

“But, Captain… Aren’t you busy?”

“Your life is at stake here. While I did send you August, he is, in the end, a priest. There is a limit to what he can do to humans. And so it seems best that I go in this case.”

I couldn’t tell who was cleaning up after who at this point. Unable to win against Mayer’s firm stance, I had no choice but to let him do as he liked and nod in acquiescence. The small reassurance in all this was that I wouldn’t be in any danger with Mayer as my bodyguard…

* * *

A base and a province were similar but different. The provincial right was power over territory and its people, whereas a base came with the right to dealing with dungeons. The dungeons that opened nearby a base all belonged to the expedition corps of that base. In case a dungeon appeared that the owning corps couldn’t solve, they would receive help from other corps. However, the one with the final say would always be the native corps.

The number of dungeons was fixed, while the number of expedition corps varied. Any corps would eagerly pay a commission to the local corps to close a dungeon. Some of them didn’t strive to deal with dungeons themselves, instead opting to secure a profit by selling the clearing rights, hence why all expedition corps tried to obtain a base.

But none of this had anything to do with the Dark Knights. They had a large base in the province of Nochtentoria. While other expedition corps might ask for their assistance in solving a high-level dungeon, no one would dare to ask for a commission fee in return as the Dark Knights always had a plethora of dungeons to deal with.

And just as I had worried, a new dungeon was assigned to the Blue Flames before even a week had passed. I went to pay a visit to their team leader, Wipera.