After giving the knight a long, stony look, I let the tense lines on my face relax. «I guess it was my fault».
The gentleman seemed relieved to see me soften, although he also seemed to wonder what I was talking about.
«Oh, I say I'm glad there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with your head».
Then, patting the knight on the shoulder, I checked to see if the other three had any objection to me being the leader. He didn't think they had the guts to break a promise made in front of the marquis, but he never knew. I assumed follow-up treatment might be necessary.
«No.»
«Me neither. Those were the terms of our agreement, after all».
«Since things turned out like this, feel free to call me when you need help».
Surprisingly, the other three did not express any disagreement. I guess they were colder than I thought. Since this matter affected the interests of his sponsors, I assumed there would be at least one greedy idiot who would refuse to back down. Well, that was good, since it meant less work for me.
«I'm glad there are no complaints. Then I'm leaving».
«Excuse me? You go?» When I tried to turn around, the four of them looked at me with obvious bewilderment. Now that the leader was determined, I figured they assumed he would want to talk to them more.
«I'm hungry. See you later». With that note, I left the room, leaving behind four people with shocked expressions on their faces.
It was a way to lay the foundation. You weren't going to live like Riehen Schuitz forever, were you? Everything would be revealed in three months. So I thought I should show them this side of me in advance to make things easier for them later. No wonder he acted like a barbarian. So that was why.
«Are you here?» My next destination was the marquis' office. I figured I owed him a report before I left. «How did it go?»
«Not much happened».
«Are you saying everyone willingly accepted it?»
«Not that they had any other option».
«That... is true. Well, if you need my help with anything, let me know anytime.»
«How reassuring.» Then that should be the end of my progress report-
«Oh, and one more thing. Now that the commander has been selected, we will soon hold an inauguration ceremony.»
«Inauguration ceremony?»
«You will all have the opportunity to get to know each other before entering the labyrinth. The sponsors of this project will also want to meet with you».
«So when will it be?
«Te haré saber la fecha tan ready as finished ste».
Was curious. There were less than ten days left to enter the labyrinth. Were we going to go from meeting at an opening ceremony directly to entering the maze together? It was almost lightning speed.
What is the reason for moving things forward in such a hurry?
The question occurred to me, but it was very easy to guess the answer.
He probably wanted to make sure all of this happened after the 15th. Since that is the easiest time for information to reach the people on Noark's side.
Those at the top must have wanted to minimize the spread of information as much as possible. In fact, when I asked some questions about the ceremony, the marquis replied that it would be unfeasible to hold a large event with hundreds of people for security reasons.
«Anyway, I understand about the investiture ceremony, but what about the two people who are going to be part of my team? Will I only meet them at the ceremony?».
«Of course not. If you want, I can make preparations for you to meet tomorrow».
«So can you send them to my house tomorrow?».
«Of course.» The marquis nodded willingly in response to my request.
So I guess we've already said everything we needed to say?
While looking for a way to end the conversation, the marquis suddenly addressed a new topic. «I want to ask you something».
«What is it about?»
«When you made that bet during the meal...». The marquis paused to take a breath before continuing. «Did you trust you could win against all four?».
«Why do you ask yourself that only now?».
«I've been wondering since the beginning. You will have seen the files I prepared on them, so you would know their personal information in detail. So when you first made that bet, I thought it was because you were confident you could win.»
«¿Y?»
«But as I watched, I realized that wasn't the case. Do you know how many times you were about to win?».
I thought I had a rough idea of what I really wanted to ask. Why would I risk making a bet like that if I was only going to win by a hair? I decided to give an honest answer. «Marquis, it's as you suspect».
The decisive factor in my victory was phase seven of the Immortality Imprint. Restorative Power, the main stat he gave you was a special stat that increased the regeneration speed. Without it, I wouldn't have lasted as long as my basic healing factor. More importantly, I could have run out of PM sooner, as Restorative Power also applied to PM regeneration. In other words, thanks to my new tattoos, my Soul Immersion PM recovery also increased. With all that in mind, I thought it was worth fighting for.
«Victory was not guaranteed».
However, I wasn't 100% sure I would win. That's how the fights were. There were too many cases of lucky breaks that sent people to the grave.
«I just don't understand it. How could you do something so bold when you weren't sure?».
I shrugged and turned to leave the room. «I don't know, why do you think?».
Why do you ask such an obvious question? I chose the fight because even if I lost, I never planned to turn around and admit defeat in the first place.
You should never let others know about your Plan B.
***
Around noon the next day, the two new party members visited our house invited by the marquis.
«You must be Riehen Schuitz. Nice to meet you. I am Riard Ashed, a rank three wizard from the Lengman School». He was a man of about thirty years old, affable looking and tall enough to be a magician.
«You are young. I am Guold Aldidi». The wizard in his sixties seemed to be in much better shape than he expected.
«Nice to meet you. I'm Riehen Schuitz».
«...Did you used to be a soldier, by any chance?»
«No, why do you ask?»
«Because speaking informally seems very natural to you».
Was it his way of asking me to respect my elders? The question came to mind, but I didn't think about it any further. Whatever the answer was, it didn't matter too much.
«Aldidi, if you came here thinking that this was going to be an ordinary team of adventurers, it's not too late to back down. Firstly, we will be working as members of the military for a while and for this to work, informal top-down communication is key.» It was always important to set the tone at the first meeting.
When I stood my ground, Guold Aldidi, or old Didi for short, leaned back gracefully. «Haha, of course not. It was just curiosity. I have no complaints that we are informal with each other. I have been working as an adventurer until old age; Do you think I have never worked under someone younger than me? I'm used to».
«So I'm glad. Wizard...»
«Riard Ashed. You can call me by my first or last name, whichever is most convenient for you».
«Then I'll stay with Ashed. Ashed, do you think the same as this old man?»
«Of course. Not only is being treated according to your abilities the norm in the Magic Tower... but this team is also an opportunity I don't want to miss.»
«A chance, huh?»
«Even just participating in this expedition promises many rewards. But I have heard from Lord Tercerion that... you have become the commander of this unit, is that true?»
Ah, had the marquis already told you?
«Looks like we've joined the right team. Being under the commander's team will give us more opportunities to achieve great things. Isn't that right, Mr. Aldidi?». Ashed asked with a kind smile.
Old Didi cleared his throat and expressed his agreement. «You could say that...».
I studied them both.
Not bad, as far as first impressions went.
First of all, Wizard Ashed. Although we hadn't exchanged many words, he seemed competent. Well, I was sure there wasn't any magician who wasn't, but intelligence and social skills were two different things.
The old man doesn't seem stubborn either, despite his age.
Of course, Ashed deserved some credit for that too. Calling the expedition an opportunity, he showed his haughty side so that the old man would realize that he was not the boss here.
«So, Mr. Schuitz, could you introduce us to the two people behind you?». Ashed asked cautiously, and I looked at Erwen and Amelia in a gesture to introduce themselves briefly.
«Soy Erwen Fornacci di Tersia».
«Emily Raines».
While they exclaimed «Spirit of Blood!» during Erwen's performance, they tilted their heads upon hearing Amelia's name.
I'm sure they're curious to know who he is, but thank goodness they didn't ask unnecessary questions. Hmm, it looks like our luck in the draw was pretty good...
«Now, come in.» Once the introductions were over, I had the two men enter the house. We prepared a lot of food for everyone to eat together. «Oh, I forgot to ask this. Have you eaten?»
«When I heard you were inviting us to your house, I didn't eat just in case».
«It is better to treat important matters on an empty stomach».
So, they both hadn't eaten. «We haven't prepared much, but eat as much as you want. If you have something you want to discuss, we can talk while we eat».
Once we were all seated, we ate and chatted.
«I don't know who cooked but the food tastes great».
«Hehe, I prepared it. Thanks».
«No thanks to you.»
«Wow, it's nothing special. Haha.»
Ashed and Erwen's conversation broke the ice, but I just kept my mouth shut and ate my food. That was because all the food was takeaway. Although I figured it wasn't a lie that she had prepared it, since she had gone to buy it in the morning and placed it herself on the plates.
If she had been Missha, she would have been in a mess trying to cook everything herself since the morning...
I was suddenly struck by the memory of Missha, but I didn't mean to belittle Erwen's hard work. I was always one of those who bought takeout because I didn't want anyone to go to so much trouble. However, Missha had always been stubborn.
I wonder if it will go well for him...
Although we were going to work together for a short time, the idea of adding new members to the group seemed strange to me.
«Schuitz, what are you thinking so much about?». Amelia elbowed me in the side.
«In nothing. You were talking about your career, right?».
Retuning, I actively participated in the conversation and began scrutinizing my new teammates. They were not much different from what he had heard the marquis say.
«The last time I entered the maze was seven years ago. After the clan I was a part of for five years dissolved, I dedicated myself to researching the Magic Tower.»
«Why have you changed your mind now?».
«For the same reason adventurers work so hard to climb floors».
For a better life, for more opportunities: more than a strange personal conviction, it was a much more credible explanation. «What can you do in the maze?»
«For a magician, the important thing is not what he can do, but what he cannot». Ashed smiled at my question and gave me an idea of his tricks. «I can only cast a small number of curse spells of rank five or higher. As for support spells, I can go up to rank four. Other than that, aside from the magic exclusive to other schools, you can assume I know everything. Oh, I'm also very interested in the maze, so you could say that my other strong point is that I have important knowledge about objects and how to collect them».
Ashed was kind of an all-rounder. Although his curse and supporting magic were poor, that was not a glaring flaw.
«If you ask me what I trust, I would say attack magic».
«¿Your attribute?»
«I wouldn't say I have a particular preference».
Wow, is it even balanced when it comes to the different attributes?
«Does the Lengman School study combat magic?»
«No. They specialize in curse» type spells.
That? This guy is weird, then. He went to study curses, but is he the best at attacking? It sounds like there's a backstory there...
«So if you have no further questions, I would like you to tell me about Mr. Aldidi». Just as he was contemplating asking about his story, Ashed naturally passed the baton to old Didi.
...Did he do it on purpose?
Even if he did, it didn't bother me or anything. I wasn't going to ask since it sounded like a personal story in the first place.
«I am a healer».
Healers were a subcategory of magicians. Those who could imitate the healing power of priests became healers. Those who could replace a mage's firepower were called special ability users, or doublers. If they used poison, they were masters of poison, and if they used fire, they were masters of fire. If their main specialty was doping people with power-ups, they were support sorcerers. If they did otherwise, they were debuff sorcerers. These were the general categories. The higher you rose in rank as an adventurer, the more detailed and extensive this ranking system became. In fact, if I were to submit my resume to the guild, I would have to write Guardian instead of Barbarian Warrior.
«A healer... we have a good balance». Ashed seemed satisfied with old Didi's work, as he kept nodding his head. After all, Erwen was famous for her archery, and since Amelia wore leather clothes and carried a dagger even at home, it was obvious what her role was. As for me, the marquis would have updated him.
«I have mainly acquired healing abilities, but I also have two support-type spells to my credit».
Simply put, he also had a buff-type support ability. Old Didi updated us on the essences he possessed and how they could be used, after which it was our turn.
Of course, since we were not magicians and understanding all of our abilities was not essential to the team, we did not need to go into details about our essences. Everyone's role, what they could do, and mentioning Amelia's aura and Self-replication and Erwen's Spirit of Darkness as key characteristics should suffice.
«So I think we've learned most of what we can learn through conversation. What do you want us to do next?».
«If possible, I want us to meet every day to establish teamwork».
«Okay, is there a training camp you usually go to?».
«There is, but it went bankrupt not long ago and disappeared».
«Then I'll find a place for us in a place I know. Oh, in case I need to contact you in the future, could you each tell me your address?»
«Here.»
Was this what it felt like to have a competent butler? Ashed took care of the trivial details needed to coordinate the team's activities so I didn't have to worry about them, and because of that, we were able to meet at training camp every day. Time passed...
«Schuitz, you have a message from the marquis».
...And finally the day of the investiture ceremony arrived.
How do these bastards manage to do anything?
There were three days left to enter the labyrinth.