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“…Yes, I did.”

“You weren’t lying, were you?” I squinted at him.

“No, I was not.”

“This weak act you’re putting up doesn’t make you sound persuasive,” I grumbled, initially pretending to be angry but I ended up feeling somewhat irritated for real.

As if realizing that all his troubling thoughts were in vain, Mayer chuckled. “Heh… You must be the definition of a strong person, what with that unchanging attitude of yours.”

“…You speak as if you’re familiar with how I was back in the first playthrough.”

“Of course I am. Why else would I have come to rescue you so suddenly? My eyes have been on you for a long time.”

Whenever Mayer mentioned these memories, I trembled inside, my past attempted assassinations prickling my conscience. Thankfully, his words had nothing to do with that.

“By chance, I heard Fabian’s expedition corps discussing which dungeon to raid. I do not quite remember which performance report meeting it was, but just to be clear, I was not spying. Your people were simply talking too loudly.” A faraway look appeared on Mayer’s eyes as he reminisced. “They seemed to be having trouble deciding between two dungeons and were adamant on choosing the one you said was impossible for everyone to raid.”

I remembered that. Usually, I tended to stay back in meetings and such where one had to be vocal, but sometimes, when the corps had been about to pass over a special dungeon with good loot, I hadn’t remained quiet. “You were steadfast regardless of how others ignored you for being a support mage and it left a deep impression on me,” he added.

And indeed, they had completely disregarded the supporter who hadn’t even fought a monster properly before… The thought of Mayer witnessing my moment of shame made me flush in embarrassment, feeling awkward. “…In the end, my opinion wasn’t accepted,” I mumbled.

“Well, it matters not. We are in the second playthrough, anyway,” he said. “Back then, I had wanted to try working with you… Who would have guessed we would be together like this now?”

No wonder; I must’ve been marked by him way back then. Speaking of which, the dungeon I had recommended… I was sure the Dark Knights had cleared it. At the time, I had thought it was merely a coincidence, but could it be that they had listened to my words? It made sense why he had paid attention to me; after all, the dungeon had been full of treasure. The duke must have thought that I was either very lucky or had information everyone else didn’t, which was why he recruited me in the second playthrough… Life was truly unpredictable, like the flapping of a butterfly’s wings causing a hurricane on the other side of the planet.

“Besides… you also remember the first playthrough and that makes you very reliable. I am most happy that you became my vice-captain.”

Was he trying to probe me under the guise of drunkenness? I raised a brow and pointed out, “I never dreamed that your good treatment of a vice-captain included bearing with the noble captain’s drunken behavior.”

“…Haha.”

“Next time, please don’t do something like this, okay?”

“Alright, alright.” Mayer raised both hands in surrender at my grouching before straightening his face. “From now on, I will be trusting you completely.”

What a liar—he still hadn’t mentioned that he had demonic power! Still, I felt that he would let me know the truth at some point so I decided to be content with sharing a secret with him.

“I will do everything in my capability to give you what you desire,” he vowed. “So long as I can kill the demon lord… I can even give you the emperor’s crown.”

He had to be kidding. The captain of the expedition corps that slew the demon lord was supposed to become the emperor. If he passed the crown to me, there would be a huge opposition, and it wasn’t like that was so easy to achieve in the first place. However, Mayer didn’t look like he was joking; he seemed to have zero interest in the throne. Then, all of a sudden, I recalled something Axion had said to me before:

“At times, His Excellency gives the impression that closing dungeons is his only purpose in living. Honestly, it’s to the point where I’m curious about his plans after the demon lord dies and everything is over,” he had said, back in the mess hall. The flame mage had seen right through Mayer; the man was willing to burn his entire being to kill the demon lord, even though he would later crumble into white ashes. To their captain, wealth, glory, and unmatched power were all secondary objectives. His primary mission was to take down the lord of evil.

“…The wine’s making you say all kinds of nonsense. I won’t care even if you regret this later when you’re sober,” I replied, feeling bitter from the thoughts bouncing in my head.

“I will not regret.”

I sighed at Mayer’s stubborn and fretful reaction. Before I knew it, we were deep into the night and I didn’t know if it was the time or the wine, but I was feeling drowsy. I got up to leave and discreetly took the remaining bottle of liquor, intending to enjoy it by myself later. “I’ll be taking my leave now,” I announced, excusing myself.