Joshua’s item on the agenda was passed by a narrow margin, so the voting system was now an open ballot without the option to abstain. There were two purposes of this new policy.
Our decisions were the result of weighing humanity, ethics, and individual selfish needs, and such a choice required a lot of responsibility. Abstaining was also an option before, but it indicated that people didn’t want to be accountable for their actions. Joshua blocked it as he wanted people to face difficult problems and be more responsible for their choices, whether it was due to individual conscience or other reasons. That was the first purpose.
The second purpose was to force my choice and make me participate in the group as I had been a bystander and abstaining votes from the very beginning. Joshua was aware that I had more power than him in the group and that everyone’s choice would be greatly affected by mine during the open ballot. However, he wanted to pull me out of the dark despite this risk.
What a child. I can’t believe he became the Second Virtue.
After the result of the election came out, my eyes met Joshua’s as he was looking at me.
“There will be side effects, but this is the best for now,” he said.
“Yes, that’s how you do it,” I replied.
He frowned, wrinkling his nose. Perhaps my reaction had been different from his expectation.
***
Joshua imposed a discipline that reminded me of my military days in the past. All actions, including eating meals and sleeping, had to be done with party members from now on. That was his first code of conduct.
“It’s our turn,” Michael said.
Each party was taking turns guarding the mercenaries who were tied to the rope. We moved towards them.
“I need to talk to you,” the mercenary captain said to me, and his ruined face looked much better after getting the healers’ treatment.
“You can speak in English now, but it’s too late,” I replied bluntly.
“I know how things are going. You guys pretend this is a democracy, but it’s not. You have the authority to reset everything,” he said.
“So, what’s your point?” I asked.
“I just wanted to thank you on behalf of all of us. It seems like we are still alive, thanks to you,” he whispered.
“If you didn’t stop Joshua… We would be dead by now… Damn it,” he added.
His face quickly turned red as the more he spoke, the more emotional he became. On top of that, the pain must have kicked in. He continued while grimacing, “But are you going to keep us tied up like this? This doesn’t help anyone. We fucking know that we don’t have power here to attack anyone, but we can support you guys in other ways.”
“Do you know what’s more dangerous than monsters?” I asked.
“I can control my guys, but if you continue treating us like this, I won’t be able to handle them soon,” he warned me while ignoring my question.
“That’s why we are determined to keep you tied up, and it’s no use complaining to me. You know how the group works, right?” I replied.
“You can change everything,” he said.
“You haven’t seen anything.”
“Do you fucking think that we can’t even hear anything because we are blind? I heard you are the strongest. Sigh. Take command. We will help you as much as we can. Are you really going to depend on a novice bastard who’s only been fiddling with money?” He slightly raised his voice.
Michael shook his head.
“Michael!”
The mercenary captain retorted to Michael in German, and when Michael responded, the mercenaries began raising their voices. Meanwhile, Joshua had brought his four party members over: Yellow Hair, Beanpole, Fatty, and Tiny Eyes.
“We should double-check if there are any loose ties. Could you help me?” Joshua asked.
“Sure,” I replied.
The mercenary captain raised his head toward Joshua’s voice and burst into resentment, but Joshua didn’t blink an eye at all. Instead, he tightened the ties of the mercenary captain.
“If an issue occurs, it will start from these people,” Joshua said.
“You should think about the future after we get out of here. Even though they are just mercenaries, things will become hectic when the public finds out that a number of them have gone missing at once,” I responded.
“I shouldn’t have brought them in the first place… You didn’t explain anything back then.” He looked at me as if he was blaming me.
“You weren’t even aware of my power at that time, so me giving you advice would have been more embarrassing to you. It’s your group and your responsibility, including everything that happens after we go out,” I emphasized.
“I’m thinking about it, especially how much money I should give them to keep this a secret. Money might not solve everything, so I wonder if this is worth taking the risk,” Joshua said out loud to make sure the mercenary captain heard him. Then, the captain shut his mouth and listened to our conversation calmly.
“You will need a lot of people to run the organization later. The Awakened are not enough, and you know that better than anyone else,” I said.
“Well, I don’t know about that. Even the Awakened seem to trust you more than me.”
I smirked.
“They are mercenaries, you novice. They are loyal to whomever gives them money,” I replied.
“But they are like this even after I gave them money,” Joshua answered.
“Things are different now. Pay them ten times higher. Then, they’ll even give you their souls and bite me without hesitation if you tell them to. They know where the money comes from,” I said.
He responded, “Are you… that confident? I’m not saying that the mercenaries can use their weapons and become stronger outside. There’s something scarier than guns in the world out there.”
Joshua seemed to be recalling the warning I gave him the other day as there wasn’t a rude look in his eyes. He still sounded arrogant, but he was saying it that way because he actually didn’t understand me.
“Ugh, you are talking about money again. Since you are well aware that there are more scary things out there, I don’t need to explain more to you. Also, I don’t think it’s smart to keep the mercenaries like this,” I said.
He asked, “Isn’t this your first time speaking your mind?”
“Yes, as you wanted.”
“Then, be the party leader. Only the party leader is qualified to submit an item,” he replied.
He didn’t tell me to become the attack captain as he wanted to keep the position. Then, Michael interjected, “I’ll bring it up. Let’s ask for others’ opinions.”
“Let me say something before you put it to the vote,” the mercenary captain interrupted hurriedly.
***
The result of the vote had changed, probably because of the mercenary captain’s speech or because humanity here had not yet been destroyed. The mercenary captain began to calm his subordinates as he had promised, and Joshua resolved the mercenaries’ backlash against him with money. He decided to change the contract and increase the payment to a great extent.
The mercenary captain finally took the opportunity to talk to me.
“I won’t forget what you’ve done for us.”
Then, he returned to his crowd quickly, and he was correct. He would never forget my kindness, so if Joshua ordered him to shoot me in the future, he would take one shot at my heart instead of shooting multiple shots and giving me unbearable pain. That was how mercenaries showed their gratitude.
“What did he say?” Joshua asked.
Although the captain was careful, Joshua must have seen him talking to me.
“He said thank you,” I answered.
“Is it fun?”
“What?”
“To control me. I think you’re enjoying this. You shouldn’t have told me the truth of what the captain said,” he said.
“You little punk. I told you not to blow the reputation you gained from society,” I responded.
“Why in the world…”
“When the power of your group was going towards me, you should’ve protected them more than anyone else. Even if you didn’t come up with the idea of collecting the mercenaries’ weapons, someone else would’ve said it first. Then, you should’ve convinced the captain as if you couldn’t help it. You also submitted a voting item to determine their fate. If I were you, I would have hugged them. If you were wary of me, that would have been the best way to get more people on your side, you idiot,” I said.
“You’ve seen everything, but how can you say such a thing? If I didn’t do anything, they would have rioted. This was the best decision for the group, and I prioritized the public’s interest before my personal greed…” He was being ridiculous.
“Shut up. I’m embarrassed even listening to you. You lost your group to me, a rando. Is this all you can do?”
“Ah, okay. You’re staying to mock me. I’ll accept it readily since we need you to survive,” he taunted.
I said, “You’re such a fool. It’s not too late. Gather the mercenaries and make your people trust you to the extent that they will be loyal to you despite my power. Then, you’ll be able to go against me.”
“Ah…”
Joshua bit his lower lip and stared at me as if he had suddenly realized something.
“Why are you doing this if you’re not trying to ridicule me?”
“I’m tired of repeating the same thing over and over,” I replied.
“You want me to accept the nonsense that I’m your man?” He frowned.
“Things are going that way already.”
“You are so…”
“Do as much as you can to knock me down. In order to do that, you should unite your group as one first. The mercenaries might seem useless, but keep in mind that you are the one who brought them in,” I said.
I was certain that the mercenaries would have been utilized as strategic resources in the past, and the ones who survived were murdered in the end. I patted Joshua on his shoulder and got up. He just looked up at me with a face full of shame.
***
The mercenaries were now responsible for chores such as cleaning the monster corpses, heating up and distributing food. Any trivial tasks that made the Awakened more comfortable were now their job. They had difficulties as they couldn’t see very far, but they were slowly overcoming and getting used to it. In addition, both parties[1] had agreed to fight hand to hand if conflicts arose. The tension still remained, but the leaders had come to terms.
Meanwhile, Joshua was inspired by my words and spent his break time talking to both the group members and mercenaries. It was maintenance time to prepare ourselves before attacking the next room.
“Follow me, Michael,” I called him.
“…Did anything happen?”
“I should reinforce your skills whenever I have time,” I said.
“You are going to teach me?” He widened his eyes with joy.
Braun Nase seemed to have read the situation faster than Michael. He hurried to drink his soup from the tray and ran toward us.
“Me. Me. Teach me. Hard. Please.”
The other two party members followed Braun Nase and copied his short English. I had asked Joshua to put the two most useless people in my party, and he had placed two girls. One was glamorous and the other had a pair of glasses on; they were nicknamed Glamor and Four-Eyes respectively.
“Please.”
“Teach us. Please.”
1. The Awakened and the mercenaries. ☜