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“I’m Sevi Ventus. It’s been a year since I’ve joined the corps. I may be young, but you can trust my skills. I originally joined as an archer, but I’ve recently awakened as a wind mage.” Sevi’s confidence was understandable as he had awakened his magical potential in mere weeks. Now that he had unlocked his mana, Sevi’s hair was slowly turning green starting from the tips and it would turn completely green once his mana strengthened. The training he went through must’ve been hard to endure, but he bore through it all silently without complaint.

I patted the boy on the head, proud of him, and he smiled happily. For some reason then, though, he gave the side-eye to Nova. Was the rascal already vying to become second in command? Sevi was young but clever. Considering how he had benefited the most from sticking by me, whether it be gaining his newfound power or having his life saved, it wasn’t hard to understand why he didn’t want to lose my favor. The desire for victory and competitive spirit were good foundations for growth; deeming it a good thing, I patted Sevi on the head a couple more times.

Vol. 1 End

Now that the recruits had finished, it was August’s turn as a regular member to introduce himself. With the4 same solemn face as always, he began speaking in a low tone akin to someone confessing. “I am August Divinitas, the highest priest of the Dark Knights. My role is to keep your lives intact, brothers and sisters. There will be no deaths in my presence; as such, I hope everyone will commit themselves to the training with no worry.”

The atmosphere turned chilly within an instant.

Today was everyone’s first meeting. How could he talk like that, making it obvious that they would roll in the dirt to death? Although they wouldn’t be dying…

Unsurprisingly, the faces of the three rookies stiffened. I was certain none of those joining the Dark Knights lacked the resolve to go through hard training, but in the end, they were children. Sure, the ‘carrot and stick’ method was more efficient than giving a scare in getting them used to training, just like slow-cooking a frog in a pot. But now that they were so nervous already… I sighed. Was he intentionally messing with my plans, or was he just clueless? By the look on his face, it was clearly the latter. I hastily introduced myself to fan the atmosphere. “Is it my turn now? I’m Jun Karentia, the vice-captain of the Dark Knights.”

I had always kept a respectful manner of speech with everyone—except for young Sevi—but now I was officially the vice-captain and had a team of my own. It was necessary to stop doing that, if only for the sake of efficiency. I cleared my throat and continued in a firm voice, “As you all know, I’m a support mage, the one who’ll be making you all strong. From now on, everyone will grow stronger at an unimaginable speed and join the elite ranks of the Dark Knights.” They all gulped at the mention of elite ranks. It was admittedly best to dangle an actual reward before their very eyes. “The target period to making that happen is 6 months at the most.”

“Holy…!” Julieta and Nova gasped in disbelief.

“From what I know, it takes 3 years getting promoted to the 2nd Corps alone…” Sevi commented and nodded as if it was totally possible. In Sevi’s mind, I was an amazing person who turned him into a mage with but several weeks of training. The truth was that the time of his awakening had been close at the time and I had only given a tiny bit of help… But no one knew that.

I nodded with a face as solemn as August’s—the priest seemed to notice that I was mimicking him as his forehead gained another wrinkle.

“…I’ll do my best!”

“Work us to the point of not dying, please!”

“I don’t like d-dying, but… I’ll try hard…!”

Nova, Sevi, and even the timid Julieta showed determination in their eyes. Was it because they were kids in their teens? There was a naïve and straightforward side to their reactions. Maybe that was why Mayer’s words cut even deeper into my heart.

“Their deaths will hit you harder than you think,” he had said, sighing. “It is different from the first playthrough.”

Honestly, I had bluffed in front of Mayer. I talked as if I was experienced, I had never had a corps member die because of my decision. I had never been handed such responsibility before, in the first place. All I did was stay by the sides of people at their last breath.

It was natural for Mayer to be serious regarding the deaths of comrades as he was a man who carried a sense of responsibility. Nevertheless, I still didn’t think that he had the right idea. Drawing lines didn’t solve anything by itself. If one was to take responsibility, then they better do it right.

I took a deep breath, in and out. The lives of these people were already in my hands; therefore, I just had to keep them from dying. I had to make them so strong that they wouldn’t die from most things. Turn them into men and women worthy of being the last seven heroes to join the final raid.