“——I was a fool to expect anything from you. Don’t ever show your faces to me again.”
These were the words contained in the letter from Lord Fennel that greeted Aston and his party, battered and bruised, upon their return to their base in the Royal Capital.
Aston felt as if something was crumbling at his feet.
“P-Please wait a moment. Allow me to explain directly to Lord Fennel.”
Aston desperately pleaded with the black-clad messenger who had delivered the letter. However, the man shook his head.
“Her Ladyship’s birthday has already passed. What do you intend to explain at this late hour?”
“B-But, that’s…”
“Aston. Lord Fennel’s anger isn’t solely due to your failure to complete the subjugation. There should have been some leeway in the schedule. If you thought it was impossible, you could have contacted him sooner. If you had done at least that, Lord Fennel could have avoided the great humiliation of facing his daughter’s birthday empty-handed.”
“Th-That’s…”
Aston clenched his fists and stood there, rooted to the spot.
How could I possibly say it was impossible when the chance to get close to a high-ranking noble was dangling right in front of me?
He swallowed the words that were about to spill from his throat.
“Th…That’s not it.”
“What isn’t it?”
“We were doing well. We were just about to succeed in subjugating the Fire Fox.”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“A, A traitor appeared in the party.”
Aston said to the messenger, who had a puzzled expression, with a serious look on his face.
That’s right. I’ll just blame everything on him.
“Everything was going smoothly, and when we were one blow away from delivering the final strike, that bastard Zenos suddenly interfered.”
“…Zenos?”
The messenger tilted his head.
“That’s odd. I haven’t heard of any member with that name in the ‘Iron Phoenix’.”
“——!”
That’s right. He hadn’t included Zenos’s name in any official settings or documents, to avoid leaving a record of a person from the slums being in the party.
“Now, who exactly is this Zenos…?”
“N-No, I made a mistake. It was Yuma. A bowman named Yuma betrayed us.”
“Hey, Aston! What the hell are you saying?”
Gail, who had been listening from behind, grabbed Aston’s shoulder.
“Shut up! It’s a fact that he was useless, isn’t it?”
The messenger gently stopped the two, who were about to start grappling.
“That’s unfortunate for you, but please resolve party issues within the party. It’s not Lord Fennel’s concern.”
“I-I understand, but…”
Aston released Gail’s hand and bowed deeply to the messenger, almost at a right angle.
“Please. One more, just one more chance!”
Why do I have to bow my head to this mere messenger, when I wouldn’t even do it for a noble?
Without revealing his inner thoughts, Aston continued to bow.
He’d always done well until now. Ever since he was a child, he’d navigated the world by taking advantage of others. He was so close to reaching the top. He absolutely couldn’t afford to stumble here.
The messenger sighed, looking down at the back of Aston’s head.
“I heard that two members of your party are hospitalized with serious injuries. How can you ask for a chance when you failed the request and have only half your members left?”
“That’s no problem. We plan to replenish the party with excellent members immediately, so please just give us one more chance. We will definitely meet your expectations next time!”
Aston’s intensity made the messenger step back as he replied.
“…I’ll convey it to Lord Fennel, just to let him know.”
“Thank you very much!”
Aston saw off the messenger with an exaggeratedly cheerful voice. After the visitor left, Gail confronted Aston.
“Hey, what are you going to do after saying that? We don’t have any leads.”
They could contact the guild and recruit new members. However, naturally, it would cost a considerable amount of money to bring in excellent members.
Due to repeated lavish spending, the money on hand was limited, and now that Lord Fennel had withdrawn his support, their funds were dwindling even further.
“Ah, I see. Are you planning to gather people under the name of the ‘Iron Phoenix’?”
“That’s impossible right now. Annoyingly, the rumor of our failed subjugation is spreading in the guild. It’s hard to make any conspicuous moves for a while.”
“Th-Then, we’re screwed, aren’t we?”
“Don’t worry, Gail. There’s still one more person in our party, right? The slave.”
Gail frowned.
“…Zenos? But he—”
“It’s no problem. He must want to come back too. If I call him, he’ll be crying with joy.”
He didn’t think, nor did he want to think, that Zenos was the party’s savior. But it was true that everything had been going well back then.
Now that the gears were starting to fall out of sync, it was necessary to return to the starting point. He would use Zenos effectively, as he had before, to restore the shine to their fallen reputation.
The phoenix will rise again.
Aston let out a low laugh from his belly.
“It can’t be helped. Be grateful, Zenos. I, the great me, am going to personally go and pick you up.”
Translator’s Note
Aston uses “oresama” which is an extremely egotistical way to refer to yourself, hence “the great me”.
A/N: The protagonist will appear soon.