“Y-yes, I understand you two are working extremely hard. I will consider it.” Venetim sounded a little intimidated.
“Talking outta your ass again, huh,” I said. “Was that supposed to be a joke?”
“Even I could tell that was a lie,” Dotta chimed in.
“Ha-ha-ha. We can continue this conversation another time. More importantly…”
He forced a laugh and changed the subject. What a worthless piece of garbage.
“Getting back to the previous topic… What are you two doing now? You still need to save the Holy Knights… If they’re wiped out, we’ll be in a lot of trouble, right?”
How could he be so flippant about this? He was just as involved as we were.
“Yeah, no way,” Dotta groaned. “We’re getting out of here. If the Holy Knights wanna fight and die, that’s their problem.”
“I know, I know. But aren’t you forgetting something? If over half of them die, that means both of you die as well, and who knows what they’ll do after they resurrect you. They might burn you alive all over again for all I know. And that would really hurt…I assume.”
“Ngh…” Dotta wrapped his hands around his head and looked at me. “What should we do, Xylo?”
“Wipe that pathetic expression off your face! What is there to think about?” Teoritta scolded. She must have understood what was going on from Dotta’s whining. She glared at him and stuck her finger right in his face. “There is no need to run away. We must move straight on to our next battlefield. Isn’t that right, my knight?”
“All right, I heard both of your opinions, so could you be quiet for a second?”
I couldn’t gather my thoughts with both of them babbling at me. I took a deep breath and decided to deal with Venetim first.
“Venetim, think you could negotiate some sort of deal for us? It’s the only thing you’re good at, after all.”
“Very well. Give me some time, and I will see what I can do.”
“Hey! Don’t you lie to me. You’d never agree that easily!”
I immediately called his bluff.
This man breathed lies. I knew how he thought, and I knew the position he was in. As our commander, he directed us from outside the forest, all the while under the supervision of a royal correctional officer.
That meant he was the only person who could assess the situation on the fly and control this penal hero unit full of hardened criminals. At least, that was what he needed the royal correctional officer to believe, and he was doing a good job of that so far.
Venetim was unreliable and useless for the most part, but he was also shrewd and clever, and somehow he’d managed to earn the affection of his fellow criminals anyway.
That was the image he had to project, and he was good at it thanks to his experience as a con man. Once, he’d fooled the royal family, and he’d been in the middle of selling off their castle to a circus when he was caught. That was how good he was.
The real Venetim was indeed unreliable and useless, but none of us liked him, let alone trusted him. Even in emergencies, he was all talk. Whenever he said he would help or look into something, it was an act. He wasn’t really going to do anything.
And now that the exasperatingly noble Holy Knights were rushing recklessly into battle over some stupid sense of honor, Venetim had come to the conclusion that we were all going to die.
“Allow me to handle things, Xylo. I am your commander, after all. I need to show off from time to time.”
“You’re only saying that ’cause you know the correctional officer can’t hear us!”
“Now, if you will excuse me…”
“Trust me. You’re gonna pay for this later—… Oh. Hold on.”
I suddenly realized there was a way Venetim might prove halfway useful.
“Where are the Holy Knights right now? Have they made contact with the enemy?”
“Uh…”
A long pause followed. He probably hadn’t bothered to check until now. Or maybe he was checking something with the correctional officer. Stop wasting my time and have that info ready when you call, dammit.
“They seem to be encamped a little to the north at the…uhhh…second crossing along the Purcell River. Sounds a little far, huh?”
“That’s not far at all.”
I rolled my eyes in renewed irritation. He didn’t even know where we were. At least he’d done something for us. We were lucky the Holy Knights were so close.
In that moment, did I really have a choice?
We could have given up on saving the Holy Knights and hung ourselves. As heroes, that was always an option. We’d probably suffer an awful resurrection, but maybe we’d get lucky.
…No way. I can’t do that.
This was a bad habit of mine—a part of me I couldn’t change. Sighing in resignation, I glanced back over my shoulder at the beaten-down soldiers, most too exhausted to speak.
“What are you guys gonna do?”
“…We’ve already decided to fight and die by Captain Kivia’s side,” said the youngest soldier, staggering to his feet. “We have to meet up with the others.”
“Don’t even bother. You’ll only get in the way. Your allies will die while we’re protecting your wounded asses.” I spoke harshly on purpose. I was used to being despised. “Head south.”
We’d driven back the faeries attacking this detachment. All I had to do now was distract the enemy and meet up with the main force.
“The surveillance unit keeping an eye on us is stationed at the southern end of the forest. Once you reach them, make sure to punch a guy named Venetim for me. I’ll be on my way to see your captain to air all our grievances.”
“…Unbelievable.” The young soldier seemed to understand what I meant by “airing our grievances.” “You’re really going to help us withdraw?”
“Not like I have much of a choice. I formed a pact with the goddess.”
The soldiers looked conflicted, like they weren’t sure how to feel about any of this. It made sense. They’d been saved, but their saviors were penal heroes. Plus, one of them had formed an unauthorized pact with a goddess. Confusion was the logical response.
To think I’d end up doing this again.
With another deep sigh, I turned around and looked at Dotta. “Nothing has changed. We’re continuing the mission as planned.”
“Xylo…” Dotta looked extremely uneasy. “I’ll ask you one last time. Are you really planning on defeating the demon lord? Are you out of your mind?”
“I know what I’m doing. First, we’re going to meet up with the Holy Knights before they get routed. That’s the only thing we can do.”
“Oh my!” It was Teoritta who reacted first, clapping her hands together in pure bliss. “That’s my knight! It appears luck is on my side. You are worthy of being my disciple.”
“I vote nay.” Dotta raised a hand, looking less than motivated. “We might have the goddess’s power, but defeating a demon lord is another story. Xylo, you don’t want to die for the Holy Knights, right? They did this to themselves. After all, you—”
“That’s exactly why I’m doing this.”
I knew what he wanted to say. I used to be a Holy Knight myself until I was expelled and wound up here. I despised them, but I hated the foolish nobles backing them even more. They were the ones who set me up and put me here. And eventually, I planned on killing them. But for now…
“You’re right—I don’t like them. But you know what annoys me most? People talking shit about me, saying that’s why I did what I did.”
“Sounds like you’re a little too self-conscious to me. If people are gonna talk, let them.”
“I don’t have the patience for that.”
Like hell I was gonna let those scumbags think I was some petty bastard.
In the end, it came down to my old, bad habit. I knew how unhealthy it was. Put simply, I hated being underestimated. I wasn’t going to let anyone look down on me, which was exactly how I wound up in this mess to begin with.
“Come on. Time to go.”
After giving Dotta a good kick, I grabbed a sword stuck in the ground and pulled it out. It was a sharp silver blade, clean and glittering. As expected of a sword summoned by a goddess.
“If we don’t save the Holy Knights, we’re done for.”