To say that the situation in the tavern outside the mine has gotten out of control would be the understatement of the century.
Initially, Sir Maximilian had expected that Jacob Cloud and his team would just be cornered by the accusations of the Knights and Adventurers, which would have given him a good excuse to kick the Champions and the Dark Champions out of the Dungeon for good.
He would have just chalked it up to the rest of the people diving in the Dungeon not wanting Jacob and the others around. And with such an overwhelming majority of people against them, he would have told Jacob that his hands were tied.
But now, the situation has completely defied all his expectations. Somehow, Jacob Cloud has lost his mind and challenged one of the strongest, if not the strongest Knight in the entire tavern.
“This is the day you die, Fake Champion!” The man roars.
“I don’t understand the barking of a wild dog,” Jacob says, getting ready to lunge forward, bending on his knees as if they were coiled springs.
“STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY!” Sir Maximilian takes off his cloak and steps into the middle of the tavern before blood can be spilled. He doesn’t know exactly what all the Rainbow Skills on Jacob’s side can do, but he doesn’t want to risk a bloodbath either way. “Have you all lost your minds?!”
Sir Maximilian has empowered his voice with Mana, making it louder and more penetrating.
The sudden silence that dawns on the tavern is punctuated by a few wooden planks creaking as people take a step back. They recognize the Knight Commander.
They know better than to defy the man. If they do under the current conditions, with a Primordial Dungeon trapping an entire nation, they could very well be executed on the spot.
And before they can gather up the courage to say anything, Sir Maximilian has decided to go ahead with his plan, making a small adjustment.
“Cloud.”
“Sir,” Jacob smiles at the man. “What a surprise seeing you here! I’m glad that you came, you can now execute that man yourself for treason.”
Sir Maximilian’s jaw almost falls to the ground; he has to put a hand on his mouth, almost grabbing at it.
“Cloud,” Sir Maximilian’s voice turns normal again. “You’re the one who broke the law here.”
“Broke the law?” Jacob asks, raising an eyebrow. “Me?”
“You threatened a superior of yours. You might forget it because you’re used to people swaying your way, but this is not the Academy. “
The Knights and Adventurers present all look very satisfied with Sir Maximilian’s words.
“Yeah, he deserves imprisonment for his behavior,” a Knight says.
“Worse, he deserves death. He threatens a graduated Knight and allies with Cultists? Execute him, I say.”
“Thankfully, the Knight Commander saw his unruly behavior and can now exclude him from this expedition.”
Sir Maximilian almost smiles when he hears the last comment. But he has to keep up the serious face.
“Indeed,” he says. “I have no choice but to remove you and your team from the Dungeon, Cloud. You forced my hand.”
“It would be really nice for all of them,” Jacob says with a faint smile on his face. “But I did not break any rule, Knight Commander. And the Academy, as you should know, doesn’t give you the authority to just bar me from entering the Dungeon.”
The crowd is taken aback by the brazen reply.
“Has he lost his mind? Why is he talking back to the Knight Commander?”
“Maybe he truly has a death wish.”
“I’d be happy to fulfill it for him.”
Sir Maximilian himself, hearing Jacob say that in front of everybody, feels like his pride has been hurt. How does Jacob Cloud dare talk back to him like this in public? Who does he think he is?
“You will be confined to your quarters until the end of the expedition,” Sir Maximilian says coldly, staring at Jacob Cloud. “For insubordination, threats to your superiors, and disobeying my orders.”
“Oh,” Jacob purses his lips downward. “Sir, may I say something before you land yourself in trouble with the Academy?”
Sir Maximilian is about to say that no, he cannot, but Jacob Cloud barely pauses before continuing.
“See, that man wanted me to stop entering the Dungeon because of greed. Greed for power that he displayed while civilians are dying. And the rules of the Academy are pretty clear on the priorities a Knight must have during an expedition such as this one.”
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Sir Maximilian suddenly feels his blood go cold. He has been so consumed by scheming to get this kid out of his sight while he takes care of the Primordial Dungeon that he did not realize at all that he—
Jacob Cloud planned for this.
“Therefore,” Jacob continues pointing at the Peak True Diamond Knight with the axe behind Maximilian, “as things stand, that Knight has failed in his duties toward the people. Since they believe that we’re leeching off the Dungeon with Rainbow Skills, they wanted us gone. But it just so happens, sir, that we cleared all twenty-seven quadrants in order for our people and the civilian population to have a clear area to fortify and establish a security perimeter inside the Dungeon. This way, they don’t need to suffer the continuous Mithril Poisoning.”
Sir Maximilian is not a fool. He’s gotten heaps of reports on Jacob Cloud straight from the Academy on his way to Ashenmere. He knows very well that the kid in front of him is touted as some mastermind of strategy.
No, no. I haven’t fallen for it, yet. This might be true, but he still acted insubordinately.
“You did well in the Dungeon,” Sir Maximilian says, glossing over the matter at hand. “But you still did threaten a superior with death. As you might know, that is a capital offense. I’m showing leniency in wanting to put you on house arrest until the end of this, Cloud. And you can either comply of your own volition, or be forced to.”
The crowd had looked visibly worried when hearing Jacob Cloud’s words moments before, thinking they had overstepped. But now, they are all relaxed seeing that Sir Maximilian is on their side.
“Yeah, let’s put the Fake Champion in jail!”
“Yeah, him and those bastards should all be imprisoned!”
“And let’s execute the Cultists!”
Sir Maximilian notices the Dark Champions tensing at that. But he says nothing.
Let them squirm, he thinks. A bunch of brats and criminals.
That’s when Jacob, however, takes a step toward Sir Maximilian, making him frown. Then, he takes another and now Sir Maximilian clenches his jaw.
“What are you doing, Cloud?” The man asks angrily. “Have you decided you want to forfeit your life?”
“Me?” Jacob says, taking a few more steps until he’s right in front of Sir Maximilian, eye to eye. “I just wanted to give you this, sir. With all the fighting, I must have completely forgotten about it. I’m so, so sorry.”
Sir Maximilian looks down and sees a roll of parchment in Jacob’s hand. He feels his stomach falling. He snatches it from the Leader of Champions and opens it quickly, scanning its contents.
Before he can say anything, Jacob takes one step back and turns toward the crowd.
“I know that some of you might not be familiar with the term, but the Champions, in order to work lawfully with our new partners,” Jacob points loosely at the team, “needed, in my opinion, a bit more than just the Knight Commander’s approval. I wanted both halves of my team to be comfortable. So, just out of concern for them, I had the Headmaster issue a Special Quest.”
The crowd looks at one another, confused.
“So what? Is he stupid? He still broke the law!”
“He threatened a Knight and now he’s babbling about quests?”
“Maybe the Fake Champion is just grasping at anything in order not to be executed?”
But Sir Maximilian, seeing the sigil of the Headmaster, has to struggle a lot in order not to show his true emotions on his face.
“Sir,” Jacob says with a politeness that makes the Knight Commander wish he could poke his eyes out, “would you like for me to explain to them what it means?”
“Jacob Cloud and the others,” Sir Maximilian says, not in response to him but to the crowd, “can be assigned Special Quests. Special Quests are only accessible to Champions because the Champions are a legal entity separate from normal students and Knights once they graduate. This is because they have larger responsibilities in exchange for larger opportunities. To avoid having conflicts with other students or Knights, Champions on a Special Quest have commanding authority over anybody but those in charge of a more specific operation.”
“Which means,” Jacob smiles at the Peak True Diamond Knight who’s still holding his axe, pointing exactly at the weapon, “that you, sir, committed treason. Not me. Our only superior here is the Knight Commander.”
The Peak True Diamond Knight looks over to Sir Maximilian who’s forced to nod briefly toward him.
The Knight Commander then turns toward Jacob Cloud and says, “Come to my office.”
Sir Maximilian is sitting in his office, examining a stack of documents that Jacob Cloud gave him.
“Smart of you to withhold all the reports,” Sir Maximilian says, looking over the data of the Champions and Dark Champions clearing up all the quadrants assigned. “It’s almost as if you had planned all of this.”
“The Knight Commander flatters me,” Jacob smiles. “I’m not that smart. I was just taken by anger when that man insulted us. In fact, sir, if you would take a look at this.”
Jacob gives another report to Sir Maximilian who immediately goes through it.
The Knight Commander raises both eyebrows.
“It took a while to organize, but now, Garros can use his Sword of Unending Light in order to make sure civilians don’t die.”
Sir Maximilian looks at the plan that Jacob Cloud has hatched and has to lean back in his seat, glancing at the Leader of Champions.
The Squire of the young man in front of him refused to ally with the Dark Champions. This much is known to everybody in the chain of command. Yet, Jacob Cloud has apparently put his Squire onto a different task.
“You had your Squire round up the weakest civilians, and with the help of Garros Blackmere and his Rainbow Skill, you can keep curing the Mithril Poisoning as it keeps showing up.”
“Indeed,” Jacob says. “It’s tricky because even Garros has to stay there all day in order to make sure that they are treated properly, but I have Lancelot, Thalric Ashenvale, Lyssaena Ashenmere, and my other student, Korim, help him go through Ashenmere and find all the sick people. Now, they’re in the same neighborhood and Garros is stationed there while the others keep searching for the sick.”
“You stopped the disease since it affects the weakest by using Garros Blackmere’s Rainbow Skill to fully heal them every time the disease shows up,” Sir Maximilian says, looking straight at Jacob.
“I imagined that you wouldn’t be happy assigning me and the others to the Vanguard, so I sweetened the deal, sir,” Jacob admits candidly.
“They said that Vice Principal Baalrek was able to tell lies from the truth and the intentions in the heart of others because of his Primordial Magic,” Sir Maximilian says. “You must have inherited that as well, I suppose.”
Jacob is taken aback by the sudden mention of King Baalrek and swallows.
Sir Maximilian looks at the report and then at Jacob.
“You’ll be assigned to a Vanguard group of my choosing. We’re starting to breach Peak True Diamond Rank territory, with the monsters getting stronger and stronger there.”
“We’re ready, sir,” Jacob says but stops when he sees the Knight Commander raising a hand.
“You will sign a document, Cloud. You will be subordinated to the commander of your team. I can’t have you acting independently while the lives of others depend on it.”
“Yes, sir. I want nothing more than to help, sir. I want to stop the Cult of Apocalypse and return Ashenmere to peace.”
Sir Maximilian can see the happiness in Jacob’s eyes at the thought of fighting on the frontlines, and that’s when he adds:
“Sabrina Margrave and Garros Blackmere will be reassigned to the main Vanguard team, however.”