Dungeon Raiding Is Politics (3)
In politics of this sort, the most important thing was understanding the situation around you.
In other words, the people with voting rights were the ones whose choices mattered most.
Since politics was, in the end, a battle of public opinion, it was essential to watch how others reacted.
From that perspective, this wasn’t really the right timing.
Unlike Jung Yura, who already had a firm standing and a voice of her own, I was nothing more than a lowly party member with nothing to my name.
Even if the Red Mercenaries looked on me favorably, there was only so much noise a handful of them could make.
For now, the first order of business was to leave my mark on this expedition. That was task one.
“I’m truly sorry.”
So I apologized.
I could feel eyes turning toward me naturally.
“I know this must be a little uncomfortable. I also understand that you’re anxious. I’m well aware that it’s awkward to set out on an expedition with us, who only just joined you. If you’ll give us one more chance, I’ll do everything I can to make sure I fulfill my role.”
“But this is….”
“I understand what you’re worried about. Please, just one more chance. We won’t let a hole form in the formation.”
The important thing was to put as much sincerity into it as possible.
A heartfelt apology was a good way to shake the public’s heart.
Sure enough, a few people in my field of vision were nodding.
I was showing as much respect as I could.
Jung Yura also looked a little taken aback.
She would have understood that this was a place where she had to give ground, at least once.
“Sorry.”
Even Park Deokgu lowered his head.
In truth, she wasn’t the one who should have been apologized to.
Nothing had happened to her because of what had just gone down.
At the end of the day, it was either we died or we lived.
He might have been able to force his opinion through a little if he pushed it now, but he wasn’t an idiot who couldn’t read the room.
“Dungeon conquest isn’t a joke. Honestly, I’m not thrilled with asking for another chance either, but… I’ll watch you a little longer.”
“Thank you.”
It was only natural for me to bow slightly.
Park Deokgu, who seemed oddly moved, opened his mouth toward me.
“Hyung. Well… I don’t even know what to say.”
“It’s fine, Deokgu. Anyone can make a mistake. Don’t be scared—just keep your wits about you, and you’ll manage.”
“Hyung, hyung.”
When I gave him a few light pats on the back, the idiot started sniffing like he was about to cry.
If something had gone wrong because of this incident, Jung Yura’s words might have become a little more convincing.
If there had been casualties, there was no way around it; it could easily have been pinned on our blunder.
It might have become the kind of situation no apology could fix.
But in the end, this expedition weathered the crisis almost effortlessly.
There were no serious injuries, and they actually managed to clear the monsters with a bit of breathing room.
That was to say the party had genuinely been in danger, but whatever the case, what had just happened was nothing more than a minor episode.
Watching the frontliners go over to comfort a somewhat downcast Park Deokgu was enough to make me feel almost warm inside.
No one skips the beginner phase.
Everyone had been through hard times.
Even those guys had all been novices once.
No one had ever gone through life without making a single mistake.
That was especially true for tankers.
The burden of guarding the front of the party, the stress of having to block enemies at point-blank range first.
And the pressure of knowing your own mistake might get a teammate killed.
That was the kind of position where you carried every one of those burdens and still had to fight.
It was only natural that they’d feel some strange kinship.
“Blocking attacks is important, but it’s even better if you think more in terms of letting them slide, junior.”
“Th-thank you.”
“Anytime, okay? What matters is bracing yourself with your lower body, got it?”
“I-I understand, senior….”
“That kind of situation we just had, we call it going full flop among ourselves… but when you’re dealing with medium or large monsters, everyone goes through it at least once. The fact that you didn’t get flattened into a pancake already makes you impressive.”
“Flattened….”
“Yeah. This guy froze up so badly the first time he faced a medium monster that he couldn’t even move.”
“Hey, didn’t I tell you not to bring that up?”
“Actually, the fact that you went down like that at all means you were brave, brother. It means you faced it properly instead of running. No need to be glum. Even if you go down, if you can get back on your feet and hang on stubbornly, that’s enough. Your party members aren’t all weaklings either. Trust the allies behind you and keep holding the line to the very end. With that mindset, you can do anything.”
“Thank you, sir….”
“So cheer up.”
“Don’t go falling over again next time.”
“Then you’d get mocked for the rest of your life! Pffft! Going full flop. I’m speaking from experience, so listen carefully.”
Watching them banter about seniors and juniors and brothers and all that made me realize the invisible community among frontliners was even tighter than I’d expected.
They were technically a fairly prestigious class, and there weren’t many of them to begin with, so it made sense they’d trade information among themselves.
Seeing Park Deokgu surrounded by those big men made me feel strangely pleased.
I didn’t particularly want to join in their sweat-soaked brotherhood of shoulder pats and muscle flexing, but from a distance it was a decent scene.
If it were me, I’d have approached it differently.
The world was always on the side of the weak.
Park Deokgu, now wearing a slightly brighter expression as he smiled in my direction, looked rather cute.
“Hyung!”
“Deokgu. Take this over to those gentlemen, would you?”
“Huh?”
“It’s a stamina potion. It’s better than the stuff you can buy in shops. They probably taught you a lot, so you should return the favor.”
“Ah. Right, I should! Thank you, hyung!”
I watched Park Deokgu hustle off toward the burly group again.
That was what you called social life.
If you put a value on it, this was an excellent chance to learn all sorts of tricks in exchange for a stamina potion that wasn’t worth even five gold.
Park Deokgu needed to stick with their community a little longer.
That would be good for us too.
Kim Hyunsung also nodded, sending Park Deokgu his encouragement.
“It’s from our hyung!”
“We’ll be sure to appreciate it, Kiyoung!”
“This is clearly a rather high-grade potion… did something like this really exist on the market?”
“No. There aren’t even any properly appraised potions out there yet, so… I guess Blue didn’t hire an alchemist for nothing.”
Of course, raising my own stock in the process was a nice bonus.
In any case, the party slowly began pushing deeper into the dungeon.
Even as they moved, the burly men kept teaching Park Deokgu little things here and there, and after the next monsters appeared, no further accidents occurred.
The big frontliners from the same side had been subtly looking after Park Deokgu.
All they really did was steady him when he looked like he might fall or pat him on the back, but little by little he was getting used to fighting monsters.
That didn’t mean he made no mistakes at all.
There were still plenty of small errors, and Jung Yura was using them as food.
Of course.
She wasn’t being as blatant about it as before.
“Haa….”
She’d let out a sigh like she wasn’t pleased.
“It feels a little unstable.”
But there weren’t many people agreeing with her. If anything, it was the perfect example of an echo in an empty cave.
“Maybe it’s because there are so many people, but it seems a bit messy. We could have finished things off a little faster….”
“Haha. Still, we’re moving along safely, aren’t we?”
“I’m just saying it’s a little disappointing. I feel like we could do better… though maybe it’s just like we’re getting stuck every so often.”
“I suppose that’s because we’re not a perfect party. If this were an expedition from the same guild, our teamwork would have been a little sharper, but that isn’t the case here, is it? I’m sure we’ll improve with time.”
“Yes. Of course we should. If we don’t improve, that’d be a problem. This isn’t like you at all.”
“Haha…. Then let’s take a short break.”
“Sure.”
That was the general situation.
I slowly moved forward.
Of course, I was heading toward Choi Younggi.
I wasn’t looking to have some deep conversation or anything. I simply thought we’d eventually need to talk at least once, and since we’d just stopped to set up camp, this seemed like the right time.
“Mr. Choi Younggi.”
“Ah! Mr. Kiyoung!”
He looked genuinely glad to see me.
A natural reaction.
He was dealing with the Mercenary Queen’s man, after all.
“You’ve been working hard.”
“No, no, not at all. Please, sit down here.”
“How has Lady Cha Heera been?”
“Haha. I was actually planning to bring that up.”
Jung Hayan was still being held by the Magic Guild. I didn’t need to worry about that side too much.
“Our master kept telling us to take extra good care of you, Mr. Kiyoung, honestly. Haha.”
“I see.”
“Even so, I’m sorry we haven’t been able to look after you properly in every way.”
“No, I understand. I was already being shown a lot of consideration as it was… if I got special treatment on top of that, it would have felt a little awkward.”
“Ah. Th-that….”
He probably had a vague idea of what I was talking about. He glanced briefly toward Jung Yura before quietly nodding and continuing.
“I’m sorry about what happened a moment ago. I should have paid a little more attention….”
“No, no. The fault was on our party, after all. In fact, I’m very grateful to the others for understanding. I was truly thankful when you stepped in to stop it.”
“Not at all. There were mistakes at first, but you’re adapting very well. It really does feel like you’re the sort of newcomer everyone places their hopes in. When I met you, Mr. Kiyoung, I was honestly a clueless brat. Thanks to our master paying so much attention to me, I’ve managed to grow this much.”
“Haha.”
“I heard that our master and you were lovers back when she was still on Earth.”
……
I was a little thrown by this new setting I’d never heard before, but I gave a slight nod.
“I also heard that you helped her a great deal when things were especially difficult for her… our master said you were her benefactor, Mr. Lee Kiyoung.”
That was another new setting.
“Yes… yes. I do remember something like that, but….”
“If you’re our master’s benefactor, then you’re my benefactor too. Without the Mercenary Queen, I wouldn’t be who I am now either.”
Still, it was a pretty good kind of setting.
Thanks, Cha Heera.
I almost wanted to applaud Cha Heera for coming up with such a refreshing setup.
Although Jung Hayan, who was staring at me for some reason, was a little distracting, she probably couldn’t hear the details properly.
“You don’t need to take it so seriously. It wasn’t really help or anything….”
“Hahaha. If that wasn’t help, then what is? You might as well say you saved her life several times over.”
What the hell are you talking about?
I had no idea what sort of nonsense he’d decided to spin.
But the important thing right now wasn’t my past with Cha Heera.
What mattered was that the leader of this party, Choi Younggi, had a favorable impression of me.
I’d thought he was a decent guy already, but it looked like he was even better than I’d expected.
The way he seemed determined to help me however he could made it clear the party that had come from the Red Mercenaries was practically my own backyard.
Even if a serious conflict ever came up, this was solid support I could count on.
When I glanced over at Jung Yura, who was staring this way with a face full of obvious displeasure, the corners of my mouth lifted of their own accord.
If I could raise my voice at her, this would’ve been the perfect time to say a few things.
In politics, the most important thing of all was undoubtedly this:
Take care of the people’s livelihood.