Ch.6969. Festival (8)

Today was the day Tembris was officially recognized as a team.

The team’s formation was approved due to the significant contributions made by three members in the Canoratlal subjugation and cleanup operations, and the remaining two members’ participation in the Osoptera defense battle.

Goden, who took the position of team leader, gathered all members to announce this fact, and everyone raised their glasses in celebration.

Coincidentally, it overlapped with a festival.

It was as if the festival was blessing their team formation.

But who could have predicted?

That the time they could smile and toast on this wonderful day would last barely a few minutes.

Yes. Currently, far from enjoying the festival, the atmosphere had become clouded due to a clash of opinions.

‘Oh my… how did it come to this?’

Until the announcement about being promoted to an official team, the mood hadn’t been particularly bad.

The turning point in this rapid shift of atmosphere was due to a proposal that team leader Goden brought up shortly after.

“I’m sorry. I should have been more careful with my words. I’ve ruined everyone’s mood on what should have been a good day.”

The proposal itself wasn’t wrong.

Seeing the team leader apologizing as if it were his fault, Michelle couldn’t just sit and listen quietly.

“No, Goden, the truth is…!”

“Michelle. That’s enough.”

“…Senia.”

Senia shook her head at Michelle, signaling her to stop.

It was something that only the two of them should know for now, and for his sake, it was a fact that needed to be hidden.

It was to conceal the identity of someone Michelle was about to reveal while refuting Goden’s self-blame.

With a heavy heart, respecting Senia’s words, Michelle reluctantly swallowed what she wanted to say.

In truth, Senia didn’t want to stop Michelle either. She was just enduring it because rationally, this was the right decision.

In a way, Senia herself was the first to know this fact, so she was restraining herself from speaking despite the urge to do so more than anyone else.

Charlotte also seemed frustrated for some reason, though it wasn’t clear why.

The youngest member, who had maintained the closest relationship among the members, left early for the first time today, saying she was tired.

This alone was quite unusual.

Although she appeared mature and adult-like on the outside, Charlotte was still a child who received plenty of affection from the other team members.

The fact that the youngest, who usually cherished every minute spent with other members, said she wanted to go home early today indicated some kind of emotional change.

So what caused this cloudy atmosphere on the very first day—and during a festival, no less—for a team that had just been officially promoted?

It was because of one person.

The mood had soured from the moment everyone heard the name of the person Goden had mentioned wanting to recruit.

“Is this Junon kid really that problematic…? Hmm…”

Goden stroked his chin as he spoke with a clueless expression.

The three who immediately voted in favor knew Junon and were well aware that there was nothing wrong with him.

Meanwhile, Erika, who had objected to the team leader’s proposal about Junon’s admission, felt like she was going to burst.

‘That guy again.’

That failing student who until recently had been pointed at as the weakest vanguard in E-class, unable to use even a decent spell.

That vanguard who only had a blocking spell, and even that was so mediocre that he was nothing but a nuisance.

The most incompetent and disgusting man in Tembris, who eventually lost even that power completely, becoming a burden and holding others back.

Once again, Junon was scheming to somehow get his foot in the door at Tembris.

‘It must have all been an act. Now you’re showing your true colors, Junon.’

Until recently, she had prevented him from joining the party when he tried to enter without knowing his place, having somehow influenced Michelle.

At that time, judging by his reaction, she thought he had given up.

She had thought she wouldn’t need to worry about him trying to enter Tembris, whether he knew his place or felt guilty and let it go.

But to her surprise, as soon as Junon’s name came up today, voices were immediately raised.

To bring back someone who had stood by and led to the death of a party member into Tembris, the hope of this principality—that was absurd.

Junon. If they knew what that damn bastard would do in the future, not just Goden but none of the others would have even opened their mouths.

Erika lamented that she was the only one in Tembris who knew this.

‘Sigh. If even just one other person knew, we wouldn’t be postponing the discussion but would have cut it off decisively.’

Today, some members seemed particularly supportive of Junon.

To thoughtlessly accept an outsider as a team member right away—they had almost let that garbage of a man back into Tembris again.

She had stood up, raised her voice, recited the team’s principles in detail to emphasize her opposition, but there were too many votes in favor. Three people who knew nothing had agreed.

‘At least Aris bought us some time, thankfully.’

Although the three who voted in favor of Junon’s team admission might have been influenced, fortunately, Aris didn’t seem to be.

Aris argued that Junon’s skills hadn’t been clearly verified yet, and that he was a person with insufficient information.

Moreover, crucially, Tembris was a team of people accepted with specific goals to achieve.

She said it would be difficult to accept him immediately without knowing Junon’s purpose, and decisively, it would be better to ask the person himself if he wanted to join.

If Aris hadn’t mediated like this, a disaster could have occurred today due to the three who unusually failed to maintain neutrality.

In the end, it was fortunate that everyone agreed to disperse and talk about it next time.

Anyway, there was still time.

“…? What’s the matter, Erika?”

“I have something important to tell you, Aris.”

If she could tell the neutral Aris the truth and somehow get her to cast a vote against, there wouldn’t be a problem.

***

Unless it was Charlotte coming to find her, sulking because everyone had gone somewhere without her, it was rare for fellow teammates to visit the dormitory.

Then Erika must have a reason for coming here.

For instance, what she thought about accepting Junon as a new member, as discussed today.

‘I need to be more careful about this.’

One wrong move could lead things in a direction Junon wouldn’t want.

Having let Erika into the room, she planned to manage the situation to avoid any unnecessary conflict.

“Erika, I only have green tea and black tea. Which would you prefer?”

“Just give me cold water. I’m feeling hot inside.”

“Alright.”

With the clinking of cups, drinks were prepared, and some light snacks were set out.

Of course, Erika didn’t seem to care about that, gulping down the cold water as soon as she received it, true to her word about feeling hot.

With a rough “Ahh” that didn’t suit a female student, Erika released some of the heat inside her body and began to speak.

“Aris. What do you think about this matter?”

“What matter?”

“The one where Goden suddenly talked about accepting a new team member today.”

As suspected from Erika coming all the way here… that was indeed what she wanted to discuss.

Seeing Aris delay her answer as if stalling, Erika began to shoot out words in frustration.

“Don’t you think it’s strange? Since when has our team accepted new members so easily?! Aris, you should know best since you’re the most recent addition!”

“…”

“Remember how you had to directly face off against Goden to prove your skills, and how Senia challenged your admission? Don’t you remember being questioned about what kind of doubts you had about the principality’s reality, and even having your commoner status with no title brought up before being accepted?”

“Erika.”

“Don’t try to brush this off like that, Aris. It wasn’t just you—except for Michelle, I also had to clearly answer about my past and purpose.”

After saying this, Erika poured more cold water and gulped it down. It wasn’t just her imagination that the heat seemed to have intensified.

But the source of this heat emanating from Erika was certainly not limited to team admission.

“I understand your point that we need to know about that person properly. So why did you come to me?”

Knowing full well, Aris asked this question.

And Erika took the bait beautifully.

“You might not believe me… but I know what kind of person this Junon is. Enough to make my skin crawl.”

“…Really?”

“He’s someone who abandoned his comrades to save himself and sacrificed others too. He’s absolutely someone we shouldn’t accept!”

At first, she had thought so too.

That Junon was a wicked man who tried to survive alone while carrying the sacrifices of everyone else on his back.

But after meeting him directly and glimpsing parts of his past and feelings from that time, not a trace of ill will remained.

What remained was guilt about him and regret for her own shameful actions.

From that, only one method of atonement had blossomed in the depths of Aris’s heart.

That’s why.

Erika’s very act of cursing Junon felt like cursing the benefactor who had saved her life.

Though she knew better than anyone that she needed to keep all the facts confidential for his sake, she was certain that he wasn’t someone who deserved to be cursed.

Feeling unnecessarily agitated, Aris finally opened her mouth.

“Do you have any evidence?”

***

She was wrong. She had thought Aris was the only one maintaining neutrality and might cast a vote against, but that wasn’t the case.

-‘To prove to others that he abandoned his comrades and sacrificed other people, you need evidence.’

-‘How can there be evidence for such things? It already happened, and the team is gone!’

-‘Usually, if it’s a promising team, you would have heard the name at least once. Or there would be records, right?’

-‘T-That’s…’

-‘If there’s no evidence, then it’s not certain, and I don’t think we need to unconditionally blame one person like that. Clearly, there must have been internal problems for such a thing to happen.’

It was frustrating, but that point was spot on.

Without evidence, claiming Junon had done such things could be contradictory in itself.

But as the conversation continued, it became clear that like the other members, Aris also subtly hinted at supporting Junon.

So Aris was the same after all.

Except for Erika herself, all members of Tembris either approved of Junon’s admission or reserved judgment, saying they should wait and see.

“That bastard… what kind of influence did he put on them?”

At this rate, Junon would bring disaster again, just like before.

No. Perhaps something even worse might happen.

“So I can’t give up yet.”

The moment she gives up, the same procedure will repeat.

He might not be a burden yet, but in the future, he would become one and hold back the Tembris party.

The festival wasn’t over yet.

Although the mood had been quite bad, the team members would be discussing various things in a meeting.

If they hadn’t dispersed, there was still a chance to talk.

“I need to try persuading them once more.”

If necessary, she would even lie to stop it.

Erika headed back to the place where the members had gathered.

Suddenly, Erika’s footsteps stopped at a certain spot.

Was it where the team members had gathered? No, it wasn’t. Then had she met a team member on the way? Not that either.

“…Ha.”

Erika sighed, gritting her teeth as she approached someone sitting on a bench.

And then.

-Slap!

The sound, sharp enough to jolt one fully awake, made their eyes meet.

“Hey, what’s the meaning of this sudden—”

“It’s not sudden, and you know it well, don’t you?”

“…!”

The man’s cheek was turning red from the friction with her palm, but upon recognizing Erika’s face, he looked rather dumbfounded.