Chapter 135

The mercenaries murmured with serious faces because Joshua's instructions seemed acceptable to the Awakened, but not to them. The mercenary captain approached Joshua through the darkness and began snapping at him aggressively. I couldn't understand German, but it was obvious that his enraged voice was condemning Joshua for taking away their weapons.

"Bastards. Weapons. Only the Awakened use. Right?" Braun Nase said in his elementary English.

"Hey!"

Michael raised his voice at Braun Nase as if he had reached the limit of his patience with the other man's poor English skills and the way he flattered me. Joshua and the mercenary captain were arguing fiercely on one side, and Michael and Braun Nase were bickering on the other side of our party. Moreover, the others were constantly quarreling because of their current circumstances.

I was just a sideliner as my only goals were to raise Joshua as the guild leader of the Revolucion and help more people survive from this dungeon than in the past. On top of that, I was curious about Michael's growth. This was not only the birthplace of the world's most powerful armed force but also the beginning stage of Michael's journey, the best fighter in the past, to become a true Awakened.

"Say something to Braun Nase. He's acting as if he will even die for you."

Michael was fretting, and he cleared his throat immediately as if he had realized that he had gone too far.

"Ahem."

"Michael, you are the party leader," I said.

The captain of the attack squad was Joshua as he decided to take the gold box to reward himself. I didn't intervene or comment on his decision and simply gave him advice on the stat points he received from the box that enabled him to upgrade his Sense. I told him the possible side effects and things to look out for once Sense was upgraded.

"It's bad. It's stupid. Michael. You are the party leader."

The Braun Nase shoved Michael, but they were not the only ones fighting as others began bashing each other. Joshua was overwhelmed and busy dealing with the furious mercenary captain. People tangled up in the dark, and furious voices burst out from every direction.

"Ahhhhh!"

Some mercenaries even screamed as if they were on the verge of madness. The guy who shouted got up sprinted frantically, and crashed into a wall that suddenly appeared.

Bam!

His face was smashed beyond recognition. He covered his face and groaned loudly, but no one checked on him.

"Shhh..."

I approached the mercenary and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and he shuddered.

"Shhhhh..."

He buried his face in my chest and burst into tears. Given that he had a scar that must have been done by a knife on one side of his face, he seemed to have lived a tough life. He must have belonged to a gang that handled dangerous tasks or attended real war zones. Although he had gone through these hardships, he was now crying like a baby in my arms.

Civilians like you should've stayed outside.

"Lee! Lee-!"

Michael called me, and I helped the mercenary go back into the mercenary crowd. Things had become more violent in a short period of time. The mercenary captain who had been arguing with Joshua was lying on the ground, covered with blood, and the enraged Awakened were kicking him mercilessly. The mercenaries weren't aware of the situation and just listened to the sound of beating up with distressed looks. They were going through the most difficult times here.

"Stop!"

Joshua shouted, and those clouting the mercenary captain were the only ones who listened to him. The others were still beating each other up, so Joshua gave Michael a glance to shut them up. Michael punched Braun Nase, then ran around the group to stop fights.

The violence here was quite tame compared to the Trial Tests I had experienced as we had not received any quests that asked to kill each other here. That was why I believed that most of us would be able to stay alive and leave this dungeon.

***

When the chaos finally subsided, Joshua announced the new rules. The executive branch was composed of the party leaders, and anyone who was deemed to cause confusion or harm in the group would be in a trial that required voting to determine if the punishment would be necessary or not. The interesting point was that Revolucion's traditional system from the past had been introduced now. Utilizing a system where everything was controlled by a single commander was common, but Joshua must have admitted that it was difficult to do so at the moment.

This new system would continue in the future as Joshua utilized democratic methods to judge and punish troublemakers. In addition, Revolucion had placed a differential in the voting rights based on the Awakened class, like The City of London[1].

"The CEO said he gets four votes since he's the captain of the squad, party leaders get two votes, and the remaining members get one vote each... He said that this system will be not only applied to punish violators but also on other important issues," Michael translated for me.

He began treating me with more respect since I had killed seven pawns, but that had been a piece of cake for me. I had not even shown one-fourth of my abilities and power yet.

"If you have a complaint, tell him now so that you don't get stressed out later. Also, I think you should get more votes," he continued.

Michael seemed to be concerned that I only got one vote to use.

"Ten. No, no. One hundred. You should have one hundred. I speak to Joshua, okay?"

Braun Nase behaved the same even after being punched by Michael, and Michael glared at him while gnashing his teeth.

"By the way, the mercenaries don't have the right to vote. I can't believe that they have become burdens. What do you want us to do with them?" Michael asked.

Joshua was about to have a meeting with party leaders about that, and Michael had to participate.

"It's up to you guys. I'll just vote," I responded.

"Lee, you need to step up and do something. You're aware that everyone's looking at you and will follow your orders first. You should help shore up the CEO's pride," he said.

"You are still calling him 'the CEO?' That puppy?" I stared at him.

I called Joshua a 'puppy' on purpose to Michael, hoping that he would get out of Joshua's shadow. However, it seemed like he had already stopped relying on Joshua.

"You're rejecting it. Someone has to be the leader whether he is elected or not," he pressed me.

"Go. Everyone is waiting for you."

"Come with me. We need your advice desperately," he almost begged.

"I've already told everything to that puppy, so it's his problem now."

"I'll ask you one thing. Do you have the escape insignia?" he questioned.

"Of course."

"Can we only get it from the boxes?" he asked.

"You can also cut off a person's skin where the insignia is embedded and swallow it," I said casually.

Michael hurriedly checked Braun Nase's reaction, but the other man's English proficiency wasn't at the level to understand our conversation regardless of how hard he tried.

"...Stop joking around. Although it's true, you must have told someone else," he said.

"No, I have not."

"Please don't say that again," he replied.

Michael stood up to attend the meeting, and it ended after a while. The first item was whether or not to keep the mercenaries with us or to leave them in the entrance room. The decision was made through voting, and there were thirty-two votes in total: four votes from the attack captain, two votes from each of the four party leaders, and one vote for each of the remaining twenty people. Therefore, the option that got more than sixteen votes would be the final decision.

The expected resistance of the mercenaries was completely neglected as the Awakened knew that overpowering them in the dungeon was easy despite their numbers. When the election was about to begin, things became hectic as the mercenaries rose with indignation. Joshua gave instructions to party leaders only with a gesture, and Michael brought both Braun Nase and me to Joshua. The mercenaries couldn't follow us because they couldn't see anything. They wandered in the darkness relying only on sound, so they looked like zombies.

We quickly voted in a corner, and twenty-one votes wanted to bring the mercenaries with us while ten were against it. The last one was an abstention vote from me. In conclusion, we had decided to take the mercenaries, but we weren't doing it out of goodwill. The next item on the agenda was about that.

「Should we use them as strategic materials?」

It meant we would use them as human shields or inducements depending on the situation. Eighteen votes were against it, thirteen were in favor, and one abstained.

「Should we restrain them?」

Twenty-five were in favor, six were against it, and one abstained.

「Should we provide an equal amount of food supply to them?」

Twenty were against it, eleven were in favor, and one abstained.

As a result, we would bring and restrain them, but wouldn't use and equalize our food supply with them. It was such an antinomic decision, but there was nothing we could do as the human mentality was complex. Even without me, things would have gone the same way. Revolucion's traditional system had been created through this process, and the fate of mercenaries would have been determined by the votes of the Awakened.

Joshua ordered us to start hunting the mercenaries instead of monsters.

"...That's fucking cruel."

Michael frowned, and everyone began moving. A group of five Awakened jumped onto the mercenaries who were wandering in the dark. Then, I heard shouts from all directions.

"Are you guys crazy?"

"You all want a bump?"

"Aaaah!"

Of course, I heard the screams of the mercenaries who were panicking as well.

***

Although the harmony of newly organized parties and the entire attack position had become better, casualties were unavoidable. I intervened as minimally as possible since Joshua was already within my grasp, and the groups derived from Revolucion would soon be under my command. I needed to teach them how to catch fish since I couldn't do everything for them and shove food in their mouths. That was the end of the first day.

Joshua enforced a vote again.

「Should we use mercenaries as strategic materials?」

Six votes were in favor, six were against, and twenty abstained. In tied cases, the decision rested not on a re-vote, but on the authority of the attack captain. Nevertheless, everyone looked at me instead of Joshua, and the mercenaries who were tied by a rope also looked around anxiously after the rumbling sound.

Joshua approached me and he gulped. Then, he led me away from others, and it was obvious what he wanted to discuss, so I spoke first.

"Choose whichever side you want," I said.

"...I abstained," he whispered.

I laughed inwardly as I knew that four out of six votes in favor were his.

"What is the point of using them as strategic material? It'll only aggravate the chaos," I told him.

The cost of abandoning humanity was disastrous. People learned that lesson bitterly from the Trial Tests, so there was no need to learn it now.

"If you keep acting like this, your group will soon be mine even if you don't want to. Well, no. It will become mine as soon as I say one word right now," I said.

Joshua was silent.

"I don't want it to happen either. This group should be yours," I added.

Because Revolucion was Joshua's, and he was mine. There was nothing simpler than this.

"If you... really don't want that to happen... shouldn't you take a step back?" He stared at me.

"I'll leave right away if you want me out," I said firmly.

He didn't answer as I brought shame on him, whose pride was totally crushed.

"You shouldn't show this kind of expression to me and your group," I added.

"What the hell are you talking about? My patience is almost gone," he replied sharply.

"Don't hold your anger in. Just laugh and relax like a true leader," I answered.

"Ugh..." He lowered his gaze.

"I'm not going to tolerate it anymore. If you look at me like that again, the next item on the agenda will be about your life. Smile if you understand, puppy," I snapped at him sharply.

I grabbed his hand, and he couldn't shake it off no matter how much he tried. Then, I returned to the group and raised our hands in front of everyone.

"Michael, translate! I have every confidence in him," I shouted.

Joshua added a word, and Michael began interpreting in both German and English.

"The CEO wants to proceed with an open ballot without an abstention choice from now on. He put it to a vote, so let's start voting now."

...? What is this novice doing?

1. London's financial district is called the City of London. Not sure where the author got the voting right differential. Would be helpful if someone could shed some light! ☜