𝐈𝐃𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊: 𝐀 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝟐
What took years to build up is wiped out by a single mistake.
The current situation of the Gold-lined Butterflies is exactly that.
“Damn it! It was just one mistake!”
Luke gulps down his drink.
In the commander’s room in broad daylight.
A transport request from Gaillia to the royal capital.
It wasn’t a particularly difficult job. At least not for the Gold-lined Butterflies.
They are a clan with over fifty members. There’s no need to worry about being attacked by bandits.
They were supposed to deliver military supplies to the royal capital using the normal highway.
However, they were delayed by heavy rain on the way.
To make matters worse, part of the highway collapsed due to the rain, making it difficult for the horse-drawn carriage to pass.
In the end, they had no choice but to take a detour by going back a bit, and they arrived at the royal capital three days past the deadline.
It was the worst.
To make matters worse, they failed a request from the royal family.
Luke can’t forget the look in the eyes of the military commander who greeted them, as if he were looking at garbage.
It was the same look he received from the adults in the town when he was a child growing up in an orphanage.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”
He had been running all this time to prove them wrong.
Yet, just because he was three days late, he was stripped of his status as a royal purveyor.
It’s the commander’s fault.
A commander should be able to plan a strategy that can win even if the supplies are delayed by three days.
He’s just blaming the Gold-lined Butterflies for his defeat in a minor skirmish with the rebel army.
Alcohol burns his brain, coloring Luke’s thoughts with blame for others.
No matter how he tries to justify it, it’s clear that the one who was late is at fault.
To begin with, it’s absurd to depart seven days before a journey that is expected to take seven days.
A competent commander would have departed with at least a three or four day buffer.
If he had done so, the heavy rain would have hit after they arrived at their destination.
Of course, this is hindsight.
“It’s okay, Luke. We just had bad luck.”
Fīna gently strokes her upset lover’s back.
It’s not constructive at all, and it’s a meaningless consolation.
What they should be thinking about now is not whether they were lucky or unlucky, nor discussing the incompetence of the military commander.
Doing so won’t contribute to solving the situation at all.
“Fīna. . .”
But Luke escapes.
He buries his face in his lover’s ample chest.
As if he thinks that while he’s doing that, someone else will somehow take care of things.
“Where’s the commander?”
“He’s fooling around with the vice-captain.”
“That’s not good.”
Joshua lets out a big sigh at Nicole’s words.
What are they doing at a time like this?
The failure of the request can’t be helped. No, it’s not a problem that can be solved by saying it can’t be helped, but crying over spilled milk won’t put it back in the glass.
They messed up a request from the royal family. They were stripped of their status as royal purveyors. They were fined a large amount of money.
These are tremendous adversities.
But nothing will start if they just lament how hard and painful it is.
They should be taking measures to deal with the aftermath.
“Anyway, all we can do now is apologize. If it were Vice Commander Nel, he would have gone to the client the day after the failure and apologized profusely.”
He would have done anything, like rubbing his head on the ground or bringing a gift, to at least beg to keep the sign of the royal purveyor.
He was a man who could suppress himself for the sake of the clan.
“But what is that woman doing?”
More than a month after the failure, they’re just licking their wounds in the commander’s room.
Are they stupid?
Do they think that spoiling is the only form of love?
“Don’t get angry, Joshua. She became the vice-captain without understanding anything about managing an adventurer clan. There’s no way she can do a good job. That woman.”
They had stopped even saying the name Fīna.
That woman.
In the end, the Gold-lined Butterflies went wrong after that woman came.
Luke was seduced, Lionel was expelled. She’s quite a poisonous woman.
“At least, she should use her body to seduce the military commander.”
“Joshua. You can’t say that.”
“. . .I’m sorry.”
As if doused with cold water on his heated head, Joshua apologized briefly.
Adventurers are not a group of saints. They do dirty things, and sometimes they break the law.
However, there is one thing they absolutely do not do: offer up a female comrade to a person in power to buy their own peace.
They must never betray their comrades.
“It’s not something to apologize for. I feel the same way, I just don’t say it. It should have been that woman who left the clan, not Vice Commander Nel.”
Nicole’s voice contained a quiet anger.
It might have been deeper and more intense because it was not expressed outwardly.
Like a clear stream with a quiet flow, a strong swirl might be born at the bottom of that river.
“The Commander is no good anymore. He’s completely lost his fangs. He’s no longer an adventurer.”
The figure of Luke, who had risen from nothing relying only on his own abilities and talents, was no longer there.
He’s a worthless man who runs away from reality, runs away from responsibility, and only indulges in pleasure.
“I’m quitting the group. Joshua.”
“Nicole. Are you serious?”
“Fortunately, it seems that even someone like me can be sold high by the [Undertakers].”
“Those guys. . .”
It’s another adventurer clan.
In terms of ability, it would probably be one or two ranks below the [Gold-lined Butterflies]. The number of members should be around twenty.
“Why don’t you come too? Joshua. The treatment will definitely be worse, but still.”
Nicole cut off her words there.
She thought Joshua would understand the part she swallowed.
Whether it’s worth dedicating oneself to the [Gold-lined Butterflies] without Vice Commander Nel.
“. . .Yeah, that’s right.”
The silence Joshua inserted was deep, but not long.
“I’ll quit too. There are no Big Brothers here anymore.”
Lionel physically disappeared, and Luke mentally died.
There’s no more lingering attachment.
Let’s set off. To a new world.
“Take care of me from now on. Nicole.”
“Let’s not end up like that. Joshua.”
They shake hands.
This was the moment of the collapse of the prestigious clan [Gold-lined Butterflies], one of the leading clans in Gaillia.
