Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse-Chapter 192: Agree !

At breakfast the next day, Damian approached Justin and threw a pointed comment at him.

"Did you sleep well? You didn’t come out of the tent much yesterday."

Justin shrugged lightly and responded, "Well, it’s been a while since we met, so we had a lot to talk about. I tried to end it quickly, but I guess it still took too long."

"Is that so? I’m sorry to ask, but can you tell me what you two were discussing yesterday?" Damian asked, his eyes sharp, as if probing for the truth.

From the look on his face, it was clear he had at least ten legitimate reasons ready in case Justin asked, "Why?"

But Justin decided to deliberately betray his expectations.

"Nothing much. I talked about how I’ve been struggling lately, how he seems to be doing well, and asked if he’d be willing to join us after the quest ends... That’s about it."

"...!?"

Damian’s mouth dropped open in shock at Justin’s candid response. He probably hadn’t expected him to actually say anything.

He had likely come to make sure Justin wasn’t keeping secrets, aiming to ensure trust within the alliance. But when an unexpectedly honest answer came out, it seemed to have thrown Damian off balance, leaving him momentarily speechless.

Damian stammered, "You’re not hiding anything at all?"

"Why would I hide anything? What do I have to be ashamed of?"

"The fact that you even had that conversation is the problem! It’s basically like taking away our alliance’s strength!"

"The problem is if we stab you in the back during the quest. If we cooperate until the main quest ends and he decides to switch sides afterward, why would that be an issue?"

"That’s...!"

Damian was about to argue but closed his mouth again, seemingly realizing he didn’t have a strong enough rebuttal.

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"Whether Grayson decides to join me or not is up to him. And as a leader, it’s your job to stop him and prevent your strength from leaving. We’re in different fields."

"...!"

"If you can stop him from coming to us, then I won’t push to recruit him. But if he breaks away from your control, there’s no reason we wouldn’t accept him, is there?"

Damian clamped his mouth shut, his face turning red. He was clearly humiliated, as Justin had essentially told him that his leadership skills were lacking. But it wasn’t a wrong point. As a leader, you need to retain people through your own abilities.

The fact that Grayson was even considering switching sides was a fundamental issue on Damian’s side, not Justin’s.

"And like I said earlier, the important thing right now is the main quest. Whatever happens—whether he joins us or not—will only happen after everything is finished. So just focus on the quest. We’re not going to stab you in the back during the main quest."

"...Understood."

Damian nodded heavily and walked away from Justin. Though his expression was still dark, his steps seemed a little lighter than when he had arrived. He was likely reassured that there would be no betrayal during the quest.

As Justin watched Damian leave, he recalled the conversation he had with Grayson the previous day.

________________________________________

"What are you talking about right now?" Justin stared at Grayson in disbelief.

For a moment, he thought he had heard wrong. Taxes weren’t just a means to fill public coffers for governing a territory—they were a sign of the leader’s power. The act of collecting taxes itself was proof that no one could challenge the leader’s authority.

But Grayson had said they couldn’t collect taxes?

’That means the leader’s authority has completely collapsed.’

Justin couldn’t understand it. How could a united territory of ten regions have fallen into such a state where they couldn’t even collect taxes?

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It might have made sense if a long time had passed since the last wave, but it hadn’t even been a month.

Seeing Justin’s expression, Grayson gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

"I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not like that. It’s more that they messed up from the very start."

"The start? You mean there was a problem with the unification?"

"Yeah. I don’t know all the details, but Damian’s territory was apparently running pretty smoothly before the unification."

Damian had an idealist’s mindset. He believed that everyone should come together to overcome the crisis. They should pull from the front and push from the back, and eventually, everyone would become pioneers and fight together. An ideal vision that, in any territory, at least one person had probably considered.

But most people gave up on such ideals before too long, as there were too many who would just take advantage of goodwill without ever returning it.

"In that sense, Damian hit the jackpot. Not only the pioneers but most of the citizens seemed to agree with his ideals and followed him."

"Huh."

Justin couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise. That was like hitting the lottery. Even if more than half of the people agreed with the leader’s ideals, it only took a few bad apples to ruin everything.

But for Damian to have successfully pushed forward with his idealistic vision meant that almost everyone had followed him.

"That’s incredible. So how did it end up that he couldn’t even collect taxes?"

"It’s not that he couldn’t collect them—he never started. Following Damian’s ideals, it wasn’t the citizens who should be paying taxes. If anything, the pioneers should be giving to the citizens."

"Ah."

So it was similar to what Zachary had attempted before. The difference was that Damian had succeeded, while Zachary had failed.

"As a result, the territory was running pretty smoothly, and the number of pioneers had skyrocketed. The last time I checked, there were more than 50 pioneers at level 10 or above. And that’s just counting the ones who started as citizens and became pioneers."

"...That’s really something. It really is like hitting the lottery."

"But it seems the effect didn’t last long. Things started going wrong after they took the halfling city and two of the leaders surrendered."

"Let me guess—they just kept taking support without doing anything in return?"

"Exactly. And that’s the usual story."

After all, hitting the lottery multiple times was unlikely.

Naturally, the citizens of the other territories were more than willing to take the goodwill but not act in return. For Damian, who had always been rewarded with goodwill when he extended it, this must have come as a shock. But it wasn’t as if he could suddenly change the policies of the territory now.

"As a result, the territory fell into chaos. And when the ten territories unified, it only got worse. Being branded as a fool was just an added bonus. Damn, I should’ve made a faction with the other leaders back then instead of supporting Damian, thinking I’d get something out of it..."

Justin nodded to himself. A leader as soft-hearted as that must have given the old leaders the perfect opportunity to create their own internal organizations. They probably intended to remove Damian and install a new leader if the situation called for it. Some might have ridden on Damian’s coattails, but from Grayson’s reaction, it was clear how things had turned out.

The many pioneers had likely been left behind due to the high risk of rebellion.

’A territory overflowing with pioneers, but with such poor internal unification that it’s a complete mess....’

It was practically a powder keg waiting to explode. Grayson probably wanted to defect to escape before any conflicts erupted and risked getting caught in the crossfire, which could lead to death.

"Now that I’ve explained it all, you know what I want, right? Please, just let me switch sides! I’ll work really hard if you do...!"

Justin silently watched as Grayson pleaded with a desperate expression. A territory filled with pioneers but with poor internal organization—a mess of a territory.

This was valuable information. So much so that Justin thought of a much better plan than just recruiting Grayson.

"Alright, I’ll take you in."

"Really?!"

"On one condition."

"What? Suddenly a condition? You better not get the wrong idea just because I’m asking for this. I don’t have much influence in my current faction."

"That’s fine. I don’t need you to have influence. Just..."

After hearing Justin’s condition, Grayson’s face twisted in frustration.

’Well, he couldn’t reject it in the end.’

Thinking of the sour look on Grayson’s face as he nodded reluctantly brought a smile to Justin’s face. It was a tough condition, but Grayson likely understood the difference between coming with accomplishments and arriving empty-handed. His treatment would vary significantly depending on that.

If he had ambition, he had no choice but to accept the tough condition.

Since it would take some time for the results to appear, Justin decided to focus on the main quest in the meantime.

"Well, we’re almost there."

Justin raised his head to look at the beam of light, now much closer. Not long ago, it had seemed like it would take forever to reach, but now it was only two days away.

If a nearby territory was closer than theirs, someone might have already arrived by now.

’Only leaders with more than a thousand citizens could participate, right?’

If someone had gathered that many under their command, they would certainly have something noteworthy.

Justin was curious about who these leaders would be and quietly anticipated the opportunity that might arise to take advantage of that "something." A sly smile spread across his face as he shouted to the pioneers behind him.

"If you’re done with breakfast, let’s head out! We need to cover as much ground as possible today if we want to arrive with some energy left tomorrow!"

As expected, it took them exactly two more days to reach their destination. Along the way, they encountered several rock-type monsters, including rock golems, that blocked their path. While it took some time, dealing with the monsters themselves wasn’t particularly difficult.

However, despite fighting so many monsters, Zachary still hadn’t completed his second job advancement. His contribution to the monster hunts had been lower than expected.

● "Hah... Huff! I’ve been dealing with documents for so long! Cough!"

● "You’re doing great. That’s what happens when you don’t train regularly."

● "Still, I did well with the documents! The internal affairs... huff!"

● "Tsk. Looks like your second job advancement will have to wait until we’re in the middle of the main quest."

Justin had hoped to complete Zachary’s second job advancement before the main quest, so it was a bit of a disappointment. But with the experience they had accumulated, they were confident that he could advance with just a little more effort.

Setting aside his slight frustration, Justin and his group finally arrived at their destination, where they were left speechless. They were overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the ancient ruins before them.

"...This is incredible. It’s bigger than most cities," Damian muttered under his breath, and Justin silently nodded in agreement.

The massive ruins, reminiscent of an ancient temple, were as large as a city fortress. Even the half-open iron doors at the entrance were the height of a building several stories tall. If it weren’t for the fact that they were deep in a basin, they could have easily spotted the ruins from afar, even without the beam of light to guide them.

"Let’s head down to the entrance. It seems like the beam of light is pointing us to the entrance as well...."

Clap, clap, clap.

Just as Justin finished speaking, the sound of clapping came from the side. Curious, he turned his head and saw a handsome young man smiling softly while clapping his hands. Behind him stood several figures who appeared to be pioneers, all lined up as if to guard him.

The sudden appearance of outsiders made Justin and his group blink in surprise, while the young man raised his hand and called out loudly.

"Fellow believers, look! We have arrived simply by following the guidance, and yet, we have already met other chosen ones! This is truly the will of the gods!"

"Ooooh...!"

As the handsome young man waved his arms, his white robes billowing dramatically, the pioneers behind him let out exclamations of awe. Their eyes were filled with a kind of rapture, and Justin and his group all furrowed their brows.

’What the hell is wrong with these guys?’