I'm on Maintenance Duty

Arc 1.9 - Darkness

Popi hadn't thought about it before, but the protagonist was in a really bad shape. He looked a bit better but he still looked pitiful. It was a miracle that he was still alive with the dark magic barrier on.

His clothes were bloody and had plenty of damages. The VDep guy considerately left a change of clothes for the protagonist.

Ah, that guy should've taken the protagonist with him. I already have a spare one back at the kingdom.

Popi knew that he wasn't good at taking care of other people. He was mostly there to see the aftermath of their suffering.

In all his previous lives as red poppies, all he did was talk about whose house or corpse he was growing on with his fellow poppies.

His job was easy like that. Those were the good ol' days~

He stopped reminiscing and turned his eyes away from the protagonist. He then pointed at the clothes. He wanted him to get changed quickly so that they could go on their way. If they dilly-dallied until afternoon, the heat would eat them away.

"Uh, the clothes? Right." The protagonist understood what Popi meant but he found it strange that he didn't just ask him to do it. While changing, he observed the man and found his features to be quite uncommon.

He is definitely not from Vapeur.

The man always seemed to be deep in thought and would often show a nonchalant expression. His intentions weren't clear but he did save his life. Overall, the protagonist thought that the foreign man was good.

He tapped the man's shoulder and asked, "Sir, may I ask for your name?"

The man frowned and didn't respond. The protagonist thought that he didn't want him to know his name. It was fair. In hindsight, maybe he should've started with an introduction of himself first.

Just as he was about to start over, the man started writing something on the sand.

N E R O

The protagonist stared at the name for a while before the realization hit him. His eyes became wide as he looked at the man. Orange hair, bronze skin, amber eyes, and that name. Right, he remembered it now.

"Y-Your Majesty! I was an utter fool for not recognizing you!" The protagonist stuttered and struggled to get himself to bow down. All along, he was saved by a king from a neighboring country. He didn't know why a king would come all the way to Vapeur alone but he was grateful nonetheless.

I will definitely repay him!

Popi was just about to stop the protagonist from bowing down when he heard a robotic voice in his head.

[You are treating the protagonist too kindly. 0.10 soul food have been deducted from your salary.]

It wasn't Parchie's voice. However, the news made Popi fall in despair. Taking away .10 soul food from his measly salary was enough to make him want to cry all day. He was in a bad mood now. He stared at the culprit of his suffering with sharp eyes.

Cold sweat ran down the protagonist's back. He could feel the king's silent anger weighing down on him. He had no idea why the king was like this all of a sudden.

"Your Majesty, is there something wrong?" He asked cautiously.

Instead of responding, King Nero got up and walked away, completely ignoring the nervous protagonist. He could treat him like air forever if it meant getting his precious salary in whole.

Who cares about one guy? This world has plenty of those!

The protagonist forced his body to stand up. He followed after the king with unsteady footsteps. He could barely land his right foot on the sand since it was injured badly.