Chapter 50: A Mistake

"...Please?"

"Hector… Do you want to lose your job?"

Hector has a choice to make. Either lose his high-paying job working for the government and possibly not get hired anywhere else, or get folded in half by Commander Ayesha for not taking care of his bodyguard who she seemed somewhat fond of.

Even when they were discussing the details of the Dig back in the tent earlier, Commander Ayesha was actually still talking about Rhys — about how the government should actually hire more people like Rhys instead of people like… him, Hector.

Suffice it to say, it wasn't really a choice at all.

"Lady Cynthia, please…" Hector once again pleaded, this time even looking at Cynthia's entourage and subtly gesturing to them to go, "...This truly is a restricted area, I can't really bend the rules."

"I was told I would get first-hand experience and learn more about a Dig here!" Cynthia's voice once again became high-pitched as she pointed at Hector, "I'm not just acting like an entitled bitch here, Hector. My family literally paid for me to be here! Everything here, we provided."

"I know, I know. And we are very thankful to you for providing all of this and making the government's job easier," Hector finally started to calm down as he assessed the situation, "But if you want to learn the process, then you should abide by the process. So please, please just… return to your tent."

"..." Cynthia looked Hector in the eyes for a few seconds, before just letting out a sigh and nodding her head, "Fine…

…But I want the Lowborn fired for staring at me."

"..." Rhys, who was just watching the scene unfold in front of him, did not really say anything as Cynthia once again violently pointed at him. They have always been told that the Nobles live in a completely different worldview than them. He didn't know what that meant, but now he does.

Authority.

The Nobles live in a completely different level of authority than the rest of the world. Rhys was trying to understand how someone could just blatantly act like they own the place, but in this case, Cynthia sort of really does.

"I'm… afraid he is not from my jurisdiction, Lady Cynthia."

"Then why did we choose you to lead this Exploration?" Cynthia seemed visibly confused with Hector's words, "Bring me someone that has the power to remove him, then!"

"That—"

"I heard someone calling for me."

"!!!"

And before anyone could even say another word, breathe, blink, or even react even a micro fraction of an emotion, a shadow suddenly loomed behind Cynthia. Her entourage wanted to say something, but all of them just shut their mouths and stayed still as they stared at this… shadow. Even the one that Rhys restrained on the ground, just remained on the ground even though he was actually no longer restrained.

"Recruit, I knew I'd find you in trouble. What did you do this time, eh?"

Cynthia could really only glance to the side as the Commander of the Underworld Corps walked past her; her eyebrows which were extremely lowered when staring at Rhys, now very slowly rising as her eyes also glittered.

"I was checking the Dig before these civilians showed up and tried to assault me, Ma'am." Rhys, of course, was already trained to report to Ayesha.

Well, hot damn. And it was just yesterday that you were a recruit, Recruit," Ayesha let out a small giggle as she placed her hand on Rhys's shoulder, "Now, let's see here."

Ayesha then started looking at everyone one by one, before settling her eyes on Cynthia.

"Wow, who's this cute little one?"

"C…Cynthia Myers, Ma'am!" A small smile crawled on Cynthia's face as she quickly saluted to Ayesha; her cheeks, almost trembling in excitement.

"Oh, you're the one who paid for all of this?" Ayesha pointed at her and looked at Hector, "Now, why is the little miss here, gramps? She should be in her tent."

"That—"

"It… it's not his fault, Ma'am!" Cynthia stood up even straighter as she addressed Ayesha.

"Then is it my bodyguard's fault?" Ayesha smiled.

"Body…guard?" Cynthia subtly glanced at Rhys, "N…no, Ma'am! It was my friend's fault!"

"Well, alright then. How about we just start preparing the Exploration and forget all about this?"

"Of course, Ma'am!" Cynthia quickly gestured to her people to leave, while Hector quickly followed behind them. This time, however, Cynthia seemed to be complimenting Hector for actually getting Ayesha to be part of their Exploration.

"They are some very weird folks, these Nobles," Ayesha once again slapped Rhys's back, "They're not actually bad people, they just think other people are beneath them and don't have rights… okay, maybe that's actually really bad. You know what, they're a fucked up people."

"..." Rhys did not really know what to say to that.

"Well, anyway…" Ayesha started stretching her arms as she walked closer to the Dig, "...I guess that one-eyed mongoloid already dug deep. Come here."

"Yes, Ma'am," Rhys nodded as he stood beside Ayesha, just several steps away from the hole. Rhys then looked down, and true enough, one could no longer see the bottom, "They are continuing to dig even now?"

"Yup, see that?" Ayesha was pointing at some sort of machine that was attached to the edge of the hole; a rope hanging from it that led into the darkness of the hole, "That measures how near it is to the Surface. We've already wasted time doing politics with these people, I should just push you."

"What do you mea—!!!"

And before Rhys could finish his words, he found his vision suddenly shift as Ayesha did push him. This time, however, Rhys was extremely calm as he just prepped himself to fall for several minutes… only to just trip on the ground.

"...Huh?" Rhys quickly looked in front of him, only to see the deep abyss that led to the end of the hole. He then turned to look behind him, only to see Helios and Ayesha's silhouette looking down on him, or perhaps up. Rhys was now standing on the walls of the inside of the hole.

"Weird, right? As long as it's not a Hole yet, you won't just be sucked down. Pft, that's what she said," Ayesha then stepped forward. And as she did so, Rhys instinctively covered his face as he thought Ayesha's foot would fall straight on his face. Instead, however, her body just pivoted up, or down from the edge. From his perspective, it almost looked as if she floated up diagonally until she also stood on the walls of the inside of the hole.

"It's just magic. Don't think too much about it," Ayesha just shrugged as she walked forward… relatively. It was an entirely different perspective. What was once a very large hole in the ground suddenly became a vast and very deep cave, with a ceiling as high as a tall building.

"So…" Ayesha then glanced back, "...It will be too slow if we follow your pace, so I'll be dragging you."

"What do you mea—!!!"

Ayesha suddenly lifted Rhys and threw him over her shoulders, locking his knees with her arm and then locking his wrist with her fingers. And without even waiting for Rhys to say anything else… she ran.

Rhys's lungs immediately locked up as he felt himself almost losing consciousness. The G-Force from the gravity shift was nothing compared to this.

***

"That's it, Recruit. That's our target."

"Kh…rgh."

"If you even dare to vomit in front of me, boy. I'll force you to eat it."

"..." This is definitely an abuse of authority too, but Rhys could really only swallow his vomit; literally. He needed to find a way to increase Ayesha's Affection, and this was the only way he was going to be able to do that.

Rhys then started to calm himself down as he looked ahead, only for him to very slowly look up as he finally saw the back of the so-called Cyclops Barbarian. And the very first thing that came to Rhys's mind was that he was looking at nothing but a tower of muscle… and that was just its leg. The rest of it, its entire body was probably as tall as a skyscraper.

Even from afar, he could hear the fibers of the Cyclops' muscle tightening as it dug through the ground with its bare hands.

Ayesha… was going to fight that?

"Go ahead, Recruit."

"Huh…?" Rhys then very slowly turned to Ayesha as for the very first time, she actually pushed him in a gentle manner.

"Fight it," Ayesha nodded as she shooed Rhys, "Go ahead. Don't be shy, Recruit."

And then, also for the very first time, Rhys finally heard Ayesha's desire.

'Go ahead, Rhys Wilder. Try fighting it. Show me what you can do.'

"...Oh."

Okay. Perhaps this entire thing was a mistake.