[E.M.Supreme] Chapter 10 – Suspicion

“Were you violated?” 

Mark couldn’t form any thoughts or words other than a single thing. 

What?!

The Commander’s serious face cracked slowly into a boisterous laugh that had him slapping his thigh. 

No one else joined him.

Mark’s long face searched the faces of all the other Royal Knights. What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do? Should he try to respond? Or was staying quiet the better choice? None of them gave him any hints as to what decision was supposed to be made. 

He looked down and remembered he was stark naked. 

Immediately, a burning flame surged throughout his body as embarrassment flooded his senses. 

Smith, the Knight who had been kneeling next to him, sighed. He waved his hand and a blanket appeared and covered Mark from head to toe. “Here,” he threw a pair of clothes under the cover. “Change quickly.”

Mark did as he was told, though he kept his ears perked for any information he could gather. 

He listened to their conversations. 

“Sir,” Smith’s voice was distant, though loud enough for him to make out. They must have moved away from him. “We’ve seen too many horrors–”

“I know. I’m sorry, I was trying to lighten the mood. Help the kid break free from the Shakes and maybe give us some information before we head down further into the depths of the dungeons.”

Smith sighed. “He’ll get over it like all people do. Develop a penchant for getting drunk to erase all the trauma away if he’s lucky. Become an insane addict to an illegal substance if he is unlucky. Not that we can do much about it. Get him home safely if we can.”

“I’ll make Pilous baby sit,” the Commander said, his boots clicking further away. “Establish how long until the dungeon breaks in the meantime.”

“Yes, Sir.”

As long as they keep this misunderstanding going, I'll be just fine. Best I don’t talk much at all. None would be best unless it's absolutely necessary. 

He changed into the loose fitting military trousers and tabard, both a plain gray but made of decent quality that rested comfortably on his skin. Mark did not expect any less from a Royal Knight. Just their monthly pay could feed an entire family in the town for two-thirds of a year. Even the rich had to be careful around them lest they mess up their businesses in some obscure fashion by spending too much in a single town. 

Mark remembered the fit an over-indulgent merchant had made three years ago after the last group of Royal Knights had spent too much. It caused quite the debacle and the eventual replacement of the party to the one before him. 

The Knights were all together when he came out of the blanket, fully dressed. None of them had their helmets on. 

All turned around to look at him for a second before breaking to different areas and busying themselves with things Mark couldn’t figure out. 

One was wiping the floor a distance away, a foreign man with olive skin and a large nose, and making confused noises and expressions. Never had Mark seen such silky hair before. It looked wet or filled with oil even though he recognized it wasn’t at all. 

Two stayed together, pointing and bothering the Commander with questions.

While the last one, Smith, walked back toward Mark. 

Mark looked back toward the entrance he had entered from. If he could get out through the door or convince them to take him back to the village then all would be safe. From there he could make a run for it and escape as far as possible while trying to find another suitable dungeon to experiment in. There was too much he needed to learn about this new power before he was comfortable mixing and socializing. 

Plus, he needed new equipment. 

Armor and weapons. 

Once Smith got close enough, Mark pointed at the doorway he had entered from.

“What?” Smith said with a smile. “You don’t like hanging out with us?” his smile widened, but he didn’t keep up with the facade. “Not how dungeons work, Son. You either get to a safe zone or you beat the dungeon. No other way about it. Wouldn’t make much sense for the dungeon if everyone could get into its weakest floor, farm it for resources and then run away, now would it.”

Shit!

Mark shook his head. 

It made sense. 

Dungeons subsisted on mana, and the easiest source of concentrated mana had to be people. If anyone had a partial amount that he had in his core, then that could fuel the dungeon for a vast amount of traps, monster integrations and more. 

“Won’t be forever kid. If you're lucky, we can kill the final boss before the dungeon breaks.”

His eyes widened. Mark wanted to shout and exclaim his shock, but refused to out himself. Even a town boy like him knew what a dungeon break was and how dangerous it could be to live anywhere near one. Entire villages, towns, and even cities had been decimated if it was big enough. 

Now they were stuck in one that was liable to go mad?

Thankfully, he was with an entire party of Royal Knights.

Smith raised his hand. “I know what you’re thinking. Why not rush to a safe zone and alert the nearest army regiment?”

Mark wasn’t thinking that, but he wasn’t about to say no to new information. 

He nodded instead. 

“Safe zones don’t work in certain category breaks. This one is one of said categories. Either we kill the final boss, whatever caused the break, and decide whether we need to kill the dungeon itself, or we die.”

Shit! Shit! Shit! How the hell do I escape them? How long do I have to keep up this mute act? The longer I stay here the more likely they’ll figure out I’m a [Golden Classer] and I’ll get to learn whether I can fight a fucking full party of legends. 

It didn’t take longer than a moment for him to come to a final conclusion. 

Fuck that. Mute it is until I can figure something else out. 

Mark had more than enough to work with already with his new skill and the concentrated orb of mana within it. He would focus on breaking it down to the smallest portions possible for future tests while he let the Knights deal with all the monsters. At the very least, he wouldn’t be bored along the way.

He wondered if this was what nobles felt like with all their guards, knights, and soldiers doing everything for them. 

What did they do during the majority of the day? Study all the time and read books like his father had forced upon him while young? What were their career skills and how did they develop them?

Mark shook his head. 

Too many questions. Just too many without any way to answer them.

“Pilous! Stop studying rocks and come here,” the Commander shouted as he stepped next to Mark.

The olive skinned Knight stood up from his rock studies and made his way to the commander. “Rocks sing strange.”

All the Knights gathered around him again. 

“Rocks don’t sing,” the Commander said. “You’re on kid watching duty. Keith and Rob cover the rear and be prepared to step into combat if necessary. Smith and I will run point. Let’s get this shit over with. I got a hot plate of food calling my name back at the Baron’s mansion. You wouldn’t believe how good the food is in such a backwater town…”

The large man did not hesitate to start walking away and toward the entrance to the second floor. 

Smith ran after him, listening to all the ramblings without saying a word edgewise.

Pilous waited for a few moments until all the Knights left from their impromptu meeting. He turned to mark with narrowed eyes. “Strange. Suspiciously. Very Suspiciously."

Mark gulped, before turning around and running after Smith and the Commander. 

They had already opened the doorway and were preparing to step through with weapons at the ready.