Chapter 120: Sable Knows Which Way the Wind Blows

Joren gave a satisfied nod.

He turned back toward Manester, Kyo, and Sable.

"They can handle the rest."

Dusting a little grit from his coat, he added, "We should head back to the city."

Then his eyes moved briefly toward Sable, who still looked as though standing there physically hurt.

"Inspector Sable came all this way. We cannot exactly leave him out here eating dust in the ruins."

The considerate remark only made Sable’s face heat up again.

"No dust. No dust at all!"

He forced out a smile that looked painfully close to a grimace and waved both hands.

"To witness something like this, I would gladly eat dirt."

Joren smiled and let that one pass.

"Then let us go."

A few minutes later, a black military off road vehicle roared away from the newly reclaimed territory and sped toward Norcrest.

The atmosphere inside was peculiar.

The driver focused on the road with extraordinary dedication, eyes straight ahead, behaving as though he had been born both deaf and mute.

Joren sat in the middle of the back seat.

Manester on his left.

Kyo on his right.

Sable, despite technically holding the highest official position in the vehicle, had volunteered for the passenger seat.

The air conditioning hummed quietly.

Joren rested with his eyes closed.

Manester and Kyo said nothing either, though their eyes kept meeting in another round of silent conversation.

Then Sable moved.

He glanced at Joren through the rearview mirror.

No anger on the young man’s face.

Good.

Sable’s eyes shifted slightly as his thoughts began moving much faster.

What happened earlier had been humiliating.

There was no way around that.

He had probably lost enough face today to last the rest of his life.

But Sable had spent decades surviving the political waters of Highcrest City.

What was he best at?

Reading the situation.

Knowing when to bend.

What was face worth, anyway?

If he had humiliated himself in front of some nobody, then yes, he would probably be furious.

But was Joren some nobody?

Seventeen years old.

Rank Five.

One blade had severed a mountain.

He had personally led the reclamation of a Fallen Zone.

Put those three facts together and what did you get?

Not a normal person.

A golden leg so thick you would need both arms to cling to it.

As long as Joren survived, he was practically guaranteed to become one of the pillars of the Aurelian Dominion.

Joren himself might not hold a grudge.

The two old foxes beside him certainly might.

Sable had already experienced exactly how vicious Manester and Kyo could be when they worked together.

If he left things like this and Joren rose even higher in the future, what then?

Much better to fix the relationship now.

Better yet, attach himself to it.

Even being remembered as an acquaintance would become enormous political capital later.

Sable could already imagine returning to Highcrest City and boasting over drinks.

I rode in the same car as Joren.

Not only that, I nearly fought him once.

How much face would that buy him in ten years?

The last scraps of embarrassment vanished.

In their place came determination.

He had to smooth this over.

He had to get closer to Joren before they reached the city.

Sable inhaled.

Then he turned around.

The stiff official expression disappeared from his face almost instantly, replaced by something warm and earnest.

"Frontier Marshal?"

Joren opened his eyes.

"Yes, Inspector?"

Sable practically jumped.

"No, no, no!"

He waved both hands.

"None of that Inspector business."

"If you do not mind, just call me Sable."

Manester nearly spat.

This bastard.

A few hours ago, every other sentence had been about his authority as an inspector.

Now he was just Sable?

Even Joren seemed momentarily caught off guard by how flexible the man’s dignity turned out to be.

"That might be a little inappropriate."

"Inappropriate how?"

Sable slapped his thigh.

"We all serve the Aurelian Dominion."

"We all fight for humanity."

"That makes us comrades. Family."

"And family does not need all those formalities."

His expression then turned serious.

Almost solemn.

"Joren."

"I did come here with an assignment."

"Word reached Highcrest City that Norcrest had appointed a seventeen year old Frontier Marshal. Some of the old fossils up there thought it was reckless, even absurd, and insisted I come investigate."

He paused naturally.

"And on the way here, I also heard some... inaccurate information."

"That caused me to misunderstand you."

Just like that, his own idiocy from earlier became an intelligence failure.

"But!"

Sable’s voice suddenly rose.

"After seeing you today, I am completely convinced."

"I have spent half my life around talented people. I have met hundreds, maybe thousands."

He shook his head with visible disgust.

"Compared to you, those so called geniuses are not even qualified to carry your shoes."

"You reclaimed a Fallen Zone."

"Do you understand what kind of achievement that is?"

"This is historic."

"Not just for Norcrest. Across the entire Aurelian Dominion, even across the human defensive lines, no one has accomplished something like this in a hundred years."

The longer he spoke, the more animated he became.

By now, he somehow looked more passionate than the three thousand soldiers had earlier.

"Joren, leave this to me."

Sable thumped his own chest hard enough to make his ballistic vest sound.

"When I get back to Highcrest City, the first thing I am doing is writing the report myself."

"Your achievements, that blade strike, everything."

"I will put it all in front of the governor. Not one detail left out."

"Highest military commendation?"

Sable gave a dismissive laugh, apparently unimpressed by Manester’s earlier suggestion.

"Fuck that."

"This deserves an Aurelian Dominion Medal."

"What else would even be worthy of you?"

"What else would be worthy of [Take Back the Wastes, Reclaim Our Land]?"

"And if anyone tries to hold up the recognition you deserve, then they are picking a fight with me, Sable."

"They are picking a fight with Highcrest City."

The words came out forceful and grand.

Anyone who had walked into the vehicle halfway through would have assumed Sable and Joren had survived a dozen life and death battles together.

Silence filled the cabin.

Manester’s mouth hung open.

Kyo’s lips twitched uncontrollably.

Watching Sable perform this act of righteous brotherhood made his stomach turn.

Shameless.

Absolutely fucking shameless.

They had thought they already understood political animals.

Sable had just lowered the bar again.

This was not merely changing with the wind.

This was professional level adaptation.

A short while ago he had wanted to drag Joren before a military tribunal.

Now he was personally campaigning for a national medal.

And the worst part was how sincere he looked.

As though the man screaming insults in the car earlier had been someone else entirely.

Impressive.

Kyo silently gave him a thumbs up in his heart.

No wonder people like this got promoted.

The defensive power of that face was probably thicker than the Mount Shifting Demon Ape’s hide.

Joren watched Sable quietly.

His gaze remained clear.

He knew exactly what the man was doing.

Arrogant before.

Respectful now.

Nothing complicated about it.

Sable had seen Joren’s value and decided he wanted to invest early.

People like him could be unpleasant, but they were also extremely practical.

As long as you remained strong, they would remain extremely reliable.

And Joren did not particularly mind that kind of transaction.

Someone was willing to praise him upward, fight for his benefits, and save him political trouble.

Why refuse?

Not every problem needed to be solved by cutting something in half.

Having a shameless man like Sable speaking for him in Highcrest City could save a great deal of unnecessary effort.

So Joren smiled.

This time, there was a little more warmth in it.

"If you are willing to go that far for me, then I will stop being formal."

"If there is anything around Norcrest I do not understand in the future, I will have to ask you for advice, Sable."

The words hit Sable like music.

Done.

He had it.

The golden leg had accepted him.

His face immediately lit up.

"Of course!"

"From now on, we are brothers."

"In Norcrest, Manester has your back."

"In Highcrest City, I have your back."

"If anyone gives you trouble, call me directly."

"I will fly over and cut them down myself."

The entire vehicle suddenly felt much more cheerful.

Manester and Kyo exchanged another look.

This time, both saw the same mixture of resignation and reluctant admiration.

There were no eternal enemies in this world.

Only eternal interests.

If your fist was hard enough, even the person who wanted to ruin you yesterday might kneel today and beg for the privilege of standing on your side.

Then praise how clean your boots looked while doing it.

That was reality.

That was human nature.