Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 266

“Ha-Ya-Att!”

The sword swung wide.

In tune with it, the massive wings of the dragon were severed.

Hellfire Dragon Bahamut fell easily this time, unlike before.

A new week had started.

As the specs of our party members had significantly improved, I had returned to my main character and was ready for the raid.

“It’s a reincarnation!”

“Vampire!!!”

Party members, especially the Wizards who had chosen the True Blood reincarnation, cheered as they caught the torrent of blood raining from the sky.

Thanks to the reset of the raid dungeon, our party’s Wizards could now proceed with the True Blood quests.

It had reached a point where pure elemental Wizards were hard to find.

The few remaining elemental Wizards in our party were now just five.

Helena was one of the remaining elemental Wizards.

“Are you sure you don’t want to reincarnate, Helena?”

“Yeah. I’m going to be the same race as Yeo.”

“Your DPS rank is going to drop, you know?”

“It’s enough anyway.”

I awkwardly smiled at Helena’s response.

The exclusive race skill, Blood Magic, was a skill that gave wings to the Wizard class.

Naturally, one would have to choose the True Blood race to increase firepower.

If there was a shortage of DPS within the party, I would have disregarded Helena’s opinion and used my authority as party leader to force a reincarnation, but since the damage output was sufficient now, I couldn’t do that.

“I want to be the same race as the Blood Demon King!”

The Snow Mage also remained part of the Demon Clan.

Anyway…

I let out a sigh, pondering.

It’s tiring being popular with beautiful girls.

There are those who even want to match their race just because they like me so much.

“Is there anyone among those who reincarnated who wants to use a rank reset ticket?”

With the battle against Hellfire Dragon Bahamut behind us, I asked the party members, especially the Wizards.

The Wizards, wrapped in a crimson aura, raised their hands the moment I finished my sentence.

“Alright. I’ll wait a bit for everyone to choose their classes.”

Unintentionally, I had granted a break.

I looked around at the Wizards choosing their classes and approached Helena.

Helena, sitting atop a large pillar that had fallen between the ruins, tapped her knees as I approached.

That action seemed so natural.

“What are you doing?”

“Come sit here…”

As I stopped and asked, Helena averted her gaze and answered.

She seemed aware of how embarrassing it was.

Sitting on a friend’s knee in front of the whole party?

That wasn’t a dignified action for a party leader.

Clearing my throat, I took a seat next to Helena.

“Ah…”

Helena brushed her thigh as if disappointed.

If I had my way, I would have wanted to sit on her lap.

It was definitely better than sitting on the hard stone floor.

“Ahem…”

But I was the party leader.

The one leading 39 members beside myself.

As a leader, I always needed to remain cool-headed and set an example for the party members.

Thus, I couldn’t sit on a member’s knee.

“Yeo.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think we can clear the raid today?”

“Um…”

I tilted my head at Helena’s words.

Can we?

I still didn’t know. While the overall damage output of the party members had collectively risen, raids couldn’t be cleared just by having high DPS.

Of course, the chances of clearing would indeed be higher than when damage was weak.

“Maybe.”

“Then… where should we go once the raid is over?”

“Once the raid is over?”

“Yeah. Once we clear the raid, the remaining time is free, right?”

“Nope. I need to prepare for the second party.”

I shook my head firmly at Helena’s suggestion.

If the first raid party cleared the dungeon, we would have time to spare, but I still had the second raid party left to manage.

“Is there no way to avoid that…?”

“Hey!”

I turned my head with a stern expression at Helena’s question.

Why is she acting like this these days?

Helena, who had lived with me for a long time, should know that I would never abandon the party members.

“Then… if we clear the second party…?”

“That should be fine.”

If we cleared the raid with the second party as well, I could consider Helena’s request.

At that moment, Helena finally broke into a bright smile.

Then, from a distance, a group of Wizards who had been choosing their classes waved their hands frantically, signaling me.

“Party Leader!!! We’re ready!!!”

I rapped my fingers on Helena’s thigh and stood up.

The pleasant sensation spread from my palm.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay…”

*

The firepower of the seasoned Wizards had increased overall.

The results appeared immediately.

Iona’s patterns, which had tormented us, collapsed before they even fully manifested.

The final boss, Lunaris, was not much different.

Before all the patterns that had plagued us could unfold, its health melted away, causing it to fall.

It felt as if I was running last season’s raid dungeon equipped with items from a new expansion pack.

“Wow…”

The Wizards were in awe as they gazed at what they had accomplished.

Even with the nerf on the Duck Bomb and Glass Cannon build, this was the result.

Everyone present could predict it.

Additional nerfs were inevitable.

Quack! Quack!

I hugged a duck toy crawling at my feet.

The little thing that had been struggling stopped moving the moment it saw my face and nestled into my arms.

Even toys seem to recognize a beautiful girl’s face.

Now that the raid was over, it was time for the auction.

I scanned the dropped items and shook my head.

There was a specific item dropped for all classes, but it had defensive options that excelled.

That was Dogrik’s share.

The only thing worth taking was the [Master Rank Transcendence Stone].

That item had appeared again, as expected.

Seeing it drop from every Named Monster made it seem like a 100% drop rate.

But the item’s performance was quite peculiar.

“Iyap.”

“Yeah?”

“You used the Master Rank Transcendence Stone, right?”

“Yes.”

“What class did you enhance to Master Rank?”

“I raised the Master Rank of the basic job, Thief.”

“You can raise the Master Rank of basic jobs? What’s the effect?”

“The effect of the mastery you have slightly increases, and there are minimal effects added to the active skills of that job.”

“Can you feel the difference?”

“No…”

I let out a small groan upon hearing Iyap’s words and rubbed my chin.

Information on the Master Rank Transcendence Stone was very limited.

Unless someone like Iyap, who had used it firsthand, spoke about it, no one could really know the effects.

Moreover, there weren’t many users who could attempt the raid, so experiences weren’t plentiful either.

I found myself trapped in a dilemma.

Should I spend my gold on an item whose performance is uncertain, or save for the items dropping next week?

“Yeo.”

“What?”

“Are you worried about something?”

Worried?

I had a big worry.

Currently, I had only about 2000 gold left.

After becoming a high school student, my playtime had dwindled, thereby reducing my gold earnings.

Additionally, I still had the Transcendence Stone I owed to Helena.

I couldn’t just squander this money.

Of course, Helena had told me to repay slowly, but having debt on my heart was unsettling.

Should I buy it or not?

“Are you low on gold?”

Just as I expected, Helena saw right through my concern.

But I didn’t nod my head.

If it was the angelic Helena, she would definitely try to lend me gold again since I was short.

“I’m fine. I have enough.”

“Really…?”

“Actually, not enough…”

I quickly modified my statement.

If I had enough, wouldn’t she question why I wasn’t repaying the Transcendence Stone?

Of course, I doubted Helena would do that, but…

“Then what are you worried about?”

“I was pondering whether to buy that Transcendence Stone.”

I pointed to the small stone registered for auction.

“If you want to buy it, just do it.”

“But the effects are uncertain…”

“Just buy it.”

“But…”

“You’re definitely low on gold, aren’t you? I can lend you some.”

“N-No, I’m fine.”

I shook my head hastily and stepped back.

But Helena was quicker.

She waved her hand in the air, initiating a trade request with me.

Should I accept it or not?

My hesitation was brief.

Sure.

I should take a little from her to buy the Transcendence Stone, then use the remaining funds to buy something else.

So…

“How much do you need?”

“Um, maybe around a thousand gold…?”

“Is that enough?”

“For now…”

Of course, I wouldn’t be borrowing too much.

Helena, who hesitated at my words for a moment, nodded and moved her hand in the air.

Clink!

When the gold was added to the trade window, a special sound echoed.

That meant Helena had placed the gold.

“Hurry and accept.”

“Wait a minute…”

I squinted and checked the amount of gold Helena transferred.

The digits ‘11111’ in front of the golden coins.

Is that a thousand gold?

At first glance, it seemed correct.

“Yeo, hurry up. The auction seems to be ending.”

“Ah, right.”

I nodded at Sohee’s urging.

It must be right, right?

At that moment, a hefty amount of gold filled my previously light inventory.

I had received the ammo I had been missing.

Now I could go all out.

I bid 1,000 gold on the Transcendence Stone up for auction.

Clink!

600 gold, 700 gold.

Slowly rising, the item’s bid suddenly shot up by a thousand gold.

The party members checked the name of the bidder and nodded, stepping back.

Those participating in the race chose to yield.

It wasn’t intentional, but the party members had developed a trend where they would yield when I entered the bidding.

Even if I told them not to, there was no changing their minds.

Ultimately, the small stone ended up in my hands.

“Done!!!”

“Thank you, everyone!”

“See you next week!”

All the raids had concluded.

It ended a bit anticlimactically, but what could I do?

As the party members waved their goodbyes, they began to disperse.

I lingered behind, watching them leave.

“I’ll go too.”

“Ah, Helena. I still have some gold left…”

Before Helena logged off, I checked the remaining gold in my inventory and opened my mouth.

I owed her 1,111 gold.

It was to repay the gold I used in the auction.

But what in the world was going on?

The amount of gold left in my inventory seemed strange.

“Whoa…”

Ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand…

Wait, was that a number in the ten-thousands?

I looked up in shock.

But by then, Helena had already disconnected.