Dalton is installed as the sympathetic-authority figure of a kingless country — a civilian-militia
commander and popular election candidate, the rule-by-consent counterweight to the deposed
tyrant Wapol. The line “I’ve seen you somewhere before” directed at Vivi is a quiet dialogue
tell: Dalton has a connection to Vivi’s royal/Reverie circle that the chapter does not yet
explain. Pre-loads both Dalton’s arc-role and the Dalton-Vivi link.
Ch. 135 reinforces the protector-of-the-people register. Ch. 135 shows Dalton in action
as that figure: he leads the rescue party for the lone doctor, blames himself when he fails
to catch her in time, and is the man the panicked villagers run to the instant Wapol returns
(“Dalton, please save us!!”). The conscientious self-blame paired with the village’s
reflexive trust in him pre-loads his arc-role as the moral center of the Drum political
conflict — the conscientious former royal guard who stands against Wapol’s tyranny.