chapter 29

"Kkieeeek!!!!!!"

As soon as the blessed dagger dug into his body, the lord let out a strange scream. It was not the lord's own scream, but the scream of the demon that was half-fused with his body.

I pulled out the dagger and stabbed it in again, then pulled it out and stabbed it in again, and repeated this process. The first few times I stabbed it, the more it struggled, but after that, its movements became increasingly slower.

Aurora watched the lord die, purified by divine power, without blinking an eye, with her arms folded under her chest.

I stabbed the dagger deeply one last time and then pulled my arm out. The lord fell limply to the floor, repeating only the strange sound of squeaking, squeaking.

"Okay. Let's go."

"That thing is still alive? Can I just leave it there?"

Aurora's finger pointed at the lord who was writhing slightly on the floor, barely holding on to his life.

"Yes, I'm alive."

"Not killing me?"

"I can kill it if I want to, but I won't. Lord Aurora, from now on, it's not that we haven't killed it, it's that we can't kill it. You too, my lord, need to talk to me."

"Of course I will, so don't worry. But, it's not that I didn't kill you, I just couldn't kill you, huh… … Of course, there must be a reason, right?"

"Of course there is."

I said, pointing at the lord with the tip of my dagger.

"What do I absolutely need to kill the devil?"

"You said you needed a weapon imbued with divine power or a divine spell."

"That's correct. But we don't have any weapons with divine powers right now, so of course we can't kill it."

"Huh? If it's a divine weapon, then you have it in your hand… … Oh, right. I understand. Of course, we didn't have any divine weapons. So we can't kill him. It's too bad."

As expected from Aurora, who appeared as a very capable and smart NPC in the game, she immediately understood what I meant and responded accordingly.

"But let me ask you one more question. Why do you insist on hiding that weapon?"

"I'm not trying to hide this dagger. More accurately, I'm trying to hide the fact that I used it."

"Are you hiding the fact that you used it?"

Aurora asked back. I nodded.

"Weapons imbued with divine power can only be used if you have a certain amount of faith. It is impossible for someone without faith to use them with the proper power."

The explanation I gave was to indirectly state that in the game, the 'Faith' stat and the 'Divine Power' stat must be above a certain level for the blessed weapons to perform their functions.

Aurora nodded in agreement with my explanation, then paused for a moment and looked back at me.

"But how about you… … ?"

"What country comes to mind when you think of faith and divinity around here?"

"There is no need to look any further than the Holy Land of Raphael."

The name of the Holy Land has also changed. I was the first to open my mouth.

"… … Wait, then you're from the Kingdom of Raphaella?"

"No. That's exactly why I want to hide the fact that I used it."

At my words, Aurora made an "Ah" sound.

"Because you want to hide the fact that you used a sacred weapon despite not being from a holy nation?"

"Correct answer."

We only exchanged a few words, but we quickly hit the nail on the head. I was so happy to see Aurora showing off her game-like side without holding back.

"… … Yeah, I get why. The Seongguk guys are famous for being extreme. From your perspective, you probably don't want to get involved with them as much as possible. But then, what are you going to do about that demon?"

"It's not our job to handle this. We need to send a letter to the palace. Tell them that the devil has appeared and to kill him."

In the game, there were two options for the player to choose from.

You can either kill the lord directly using a blessed weapon or divine spell, or beat him up to your heart's content to relieve some stress, then send a letter to the Emperor asking him to deal with it.

In general, it would seem much easier to just kill it here, but if the player kills it, an event will occur later where the Holy Land will show a very annoying kind of interest.

The one who caught their attention was an envoy from my side. In order to avoid being burdened with all sorts of dirty and petty subquests, I had to stop by the Holy Land only once in the middle of the game and never look at it again.

What kind of crazy person came up with the idea to complete 30 long distance delivery quests without using fast travel?

"Well, I get it. The person I have to fool is the Emperor, but I already fooled him once, so why can't I fool him twice?"

"You fooled me once?"

Advertisements

"I'm talking about that idiot who touched a book with a demon in it on his own and got eaten by himself."

"… … Oh, right. I forgot for a moment. That's right, that's right."

That was a lie from the start. So this is the second time.

"and."

Aurora added a footnote, turned around, slightly bent her waist, and looked up at me.

"I should naturally show this much favor to the benefactor of my life. There are still mountains of favors to be repaid in the future, right?"

A smile appeared on his face.

"Iris, it's almost time."

"… … I know that too. It's not completely full yet, so just wait a little longer."

At that time, the knight commanders of the Silver Dawn Knights gathered at the main gate with anxious expressions. The moon was already shining brightly in the sky. Iris's silver hair shone brilliantly in the moonlight.

Soon, the time when the moon hangs over the largest tree, as the newcomer had said, arrived. As soon as the moon hung over the tree, Lize walked around the street in front of the gate. However, the streets were quiet.

"Erika, do you see anyone on the street?"

"No, I can't see anything. It's empty.

"I see."

Iris answered briefly. It was a single word that contained very complex emotions.

"Claudia, Lize, Erica. Get ready. We're going to the mansion."

With those short words, the knight commanders each mounted their horses without saying a word. They had long since finished preparing to storm the mansion. They were just waiting for the time to come.

Claudia, Iris, Lize, and Erica also had a reason to act so urgently. It was because of a single word the newcomer had left before entering the lord's mansion.

If he doesn't return by the time the moon hangs over the largest tree when viewed from the castle gate, he can come to the mansion to find it.

Lize laughed, asking why he said such ominous things, but the newbie's expression was serious. And really, the newbie hadn't come back by this time.

Then there was only one thing to do.

In the past, when there was a dispute with the lord, the one who suffered was the Knights of the Silver Dawn, so they would have just endured it and let it go. However, things were different now.

Because I absolutely did not want to lose that newbie.

At some point, without anyone saying who would go first, the speed of the horse riding gradually increased. In particular, Lize, who was at the very front, was riding almost as fast as she could.

There was no one to be found on the street, so there was no need to drive the horse carefully, and as the feeling of anxiety grew, the speed increased, so the mansion was reached in no time.

"Huh… …? What are they?"

"Why are those bitches here at this hour? Stop! Stop! Hey, can't you hear me?! I said stop!"

The two knights who were standing guard at the main gate of the mansion, yawning loudly, were startled by the sight of Lize galloping at full speed on horseback, followed by the other three, and shouted for them to stop.

Instead of stopping her horse as ordered by the knights, Lize pulled out her twin daggers from her waist.

The knights who saw this sight were even more bewildered. They had never experienced the Knights of the Silver Dawn openly rebelling against them before.

And, because they knew that if they confronted them head-on, their skills would be no match for the Knights of the Silver Dawn.

When the two knights finally grasped the situation and tried to grab their weapons, their entire bodies were already frozen and they had been stabbed to death.

"Kuheuk!"

"Kekeke!"

The knights rolled on the floor, bleeding from all over their bodies. Lize ran into the mansion without even looking at the knights who had lost consciousness. Iris, Erica, and Claudia followed them.

The four knight commanders stopped talking only after they reached the gates leading into the mansion.

"There's a newbie in here?"

"There is a high probability of that."

"Are you going in, Sister?"

"Of course I should. No, even if you guys object, I'll go alone."

Where was the usually playful and energetic Lize? Instead, she had a fierce and sinister air that matched her hair color. She looked ready to cut down anything that stood in her way.

"Why are we against it? If we're going to go in, let's all go in together. And what's the point of getting nitpicked over this and making our lives even more complicated? Later, we can just tell that new recruit that we're in this situation because of him and buy him a drink."

Claudia strode forward, holding her greatsword. She raised her arm above her head and slammed the front door with all her might. With a loud crack, the old wooden door shattered like a corn stalk.

Lize came first, followed by Iris, Erica, and Claudia.

"welcome."

Advertisements

As soon as the four entered the mansion, the first thing they noticed was a maid walking up to them and bowing her head politely.

"...?"

A question mark appeared above my head at the same time. The hand holding the weapon slid down.

"What, did he just say hello to us?"

"You're telling me to come in? Did I mishear that?"

"I heard it too. I thought it was just my ears that were weird, but it seems like our ears are all weird together. Is it illusionary magic?"

Claudia, Erica, and Iris froze in their seats, their eyes wide with bewilderment. Regardless, Lize strode over to the maid and grabbed her by the collar.

"Stop talking nonsense and tell me where the new recruit is right now."

"The 'newcomer' has asked the knight commanders to come to the reception room. Please follow me."

This time, Lize couldn't help but freeze in a daze.

As the hand holding her collar suddenly loosened, the maid straightened her collar as if nothing had happened, turned around, and started to climb the stairs. She soon disappeared upstairs.

But none of the remaining four moved from their seats.

No, I couldn't move. My head was so shocked that it refused to think. My gaping mouth wouldn't close.

The four were finally able to follow her to the reception room after the maid, who couldn't wait any longer upstairs, came down and told them to follow her once more.

And in the room where the four entered.

"Oh, you're here?"

"Welcome, Knight Commanders."

There was a scene of Aurora and Shin-eop sitting across from each other at a table, drinking tea, looking perfectly normal.