chapter 41

There is a saying that even if you don't know where someone is, you will quickly know where you are, but the atmosphere in the Knights Templar did not subside significantly just because Inerma left.

Iris and Erica did express their concerns once or twice, but that was it. They said that since they left the castle by their own choice, they must have their own thoughts and that they respected that.

When I told her that I was going to go and subdue the headless cavalryman alone, she teased me by saying that I should have been respected, and Iris blushed brightly.

'Well, Inerma and I have slightly different cases.'

I focused on leveling again. My first priority was to get to level 20 and open up a rune slot.

Even now, if you want, you can still progress through the main story or fight bosses, but I chose the safe route over the fast route.

This isn't a speedrun, and no one would praise me for completing it faster. Besides, I only had one life left. I didn't want to take a risk when there was a safe path right there.

After that, I waited patiently for the mobs to respawn, and it took another full day before I finally reached level 20, which I had so desperately wanted.

[Ability] [Level] 20

[Stamina] 1

[Mana] 1

[Faith] 1

[Endurance] 1

[Skill] 1

[Strength] 1

[horsepower] 10

[Divine Power] 10

[Endurance] 2

I raised Magic to 10 with stat points, and increased Durability with the remaining one. You don't need to raise this a lot, and I only need to raise it to 7 so that I can get the weapon I want later.

Now all that was left was to wait for Iris to mention the dungeon with the rune. Even if I went to the dungeon before she mentioned it, it wouldn't be open yet.

This was a forced event and the player had no right to refuse.

Considering that the Silver Dawn Knights route itself was a story for newbies who are new to Blizzard 4, it would have been better to specify what to do like this.

"Sister, please stop bothering the new employee. What are you doing clinging to me so early in the morning?"

The evening after reaching level 20. While heading to the restaurant, Erica let out a deep sigh as she saw Lize clinging to her side.

Lize didn't care and kept poking my cheek with her finger.

"Are you bothering me? I'm serving you with my whole body. Look at this. Even newbies like it. Right, newbie?"

"Okay, okay. Okay, let's go to the restaurant quickly."

They say humans are creatures of adaptation. Fortunately, I too have developed a little tolerance for the physical contact Lize makes.

Whatever his true feelings, it was really fortunate that he was able to get to the point where he could act calm and accept the embarrassment without showing it on the outside like before.

'I still can't get used to the differences in appearance and personality.'

Lize is a woman with a cold and haughty impression who seems like she wouldn't bleed even if you pricked her with a needle if she just kept her mouth shut. Rather, I thought that kind of behavior would suit Erica better.

'If I tell Erica, I'll get hit.'

In fact, the fact that Erica treated me like her older sister was a sign that we had become quite close.

Lize's behavior, which was half cute and half seductive, continued all the way to the restaurant. Erika, feeling embarrassed by her older sister, tried to somehow separate the two, racking her brain.

Of course, the seeds didn't work either.

"Hey, rookie! You already have two women around? Are you good at it?"

As we entered the restaurant, Claudia, who was chugging a beer from a mug bigger than her head, waved at us. Next to her were two empty mugs of the same size.

'That's just like a game.'

The original NPC for Claudia was a gigantic person, over 2 meters tall in the setting, with a hearty personality and a constant drunkenness.

Although his appearance changed from that of a muscular man with a bushy beard to an androgynous beauty with thin arms and legs, his personality seemed to remain the same, unlike the other knight commanders.

On that topic, her hair was cutely bobbed and light pink, her eyes were also light pink, and even the dolphin pants she was wearing were light pink.

"Commander Claudia!"

Suddenly, Erica screamed at being treated the same way as Lize. Claudia laughed heartily, saying it was a joke, and gulped down her beer again.

'I wonder if he knows that it really looks that way to other people.'

The person in question seemed to have completely forgotten about it because he was busy trying to stop Lize, but if you looked at the three of us from the side, it really did look like I was carrying both Lize and Erika around at the same time.

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Lize had noticed it a long time ago, but she smiled meaningfully and held back her words.

"Drink moderately and keep your voice low, Claudia. And you, Lize, get away from the newbies."

Iris, who had been quietly eating bread at the top table, said something.

The top seat was originally supposed to be the seat of Claudia, the number one in the Silver Dawn Knights. However, she said that she felt uncomfortable sitting in that seat and that she couldn't eat, so she gave it up to Iris.

Lize quietly took a step away, unable to refuse Iris' words. Erica looked astonished as she saw that.

'If I don't eat, I'll starve to death, but if I don't eat anything, I'm not hungry. I don't know what kind of harmony this is.'

I picked up a loaf of bread and a plate of soup and headed to the table. Lise had already sat down at the table with seven loaves of bread and three plates of soup, and was munching on them.

I sat next to her too. Our seats were pretty much set. Iris was at the top, Liza and I were on Iris' right side, and Erica and Claudia were on her left side.

It wasn't specifically decided that we should sit like this, but since Iris was at the top and Lize and I always sat together, at some point it became a rule that was taken for granted.

"Ah, rookie. I have something to say before I get up, so please wait."

As the mealtime, which had been less boring thanks to Lize and Claudia, was slowly coming to an end, Iris suddenly opened her mouth. I turned my eyes to Iris, wondering what was going on.

"Do you know anything about runes?"

'It's finally here.'

As soon as I heard the word rune, I straightened my posture.

"Judging by your reaction, you seem to know."

"To some extent."

"Then the story will be quick. We are planning to head to the dungeon tomorrow. The dungeon that was hidden there was revealed when the cliff of the mountain collapsed, and judging by the shape of the magical waves felt, it is believed that there is a very high probability that there will be a rune. Aurora has requested that we investigate."

Iris continued speaking calmly.

This was the story of the 'Vitality Boost' rune that you first get in the Silver Dawn Knights route. You had to wait for Iris because you had to wait for the dungeon to be revealed by the collapse of the mountainside like that to enter.

You can think of the rune as the passive concept of Blizzard 4.

Once equipped, it provides a semi-permanent buff to the character until it is replaced or removed, and the difference with and without the rune is truly enormous.

Even for battle fatigue alone, there were countless strengthening effects, such as increasing the total amount of the gauge, reducing the amount accumulated per hit, or increasing the natural recovery speed.

Especially in Darkest Light mode, where bosses appear in all sorts of unreasonable patterns, the proper use of runes is practically essential.

"So, if there really is a rune there, the knight commanders have already discussed giving it to you."

"To me?"

It was an unexpected remark.

In the game, of course, the player enters alone and the knight commanders do not move from the castle.

But since it was obvious that they would act as a group here, I worried about how the ownership of the runes would be handled later, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy to resolve. To be honest, I was a little surprised.

Iris nodded.

"Didn't I tell you last time? We plan to give you as much support as we can. This is also part of that support. I can't guarantee that it will be useful, though, since I don't know what kind of runes will appear."

'Oh, well. I don't know what they'll come out of there.'

I have it all memorized, but since these guys don't have any idea about round play and stuff, they probably think it's random.

"How come you're not surprised at all? Did you already know what the runes were, rookie?"

Lize, who had already eaten all the bread and soup that had been piled up, looked at me with a clean face.

I thought, "Wow, you can eat so well. You're small and you don't have a single ounce of fat on your body, so where does all that food go?"

-Rumbling.

"...."

I had a feeling I knew. I quickly turned my head before Lize noticed my gaze. But it seemed too late, judging by the giggling sound I could hear next to me.

Iris finished speaking, stood up from her seat with her plate full of food, and added one last thing.

"Do you have any questions, newbie?"

"No, there isn't."

There was no way. I got up, holding the bowl I had finished eating from.

Now it was time to go hunt the boss who had been cursed at the most in Blizzard 4.