“Those are the Battle Nuns left by the Inquisitor, right? What are they doing in a group like that?”
What we were seeing were the Battle Nuns that Selene had left at the mansion to guard Aurora. There were exactly twelve of them, and their attire and appearance hadn’t changed much.
But their condition seemed quite off.
Normally, the Battle Nuns should have melted into the shadows, guarding the area near the mansion, yet they were just aimlessly wandering the garden with their arms hanging limply.
It was obvious that this wasn’t a normal situation. Watching twelve women with vacant eyes meandering around made me feel a bit creeped out.
“We’ll have to find out what’s going on ourselves. Everyone, equip your weapons.”
Iris said this as she drew the longsword strapped to her waist. The other Knight Commanders were about to remove their helmets but decided against it and put them back on, drawing their respective weapons instead.
I stood still, deep in thought. It felt like I was on the verge of remembering something. I was certain I’d seen a similar scene before, but I just couldn’t recall what it was.
While I was struggling to grasp the identity of that familiar situation, Iris approached the nearest Battle Nun, gripping her sword tightly.
Lize trailed right behind her, and Claudia brought up the rear. Erica stayed next to me, perhaps to protect me instead of following Claudia.
As Iris reached the Battle Nun, she grabbed her wrist firmly. The nun followed obediently. Just as she almost lost her balance, she hung her arms down again, staring blankly.
Iris waved her hand in front of the nun’s eyes and touched her arms and forehead, trying to elicit a reaction. Naturally, there was none.
After a brief silence, a conclusion was reached.
“It’s magic.”
“Magic? This?”
“I don’t know who cast what kind of spell, but it’s definitely mind-affecting magic.”
“I’ve never heard of any mind-affecting magic that causes this kind of wandering behavior. Is it a new development?”
“I can’t say for sure. But I can vaguely sense some mana. It’s unlikely that the Battle Nuns of the Holy Kingdom used mana.”
“Hmm… It really is there. It’s faint, but there’s mana.”
Mana. Mind-affecting magic. Drooping arms. Wandering about blankly.
As I combined those keywords, a specific status ailment sprang to mind. It wasn’t definitive, but it was close enough. I could verify my thoughts through direct experimentation.
“Wait a minute, Iris.”
“What is it, Delta? Do you know something?”
“I’m not sure, but I think I know something similar. I want to test something.”
I walked towards the Battle Nun grasped by Iris. Erica followed closely behind. As I rummaged through the nun’s body, I pulled out a sacred catalyst, prompting Lize to ask with curiosity.
“Why that?”
“I told you. I have something to try. This is it.”
I handed the sacred catalyst to the Battle Nun. Thud, the catalyst fell limply from her hand. I once again opened her palm and placed the catalyst back, then secured it with her fingers.
It was of no use. I looked at the sacred catalyst rolling on the floor, mulling it over. While I was lost in thought, Iris tried again a few more times but to no avail.
“Iris, hold her hand for a second. Like a handshake, but not too tight, just lightly.”
“Got it.”
Iris complied. Her gloved hand grasped the nun’s hand gently.
Crack, her grip tightened in an instant. A strange creaking sound came from the armor. Iris, looking flustered, struggled to release her grip, but it only got tighter.
Eventually, Iris had to use both hands to break free from the nun’s grip. As soon as the glove slipped off, I placed the sacred catalyst on top.
Thud, the catalyst fell limply to the ground.
As the experiment continued, the Knight Commanders began to sense something was off. They were holding everything perfectly fine, yet they were struggling to keep hold of weapons like swords or sacred catalysts.
That was enough validation for me. I released the Battle Nun. Now free, she started wandering aimlessly in the mansion’s garden again.
I watched her retreating figure intently. It wasn’t identical, but it was reminiscent of something in my memory.
“Iris, you were right. It’s magic. She’s under confusion.”
“…Confusion?”
Confusion was one of the status ailments in Brightest Darkness 4. It could only be inflicted by a specific kind of magic.
If the status ailment Purification could only be inflicted by divine attacks, then the opposite would be that confusion could only be caused by magic.
The effect of confusion was simple.
Disarmament.
As soon as you were afflicted, any weapons you were holding would drop, and during the duration, you wouldn’t be able to pick them up again, and your movement would change to a slow walk with your arms hanging at your sides.
And yes, that category of weapons included wands, sacred catalysts, and shields. Fortunately, you could still use consumables, so that was a silver lining.
In vanilla, it simply made you drop your weapon, so you wouldn’t really be too worried about a Priest or a Mage using it, but in the Darkest Light Mod, it came with an annoying double debuff that affected spellcasting as well.
Players could use it too. Most elite enemies had basic confusion immunity, so the only viable targets were the mobs.
“A mage has been here. An adept one, at that.”
Of course, just because an enemy could use magic didn’t mean they could easily cast confusion. Unlike the gauge-building Purification that charged simply with any kind of divine spell, that wasn’t the case with confusion.
In vanilla, only elite mages could cast confusion. The same applied to the Darkest Light Mod, where it was impossible for mob-tier mages to use confusion.
If that logic held here too, then it was clear that the Inquisitor’s Elite Battle Nuns, who inherently had confusion immunity, were under confusion, indicating that the mage who came here was not your average one.
I would never have imagined they’d truly make it so you couldn’t wield a weapon like in the game, though.
“Iris. Is there anyone among the mages at the Mage Tower who could come here besides the stray ones?”
“…I don’t remember anyone. Claudia, Lize, Erica. Do you know of anyone?”
The three of them thought for a moment and then shook their heads, expressing they were unaware.
“While we haven’t got a clue on who came here, we might need to consider why they did…”
I trailed off, looking back at the mansion. The Knight Commanders also shifted their gazes at the same time. They seemed to have caught on to what I was getting at.
Without waiting for anyone to lead, the four of them headed toward the mansion. I followed, feeling a little uncertain.
The entrance of the mansion looked as ordinary as ever. But due to the possibility that something might have gone awry inside, I couldn’t help but notice elements of nature swirling around the Commanders’ weapons.
Just as Iris was about to yank on the doorknob.
“Welcome, Knight Commanders.”
The door swung open from the inside. The maid, who had been taking care of Aurora since she was a child, greeted us with her usual stoic expression.
“Is there a problem?”
The Knight Commanders froze in place, stunned by a situation that was completely different from what they were expecting, prompting the maid to tilt her head in confusion. Her indifferent gaze turned toward me, as if asking if I knew anything.
I pointed at the weapons in the hands of the Commanders, then at the Battle Nuns wandering the garden outside. The maid understood immediately, nodding.
“I see. It’s understandable that you’d be alarmed since those tasked with protecting the Lord are in such a state, but rest assured that the Lord is unharmed.”
“If the Lord is safe, that’s a relief. But what about those nuns—”
“I think it’s best for you to check for yourselves instead of having me explain. If you’d like, I can guide you.”
With that, the maid turned around. The Knight Commanders exchanged glances and, with a sheepish expression, sheathed their weapons and followed her as they headed for the staircase.
The maid stopped before the reception room on the second floor. Clap, a light clap of her hands and other maids rushed out.
“Before you enter, let me take off your armor.”
The Knight Commanders willingly handed over their armor. It seemed like they had practiced for situations like this quite a bit, as the armors were stripped off with remarkable fluidity.
As the helmets were removed and their faces revealed, I could finally see their expressions. Confusion mixed with bewilderment filled half their faces.
Well, I’d feel the same way.
I had been on edge thinking something was wrong with Aurora as soon as we returned, what with the Battle Nuns tasked with guarding her acting like that, but the reality was entirely different.
Within no time, their armors were all off. The white sleeveless tops and dolphin shorts were now fully visible. I stood there calmly, even while glancing at those twitching rears.
There were so many meanings and reasons for me to have come too far to get flustered over such a sight.
“Aurora, the Knight Commanders have returned.”
“Let them in. It’s open.”
“Yes.”
The maid opened the door.
As we entered the reception room, the first thing that caught my eye was Aurora seated in her usual dress, elegantly crossing one leg over the other. She looked just as she had before leaving.
Except for the fact that there was a person next to her I had never seen before.
‘…What’s going on?’
I suddenly felt a sense of uneasiness.
There was clearly someone right in front of me, yet it felt as if they weren’t there. It was only certain that they were sitting there. I couldn’t picture their face, physique, gender, or attire—nothing came to mind.
Just in case, I turned my head. The moment my gaze left the person sitting on the sofa, that image completely vanished from my mind.
The Knight Commanders seemed to feel something similar as their faces filled with shock. Aurora, having put down a teacup she was holding in her hands, casually questioned.
“You’re later than I anticipated. You said you’d only meet with the Popes, so things didn’t go as planned?”
“Not at all, my Lord. Everything has been wrapped up nicely. But, who is the person next to you?”
“Since you can’t recognize someone right in front of you, I assume you haven’t dispelled the magic yet, right? I was flustered too when it first happened. No worries, it’s not dangerous.”
“Just as she said. It’s not dangerous.”
A very long woman with long, white hair turned to look at us. Finally able to register the color of her hair, it seemed the magic was beginning to wear off.
And as I could make out her face enough to recognize it, the expressions of the Knight Commanders turned to astonishment. Only I remained perplexed, unable to recognize her face.
“It’s been a while, everyone. How have you been?”
“Minerva…?”
‘Minerva?’
I retraced my memory.
It was a name that had been mentioned in passing by the Knight Commanders before. They had said that the locations of the Arcana Library and Arcana Tower had been changed to Minerva Library and Minerva Tower.
Then that meant the person in front of me was definitely that NPC referred to as the Arcana Tower Master in the game. She was transformed from a male into a female.
“How did you get here…?”
“I got interested in something personally. Just thought I’d drop by to see your faces, but I heard you were off to the Holy Kingdom, right? So, I was just waiting around.”
With those words, her eyes—still lacking visible color—shifted toward me.
Just as I suspected, when I took a step aside, her gaze followed me. Even when I moved a little to the side, her gaze remained fixed on me.
‘…Is it me again?’
Indeed, it was once more me.
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