Chapter 148

Chapter 146 – Appearance

“More neatly.”

“Understood.”

Lana gave the order to tidy up even more. Ten maids moved in perfect unison, following her command.

This was Aurora’s room. The owner of this place was busy roaming the city with a man by her side, and they seized the opportunity to clean the room.

It was a cleaning in preparation for any unforeseen events.

Of course, it was Lana who prompted the outing. Unable to bear her master’s frustration, she had advised Aurora to continue the conversation as an ordinary person rather than as herself.

Aurora initially seemed intrigued, then appeared to ponder a bit, and finally left the mansion with a slightly anxious expression.

I had doubts about whether she would do well, but Lana also had zero experience with men, so she wasn’t in a position to give relationship advice.

‘It would be nice if it works out, but it can’t be helped if it doesn’t.’

Lana was half resigned. Normally, her master was so strong and steadfast, but oddly, whenever intertwined with that man, she couldn’t be honest and kept circling around.

This time would undoubtedly be the same. Lana had told her to hide her identity till the end, but the chances of that were slim. It was either that it would become apparent midway or that she’d be found out.

‘He doesn’t seem the type to pursue women…’

After having a few conversations at the mansion and receiving various explanations about her master, Lana confidently believed she had a good grasp of Delta’s nature.

That man couldn’t wait for someone to approach him. If he waited for someone to come to him, he would be waiting forever.

Furthermore, with a woman he’d already gotten involved with by his side, he definitely couldn’t afford to do so.

Lana had strongly insisted that they should take advantage of the opportunity with the seat empty beside Aurora.

Historically, the number of women a man had symbolized his power. It was good for both Delta and Lana’s master. Both benefited from it.

The only concern was whether the man could handle multiple women, but Lana wasn’t too worried about that.

After all, Delta was more than capable of that.

‘It might be intrusive behavior, but…’

If things go south, Lana herself would be accountable. After all, she had urged Aurora to act, so she wasn’t exactly putting all the blame on herself.

And, well, if it absolutely fails, there’s always the option of an affair.

Casually thinking of an idea that would make her master freak out if she heard it, Lana scolded with a blank face.

“Check more thoroughly!”

Like master, like maid.

“It was fun after a long time, right?”

“…Maybe?”

I was sitting at a table in the city center with Aurora.

Even though I had only been looking around at clothes, I wasn’t sure what was so fun about it, but if she said it was, then that would be that. It didn’t seem like a lie.

The clothing store Aurora took me to was as good as a modern department store. Since there couldn’t be a modern department store in the medieval era, it was probably the influence of the mod.

“What’s with that response? Was it fun only for me?”

“It seems you’re not even trying to hide your identity anymore, Lord?”

Aurora had her face fully exposed now. Halfway through getting dressed, she had removed her hat because it was getting in the way, and later on, she had even thrown off her mask and was now like this.

“It’s fine. The people here don’t know my face that well. How often do they get to see their lord in person? They barely come out of the mansion. Even if they have something to say, the underlings will handle it first. Delta, you’re the special case here.”

“So, didn’t the disguise lose its meaning from the start?”

“They have eyes too. If they see someone in a splendid dress, they might not know who it is, but they’d think, ‘Ah, a high-status person.’”

‘A splendid dress?’

To me, it looked like a city-like mini dress.

After pondering for a moment and thinking about the outfit Aurora wore in the game, I finally grasped it. That uniform could indeed be considered splendid.

“If it’s you, Delta—”

At that moment, Aurora closed her mouth.

There was an unusual atmosphere. Her hand resting on her thigh was trembling, and her golden pupils, filled with fear, anxiously swept the surroundings.

“What’s wrong? Your complexion isn’t good; are you okay, Lord?”

“Wha-what’s going on? Something feels… weird…”

“Weird? In what way?”

“Th-that…”

“Lord?”

The sound of teeth clattering could be heard. She was shaking so much. I hurriedly spun around and quickly moved to sit next to Aurora.

As I sat down, Aurora instinctively grasped my hand. I held her hand back. The grip was incredibly strong. Her fingers turned white.

‘Why is this happening all of a sudden?’

I carefully embraced Aurora’s shoulder as she appeared to almost collapse. Whether it was instinct or not, she burrowed into my arms. This was definitely not a normal situation.

We had to return to the mansion. Regardless of what was happening, it was much better than just sitting here.

Aurora seemed to have lost her strength in her legs and couldn’t stand properly. After wobbling a few times, she finally managed to stand. Her two legs trembling uncontrollably.

“Lord, can you walk?”

“I-I don’t know. It feels strange. A lot…”

“Yes. Just looking at you, it certainly seems that way. Let’s return to the mansion for now. I’ll escort you.”

It felt as if she would fall to the ground the instant her body lost balance, so I carefully wrapped my arm around Aurora’s armpit to support her. Sweat was dripping down my forehead.

‘Is there nobody around?’

Only then did I realize how strangely quiet the surroundings were. I scanned around. Just a moment ago, there had been people wandering here and there, but now it was utterly empty.

There wasn’t a single person in this vast street. It was an unreal sight that sent chills down my spine. Was there such an event in Brightest Darkness 4?

“Lord, may I excuse myself for a moment—”

“Ah, hello. Is it alright if I talk for a moment?”

A voice rang out. I reflexively turned around while supporting Aurora and brought the wingless nightmare to my side with my remaining hand.

A woman with a sinister smile was walking towards us from across the street. She had hair that was half purple and half green, along with an immensely large chest.

I couldn’t fight with Aurora in tow, so I glanced sideways, ready to flee if need be. Aurora was clutching me tightly around the waist, trembling seriously.

“Lord.”

“……”

“Lord. Snap out of it.”

“……”

“Aurora.”

As I called Aurora’s name, I pulled her tightly into my arms. If it were up to me, I would want to hide her behind me. But if something went south, I’d need to jump and run, so this was just a precautionary measure.

Feeling the warmth of a person, Aurora seemed to regain her senses a little and looked up at me with wide terrified eyes.

“De, Delta… My, my body… feels strange… I can’t move my legs…”

“I know. Just calm down.”

My head was a bit clearer. I had seen a similar scene in the game before. I wasn’t 100% sure, maybe around 90%.

In Brightest Darkness 4, there were six status ailments: Freeze, Bleed, Brain Shock, Confusion, Poison, and Burn. However, there were also two special status ailments that did not fall into any of those categories.

Those were Enchantment and Fear.

They were treated as entirely different categories because they only affected NPCs without attack capabilities, not enemies or players. In the game system, they were classified completely separately.

They did not first attack the player; instead, they manifested in fleeing NPCs. These status ailments were Enchantment and Fear.

‘In fact, it’s almost a one-time setting to progress the story.’

There was no normal way for the player to walk, and the enemies capable of causing this were few and far between, and once that story was completed, they never appeared again.

It was, in essence, a one-time setting for a specific story.

Moreover, the reactions shown by NPCs when that story was in progress were very much like the ones Aurora was showing now.

‘……’

If that woman was the cause of the current situation, then the possibilities I could think of were at most three. I wracked my brain hard. Was there an NPC capable of instilling fear that could come to me in this situation?

Aurora continued to burrow deeper into my arms. The woman watching this let out a strange laugh.

“Kihih. Hey, how about you just let that girl go? I promise, I won’t do anything. I swear. Just let’s talk, just the two of us. It’ll surely be fun. Yeah, it will.”

‘Casual speech?’

Hadn’t she been using honorifics just a moment ago?

“That won’t do. If I let go here, she’s going to collapse immediately.”

I flat-out refused. The woman displayed a blank expression for a moment, then bowed her head and muttered something.

“If you won’t let her go, what should I do?”

“We’ll pull her away by force.”

“No! What if you end up being hated?”

“You came all this way to act good? Everyone ran away because of you!”

“Me? What about you? Trying to act nice all by yourself?”

The woman’s voice had become increasingly agitated, allowing me to eavesdrop on their conversation. She was engaging in a dialogue with herself with different voices.

It didn’t seem like there were NPCs with such mental illness in Brightest Darkness 4.

After a while of having an intense argument with herself, the woman raised her head again. She looked at me with earnest eyes.

“Hey, do you know me? Don’t you know me?”

Her tone had changed again. From formal speech to casual speech, and then back to formal again.

“Not at all.”

There were no NPCs with dual personalities or human-type bosses in Brightest Darkness 4, and since her appearance was altered by the mod, guessing from her looks was impossible.

I cautiously drew the wingless nightmare, careful not to let it touch Aurora.

“Heh. You really don’t know, huh? Then how about this explanation?”

The woman in front of me smiled slightly.

This time, she was using casual speech.

“I’m the witch who cursed you.”

The woman tapped her finger on her head.

“That’s me.”