Chapter 158

Chapter 156 – Unexpected Identity – 1

“Cough, cough. I really apologize for the inconvenience. I’m sorry, Knight Commander of the Dark Night Order.”

The lord of this place, introducing herself as ‘Cassandra,’ was sitting on the sofa, her ears colorfully reddened in embarrassment from what had just happened.

Helga’s gaze towards Cassandra was pure pity. I probably had a similar expression.

I admit that it was my fault for speaking ambiguously that led to confusion, but it was she who grandly self-destructed by asking if she wanted her own body.

“So, about the conditions mentioned in the letter—”

As soon as I mentioned the word ‘letter,’ Cassandra’s body trembled. Perhaps feeling awkward under the penetrating stares, she cleared her throat again.

“…Is it all true?”

“Cough, cough, yes. I will transfer ownership of all the loot and byproducts obtained from the Rune Dungeon, and the Runes will also be included in the list of loot and byproducts. If you wish, I can also provide additional remuneration. However, I would like you to keep the details about the Rune Dungeon confidential.”

“Understood. I will do that.”

I replied without any particular hesitation, and Cassandra’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Are you really going to do that? So easily?”

“There’s really no reason to refuse, is there?”

“With all due respect, you do understand that this is an act of deceiving the Emperor, right?”

“Of course, I’m well aware. That’s exactly why I came to this conclusion.”

The Runes to be obtained here were quite impressive in terms of performance. While I wouldn’t be able to use them until the end of the game, in the current situation where I hardly had any Runes, they were more than sufficient for use and switching out.

Cassandra certainly wouldn’t kill me just for getting some Runes, so the returns clearly outweighed the risks. There was no reason to refuse.

“Understood. So, do you require any additional remuneration or rewards? If you have something in mind, I’ll grant it.”

“……”

As I slightly squinted my eyes while recalling my demands, Cassandra hastily added.

“I-I’m not talking about my body! I just meant do you need material compensation!”

“I know. I was just thinking if there was anything to ask for.”

Hearing my reply, Cassandra went blank for a moment, then turned her face red again, clutching her dress tightly.

I truly didn’t know what was going through her mind that she kept thinking such things. Given the atmosphere where she was half convinced that I would target her body, I felt like she might actually accept it if I did ask for it.

Of course, that thought had never crossed my mind.

“Commander.”

I left Cassandra, who was mortified with embarrassment, and Helga tugged at my ear. A gentle whisper reached my ears.

“What is it?”

“Are you really sure it’s okay not to report this incident to His Majesty the Emperor?”

“It’s fine. What, will we die if we get caught?”

“……”

Helga seemed a bit skeptical of my irresponsible answer.

From my perspective, I was confident that Kaiquilia wouldn’t kill us, but Helga didn’t know the circumstances.

All she thought was that I must be favored enough to be presented with the Golden Dusk Knights as a gift. It was only natural for her to find my response irresponsible.

That aside, I couldn’t explain why Kaiquilia was showing such great interest in me. If I tried to explain that, I would inevitably have to reveal what I was hiding.

“Plus, I’ve done the same thing before. Can’t someone who has done it once do it again?”

I showed her the Rune tattoo etched on the back of my left hand. Helga’s eyes widened slightly upon seeing the Rune tattoo.

If even the Silver Dawn Knights, who had maintained their loyalty to His Majesty for years despite being exiled, were willing to hand over Runes to me, then the rules were practically meaningless.

What good is the rule that Runes are state property and must be reported immediately upon discovery if even the Silver Dawn Knights, who would feel deeply shamed by any disloyalty, openly disregarded it?

In the Empire, it should be considered practically meaningless. In the game, cases of players getting punished for sneakily taking Runes were almost non-existent.

Given that, Cassandra’s anxiety as she trembled seemed abnormal after all.

“That’s a bit unexpected.”

“What were you thinking?”

“I thought the Emperor had bestowed the Runes along with the Dusk Knights to us.”

Technically, saying that Runes were something given was not entirely false.

If we completed the sub-quests assigned by the Emperor, they’d give us a Rune as a token of loyalty. Although due to its little to no practicality, it served little purpose other than an achievement.

“If that’s the case…”

As Cassandra spoke, Helga seemed to visibly ease up a bit and Cassandra kept fanning herself, her cheeks still red.

“Shall we rest at the mansion to recuperate from the journey? Or would you prefer to relax after the subjugation?”

“We plan to set off immediately.”

Having left the kids in the forest, we couldn’t just relax here.

“Kihihit, you’re here?”

As we entered the forest, Nix, speaking informally, greeted us with a peculiar laugh. It seemed her personality had exchanged during our absence.

Well, she had been using polite language ever since her swap to the formal side in the city. It was about time for another change.

“There seems to be no signs of a fight… Good. You did well.”

I absentmindedly patted Nix’s head just like I had done when she was using polite language, and immediately halted my hand in realization. In response, Nix took my wrist and rubbed her head against my palm.

Staring blankly at Nix, who was rubbing her entire face against my hand, Helga casually remarked.

“Isn’t it insufficient to have Commander Lize and the Lord?”

“Helga, you’re surprisingly not saving your words, huh?”

Despite her sluggish and lazy demeanor, it seemed she had no filter when it came to whatever was on her mind—a quality I had noticed from the start.

I casually removed my hand, and Nix ominously smiled and settled right behind me.

Standing at the entrance of the Rune Dungeon, I pulled out the Wingless Nightmare. The sound of weapons being drawn followed shortly behind.

“Remember what I said?”

“Yes. The Keeper of the Runes will be handled by you, and we are to prevent any other monsters from approaching outside.”

Helga, holding a longsword that shimmered with silver light, spoke lazily. Though her tone seemed indifferent, she accurately captured the essence of her words.

“Alright. Let’s proceed.”

I stepped inside the Rune Dungeon. Nix entered second, followed by the regular members, with Helga bringing up the rear. The insides of the dungeon had a strong impression that it was roughly hacked out of rock.

I walked with nonchalance, while the knights, puzzled by my lack of vigilance towards our surroundings, hurriedly followed me. After all, there were no enemies here.

Not long after, the path suddenly widened into a large opening. Circular holes punctured throughout, and stalactites hanging from the ceiling. An open expanse lay beyond the narrow passage.

I recognized this place, having experienced it before.

While Brightest Darkness 4 boasted an open world, setting it apart from the linear progression of the first three installments, there were naturally also increased types of bosses.

Every area had to feature bosses, the main story included them as well, and numerous dungeons also needed to have bosses inserted, alongside a significant increase in the number of mid-bosses.

This made it inevitable for some dungeons to reskin their structures or use palette swaps for their boss designs. This dungeon was likewise a reskin of the structures and boss designs from another dungeon.

Utterly dreadful, it was the infamous boss: the Rock Centipede.

‘It can’t compare to the original, but still.’

Fortunately, this boss didn’t require the same obnoxious gimmicks as its counterpart. As a result, despite recycling the dungeon and its visuals, it was spared from the wrath of complaints.

Since it could be fought with straightforward combat instead of relying on gimmicks, if they had reproduced all the mechanics, it wouldn’t have been a matter of just complaints.

“What are these…?”

Someone mumbled. It seemed they had caught a glimpse of armor that was dented, scratched, and stained with blood strewn about.

It wasn’t difficult to guess the fate that awaited the owner of that armor.

“What shall we do? Should we recover the armor?”

Helga’s question snapped me back to reality. In the game, I had seen this armor only as background and couldn’t pick it up, but here I actually could collect the armor.

“Not now, but let’s gather it on our way out. For now, just pile them in one spot.”

“Yes.”

The knights busily moved to pile the armor in a corner. While it was an utterly small amount considering that more than ten had perished, the fact that any armor remained at all was a miracle.

How could there be any traces left when they must have been bitten and devoured whole by the centipedes? I was well aware of this from the countless death scenes I had witnessed in Brightest Darkness 4.

“Everyone, prepare for battle.”

As I stepped into the center of the opening, I issued the command. The knights brandished their weapons, poised and tense. I pressed on a bit further, and soon, I heard rustling sounds from all directions.

“Do you remember what I said? I’m going down first. You all handle these guys and stay put here.”

“Understood. Have a safe trip.”

I left Nix and Helga along with the regular members and ventured down the slope. From behind, I could hear the crash of centipedes bursting through the rock.

This was the midpoint area where defeating mobs would yield decent experience, but instead of handling one-on-one fights by controlling aggro, I had to fight multiple enemies at once, so I avoided them.

Due to the combat system in Brightest Darkness 4, battling one powerful boss was significantly easier than fighting dozens of mediocre mobs at once.

In fact, I wanted to bring Nix, but I had to give up due to the risk of getting caught up in her area attack. She claimed she couldn’t aim her magic with the same precision as Minerva.

I moved further inside. Perhaps due to it being a reskin of the Rock Centipede dungeon, it was considerably shorter than the original. I arrived at the boss room in no time.

Just around the corner, the poor-man’s version of the Rock Centipede—the palette swap boss—was waiting for me.

“What the hell?”

Upon spotting the boss inside, I cursed loudly without restraint.

I usually didn’t do this, but the sight before me was so shocking that it came out instinctively. I never imagined something like that would appear here.

First, I caught sight of a blocky blue body. The torso was elongated, covered by a slightly curved shell on top, and numerous wheels were attached to the bottom.

A chimney protruded where the body connected, and the supporting plate structure inside was red.

And the most critical feature: the face. It was bizarre beyond words. With a huge round eye taking up a quarter of its face, triangular eyebrows, a rounded, hooked nose, and an oddly smiling mouth.

In place of the Rock Centipede, there was a blue steam engine.

That cursed little train!