Chapter 188 – Harbinger
[Stats]
[Level] 71(+6)
[Health] 1
[Mana] 10
[Faith] 4
[Stamina] 5
[Skill] 1
[Power] 25
[Magic Power] 10
[Divine Power] 10
[Durability] 7
‘Why did it increase more than I expected?’
I hadn’t paid any attention to my level for a while, but now checking my stat window showed a whopping increase of 6 levels.
Considering that after level 60, even if I took down a late-game field mob or boss, my level wouldn’t go up, this was quite a significant increase.
‘…I’m not sure if this is supposed to happen.’
It felt like my level had risen way too high compared to the number of field mobs or bosses I had defeated.
Even if it were me, I wouldn’t be able to memorize the experience points for every monster. That’s just useless information that doesn’t help with the game.
It might make sense for speedrunning, but even then, it only applies to certain segments that need to be rushed. It’s too late to backtrack and calculate experience points now.
The main story had lost all meaning long ago, and instead of progressing gradually through areas, I had just teleported to necessary locations to grab equipment and runes.
‘Well, good things are good things.’
I decided not to worry about it. My level hadn’t gone down, and if it was higher, that was good news for me. There was no need to stress over a reason to ponder.
‘If I’m going to contemplate something, it’s way more constructive to think about which stat to invest in.’
It was a dilemma I faced every time I allocated stats, but now there was a reason to be even more cautious. It was due to what had happened in the Holy Kingdom.
That the god of the Holy Kingdom had genuinely lent me strength.
It didn’t matter whether the voice that answered my question was that of the sun or the moon. The key point was that the god of the Holy Kingdom had been watching over me and had granted me power or whatever.
‘…I’m starting to think maybe I should switch to a cleric build now.’
If I could call on the powers I used in the boss fight against the creature abandoned by God or the Behemoth in similar situations, my journey ahead would become a lot easier.
Most divine attacks tend to yield solid results in nearly all situations.
After mulling it over for a moment, I solidified my resolution and wrapped up my stat investment.
[Stats]
[Level] 71
[Health] 1
[Mana] 10
[Faith] 10(+6)
[Stamina] 5
[Skill] 1
[Power] 25
[Magic Power] 10
[Divine Power] 10
[Durability] 7
‘…If I invest more in Faith, won’t the god help me even more?’
With such unwholesome thoughts in mind, I confirmed my stats and stepped away from the ability verification orb, exiting the castle. The Dark Night Order members were busily transporting materials to the place where the warehouse was to be built.
Seeing the bunny girls and reverse bunnies carrying logs that were thicker than my thighs and at least three times longer than my height gave me a strange feeling.
‘Why do they have to work in those outfits?’
Can’t they wear something more comfortable? It’s not like there aren’t any tracksuit-like clothes in this world.
“Ah, Commander.”
The members with bunny ears perked up and wiggled their bunny tails while transporting the materials, casually nodding to me. The bunny ears bent at a 90-degree angle in sync with their nods.
I was curious how those bunny ears, which were clearly headbands, could move. If I asked, they would probably respond that bunny girls should be able to do that, right?
“Is the construction going well?”
“Yes. Vice Commander Laksia is hard at work directing things. It seems like the expansion will be completed by the end of this week.”
The Laksia being referred to was also dressed in reverse bunny attire. Apparently, she had been overseeing the expansion since I went looking for Fetch.
‘I wonder what Fetch is up to right now. She’s probably tracking things down flawlessly, right?’
When I ordered Fetch to find the Golden Key, she initially protested that she didn’t even know what that was. But when I glared at her, she quickly tucked her tail between her legs.
She was quite aware that refusing my request wouldn’t end well for her.
The Golden Key I mentioned was one that could unlock any lock, no matter the type, only once. It didn’t matter if it was made by humans, ancient ruins, or monsters.
That feature existed in the game as well.
With the Golden Key, you could skip any puzzle or lock mechanism, consuming it. Of course, as the one-time use promised, it would break after unlocking.
‘It’s not a necessity, but having one is certainly a boon.’
I gave plenty of time since it wasn’t something strictly critical like the wingless nightmare, so there was no need to press her too hard.
“Oh, and Vice Commander Laksia asked me to inform you that the letter has been sent successfully.”
“Really? I should be hearing back soon.”
The ‘letter’ here referred to two items.
One was the ring I had obtained long ago from the Arachnae boss battle, which I had put off sending to the Pratloid family, and the other was a scroll obtained from the ancient ruins that I had sent to Minerva.
‘They’ll probably just glance over them and set them aside, right? Right now they must be busy researching the Crystal Scroll.’
I was slightly worried about Minerva’s reaction, but at least she wouldn’t show a crazed reaction like when she received the Crystal Scroll.
After all, compared to an ancient scroll like the Crystal Scroll, this one clearly falls into a lower tier.
“Then, we’ll continue on.”
The bunny girls wiggled their butts as they left. Left all alone, I pondered what to do next and came up with a good idea.
‘Since it’s come to this, I should complete some runes.’
I still needed one last rune to reach my final build. Plus, I had yet to obtain the rune to ignore combat fatigue debuffs that I had been procrastinating on for ages.
‘For starters…’
I should acquire Rune Release Magic first.
Thinking of the ring from Minerva I had stashed away, I headed back into the castle. I was finally going to use it for the first time.
Imperial Palace hallway.
Lize had finished a brief report after meeting with Kaiquilia and was on her way back to the lodging of the Silver Dawn Knights. With each step she took, her silver armor clinked clang clang.
On the surface, she seemed to walk with dignity, but internally it was quite different.
‘Next time, I should go with Iris. No, maybe it would be better to go with Erica?’
She was pondering who to take with her when she went to find Delta next; between Iris and Erica. The purpose was all too obvious.
After Iris confessed that she started liking Delta, Lize was quite taken aback at first, but before long, she comforted Iris, who was feeling lost.
Lize had a very forgiving nature regarding her man’s relationships with other women.
In reality, if he intended to move on to another woman, Lize would have protested vehemently, but at least the Delta she knew wasn’t that type of guy.
After all, in a world where polygamy was possible given a valid reason—though creating such a reason was incredibly difficult—Lize firmly believed Delta could make it work.
And Lize had never entertained the thought of exclusively keeping Delta to herself.
‘…I wonder if Delta would enjoy it if we all shared him. It might be a bit overwhelming to handle alone.’
Suddenly, a fantasy of herself and the four commanders of the Silver Dawn Knights entangling with Delta popped into Lize’s mind.
She didn’t know how the other commanders felt about it, but for Lize, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea.
They all shared a bond that had grown past mere friendship to something akin to family. Sharing the same man could only serve to tighten those bonds further.
‘I’ll suggest it to Iris, and Erica will come around, while Claudia… hmm…’
Ending her carefree musing that could have led Erica or Claudia to panic or laugh, Lize concluded it might not be a bad idea.
Honestly, it felt a bit burdensome managing Delta on her own, but with four of them, they might just cope well enough.
‘Should I try to approach Erica first?’
She hated to admit it, but Lize and Erica shared quite a few similarities, after all.
The practical differences were only their looks and personalities, which were indeed notable.
The fact that sisters resembled each other was also true when it came to tastes in men.
In other words, if the older sister Lize was head over heels for Delta, the younger sister Erica was highly likely to fall for the same man given a mere nudge.
Usually, that kind of relationship leads to disaster. However, for someone like Lize, who was open to sharing a man, it could only work out for the better. Delta would never reject the idea either.
‘How lovely would it be to be with my sister at the same time?’
Lize hurried her steps, thinking of how to convince her little sister.
“…What is it, you?”
Just then, she encountered a golden-clad figure approaching from the hallway.
“What are you doing here at this hour?”
It was the Knight Commander of the Golden Dusk Knights.
The moment I saw that gleaming armor, the excitement I felt instantly vanished. That guy had been garnering worse rumors lately.
While they were merely rumors, it was said that he had been taking out his frustrations on his subordinates with reckless abandon at the slightest annoyance.
In the past, he hadn’t resorted to such behavior, so it seemed like the fact that half of his knights had been torn away was turning him more intolerable.
Loss hurts way more when you’ve owned something compared to when you’ve never had it in the first place.
“Did you say you just met that guy?”
The golden armor approached and spoke. His voice echoed ominously from within the helmet, leaking out through the gaps.
“That guy? Hey, mind your words. Who are you to refer to Delta like that? Did you not get hit enough in our sparring?”
I was immediately annoyed by his words, but the golden armor ignored my retort. Instead, it simply glared at me through a narrow opening in the helmet.
Without realizing it, I fiddled with the dagger at my waist. Such behavior alone was enough to be considered rude, providing me with ample justification to formally object.
Of course, I merely placed my hand near the dagger. This was the imperial palace, after all, and it wasn’t a place where I could act on my emotions indiscriminately. So, my hand on the dagger was merely a warning.
“……”
Even here, the golden armor remained unfazed, silently observing me. Then, he suddenly bumped into my shoulder as he passed by. The clash of armors produced a sharp clang sound.
Lize turned around in shock. The golden armor was walking away, making clank clank sounds as it went down the hallway nonchalantly.
“Has he lost his mind?”
Watching the golden armor vanish around a corner, Lize grumbled to herself. It was exactly as they say when a sane person faces a madman; only the sane one ends up suffering.
She’d have to formally lodge a complaint with the Golden Dusk Knights upon returning to her lodging.
—CRACK!
“What now?”
Suddenly, a crack snap sound came from her armor, irritating her further. The left shoulder where she had just collided with the golden armor was now dangerously cracked like a spiderweb.
Lize’s expression hardened as she carefully touched the damaged spot.
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