After I smoky boom completely crushed the Golden Knight in the sparring, that guy was sulking in a corner of the training ground, while Lize and Claudia were openly teasing him, lounging in the shade.
“Oh, Erica? Why are you back so soon—who’s that next to you? And why are her eyes covered?”
It was Erica, who had gone on a patrol around the city with Iris. And she brought a scruffy-looking girl along with her.
There was still plenty of time until we were supposed to return from patrol, and we were puzzled, staring at Erica, because Iris was nowhere to be seen, and suddenly, she brought back a girl none of us recognized.
The girl was wrapped in rags instead of clothes. The calves peeking out from beneath were dirty, and even her face was wrapped up, leaving just a part of her jaw visible.
“Wow, she’s pretty even like that.”
But true to the world covered in mods, even though her whole body was in rags and caked in dirt, her nose, mouth, and jawline made it clear she was attractive.
Meanwhile, the men in this world had their common sense warped, so they had no clue how crazy good-looking a woman could be even with such extreme exposure.
“I didn’t cover her up. She’s the one considering our feelings.”
Erica was gently guiding the girl by the hand, step by step. The girl quietly followed Erica’s lead.
“And there was a reason for bringing her into the knight order. She hasn’t eaten anything for a few days, so I’m thinking of feeding her some bread and soup first.”
“A reason? Saying she hasn’t eaten for days? What on earth does that mean?”
“I’ll explain later. For now, I’m just going to take her to the dining hall. Or you could ask Iris when she gets back soon.”
The two of them disappeared inside the castle. Lize, Claudia, and I exchanged glances filled with confusion, wondering what on earth had happened.
Of course, just looking at each other wouldn’t give us any answers.
“Has Erica ever brought someone into the knight order before?”
“No, never. Now that we’ve received confirmation that the magic covering the castle is safe, it’s not a big deal, but back then, I thought having it for too long might kill us. How could we feed someone else when we were uneasy about our own survival?”
“We were too busy taking care of ourselves to even think about helping others. Now that our newbie has taken down that pig, we have some breathing room, but before that, it was really tough.”
Claudia clicked her tongue, as if just thinking about it pissed her off. Well, considering that jerk’s personality had changed for the worse compared to the game, I could guess just how much they suffered beneath him.
“Thinking about that pig getting killed suddenly makes me proud of our newbie. So what do you think, newbie? Should I give you another hug? You didn’t get much of one last time since Erica dropped you right away, did you? Huh?”
Lize smiled her characteristic smile, opening her arms. Her thin sleeveless top hugged her curves, bouncing enticingly. I averted my gaze. Lize let out a giggle at my reaction.
“Why are you shy? If you want a hug, you can ask anytime, anywhere. Oh, and just in case you forgot, the offer to do anything for you is still valid! It really means anything. You can ask for whatever you want.”
“Didn’t you get scolded by Erica for not keeping your composure?”
“Does that mean you don’t want me to?”
“……”
I shut my mouth, and Lize poked my cheek with her finger, wearing that same smile. Claudia looked at us with a strangely satisfied expression.
It was a fact I couldn’t outright refuse because it was true. Did I dislike it? There’s no way. What guy in this world, straight or not, would hate that kind of physical contact?
Plus, realizing that Lize was responding to me and didn’t take my non-rejection seriously only made her bolder in her advances.
It wouldn’t be long before something would inevitably happen, whether I instigated it or Lize did.
‘……The story’s already started getting tangled up, so it might not matter.’
Ever since the Golden Knight claimed he would keep an eye on me at the emperor’s order and came looking for me, those thoughts kept popping into my head, shaking my already fragile self-control even more.
The main reason I had been forcing myself to reject Lize’s physical contact was to avoid messing up the story; however, now that one thing had already gone wrong, it seemed like my efforts might be pointless.
I wasn’t stupid. I had long since noticed that Lize had feelings for me that went beyond being just a fellow knight. In hindsight, she had been like that ever since our first spar.
Right now, I guess it made sense, with me dealing with the lord and all the trouble I’d stirred up, but I still wondered why she acted like that when we first met.
“Let’s stop teasing the newbie, shall we? So are we waiting until Iris arrives?”
“Of course not.”
Claudia and Lize exchanged glances. Before I could even utter a word, each grabbed one of my arms and pulled me inside the castle.
I figured out where I was being dragged once we reached the dining hall.
Would it kill them to give me a heads-up?
Three days had passed since Erica brought the mysterious girl to the castle.
The girl explained everything about herself. From the fact that her name was “Inerma” to how she lost her eyesight.
‘There didn’t seem to be an NPC like that…’
Going over my memories, nothing came to mind.
No matter how much the mod changed appearances, it didn’t change the essence. Just like Lize, who had completely changed her personality from the original but still wielded ice and twin daggers.
That means she probably wasn’t an important NPC or simply didn’t exist in the game.
“Thank you for your hard work in sparring! Here, a towel for you to wipe your sweat!”
Ultimately, the matter of Inerma’s identity just drifted under the radar. Instead, out of her strong desire, she ended up taking on the castle’s menial tasks. She wanted to repay the favor.
In truth, there weren’t many menial tasks. Thanks to the restoration magic covering the castle, there was no need for cleaning, and simply organizing the storage where items were kept sufficed.
Most of what Inerma ended up doing was bringing water and towels right after we finished sparring. It was amazing to see her navigating around effortlessly, despite her blindness.
She claimed she memorized the layout of the castle on the first day with Iris’s help. She was certainly no ordinary person.
And there was one more piece of good news.
“It’s the emperor’s command. I shall take my leave now.”
The annoying golden knight who had been following me diligently was leaving after receiving a command from the empress, just five days in. The exact reason remained unclear, but regardless, it was a relief to have him gone.
Thanks to that, I could finally use the stat-checking orb again.
[Stats]
[Level] 16
[Health] 1
[Mana] 1
[Faith] 1
[Stamina] 1
[Skill] 1
[Power] 1
[Magic Power] 7
[Divine Power] 10
[Durability] 1
I decided to dump all my stat points into Magic Power. Magic Power was crucial for utilizing buffs alongside Divine Power.
Increasing Magic would boost both the damage of attack spells and the increase values of all buffs. Divine Power would extend the duration of the buffs, while Magic Power would increase their effects.
Like Divine Power, Magic Power offered impressive early investment efficiency, showing a growth increase of almost 1.2 times by the time I hit 10.
With a maximum attack buff from the blood-stained sword, it would go from 49.5% to nearly 60%. A 10% difference was certainly not negligible.
‘I also need to reveal that my stats have gone up. But I can’t find the right timing.’
Thinking that, I pulled my hand away from the stat-checking orb. The blue light diminished, and darkness settled around me.
I had a bunch of excuses prepared in advance. I couldn’t keep hiding this forever. It was merely the case that I hadn’t found a suitable opportunity yet.
I looked around and cautiously stepped outside. I had intentionally chosen late-night hours, but if I got called out for what I was doing here, I would have to cook up a good excuse.
“Newbie Knight?”
‘Whoa, startled me!’
I spun around, shocked, at the voice calling out to me from behind.
It was Inerma.
I was already used to the fact that the blind Inerma recognized me. Even without sight, her other senses had developed enough that she could identify me just by my footsteps.
Iris had found that ability fascinating.
“Are you still awake at this hour?”
“That’s what I should be asking. What are you doing here at this time?”
“I can’t sleep either.”
“Can’t sleep? Why’s that?”
“It’s like… I’m thinking if it’s okay for me to be this comfortable. Since my body feels relaxed, I guess other thoughts keep popping up. Even though I have nothing much to do during the day, I get three meals, and I can stretch out my arms and legs and sleep at night…”
Since it wasn’t something I could console her about, a silence lingered between us for a while. What could I do about her discomfort, just because she was worrying?
In the end, unable to bear the atmosphere, I awkwardly wished her goodnight and turned towards my room, but then Inerma tentatively called me.
“Um… Newbie Knight.”
“…?”
“If it’s okay with you… would you like to take a walk together at night?”
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