.｡.:✧ Chapter 17 ✧:.｡.

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Claudia! What on earth is this…!”

Iris’s urgent voice could be heard from outside. All the members of the Silver Dawn Knights had gathered at the castle’s main gate.

Well, even if I said all the members, there were only five of us in total: me, Iris, Lizé, Erica, and Claudia, who had just returned.

“It’s exactly as it looks. I failed the subjugation.”

Instead of the appearance of the rank 1 knight commander of the Silver Dawn Knights, who was supposed to be the strongest according to the setting, all I saw in front of me was a woman with a wry smile, having suffered severe injuries.

The bandages wrapped all over her body were so soaked with blood that it had overflowed and dried into a dark red state. It was more difficult to find a part not covered by bandages.

There was not a trace of strength to be found in her gait as she limped on her left leg. She was leaning against the wall at an angle, as if even walking was uncomfortable.

‘I was certain she would be a woman, but…’

Claudia’s appearance was completely different from what I had imagined.

Her hair was a color that would best be described as light pink or cherry blossom, and her bob cut, which was half-rounded in shape, extended to just below her collarbone.

Beneath her straight, neat bangs, light pink eyes sparkled. In many ways, her face gave off an androgynous impression.

Although the curves of her hips and waist clearly felt feminine, overall, the feeling of an androgynous man was much stronger than a feminine one.

On top of her already androgynous impression, she was also ridiculously tall, which added to it. Even though I was probably on the taller side, she was only about one or two finger widths shorter than me.

If she were to dress like a man, instead of a pretty woman, people would believe without any doubt that she was a delicate-looking man.

Should I consider it fortunate that her chest curves were visible even through the bandages?

‘If she had worn proper clothes, she could have been mistaken for a man.’

Since her outfit was dolphin shorts like the other knight commanders, it seemed unlikely to mistake her gender.

On the ground lay a greatsword as long as Claudia herself and of tremendous width. At a glance, it looked like it would weigh over 20 kg.

Honestly, it was closer to a blunt weapon than a sword.

“You failed the subjugation?”

“Ahaha. That’s how it turned out. I went out with a lot of bravado, but don’t I look miserable?”

Claudia lightly waved her right hand, which was wrapped in bandages, with an embarrassed expression, but when Erica, who was re-wrapping the bandages all over her body, scolded her for what she was doing, she shrank back meekly.

“It’s enough that you came back alive. It’s sufficient that you didn’t lose your life. The fact that you returned alive is much more important than failing the subjugation.”

“Claudia, was that monster that strong? Even strong enough for you to fail the subjugation?”

Claudia shook her head at Lizé’s question.

“No. I couldn’t even get close to it. If I had been beaten by that thing, I wouldn’t have felt as resentful.”

“What do you mean, Claudia? You couldn’t even get close to it?”

The silver eyes widened as if in shock.

“I encountered another monster on the way to that one. A horse wearing steel armor and a knight-like monster using a spear while headless… No, I’m not even sure if it was a monster. Anyway, I was beaten by that one. No matter how much I hit it, my attacks had no effect at all. Even with a weapon like this.”

Claudia tapped the greatsword at her feet with the tip of her foot.

Upon hearing the answer that even with a greatsword as wide as a human torso, as long as a person’s height, and as thick as two finger joints, the attacks had no effect, the expressions of the other three, except for me, stiffened.

‘Of course it wouldn’t work.’

In the first place, that thing wasn’t a boss meant to be defeated head-on but one that required a specific item to remove the iron armor covering its entire body before killing it.

In the state where the armor wasn’t removed, even if you had a character with all stats at 99 and a fully upgraded weapon, using full buffs and attacking it, the damage would only be around 10.

Occasionally, there were people who challenged human limits by trying to clear it without removing the armor, but most of them ended up realizing the limits of their patience.

“…I see. I understand for now.”

Iris bit her lip and nodded. Claudia had a face filled with shame.

‘Should I get going now?’

The event had ended with that conversation just now. Although a quest window to subjugate that thing didn’t appear, there was no quest window in the game anyway.

Brightest Darkness 4 was a game where, regardless of what mission the character was undertaking or where they were, the player had to infer all the quests through dialogue or investigation and remember them one by one.

What if you forgot or misremembered them? The story would get twisted, and you wouldn’t be able to progress as you wanted, or the story would proceed in the completely opposite direction of what you desired.

It was a style that divided opinions greatly. Some people liked it because they didn’t have to see unnecessary quest window notifications like in other open-world RPGs, while others disliked it because it was too inconvenient and unfriendly.

That was why mods were created to organize and display the currently progressing main story and sub-quests in an easy-to-see notification format, just like in other RPGs.

Of course, it didn’t apply to me. Even if I couldn’t memorize all the minor sub-quests, I had the game’s main story and major sub-quests in my head.

“Wait. Where are you going, newbie?”

As I casually tried to leave the castle, Iris called out to me and stopped me. It was a situation I had never experienced in the game, and my mind briefly froze.

‘…Come to think of it, this won’t flow like the game.’

In the game, even if you took this route, it simply felt like you were only affiliated with the Silver Dawn Knights, and there was no particular benefit from it.

The protagonist did their own thing, and the knighthood’s story progressed separately.

But now, I was a new knight who officially belonged to the Silver Dawn Knights. Moreover, I was one who had everyone’s expectations on my shoulders. Naturally, attention would be focused on my every action.

From Iris’s perspective, it was right to stop me as I tried to leave alone to somewhere.

‘I messed up.’

I clicked my tongue inwardly. Since things had turned out this way, there was no benefit in hiding it, so I thought it would be better to say it outright. I opened my mouth with the most nonchalant expression I could muster.

“I’m going to defeat that horse-riding fellow.”

At my single statement, a chilling silence lingered.

Lizé and Erica were frozen in shock, Claudia had an expression as if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard, and Iris, in a rare moment, furrowed her brows and shook her head, as if unsure how to interpret my words.

“No, there’s no need to have you, a newcomer, participate in the subjugation. This is something we should do, and we have to report the failure and take action againㅡ”

“I’m not saying to take me on the subjugation. I’m saying I’ll go alone.”

Upon hearing those words, Iris finally distorted her expression. Claudia gave me a look as if asking if I was crazy. Erica had a similar expression.

Lizé approached me from the side and tried to gently grab my fingers and send me behind her. I flexed my arm to resist, signaling that I was fine.

“Newbie. I know that you have exceptional talent. I also know that you have already sufficiently demonstrated your abilities to us. However, this is not training but real combat. The enemy won’t go easy on you like Lizé did during the duel, nor will they hold back. If you make even a slight mistake, you could lose your life.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I won’t die anyway.”

“…You’re not listening to me at all.”

Iris let out a sigh.

“I absolutely cannot allow actions based solely on self-confidence. I fully understand where your confidence stems from. You have already surprised us several times. I don’t doubt your skills either. But that’s precisely why I have to oppose it. If you were to leave with my permission and return dead, or worse, not return at all… I would never be able to forgive myself.”

It was a reasonable and justifiable concern.

Even if I were a knight commander, if a talented newcomer who had just joined one day said they would go and defeat a monster that even their knighthood’s rank 1 knight commander had failed to subjugate, I would have stopped them.

But that was that, and this was this. I also had a reason why I absolutely couldn’t postpone this subjugation.

I had to defeat that thing to obtain the tool I would use later when killing the lord.

“Real combat is different from theory. The enemies won’t move according to your thoughts. It’s an enemy we’re encountering for the first time, and the correct approach is to be as cautious as possible. I can’t push you into such a situation. I’ll say it again, I hold your talent and future potential in very high regard. I won’t allow such a talented individual to be wasted meaninglessly, nor will I allow such a talented individual to die meaninglessly. I won’t say it twice, newbie. I refuseㅡ”

“Knight Commander Claudia.”

“Huh? Me?”

Suddenly hearing her name called, Claudia, who had been alternating her gaze between me and Iris while being supported by Erica, was startled and answered.

“Yes. Can you help me with just one thing?”

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