.｡.:✧ Chapter 14 ✧:.｡.

—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

 
‘Why… are there only four of us?’

No matter how much I looked around, it was the same.

Iris, who was sitting at the table and continuing her meal in silence; Lizé, who was smiling brightly and saying something to Iris; Erica, who was nagging at Lizé to stop talking nonsense.

And me, looking around the surroundings.

In the large dining hall, which could be used as a training ground, there were only these four people.

“Hey, Lizé,” I said.

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Why is it just us? Where are the other people?”

In the game, befitting the title of “knighthood,” there were quite a few ordinary knight NPCs in the mob position, apart from the boss-level NPCs like Iris, Lizé, and Erica.

Although the scale was incomparably smaller compared to the imperial palace, which was the late-game field, if you killed all the enemies without respawning them in the middle, there were roughly 20 knights.

If you followed the human hostility route, this place would be transformed into a stage, so it was necessary to place mobs. The general knight members served that mob role.

But now, except for the four of us, there wasn’t even a shadow of a person to be seen.

“Other people? There are none,” Lizé said.

“None?”

“Yeah. The Silver Dawn Knights only consist of the four of us. Ah, now that you’ve joined, I guess it’s five? Anyway, that’s how it is.”

“…Why?”

“Hmm… It’s going to be a bit of a long story. Iris, is it okay to tell this to the newbie?”

“I don’t mind. He’s now a member of the same knighthood anyway, so there’s no reason to hide it. Just warn him not to blab about it anywhere.”

Iris permitted it indifferently.

“Well, there you have it. Let’s get the food first. I’ll tell you after that.”

Lizé said that and walked towards the furnace. On top of it was a large pot with steam rising from it and white bread that seemed freshly baked, emanating heat.

So far, it was fine. In terms of setting, white bread made from wheat was a somewhat valuable item in the world of Brightest Darkness 4, but it wasn’t a rarity that even the knighthood couldn’t afford to eat.

The pot also contained meat stew, and similarly, meat stew wasn’t a level of food that even the knighthood couldn’t afford to eat. In the game itself, bread and stew appeared as background resources.

The truly amazing thing happened next. Even after Lizé scooped out enough meat stew to fill her plate and took six pieces of white bread, the quantity didn’t decrease at all.

‘What is this, a miracle?’

Clearly, Lizé’s plate was piled high with bread she had taken as her portion, but the tray placed on top of the furnace still had the same amount of bread stacked on it. For a moment, I thought my eyes were deceiving me.

“Ah, since it’s Mr. Newbie’s first time, you must find this amazing,” Erica said, approaching me as I stood there dumbfounded.

Unlike Lizé, who not only filled her plate with stew but also took six pieces of bread, Erica’s plate had an amount of stew close to a standard portion and only one piece of bread on it.

“Of course it’s amazing. What’s going on here?”

“I fully understand. It’s only natural to be surprised.”

As she said that, Erica picked up a piece of bread. As soon as she did, the empty spot rapidly swelled up, and a new piece of bread appeared. It really wasn’t my eyes playing tricks on me.

The bread she had just picked up was gently placed on my plate as I stood there dumbfounded after witnessing it firsthand.

“There’s no need to think too deeply about it, Mr. Newbie. You can think of it as the same behavior as the room returning to its original state. This bread and stew also belong to that category. The state of the bread and stew being fully filled is considered the ‘original’ state, and the only difference is that it returns to its original state even in the situation we’re observing.”

“Is this also the same type of magic as that?”

I picked up the bread placed on my plate and examined it. It was an ordinary-looking food with no particularly special features. Lizé and Iris were eating it without any issues, and Erica also didn’t seem to have any notable aversion to it.

As if understanding what I was thinking, Erica laughed softly.

“Actually, we don’t know if it’s safe to eat this. Everyone is just used to it, so they casually brush it off.”

“Then why…?”

“It’s better to explain that along with ‘why there are only five of us in the knighthood.’ Here, the stew. Please sit wherever you feel comfortable. I’ll explain it to you.”

I received the bowl of stew and placed it on my plate. Lizé, who was busily tearing into the bread, patted the seat next to her with her palm while looking at me. The meaning of that gesture was obvious, so I went and sat next to her.

A satisfied smile appeared on her face. Lizé swallowed the bread and turned towards me.

“You asked earlier why there are only us here, right?”

“Yeah. It seemed like there was a specific reason.”

“Of course there is. It’s all because of that pig bastard.”

Her expression twisted as if she didn’t even want to utter the word used to refer to the lord. It was the first time I had seen such a reaction from the good-natured Lizé.

“Where should I start explaining… Alright. First of all, we, the Silver Dawn Knights, were originally the knighthood that guarded the imperial palace. There were two knighthoods protecting the imperial palace: the Golden Dusk Knights and the Silver Dawn Knights.”

‘It’s not much different from my knowledge. The overall setting is the same.’

I nodded appropriately while listening to Lizé’s explanation. Although many minor details had changed due to the numerous mods being applied, it seemed that the overall story and setting flowed the same way.

The Silver Dawn Knights were originally the elite knighthood that guarded the imperial palace. That was the reason why they had insanely difficult boss fights despite being NPCs encountered in the early game.

In terms of setting, they were knights who wouldn’t feel out of place as bosses in the very late game of the story, not just in this early-game field.

The reason why such an elite knighthood ended up in this remote region, almost driven out, was all because of the lord they kept cursing at.

Surprisingly, the lord of this city belonged to the imperial family. Although he was from a branch family, he shared the same bloodline as the emperor who ruled 2/3 of the continent.

When the current emperor ascended the throne, all the other siblings were swept away, but this lord was able to survive because he had long ago given up on the ambition to rise to the pinnacle of power and had flatly aligned himself with the bottom.

Even after that, the lord engaged in all sorts of insane acts within the boundaries of not crossing the line to demonstrate that he was not fit for the throne. In the process, he directly clashed with the Silver Dawn Knights.

‘Of course, it was all his fault.’

He was caught using drugs that were banned from circulation in the empire. And while he claimed to be demonstrating his lack of interest, he was actually engaging in trash-like acts because he had a rotten nature and wanted to live freely.

Fortunately for him, he managed to survive by mobilizing every connection he had, but he was no longer allowed to reside in the imperial palace.

That was the reason why, despite being of imperial bloodline, he was living as a lord in this remote region.

‘And he dragged the Silver Dawn Knights down with him.’

The lord wanted revenge for what had happened to him, so he tore apart the organization of the Silver Dawn Knights, absorbed most of the general knight members into the Golden Dusk Knights, and only brought along a few individuals, including the knight commanders.

The nominal reason was “escort.”

‘In the game, it was like that, but it seems different here.’

It appeared that the lord here didn’t bring along the general knight members but only brought the four knight commander-level individuals.

The Golden Dusk Knights were quite corrupt, so when they heard about dismantling the Silver Dawn Knights, who always interfered with their affairs with their integrity, they welcomed it with open arms and cooperated.

Of course, under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible regardless of their cooperation, but the justification of escorting a royal family member had a powerful effect, and above all, the emperor himself showed no reaction, which played a significant role.

From the perspective of the knight commanders, there was no way they could view the lord, who had effectively dismantled the Silver Dawn Knights, in a positive light. The lord himself couldn’t possibly treat the knight commanders, who had reduced him to a state of being almost expelled from the imperial palace, favorably either.

In the midst of such a relationship, the lord had dumped a magic-enchanted castle on them, so they had no choice but to think there was something more to it. After all, there was no way that bastard would do anything good for the Silver Dawn Knights.

The statement that they weren’t sure if it was safe to eat the food was also an extension of that. How could they calmly eat it, not knowing what kind of magic was cast on it?

However, the knighthood received no financial or material support, so they had no choice but to take the risk and have their meals with that.

…That was Lizé’s explanation.

‘Isn’t it a good thing?’

I, who had figured out the truth behind this “restoration magic,” blinked my eyes.

That lord bastard seemed to have cast this “restoration curse” on the Silver Dawn Knights as a way of telling them to suffer, but the reality was entirely different. First of all, it wasn’t a curse, and it definitely wasn’t intended for that purpose.

The magic cast on the castle posed no harm to humans.

Well, to figure that out, you had to meet the tower master, known as the greatest mage on the continent, in the late-game fields of “Arcana Grand Library” or “Arcana Magic Tower” in the game, so it was only natural not to know at this point.

‘For now, I should take care of that bastard as soon as possible.’

In the game, you could take care of the lord at any point in the story, except for the very early stages.

Claudia, who had left to exterminate monsters, would return soon, and it seemed right to proceed with the event, defeat that boss, and then immediately kill the lord to ease the burden a bit.

“So, newbie, you have to come with me,” Lizé said.

“Me too? Why?”

Iris, who had mentioned earlier that she would have to report the incident in the prison to him soon, added a remark.

“Because he set a condition. He said that if we want to recruit someone into our knighthood, we must report it to him.”

“That sounds like he’s saying he’ll absolutely reject the recruitment.”

“Accepting it itself isn’t a problem. In the first place, it’s not about asking for permission but simply informing him. It’s just a matter of confirming who it is.”

“Then does it matter if you increase the knighthood members or not?”

Iris shook her head.

“What comes after is the problem.”

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇