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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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The way back to the castle was much quieter than when we left.
I was too occupied with thoughts about what the uneasiness I felt at the end meant, so I had no chance to speak, and Inerma was humming a tune, looking oddly excited as she walked.
Apart from that, the combination of her empty eye sockets and the deeply settled darkness in the background was quite unnerving in many ways.
Since neither of us spoke, our steps naturally quickened. Before I knew it, we had already arrived at the castle.
Inerma bowed her head precisely in my direction.
“Thank you for accompanying me on my selfish request tonight, Mr. Newbie Knight.”
“No need to thank me. I enjoyed the night air after a long time too.”
To be honest, my mind was quite scrambled thinking about what had happened in the forest, but I decided not to mention it. I didn’t want to suspect a living person without definite proof.
“I’ll head in now. I’m getting sleepy.”
“Alright. I should go straight to bed too when I go in.”
Just as we were about to exchange perfunctory words and part ways to our respective rooms, Inerma stopped me by calling out.
“And, Mr. Knight. I think you will go to bed a bit late today.”
“I will go to bed late, what do you meană…ˇ”
“Newbie!”
What is it?
My body froze at the voice that resoundingly echoed through the corridor behind me. Without a doubt, it was Lizé. Scattering ice shards all around, Lizé approached me in an instant.
Then she clung tightly to my right arm and cutely growled at Inerma. Not a single bit of it looked threatening. It felt closer to watching a cat or dog struggle.
“Good evening, Knight LizĂ©. It’s a lovely night.”
However, regardless of that, Inerma smiled brightly as usual and greeted her.
Even though she must have understood LizĂ©’s emotions from her tone of voice, even if she couldn’t see what expression she had.
“…Where did you two go alone at this late hour?”
Her voice was filled with wariness.
“I went on a short night walk with Mr. Newbie Knight.”
“A walk? Was that really all?”
“Of course. You were watching us from afar the whole time, so you know, right?”
At Inerma’s words, my head spun towards her. LizĂ©’s eyes were wide open, looking extremely surprised.
“…You said she watched the whole thing? LizĂ© did?”
“Yes. From the moment we first left the castle until now.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were secretly following us while hiding from us. I thought you might have had a reason to do so.”
“……”
LizĂ© had her mouth wide open, as if asking “How was I caught?” Inerma, who had dropped a bombshell between us, left with a parting remark, “Then, good night.”
Now, only a pair of dumbfounded man and woman remained in the castle corridor.
“…I thought I hid well.”
“Is that the first thing you say?”
Those were the first words Lizé uttered after standing blankly in place for a while.
I wasn’t angry at the fact that LizĂ© had tailed us either. I just felt absurd. I didn’t particularly want an apology, and LizĂ© seemed to know that well too.
Moreover, I was in an awkward position to get angry. I knew that all these actions were because of her affection towards me, so how could I do that?
As long as she doesn’t cross the line, I should just consider it cute and let it slide.
“So, why did you tail me?”
Of course, that’s that, and this is this. I deliberately asked as if interrogating her.
“Well, I had no choice. How could I leave you alone when I saw you and that girl leaving the castle together?”
Lizé answered confidently. I slightly relaxed my expression, finding it absurd.
“You could have just brushed it off, thinking we were going for a walk. Why did you even tail us?”
“A man and a woman going out alone late at night, and you’re telling me to leave them alone, not knowing what they might do outside? Are you in your right mind, newbie?”
“In my right mind, that’s what I should be asking you. What kind of thoughts do you usually have that your head is filled with only such things?”
Even though the influence of mods caused women’s clothing to boast extreme exposure, it wasn’t a world where the sense of chastity was shattered like in a 19+ adult game.
One of the female fashion trends that could be easily found on the streets was wearing just a dress shirt with panties, but people passed by women wearing such clothes on the street without batting an eye.
Before the mods were applied, it must have been just ordinary cloth or leather clothes, not nude dress shirts.
It meant that women weren’t exposing themselves because they were overflowing with sexual desire.
It was just Lizé being weird on her own.
“Then it’s not?”
“Of course not.”
“Prove it.”
“Huh?”
Without giving me a chance to react, Lizé grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside, and under the pretense of a night walk, the two of us wandered around the city until the morning sun rose.
Seeing LizĂ©’s expression as we returned to the castle, I thought she had aimed for this from the beginning.
The very next day after that lively night walk, the girl quietly bid farewell to the Silver Dawn Knights.
Iris and Erica said she could stay as long as she wanted, but she quietly refused, saying there was no reason for her to stay here any longer.
Her Majesty the Empress had already informed her that her purpose had been achieved, so it was right for her to return immediately.
The girl left the knighthood wrapped in a single cloth, just as she had first arrived here.
However, she must have washed the cloth clean while staying in the castle, so she looked a bit better than before.
After walking and walking, the girl, who had entered a deep mountain, readily took off the cloth wrapped around her body. She was stark naked without a single thread on her.
She infused mana into the discarded cloth. Then the cloth floated up on its own and began to wrap around her body, and before long, it transformed into the leather clothes she had originally been wearing.
A top that clung tightly to her body, revealing her meager figure, a hoodie that covered even her head, and extremely short leather pants that were no longer than a single finger.
Around her neck was the artifact she had used to transform the clothes into cloth.
The girl listened to the surrounding sounds for a moment, just as she had done before, and after confirming that no one was around, she activated the artifact around her neck.
A magic circle was drawn under the girl’s feet. With the light pillar that appeared immediately, the girl’s body disappeared somewhere, and the magic circle also vanished as soon as the girl’s body disappeared.
“You have arrived.”
The girl, who had instantly moved to the imperial palace, knelt on one knee in the direction of the voice, pressing both palms on the floor and bowing her head deeply.
Empress Cecilia. The person she had to obey absolutely.
“Did you find the person you wanted?”
However, this time, there was one more voice. As soon as the girl heard that voice, she stiffened her body and stopped moving.
Golden eyes stared down at the girl who didn’t even blink.
“Indeed, I have. I have finally found what I wanted.”
“Hmm, is that so? If you’re reacting like that, it must be a really good person. I’m getting curious about who it might be.”
“Would you like to check? I can guarantee you won’t regret it.”
“I won’t decline. Well then, let’s see.”
A voice filled with a different feeling from Cecilia’s, a lofty and mysterious sensation, snapped its fingers lightly.
The girl, who had been lying flat on the floor, suddenly raised her head.
From the two pupils that should have been empty, mysterious navy blue eyes, the so-called ultramarine color, shone brightly.
They were eyes of the same color as the voice next to Cecilia.
“Oh my?”
How much time had passed? The tone slightly rose, as if a bit surprised. Seeing that, the empress spoke with a triumphant voice.
“Didn’t I tell you? I can guarantee that you won’t regret it either.”
“Hmm, that’s certainly true. For a child who amplified his magic power this much in such a short time… It’s quite interesting. The absolute value itself isn’t much, but that’s not what’s important.”
The navy blue light overflowing from the pupils disappeared.
The girl, whose eyes had returned to dark black pupils, bowed her head deeply. The owner of the navy blue eyes snapped her fingers again.
Then the girl’s body turned blue and dispersed into mana, gathering towards the voice.
The girl was not human from the beginning, but something made of magic. Yet so exquisite and human-like that none of the Silver Dawn Knights noticed.
The fact that the girl could wander around without any issues despite being blind was also due to the special magic applied to her body.
A magic that slightly distorted the cognitive abilities of the people around her.
“To the extent of recovering the mana you used, you were that pleased?”
“I became interested. I’m planning to study that man as well, along with further improving this magic. I should go to the Magic Tower instead of the Grand Library for the first time in a while.”
The woman with navy blue eyes drew a magic circle on the floor with a small flick of her finger while saying that.
Soon, the magic circle was completed, and a pillar of light enveloped the woman’s body.
“However, I must make one thing clear.”
The woman stopped the transmission at Cecilia’s words. The mysterious colored eyes turned towards Cecilia again.
“I won’t mind you being interested in that man. I was the same, and I thought you would naturally be as well.”
The golden eyes blazed fiercely.
“However, if you become more interested in him than I am, I will never sit idly by and watch. Remember that, Minerva.”
The woman called Minerva showed no sign of being intimidated by the empress’s fierce warning. With a seductive smile, she disappeared into the pillar of light with one last remark.
“Don’t worry and put aside your jealousy. I have no such intentions.”
Soon, the pillar of light faded, and the magic circle disappeared as well.
Cecilia stared at the spot where Minerva had disappeared for a while, her eyes still glowing golden, then swiftly turned around.
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Still he isn’t suspect how she able to know Lize trailing them without him knowing? Then his brain for nothing t
Distorted the mental ability after all.
Probably a strong suggestion that “everything is as it should be, no need to take notice or think about it any deeper”
Can’t exactly expect a player to be able to resist mental attacks after all.