“Finally, we’ve arrived. I can see the city gate over there.”

Claudia, who had been leading the way, stretched out her hand. The familiar view of the checkpoint at the city gate greeted us.

The line was definitely longer than when I first arrived here after escaping from prison. It was evidence that the city was starting to come alive.

‘I wonder if the forge is open again? I feel like I’ll visit soon.’

True to the Silver Dawn Knights route, which was known to be the most newbie-friendly in Brightest Darkness 4, if you progressed the story properly, you could gather most of the elements needed for the journey right here in this city.

A forge for enhancing armor and weapons or adding attributes, shops that dealt with most mid to low-level items, and even a mage tower where you could learn intermediate level magic.

If I seated Aurora as the lord and maintained a friendly relationship, characters using melee weapons like knights or warriors could resolve all their upgrades right here.

Of course, that meant most elements could be collected, but the highest level magic, items, sacred spells, and blessed weapons still had to be obtained elsewhere.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

A head suddenly popped in. A blue ponytail filled a corner of my view. Lize was looking at me with her signature playful smile.

Her chest bounced rhythmically with the horse’s stride. The armor was already discarded in the Arachnae boss room, leaving only a white sleeveless top draped over her.

By the way, the armor could be resupplied infinitely. The magic cast on the castle seemed to consider abandoned armor as original items, so as long as you just brought them out, they would automatically replenish.

At this point, I was curious what curse the lord mistaken that magic for.

According to Aurora, it was a spell that only applied to a few of the top-tier mage towers, and I thought it was impressive they found such a thing.

In reality, only one person could actually use that magic—the empire’s greatest wizard and the master of the library. It really seemed like the Silver Dawn Knights had a serious grudge against them.

In a way, it was fortunate. Even though they hated the Silver Dawn Knights enough to find such magic, they couldn’t fulfill their goal due to lack of justification and ended up dying first.

It must have been quite a headache for them as well. They likely couldn’t just execute the emperor’s direct knights because they didn’t like them.

Tearing the Silver Dawn Knights apart and making the four knight commanders follow them would be the most they could do for revenge at that moment.

‘Though they ended up biting the dust.’

“…You’re not thinking about that girl’s chest, are you?”

As my thoughts tangled, I took longer to respond, and Lize shot me a suspicious glance. The distance between us shortened significantly. I rushed to answer before I was pressed further.

“No. I was just thinking about something.”

“Then why not touch mine? I could make you forget about that girl’s chest in a jiffy.”

“…How many times do I have to say I won’t?”

Since the heretic judgment incident with Stella, Lize’s behavior had become increasingly forward. Just now, she was deliberately exaggerating her chest while leaning her body slightly.

My patience was wearing thin. If these kinds of temptations kept up, I wouldn’t be able to last much longer. One month tops would probably be my limit.

“Alright, alright. I get it, I know. I was just saying it.”

Lize grinned at me.

I had rejected her suggestion to touch her chest afterward. When she heard my rejection, she jumped up asking what the problem was, and I simply admitted the truth.

Once I started, I wouldn’t be able to stop at just touching her chest.

After hearing that, Lize paused for a moment, then, with that trademark playful look on her face, said she understood and stepped back. Since then, it had been like this.

“Welcome, Knight Commander!”

As we approached the city gate, the line parted to the sides with a whoosh. A guard inspecting the cart at the checkpoint stiffened up and saluted Claudia.

“I’m glad to see you back safely! Did you succeed in the subjugation?”

“Yeah.”

Claudia tapped Arachnae’s neck, which was tied to the saddle. Even after quite some time, it hadn’t decomposed at all, just like when we had cut its head off.

Unlike typical monsters, powerful ones like the Arachnae usually didn’t decay unless something special happened.

They say that even if you threw them outside, it would take about half a year for them to start rotting. The human butcher who dropped a blood-stained sword right after being defeated was quite a special case, it seemed.

“Don’t think anything weird, okay? She was a humanoid monster.”

As guards flinched at seeing Arachnae’s head, Claudia quickly stepped in before anything strange could be said.

Even with its head cut off, tongue sticking out, and eyes half-rolled back, its beauty still remained, so it wouldn’t have been odd to mistake it for a human’s head at a glance.

“Yes! Understood!”

The guard immediately cleared the way. I was glad there wouldn’t be any pointless bickering.

“You’re going to report to the lord right away, right? It’s a bit awkward for all of us to stop by the castle.”

“Of course. I’ll head to Iris. You, sister and Claudia, and Delta, go ahead to the lord’s mansion.”

Erica turned left at the crossroads, and we continued along the main road. Maybe it was because she was conscious of the others around her, but Lize quietly guided her horse without sticking close to me.

We soon arrived at the mansion. A knight standing at the main gate stopped us. He was a newly appointed knight after completely replacing the previous lord’s servants.

Thanks to that, he didn’t treat us like trash like the last guy. Instead, upon hearing the name Silver Dawn Knights, he was all flustered, saying it was the knight order serving the emperor.

“What brings you here?”

“We just returned from subjugating monsters. We’re here to report to the lord about that.”

“I see. Understood. Please enter.”

The knight exchanged a few formalities before stepping aside. Waiting at the mansion’s front door was the maid we always saw.

She was the maid who had taken care of Aurora since she was little, and thus was considered the most reliable one. A woman in a maid outfit, covering her from neck to toe, respectfully bowed her head.

As we dismounted, a couple of servants came over to take the horses somewhere. They briefly flinched upon seeing Arachnae’s head tied to the saddle.

“Is it alright if we wait for the other two before entering?”

“Yes, absolutely fine. In fact, we’d recommend it. The lord might need time to prepare.”

At Claudia’s words, the maid glanced at me and emphasized the word “prepare.” Suddenly, Lize clung tightly to my arm. A deadly glare passed between the two.

I wondered how long it would be until Iris and Erica arrived. The combination of their stoic and quiet personalities created a stillness so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Lize and Claudia shook their heads, saying the sight was so suffocating. Honestly, I somewhat agreed.

“Aurora is waiting inside.”

The maid who guided us to the reception room opened the door with graceful movements.

As we entered, Aurora was sitting in the most honored seat, wearing a dress that exposed her side chest, armpits, and collarbone as she sipped tea. Her golden eyes locked onto me.

“How was the subjugation? Did it go well?”

“We all made it back alive, so it should have gone well.”

“Hmmm… Seeing that you’ve destroyed all your armor, I’m not so sure about that.”

At that, both Erica and Claudia cleared their throats simultaneously. One had been poisoned and was on the brink of death, while the other had almost been killed by Arachnae.

“Iris didn’t even participate in the subjugation, so that’s understandable. But Delta, the reason you didn’t wear armor in the first place is concerning. The other three went fully equipped and returned without armor! Doesn’t that suggest you lost it somewhere?”

“If the armor had been intact, you would have walked in wearing it.”

“You’re spot on. Well, quite a lot happened.”

“I want to hear all about it later, but I have some things to discuss first. Please, sit down. You can’t just stand there and talk, can you?”

Aurora gestured. We took our places on the sofa surrounding the table. Then the maids rushed in, placing teacups and small plates in front of us and pouring tea.

“Delta. There is something you need to hear first.”

“For me? Ah, about that thing I asked you to investigate last time—”

“I finished that investigation, but that’s not what I want to talk about right now. If it had been that, I wouldn’t have said it was a priority.”

“…?”

“What I want to say is this.”

Aurora carefully picked up a piece of parchment from the table and handed it to a nearby maid. The maid bent at the waist to receive it with both hands and then approached me, extending her arms.

“Take it. It’s yours.”

“Is it alright to open it here?”

“That’s why I gave it to you, but the other knight commanders can’t see it. Only you can check it first, and we can all look at it together only after you give the okay.”

“…What is it that warrants all this caution?”

“Flip it over.”

At Aurora’s instruction, I flipped the rolled parchment over. A knot of string and a pair of dragons stamped on the golden seal appeared.

It was a very familiar design.

“Uh, this is…”

I was left speechless. Lize, who sat right next to me, leaned closer, curious, only to turn pale and retreat to her seat. The other knight commanders had the same shocked look as they stared at the parchment.

“That’s right. It’s the emperor’s seal.”

Aurora took a sip of her tea.

“Emperor Kaiquilia personally sent you a letter.”