“……Is that a woman?”
“Yeah, a woman.”
I was slightly taken aback inside, but I didn’t show it.
It seemed like the lord was subtly suggesting a deal with the player, but the actual terms of the deal were different from what I remembered. In the game, they asked if I was interested in money or power.
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“No need to act coy. We’re both in the same boat, right? If you’re an human who committed a sin and ended up here, you should know what I’m hinting at.”
I noticed that the lord’s tone had changed just a little in that brief moment. Perhaps it was because he was proposing a collaboration to me, but it was a bit more formal than before.
“…….”
When I kept silent without rashly answering, the lord gave a meaningful smile, as if he were interpreting my silence.
“Anyway, just know that I have something to propose. Neither of us will lose in this. I can promise you that.”
“I’ll listen and then decide.”
“No, the moment you hear this, you have to join me. And remember, I have the power to kick you out of the city or lock you up in prison with just a word. It would be better for you to side with me.”
“Is this a threat?”
“Of course not. Just a proposal.”
“In that case, I’ll comply. There’s no need to think about which side to join here.”
I answered deliberately without a hint of hesitation. This guy naturally preferred those with a vile personality just like his own.
“Great, great. You’ve thought well. You know, it’s better to be perceptive in this world. Especially for someone like you.”
The lord smirked at my straightforward answer. His eyes, nose, and mouth all seemed crammed into his chubby cheeks, creating a face that made you want to punch him.
It was a laugh that could drive anyone mad.
“Now, shall we move on to the real conversation?”
After finishing the meeting with the lord and shaking hands to signify my willingness to cooperate, I left the reception room. His filthy, damp palm made me feel quite disgusted, but I managed to endure it somehow.
As I scrubbed my palm against the wall while leaving the mansion, I mulled over the lord’s offer.
‘I expected this since he asked me if I liked women.’
It seemed like he wanted to completely wipe out the Silver Dawn Knights in the end, but the details were the opposite.
In the game, the lord was male, and so were the knights commanding the Silver Dawn Knights. They wanted to poison the food to drastically weaken their physical abilities and then personally wield their swords to kill them.
The cost of this was the title of knight in the lord’s mansion.
But it was different here. While poisoning the food of the Silver Dawn Knights matched the game, the purpose was not to kill them directly but rather to make the commanders into sex slaves for him.
It was obvious that he would not trust the food he provided. Supposedly, after getting close to the commanders, he would hand over the necessary poison if I came to the mansion? And it was up to me to poison them.
If the plan succeeded, he even promised that I would get a chance to ‘taste’ the Silver Dawn Knights myself.
‘What an arrogant bastard.’
The notion that he wouldn’t impose any restrictions on me while making such demands, and his assumption that I would obediently follow his orders because I couldn’t resist my desires, was incredibly arrogant.
Even in the game, the moment I received this proposal, there was an option to immediately expose it to the commanders, so his obstinate personality could be considered official from the developers.
‘Well, I probably won’t do that.’
However, to kill the lord, I had to keep it a secret for now. If I revealed the plan at this point, he would simply be driven out to another region, and that would be the end of it.
Moreover, after being driven out, he would hold a grudge against the protagonist and persistently interfere with quests related to the story.
Only experiencing it firsthand would make one understand how disgusting it felt to encounter such a situation. It’s a level of frustration that words can’t possibly convey.
“Are you okay?!”
As soon as I stepped out of the mansion, Iris rushed over, leaning against the wall with an anxious expression. She looked extremely worried about me.
“As you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”
“Really, are you sure?”
“Of course. He asked some probing questions in between, but I just told him to ask you instead. After repeating that a few times, he gave up.”
“Good job. Yes, you did well. Did you happen to receive threats to withdraw from the knights?”
“If that were the case, I wouldn’t be standing here so nonchalantly.”
“That’s a relief… Thank goodness.”
Iris let out a sigh of relief. It seemed she had been quite troubled by that lord.
“Let’s head back to the knights for now.”
“Sure, got it.”
Even on the way back to the lodging on horseback, Iris kept worrying about me. The expression on her face revealed exactly what hardships she had suffered at the hands of that lord.
In about two weeks, I wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore.
‘Is this the ability confirmation orb?’
The day after meeting the lord, I was standing in front of the ability confirmation orb with Iris. Lize and Erica were beside us, looking excited.
Just like in the game, there was a sky-blue orb the size of a human head resting on a red cushion. It was a magical artifact that converted the subject’s physical abilities into objective numerical values when I placed my hand on the surface.
In the game, there was no explanation of who made this. It was merely said to have been created by a renowned archmage of the past, and that everything in circulation now was replicas that faithfully followed that original.
Knowing how to use the orb already, I placed my hand on its surface without hesitation. The orb flickered, and a blue light scanned my body. Soon, numbers appeared on top of the orb.
[Level] 4(+3)
[Health] 1
[Mana] 1
[Faith] 1
[Endurance] 1
[Skill] 1
[Power] 1
[Magic Power] 1
[Divine Power] 1
[Toughness] 1
“…….”
I had somewhat expected it, but confirming with my own eyes the flashy stats that had only 1 next to everything, except for the level that had risen by 3 from defeating the Human Butcher, left me feeling quite distressed.
If it were any other past profile, I should’ve started with at least level 10.
The other three shared the same reaction. Even the naturally lively Lize, along with Erica and Iris, were staring wide-eyed at the orb.
“Newbie, how… how did you withstand my attack?”
The first to break free from the shock was Lize.
“Seeing all your stats at 1 is even more shocking in reality. If your stats were this low, you should’ve lost easily, no matter how good your skills were. The first time our swords clashed, you should’ve been sent flying.”
“Exactly.”
“What do you mean exactly? You didn’t do that, did you? How did you manage that?”
Even asking how I managed was something I didn’t know myself. It was just possible here because it was in the game, so how could I explain that?
It would sound absurd to say, “Well, it worked in the game.”
With how severe the stat differences are in Brightest Darkness 4, as long as I don’t mess up the parry, my combat fatigue gauge will never break. And I simply had never messed up a parry.
Therefore, it was only natural that I could exchange blows with Lize, regardless of the stat difference.
‘I’m not sure. Can I teach that to the three of them?’
In the first place, concepts like perfect timing for parrying didn’t exist for NPCs. That was solely a player’s privilege. Even I couldn’t theoretically explain that.
Of course, I would like to teach them if I could, but what can be used and what can be taught are completely different matters.
‘Speaking of which, I need to allocate stats.’
As I watched the flashy array of 1s, I suddenly regained my focus. The number marked +3 next to the level indicated how many stats I could increase.
However, I couldn’t allocate the stats because I was too conscious of the gazes around me. If it got out that I could raise my stats with just a few flicks of my fingers, this whole place would go up in chaos.
In the game, I could always hit Esc to check my character’s stats and skills or allocate them whenever I wanted, but not now. I tried to whisper “status” in case, but nothing came out.
That meant I had to use this ability confirmation orb to allocate my stats. It felt like I was once again experiencing the inconvenient feelings of Brightest Darkness 1.
I absolutely wanted to avoid feeling that kind of discomfort again.
“……!”
Suddenly, Iris seemed to sense something and flinched before quickly turning her head.
“Claudia has returned.”
“Really?”
“Yes. She’s almost at the castle main gate. It looks like we need to go outside.”
Before I could even ask how she realized Claudia was back, Iris hurriedly headed outside, followed closely by Erica.
Lize tried to pull my hand, wanting to stay by my side until the end, but I forced her to go ahead while I said I would follow shortly.
And once I confirmed that no one was around, I quickly allocated all my stats to ‘Divine Power’ and rushed after the three of them.
