Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: The Confused Battle Nuns
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"Those are the battle nuns the inquisitor left behind to guard the mansion, right? What's got them acting like that all together?"
What we saw were the battle nuns Selene had stationed at the mansion to protect Aurora. There were still exactly twelve of them, and their clothes and appearances hadn't changed much.
But their condition was more than a little off.
Instead of blending into the shadows to guard the mansion grounds as they should have been, the battle nuns were simply shuffling around the garden with their arms dangling limply at their sides.
It didn't look normal at a glance. Seeing twelve women at once wandering around with unfocused eyes sent a slight chill down my spine.
"We'll have to investigate directly to find out what's going on. Everyone, draw your weapons."
Iris drew the longsword from her waist as she spoke. The other knight commanders paused while removing their helmets, then put them back on and drew their own weapons.
I stood still, deep in thought. Something felt familiar, like I was on the verge of remembering. It definitely seemed like something I'd seen before, but the details just wouldn't come to me.
While I racked my brain trying to recall what this situation reminded me of, Iris gripped her sword tightly and approached the nearest battle nun.
Lize followed right behind her, with Claudia bringing up the rear. Erika stayed by my side, probably to protect me, instead of following Claudia.
Iris reached the nun and yanked her wrist. The battle nun came along without resistance. She staggered for a moment as if losing her balance, then let her arm dangle limply again with that same vacant stare.
Iris waved her hand in front of the nun's eyes, prodded her arms, and even tapped her forehead with a finger. No reaction whatsoever.
A brief silence followed before a conclusion was reached.
"It's magic."
"Magic? This?"
"I don't know who cast what spell to cause this, but it's definitely some kind of mental magic."
"I've never heard of a mental magic that makes people wander around like this. Is it something new?"
"No idea. But I can faintly sense mana. Battle nuns from the Holy Kingdom wouldn't use mana, would they?"
"Hmm... You're right. There's a trace of mana left, faint as it is."
Mana. Mental magic. Dangling arms. Mindless wandering.
Combining those keywords brought a certain status effect to mind. It wasn't a perfect match, but close enough. I could test my theory directly to confirm.
"Wait, Iris."
"What's up, Delta? Do you know something?"
"Not for sure, but I know something similar. Let me try one thing."
I walked over to the battle nun Iris was holding. Erika trailed close behind me. I rummaged through the nun's body and pulled out a holy catalyst, prompting Lize to ask in a voice full of doubt.
"Why that?"
"I told you, I want to try something. This is it."
I placed the holy catalyst in the battle nun's hand. Thud. It slipped powerlessly from her grasp. I opened her palm again, placed the catalyst back, and wrapped her fingers around it tightly.
No use. I stared at the holy catalyst rolling on the ground once more and fell into thought. While I did, Iris tried a few more times, but the results were the same.
"Iris, hold her hand for a sec. Like a handshake. Not too tight, just lightly."
"Got it."
Iris followed my instructions without hesitation. Her gauntleted hand clasped the leather-gloved one in a handshake.
Crunch. Her grip tightened in an instant. A strange creaking sound came from her armor. Iris looked startled and tried to release her hand, but it only gripped harder.
In the end, Iris had to use both hands to pry open the gauntlet. The moment it came off, I placed the holy catalyst on top.
Thud. The catalyst fell limply to the ground.
After repeating the experiment a few more times, the knight commanders seemed to catch on that something was off. Everything else held fine, but they kept dropping weapons like swords or holy catalysts.
That was verification enough. I let go of the battle nun. Freed, she began shuffling around the mansion garden once more.
I stared at her retreating figure. Not an exact match, but similar enough to what I remembered.
"You're right, Iris. It's magic. She's under Confusion."
"...Confusion?"
Confusion was one of Brenac 4's status effects. One that could only be inflicted by specific magic.
If Fascination was a status exclusive to holy attacks, Confusion was the opposite—only inflictable by magic.
The effect was simple.
Disarm.
The moment it hit, any held weapon dropped from the hand and couldn't be picked up again for the duration. The movement animation changed to a slow shuffle with both arms dangling at the sides.
That "weapon" category naturally included magic staves, holy catalysts, shields, and the like. At least consumables could still be used, which was a small mercy.
In vanilla, it just made you drop your weapon, so it barely registered against priests or mages. But the NDKLA mod buffed it to also disrupt chanting.
Players could inflict it too. Elite enemies were mostly immune except for a few, so it only worked on trash mobs.
"A mage was here. A pretty high-level one, at that."
Of course, not just any enemy mage could inflict Confusion. Unlike Fascination, which built up from any holy spell, this was different.
In vanilla, only elite mages could do it. The NDKLA mod kept that restriction—no trash mob mages could use it either.
If that applied here, and these battle nuns under the inquisitor—who were treated as elite mobs and thus immune to Confusion in-game—were afflicted, then the mage who came here was no ordinary one.
I never imagined they'd actually make it so they couldn't hold weapons just like in the game.
"Iris. Among mages who'd be in the Magic Tower—not the riffraff—who might come here?"
"...Not that I recall. Claudia, Lize, Erika. What about you three?"
After a moment's thought, all three gave the same answer: nothing.
"No one knows who came, so let's set that aside. Then the reason they came here..."
I trailed off, gazing at the mansion. The knight commanders turned their eyes there too, clearly grasping what I meant.
All four headed for the mansion without a word. I followed, a mix of curiosity and wariness in my mind.
The mansion entrance looked as ordinary as ever. But perhaps suspecting trouble inside, elemental energy began seeping from the knight commanders' weapons.
Just as Iris reached to yank the doorknob.
"Welcome back, Knight Commanders."
The door opened from within. The maid who'd served Aurora since childhood greeted us with her usual stoic expression.
"Is something the matter?"
The knight commanders froze in place, their thoughts grinding to a halt at the unexpected situation. The maid tilted her head. Her emotionless eyes turned to me, as if asking if I knew anything.
I pointed alternately at the weapons in the knight commanders' hands and the battle nuns shuffling aimlessly in the garden outside. The maid nodded in understanding.
"I see. It's understandable you'd be alarmed seeing those meant to protect the lord in such a state, but Lady Aurora is unharmed, so please rest easy."
"It's a relief the lady is safe. But those nuns—"
"Instead of me explaining here, it would be better if you saw for yourselves. Will you follow me?"
With that, the maid turned. The knight commanders exchanged glances, then sheepishly sheathed their weapons and followed her up the stairs.
The maid stopped in front of the second-floor parlor. Clap. At her light handclap, other maids swarmed out.
"Before entering, we'll help you remove your armor."
The knight commanders handed over their armor willingly. They'd clearly practiced for this, as the maids removed it with practiced ease.
Helmets came off, revealing their faces. Now I could see their expressions clearly: half bewilderment, half confusion.
I would've reacted the same.
They'd tensed up thinking something had happened to Aurora upon returning from the Holy Kingdom, only to find the exact opposite.
The armor was off soon enough, revealing white sleeveless tops and dolphin pants underneath. I stood unfazed even seeing their jiggling hips.
I'd come too far for that to excite me, in all sorts of ways.
"Lady Aurora, the knight commanders have returned."
"Let them in. It's open."
"Yes."
The maid opened the door.
Inside the parlor, Aurora sat in the head seat with one leg crossed, dressed in her usual gown. Nothing had changed since we'd left.
Except for the unfamiliar person sitting beside her.
'...What?'
A sense of wrongness hit me.
Someone was clearly there, yet it felt like no one was. I knew they were seated, but that was it. No face, build, gender, or clothes came to mind.
I turned my head just in case. The moment my gaze left the person on the sofa, their image vanished from my mind.
The knight commanders looked just as flustered, their faces full of panic. Aurora set down her teacup and asked calmly.
"You're later than expected. I thought you'd just meet the popes and come back. Did things not go smoothly?"
"Not at all, my lady. Everything was concluded well. But... who is that person beside you...?"
"If you can't tell who it is despite them being right there, the magic must still be active. I was pretty thrown off at first too. It's fine, though—not dangerous."
"She's right. It's not dangerous."
A woman with very long, straight white hair turned to look at us. Now that I could perceive her hair color, the magic seemed to be fading.
Once her face became recognizable, the knight commanders' faces filled with shock. I alone remained puzzled, not knowing who she was.
"Long time no see, everyone. Have you been well?"
"Minerva... ma'am?"
'Minerva?'
I searched my memory.
It was a name the knight commanders had mentioned offhand before. In the game, places called Arcana Great Library and Arcana Magic Tower had become Minerva Great Library and Minerva Magic Tower.
That meant this was the NPC formerly known as the Arcana Magic Tower Lord. Changed from a man to a woman, as expected.
"How did you get here...?"
"Something caught my personal interest. I came here to see your faces too, but you'd gone to the Holy Kingdom, hadn't you? So I've been waiting."
With that, eyes whose color I still couldn't make out turned toward me.
Just to check, I shifted a step to the side. Her gaze followed exactly. I moved further aside, but her eyes tracked me.
'...Me again?'
Sure enough, it was me this time too.