Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: Pitch-Black Starry Night Knights
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After finishing a thorough "conversation" with the fool decked out in gold-plated armor, I was walking down the imperial palace corridors with my knights in tow, pondering what to do next.
There was no longer any need to stay in the palace.
Head back to my room, pack up what I needed, have a quick meeting with Minerva, bid farewell to the knight order captains, and then return to my territory. That would finally wrap up this long and tedious audience with the emperor.
'That should more than repay what I owe the knight order captains.'
On top of revealing the former lord's ties to the demon, I'd given them plenty of other reasons to fear me. For the time being, they'd be too preoccupied with worry to make any moves.
And I hadn't said anything untrue. It was just karma coming back around for what they'd done to the Silver Dawn Knights.
"Um... Captain? Do you have a moment?"
A voice called from behind me. I stopped and turned around. A blonde knight with blue eyes was approaching cautiously.
It was Raksia. The vice-captain who'd picked me as her sparring opponent in the training grounds, gotten thoroughly thrashed with her broken straight sword until her soul nearly fled her body, and then been dragged away by her own subordinates grabbing her limbs.
Honestly, I hadn't expected Raksia to end up under my command. Sure, the odds were fifty-fifty, but that meant there was an equal chance she wouldn't.
My method of choosing had been simple. I drew a line straight through the center of the Golden Twilight Knights as they stood for the imperial audience, stood a stick vertically on the line, and let it fall. Whichever way it tipped—that was the side I took.
It fell to the left, and Raksia was there.
She'd looked pretty shocked at the result, then kept stealing glances at me afterward. Probably remembering our first encounter in the training grounds. I had no intention of holding that against her.
"What's up?"
Speaking casually to assert authority felt a bit awkward.
"I wanted to ask if you have any plans in mind. What do you intend to do from here on out?"
"I'm planning to think about that starting now."
"...Pardon?"
"Yeah. How could I have made plans for something I never even imagined happening? You can only prepare for things you can reasonably predict."
'Maybe I should plan ahead in case His Majesty decides to split the Golden Twilight Knights in half and grant them to me?' Anyone obsessing over nonsense like that wasn't meticulous—they were just insane.
"..."
Raksia tilted her head, her expression a vague mix of half-convinced and half-baffled.
"Sorry, but could I ask one more question?"
"No need to apologize. Ask away. What is it?"
"I wanted to ask about our affiliation. More precisely, the name of the knight order."
'A name, huh.'
Come to think of it, I hadn't decided on one yet.
Luckily, this was something I didn't need to rack my brain over. I could just use the name from the game, when the emperor had merged the two orders into a new one.
"I do have something in mind. Let's go with it if you like it. Feel free to change it otherwise."
"What is it?"
Dozens of eyes and ears turned toward me.
"Pitch-Black Starry Night Knights."
One side symbolized evening twilight, the other dawn. Combining them should yield the pitch-black starry night in between. That was the emperor's logic.
In English, it was apparently "Dark Star-Night," which led to jokes about the emperor still suffering from middle-school syndrome at his age. The armor was sleek and jet-black, but the name was the issue.
I didn't particularly care about such things.
'An ancient tradition and all.'
Even among holy spells and magic, there were names that made you doubt your own eyes.
Like "Rampaging Torrent of Mana" or "Blade of Judgment that Condemns the World." The former was magic, the latter a holy spell.
Since names like those had steadily appeared from Brenalk 1 onward, the developers clearly had a strong sense of taste. Worrying about it was a loser's game.
What surprised me was how much the knights, led by Raksia, loved the name Pitch-Black Starry Night Knights. Gasps of admiration erupted here and there the moment I said it.
I had no idea what part they liked.
"...This is it."
I stopped squarely in front of the spot Minerva had told me about. I rummaged in my uniform pocket and pulled out a small scroll. It was inscribed with a highly intricate magic circle.
I'd ordered the knights to pack their things by evening and assemble in the palace's western garden. Now that departure was imminent, their faces had grown a bit somber.
Still, if nothing went wrong, they could return to the palace in a few years. Maybe even sooner. After that, I'd hand over captaincy to Iris or Lize.
I'd sent them off and come to the magic tower alone.
"Like this?"
I infused the scroll with mana. The magic circle glowed blue and floated up on its own, sticking to the magic tower wall.
The spot where it adhered凹ed inward, forming a space large enough for a person to stand comfortably. I stepped onto it. The outer wall slid sideways to fill the gap.
The platform I stood on began rising slowly. It was a spell Minerva had given me for visiting her—clearly just a small elevator.
The creator herself said it needed refinements and hadn't named it. Just call it the wall platform-lift or something.
The platform carried me straight to the top floor of the magic tower and stopped. It was Minerva's bedroom. The wall directly opposite my entry point parted left and right.
Right beside it was the door separating Minerva's bedroom from the corridor. As soon as I stepped inside, a sharp citrus scent filled my nostrils. Lemon.
It wasn't unpleasant at all. More like a pleasant tartness from lemon-scented air freshener.
'Fruit scents, huh...'
There was always one common situation whenever this happened.
I felt a twinge of unease. Shaking it off, I pressed on. The lemon scent grew thicker deeper into the bedroom.
"Minerva?"
I cautiously called her name and peeked around the wall. She'd told me herself that using the spell meant no need to sneak around.
Minerva sat at a massive desk pressed against the wall, scribbling furiously on a scroll. It was more normal than I'd expected.
If not for her outfit on the verge of slipping off.
The bathrobe's collar hung midway up her upper arm, fully exposing her alluring shoulder curve and slightly protruding wing bones.
Judging by how much it had slipped in the back, the front was probably in a similar state.
"Here, like this... Design the magic circle separately..."
Minerva scribbled away with a fountain pen, ignoring her nearly slipping robe. Fittingly, her writing tool was a fountain pen.
Waiting like this would get me no attention until her research ended, so I stepped closer. I'd come with a request—I couldn't just leave.
She noticed my presence; her writing hand slowed slightly. With an irritated tone, she called out.
"Who's there? I said no visitors for a while. Unless the dragon's back, you'll get an earful."
"It's me, Minerva."
Her hand froze at my voice. She whipped her head around, confirmed it was me, and shot to her feet.
The robe perilously hooked on her arm slid down with a rustle. Her collarbone and breasts—already prominent in her usual attire—were now fully bared without restraint.
The front, already half-undone, gave way completely as the waist tie, strained to its limit, loosened from her sudden movement. It flared open to both sides.
The black bathrobe fell silently to the floor.
"Ah."
An unidentified voice echoed through the bedroom. Reflexively, my eyes went to Minerva's exposed body.
Heavy, weighty breasts. A soft, plush abdomen and sides that looked incredibly squishy. Thighs so supple they'd surely bear handprints. Wide-flared hips.
And finally, the soaked black fabric between her legs... Better pretend I didn't see that.
Minerva froze for a moment, then redressed at astonishing speed. The robe draped over the chair was back on, the waist tie retied.
She returned to her usual self in one second—or less.
"Next time you want to see my body, give advance notice, child. I need time to prepare."
"Pardon?"
I swear some absurd line just flew by.
"Nothing. I was going to shoo you away, but since it's you, I'll make time. So, what brings you here?"
I wanted to ask what she meant, but the vibe screamed she wouldn't explain again. Reluctantly, I stated my purpose.
"I came to ask you to lift the spell on the castle."
"The castle's spell? Oh, you mean the one on that child's territory? Of course I'll do it for you, but may I ask why?"
Minerva smoothly changed the subject like she'd been waiting. Either it slipped out unconsciously, or she dropped it deliberately—one or the other.
"The castle's new residents are moving in."
The Silver Dawn Knights had managed despite the spell due to special circumstances, but that was changing.
To prevent the incoming knights from panicking, we'd either reveal the spell's nature or lift it. But its peculiarities were the issue.
The former lord had mistaken it for a curse and begged for it—proof it was a forgotten, distorted spell. The fewer who knew, the better.
"I see. Understood."
A silver staff had appeared in Minerva's hand. She lightly tapped the bedroom floor with its tip. Blue mana burst from the end.
A magic circle engraved itself between the tip's facets, glowed blue, and faded.
"Done."
"Thank you, Minerva."
"It's nothing compared to what you've done for me. I should be thanking you multiple times. Leaving now?"
"Yes. I have to. His Majesty said I could go."
I bowed and turned to leave. As I moved to exit the bedroom, a stronger lemon scent hit me—followed by a soft, yielding sensation against my back.
Arms wrapped around my shoulders and neck, clad in the black bathrobe. The plush pressure against my back intensified.
"Wait just a moment before you go. You've seen Minerva Skientia's naked body, so you must pay the price. Don't worry—answer one question. Just to be sure..."
A soft murmur, mingled with warm breath, reached my ear.
"Do you, by any chance, know where the other ancient scrolls are?"