Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Suspicious Nighttime Stroll
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‘……What the hell is that?’
With nothing particular to do, Lize had been staring blankly out the window from her room when she widened her eyes and peered down below.
It was because she spotted the newbie and Inermarma sneaking out of the castle together at this late hour. Any drowsiness that had been creeping up vanished in an instant. Lize immediately shot up from her seat.
Judging from Inermarma leading the way and the newbie following behind, it hadn’t been the newbie who suggested going out. In other words, that blind woman had lured him out first.
‘How dare she try to snatch the man I already claimed first, without any sense of decency?’
She had no idea what the two were up to or why they were heading out, but the very fact that a man and woman were going out alone in the dead of night was problem enough.
For example, they could wander around carelessly like that, end up in some dark alley, lock eyes suddenly, and end up having outdoor sex right there on the spot.
Finishing her wild delusion—one that would have Erika smacking her on the back while calling it insane nonsense—Lize leaped out the window to tail them.
The pursuit had begun.
“…….”
“…….”
I’d been dragged out for a night stroll after her sudden suggestion, but just because we were outside didn’t mean conversation would suddenly flow when we had nothing to say indoors. We walked in complete silence.
Even though she couldn’t see ahead, Inermarma strode forward effortlessly. I’d been on edge, worried she might bump into something, but it turned out to be unnecessary concern.
It was quite late, so the night streets were eerily quiet. Only the gradually sinking moon lit the way.
“Where are we going right now?”
“Nothing set in stone. It’s just a walk, like I said. Wandering aimlessly.”
With that, we fell silent again, and the stroll eventually led us to a small forest inside the city—the very one with the tree where the moon hung that I’d mentioned to the knight captains.
The forest at night had a fairly creepy vibe, but I didn’t mind at all. There were no monsters or anything here anyway. No reason to fear it.
People get scared of places like this because of that chilling atmosphere where you don’t know what might jump out. But I already knew it was safe, so there was no reason to be afraid.
Unless something jumped out contrary to my expectations—then it might get a little scary.
I glanced sideways, wondering if Inermarma might trip. But my worry was unfounded; she was keeping up just fine.
Her head turned to the left, showing me only the back of her ear and her nape in that odd posture.
Yet, strangely enough, she walked steadily forward without stumbling or wobbling.
I shrugged it off and kept walking. No way she’d suddenly scream and charge at me like in some horror movie.
“……Rookie Knight.”
By the time we’d been in the forest long enough for quite a while to pass, Inermarma spoke up. Still facing the opposite direction. I stopped, wondering what she was getting at.
“Aren’t you scared?”
“Scared? Of what?”
“Of everything you’ve done so far.”
“……?”
Inermarma stopped too. But she kept staring in my opposite direction right up to the end.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Exactly what I said. Weren’t you scared of all the things you’ve done up to now?”
What had I even done so far? I racked my brain.
Beating the human butcher in the prison with a single sword, sparring with Lize during the enlistment exam, taking down the headless ironclad knight alone.
That seemed to be the three things I’d told Inermarma about.
The story of using the demon-possessed book to kill the lord wasn’t something to share with outsiders, so I’d kept quiet about that—and naturally, everything after.
Oh, and the bit about thrashing that Golden knight. I wasn’t sure if I’d mentioned it or if Lize had bragged about me.
“Why would that be scary?”
“Those were all things where you could’ve died. Isn’t it normal to be scared?”
‘Is it?’
I mulled over her words for a moment.
Sure, when I first realized Brutal Mode was active, I’d been thoroughly anxious about having to take down that heavily enhanced human butcher. That much was true.
But could you call that fear? It was ambiguous.
It was something I’d done thousands of times already, and I had every counter from one to ten in my head. So, as long as I didn’t mess up or slip, there was no dying.
Of course, there was anxiety about potentially messing up. But that wasn’t fear or terror.
Anxiety and fear were similar yet different emotions.
“I haven’t thought about it deeply, but I don’t think I felt that way. As long as I don’t screw up, there’s no dying, right?”
Honestly, I still couldn’t fully grasp that I’d possessed Brutal 4.
No need to handle basic human bodily functions.
No matter how long or with how heavy a load, the horse never tired.
No fatigue no matter how hard I pushed my body.
Sleep wasn’t essential; it just felt like something you did at night.
Things I’d brushed off as “it’s a game” were unfolding right before my eyes, making it too unrealistic to feel like reality.
Even if someone appeared out of nowhere, ended the “game,” and said it was actually Brutal 4’s VR version, it wouldn’t feel off. No wonder it didn’t sink in.
“……A mistake?”
Doubt crept into Inermarma’s tone. No wonder—she’d think it was crazy to say you won’t die if you just avoid mistakes.
“You’ve heard about my situation, right?”
“Yes, that you’re under the witch’s curse…….”
“I don’t know what I was like before, but at least following my instincts and memories has never failed me. In other words, as long as I don’t mess up while following them, I won’t die. It means I’m not thinking with my head and moving—I’m moving as my body remembers and reacts.”
It was the excuse I’d already used on the knight captains. Moving not by thinking but by the body’s memory.
There were tons of patterns where reacting after seeing would be too late, so it wasn’t entirely wrong. Like Kaikilia’s basic attacks, for example.
“As long as I don’t screw up in the process, I can get through safely like I have so far. So, no real fear.”
“I see…….”
The girl seemed lost in thought for a while before speaking in a slightly eerie voice.
“No matter what happens from now on?”
“Huh?”
“Even if a trial comes that’s incomparably greater than anything so far—will you still not be afraid?”
“…….”
The familiar phrasing momentarily left me speechless.
‘A trial incomparably greater than anything so far’ was what the emperor said when referring to Brutal 4’s final boss near the game’s endgame.
The boss’s insane difficulty had naturally turned it into a near-meme.
“Probably?”
But that didn’t change anything.
If that guy matched the final boss in my memories, I’d just beat him like in the game. As always, without a single mistake.
“As expected…….”
Surprisingly, Inermarma seemed satisfied with my vague answer. She muttered something more after that, but her voice was too soft to catch.
As she kept mumbling to herself, Inermarma suddenly turned her head toward me.
‘Huh?’
For a split second, I swear I saw her eyes flash with golden pupils.
Yeah, just like the emperor’s.
‘Was it my imagination……?’
It really was just an instant. By the time I blinked, wondering if I’d seen wrong, only hollow black pupils remained where her eyes should be.
“Then let’s head back. We’ve had enough of a walk.”
Inermarma spoke in a light tone and started walking out of the forest without hesitation, just as we’d come. I followed, feeling a bit unsettled.
Something kept nagging at me.
“Is that so.”
In the central hall of the imperial palace, where all lights had gone out.
Kaikilia sat on the throne overlooking every area, curling one corner of her mouth into a chilling smile. Her golden eyes gleamed murderously in the moonlight.
“So it is.”
Her voice, filled with ecstasy, echoed through the empty hall.
It was an immensely satisfying answer. More precisely, not the content of the answer, but the attitude and demeanor in delivering it.
The words themselves were vague and lacking conviction, yet the tone was brimming with certainty. No hesitation, as if it were the natural order.
In short, it meant unshakable confidence in her own abilities—even after regaining all her memories.
But if that were all, even Kaikilia might have been skeptical. There was another reason she was this ecstatic.
Kaikilia had also spied on the newbie knight using the Ability Check Orb, from start to finish, through borrowed eyes.
And she’d noticed his mana had increased absurdly after touching it compared to before. Something that shouldn’t have been possible. Something that must not be possible.
He was definitely hiding some secret.
“At last…… at last, I’ve found what I so desperately sought.”
That one would bear her grand dreams. Not be crushed by them, but shoulder them and achieve them together.
In this utterly futile and ephemeral world, the only one who could match Kaikilia.
A chilling burst of mad laughter erupted from Kaikilia on the throne.