I Reincarnated into a Game Filled with Mods

“The exam ends here.”

Iris had interjected between us.

Just like Lize’s assurance that she would perfectly control her strength, the twin daggers in Lize’s hands stopped just shy of touching Iris, at a dangerously close distance.

On the contrary, the blood-stained sword in my hand was trembling furiously, still gripped by Iris. Realizing this, I eased my grip, causing the sword’s vibrations to abruptly cease.

Iris, who had intervened at an invisible speed to stop the spar, only released her grip after confirming that both of us had eased our strength.

The blade tip limply pointed toward the ground.

“Was your final technique the Froststorm Assault?”

“Of course. I said I would use just one technique. It has to be spectacular. What else would there be?”

Ah, saying it was spectacular while using ice is a bit contradictory, I thought to myself.

“I clearly said this was just an entrance exam. I let you slide this time, so you got through without any injuries—”

“I didn’t let you slide.”

Lize smiled brightly, meeting my gaze. It was a smile that seemed to have a lot to say. I shifted my eyes away from hers.

“What do you mean by that, Lize?”

“Just what I said. I was completely sincere from start to finish, without holding back at all. The newbie managed to counter everything to the best of his ability. Right, newbie?”

With the bombshell of a statement she made, Iris and even Erica turned to look at me. As three different sets of eyes were suddenly on me, I felt an overwhelming pressure as if my face would implode.

“But if you didn’t control your strength, that’s a problem in itself. Did you forget?”

“If I felt it was unmanageable, I could have stopped anytime. I reacted and stopped when you suddenly intervened, do you really think the newbie wouldn’t have been able to distinguish whether to stop or not?”

Lize casually brushed aside Iris’s concerns with that same bright smile as she stepped closer to me. She then draped her arm over my shoulder and pulled down with some force.

Given our height difference, I had to lean down a bit even on my tiptoes just to match her gaze. Lize poked my cheek with her index finger.

“Wow, I was genuinely surprised, newbie. I never imagined you’d try to counterattack in that situation. When I said, ‘What would happen if you countered before the match?’, I wasn’t just saying that casually, was I?”

“What about the dignity and honor of a knight commander?”

“That’s not really important anymore. Now that it’s confirmed our newbie is this much of a potential treasure, does it really matter if he couldn’t win even a single match?”

Our bodies were pressed even closer. Given the posture, her almost head-sized chest rubbed against my arm. The one doing that didn’t seem to have any awareness of her own stance though.

“And one more thing. There’s something very, very important our newbie needs to know. You have to listen to this.”

Lize’s voice suddenly dropped as her expression turned serious. I similarly turned serious, curious as to how significant this was to warrant such gravity.

“You, drop the honorifics with me.”

“……Huh?”

For a moment, I thought I must have misheard.

She suddenly changed her tone and expression to serious, and now she was asking me to drop honorifics? It was such an unexpected proposal.

“You don’t need to use formal language with me. It’s uncomfortable for both you and me, so just drop the formalities and speak comfortably. I really like our newbie, so it’s a special service. What do you think? Do you like it?”

“Uh…”

How was I supposed to respond to that? It was so different from the original NPCs I had encountered in the game. I glanced at Iris and Erica, seeking help with my eyes.

Perhaps reading the intention in my gaze, Erica spoke up in a tone of resignation.

“Just accept it. No matter how much you try to refuse, she’ll stick to you until she hears you acknowledge it. She can be quite stubborn, despite her appearance.”

“Despite her appearance? Hey, what do you mean by that?”

“What do you think it means, sis? You’d know better than anyone.”

Lize briefly growled at Erica before regaining her composure, her eyes returning to mine as she softened her tone.

“Forget about her. Anyway, you heard me just now, newbie? You can drop honorifics with me and also with Erica. You’re already speaking normally with Iris, right? It’s the same thing. She and Iris are the same age, so there’s no real problem, is there? Come on, just try calling me Lize. Okay?”

Wait, was I really the oldest here? Certainly, that was not how it appeared.

Unable to withstand the sparkly pressure in Lize’s eyes, I cautiously opened my mouth.

“Li…ze?”

“Yeah, yeah. Good job. From now on, don’t use honorifics or anything, just call me Lize. No need for titles like ‘Commander Lize’ or ‘Sister Lize’—just Lize is enough. Got it?”

Lize beamed at me, clearly thrilled with her own idea.

Looking at her, one would think she was as cold as ice when poked, but here she was: the most energetic and friendly character. It was hard to adjust to that contrast.

“So, did I… pass the entrance exam?”

I almost slipped back into using formal language, but as Lize tightened her grip around my neck, I quickly changed my phrasing. Lize smiled contently once again, snuggling against me.

“Of course, it’s a pass! If I failed our newbie here, what would it say about my honor? Erica, what do you say? No, you’re just going to say it’s a pass anyway, right? Well then, it doesn’t matter! Welcome to the Silver Dawn Knights, newbie!”

“…While I’m not fond of you deciding my thoughts without consent, I can’t deny this time. I too think the same as Lize. Welcome to the Silver Dawn Knights, newbie.”

Upon receiving confirmation of passing from both Lize and Erica, Iris nodded knowingly, as if she had anticipated this outcome. Perhaps due to previous impressions, her face looked quite trusting.

“Welcome to the squad, newbie. We’ll consider structuring your position later, for now, get some good rest. We’ll make formal introductions when Claudia returns.”

Since I was feeling no fatigue as long as my stamina didn’t drain away, I didn’t really care whether to rest or not, but there was no need to refuse such kindness, so I nodded obediently.

“Erica, please show the newbie to his lodging. The location should be… right under the knight commanders’ lodgings. I’ll leave the room assignment to your discretion.”

“Understood, Iris. Then let’s go, newbie. I’ll guide you to your lodging.”

As the newbie and Erica fully disappeared into the castle, Lize couldn’t contain her astonishment and exclaimed.

“Iris, where did you find such an amazing guy? Did you see that? He deflected all my attacks! There’s no way he could be a newbie!”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on, quit lying. Are you hiding him and planning to eat him later?—Wait, wait! I can’t even joke around?!”

Seeing Iris clench her fist with icy eyes, Lize quickly clarified that she was just joking. Iris clicked her tongue and relaxed her fist.

“If I had known, I would have told you sooner. I really don’t know. Following the orders of that guy, I went to inspect the prison, only to find that the people there had mostly perished, and that one newbie was the only one who survived. Furthermore, he himself was under a witch’s curse, lacking any memories or anything, so how could I possibly know anything about him?”

“A monster managed to pull that off? Shouldn’t you have dealt with that?”

“There was no need. He was already dead.”

“Dead? The newbie did that? To that monster?”

“Yeah.”

“……How?”

Iris briefly recounted the events that occurred at the prison.

How she’d checked the entire prison and confirmed the absence of survivors, only to find the newbie fighting alone against that monster near the main gate. Ultimately, that newbie had decisively succeeded in subjugating it all on his own.

It seemed as if he was incredibly aware of how the monster would attack, effortlessly countering every clumsy blow from the monstrosity with his steel sword.

She also added that she initially intended to help, but felt that something was off and ended up just watching, ultimately losing her armor in the final attack.

As Lize silently absorbed all of this, her expression began to harden as she opened her mouth.

“The newbie, was he a Forsaken?”

“He said so himself. It’s probably true. If you don’t trust me, you can use the ability verification orb.”

“No, I don’t distrust the newbie. It’s just that… he’s under a curse, right? A witch’s curse, no less. Does that mean his physical abilities are no different from an ordinary person, and he can’t use magic or harness mana? How is it possible for him to do that?”

Lize recalled how the newbie had perfectly read and deflected all her attacks during the entrance examination. That wasn’t merely luck; it had truly been possible due to his exceptional skills.

While he may have shown signs of lacking strength, he displayed absolutely no signs of lacking technique. No matter how many combos he unleashed or how fast he attacked, it felt even stronger that he had perceived and anticipated all of it beforehand.

The more she thought about it, the more fascinating it seemed.

“……”

As both fell into deep thought momentarily, Iris gazed down at the palm that had blocked the newbie’s sword. There was a small wound there.

Though it was scarcely noticeable, just a faint mark, the fact that it existed at all was itself problematic.

Given the gap in strength and skills, there was no reason such a minor injury should have occurred. It should have simply ended with Lize snatching the sword away without any other consequences.

Yet it hadn’t gone that way.

“Um… that’s from the newbie, isn’t it?”

It was an incomplete sentence, but its meaning was clear. Iris nodded affirmatively.

In the last instant, the counter-parry that Lize had aimed at the newbie had been instinctively responded to, twisting the trajectory of the attack. That was why her palm had been lightly cut.

In that brief moment where an attack was incoming—less than a second—the newbie’s stance had faltered when Lize prepared to counter.

Seeing every attack she threw being deflected and just as he was about to counterattack, the newbie reacted and twisted the trajectory of Lize’s counter.

The moment Iris confirmed that the trajectory had been altered, she too changed her stance. All three were similarly matched in skill.

Yes, the problem lay in them all being equivalently skilled.

Two were veteran Knight Commanders with over a decade of swordsmanship experience, while the other was a human afflicted by a witch’s curse. It was only logical that their skills should not be equivalent.

“Before then, I was merely amazed, but the final part genuinely shocked me. You expected the newbie wouldn’t be able to react, didn’t you?”

“……I won’t deny it.”

If I were there, would I have been able to act as the newbie had? Iris asked herself.

No matter how many times she pondered, the answer was “no.”

Deflecting all of that merciless combo, looking for openings even amidst that chaos, and anticipating an enemy’s unexpected counter just as an attack was launched, all while doing it in a body significantly weakened by a witch’s curse in a first encounter with Lize.

It was completely impossible by any normal standard, yet that newbie had managed to do it as if it were nothing. It was hard to fathom telling that story at a tavern without anyone believing it.

What was he originally doing, and how much innate talent did he possess?

“Iris.”

“What is it?”

“You and the newbie aren’t… in some special relationship, are you?”

“If by ‘special relationship’ you mean a romantic attraction, then no. We’re just people who happened to meet in prison. Why do you ask?”

“Reasons? Of course I have them. If you haven’t staked your claim first, I’m going after him!”

Lize licked her lips.

She found the newbie appealing on multiple levels. His appearance was quite decent, his physique was great, and above all, he perfectly matched Lize’s tastes.

Finding a talented man ripe for growth and nurturing him, eventually leading to Lize being the one to consume him. That had always been Lize’s ideal.

She was well aware that her sexual preferences were rather embarrassing to admit and almost believed it was impossible to realize, leading her to envision it only in her heart.

Yet here, a man embodying her ideal had stepped right in front of her. There was no way she could let this chance slip away.

Moreover, the fact that the newbie was a robust adult male was an added bonus. Lize sought a capable and promising man who hadn’t yet bloomed, not some tiny kid or a puny brat.

“Do as you please. I won’t mind.”

“Really? You won’t say anything later? That I was the first to meet him and then try to piggyback on it after I’ve devoured him?”

“What do you think of me? I won’t do anything like that.”

Just as Lize received what seemed like permission from Iris and was about to dash off, a curt voice halted her in her tracks.

“Oh, I have one more question.”

“Huh? What is it?”

Iris was the one to ask a personal question first? This was an extremely rare situation. My legs automatically stopped. Lize perked up her ears.

“Do you know how to seduce a man when you’ve never even held a guy’s hand?”

“What the hell, you little—?”

Lize looked at Iris with disbelief. How dare she make such a statement when she herself fell into that very category of ‘never held a man’s hand’?

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