NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 34
I’ve been a few days since I dealt with the lord. In the meantime, the atmosphere in the Silver Dawn Knights has changed 180 degrees compared to before.
First of all, the issues that had been plaguing the Silver Dawn Knights were all resolved, which played a huge role in this change.
As for the restoration magic hanging over the castle, I received direct confirmation from the Mage Tower that there was no need to worry, and the former lord who had tormented the Silver Dawn Knights was dead, and the matters related to the demon and the empress went smoothly as well.
It was a situation that simply couldn’t calm down!
Especially since the former lord kicked the bucket, Lize was so happy that she hugged me tightly and even rubbed against me. Of course, Erica had to pull her away, begging her to calm down.
Even though it was just a brief moment, the sensation of her body against mine was no joke.
‘And that… it’s better to just keep my mouth shut about it.’
I decided to keep quiet about the suggestion the former lord made to me. The one about turning the commanders into sex slaves. Now that the person involved was dead, there was no point in bringing it up and just ruining the mood.
Feeling dirty about everything that had happened so far was already enough; I didn’t want to add further unpleasantness to it.
So since there wasn’t much to do anyway, our Silver Dawn Knights were spending peaceful days, occasionally patrolling the city and lightly sparring in the training ground inside the castle.
“Wow, how long was that bastard planning to procrastinate? It feels like we’re never going to end this. It’s driving me crazy!”
“Well, we’re trying to help as much as we can. There’s so much we can’t help with that it hardly makes a difference.”
“Do you five know that, even if you help all day, it doesn’t even amount to a tenth of what I handle? Ultimately, I’m the final decision-maker here. Even if you take care of something, I still have to review it every time.”
Except for Aurora, who inherited both the position of the lord and the head of the knights.
Aurora was working like a dog to deal with matters that the former lord had procrastinated on until now. There was no way someone with such a mess-of-a-personality would have done his job properly.
To quote her, “It’s as if I’m still pushing back matters from the day I first arrived here.”
Unexpected incidents were popping up from unexpected places, and muttering with a tired voice, she said that dealing with one issue led to two more surfacing.
Even after a whole day of handling paperwork, no exaggeration, the next day there was just as much paperwork piled up again. It wasn’t for nothing that she looked haggard and made pained sounds.
Moreover, it was only manageable because Aurora was extraordinarily capable. An average intelligent person probably wouldn’t even have been able to touch it.
The celebratory party we were going to hold at the mansion in commemoration of the lord’s death was indefinitely postponed for this reason.
‘It feels a bit odd to celebrate just among ourselves.’
Aurora issued a guest summons, claiming that our presence distracted her further, and as a result, we had plenty of time to kill.
And having plenty of time meant we could focus on catching up on leveling.
I decided to take the opportunity to go hunt some monsters by myself, and Iris graciously granted permission, saying to do as I please.
Having caused quite a bit of significant incidents even before I joined, and having resolved them alone as well, I had built a certain level of trust. There was not a hint of worry in the looks directed at me.
If I wanted to do something, I wouldn’t be asked about it irately; it was more of a hint to do it myself.
In return, Lize was desperately following me. It was a little unusual since NPCs never accompanied players in Brightest Darkness 4, but I didn’t mind her tagging along since there wasn’t really an issue with it.
“……”
There was just one problem.
Lize was observing me intently as I caught monsters, blissful smile on her face, without even pulling out a weapon. It was incredibly burdensome with her gaze glued to me.
“Hey, what’s with that intense stare?”
“Why, can’t I watch? I’m just enjoying it.”
I had no idea why she would enjoy this.
But since she said she liked it, I felt it was a bit hard to argue, and, honestly, it wasn’t something I genuinely disliked either, so with her being so bold about it, I had nothing to say.
I wasn’t in a position to be careless just because I felt burdened!
I ignored Lize’s strangely sticky gaze as time passed and focused on hunting monsters, and before long, I reached double digits in levels.
[Stats]
[Level] 10
[Health] 1
[Mana] 1
[Faith] 1
[Stamina] 1
[Skill] 1
[Power] 1
[Magic Power] 1
[Divine Power] 10
[Durability] 1
‘Alright.’
I finally felt like I had taken my first step after unloading all my stat points into Divine Power. After confirming that nobody was around, I took a careful look at my stats.
Not touching anything else and solely pumping stats into Divine Power. It looked like a bizarre stat distribution at first glance, but in the Darkest Light Mod, this was the most efficient build.
For newbies just starting with Brightest Darkness 4, they would naturally be better off distributing their points into health or stamina, power, or durability.
In fact, the stat distribution recommended for the originating class ‘Knight,’ favored exactly this approach.
Additionally, armor that offered defense equivalent to heavy armor, along with a longsword that had no sharp edges, is what they were handed as starters. That’s why it’s no surprise that players are advised to choose the Knight class.
Though it was still an extremely challenging game for first-timers!
‘So, what’s the point in worrying about that? I’m not going to need it here anyway.’
Of course, that only applies to vanilla gameplay. With the Darkest Light Mod applied, things were different. From the start, a new initial build had to be made.
While it wouldn’t be impossible to use the initial build from vanilla, its efficiency was just plain dumb.
To endure a hit from a street mob, you had to pump your health beyond 10 and wear heavy armor without fail. To roll without penalties in heavy armor, you’d need to have 30+ in durability.
For the Forsaken class, you’d have to expend almost 40 stat points just to withstand one hit from a street mob, which ultimately becomes meaningless. Even with that, it’s guaranteed to be one-shot during boss fights.
Choosing to manage with health while wearing light armor wasn’t even worth considering. Even the best light armor, the Knight set, required a total stat point expenditure well over 60.
The core mindset needed in the Darkest Light Mod is to never get hit; it’s not about tanking hits. Anyone who thought otherwise wasn’t even capable of attempting the Darkest Light Mod.
Stamina was no different.
Combat fatigue debuffs could be removed with runes, so pumping up max stamina was pointless, and a stamina stat of 1 was sufficient to roll three times in a row.
Holding a blood-stained sword, the power stat wasn’t particularly meaningful until I changed weapons anyway.
‘In that case, it makes sense to extend the duration of my attack power buffs first.’
Moreover, the buffs would be something I’d need to maintain constantly throughout the storyline, after all.
Taking that into consideration, it wouldn’t be a bad deal to pump more into duration rather than just putting points into magic power.
‘As for magic power… I should just put it up to 5. Nah, wait. Maybe it’d be better to learn some magic around the mid to late game?’
I pulled my hand back from the stat-checking orb. The floating stat window vanished, the blue light dimmed, and the surroundings became slightly darker.
While mulling over where to distribute my next stats and what kind of build to adopt, I heard a ruckus coming from outside as I climbed the staircase.
‘Is there any reason for the knights to be causing a commotion at this point?’
Tilting my head, I continued up the stairs. Right in front of me stood Lize.
“It seems like something’s going on outside. What’s up?”
At my words, Lize turned her gaze. She seemed to greet me as usual, but I didn’t miss the slight agitation on her face.
What on earth was happening?
“Why the tense expression? Did something happen?”
“An incident… well, it’s not entirely wrong to call it that.”
Hearing Lize’s answer, I put my brain to work.
‘In this time frame, what kind of event could occur with the Silver Dawn Knights? The empress has returned, and I haven’t reached level 20 yet. There’s not really any situation that could spark an event.’
Until I defeated the headless armored cavalier and leveled up to 20, unlocking rune slots, I was basically free to act however I wanted. Whether to tackle bosses, undertake side quests, or hunt mobs; it was all up to the player.
‘Something’s off.’
I took a few more steps forward. At the entrance of the castle, I spotted Claudia, dressed in her signature white sleeveless top and pink dolphin shorts, arguing with a man.
Their voices were raised high.
“So, you think I’m going to relinquish command to you? How many times do I have to say it for you to understand, huh?”
Claudia growled fiercely, slamming her greatsword down to the ground with a THUD. However, the man standing before her showed no concern.
“Your opinion doesn’t matter at all. What’s important is that the empress herself gave me orders, therefore you must obey me unconditionally. Got it?”
“Oh, so you just storm in here and say that the empress commanded me to shut up and follow? Are you messing with me right now?”
“Messed with you? Do you think the empress’s orders are a joke?”
“That’s what I want to ask you! If such orders were given, then they should have come with proof along with them. You think you’re something special? Waltzing in here empty-handed and acting like this? Huh?”
‘……What the hell? Why is that guy here?’
I froze in place, dumbfounded, as I stared at the golden knight arguing with Claudia.
Gold, gold, and more gold. His entire armor was golden, his cloak was golden, even the helmet and sword he wore at his waist were golden.
While there were many NPCs with similar appearances, there was only one in the game who looked like him.
The commander of the Golden Dusk Knights.
‘He shouldn’t be here right now.’
As I stood there, gaping, the commander of the Golden Dusk Knights spotted me and nonchalantly shoved Claudia aside, stomping over to me.
Claudia shot a fierce glare at the commander’s back, her expression one of contemplating whether to smack him in the back of the head.
Once he reached right in front of me, the commander sported an arrogant expression as he opened his mouth.
“So, you’re the new knight who joined the Silver Dawn Knights. Is that correct?”
“……That’s correct. What’s the matter?”
“From now on, for two weeks, you’re ordered to be under surveillance by orders of the empress. Remember, refusal isn’t an option.”
‘Surveillance? By order of the empress?’
What on earth does this mean?