I Reincarnated into a Game Filled with Mods – Chapter 32

Chapter 32

‘…No, they aren’t completely identical. It’s just that if you glanced at them, you might mistake them for sisters or a mother and daughter.’

At first, I thought she looked exactly like Aurora, but there were distinct differences.

The woman who had just walked out of the pillar of light had sharper eyes, longer hair, a colder impression, was taller, and had a more superior figure.

Yes, she was like a grown-up version of Aurora.

‘Well, they are relatives… I guess it wouldn’t be a problem if they looked that much alike.’

Actually, considering that both of their appearances came from the NPC Appearance Retouching Mod, it’s highly likely that they took the Emperor’s model, made it slightly younger, and used it for Aurora’s model.

It’s not that they look alike because they’re relatives, but rather they were designed to look alike because they’re relatives. Even though they sound similar at first glance, they’re completely different.

“I greet the Sun of the Empire.”

“I greet the Sun of the Empire.”

I discreetly followed Aurora’s words and actions. In the game, when a conversation started, the protagonist character would automatically take a stance or it would just move on even if they didn’t do anything, but it wouldn’t be like that here.

“Raise your head.”

‘Her voice is similar too.’

Even her voice resembled Aurora’s, but again, she felt more mature.

I raised my head. I could only take in her appearance after looking directly at her, not just glancing from the side.

Jet-black hair stretched down her back, ending below her buttocks. It felt like a darkness that could swallow even light.

Her bangs were neatly parted, revealing the forehead above her left eye. Her golden eyes, closer to the color of gold than actual gold, held no emotion.

Her entirely black uniform was embroidered with the Emperor’s emblem, and the neckline was cut quite low, exposing her ample breasts. I could glimpse her lingerie between the uniform and her bare skin.

Her underwear was also black.

The collar and material of the uniform were stiff, but her thighs, revealed between the black garter belt that wrapped around them and the skirt that clung to her hips, looked incredibly soft.

The uniform’s skirt was incredibly short. It clung tightly to her thighs and hips, revealing her body line, and it seemed like even the slightest change in angle would reveal her underwear.

No, maybe she was already showing her black lingerie underneath, but I just didn’t realize it because of the angle.

Her emotionless golden eyes turned towards Aurora. Identical golden eyes also looked towards the Emperor.

“You must not have been well, Aurora, having been tormented by the one who was once my older brother.”

“That’s right. You know well, Aunt Kykilia.”

“You once aspired to take that position. It seems you’ve succeeded.”

“I didn’t succeed on my own. If I had been alone, I would surely have succumbed to him. It was the power of one person from beginning to end, and I merely opened my mouth and received what fell.”

I heard a conversation that made me doubt my ears for a moment, but I decided to let it go. Whatever the content, it was awkward for an outsider to interfere in a conversation between relatives exchanging greetings.

Even so, to say that the first conversation was about not being well because of being tormented by the lord. She knew that and let it happen?

“I received your letter. That fool tried to summon a demon, and so you killed him, right?”

“I couldn’t kill him. To kill a demon, you need a spell or weapon imbued with divinity, and we had neither.”

“He’s going to die soon anyway, so it doesn’t matter whether he’s alive or dead now. Are the details of the incident as written in the letter?”

“Yes. There’s nothing different.”

“Hmm, nothing different, you say…”

Kykilia crossed her arms under her chest, accentuating her breasts, and fell into thought, tapping her fingers on her arm.

Perhaps due to the mod’s influence, whenever they crossed their arms, they all emphasized their breasts in that way. Rize, with her huge breasts the size of her head, as well as Erika, whose breasts were much smaller.

Suddenly, her head turned towards me.

The moment her emotionless golden eyes landed on me, goosebumps erupted on my back. Cold sweat beaded on my skin, making my whole body feel chilly.

‘Wow, this is no joke.’

Even in the game, there were testimonies from NPCs that when they faced the Emperor directly, they felt as if their entire body was stripped bare and the essence of their inner thoughts was pierced through.

Since there was no way for the player to experience that feeling, I just took it for granted, but now that I was facing her in reality, I realized that it was absolutely not an exaggeration or a lie.

It really felt like my inner thoughts were being completely seen through. An unknown chill and sense of foreboding ran down my spine and spread throughout my body.

“You’re the new knight, are you?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I heard that you helped Aurora ascend to the position of lord.”

“No matter how much I ran around beside her, would she have succeeded if her own abilities weren’t outstanding?”

Kykilia closed her mouth again and stared at me intently. Beads of cold sweat formed on my back. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to react properly to the event that was about to unfold.

“I also heard that you were the one who discovered the demon-possessed book.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“The letter said that you found the demon-possessed book after catching a horse clad in iron armor and the iron-clad knight riding it. Is that also true?”

“As Your Majesty said, that is also true.”

I didn’t lie completely.

I beat the Headless Ironclad Cavalryman, got the Unsealing Key he dropped, unsealed the dungeon, entered the dungeon, and obtained the book. It’s just that some of the intermediate steps were omitted.

“And you took that book to the one who was once my older brother to discuss a solution.”

“Yes.”

“But he, unable to overcome his greed, touched it recklessly to summon a demon, and caused this mess.”

“That’s correct.”

As this pointless question-and-answer session continued, I felt a slight sense of unease.

There was no dialogue that cross-examined the player about what had happened while going over each and every detail of the letter. As if there was no time to waste on conversation, she immediately went down to the basement.

Kykilia closed the distance between us, taking one step at a time, very slowly. Every time the distance narrowed, I felt the pressure tightening around my heart grow stronger.

Even though she was clearly taking full steps, it felt like I could hear the thud, thud of her footsteps.

The distance, slowly closing with each stride, only stopped after the space between the two of us had shrunk to a length of three or four steps.

“How long has it been since you joined the Knights?”

“About two weeks.”

“Two weeks, two weeks…”

Kykilia tapped my forearm again, lost in thought. Then, she looked at me with an even more inorganic and cold gaze.

“Then, are you saying that even after all this time, you haven’t figured out that the thing that was once my older brother is nothing more than trash?”

‘Oh, s*it.’

Seeing Kykilia repeat the exact point Iris had raised, I cursed under my breath. It was a situation I had never encountered in the game.

She just went straight down to the basement, dealt with the demon, briefly inquired about what had happened, had a lighthearted event with the protagonist, retrieved the lord’s body, and returned to the Imperial Palace.

If I hadn’t anticipated this situation and prepared for it in advance, just in case, my face would undoubtedly have shown my surprise. And what would have happened next would have been obvious.

I glanced at Aurora. She also had a noticeably flustered expression.

‘Aurora’s fine. She’s behind me, so she can’t see my expression. The important thing is me. If I show any sign of panic or agitation, it’s over.’

The die was already cast, and there was no turning back. So, whether it turned out well or not, I had to push through to the end.

“I haven’t figured it out.”

“You haven’t figured it out?”

Her eyes narrowed. My heart pounded so hard it felt like it would leap out of my mouth.

“Yes. The Knight Commanders, that lordㅡ”

“‘That thing.'”

“Yes?”

“Call it ‘that thing,’ I said. That thing is no longer human under Imperial law. Why would you call something that isn’t human by a title meant for humans?”

Come to think of it, I remembered that Kykilia had also consistently referred to the lord as ‘the thing that was once my older brother.’ I quickly bowed my head and changed my words.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. That was a slip of the tongue. I knew that the Knight Commanders were cursing that thing as a good-for-nothing, but I thought that was all the more reason to discuss it with him. Considering that thing’s personality, if we tried to deal with the demon-related matter internally within the Knights without saying anything… I thought it might use that as an excuse to find fault with us, so I did that.”

“Hmm, I see. You thought it might use that as an excuse to find fault, you say…”

Kykilia trailed off vaguely. Then, she took another step forward. Now the distance between Kykilia and me was less than an arm’s length.

I could see Aurora on the other side, at a loss for what to do, just stamping her feet. She probably hadn’t expected Kykilia to probe this deeply.

I felt the same way. Even though I wasn’t showing it outwardly, I was sweating profusely inside.

Aurora thought we could get by because she had met Kykilia in person, and I thought we could get by because I had knowledge from the game.

Both of us had some basis for our confidence, but now it was clear that we were wrong.

“Are you talking about this kind of fault-finding?”

‘…!’

As soon as I saw the halo of light forming in Kykilia’s hand, I raised my Bloodstained Sword. There wasn’t even time to draw it from its sheath. The moment I tried to, it was already too late.

The key here was to react as quickly as possible, no matter what. I brought the Bloodstained Sword, still in its sheath, up to the side of my neck. Immediately, an intense impact struck.

ㅡClang!!!!!!

“Aunt?!”

“Oh?”

Aurora’s voice, close to a shriek, and Kykilia’s voice, expressing slight surprise as if she hadn’t imagined I would react, could be heard simultaneously.

My body was immediately thrown backward.

I plunged the sword into the ground to brace myself, but I was still pushed back a considerable distance. I was able to stop only after moving nearly twenty steps from my original position.

I shook my tingling hand and relaxed my posture. The mark where I had tried to slow myself down by plunging the sword into the ground was etched into the garden soil in a long line. The surrounding grass was completely uprooted.

‘Wow, I almost didn’t react in time.’

Whew, I breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. I was so flustered by Kykilia’s actions, which were far from what I had expected, that I almost failed to react properly and died.

If I had been even a little slower in blocking the sword, or if I had tried to draw my sword instead of blocking with the sheath, my neck would have been cut off right then and there. It was truly a close call.

“It seems the achievements you’ve made aren’t just boasts.”

Her voice seemed to carry a hint of satisfaction. I raised my head to face Kykilia.

Kykilia, who was looking at me with a slight smirk, held a holy sword in her right hand, radiating a light as bright and divine as the sun in the sky.