I Reincarnated into a Game Filled with Mods – Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Several days had passed since I dealt with the lord. During that time, the atmosphere within the Knight Order had undergone a complete 180-degree transformation.

First and foremost, the resolution of all the issues that had been plaguing the Silver Dawn Knights played a significant role.

We received direct reassurance from the Magic Tower regarding the restoration magic cast upon the castle. The former lord, who had relentlessly tormented the Silver Dawn Knights, was dead. And the matters concerning the demon and the Emperor had been safely resolved.

It was a situation where the atmosphere couldn’t help but improve.

Rize, in particular, seemed overjoyed by the former lord’s demise, to the point where she even embraced me tightly and rubbed against me. Erika promptly intervened, telling her to restrain herself and pulling her away.

Even though it was brief, the sensation of her body against mine was no joke.

‘And that’s… probably something best left unsaid.’

I decided to keep the former lord’s proposition to me a secret—the one about turning the Knight Commanders into sex slaves. The man himself was dead anyway, and there was no point in bringing it up and ruining everyone’s mood.

They had already endured enough unpleasantness; I didn’t want to add any more negativity to the situation.

So, with nothing much to do, we, the Silver Dawn Knights, spent our days in peace, occasionally patrolling the city and engaging in light sparring matches in the castle’s training grounds. That was the extent of our duties.

“Wow, just how much work did that bastard put off? It’s endless. This is driving me crazy, seriously.”

“That’s why we’re doing our best to help you. It’s just that there’s so much we can’t do, it hardly makes a dent.”

“Do you realize that even with all five of you helping me all day, it’s not even a tenth of what I have to handle? I’m the one who has the final say, you know? No matter what you guys do, I still have to review everything.”

Except for Aurora, who inherited both the position of Head of the family and the title of Lord.

Aurora was struggling, dealing with all the tasks that the former lord had procrastinated on. It was impossible to expect someone with such a terrible personality to have fulfilled his responsibilities properly.

In her own words, “It’s like he’s been putting off work from the day he first arrived here until now.”

Unexpected problems kept popping up in the most unexpected places. She muttered in an exhausted voice, saying that for every issue she solved, two more would appear.

Even if she spent the entire day working on documents, without any exaggeration, the same amount would pile up again the next day. Her complaints and gloomy expression weren’t for show.

Moreover, it was only because Aurora was incredibly competent that she could even attempt to organize the mountain of work. Anyone with average intelligence wouldn’t have been able to handle it.

That was the reason why the celebratory party we had planned to hold at the mansion to commemorate the lord’s death had been indefinitely postponed.

‘It feels a bit off to celebrate just among ourselves.’

Aurora declared that our presence was distracting her and making it harder to concentrate, effectively kicking us out. As a result, we ended up with a lot of free time on our hands.

And having free time meant that we could catch up on our leveling.

I took this opportunity to announce that I would go out and hunt monsters alone, and Iris readily agreed, telling me to do as I pleased.

Perhaps because I had caused and resolved numerous major incidents before officially joining the Knight Order, I had gained a considerable amount of trust. There wasn’t a hint of worry in her eyes when she looked at me.

It was as if she was telling me to do whatever I wanted without asking for permission every time.

However, Rize tagged along. It was a bit unfamiliar to have an NPC accompany me in Brightest Darkness 4, as it had never happened before. But I didn’t mind her following me, as it wouldn’t cause any problems.

“…”

Well, there was one problem.

Rize didn’t even draw her weapon. She simply observed me hunting monsters with a satisfied smile plastered on her face. Her gaze never left me, which was incredibly uncomfortable.

“Hey, why have you been staring at me like that?”

“Why? Can’t I look? I’m enjoying the view.”

The reason for her enjoyment remained a mystery.

But since she insisted that she liked watching me, I couldn’t really object. Plus, it wasn’t like I truly hated it. Seeing her so confident in her actions left me speechless.

I wasn’t going to make a mistake while fighting regular mobs just because her gaze made me feel awkward.

I diligently ignored Rize’s increasingly intense stare and focused on defeating the monsters. Before long, I reached level 10.

『Stats』

『Level』 10

『HP』 1

『Mana』 1

『Faith』 1

『Stamina』 1

『Proficiency』 1

『Strength』 1

『Magic Power』 1

『Divine Power』 10

『Durability』 1

‘Finally.’

Only after allocating all my stat points into Divine Power did I feel like I had taken the first step. I double-checked that there was no one around before carefully examining my stats.

Focusing solely on Divine Power and raising it to 10 might seem like an unbalanced stat distribution at first glance. However, this was the most efficient build in Darkest Light mode.

For newbies who were just starting Brightest Darkness 4, it was naturally better to distribute their stats evenly among HP, Stamina, Strength, and Durability.

In fact, the ‘Knight’ class, which was the most recommended starting class for newbies, had exactly that kind of stat distribution.

With heavy armor-like defense provided by light armor and a well-rounded weapon like the longsword as default equipment, it was no wonder people said that newbies should always choose the Knight class.

Even then, it was a brutally difficult game for beginners.

‘Well, what’s the point of thinking about that? It’s useless here anyway.’

Of course, that was only true up to the vanilla version. If Darkest Light mode was applied, things changed drastically. In Darkest Light mode, you had to create a new build from scratch.

Using the same starting build as in the vanilla version wasn’t completely unviable, but it was terribly inefficient.

To withstand a single hit from a regular mob, you needed at least 10 points in HP and had to wear heavy armor. But to roll without penalty while wearing heavy armor, you needed over 30 points in Durability.

For the ‘Abandoned One’ starting class, nearly 40 stat points would be wasted just to survive one hit from a regular mob. And even then, boss fights would still be one-hit kills.

The option of wearing light armor and compensating with HP wasn’t even worth considering. Even with the Knight set, which had the best defense among light armor, it would still require well over 60 stat points in total.

The key mindset in Darkest Light mode was to never get hit, not to tank hits. Anyone who thought otherwise wasn’t skilled enough to even touch Darkest Light mode.

Stamina wasn’t much different.

The battle fatigue debuff could be negated with a rune, so increasing the maximum stamina was pointless. With the stamina provided by 1 point in Stamina, you could roll three times in a row, which was sufficient.

As long as I was using the Bloodstained Sword, Strength was also meaningless until I changed weapons.

‘Then, it’s only natural to prioritize increasing the duration of attack buffs.’

Moreover, buffs were something I would have to constantly rely on throughout the story.

Considering that, investing in Divine Power to increase the duration and Magic Power to increase the potency wasn’t a bad investment at all.

‘I should probably raise Magic Power to 5. No, wait. Would it be better to use at least one magic spell in the mid-to-late game?’

I removed my hand from the stat-checking orb. The floating stat window disappeared, and the blue light faded, slightly dimming the surroundings.

As I ascended the stairs, pondering which stat to invest in next and what build to pursue, I heard a commotion outside.

‘Is there any reason for the Knight Order to be this noisy at this point?’

I tilted my head and continued up the stairs. Rize was standing right in front of me.

“It seems a bit noisy outside. What’s going on?”

Rize turned her gaze towards me at my question. At first glance, she seemed to be greeting me as usual, but I didn’t miss the slight flicker of unease in her expression.

What could be causing her to react like this?

“Why that look? Did something happen?”

“Something… something did happen. Well, that’s not entirely wrong.”

I pondered Rize’s answer.

‘Did any event that could be considered an incident occur within the Silver Dawn Knights at this point? The Emperor has returned, and I haven’t reached level 20 yet. There’s no reason for an event to happen.’

Until I defeated the Headless Ironclad Cavalryman and reached level 20 to unlock the rune slot, it was essentially a free-roaming period. I could hunt bosses, complete side quests, or farm regular mobs—it was entirely up to the player.

‘Something’s not right.’

I walked forward a bit more. At the entrance to the castle, Claudia, in her signature white sleeveless top and pink dolphin shorts, was arguing with a man.

Their raised voices reached my ears.

“I’m telling you, I have no intention of handing over command to you! How many times do I have to say it before you understand?”

Claudia slammed her greatsword, which was as tall as her, onto the ground and growled menacingly. But the man standing before her remained unfazed and retorted.

“Your opinion is irrelevant. The important thing is that Her Majesty the Emperor has given me orders, and you must obey me unconditionally. Don’t you understand?”

“Oh, so you’re just going to barge in here and say, ‘Her Majesty has given orders, so shut up and follow me’? Are you kidding me?”

“Kidding? Do you think Her Majesty’s orders are a joke?”

“That’s what I want to ask you. If Her Majesty issued such an order, she wouldn’t have just said it verbally; she would have sent proof along with it. Do you think you’re some big shot? You come here empty-handed and act like this? Huh?”

‘…What? Why is he here?’

I froze in place, stunned, as I saw the golden knight arguing with Claudia.

Gold, gold, and more gold. His armor, which completely covered his body, was gold. The cape on his back was gold. The helmet at his waist, and even his sword, were all gold.

There were many NPCs with similar appearances, but only one NPC in the game had that specific look.

The Knight Commander of the Golden Twilight Knights.

‘There’s no reason for him to be here right now.’

I blinked in disbelief, unable to comprehend where the story had gone off track. Even though the intermediate process had changed significantly, the Emperor had eventually returned safely, hadn’t she?

As I stood there dumbfounded, the Knight Commander of the Golden Twilight Knights noticed me. He nudged Claudia aside with his shoulder and strode towards me.

Claudia glared at his back with a ferocious expression. She looked like she was seriously contemplating whether or not to smack him in the back of the head.

The Knight Commander stopped right in front of me and spoke with an arrogant tone.

“You’re the new recruit who joined the Silver Dawn Knights, correct?”

“…That is correct. What is the matter?”

“Her Majesty the Emperor has ordered me to monitor you for the next two weeks. You have no right to refuse, so keep that in mind.”

‘Monitor? Her Majesty’s orders?’

What was this all about?