I Reincarnated into a Game Filled with Mods – Chapter 38

Chapter 38

After I literally crushed the golden knight in a spar, Rize and Claudia were openly teasing him as he was dejectedly slumped in a corner of the training ground. We were sitting in the shade, taking a short break.

“Oh, Erika? Why are you back so earlyㅡ And who’s that next to you? Why is her face covered?”

Erika, who had left for a city patrol with Iris, returned. And with a dirty-looking girl next to her, no less.

It was still a long time before they were scheduled to return from patrol, and Iris, who had left with her, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she brought a girl we had never seen before, leaving us bewildered as we stared at Erika.

The woman was wrapped in rags instead of clothes. Her calves were covered in dirt, and even her face was wrapped in cloth, barely revealing part of her lower body.

‘Wow, she’s pretty even like that.’

However, like a woman from a world plastered with mods, even though her entire body was covered in dirt and rags, barely revealing her lower face, her nose, mouth, and jawline alone made it clear that she was beautiful.

The men of this world, whose common sense had been altered, didn’t even care that a woman with such a captivating appearance was wearing extremely revealing clothes.

“I didn’t cover her. She did it for our sake.”

Erika was carefully leading the girl, holding her hand and guiding her step by step. The girl obediently followed Erika’s lead.

“And there’s a reason I brought her to the Knights. She said she hasn’t eaten anything for days, so I’m going to feed her some bread and soup first.”

“There’s a reason? She hasn’t eaten for days? What the h*ll does that mean?”

“I’ll explain later. For now, I’ll take her to the dining hall. Or you can ask Iris when she returns soon.”

The two soon disappeared into the castle. Rize, Claudia, and I looked at each other with bewilderment, wondering what had happened outside.

Of course, we didn’t get any answers just by looking at each other.

“Has she ever brought anyone to the Knights like that before?”

“No, never. Now that we’ve been assured that the magic cast on the castle is safe, it doesn’t matter, but in the past, I wondered if we’d die if we ate it for a long time. How could we feed something we’re unsure of to someone else?”

“We were too busy looking after ourselves to have the time to take care of others. Now that you, the new recruit, killed that pig, we can breathe, but it was really tough before that.”

Claudia clicked her tongue as if annoyed just by the thought. Well, considering that his personality had become even worse than in the game, I could roughly guess how much they had suffered under him.

“Thinking about you killing that pig makes me appreciate our new recruit again. How about it, newbie? Want another hug? Erika pulled me away so quickly last time that it wasn’t enough. Huh?”

Rize gave her signature smile and spread her arms. Her large breasts, clad in a thin sleeveless top, jiggled enticingly between her arms. I quickly looked away. Seeing my reaction, Rize giggled.

“Don’t be shy. You can tell me anytime, anywhere, if you want a hug. Oh, and in case you forgot, my offer to grant you anything is still valid. I mean literally anything. You can ask me for anything.”

“Didn’t Erika nag you enough to maintain your dignity? You still haven’t given up?”

“So, you don’t like it?”

“…”

I stayed silent, and Rize, with that same smile, poked my cheek with her finger. Claudia watched us with an inexplicably pleased expression.

She was right, so I couldn’t flatly refuse. You don’t like it? Of course not. Unless you’re gay, what man in this world would dislike such physical contact?

Besides, Rize realized that I wasn’t flatly refusing and that my body was definitely reacting, so she was becoming bolder in her approach.

It seemed like something was bound to happen soon, whether it was initiated by me or by Rize.

‘…The story has already started to unravel, so it might not matter.’

Ever since the Knight Commander of the Golden Twilight Knights came to me saying he would monitor me, such thoughts kept popping up, shaking my already wavering self-control even more.

The biggest reason I had been forcibly pushing away Rize’s physical contact was because I didn’t want to twist the story, but I kept thinking that it might be a meaningless act now that one thing had already gone wrong.

I’m not stupid either. I had long since noticed that Rize had more than just a colleague’s affection for me. Come to think of it, it had been like that ever since our first spar.

Now that I’ve dealt with the lord and caused all sorts of trouble, it makes sense, but I still wonder why she was like that when we first met.

“Enough teasing the newbie. So, are you going to wait for Iris?”

“Of course not.”

Claudia and Rize exchanged glances. Before I could say anything after seeing that, they each grabbed one of my arms and dragged me into the castle.

I only realized where I was being dragged to after we arrived at the dining hall.

What’s the harm in telling me beforehand?

Three days had passed since Erika brought the unidentified girl to the castle.

The girl explained everything about herself, from the fact that her name was ‘Inerma’ to how she lost her eyes.

‘I don’t think there was an NPC like that…’

I couldn’t recall anything specific even after racking my brain.

No matter how much the appearance changes due to mods, the essence doesn’t change. Just like how Rize’s personality was 180 degrees different from the original, but she still mainly used ice and dual daggers.

That meant that she was either not an important NPC or a person who didn’t appear in the game at all.

“Good work on your training! Here’s a towel to wipe your sweat!”

In the end, revealing Inerma’s identity was glossed over. Instead, at her strong request, she was put in charge of all the chores in the castle. She said she wanted to repay the kindness she had received.

Actually, there weren’t many chores to do. Thanks to the restoration magic cast on the castle, there was no need to clean it, and all she had to do was lightly organize the warehouse where things were stored.

At most, Inerma’s only job was to bring us water and towels after our training sessions. It was quite amazing to see her moving around so well even though she was clearly blind.

She said that she had memorized the entire structure of the castle with Iris’s help on the first day. She was no ordinary person.

And there was one more piece of good news.

“It’s Her Majesty’s order. I’ll be on my way.”

The Golden Knight, who had been relentlessly following me, left after only five days, saying he had received the Emperor’s orders. The exact reason was unknown, but there was nothing bad about him leaving early on his own accord.

Thanks to that, I was able to use the ability check orb after a long time, and…

『Stats』

『Level』 16

『HP』 1

『Mana』 1

『Faith』 1

『Stamina』 1

『Proficiency』 1

『Strength』 1

『Magic Power』 7

『Divine Power』 10

『Durability』 1

I chose to put all my stat points into Magic Power. Magic Power, along with Divine Power, was a crucial stat for utilizing buffs.

Increasing Magic Power increases not only the damage of offensive magic but also the effectiveness of all buffs. Divine Power increases the duration of buffs, while Magic Power increases their potency.

Just like Divine Power, it was very efficient to invest in early on, and once it reached 10, it showed an increase of close to 1.2 times.

If the Bloodstained Sword’s attack power buff is maximized, it’s 49.5%, so it increases to almost 60%. Even a 10% difference was not something to be ignored.

‘I need to reveal the fact that my stats have increased, but I can’t seem to find the right timing.’

With that thought, I removed my hand from the ability check orb. The blue light faded, and darkness descended upon the surroundings.

I had already prepared all the excuses. I couldn’t hide this forever, could I? It was just being postponed because I couldn’t find the right opportunity.

I cautiously walked outside, carefully observing my surroundings. I deliberately chose the late hours of the night, but if I was asked what I was doing here, I would have to give an answer that was close to an excuse.

“New Knight-nim?”

‘Oh my god.’

Startled by the voice calling me from behind, I turned around.

It was Inerma.

I was used to Inerma, who was blind, recognizing me. She said that her other senses were highly developed to compensate for her lack of sight, and she could roughly figure out who someone was just by their footsteps.

Iris was interested in that ability.

“You’re still awake at this hour?”

“I should be the one asking you that. What are you doing here at this hour, not sleeping?”

“I couldn’t sleep either.”

“Couldn’t sleep? Why?”

“I keep thinking, is it okay for me to be this comfortable? My body is comfortable, so other thoughts keep popping up. I mean, there’s not much work to do here, but I get three meals a day, and I can stretch out my arms and legs at night…”

It wasn’t a worry that I could soothe or anything, so silence fell between us for a while. What could I do about her being uncomfortable because she was concerned?

In the end, unable to bear the atmosphere, I awkwardly said goodnight and was about to head to my room when Inerma cautiously called me.

“Um… New Knight-nim.”

“…?”

“If you don’t mind… would you like to take a walk with me at night?”