Headless Iron-Armored Cavalry – 1

“Claudia! What in the world is this…!”

From outside, Iris’s urgent voice was heard. All the members of the Silver Dawn Knights were gathered at the castle’s main gate.

Well, even if you said “all members,” it was only the five of us: me, Iris, Rije, Erica, and Claudia, who had just returned.

“What else could it be? It’s just as you see. A subjugation failure.”

Before my eyes, the Silver Dawn Knights’ rank 1 and supposedly strongest Knight Captain was nowhere to be seen; only a severely wounded woman forcing a bitter smile was visible.

The bandages wrapped tightly around her entire body were so soaked with blood that it overflowed, drying blackish-red in that state. It was even harder to find a part not covered by bandages.

In her appearance, limping on her left leg, not even a trace of strength could be found. As if even moving was difficult, she was leaning diagonally against the wall.

‘I was sure she would be a woman, but…’

Claudia’s appearance was completely different from what I expected.

Her hair seemed best described as light pink or cherry blossom pink, and her bob cut, styled in a somewhat rounded shape, extended to a length just short of her collarbones.

Beneath her neatly straightened bangs, light pink pupils sparkled. Her face had a rather androgynous impression in many ways.

Distinctly feminine curves could be felt from her pelvis or waist, but overall, the impression of an androgynous man was much stronger than that of a feminine woman.

On top of that impression, her monstrously tall height only amplified it. Even though I was quite tall, she was only about one or two finger-widths shorter than me.

If she were to dress like a man, she had an appearance that one would believe without any doubt that she was a delicate-looking man rather than a handsome woman.

Should I consider it a relief that her chest curves were visible even through the bandages?

‘If she had dressed properly, I might have mistaken her for a man.’

First of all, her attire was dolphin shorts, like other Knight Captains, so there seemed to be no chance of mistaking her gender.

On the floor, a greatsword, whose length was comparable to Claudia’s own height and which had an enormous width, was placed. At first glance, it seemed to weigh over 20kg.

Honestly, it was something closer to a blunt weapon rather than a sword.

“You failed the subjugation?”

“Ahaha. That’s how it turned out. I went out all confident, isn’t it disgraceful?”

Claudia awkwardly gave a small wave with her right hand, tightly wrapped in bandages, then heard a scolding of “What are you doing?” from Erica, who was re-wrapping her full-body bandages, and shrank back flat.

“Since you came back alive, that’s enough. It’s enough that you didn’t lose your life. The fact that you came back alive is much more important than the fact that you failed the subjugation.”

“Claudia, was that monster that strong? Strong enough for even you to fail the subjugation?”

At Rije’s question, Claudia shook her head.

“No. I couldn’t even get close to it. If I had been defeated by *that* thing, it wouldn’t have been so unfair, you know?”

“What do you mean, Claudia? You couldn’t even get close?”

Her silver pupils widened as if in shock.

“On the way to that thing, I encountered another monster. A monster similar to a knight in steel armor riding a horse and wielding a spear while headless… No, I’m not even sure if it was a monster. Anyway, I was defeated by it. No matter how much I hit it, my attacks didn’t work at all. Even with a weapon like mine.”

Claudia tapped the greatsword placed at her feet with her toe.

At the answer that her attacks didn’t work at all, even though she hit it with a greatsword whose width was like a human torso, length like a human’s height, and thickness about two finger-widths, the expressions of the other three, excluding me, stiffened.

‘Well, of course.’

From the start, that guy was not a boss meant to be defeated by a direct frontal assault, but rather, by using a specific item, he was a guy whose full-body iron armor had to be removed before he could be defeated.

In a state where the armor wasn’t removed, even with a character with all stats at 99, holding a fully enhanced weapon, and attacking with full buffs, only damage hovering around 10 would register.

Very occasionally, claiming to challenge human limits, there were people who tried to clear it without removing the armor, but most of them usually ended up confirming the limits of their own patience.

“…I see. I understand for now.”

Iris bit her lip and nodded. Claudia had a look of shame.

‘Time to get going now.’

The event ended with the recent conversation. A quest window telling me to subjugate that guy didn’t pop up, but anyway, in the game, such a quest window didn’t pop up either.

Black Dark 4 was a game where, no matter what mission the character was progressing or where they were, all quests had to be inferred only through dialogue or investigation, and the player had to remember them all individually.

If you forgot or lost track of it? The storyline would get tangled, and you couldn’t progress as desired, or the story would proceed in a direction completely opposite to what you wanted.

It was a style that strongly divided opinions. There were people who liked it because they didn’t have to see unnecessary quest window notifications like in other open-world RPGs, and there were people who disliked it because it was too inconvenient and unfriendly.

It was so bad that a mod came out that organized and showed the currently progressing main story and sub-quests in a notification format, easy to see like in other RPGs.

Of course, this didn’t apply to me. Even if I couldn’t memorize all the minor sub-quests, the game’s main story and major sub-quests were all in my head.

“Wait. Where are you going, rookie?”

As I calmly tried to leave the castle, Iris called out to me and stopped me. My mind momentarily froze in a situation I had never experienced in the game.

‘…Now that I think about it, this isn’t going to go according to the game.’

Even if you took this route in the game, it just felt like you were affiliated with the Silver Dawn Knights, and there wasn’t really any benefit from it.

The protagonist just played by themselves, and only the Knights’ story progressed.

But the current me was clearly a rookie knight belonging to the Silver Dawn Knights. And one who was receiving a lot of expectations. Naturally, it was obvious that attention would be focused on every single action.

From Iris’s perspective, it was right to stop me, who was trying to leave alone for somewhere.

‘I made a mistake.’

I clicked my tongue inwardly. Since things have come to this, there’s no benefit for me in hiding it, so it seemed better to just say it openly. I opened my mouth with the most nonchalant expression possible.

“To catch that guy on the horse.”

At my one word, a chilling silence fell.

Rije and Erica froze solid, Claudia had an expression of “What did I just hear?”, and Iris, rarely, frowned, then shook her head, as if she had misunderstood my words.

“No, there’s no need to specifically include you, a rookie, in the subjugation. This is our job, and anyway, after reporting the failure, we have to go out again-“

“I’m not saying to take me to the subjugation, I’m saying I’ll go alone.”

Iris, upon hearing those words, finally distorted her expression. Claudia gave me a look that asked if I was crazy. Erica’s expression was not much different.

Rije approached my side and lightly grasped my fingers, trying to pull me behind her. I resisted by tensing my arm, indicating I was fine.

“Rookie. I know that you are exceptionally talented. I also know that you have already sufficiently proven your abilities to us. However, this is not training, but real combat. The enemy won’t go easy on you like Rije does during sparring, nor will they hold back. If you make even a slight mistake, you could lose your life just like that.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Because I won’t die anyway.”

“…You’re not listening to me at all.”

Haa, Iris sighed.

“If this is an action taken merely out of confidence, I absolutely cannot permit it. I fully understand where your confidence comes from. You have already surprised us many times. I, too, do not doubt your skill itself. But precisely because of that, I have no choice but to object. If you leave with my permission and return dead, or if you don’t return at all… I would never be able to forgive myself.”

It was a valid concern, and a reasonable concern.

Even if I were the Knight Captain, and a talented rookie who joined one day said they would go catch the monster that even their own Knight Order’s First Knight Captain failed to subjugate and returned from, I would have stopped them.

But that was that, and this was this. For me, there was a reason why this subjugation absolutely could not be postponed.

Only by catching that guy could I obtain the tool needed to kill the Lord later.

“Real combat is different from theory. Enemies don’t move as you expect. That’s an enemy we’re encountering for the first time, and approaching it as carefully as possible is the correct answer. I can’t push you into such a place. Let me say it again, I highly value your talent and future potential. I won’t let such a talent be futilely crushed, nor will I let such a talent die meaninglessly. I won’t say it twice, rookie. I refuse-“

“Claudia Captain-nim.”

“Uh, uh? Me?”

When her name was suddenly called, Claudia, who had been looking back and forth between me and Iris while being supported by Erica, replied with a start.

“Yes. Could you help me with just one thing?”