A Small Twist – 5

‘…What are they doing?’

With nothing much to do, Li-je, who had been idly gazing out the window from her room, widened her eyes and looked down.

It was because she had confirmed that the new recruit and Inerma were leaving the castle by themselves at this late hour. The sleep that had been slowly creeping up on her instantly vanished. Li-je immediately sprang to her feet.

Judging by Inerma leading and the new recruit following, it wasn’t the new recruit who suggested going out. In other words, it meant that the blind woman had seduced the new recruit first.

‘How dare she try to snatch away the man I claimed first, without any decency?’

She didn’t know the reason or purpose for which those two were going out, but the very fact that a man and a woman were going out late at night was the problem itself.

For example, if they just wandered around outside like that, couldn’t they suddenly make eye contact in a secluded place and have outdoor sex right then and there?

Li-je, who casually finished that fantasy of Erica mercilessly slapping her back if she heard such crazy talk, followed behind them by leaping out the window.

The tailing had begun.

“…….”

“…….”

Although I was dragged out for a night walk after a sudden suggestion, just because we came outside didn’t mean I’d suddenly find something to say when I had nothing to say inside. We walked and walked in silence, without a word.

She clearly couldn’t see in front of her, yet Inerma walked along smoothly as if it were nothing. I had been on edge, worried she might bump into something, but it seemed like a needless worry.

Since it was quite late, the night streets were utterly silent. Only the slowly setting moon illuminated the path.

“Where are we going right now?”

“We haven’t specifically decided on a destination. It’s literally just a walk. We’re just wandering aimlessly.”

After that, we fell silent again, and the walk eventually led us to a small forest within the city. It was the forest where the tree that caught the moon, which I had told the Knight Commanders about, was located.

The forest at night had a rather eerie atmosphere, but I didn’t mind it at all. After all, it was a forest with nothing, no monsters or anything. There was no reason to be afraid of this place.

The reason people are afraid of such places is because of that unique creepy atmosphere where you don’t know what might pop out, but I already knew this place was safe, so there was no reason to be scared.

If something were to pop out here, contrary to my expectations, then it would be a little scary from that point on.

Wondering if Inerma might trip, I glanced to the side. To my needless worry, she was following well.

She was just in a strange posture, with her head turned to the left, showing me only the back of her ear and the back of her head.

Yet, strangely enough, without tripping or stumbling, she walked steadily forward.

I also just walked along, assuming things were fine. Surely, she wouldn’t suddenly scream and twist her limbs while running towards me like in some horror movie.

“……New Knight-nim.”

Just as I thought a considerable amount of time had passed since we entered the forest, Inerma opened her mouth. Her head was still turned in the opposite direction. Wondering what she was going to say, I stopped walking.

“Aren’t you scared?”

“Scared? Of what?”

“The actions you’ve taken so far.”

“……?”

Inerma also stopped walking. Yet she continued to look in the opposite direction from me.

“I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“It’s exactly as I said. Weren’t you scared of the things you’ve done so far?”

What were the things I’d done so far? I thought back carefully.

Beating up the Human Butcher with a single sword in prison, having a match with Li-je for the entrance exam, and subduing the Headless Armored Cavalryman by myself.

I think these three were all I told Inerma.

The story about killing the lord using a book possessed by a demon was not something to tell outsiders, so I kept quiet about it, and naturally, I had to keep quiet about the events that followed.

Oh, did I also tell her about beating up that golden knight bastard? I don’t know for sure because I didn’t tell her; Li-je blabbed about it as if she were boasting about me.

“Why is that scary?”

“Those are things where you might die. Isn’t it natural to be scared, rather?”

‘Is that so?’

I mulled over her words for a moment.

Of course, when I first realized that Dark Mode was applied, it’s true that I was genuinely anxious about the fact that I had to beat up the Human Butcher, who was greatly enhanced by the enemy reinforcement mode.

But if you could call that being scared, that was ambiguous.

It was an action I had already performed thousands of times, and an opponent whose every counter-strategy, from one to ten, was stored in my head. So, as long as I didn’t make a mistake or slip up, there was no way I would die.

Of course, there was anxiety about what if I made a mistake. But it wasn’t a feeling of dread or fear at all.

Because anxiety and fear are feelings that seem similar yet are different.

“I haven’t thought deeply about it, but I don’t think I felt that way. If I just don’t make a mistake, I won’t die, right?”

Honestly, I still hadn’t fully grasped the fact that I had possessed a body in BraDk 4.

I didn’t need to take care of basic human physiological needs.

No matter how much the horse ran or how heavy a load it carried, it never got tired.

No matter how roughly I pushed my body, I didn’t feel fatigue.

Sleep wasn’t essential either; it was more like I slept simply because it was nighttime and I was supposed to.

Things I used to dismiss as ‘that’s just how it is in a game’ were unfolding right before my eyes, so it was too unrealistic a situation to feel like reality.

If someone suddenly appeared and ended the game, saying it was actually a VR version of BraDk 4, it wouldn’t feel out of place, so of course, it was hard to feel like it was real.

“……A mistake?”

Doubt was embedded in Inerma’s tone. She probably wondered what I meant by saying I wouldn’t die if I just didn’t make a mistake.

“You heard about my situation, didn’t you?”

“Yes, that you were cursed by a witch….”

“I don’t know what I used to be in the past, but at least I’ve never been at a disadvantage when following my instincts and memories. In other words, as long as I don’t make a mistake when following them, there’s no way I’ll die. It means I don’t move by thinking with my head, but by letting my body remember and react.”

It was an excuse I had already used on the Knight Commanders: that I didn’t move by thinking with my head, but by letting my body remember.

In reality, there were countless patterns where reacting after seeing them would be too late, so it wasn’t entirely wrong. For example, Kaikilia’s basic attacks.

“As long as I don’t make a mistake in the process, I’ll be safe, just like I have been so far. So I’m not particularly scared.”

“Is that so….”

The girl seemed to be deep in thought for a while, then she opened her mouth in a slightly eerie voice.

“Even if something happens in the future?”

“Huh?”

“Even if a trial so great that it can’t even be compared to anything so far approaches, you won’t be scared?”

“…….”

At a phrase I had heard somewhere before, I was momentarily speechless.

‘A trial so great that it can’t even be compared to anything so far’ was an expression the Emperor used when referring to BraDk 4’s final boss, who appeared around the very end of the game.

The final boss’s difficulty was so extreme that it naturally gained a share close to a meme.

“Probably.”

But even so, nothing much would change.

If that guy was the same as the final boss in my memories, I just had to beat him up exactly as I did in the game. As I always had, without a single mistake.

“Indeed….”

Even with my ambiguous answer, Inerma’s voice surprisingly sounded convinced. She mumbled something more after that, but her voice was too quiet for me to hear.

Inerma, who had been continuously mumbling something to herself, suddenly turned her head towards me.

‘Oh?’

It was only for a very brief moment, but I thought I caught a glimpse of golden glowing pupils in her eyes.

Yes. Just like the Emperor’s.

‘Was it just my imagination…?’

It really was only for a very brief moment. In the very instant I blinked, wondering if I had seen wrong, only hollow black pupils remained where the girl’s two eyes should have been.

“Then let’s go back now. We’ve enjoyed the walk enough.”

Inerma said with a lighthearted voice and began walking out of the forest without hesitation, just as she had come in. I also followed behind her, feeling a bit uneasy.

Something kept bothering me.

“So it was.”

The central hall of the imperial palace, where all the lights were out.

Kaikilia, seated on the throne from which she could look down upon all places, pulled up one corner of her mouth, forming an eerie smile. Her golden eyes, illuminated by the moonlight, gleamed menacingly.

“Indeed, so it was.”

A voice filled with exultation echoed through the empty hall.

It was a very pleasing answer. More precisely, it wasn’t the content of the answer that pleased her, but the attitude and demeanor with which it was given.

The words themselves seemed vague and lacking conviction, but the attitude with which they were spoken was full of conviction. No hesitation was felt, and the tone implied that it was only natural for it to be so.

That meant he had definite confidence in his own abilities. And also in himself, who had regained all his memories.

But if that were all, Kaikilia would have been uncertain. There was one more reason for Kaikilia’s exultation.

Kaikilia had also borrowed eyes to monitor the new knight using the ability-checking orb from beginning to end.

And, comparing before and after he touched the ability-checking orb, she noticed that his magic power had increased to an absurd degree. It was something that shouldn’t have been possible. It was something that absolutely should not have happened.

He was clearly hiding some secret.

“Finally… finally, I have found what I so yearned for.”

That man would be able to bear her grand dream. Instead of being crushed by her dream, he would be able to bear it and achieve it together with her.

In this terribly empty and fleeting world, he would be the only one who could rival Kaikilia.

From Kaikilia, seated on the throne, an eerie, mad cackle burst forth.