Ch.52And the Dragon (5)

Melody.

Her morning, known by many names in the world, isn’t particularly special.

Rising early, she lifts herself from her soft bed and begins stretching while still wearing her pajamas, which cling to her from the night’s perspiration.

Since her abilities and martial prowess stem from her keen reflexes and agility, she meticulously loosens her body to prepare for unexpected situations.

With her legs hanging off the bed, she stretches them, flexibly loosening her leg joints.

She performs even embarrassing movements without hesitation to loosen her waist, hip joints, and thoracic spine.

After all, she was the only one in this military camp with her own room.

Afterward, she removes her sweat-soaked pajamas for washing and steps outside in simple attire.

Though she had many duties, she was a swordswoman before being an inquisitor.

Morning training and sword practice were essential parts of her daily routine.

She worked hard to maintain her physical abilities at their peak.

From basic strength training like climbing ladders to gymnastics said to originate from the distant east.

After completing everything, including practice with her beloved sword, it was already time for breakfast.

That was all the leisure one could afford in Marseille, the busy port of the New Continent. Now she had to carry out her hectic schedule.

For this, she casts enhancement magic on herself.

The humming tune, the speech she boldly delivers to workers in the morning.

All of these are melodies and voices imbued with magic; she moves about with spells enhancing her stamina and physical strength throughout her body.

She dons a tunic she often wore when working as the right hand of the Guardian Lord in the Imperium—one that’s ornate yet conceals her slender frame—along with short but practical pants.

After that, it’s all work. She busily moves her pen and coordinates various matters throughout the day.

Yet amid all this, one thought wouldn’t leave her mind:

‘…Was I being too forward?’

It concerned the man she had recently managed to bring into the Inquisition.

During his simple appointment ceremony, she had whispered in his ear suggesting they have a meal together sometime.

She couldn’t forget about it, simply because she hadn’t received a definite answer.

Resting her chin on her hand, she lowers her eyes with a slightly troubled expression.

A rare show of concern on her usually smiling face. She even stopped her writing to think.

‘But his expression seemed good at the time.’

Even recalling the memory confirmed it. His expression wasn’t bad.

‘No, no. He might have just been being considerate.’

But she couldn’t say for certain it wasn’t consideration. She was strong, beautiful, and famous, so perhaps he was just trying not to upset someone of her stature.

‘No, maybe he thought it would be beneficial to associate with someone like me? In that case…’

He might have thought a meal together would be worth trying. Melody smiled with confidence.

‘Well, I am pretty… and because I’m pretty, wouldn’t he think one date would be fine?’

Looking at it in terms of gains and losses, it was all gain. So the only remaining question was:

Why hasn’t he sent a letter agreeing to come to the city or go on a date? The woman caught her downturning lips and held them in place.

“A letter has arrived.”

A clerk dispatched from Servan returned with a letter.

“It’s from the new inquisitor.”

And before she could ask, he announced it was good news. Melody received the letter with a visibly brightened expression.

“He said it was a big matter.”

A big matter, huh? Had he returned after completing the mission she assigned?

Though his departure without notice was disappointing, Melody already had a good feeling. Perhaps it contained detailed date plans.

She opened the letter with anticipation.

Indeed, as promised, it was a big matter. The letter began with such a report.

And it truly was a big matter.

Content she would have doubted if sent by anyone else.

But Melody didn’t doubt it. He didn’t seem like someone who would lie about such things.

‘Defeating a necromancer, capturing a blood knight…’

No matter how outlandish the content might be.

‘Persuading the blood knight prisoner, temporary companionship.’

Though she wasn’t particularly pleased about the part where he was traveling with a member of the Three Clans, she figured he must have his reasons.

In fact, she was impressed. She preferred self-directed men.

Satisfied, she read through the letter thinking:

She should reward him for successfully accomplishing something she wouldn’t have done without her “comrades from her prime.”

Secretly hoping for a date, she turned the letter over, and froze.

It wasn’t a long message.

It didn’t even seem to be written by Luvellin himself. In fact, the entire letter probably wasn’t written by him.

Illiteracy was common, so she didn’t think much of it.

She even thought she might spend time teaching him to write later.

Until she finished reading the back page.

She looked up blankly with her smile frozen in place, causing the clerk to give her a puzzled look.

The content was roughly this:

[Inquisitor Luvellin, departing for continental exploration. Return time undetermined. Will collect reward at a later date.]

The letter fell from Melody’s hand like an autumn leaf, and she blinked.

‘My date…?’

That too, apparently, would be collected at a later date.

*

‘It’s probably better to receive the reward later.’

Standing in the falling snow, I suddenly thought about the reward issue.

Of course, receiving it immediately wouldn’t have been a bad choice either, but I was craving adventure.

Besides, delaying the reward collection wouldn’t make it any worse.

In fact, if the city developed somewhat and magical items increased, my range of choices would expand.

So I opted to collect the reward later and immediately set out on my journey.

The place where I now stood was exactly where I had fallen.

The place of my first death and first resurrection.

Snow had filled the depression in the ground.

I held up a map while enduring the falling snow.

Trying to keep the map from getting wet, I could see many things as I read it.

Unexplored mountains, unexplored forests, and caves whose locations and destinations were unknown.

Uncharted territories. The map, even figuratively speaking, contained little information.

Though Isla had put effort into making it, all it showed were Servan, Marseille, the forest where I was found, and a large mountain range not far from there.

I smiled, holding the map in my hand.

Looking up, I could see the mountain range.

A white and grayish mountain range, blurred by the falling snow.

The same mountain range shown on the map.

Adventure was waiting for me.

I folded the map and tucked it into my chest, wondering what lay beyond.

Would there be dungeons?

Perhaps new environments or vegetation not found in the Old Continent.

Even if the vegetation was similar to the Old Continent’s, it wouldn’t be exactly the same. The novelty would excite me.

You never know until you see it.

In the past, I might have been wary of such unfamiliar places, but not anymore.

[Name: Luvellin]

[Race: Homunculus]

[Class: Warrior – Mourner 6]

[Reputation: Blood Dark Knight]

[Strength: 22(+6)][Dexterity: 20(+5)][Constitution: 22(+6)]

[Magic: □][Inspiration: □][Charm: □]

[Play Time: 9,297 hours]

I had reached level 6. Having risen by two levels dramatically, I was incomparably stronger than before.

First, I had the fatal technique, Mortality, which wasn’t displayed in the status window, but even without that, I could now be considered a powerful individual.

[Proficiency]

[Proficiency Bonus: +3]

[Weapon Proficiency: Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons, Small Shields, Medium Shields, Large Shields]

[Armor Proficiency: Light Armor, Medium Armor, Heavy Armor]

First, my proficiency bonus had increased by 1 point.

It might seem like just 1 point, but the gap between game and reality was significant.

That mere 1 point granted me techniques I couldn’t have imagined before.

Skills like deflecting attacks caught by my sword, concealing the direction of my attacks or the precursors to movements my opponent might read.

The ability to thrust a spear powerfully from any stance, to disarm opponents with an axe, plus broad but shallow knowledge of weapon techniques that allowed me to read and respond to an opponent’s movements.

There was an enormous difference between me with a proficiency bonus of 2 and me with 3.

And that wasn’t all.

The core was elsewhere.

[Extra Attack]

This was the feature gained at level 5.

In the original turn-based rules, it simply allowed two attacks during one’s turn.

In real-time games like Grim Darker and in reality, it became the ability to attack twice in the same amount of time.

And being able to attack twice was inherently an overpowered ability.

Wasn’t that how I lost my head to the blood knight Lorian?

She used a special technique while I couldn’t respond and beheaded me, causing me to die without even being able to react.

Not anymore. Now, I could take the heads of those who faced me.

Additionally, there was a new Mourner ability gained at level 6.

[Explosive Leap]

[Once every 6 seconds, move at high speed for a distance proportional to your Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. Direction and height can be freely determined.]

[Adds 2 points to Strength.]

It was excellent just for increasing Strength, but the ability itself was impressive.

For a Mourner, whose body was already a weapon, this was a technique that could turn their body into a projectile or help evade dangerous attacks.

It was a technique the Mourner old man had shown several times when fighting the dragon.

How many times had I thought, ‘If only I had this technique.’

Although the side effects of mourning still remained, level 8 wasn’t far off.

So I had no worries about the adventure. I was even excited.

If there was any concern left, it was about Melody, but…

She’d manage.

I had delivered the letter Isla wrote for me, and my strength was better used traveling the continent than rotting in one place.

Probably in the game, the DLC would be played that way too.

I thought I was finally on the right track.

From now on, I should focus on my true calling: adventure.

I was thinking this as I was about to return to the campsite.

Something snow-white moved at the edge of my vision. Turning my head, I saw:

“…Hey!”

“Hmm? Why are you calling me? I’m quite busy.”

It was the blood knight Lorian.

“You don’t know why I’m asking?”

“I don’t. Please, before scolding me, tell me what the problem is…”

“You’re not wearing clothes!”

Indeed, the vampire with the appearance of a young girl was wandering the snowy forest without a stitch of clothing.

“Ah, I just bathed and didn’t have time to dress. My clothes got wet when I put them out in the snow.”

“No… you could have hung them on a tree to dry. Why come all the way here naked—”

A sudden throbbing in my head.

I grabbed my head and sighed.

Is this what it means to have different common sense? Does this person have no sense of shame?

I shook my head and added:

“Aren’t you embarrassed?”

“Why should I be embarrassed?”

Lorian’s boldness made my head hurt even more.

Her explanation was outrageous:

“I am a member of the Blood Clan. As the most beautiful clan… we must showcase our beauty. And displaying beauty to the world is not something to be ashamed of.”

Lorian spoke proudly, even puffing out her chest. I squeezed my eyes shut.

“If you’re in a female body, at least pretend to cover yourself…”

What I heard in response was Lorian’s mocking laughter.

This bastard?

“Ah, don’t make that face. That’s not my intention. It’s just… even a manufactured blood bag like you has prejudices similar to humans.”

“Prejudices…?”

“We don’t have things like gender.”

What insane nonsense is this?

As I stared blankly, Lorian placed her hand on her collarbone as if showcasing her body.

“We don’t reproduce. We simply cultivate our bodies according to our aesthetics through blood magic, and our apparent gender changes accordingly. We are fundamentally sexless.”

“Then you…”

“I wanted a knightly body. Beautiful, gallant, with long limbs capable in any battle.”

Since I couldn’t see her face or beneath her armor before, I didn’t know what she looked like, but she proudly declared without concern:

“Though I’ve been cursed and deviated from my aesthetic, this is still the beautiful body of the Blood Clan. So I’m not ashamed. Rather, I’d like to show it if you want.”

“So you’re not a woman now—”

“It doesn’t matter. Either way, I am of the Blood Clan.”

Thinking her own words were excellent, she laughed “huhu” and walked away.

I turned my head to watch the blood knight disappear toward the campsite and blankly muttered:

“Aren’t you cold… crazy bastard…”

It was winter.