Knight Order Entrance Exam – 2

“……Who are you?”

I didn’t even feel a sign of presence, let alone the feeling that someone had come next to me. It was to the point where I would have believed they had been standing there from the very beginning. As I was trembling at that fact, the woman smiled faintly.

Her deep blue hair was tied back in a single braid behind her neck, extending long. It was a length that seemed to barely touch the floor.

Her bangs hung long, completely covering her right eye, and her side hair flowed down her cheek to near her collarbone. Her uncovered left eye was the same blue as her hair.

For her top, she wore a white sleeveless shirt, just like Iris, but the difference was that her enormous breasts, almost as large as her head, were asserting their presence everywhere from below.

It was as if the clothes, forced to bear that overwhelming weight, were screaming terribly.

As if that wasn’t enough, the hem of her sleeveless top rolled up, generously exposing her abdomen and sides. The size of the clothes seemed accurate, but it happened because her chest was so large.

Even her dolphin shorts were incredibly short. Compared to her plump-looking thighs extending below them, the length was quite insignificant.

She was dressed in the same white sleeveless top as Iris and dolphin shorts the color of her own hair. Judging by her attire, she seemed to be a Knight Commander belonging to the Silver Dawn Knight Order.

“Hmm. Quite handsome, aren’t you?”

The blue-haired woman lightly ignored my question and circled around me, making a “hmm” sound. The look in her eyes as she stared at me was very serious.

“This is unexpected. Did Iris care about a man’s appearance? Hmm, hmm. It’s worth remembering.”

“No, who- “

“Your body is quite good too. Where did she pick up such a splendid man?”

Then, she poked my chest repeatedly with her index finger, and this time, she traced my arm, constantly exclaiming in admiration. It was clear she wasn’t listening to a word I said.

“Excuse me- “

“What are you doing to someone you just met, unnie?”

“Keheuk.”

The very next moment, a red-haired woman who had suddenly appeared from behind grabbed the blue-haired woman by the scruff of her neck and pulled her towards herself. Of course, I hadn’t felt any sign of her approaching this time either.

The newly appeared red-haired woman was also dressed in a white sleeveless top and dolphin shorts.

Her hair was red like flames. Her rolled-up back hair was gathered in a round bun behind her neck, looking exactly like a dumpling.

Her side hair hung long, its ends touching her collarbone, and her bangs covered almost all of her forehead. Beneath them were red eyes, the same color as her hair.

The dolphin shorts she wore on her lower body were also red. Although she wore a white sleeveless top, unlike the blue-haired woman, its size seemed quite loose.

Not only did she tuck the hem into her dolphin shorts so no bare skin was exposed, but the dolphin shorts themselves were also quite long, almost reaching the middle of her thighs.

Most of all, their chests differed to the extreme. If the blue-haired woman had such large breasts that one might worry her clothes would burst, the red-haired woman barely had any curves.

Even as she was dragged away by the back of her neck, the blue-haired woman kept grumbling, pointing at me.

“No, Erica, aren’t you curious? Iris brought a man! The one who seemed like she’d never even hold a man’s hand in her life! And you’re not curious? Are you even human, really?”

“That is not my business. Nor is it unnie’s business. All we need to know is that unnie is being rude to this person. And unnie, you’ve never held a man’s hand in your life either. Why are you pretending to have experience?”

The red-haired woman, called Erica, only released her unnie’s scruff after dragging her and making her stand next to her. The blue-haired woman grumbled something and adjusted her clothes.

“I apologize on behalf of my unnie’s rudeness. I am sorry.”

The red-haired woman lightly bowed her head.

“It’s okay since you stopped her. But, who are you?”

“Ah, that’s right. I should have introduced myself first. I had forgotten because someone rudely caused trouble out of nowhere.”

Her tone had a subtle edge. At the cold gaze directed at her, the blue-haired woman subtly avoided eye contact.

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Erica, and I am the 4th Knight Commander of the Silver Dawn Knight Order. And this person is… haa, I don’t think she’ll introduce herself properly, so I’ll do it instead. Her name is Rije, and she is my unnie. She is the 3rd Knight Commander of the Silver Dawn Knight Order.”

So the blue-haired one is Rije, and the red-haired one is Erica. These were names I had never heard of in the game, unlike Iris. I have a guess about which NPCs they might be, but it’s forbidden to be certain until I have proper evidence.

Their personalities are different, their appearances are different, and their actions are all different. In the end, the only things that could serve as evidence are the magic they use, their weapons, or their dialogue, but this kind of dialogue never appeared in the game.

An NPC who approaches you as soon as you enter the Knight Order, touches the player character’s body, and comments on it-doesn’t that mean if there were no mods, these two would originally have been men?

If such NPCs existed, I would have killed them to begin with.

“So, what brings you here?”

“I went out to greet Iris because she was back, but then she had a man on her back, didn’t she? Wondering what it was, I secretly followed. Besides, you were speaking quite comfortably with Iris. How could I just watch this interesting situation? This is absolutely something that cannot be overlooked. Erica, you agree, don’t you? Right?”

“If you say it like that, it makes it sound like I stood by and watched all of unnie’s actions. I just arrived. And I don’t agree. Why should I be treated the same as unnie?”

The knightess named Rije smiled brightly and approached me again, unconcerned by her younger sister’s murderous gaze. Seeing that, Erica sighed deeply.

“Unnie. Please maintain some dignity. What on earth are you doing on our first meeting?”

“What’s wrong with it? I just spoke the truth. And Erica, you’re honestly curious too, aren’t you? How can you not be curious about the man Iris brought back?”

‘Just by looking at their appearance, I wonder if their personalities should be the opposite….’

If I only looked at their outward appearance, Rije had a very calm and quiet impression, like an elegant cat. Conversely, Erica had a lively and energetic impression, like an affectionate dog.

It was even more so because their hair and eye colors were distinctly different. Usually, cool colors give a calm impression, and warm colors give a lively impression.

But it was the complete opposite. Rije, with her elegant, calm, cat-like face and blue hair, had a lively personality, and Erica, with her lively, affectionate, dog-like face and red hair, had a calm personality.

They say you shouldn’t judge people by their appearance, and these two were prime examples.

“What are you doing here, Rije?”

“Oh, you’re here? Iris?”

Iris strode out of the stable at perfect timing. Rije waved her hand in greeting.

‘……Is that the Knight Order’s casual attire?’

Iris, Rije, and Erica all wore tight-fitting white sleeveless tops and dolphin shorts the same color as their hair on their lower bodies. It was an outfit that was hard to know where to look.

“As you can see. You brought a man, so I couldn’t not step in, could I? I was just checking him out.”

“I’m not sure what you mean, but refrain from speculation. He’s a rookie.”

“Oh? A rookie? Really?”

Rije looked at me with wide, startled eyes.

“To be precise, he’s a preliminary member before taking the entrance exam. So, we were about to go to the training ground now. Because he has to take the entrance exam.”

As soon as she heard “rookie,” Rije’s eyes became sparkling. Erica’s eyes also changed to a slightly surprised look. It was exactly like the gaze of a veteran player looking at a newbie.

‘I can’t get used to this.’

I used to be the one giving such gazes, not receiving them.

“Iris, can I administer the rookie entrance exam? I’m even more curious about what kind of man he is now that you’ve said that.”

“Do as you please. However, make sure to control your strength.”

“Alright, alright. I’m a Knight Commander, after all. Do you think I couldn’t even do that much?”

“I mean to be even more certain. Because he’s under a witch’s curse.”

Hearing that, Rije and Erica’s eyes, looking at me, changed once again. They were eyes filled with both shock and pity. Well, considering the background setting, it was understandable that they would look at me with such pity.

The ‘Witch’s Curse’ was a short background setting obtained by choosing ‘The Abandoned One’ as a past action.

It said that the character had been cursed by a witch, causing their level and all stats to regress to 1. It was a device that added plausibility to why this character started at level 1 with all stats at 1.

It was understandable that they were surprised, as I was no different from an ordinary person, or even worse, and had been suddenly brought in as a preliminary member of the Knight Order.

For reference, you can actually meet that ‘witch’ in the mid-to-late stage of the game. You can choose one of three options: do nothing after meeting her, fight and win and save her, or fight and win and kill her.

It’s possible to meet her even if you choose a different origin for your past actions, but to have such interactions, you absolutely had to choose ‘The Abandoned One’. With other origins, it’s just one conversation and then it’s over.

That ‘Witch’s Curse’ seemed to be quite infamous; when Iris asked for my name, and I said I couldn’t remember it because of that curse, she immediately understood.

“Oh… really? Can we accept someone like that as a rookie?”

“It’s a bit awkward to say this in front of him, but if he’s in that state, he won’t last long even if he joins the Knight Order, will he?”

Rije and Erica each uttered a word filled with worry and doubt. It was a natural worry and a natural question.

Because for NPCs other than the player character, there’s no concept of gaining experience to raise stats and levels. They have to train honestly to raise their strength by 1.

Even that method would have clear limits. The player character also needs more and more experience to gain a single stat as their level increases.

But Iris chuckled faintly and dismissed their doubts with a single sentence.

“Put those worries aside. You’ll see.”