Knights of the Dark Star-Night

After concluding my sufficient ‘conversation’ with the bastard in gold-plated armor, I was walking down the Imperial Nation’s corridor with the knights under my command, contemplating what to do next.

There was no longer any need to remain in the Imperial Palace.

Once I returned to my room, packed what I needed, met Minerva briefly, and bid farewell to the Knight Commanders, I would finally return to my territory, bringing an end to the long, drawn-out audience with the Emperor.

‘I guess I’ve repaid the Knight Commanders enough.’

Besides the fact that the former lord bastard was involved with demons, I had thoroughly scared them with various other things, so for the time being, they would be filled with worry and try to play it safe.

It’s not like I said anything wrong, either. They deserved the karma they got for what they did to the Silver Dawn Knights, didn’t they?

“Um… Knight Commander-nim? Are you alright for a moment?”

I heard a voice calling me from behind. I stopped. Turning my head, I saw a female knight with golden hair and blue eyes approaching me with cautious steps.

It was Laksia. The Vice-Knight Commander who had designated me as her sparring partner in the training ground, got thoroughly beaten with a broken straight sword, and was dragged out by her subordinates, held by her arms and legs, completely dazed.

Honestly, I didn’t expect Laksia to come under my command. Even though there was a 50% chance it would happen, conversely, there was also a 50% chance it wouldn’t.

My method for choosing a side was simple. I drew a line through the center of the Golden Twilight Knights as they stood for their audience with the Emperor, then set a stick upright on the line, let it fall, and chose the direction it fell.

The stick fell to the left, and Laksia was standing there.

She herself seemed quite surprised by the result at first, then later kept glancing at me, trying to gauge my mood. It seemed she was recalling our first meeting at the training ground. Yet, I had no intention of giving her any disadvantage for that.

“What is it?”

It felt a bit awkward trying to sound authoritative using informal speech.

“I wanted to ask if you had any plans in mind. What do you intend to do next?”

“I’m going to start thinking about it now.”

“……Pardon?”

“Isn’t that right? I couldn’t even imagine such a situation would occur, so how could I have made plans? Preparation is only possible when you can anticipate things to a certain extent.”

A person who worries, ‘Should I make plans for after receiving them, just in case His Majesty the Emperor splits the Golden Twilight Knights in half and bestows them upon me?’ isn’t meticulous; they’re just a lunatic.

“…….”

Laksia tilted her head with a puzzled expression, looking half-convinced and half-unconvinced, before opening her mouth again.

“I apologize, but would it be alright if I asked just one more question?”

“There’s no need to apologize at all, so ask freely. What is it?”

“I’d like to ask what our affiliation will be. More precisely, the name of the knight order.”

‘A name, huh.’

Now that I think about it, I haven’t even decided on a name yet.

Fortunately, this was something I didn’t need to rack my brain over. I could just use the name the Emperor gave when he merged the two knight orders and established a new one in the game.

“I do have something in mind for that. Let’s hear it first, and if you like it, we’ll use it as is. Otherwise, we can change it anytime.”

“What is it?”

Dozens of pairs of eyes and ears focused on me.

“Knights of the Dark Star-Night.”

If one side symbolizes twilight, representing evening, and the other symbolizes dawn, representing morning, then combining the two should result in the pitch-black star-night (星夜) in between. That was the Emperor’s logic.

In English, it’s even “Dark Star-Night,” so there were even whispers that the Emperor, despite his age, hadn’t quite grown out of his eighth-grade syndrome. They said the armor was sleek and well-designed in pitch black, but the name was the problem.

I wasn’t particularly bothered by such things, so I didn’t think much of it.

‘It’s a long-standing tradition, so what?’

Even among divine spells and magic, there existed naming senses that made people doubt their own eyes.

For example, ‘Raging Torrent of Mana’ or ‘Blade of Judgment that Condemns the World’. As you can tell by the names, the former is magic and the latter is a divine spell.

Considering that such names consistently appeared since BraDk 1, the BraDk developers seemed to have a very firm taste, so it was a loss for anyone who cared about it.

What was surprising was the fact that the knights, led by Laksia, really liked the name ‘Knights of the Dark Star-Night’. As soon as they heard my words, exclamations of “Ohh!” emerged from all over.

I’m not sure what part they liked, though.

“……This must be it.”

I stood directly in front of the spot Minerva had told me about. I rummaged through the pocket of my uniform and pulled out a small scroll. It was a scroll with a very complex-looking magic circle drawn on it.

I had ordered the knights to pack their belongings and gather in the Imperial Palace’s west garden by evening. The knights looked a bit gloomy as the moment to leave the Imperial Palace approached.

Still, if there were no major problems in between, they would be able to return to the Imperial Palace within a few years. Or it could be even sooner. After that, I’d have to hand over the Knight Commander position to Iris or Rije.

After sending them back, I came to the Magic Tower alone.

“Is this how you do it?”

As I poured mana into the scroll, the magic circle glowed blue, floated up by itself, and stuck to the wall of the Magic Tower.

The spot where it stuck recessed inwards, and a space large enough for one person to comfortably enter appeared. I stepped onto it. The outer wall moved sideways, filling the empty space.

The platform I was standing on slowly began to rise. It was a magic Minerva had told me to use if I ever needed to meet her, and to anyone, it looked like a small elevator.

The person who actually created this magic hadn’t even named it, saying there were still many parts that needed improvement. They just told me to call it something like “sending a platform up the wall.”

The platform carried me straight to the top floor of the Magic Tower and stopped there. It was where Minerva’s bedroom was located. The wall opposite to where I entered split open left and right.

Right next to it was a door separating Minerva’s bedroom from the hallway. As soon as I stepped inside, a sour fruit scent completely assailed my nostrils. It was the smell of lemons.

It wasn’t unpleasant at all. It was a pleasant sourness, like a lemon-scented air freshener.

‘If it’s a fruit scent…’

Every time that happened, there was always one common situation.

I felt a little uneasy. I tried to shake off the unease and kept stepping forward. The lemon scent grew stronger the further I went into the bedroom.

“Minerva-nim?”

I cautiously called Minerva’s name and peeked my head past the wall. She herself had said there was no need to be cautious if I entered using the magic she had given me.

Minerva was sitting at a large desk pushed against the wall, diligently writing something on a scroll. It was a relatively normal sight, more so than I had expected.

If only her clothing wasn’t on the verge of slipping down.

The collar of her bathrobe was draped around the middle of her upper arm, fully revealing her alluringly curved shoulder and slightly bumpy shoulder blade.

Judging by how much her clothes had slipped, the front was likely in a similar state.

“This here, like this… and the magic circle, I’ll design it separately…”

Minerva was diligently moving her fountain pen, writing on the scroll, completely unconcerned about her clothes that were on the verge of falling off. And her writing instrument, of all things, was a fountain pen.

Since it was clear she wouldn’t pay any attention to me until her research was finished if I just waited, I walked a little further. I had come with a request, so I couldn’t just turn back.

Perhaps sensing my presence, the hand that was writing slowed slightly. Minerva exclaimed in an annoyed voice.

“Who’s there? Didn’t I make it clear that no one was to be let in for a while? Unless a dragon has appeared again, you’re going to be in big trouble.”

“It’s me, Minerva-nim.”

Hearing my voice, Minerva’s hand abruptly stopped. She whipped her head around to confirm it was me, and as soon as she realized it truly was, she sprang to her feet.

The clothes that were precariously draped over her upper arm slid down. Her collarbones and chest, which were already quite exposed in her usual attire, were now fully revealed without an inch of concealment.

The front of her robe, which was already on the verge of coming undone, also sprang wide open as the waist tie, barely holding on, loosened due to the recoil from Minerva suddenly standing up.

The black bathrobe silently fell to the floor.

“Ah.”

A voice, whose owner was unknown, echoed in the bedroom. I instinctively cast my gaze upon Minerva’s fully exposed body.

Her chest, boasting a considerable weight. Her belly and sides, which looked incredibly soft. Her thighs, which seemed like they would leave clear handprints if touched. Her widely flared hips.

And finally, the black piece of cloth between her thoroughly wet legs… I probably should pretend I didn’t see that.

Minerva froze in that state for a moment, then recovered her attire with incredible speed. The bathrobe that had been draped over the chair was put back on, and the loosened waist tie was re-tied.

The time it took for her to return to the Minerva I knew was only 1 second, or even less.

“Next time, if you want to see my body, tell me beforehand, child. I need time to prepare, too, you know.”

“Huh?”

It felt like some absurd sentence just passed by.

“It’s nothing. Originally, I was just going to kick you out, but if a child comes to find me, I must make time, even if I don’t have any, to welcome them. So, what brings you here?”

I wanted to ask what that meant, but her atmosphere clearly indicated she would never explain it again. I had no choice but to bring up the original purpose of my visit.

“I came to ask you to lift the castle’s magic.”

“The castle’s magic? Ah, are you perhaps talking about the magic cast on that child’s territory? Since it’s the child’s request, I’ll naturally grant it, but may I ask the reason?”

Minerva changed the subject as if she had been waiting for it. That was either something she blurted out unintentionally, or something she deliberately hinted at. It had to be one of the two.

“It’s because the person living in the castle has changed now.”

The Silver Dawn Knights had managed to live reasonably well even with the magic cast, due to various special circumstances, but it would be different from now on.

To prevent the new knights from feeling uneasy, I needed to either reveal the magic’s true nature or lift it, but the problem was the magic’s unique characteristics.

Wasn’t it a magic that was publicly forgotten and twisted to the point where the former lord bastard had mistaken it for a curse and asked for it to be cast? There was absolutely no benefit in many people knowing its true nature.

“I see. I understand.”

An silver staff was already in Minerva’s hand. The tip of the staff lightly tapped the bedroom floor. Blue mana emanated from the tip.

A magic circle was carved between the carvings at the staff’s tip, then glowed blue and faded away.

“It is done.”

“Thank you, Minerva-nim.”

“It’s nothing compared to what the child has done for me. Rather, I should be thanking you many times over. Are you leaving now?”

“Yes, I should. His Majesty the Emperor also said it was fine for me to return.”

I bowed my head and turned my back. Just as I was about to exit Minerva’s bedroom, I suddenly felt a soft, fleshy sensation against my back, along with a lemon scent much stronger than before.

Arms, wrapped in a black bathrobe, were draped around my shoulders and neck. *Squeeze*, the soft, fleshy sensation against my back intensified.

“Wait a moment before you go. Since you’ve seen Minerva Scientia’s naked body, shouldn’t you pay the price? Don’t worry. You just need to answer one question. Just in case, I’m asking…”

A soft, hushed voice, mixed with faint breaths, reached my ear.

“Do you perhaps know where other ancient scrolls are located?”