Silver Dawn Knights – 3

After Erica’s long lecture came to an end, the three of us headed to the dining hall together. Of course, from Erica’s perspective, it was a lecture and a sermon, but Rije had buried her face deep in a pillow and didn’t listen at all.

Surprisingly, she didn’t say anything to me, probably because Rije had the initiative in that situation anyway, and I wouldn’t have been able to shake it off with my strength, so she didn’t say anything.

It was a pretty accurate judgment.

Rije seemed quite disappointed that the act had been interrupted, and she grumbled loudly all the way to the dining hall, as if to make sure Erica heard her.

Conversely, Erica snarled, asking what kind of nonsense that was on the first day a new recruit joined. I was stuck between them, unable to do anything.

The situation itself, where a beautiful woman with a good figure like Rije got on top of me and seduced me, wasn’t something I particularly disliked. I’m a healthy man with normal tastes, so why would I dislike something like that?

But I was afraid of the butterfly effect that would follow.

‘I should refrain from unnecessarily twisting the storyline as much as possible.’

Rather than experiencing the terrible situation of the storyline getting tangled because I unnecessarily messed with various things from the beginning, turning all my background knowledge useless, it’s better to endure the temptation a little.

Moreover, this was the first time I had experienced something like this, so I wasn’t sure how I should react. There’s no way an NPC in a game would come on to a player like this, is there?

Brightest Darkness 4 isn’t an eroge, and if no mods are installed, the default player character is male, and the vast majority of NPCs are also male.

If there were male NPCs acting like that towards men, the fans would have immediately hung the developers by their necks.

A later patch did add the ability to choose gender in the character creation screen, but even if you chose a female character there, the story didn’t particularly change.

The world of the Brightest Darkness series wasn’t really a setting for romance anyway.

“Newbie!”

*Slap*, a palm landed firmly on my back. She didn’t seem to put much force into it, but it hurt like hell. I endured the pain in my back and turned around.

Rije was looking at me with her characteristic mischievous smile.

“What now?”

“Tell me honestly. You liked it too, didn’t you?”

“Are you dragging me into this too?”

“Oh, come on. Honestly, you liked it, didn’t you? There’s no way you’d dislike it when a beauty like me got on top of you. Uh-huh. How could that be? It was a perfectly good time, and you didn’t like it when that indecorous Erica interrupted, did you? Right?”

Saying that, Rije shouted, “Villain, begone!” and grabbed my wrist, swinging it to playfully hit Erica. I tried my best to free my arm, but it had no effect whatsoever.

“Unnie, are you starting again? Stop bothering the Newbie-ssi and just walk. And ‘got on top’? Where did you pick up such vulgar words?”

“Hey, I’m clearly an adult, you know? Vulgar? What’s wrong with an adult saying something suggestive?”

Looking at her actions, she’s not an adult, but childish like a kid. I muttered that to myself. Of course, I didn’t say it out loud.

“I’m telling you to pick your time and place! It’s one thing if it’s just us, but do you have to act undignified in front of the Newbie?!”

“Erica, why are you defending him so much? That’s not like you at all. Try acting like this with the other Captain-nims. Does it make sense that the guy who uses fire had the nickname ‘Ice Princess’?”

“Nobody called me that, only Unnie went around calling me that! Who else but Unnie would call someone such a cringey nickname?!”

‘Don’t these two ever get tired?’

Rije and Erica’s bickering continued for a surprisingly long time.

Erica seemed like the type who strongly disliked unnecessary arguments, but surprisingly, she was retorting Rije’s words without an inch of retreat. It seemed they truly were biological sisters.

Thanks to them, the walk to the dining hall wasn’t boring.

Rije was bickering with Erica, and at some point, she subtly sidled up next to me, then completely linked arms with me. My forearm was deeply buried in two overwhelming soft and large mounds.

I, for my part, had to do my best not to react to the squishy sensation on my arm. It wasn’t just the sensation; it was also because her outfit was explicitly designed to reveal her figure.

Yet, the individuals wearing such clothes seemed completely unaware that their attire was outrageously suggestive, likely due to their common sense being altered by a mod.

After that, Erica, seeing Rije, would launch into another long lecture, telling her to please maintain her dignity, and Rije would, in turn, cling even closer to me as if to tease Erica. It was a repeated cycle.

‘This is fucking tough, seriously.’

My mental strength was rapidly depleting in proportion.

Not only did I have to try hard not to be conscious of the sensation of breasts pressed directly against my arm, but because of our posture, Rije and Erica naturally had no choice but to bicker near me.

To make matters worse, as they squabbled, Erica’s body would also rub against my back, and that, in itself, was incredibly potent. Her chest might have been modest, but it wasn’t non-existent.

And fundamentally, she was a stunningly beautiful girl.

“We’ve arrived, Newbie-ssi. This is the dining hall.”

The sisterly quarrel, which seemed like it would never end, finally ceased when Erica backed down upon reaching the dining hall door. Rije had a triumphant expression, as if wondering what was so good.

As the dining hall drew closer, Rije also unlinked her arm. It seemed she had no intention of doing such things in front of other people. Or perhaps she was just teasing me and Erica.

Rije grinned and whispered into my ear.

“If you’re disappointed, just say so. I can do it more for you, as much as you want. Of course, you’ll have to pay the proper price.”

“I don’t need it.”

What on earth would she demand?

The dining hall door was incredibly massive. It was wide enough for at least three people to stand side-by-side with my arms fully outstretched, and its height was twice my own.

It was large enough to be mistaken for a castle gate rather than a dining hall door.

Erica pulled on such a massive door with one hand, showing no sign of difficulty. With a heavy *kugugugung* sound, the closed door slowly began to open.

The thickness of its cross-section was at least more than a hand span. I wasn’t sure if I could open it even if I pulled or pushed with all my might.

Rije was already opening the other side. Watching her effortlessly open the door with those slender arms, I was reminded of her comment about controlling her strength during our sparring session.

“What are you staring at so intently? Did you fall for me?”

“I was looking at how incredibly thick the door was. You said this is a dining hall, right? Does a dining hall door need to be this thick?”

“Oh, this? This was originally the castle that Lord-nim used. Apparently, this place also served as a shelter in case of unforeseen circumstances. That’s why the door is so thick. It’s a feature that doesn’t mean much to us, so you can ignore it.”

The answer was surprisingly simple. I stared intently at Rije. Rije, receiving my gaze, tilted her head.

“Hmm… that’s quite unexpected.”

“What is?”

“I thought you’d say you didn’t know something like that, Rije.”

“Oh, look at this one?”

With a grinning smile, both my cheeks were grabbed. Just before they were pulled wide left and right, a voice from right beside us intervened, stopping her.

“Stop messing around and let’s go in, Unnie. And the Newbie-ssi saw it correctly, so what’s the big deal?”

“Are you looking out for a newbie you’ve known for only two hours more than your sister you’ve known for over 20 years? This unnie is so sad, you know? Just completely obsessed with a man, forgetting about your sister and everything else-“

“Say one more word, and I’ll shove your head into the furnace. Shut your mouth.”

As I followed Rije, who was subtly irritating Erica, and entered the dining hall, the first thing that caught my eye was a long, rectangular table.

There was only one chair on the vertical side, and the table was so long that there seemed to be over twenty chairs on the horizontal sides. That one table alone looked like it could seat over 50 people.

Since there were four such large tables, the dining hall’s size was naturally enormous. To exaggerate a bit, it was wide enough to be used as a training ground rather than just an outdoor space, with no less suitability.

“You’re here.”

Iris, who had been silently eating alone at one of those tables, greeted us.

“What, you were eating already?”

“I waited until ten minutes past.”

“Ah, that’s right. We were a bit late, weren’t we?”

“Erica wouldn’t neglect her duties… it seems you were causing trouble again, Rije.”

“You saw it accurately, Iris. Unnie was causing trouble again.”

Iris made an accurate deduction based solely on the fact that we were a little late.

Rije grumbled, “Isn’t that too much?”, but she seemed to have some conscience, as she didn’t try to deny the words themselves.

Leaving the three who had started their own conversation, I slowly looked around the dining hall.

“……?”

In this vast dining hall, there were only four of us.