Chapter 10: The Princess and the Tall Knight Mister - 5

I had somewhat expected that the conditions for clearing Dreamland would be related to Dolnesia.

If the first was avoiding the bad ending, and the second was awakening a special stat...

Then the hidden third condition was probably getting her to the Grand Duke’s household.

That was why I had intended to wrap things up by taking her there, but it seemed there was no need now.

I was not worried.

After all, it was true that even if Dolnesia went to the Grand Duke’s household alone now, there would be no problem.

Dolnesia, who now possessed two irregular spirits, was stronger than me.

Sancho was a spirit strong enough to be called Dolnesia’s exclusive skill.

And although Rocinante was a coward, she was a top-tier spirit who possessed every attribute.

Even if my stats alone put me at level 40, I could not defeat Dolnesia so long as I lacked the sword aura needed to cut spirits.

That was how absurdly strong Dolnesia had become.

And the enemies on the road to the Grand Duke’s household were only around levels 10 to 20—not particularly strong. There were no gimmicks like cursed items designed to screw Dolnesia over, either, so it would not be an exaggeration to say that nothing could threaten her now.

But...

I looked at the last line of the notification window.

The part saying that this world had moved slightly away from the DLC.

As I recalled, Dawnstar Academia’s DLC was an IF story later released by the developers, written around the premise: “What if the heroine did not exist?”

I had played it once myself, and if I had to sum up the DLC story in one phrase, it would be: “We’re fucked.”

The male leads did not gather around the heroine as their focal point, and the ridiculously talented heroine who resolved incidents was absent.

I remembered it turning into a bleak story where events that the protagonist had resolved in the main game went unresolved and exploded one after another until the world was destroyed.

That was why I said the protagonist’s existence was important.

In short, this world was one where the bad ending was now guaranteed. Fucking hell.

I had thought saving Dolnesia meant the problem had been resolved, but while it had escaped the DLC route, that wording—slightly escaped—kept bothering me.

The condition for avoiding the DLC story was the protagonist’s existence.

But Dolnesia had avoided her bad ending.

In other words, the condition for the DLC—the protagonist’s existence—had been met...

Yet it said we had only moved slightly away from it. Slightly.

Did that not mean the plot-induced bullshit targeting Dolnesia was not over yet?

There was no need to worry in the early stages, since she no longer had any rivals there. But the problem was that I had no idea what kind of bullshit might appear at the academy, or in the final battle against the late-game boss.

My plan had been to leave the academy to the protagonists and settle down in the North to enjoy an easy life!

And another issue was that Ian never appeared in the game, so it was uncertain whether I would even be able to attend the academy.

Fuck, nothing was going right.

"Are you all right?"

As I clutched my helmet as though my head hurt, Dolnesia approached me in a worried tone.

Come to think of it, there was a problem involving her, too.

The Dreamland clear was over.

And if the Dreamland clear was over, that meant everything had to return to normal.

Which meant that we would part ways here.

#

I had not realized it on the way in, but this dungeon was fairly long.

Long enough for us to exchange a great deal of conversation while walking outside.

For some reason, Dolnesia seemed delighted as she told me all sorts of stories about a friend from her hometown.

Stories about a foolish young noble lady.

And it did not take me long to realize that she herself was that noble lady.

As I listened to her stories, I kept thinking of what I should say when we parted, discarding it, then thinking again, over and over.

Of course, Dolnesia would definitely come to the Grand Duke’s household, so it would not be a permanent farewell.

But to Dolnesia, it would be.

Because the one at the Northern Grand Duke’s household would not be Quixote, but Ian.

And that knight would have to leave without keeping his promise to take her to her destination.

Even if I told her my identity, how could I explain why the illegitimate son of the Northern Grand Duke’s household, who should still be far away in the North, was here out of nowhere?

She would refuse to believe it.

Right. So let us say that the one who saved Dolnesia was not Ian de Logres, the illegitimate son of the Northern Grand Duke’s household, but Don Quixote, the wandering knight.

Still, one fortunate thing was that we had only known each other for a day or two.

Besides, I was the lunatic who had challenged goblins to duels.

And she clearly thought so as well.

So I thought that, given the nature of our relationship, parting would not be all that difficult.

“You’re not going to leave, are you, mister?”

Even as I thought that.

"So, you see..."

As I continued listening to her, the entrance came into view ahead of us.

The moment I passed through that entrance, I would return to being Ian, the illegitimate son of the Northern Grand Duke’s household, and Dolnesia would be left alone once more.

Then she would have to walk to the Northern Grand Duke’s household by herself.

Whether she knew that fact or not, Dolnesia did not stop talking as we walked toward the outside of the dungeon.

"Um..."

"I’ve decided."

I was about to say goodbye before we left the cave, but Dolnesia suddenly cut me off.

She looked toward where my face was and smiled, as if she had decided something.

"You said you were a knight, right?"

I nodded at her words.

"Even if you come with me to my destination, it doesn’t seem like you’ll have anything to do afterward anyway."

Come with her to her destination.

Those words snagged painfully at my heart, but I nodded without showing it.

"Then I’ll hire you."

"What?"

"I said I’ll hire you as a knight. You don’t have anywhere to go anyway."

A hollow laugh escaped me at her proposal.

The person who would become Logres’s adopted daughter wanted to hire Logres’s illegitimate son as her knight.

Could there be a more fucked-up family tree than that?

Still, it was not a bad idea.

If this were not a meeting brought about by Dreamland, it might actually have been fun to give it a try.

"Sorry, but I’m not running a charity."

"If you keep talking like that, you’ll definitely regret it later!"

Dolnesia puffed out her cheeks, looking annoyed.

She looked so much like a capybara that I nearly laughed.

And when only a few steps remained before the cave entrance, I...

"Mister?"

Stopped walking.

"Dorothy."

"What is it? Why are you suddenly acting so serious?"

Without a word, I placed my helmet over the head she had begun to turn away.

Her view of the outside would be narrow.

That was how it would look to Dolnesia, who was not affected by the system.

Then she would not see me disappear, either.

"Hey, what are you doing giving me something you were wearing?!"

"Just keep walking. Don’t turn around."

"Why? Is there something behind me?"

Don’t worry.

There is nothing behind you.

"No."

There had been nothing there from the beginning.

The crazy wandering knight, Don Quixote, who saved you had never been here in the first place.

Yes. Let us do that.

After all, it was a dreamlike story in which we would never have met if not for the Dreamland ticket.

So just walk forward.

Do not look back.

And with that, I silently pushed her from behind.

But perhaps I pushed too hard.

"No, why are you pushing... me?"

Dolnesia raised her voice and naturally turned around, her gaze stopping on my face.

The opening was narrow, so she should not have been able to see well. How had she managed that?

I had not intended to show her my face.

Yet I ended up showing it to her.

But I thought it would be cowardly.

Too cowardly not to do at least this much.

Despite never showing her my real face.

To disappear as though nothing had happened.

Even if we had met through a Dreamland ticket.

Even though I knew we would meet again someday.

Simply because I did not think I could keep my promise.

And because I did not want to face the expression she would make when she became angry over that reason—sneaking away in secret would have been unknightly.

Perhaps I had been hoping she would turn around after all.

A brief silence passed.

"Mister, you really do look scary."

Dolnesia was the first to speak.

"I hear that a lot."

"Is that why you kept hiding your face?"

I nodded silently.

Then Dolnesia smiled with a little burst of laughter.

"You have a surprisingly cute side, mister."

"That’s the first time I’ve heard that."

Perhaps she had sensed the mood.

Only a few more steps would take us to the entrance, yet Dolnesia’s feet showed no intention of leaving the ground.

"Mister."

"What?"

"You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?"

Dolnesia’s expression stiffened slightly.

Looking at her face, I...

"Sorry, but I don’t think I can keep my promise."

Let those words leave my lips.

"What?"

Looking at Dolnesia’s eyes, which still did not understand, I pushed her from behind.

When Dolnesia’s feet crossed the dungeon’s shadows and met the sunlight illuminating the ground beyond the dungeon...

"Mister?"

"I’m sorry, Dolnesia."

I apologized to her once more.

And I called her by the name I had known but pretended not to know.

Perhaps because she had heard her real name, her eyes widened and widened. Looking at her flustered gaze, I tried to tell her my real name this time.

But...

That, at least, did not reach her.

As if telling me that I had been given enough time to look, my vision cruelly went dark.

[You have cleared Dreamland!]

[You have succeeded in altering the past from five years ago!]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

#

As my vision gradually brightened, the first thing I saw was my room in the Northern Grand Duke’s household.

I was standing in the very spot where I had torn the ticket.

"I should have said goodbye properly."

I would be seeing her soon enough, but she would not know that.

Because the one at the Northern Grand Duke’s household was Ian de Logres, not the crazy wandering knight Don Quixote.

Muttering with a bitter expression, I looked around.

It felt as though at least two days had passed since I tore up the ticket... but was this really right?

It was too quiet.

The room had not been ransacked for an investigation, nor was anyone here investigating it.

Even if I was not the legitimate heir, an illegitimate son had gone missing for two days. Was it not far too quiet for that?

With a confused expression, I opened the door.

And in that instant, my body froze solid.

"You were already inside, Ian."

After all, the person standing before my bedroom door was...

"Ian, I came to see you today because I have something to discuss."

Long silver hair, and blue eyes with the hue of the sky.

And...

The one I had just parted from in that dream.

The protagonist, Dolnesia.

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