I had absolutely no idea.
It gives me a penalty whenever I act against chivalry, and a reward whenever I act in accordance with chivalry?
And just what are the standards for this chivalry supposed to be?
What the hell are the Stars of Knights, anyway?
I scratched the back of my head at this parade of bizarre conditions.
It was fucking vague.
A reward for acting chivalrously, a penalty for acting otherwise.
But there was no explanation of the rewards or penalties, nor any criteria for what sort of behavior qualified as this so-called chivalry.
And on top of that, the Stars of Knights?
I had never heard of those, either.
They had never appeared in the game, and there had been no information about them even in the artbook’s setting guide.
Even Ian had established settings, for crying out loud.
What exactly was the chivalry this trait referred to?
Was it just telling me to imitate Don Quixote...? That was the only kind of knightly act I knew.
Tsk. Should I charge into a windmill or something?
#
There would be no further answer no matter how much I thought about it, so I decided to drop the matter.
I was Ian, a man possessed of Dragon Power.
With things like this, it was easier to just run headfirst into them and think afterward.
Overcoming adversity was a knight’s virtue, was it not?
With these biceps at my side, I had nothing to fear from any trial that came my way.
Don Quixote must have felt just like this when he charged that windmill.
These biceps were my Sancho and my Rocinante.
I could deal with the aftermath later.
Future me would surely handle future problems just fine.
Now then, let’s organize what I needed to do from here on out.
Usually, when someone transmigrated into a world like this, didn’t they come up with businesses based on things from modern life and make money?
It wasn’t as though I hadn’t considered that at first.
But now, I had realized that all I could do was make a living by swinging a sword.
The memories of Ian de Logres, along with the data in my brain honed through twenty-nine playthroughs and poking around the wiki, told me a great many things.
And I had just received definitive confirmation that I couldn’t do a damn thing.
This world had a medieval backdrop, but it also possessed what people commonly called magitech, a fusion of magic and science, so none of the modern person’s pointless struggles were necessary.
There were more than enough ways in this world to replace modern items such as smartphones and refrigerators.
The downside was that modern knowledge was useless, too.
So I gave up on thoughts like, Should I make and sell soap?
Me making soap here?
The usual reaction would not be, "Modern people are amazing!" It would be, "What the fuck is wrong with this idiot?"
Besides, I didn’t know how to make soap.
You bought soap at the supermarket. Who the hell made soap themselves?
Then what was left?
Well, making a living as a writer.
Novels.
Usually, when you fell into another world, wasn’t it customary to discipline those innocent otherworlders who had never known dopamine by introducing them to modern web novels?
I would teach these uncivilized otherworlders what dopamine was.
That was what I had intended, but strangely enough, every novel here already had the sensibilities of dopamine-addicted modern people.
Only the setting differed. There were things resembling hunter stories, and novels you could expect to see only on Earth, from pure-love romances to even NTR, existed in this world.
The grammar was similar, too.
Even if I cranked out a story here, all that would happen was one more mediocre writer would be added to the pile.
No, but how could a world like this be medieval?
At this point, wasn’t I, the one incapable of doing anything in this world, the more uncivilized one?
So what could I do now?
I didn’t want to become the head of the family.
Not that anyone would make me one, but I would decline that kind of crown all the same.
I wanted a long, uneventful life.
Besides, my legitimate older brother would become the family head anyway, so why would I pick a fight with a brother I already got along with well enough?
I only intended to live off the scraps that fell my way and enjoy the easy life.
Of course, if I did nothing but eat and waste resources, I would naturally be thrown out into this freezing northern territory.
It was colder here than when I had been in the military.
Even my biceps would object to being abandoned here.
In the end, I came to the conclusion that the only answer was to make a living by the sword and grow stronger.
And whether I chose the engineer route or the novelist route, it was a foregone conclusion that I would need to become strong in this world.
After all, Dawnstar Academia had final bosses that had to be defeated in order to reach the ending of each route.
It might have been a romance fantasy, but once you dug into the setting, every one of those final bosses was utterly hopeless. If you did not become strong in the latter half, getting caught up in things meant dying on the spot.
Unlike the gameplay, where clearing the game solo was possible, the official story setting was that the heroine had to make friends or fall in love at the academy, gather the male leads into a party, and barely defeat the final boss by ganging up on it with the power of friendship and love.
That was right.
This was literally a world where people romanced one another atop the brink of apocalypse.
How romantic was that?
There was a reason people said flowers bloomed even amid war.
And the mid-bosses that appeared in events were no pushovers either.
You might say, "Then just don’t get involved with the heroine."
But this was reality.
Not some warm romance fantasy where everything was sunshine and rainbows, but a cold reality like this northern territory.
Unlike in the game, the protagonist had no walkthrough here, nor any save system that could turn back everything.
Furthermore, unlike a game where defeating Final Boss A would bring about Ending A and let you see the end, I would probably have to defeat every boss, as in the true ending, before I could enjoy a happy retirement.
What was more, the heroine served as the focal point that gathered the male leads together, so without her, the male leads would not assemble at all.
The heroine was so important that there had even been separate DLC for an apocalypse scenario without her.
So what would happen if the protagonist suddenly died?
We would all be completely fucked.
That was why I had to grow stronger.
I had to keep pace with the power creep, if only so I could serve as one of her companions.
Then I could remain in one piece and comfortably live off my brother’s back.
And there was something else important.
It was also important which heroine was in the playthrough I was currently in.
Once you selected one of the playable heroines, the other three who had not been selected did not appear in the story. The difficulty varied depending on the heroine you chose, due to compatibility and talent.
The easiest difficulty was Angelica.
As befitted the protagonist of the overpowered genre, she could pile on absurdly broken skills with combat traits, making her the easiest heroine to play.
Next came Iris and Isabella.
Iris, protagonist of the healing story, took the saint route as romance fantasies always did. Her support abilities were outstanding, and she held an overwhelming advantage in terms of compatibility, so her route was easy as well.
Isabella, protagonist of the regression story, was not particularly difficult either, true to her setting of having regressed and become exceptionally competent.
The problem was Dolnesia.
The heroine of the adoption story.
As I remembered it, she had been the daughter of Count Kihano’s family, but was suddenly struck from the family register and cast out at fifteen, after which she was adopted into the Logres family of the Northern Grand Duke.
There were hidden circumstances behind that, but that was not what mattered right now. The real problem was where her story began.
Dolnesia’s starting point was not when she was adopted into the Logres family, but the moment she had just been cast out by her own family.
Unlike the other heroines, who had warm beds and a place to lie down, Dolnesia had none of that.
She suffered countless unfair setbacks in the early stages, to the point that you had to wonder whether this was really a romance fantasy. Because of that, Dolnesia was the only heroine who could get a bad ending early on.
If Dolnesia was the protagonist of this playthrough and died on the road before arriving here?
Then we would all be completely fucked.
So, to summarize.
First, grow stronger so I would not fall behind the power creep.
Second, find out who the heroine of this playthrough was, and if the protagonist was Dolnesia, bring her here as quickly as possible.
As for the second point, there was no need to obtain Father’s permission.
The reason the fallen noble lady Dolnesia would come to be adopted into this Northern Grand Duke’s household was related to Father, so he probably would not make a big issue of it.
Then, after funneling every fortunate opportunity to her and having her defeat the final bosses alongside the male leads... I would raise a wineglass while living off my brother.
Even I thought it was a perfect plan.
My biceps flexed and twitched, as though they too approved of the plan.
"Then, now..."
Just as I finished my thoughts and was about to rise from my seat—
Knock, knock.
A knock sounded at the door.
"My apologies for calling so early, Young Master Ian. This is Alfred, the head butler."
It was a deep voice, strong yet brimming with seasoned refinement.
After falling into this world, this was the first time I would come face-to-face with someone who actually lived in it.
#
Despite being well past seventy, he was sturdier than most grown men.
His forehead was pressed with wrinkles as proof of the years gone by, and white had entirely overtaken black in his hair, but the steadfast light in his eyes had not yet died.
His kindly face and white mustache made for an especially striking impression.
Alfred, the head butler.
The closest confidant of the Northern Grand Duke’s family head, a man who had served two lords in his life.
One of the Northern Grand Duke’s most trusted blades, and the only person who could scold that man—who wielded the vast northern territory however he pleased—with harsh words.
And—
[Activating Insight Eye.]
【Alfred Santaigo】
◈ Level: 74
◈ He has declined from his prime.
He was also someone who had stepped into the realm of superhumans.
Level 74.
And that was after he had declined from his prime.
I might possess the trait Dragon Power, but even if I calculated my stats, I was only around level 13.
The gap was utterly overwhelming.
Even with these strongest-ever biceps, Alfred could tear me apart with a single wave of his hand.
Still, there was one fortunate thing.
According to the description of Insight Eye, enemies were supposed to display a danger rank. So at the very least, Alfred was not an enemy.
I did not know why he had come, but... it would still be best to be careful.
I just had to speak the way Ian from the memories had, right?
"What brings you here, Alfred?"
Alfred flinched briefly at my response, then clamped his mouth shut.
At that silence, I could feel cold sweat pouring down my back like a waterfall.
Had he realized I was not Ian?
A single instant felt like several hours.
Though he looked like a kindly old man, Alfred was a monster who had reached the realm of superhumans.
Even in the briefest instant, Alfred was someone who could kill me ten times over.
Then—
Alfred’s lips parted.
"Forgive me, Young Master. This Alfred’s eyesight has grown quite dim lately, and for a moment, I entertained an improper thought."
Alfred briefly rubbed his eyes before speaking with a kindly smile.
It seemed my concern had been unnecessary.
#
The reason Alfred had come was nothing much.
He had merely come to tell me about the day’s schedule, just as he had done for the Ian in my memories.
After finishing his explanation, Alfred bid me farewell, walked toward the door, and grasped the handle.
Then—
"My apologies, Young Master Ian. Might this old man ask you a question?"
Rather than turning the handle and leaving, Alfred turned his body back toward me.
Oh, come on. What was it now?
"Please, ask freely."
Not that I had any right to refuse.
"Do you have a dream, Young Master?"
The words that came from his mouth were entirely out of nowhere.
A dream.
Like a future aspiration?
But why was he suddenly asking that?
"A dream...?"
"Indeed. This old man has heard of Young Master Cassian’s dream, but never yours, Young Master Ian."
Alfred was asking me about my future ambitions, going so far as to mention Cassian by name.
It was true that the Ian in my memories had never said anything of the sort to Alfred.
But why was he suddenly asking me about it?
Had he noticed that I was not Ian and was trying to test me?
Then what would be a good answer?
I did not think I could say, "I want to put a straw in my brother’s back and suck him dry."
But...
Did I really have to tell him?
Head butler or superhuman, I was still the illegitimate son of the Northern Grand Duke’s family. What could he do if I did not want to answer?
Then—
Ding!
[Oath of Chivalry has activated.]
What?
A bluish UI suddenly popped up before me.
Alfred showed no particular reaction, so it seemed this notification window was visible only to me.
No, wait. More importantly, why had this suddenly activated?
[The Stars of Knights are watching your chivalry.]
And once the notification had fully appeared, some kind of gauge bar suddenly formed at the bottom.
0%
□□□□□□□□□□
Fuck this.
Why had the number of interviewers suddenly increased?
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register