I glanced once at the door Alfred had left through, then immediately looked at the gauge at the bottom.
100%
■■■■■■■■■■
The gauge was completely full.
Ding!
[You have upheld your chivalry before a stronger opponent.]
Looks like it worked.
[A reward for the Oath of Chivalry will be granted.]
With the notification sound, clusters of light spread outward from my hand.
Fucking flashy.
Anyone watching would think I had awakened holy power or something.
Come to think of it, it never said what kind of reward I would get...
Don’t tell me they just hand out whatever the fuck they want?
Before long, the clusters of light quickly vanished.
Once they were gone, something remained in my hand.
It was...
"A ticket?"
A ticket with some strange signature written on it.
And it looked like a ticket I had seen somewhere before.
[Using Insight Eye.]
No, wait.
Why is this showing up here?
[Dreamland Invitation]
A ticket that allows entry into Dreamland.
◈ Consumable item.
To think this would come out here.
Compared to a mobile game, it was a material dungeon.
That kind of dungeon where clearing it gave you upgrade materials or currency.
Usually, it dropped items that could raise the male leads’ affection or consumable items, but if you were lucky, you could get weapons or skill books too.
Well, getting them as hidden pieces was better, but the things that came out here were pretty useful too.
And clearing it gave experience points.
From my perspective, needing to level up, this was a fairly useful item.
In the game, it opened when the character performed an animation of tearing the ticket. Would it work the same way here?
Ding!
[You have obtained an item for the first time.]
[Inventory has been unlocked.]
It opened.
The flower of gaming: the inventory.
I had wondered why I didn’t have one. It was because I hadn’t obtained an item yet.
[You have completed the achievement: ‘Challenge: A Knight’s First Step.’]
[You have obtained the item: ‘Wandering Knight Set.’]
[Part of the hidden ability of the trait: ‘Oath of Chivalry’ has been unlocked.]
Another notification suddenly rang out.
The hidden ability of the Oath of Chivalry had been unlocked?
I immediately checked the Oath of Chivalry among my traits.
[Oath of Chivalry]
You must advance toward the unreachable stars.
The Stars of Knights shall watch your words and deeds, and they shall become judges who evaluate your chivalry.
◈ A penalty will be imposed each time you act against chivalry.
◈ A reward will be granted each time you act in accordance with chivalry.
◈ The Stars of Knights are watching you.
◈ New! You may communicate with the Stars of Knights.
At the very bottom was a line glowing gold.
I could communicate with the Stars of Knights?
Could it be an ability like streaming to constellations?
[Would you like to communicate with the Stars of Knights? (Y/N)]
A notification window popped up right in my face before I even had time to think.
As if possessed, I pressed Y.
Then...
[An item has been added to your inventory.]
[You have surpassed a narrative you can bear.]
[Your connection to the Stars of Knights is being severed.]
Three notification sounds rang out, followed by a crackling noise, and then the status window shut off entirely.
...?
What the hell was that?
I got blocked the instant I pressed it.
Fuck, they were the ones who asked to communicate, so what kind of bullshit play was blocking me like this?
Grumbling, I opened my inventory.
There was...
"What is this?"
Among the countless square slots, one held the image of a book.
It was a skill book.
[Orlando’s Writings]
A narrative written by one of the Stars of Knights, the Indestructible Knight.
◈ Upon use, you obtain [Skill: Orlando-Style Muscle Cultivation Method].
[Orlando-Style Muscle Cultivation Method] Lv. 1
The martial virtue a knight must possess is neither swordsmanship nor mana, but muscle.
Muscle alone surpasses all things.
- The Indestructible Knight -
That said, please do not become muscle-brained. There is nothing quite as troublesome as that.
- The Prudent Knight -
◈ Your physical stat increases by the amount your mana stat increases.
◈ You can temporarily convert mana into physical stats.
So it wasn’t blocking me—it was slipping me a bribe?
And my physical stat increased by however much my mana stat increased?
That was fucking broken.
In other words, even if I put all my stat points into mana, my physical stat would rise along with it.
It was practically leveling up twice.
This would put wings on my biceps.
Still, how was I supposed to acquire the skill?
Don’t tell me I had to read that whole book?
At a glance, it looked like it was at least three hundred pages long.
But as though my concern had been needless, the instant I touched it, it turned into a cluster of light and was absorbed into my body.
Memories that did not exist flowed into my mind.
How to use muscle.
How to store mana in the muscles and increase their mass, and so on.
The narrative of a knight who had devoted himself to tempering his naturally indestructible body even further accumulated in my brain.
I immediately opened my status window.
【Ian de Logres】
◈ Level: 1
◈ Title: None
◈ Traits: [Dragon Power], [Insight Eye], [Oath of Chivalry]
◈ Stats
Physical: 55 | Mana: 15
Luck: 10 | Mental Strength: 30
(Available SP: 0)
▼ [Skills]
[Orlando-Style Muscle Cultivation Method] Lv. 1
[Logres-Style Mana Cultivation Method] Lv. 1
[Logres-Style Swordsmanship] Lv. 1
My physical stat really had increased by five.
At this rate, I probably wouldn’t get beaten to death anywhere I went.
#
[Wandering Knight’s Armor]
[Wandering Knight’s Helmet]
[Wandering Knight’s Gauntlets]
[Wandering Knight’s Boots]
An armor set of common grade that raised defense by about 110 in total.
Next.
[Wandering Knight’s Iron Sword]
A sword that raised attack power by about 30.
True to its common grade, its performance was not particularly good, but it was still better than having nothing.
What was even stranger was that I did not feel as though I was wearing armor.
I could feel the weapon’s weight, but not the weight of the armor.
It did not feel restrictive, either.
What was more, it could be toggled on and off, so even while wearing armor, I could make it invisible.
That was not all.
The sword fit snugly in my hand.
I was a modern person who had barely exercised, let alone practiced kendo.
Yet swinging it was not difficult.
If anything, it felt familiar, as though I had held it many times before.
I could see where and how I should swing it, and I was able to do so.
Was that thanks to Ian’s memories, or the system’s power?
Whatever the case, I looked at the Dreamland Invitation in my hand.
My conclusion was that with items and stats like these, I probably would not die easily.
And right now, what I needed most was levels.
Even if my actual stats far exceeded Level 1, I was still Level 1.
Besides, this was the Northern Territory.
True to its setting as the Empire’s front line, even the weakest magical beasts that appeared here were around Level 30.
A high-level zone where even random passing soldiers were Level 40!
Even if I wanted to level up, if I went around waving a sword, I would be completely fucked.
There was a reason Dolnesia did not simply start in the north; she was hit with one bullshit setback after another from the beginning and forced to go through every hardship imaginable.
That was why, when Dolnesia entered the academy, she was higher level than the other characters.
Of course, those bastards were all set up as talent monsters, so they caught up in no time.
So I just had to tear this, right?
Alfred did say he had something on his schedule today...
But as far as I remembered, it was nothing major.
To begin with, Dreamland did not take very long to clear.
All I had to do was clear one dungeon.
Besides, Dreamland dungeons were instanced dungeons scaled to the player’s level.
I was a Level 1 who exceeded Level 1, so I should be able to finish it without much trouble.
And there was still plenty of time before breakfast.
I could return before the meal was set out.
Let’s go.
Then, well, I just needed to tear it, right?
I tore the Dreamland Invitation.
#
Before Father went mad, he left me a note.
A single note he told me to open without fail when he lost his mind.
It said this:
‘Go to the Grand Duke of Logres’s household.’
The Grand Duke of Logres’s household.
One of the five pillars supporting the Empire, the guardian of its north.
And the one who ruled the vast north and single-handedly held back countless magical beasts and barbarians in that frigid land.
People praised that overwhelming martial might,
and people feared that overwhelming martial might.
Moreover, he rarely appeared in official circles and remained planted solely in the Northern Territory.
Perhaps because of that, this rumor spread through the Empire’s back alleys.
The Grand Duke of Logres is not human.
Surely, he is a cold monster who cuts open barbarians’ chests and chews their hearts.
It was only a rumor.
No one would be crazy enough to say it aloud.
He was one of the five dukes who upheld the Empire.
The crime of insulting him was far too grave.
But the place where I heard it was a dark corner untouched by the Empire’s dawn.
It was the sort of rumor I ordinarily would not have needed to hear.
Yet I remembered hearing those words in a back alley.
Was the Grand Duke of Logres truly such a cold monster?
The Grand Duke I had seen when I was very young had not been like that.
Well, now...
I would never know.
"Hehehehe! Boss, this one’s premium goods!"
An unpleasant laugh, like someone had phlegm caught in his throat.
A rancid stench that stabbed at my nose.
The two men in front of me giggled, as though something pleased them.
I was bound after being captured by those two men.
As always, I thought I would get through the day without incident, but I was caught in an unexpected attack.
"She’s got a pretty face. We’ll fetch a good price for her."
The gazes pouring from the two men.
I had encountered them so often in the back alleys that I was used to them now.
Filthy, disgusting gazes.
They did not regard me as a person.
"What a waste. How about we have a go at her ourselves before we sell her?"
"You idiot, don’t you know that once she’s been used, her value as merchandise drops right away?"
"Come on, it’s not like she’ll wear out from being used once, is it?"
I wanted to die.
I just wanted to bite my tongue and die.
Father left me that note, then truly went mad and vanished.
Even if I wanted to return, my family had fallen, and there was nowhere to go back to.
With nowhere to turn,
I had walked on, believing that note and Logres to be my threadlike hope...
But if the road that brought me here was this kind of hell,
if there was truly no such thing as hope, even if I survived this road...
Wouldn’t it be better to simply die?
Wouldn’t biting my tongue and dying bring me peace?
Perhaps I could meet my deceased mother, and perhaps I could meet my vanished father too.
"Come on, just once..."
Yes, I’ll die...
At that moment.
Thwack!
With the sound of something striking flesh with tremendous force, one of the bandits was launched into the air.
Crash, bang, clatter!
The man who had been flung away twitched, then went limp. White steam rose from around his crotch, its color gradually darkening.
Clank, clank. Heavy footsteps made by overlapping plates of armor.
Amid those footsteps, I heard the bandit cursing.
But the clanking footsteps did not stop, despite his curses.
And soon, they stopped in front of me.
With my head lowered, all I could see were his boots.
Whether he was a novice or had bought them recently, his boots were exceptionally clean.
And as if he intended to stay still until I looked up, those boots did not move at all.
So I slowly raised my head...
And there...
"Are you all right?"
Stood a knight.
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