Chapter 18
Suddenly, as Claudia received a request for help, she was at a loss and glanced nervously at Iris, who exuded a fierce spirit.
“…Let’s hear it first. You’re not asking me to support you, are you? If that’s the case, I absolutely can’t help you.”
“Not at all. All you need to do is listen to what I have to say and determine if it’s right or wrong.”
“What are you going to ask?”
She had a puzzled look, wondering what I was getting at.
“Do you remember how that mounted creature attacked?”
“To some extent. But I can’t remember all the details. Just a rough idea of the big moves.”
“That’s enough.”
With the situation unfolding like this, Iris crossed her arms under her chest as if she was willing to at least hear me out. I was worried that she might completely ignore what I had to say, so I was relieved.
“When you encountered that monster, didn’t it raise its front leg and roar loudly right before charging at you?”
Claudia’s light pink hair nodded in agreement as she acknowledged my words.
“As soon as it charged, it swung its spear from left to right, then from right to left before striking down toward you. At first, it was holding the spear in its left hand, and after it struck down, it switched to its right hand to pull the spear from the ground.”
“Uh… wait a minute, thinking back, that does sound right.”
“And then it pulled the spear out, spun it a few times above its head, and then swung it wide in front before riding away again. Is that accurate?”
The movements I described were the opening pattern that the “Headless Armored Cavalier” uses with a 100% chance at the start of its boss fight.
Explaining those moves verbally instead of with a video had its limits, but it seemed I communicated the meaning fairly well.
Claudia spent a moment recalling her memory, her expression deep in thought, before suddenly looking surprised and nodding vigorously.
“That’s right. How did you know?”
“I’ll tell you everything I remember after that.”
“…Everything you said was correct.”
Her voice trembled.
Having finished my explanation, I quietly thanked Claudia. It must have been overwhelming for her to face a monster that weapons didn’t affect, yet she remembered quite a bit of its pattern.
I looked around. Lize and Erica, along with Iris, all seemed to be in shock, frozen in place. They were probably contemplating what they just heard.
Even the person who had encountered it and returned alive couldn’t believe the information about the monster, now being reeled off by a new knight who just joined the order.
Silence hung in the air. No one spoke up easily. Even Iris, who had vehemently opposed just moments ago, now had a thoughtful expression as her lips were tightly shut.
It was only after a while that she finally mustered enough voice to squeeze out a question.
“…How do you know all this?”
It was a fair question, asking how I knew such critical details.
I couldn’t reveal the truth just yet, but luckily, I had an all-purpose shield I could present here.
“I’ve regained a bit of my memory.”
“What…!”
Iris took a sharp breath, and both Lize and Erica couldn’t hide their shock either.
Only Claudia, who didn’t know who I was and only knew that I was a newbie knight, had a question mark floating above her head.
“Is that really true?!”
“It’s not perfect. It’s just that a very small part has come back to me.”
I didn’t let go of the hesitation that momentarily flashed across my face.
“I’ve told you everything I can share. Iris, you once said it’s fine to trust my skill, but I can’t stick my neck out against an enemy I’ve never met before. But look. I already know that monster very well. So, don’t you think it’s worth trusting me this one time?”
This contemplation took a lot longer. She was essentially refuting her own earlier statement.
While she could trust my skill, what if I already had prior knowledge of that monster?
Naturally, under the latter condition, her grounds for doubt evaporated, leaving only the premise that she could trust me.
“…”
Iris remained silent for quite some time. I understood her confusion well, so I chose to wait patiently.
Her mouth finally opened again after more than five minutes.
“…I see. But you have to take Lize with you. If that’s the case, then I’ll allow it.”
“Iris is right, newbie. I’ll go with you. Even if that’s the case, sending you alone is too risky.”
“No, I have to go alone.”
I flatly refused the suggestion.
I needed to defeat the boss and then find bait to lure the lord in the nearby dungeon, so I couldn’t let them see me doing that. I should only use the excuse of having regained my memory when absolutely necessary; overusing it would only raise suspicion.
Under the condition that I would take on the Headless Armored Cavalier alone without Lize’s help, I could allow myself to join the boss subjugation, but what happened afterward was a separate issue.
Of course, I couldn’t tell Lize to return once the boss was defeated, saying I had solo business to attend to. She would surely cling to me by any means necessary.
It was better to not bring her along in the first place.
“Why do you want to go alone? Is there a reason?”
“I have a reason, but I probably can’t tell you. Sorry.”
“……”
Iris let out a deep sigh. I could fully understand why she thought like that. However, I couldn’t back down at this point.
“In that case,”
Her silver eyes glinted with resolve.
“If there is a commander of the knights on board with your solo request, I will allow it. It doesn’t have to be many. If at least one of us agrees, it’s fine. But I absolutely oppose it.”
“…I oppose it too. I’m sorry, newbie. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but my concern for you is greater, so just know that I oppose.”
“Uh… I don’t oppose, but I’m not in favor either. I just don’t know you well, you know? We just met, after all. So it feels a bit tricky for me to say anything.”
Iris and Erica were opposed, and Claudia was essentially against it as well. That left only Lize as the knight commander, still gripping my finger tightly.
Her blue eyes were trembling slightly. It was clear what her answer would be. I jumped in before Lize could respond.
“Hey, newbie. Sorry, but I also—”
“Lize.”
“Uh, yes?”
“Do you remember what you said just before using Froststorm Rush during our last spar?”
“The phrase before that technique? Uh… wait, what? You can’t mean?”
Lize seemed to recall briefly, and once she grasped what I was getting at, her expression turned to one of shock.
“Yeah, that’s the one. You said you’d do anything I wanted, right? I need you to back me up now.”
“…Are you serious?”
“Of course, do you think I’d joke about it?”
I smiled slightly. Lize was writhing, unable to decide, but the outcome was all too obvious. Iris sighed deeper than before, as if she sensed the inevitable.
“…Fine. I’ll support you. Go and come back, newbie.”
After much hesitation, Lize ultimately sided with me.
The situation concluded.
Claudia gave me an encouraging, “Now that this is settled, do well,” and headed inside the castle for treatment. Erica also briefly said, “I wish you good fortune,” before following Claudia.
Iris left me with a complex mix of emotions in her eyes as she said, “Whatever you do, don’t die. That’s an order.”
Lize clung to my side, gathering all sorts of items for me. She packed food generously and even tried to hand me health recovery potions, extra weapons, and armor.
Of course, I rejected the armor, saying I didn’t need it. My durability stat was only 1, so my gear weight limit was ridiculously low.
Just holding a blood-stained sword was already pushing it for my first level roll. Wearing any armor would surely make rolling impossible.
It wouldn’t even matter because any hit from the boss would take me down in one shot anyway.
When I said I wouldn’t take the armor, Lize jumped up, saying it didn’t make sense, but when I stubbornly insisted, she dropped her coercion with puffed cheeks, giving up on persuading me.
If she didn’t know my real circumstances, her concern was entirely reasonable, so I didn’t feel bothered by such trivial nagging.
Rather, I felt grateful that she cared about me this much.
“Have a safe trip, newbie.”
Lize was the only one there to see me off.
“……”
But wait, over there, Iris was peeking out, glancing my way.
As soon as our eyes met, she quickly hid behind the wall, peeking out with just one eye a moment later to look at me again.
What was she even doing?
Regardless of what Iris and I were up to, Lize spoke up with an unusually serious tone.
“And, don’t die. Absolutely not. If it feels like your life is in danger, just throw everything aside and run. Even if it means crawling away, make sure you come back alive. Don’t babble about honor and nonsense. Got it?”
“I’m not going to do that. I know the value of my life.”
“Someone who knows the value of their life does something this reckless?!”
Lize pulled my cheek vigorously.
As an ugh escaped my lips, she chuckled and immediately let go. It didn’t hurt at all. It seemed like it was just a playful tease from her.
As I finished my farewells and tried to get on my horse, Lize stopped me.
“And one more thing. Lend me your ear for a second.”
“Okay?”
I leaned in, curious as to what she still had to say. Her cherry-colored lips moved close to my ear, whispering softly.
“If you come back alive, I’ll grant you one wish. Got it? This time, anything is possible, so think carefully.”
After flashing a bright smile, she gently tapped my cheek with her finger and turned to leave. I pondered over what Lize had just said for a moment before chuckling softly and mounting my horse.
“Of course, it should be that way.”
No matter how much the Darkest Light Mod was applied, there’s no way a loser like me with 30,000 hours of playtime would die to just the first boss.
‘Ah, wait a minute. This is a death flag.’
Trying to shake off the chill crawling down my spine, I grabbed the reins and set off.