56 – Broken Wings (1)
▶You have entered a caution zone!◀
[ Time limit: 30 minutes ]
The timer activated abruptly.
I had a gut feeling that the time had come as I looked at it.
“It may have been pushed up a bit… but honestly, it wasn’t strange whenever it happened.”
Karsein naturally received unfavorable looks in the battlefield. That was the baseline. It was due to something that a past individual had done.
So, considering their emotions, one could mistakenly think that the system message appearing was a very natural flow.
However, upon closer reflection, one could immediately raise questions.
Why didn’t this message appear from the start?
If one disliked Karsein, this message should have appeared upon entering the battlefield.
Even back then, Mark’s intimacy level was ashen, showing -25%. It wasn’t worse for other knights, but it wasn’t better either.
I chuckled as I recalled this fact that I first noticed while playing the game.
“Meeting anyone triggers a dead flag. That was the message.”
Since everyone would dislike him anyway, it might seem meaningless, but isn’t it ironic?
It was also strange that a caution zone that had been deactivated reappeared.
It wasn’t much different from reality.
There were differences from the game, but such things remained the same.
Yeah. This is all a hint.
A hint pointing to the “real threat” within the episodes that had not been visited so far.
By carefully considering this and reflecting on today’s actions, one could find the answer.
“Of course, it was Bruce who harbored malice. And that big shot must have been affected too, feeling a bit under the weather.”
While dealing with a dung beetle today, I brought up the past to a guy attempting to snatch Ariana’s towel and cast an uppercut spell on him.
Subsequently, I received a cold stare for touching Ariana’s belongings, and due to my testimony, the guy’s image plummeted among the other apprentice knights.
Need more explanation?
By now, he probably only harbors thoughts of revenge against me.
Missing this could lead straight to a bad ending.
I slowly counted the precautions to take when receiving the wrath of a specific individual.
“I should stop here with the laundry. Avoid the evening hours from 5:30 to 6:30. And avoid being alone with them except in those situations…”
Plans were carefully laid out.
Since they already saw through it, they would most likely act in a way that avoids trouble as much as possible.
However, there was one problem: the timing came a bit earlier than expected.
Originally, I was supposed to visit Radiel on the 5th night, but with the warning popping up this early, it couldn’t be ruled out that this news had reached Radiel’s ears.
▶Sub Episode. Progressing with Mark and Radiel!◀
This sub episode had to be cleared now.
***
A small action could significantly alter the main episodes, such as events, backgrounds, and environments.
In this process, the significance of sub episodes could be seen as a collection of information or a breakthrough to clear the main episodes.
But one must not forget.
Even sub episodes in this game can’t be carried out if specific conditions aren’t met, and in cases of inadequacy, they can turn into poison instead.
Hints were given for the correct choice, and warnings of impending danger were dropped, so if specific conditions were not met, penalties were applied without mercy, or punishments were meted out like in main episodes.
The episodes involving Mark and Radiel were no different.
Only after raising Mark’s intimacy from negative could it be performed, and the moment this was underway, Mark’s intimacy was frozen.
It was stated that there would be no separate penalty for failure, but…
In reality, the Dead Trigger would be activated. Thanks to Radiel, left untouched.
“Quite amusing. Not even a main episode, yet by not engaging in a sub-episode, the content of the main episode changes, leading to a choice embedded with a dead flag.”
What could I do? The creator made it that way.
I had no choice but to somehow move to perform that episode.
“Uh, I must have filled my stomach. I should quickly go and return.”
“You brat. Why not just say you have someone to date.”
“W-What are you talking about?”
“Stop pretending. I know you’re meeting with a maid from the mansion.”
“What?!”
The knight, who was pretending not to hear, dropped the toothpick stuck between his teeth.
Watching this, a colleague beside him chuckled.
And then.
I approached them and casually threw a remark.
“If it’s that maid, it might be better to visit her a bit later.”
“What? Who… hmm?”
“Young Master?”
“Yes.”
The knight called Young Master felt a sharp poke from his colleague’s elbow.
“Hey, isn’t training over now? Shouldn’t it be fine?”
“Still, brat. There might be listening ears around.”
Right. It’s not Young Master here; it’s Karceine trainee.
“More importantly, Karceine trainee. What was that about visiting later?”
I replied with a sly smile.
“She takes time to doll herself up before coming out.”
“Doll herself up? What are you talking about?”
“She’s a maid from the mansion. She rushes every time to match the time to meet me when finishing her work. But she comes out too early, so she complains that she has less time to dress up.”
“Oh… that makes sense. Every time we met, she seemed to be sweating.”
“I see. So, if I go a little later, she’ll have more time to prepare and come out comfortably?”
“Yes.”
This is something I personally saw and heard, so I’m sure.
In the game and in reality, she was a maid who received rewards from me.
“You brat. Rushing like that, did you make the lady busy too?”
“Hey, how would I know that.”
“You should have paid more attention. If you have feelings, how can you not notice that?”
“…Mocking me for having some dating experience.”
After exchanging a few words, the two knights turned their gaze back to me.
By then, the size of the intimacy box, with ash-colored stripes visible, had slightly decreased.
“Ahem, thank you… no, thank you, Young Master. But why are you telling me this…”
“You brat.”
“Hey, it’s appropriate to address me as Young Master. Logically, even as a trainee, you’re in a learning position, so ignoring isn’t quite right.”
“…Well, I do think that way too.”
The knight, who was giggling at the thought of meeting the maid, expressed gratitude.
Seeing them both using honorifics for Young Master, it seemed they had relaxed their guard a bit towards me, making it the right time to gather information.
“Who’s at the restaurant now? I also want to eat.”
“Right now? There are only a few people.”
The names of knights, which might be familiar to him, started to echo in my ears, unfamiliar to me.
Still, if there was one piece of information I obtained, it was that among them, the lad named Bruce was not present.
Then suddenly, the two of them glanced at me as if feeling sorry.
“Young master. When I was a trainee, it was lonely without this lad. Cheer up.”
“…What?”
“Didn’t you know the second menu was delicious today? Even if you don’t have colleagues, it’s nice to eat something tasty.”
What nonsense were they spouting?
These rascals thought I was a lonely and twisted cadet without a colleague.
– Sigh.
“”Fighting!””
No.
That’s not it, you guys.
.
.
.
The restaurant was a place where, after completing a sub-episode, you could find the location of Radell, who would suddenly disappear.
[ Order List ]
The names of knights were written in order on paper the size of a bulletin board.
Among them, one person’s name was blank.
[ Radell Grupein ] [ ]
‘She hasn’t come to the restaurant yet.’
No matter how high-ranking she was, she was also a knight.
What does it mean for someone who trains every day not to have had a meal until now?
So, I can roughly guess.
I immediately turned around to go look for Radell.
***
– Thud! Clang!
The wooden sword clashed with the dummy, the echoing sound reverberating in the empty training ground.
“Argh…!”
The woman wielding the wooden sword bit her lip.
The sound of the clash was not a proper hit but a mis-hit.
Her arm didn’t respond properly, lacking strength.
Due to the incorrect balance, the right sword technique wasn’t being engraved.
The body remembers.
This is wrong.
Radell soon dropped the sword she held, resenting her arm that no longer listened to her.
Since that day, her arm didn’t function properly.
“If this continues… If this continues, Lord Carsein…!”
The falsely accused pitiful lord resigned himself.
Since that day, he never came back to the training ground, never sought her out.
He never sent a single word.
After the communication ceased, only rumors of him living locked inside a room were heard bit by bit.
Becoming a troublemaker in the training ground.
Becoming a disgrace and a shame of the nobleman.
Flipping all the wrongdoings, becoming the enemy of the knights in the training ground.
However, for some reason, wasn’t the ban lifted, and he didn’t return?
Despite the training ground being engraved as the worst place for him, he didn’t come back here.
It was his last chance.
Even if we can’t prove he’s innocent, we must bring the real sinners and deliver justice.
But…
These arms are useless.
With this broken body, I couldn’t even condemn a real sinner.
“Why won’t you listen! It’s just a vein. Not even an amputation!”
Radial sat down, tapping her arm with her other hand, resentful and full of blame. She wondered why she couldn’t even seek revenge for her lord.
And then, at that moment.
A shadow fell upon her sitting figure.
Radial quickly wiped away her tears.
“What. Mark. Coming back late.”
Trying to erase any traces of tears.
She naturally assumed it was Mark. The resentful Mark who refused to understand, even though she said there was no guilt towards the lord.
Surely, there would be a lecture.
She was about to scold, asking if he was starving himself, swinging his sword with a disobedient body.
Enough of this now. Admit you were wrong and let go of your stubbornness.
But sadly, the person in front of her was not Mark.
“Sorry if you were waiting for Mark.”
“…!”
For a moment, she doubted her ears.
Whose voice was she hearing now?
‘This voice… could it be.’
She thought it couldn’t be.
She had heard that he came to the First Knight’s Barracks after that day, but he never came to see her.
Naturally, because he brought upon himself a greater blame.
But when she raised her head.
Even though the shadow cast by the bright light was dazzling, she noticed that the face seen through it overlapped with that of the boy from the past.
Radial finally realized.
“Lord…?”
The person in front of her, who resented her so much, was Karcein.