I Became the Dark Knight in the Game World - Chapter 33

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

◈ I Became the Dark Knight in the Game World ◈

Chapter 33: A Short Recollection, a Long Recollection (1)

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For the moment, Kriel stepped away from the reception mage. He felt utterly at a loss.

"How could this happen?"

[Are you referring to the master being mistaken for a debt collector? It is because the master's appearance is intimidating. They must have imagined the most intimidating sort of person likely to visit this building.]

Kriel ignored Tuon. More precisely, he tried to ignore Tuon.

Damn it. Kriel couldn't stop the lament rising within him.

He had painstakingly designed this character to have the appearance befitting a Dark Knight. If he'd known he'd become this character, he would have chosen a more conventionally handsome appearance instead of such an imposing, sharp look.

He shouldn't have used famous scoundrels who inherited thrones or chronically ill people who died after being stabbed by their own Demon Swords as references.

No. If he'd known he would become a game character, he would have picked a different class from the start. After disparaging the Dark Knight class once, Kriel spoke to Orisin.

He didn't bother concealing the Spirit's form. This building had been rented by mages for the society gathering in the first place. They probably wouldn't find a horse-headed ghost flying around strange.

"It doesn't look like this society is running properly."

[…Let's at least go in. We've got nothing to lose, right?]

That was true. Kriel had come here to obtain one more written expert opinion saying, "This won't work," not with the grim resolve of, "I'll die if I can't resolve Orisin's corruption!"

Kriel headed underground. By coincidence, the third basement level was the lowest floor. The words "rock bottom" crossed his mind.

Unlike the aboveground floors, which had several small rooms, the basement held only a couple of enormous conference halls.

The third basement level had just one huge room. Kriel strode up and opened the door. According to the schedule, the society gathering had not started yet, so entering now wouldn't be rude.

Several round tables came into view when he opened the double doors. A huge stage stood at the far end of the hall. Would the attendees sit at the tables, then go up to the stage to present when called?

It looked more suited to a wedding banquet hall than a society gathering. It was easy to imagine an emcee on the stage keeping the mood lively while people chatted cheerfully over their meals. Kriel looked around.

"Uh..."

There was no one there.

[No way. Something this shabby can't be a society gathering....]

Orisin muttered nonsense in a daze.

"Calm down. There's still time before it starts. A few more people might come in."

It was something I couldn't believe either. But what could I do? It wasn't as though I held the list of society members. All I could do was wait.

Time was remarkably honest. It passed steadily as we waited.

Yet no one opened the doors to the society hall and entered.

[We're screwed.]

As Orisin let out a bizarre scream, climbed onto the stage, and began headbanging, Tuon whispered.

[Master. Isn't something strange?]

"What do you mean?"

[The mages who joined the society may be unable to attend due to personal circumstances, but wouldn't the organizer be different?]

"Oh. So?"

[What if the society gathering is already underway, but it is being held in another layer of space that the master cannot perceive?]

Kriel listened to Tuon's suggestion. Another layer of space naturally referred to an Otherworld created through barrier magic. It was unclear whether the members of the Abyss Eradication Society possessed such advanced abilities, but it wasn't impossible in theory.

Still, one question arose.

"Why couldn't I get in? Usually, the conditions for entering an Otherworld like that are a special password or item, and I have an invitation delegated to me by Luwain."

[Master. Think about yourself.]

Know thyself. Was that Socrates? Kriel had been wondering whether Tirnanog had a scholar who left behind words similar to those of Earth's Socrates when he realized Tuon's true meaning.

How dare a Dark Knight try to attend the Abyss Eradication Society?

It was a surprisingly sharp insult. Kriel briefly felt as though a fist had been driven into his solar plexus. He still hadn't built up enough resistance to the contempt of others, though he could endure his own.

Once the shock faded and he thought about it calmly, it was plausible. But only plausible.

First, there was the Divine Power emitted by the cloak and the Champion's Mark necklace, both of which still weighed heavily on Kriel. The Champion's Mark necklace had already proven its usefulness by allowing him to pass through the gates of the Holy City, Temlis, without incident.

More than anything else.

'If they sensed the Abyss, the mages in this building would've flooded through that door to hunt me down.'

Wariness toward the Abyss was a sentiment shared across the continent, regardless of country. If there was even a suspicion of the Abyss, ordinary people would first stomp it down and subdue it, then think about the details later.

But Kriel couldn't sense any mages pursuing him downstairs, so it was safe to say Tuon's hypothesis that he had been denied entry for being a Dark Knight was wrong.

[Let's wait just one more hour.... At least the founder will come, if not the society members.]

Orisin muttered miserably. It was a gloomy sight, unlike the usual mad energy. It wasn't as though there was anything urgent to do. Feeling sorry for the Spirit, Kriel waited alongside Orisin.

Then the society gathering's scheduled ending time, listed in the pamphlet, arrived.

[...How can this be?!]

Orisin was furious. By this point, Kriel also felt something was off. As Tuon had already pointed out, they should have met at least the society's organizer. But no one had come at all?

"Normally, they should be clearing out the equipment, and the people renting the next time slot should be arriving."

Kriel checked the renter list by the double doors. Reservations for the third basement hall continued after the Abyss Eradication Society's time slot. Sensing something suspicious, Kriel remained in the room.

Another thirty minutes passed.

Crack. A flash burst out, and light appeared in the empty air above the banquet hall's stage. At first, it was a simple straight line, but it curved smoothly and formed a circle.

Then people began tumbling out from beyond the glowing circle.

"Heh heh, by now, those collectors must have long since left and started searching outside the building."

"Renting the previous and following time slots under different names guarantees that we can enter and leave without worrying about being chased! How did the society president come up with such a scheme? Ha ha!"

The mages, cheerfully congratulating one another on evading their creditors again today, met Kriel's bloodshot, or rather naturally red, eyes.

"Eek!"

"Wait! Which family are you from? If you tell us the debtor's name, we'll send them out right away!"

"Vice President! How can you sell out the members like that?"

Tuon's guess had been half right. Those people had used their truly advanced magical skill to create an Otherworld and held the society event there.

It was rather pathetic that they had done so to avoid their creditors.

Kriel felt the dagger at his left hip tremble. It let out a wail like the cry of a ghost, filled with intense rage.

[I came all this way to see this...!]

The mages who witnessed Orisin wailing reacted with shock and admiration at once.

"What? Damn it. Was there someone who owed money to a Spirit too?!"

"You can have financial dealings with Spirits?!"

Kriel rubbed the back of his stiffening neck.

"We have nothing to do with any of your debts."

[People?]

It was Tuon's surprise thought wave attack. But Kriel was getting used to the attacks by now. He dealt with the mental assault through active interpretation.

'Strictly speaking, Orisin is a Spirit. Tuon's point is academically correct!'

Kriel erased the implication behind Tuon's words, namely the racial definition of a Dark Knight, and spoke.

"I came to the society because I have one question about an actual case of Abyss eradication. May I meet the person in charge?"

"N-no! The society president said that if you bothered them even once more over financial matters, they would cut off all support!"

"Like I said, we have no interest in your debts."

"What debt collector would enter while claiming to be a debt collector?"

Kriel felt dismayed by the mages of this era. How could mages live with such narrow-mindedness?

"Why are you all making such a fuss?"

A clear voice came from behind the mages. The mages screamed at the sound of that voice.

"President, this isn't what we intended..."

"Ah, damn it. The barrier's maintenance time is almost up too, right? Start heading out slowly. I'll settle this. Those who think they're somebody, go stand facing the wall."

The dejected mages formed two orderly lines and walked out. The society president appeared to be at the very back.

For some reason, Kriel thought that voice sounded familiar.

Next Episode

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