Chapter 15
The community could be considered an encyclopedia where all the game's information was compiled.
Of course, a significant portion of the posts was filled with meaningless nonsense, but if one used the search function well, it was true that one could find even all the hidden easter eggs scattered throughout the game.
But now.
In front of Reinhardt's eyes, the community had become completely useless.
[Search: Trace of Light]
[No search results found.]
[Search: Radiant Light]
[No search results found.]
[Search: Fading Light]
[No search results found.]
No matter what keywords he punched in, not a single result was displayed.
It meant that no matter how much a user played the game or which character they played as, there was absolutely no chance for them to see such a phrase.
‘Hmm, so there's nothing at all.’
Reinhardt tore his gaze away from the community with a reluctant look and stared straight ahead.
The round fellow was flying around frantically inside Reinhardt's quarters as if it was very excited.
It would hover for a moment in front of something, as if sniffing it, and then fly to the next object, spinning around as if pondering what it was.
‘What on earth is that thing.’
As proven by the community, Reinhardt also did not know the identity of that round, spirit-like fellow.
The only clue was the phrase that appeared when he obtained it.
A Trace of a Radiant Light has been found.
A Fading Light reveals itself.
‘The keyword 'light' keeps being used, which makes me feel vaguely anxious….’
In the game, Reinhardt was the Knight of Light.
He wielded the power of light, and the source of that power was the Spirit of Light.
On top of that, thanks to his innate [Justice], he could possess power that was second to none in the world, provided the conditions were met.
But that fellow was not a Spirit of Light.
At least, there was a clear difference from what Reinhardt had seen on the screen.
‘In the first place, the order that the in-game Reinhardt believed in and followed was the one that worshiped the sun god Truma. The place I went to was the Lubra Order.’
[Lubra's Simple Ring]
*A symbol of Lubra.
*Meticulously crafted by a priest who has achieved a high level of discipline.
*Anti-Magic Power +40
*Divinity +5
*Trace of a Radiant Light (Used)
Reinhardt checked the ring on his hand again.
The options and description were the same.
The only thing that had changed was the last line.
The Trace of a Radiant Light was in a ‘Used’ state.
To guess, the fellow that was still flying around restlessly in front of him was likely the result.
“Hmm….”
It didn't seem like a problem that could be solved by thinking about it.
In the first place, it was a being that was not even mentioned in the game.
It meant that it was a being that only the current Reinhardt could face.
“Should I give it a name?”
If so, he had to accept the situation and adapt to it.
Reinhardt cupped his chin and looked at the spirit, then nodded.
“Let's go with Bitdori. That's good. Bitdori.”
Reinhardt approached the spirit he had named Bitdori.
He stared intently at the fellow flying around like a hummingbird, then snatched it at the perfect moment.
“Peep!”
Bitdori made a strange sound as if surprised. It sounded like the cry of a startled bird.
“Peeeep!”
Then it looked at Reinhardt's face and smiled brightly.
For some reason, it seemed to be in a good mood.
Its short hands excitedly tapped Reinhardt's thick fist.
“Can this thing be trained….”
“Peep?”
“Alright, your name is Bitdori. Bitdori.”
“Peep!”
“……Bitdori.”
As he said it, he felt an inexplicable sense of shame.
But it seemed to be effective.
Bitdori had calmed down as if it was concentrating on Reinhardt's voice.
“Bitdori.”
“Peep.”
“Was that an answer?”
Reinhardt looked at Bitdori with an ambiguous expression. Then he checked again.
“Apple pie.”
“……”
“Bitdori.”
“Peep.”
It was still ambiguous. Reinhardt tried again.
“Puppy.”
“……”
“Bitdori.”
“Peep.”
Reinhardt's mouth opened slightly.
“This works?”
The fellow had clearly understood that ‘Bitdori’ was its name.
Wasn't it reacting with peeps only when he called it Bitdori exactly?
“You understand, don't you?”
“Peep?”
“It doesn't seem to understand all other words though.”
“Peeep? Pi?”
“Bitdori.”
“Peep.”
This was a rather satisfactory result.
It meant that he had one more thing he could enjoy in this bleak and brutal world.
“Should I try teaching it 'paw'?”
He thought about trying to train it like a dog, but then Reinhardt shook his head. For now, it was enough that it understood its name.
“Bitdori.”
Reinhardt patted his shoulder, meaning for it to come and sit.
Surprisingly, Bitdori flew over swiftly and settled on his shoulder.
He didn't know for sure, but it was clear that its intelligence was quite high.
Considering that it could fly freely and that at least minimal communication was possible, he might receive some significant help.
“Let's go for a walk. A walk.”
“Peebit? Peep?”
“A walk.”
Reinhardt left his quarters with Bitdori on his shoulder.
At his appearance, the shoulders of the employees working around him tensed up.
Their sloppy sweeping gained a sharp edge, and they were busy watching him, worried they might be caught doing something wrong.
‘How much must he have nagged them.’
It was obvious without even looking.
He must have pressured each person, saying things like they must faithfully perform their roles.
But that was all.
No one reacted to the Bitdori that Reinhardt had perched on his shoulder.
‘It's certain. Only I can see it.’
Reinhardt was the only person who could see Bitdori.
It was no different for other knights.
Not only the people he happened to encounter inside the knight order, but also the knight on guard duty seemed completely oblivious.
“Sir Reinhardt! The purpose of your outing today is….”
“Patrol.”
“Yessir! I will record it!”
Patrolling the city had now become one of Reinhardt's main daily tasks.
Not only the knights of Taton but also the citizens of Serigel who knew, knew about it.
“Sir Reinhardt! Hello!”
“Mm.”
“Thanks to you, the guys who were bothering us are all gone. Thank you so much!”
“I have only done what I must.”
There were even citizens who greeted Reinhardt.
Among them were people who did business in dark alleys.
They would rejoice, saying that those who used to collect so-called protection fees from them had completely disappeared.
‘It's a problem if they all disappear.’
Actually, it wasn't very welcome news for Reinhardt.
He was in a position where he could only improve his specs in the long run if there were villains to catch and throw in jail.
“Shall we do some treasure hunting today?”
Reinhardt started rummaging through the back alleys of Serigel in search of petty criminals.
Since he was openly wearing armor and a sword, those who were confident welcomed him, and those who were not quickly fled.
‘Just one. Just let me catch one.’
Reinhardt needed a dangerous criminal.
Whether strong or weak, catching a criminal who could inflict fatal harm on others was the fastest way to raise his [Justice].
But the results were quite poor.
The rumor had already spread throughout Serigel, so they had all hidden somewhere.
“Today's haul is quite tasteless.”
Reinhardt smacked his lips bitterly and looked around.
Usually, by this time, at least one person would have been caught somehow, but today it was hard to even see a person's face.
“Bitdori.”
“Peep!”
“Are there no bad friends around?”
“Peebit? Peep?”
“Never mind.”
Bitdori was still on his shoulder. It was busy looking around with its round eyes as if it was out sightseeing.
Click-
Reinhardt took a picture.
His own bewildered expression and Bitdori's cute, tilted head on his shoulder were captured perfectly.
It was at that moment.
“……”
Reinhardt stared intently at the man approaching from the front.
His steps were unstable. It was a gait that seemed to creak like a wooden doll.
His arms hung limply, and his head was shaking weakly as if his neck lacked proper strength.
‘Not good. This is very not good.’
At the zombie-like movement from a movie, Reinhardt sensed a crisis.
Usually, such a person was associated with Black Magic with a very, very high probability.
Twirl.
Reinhardt spun his body around. He tried to walk away as if he hadn't seen the man, but.
“How about a little chat, Sir Knight.”
The man called out to Reinhardt with a slurred pronunciation.
“Unfortunately, I am busy. I need to hurry to finish my patrol within the day.”
“My name and identity are….”
“No!”
Reinhardt turned back again. With fire in his eyes, he raised his index finger to his lips.
“I warn you. If you keep talking, you will pay the price. You certainly will.”
“It seemed inconvenient. The talk about us.”
The man chuckled. Just as Reinhardt was preparing to cover his ears, the man continued.
“You wouldn't want a situation like that. I just want to talk.”
“Talking is not good. Very not good.”
“I'll be careful enough, so don't worry. I'm used to talking to myself.”
He didn't know what he wanted, but it seemed he understood Reinhardt's situation, at least. Though he probably didn't know the exact reason why.
Should I accept this proposal?
While pondering, Reinhardt paused, feeling a change on his shoulder.
“Peeeeeeep!”
Bitdori had grown slightly larger, like a bird with its feathers puffed up.
It looked like a slightly overinflated balloon.
‘What's wrong with this one now.’
It was a bit unsettling, but he didn't have many options.
Reinhardt sat down on a shabby staircase next to the alley.
“I should rest here for a bit. I need to re-check my patrol route.”
***
The final boss of Soul Calibur.
Reinhardt did not know the process leading up to the descent of the Archdemon.
In the first place, it was only treated as a light background setting, and even if he was interested, the physical amount of information was scarce.
In the end, it was the same now.
The warlock school, Agrio-s.
Reinhardt had no clue what those who primarily used magic like domination and brainwashing wanted here.
“There is something in Serigel that we can never give up. It is something we must seize, even if it means laying down our lives.”
“I'm unusually tired today.”
“Even if there's a guy who bothers us, it can't be helped. I can only leave this place after I have achieved my goal.”
But in any case, what the man was saying was clear.
There was something in the city of Serigel that they had to obtain.
It was probably a material for the Archdemon's descent, and if they couldn't get it, they would stick to this city until the end.
And the reason he was saying such things to Reinhardt was obvious.
“So, I'd like to ask for cooperation from someone capable.”
A warlock of Agrio-s requested cooperation.
That sentence alone made Reinhardt's head spin.
It was fortunate that his body didn't know the opponent's identity right now; the moment it realized, it wouldn't be strange for him to lose his reason.
But he couldn't accept it either.
What if he ended up hearing things about Black Magic and what not?
[Justice] would plummet to the bottom. It meant that Reinhardt's only lifeline would be cut off.
‘This bastard is making things difficult….’
It was a very difficult situation for Reinhardt. It was hard to refuse flatly, and accepting was a request that would surely become troublesome someday.
And even.
‘Why is it acting like this again. What if it causes an accident?’
The Bitdori on his shoulder was now trembling outright.
Its round, small eyes were fixed on the man next to him and wouldn't budge.
As if it was extremely angry.