Chapter 74
[They entered one minute later than the appointed time. It wasn’t common, so I remember it—]
The narration echoed again.
Someone seemed to enter, but no one could be seen.
Invisible, ghost-like figures sat down at their seats.
Even though their faces weren’t visible, the extravagant clothing hinted at their presence.
The long banquet table had one seat for the guest of honor, four regular seats, and another slightly elevated seat that was just below the guest of honor’s position.
Having escorted Yurel back, Sian now stood beside the Crown Prince and Max.
“My heart is pounding. I, Max, never imagined I’d witness the banquet of the First Emperor in my lifetime. How can I make sure not to offend at such a sacred table?”
“It’s the early imperial era, so the etiquette and rules aren’t that complicated. You may speak freely, but refrain from disrupting the meal, Sir.”
Even though Sian had reprimanded him, Max wore an unusually bright smile.
The five chairs slid out by themselves, and the tableware began to move.
The banquet had officially begun.
Then—rustle—
A faint sound came from somewhere. It was Yenniel.
She looked startled for a moment, then, as if remembering something, pulled out two sheets of paper.
They were the invitation and the official document we’d found in the section with the carnivorous flowers.
“I thought we might need them, so I kept them with me since the third floor. The sound came from here. Let’s take a look.”
Always so prepared.
Just like in the game, if there was even a hint of a clue, she would record it immediately—typical of the thorough heroine.
Yenniel first showed the blood-stained invitation. This time, the official document had some markings added to it.
<Visit Schedule of Duke Aquilium>
Gift presentation … perfume not permitted
Dinner banquet … summon the kitchen’s chefs
Mansion cleaning … all servants
There wasn’t much difference from the invitation I had found earlier—
except for one annotated note at the bottom.
<External kitchen personnel – assigned to prepare ingredients: maid Laura, servant Garun, and Sir Venter, who is best at butchering meat>
Then the narration spoke again.
‘They told me to bring back the heart of Aquilium. What should I do? One of those monsters must be the Aquilium.’
The chair of the mansion’s master—the archmage’s seat—remained motionless.
Though the chair itself was empty, the table setting before it was perfectly arranged.
At that moment, the headless servants all turned their gaze at once—
toward the doors that had suddenly appeared in the banquet hall.
In the defense game event, the start was always marked by monsters entering the mansion and twin doors appearing at the main entrance of the banquet hall.
But this time, something strange occurred.
The doors appeared during the banquet.
Hard Mode: Bonus Stage play is now mandatory.
In Normal Mode, this stage had been completely optional.
Then—with a thud!—a shadowy figure with a sword stuck in its chest stumbled through the door and collapsed.
Lying on the banquet floor was a creature in knight’s armor.
In the game, it had only been a vague, distorted shadow, but the being before us now was clearly a knight.
Yenniel spoke urgently.
“They must be the knights of the Archmage’s Mansion! We have to check outside, Your Highness.”
“Understood!”
Our group ran toward the mansion’s front entrance.
Only Yenniel’s team and the Ebelin faction were heading out that way.
Even though this was Hard Mode, it seemed this part of the story hadn’t changed much from the base game.
Through the opposite door, the Ebelin faction could be seen.
The monsters that had appeared in Normal Mode were now all replaced by the Imperial Knights of the First Emperor.
“With knights of this scale, I can guess what’s happening. I once heard the First Emperor had a special corps he used to eliminate political enemies.”
The Crown Prince, who had been calm until now, suddenly hardened his expression.
“They’re here to slaughter the Archmage’s people. If we can’t stop them, everyone will die.”
The defense game had officially begun.
And that also meant—Sian’s combat ability had dropped to zero.
“I’ll summon the highest-ranking spirit! Ferreche Tium Elnero!”
…Nothing happened.
At the same time, Sian coughed violently, blood spilling slightly from his lips.
“Your trait…?”
Then all color drained from Sian’s face.
Sian was intelligent—
intelligent enough to instantly calculate what would happen if the others realized his trait had vanished.
He quickly covered his bloodied mouth, his face pale as paper.
‘That expression… he knows this is bad.’
Sian was intelligent—
intelligent enough to keep silent even after realizing his trait had disappeared.
Fortunately, the horde of monsters swarming like an army distracted everyone from noticing Sian’s coughing blood.
In Normal Mode, when the butler’s pocket watch curse stole someone’s trait, that person would always show a distinct reaction at the start of the event.
[Yurel: …I feel nothing.]
[Ebelin: What are you talking about? Stop saying nonsense.]
[Kyle: That’s troublesome. I can’t ‘hide’ anymore.]
[Ebelin: Don’t annoy me, Kyle.]
[Kyle: …Wait, you don’t mean just me talking annoys you, right…?]
My brother had used the butler’s pocket watch on Yurel several times, insisting he’d reach her happy ending no matter what—so I remembered this part vividly.
Later, when Duke Kyle appears, he says something that stuck with me:
[Kyle: If a person never had a trait to begin with, that’s one thing.
But if they had one and it vanished—they’d always know.
Not noticing is impossible, Eve.]
When Ebelin later meets the final boss in the game, she tries to pretend she isn’t the key—but fails. That’s when Kyle gives her that advice.
So Sian must have realized clearly that the trait he’d gained…
was now gone—
that he had become utterly useless.
