Blessed Side Quest 1

Following the tenth floor, the twentieth floor's main scenario had been conquered. The actual important rewards were still delayed thanks to the power struggle between the Knight Order and the Magic Tower, but that was hardly something the viewers needed to know about.

The number-one-ranked player's march further ahead of the pack was more than enough to set tongues wagging. And if there was a rival hot on their heels, the frenzy only intensified — that much was only natural. Through the pioneer known as Han Se-ah, more and more users had begun entering the twentieth floor's story.

In the posts flooding the internet boards, the exact same pyramid I'd seen stood tall and solitary. The scene of orcs pouring out of it was identical — but instead of a mage, the kingdom's Knight Order appeared to cut the orcs down.

So I wasn't duplicated… Should I call that a relief?

Unlike the full-moon wolf incident, this was a situation where NPCs were intervening in earnest. As a result, other users had started scouring every corner of their own worlds, determined to find Roland, Grace, Irene, and Kayden.

Fortunately, there had been no reports of a Roland Unit Two making an appearance — but a half-bragging NPC beauty contest was an inevitable development.

How many stars? Is the face pretty? Is the personality nice? Are the boobs big? — posts flaunting the NPCs of their own worlds, every raw desire mixed in without filter, flooded the boards until reading them stopped being fun. Bragging about beauties was fine for a day or two, but when dozens of pages were completely wallpapered with it, it was just absurd.

Nothing worth looking at on the gallery…

With the clop-clop of horse hooves as my background music, I flipped through internet windows. Grace and Irene, who had been chatting away earlier, had given in to boredom and fallen asleep leaning against each other. Kayden was gazing out the window, lost in thought, while Han Se-ah kept poking her fingers at empty air.

We were traveling by carriage, so she hadn't turned on the stream — but whether she was looking at system windows and minimaps or, like me, browsing the internet, she was jabbing at the air with her finger. Some people crossed their arms and hid their fingers; Han Se-ah did it completely out in the open.

She snickered every so often, and given that Kayden showed no reaction whatsoever, she was almost certainly on the internet. Giggling while poking at thin air — anyone looking would think she was a complete lunatic.

"A reconnaissance mission… Do you really think there are still orcs left?"

Two of them had drifted off to dreamland, and two were secretly enjoying the internet, when Kayden — who had been lost in solitary contemplation — slowly opened her mouth. Going to check whether orcs remained in a forest blessed by the Goddess was a thoroughly contradictory situation, after all.

Monsters had appeared in a place blessed by the Goddess and attacked a female knight. If you didn't know about quests and players, it would feel like a truly ominous omen.

Han Se-ah, perhaps thinking it might somehow relate to Kayden's cross-dressing, hurriedly waved her fingers to close the internet window and turned to look our way. Honestly, watching Han Se-ah take the game so seriously in every possible sense almost made me laugh out loud.

"I figure there'll be at least a few left."

"Is that so?"

"It's a forest the Goddess blessed — not a purification ground that annihilates monsters. When I was in the capital, there were rumors that even a sickly serf could sneak in and survive on the fruit alone, it was that beautiful and safe. At that level, one or two orcs could easily hide out in there."

"Roland, what kind of place is a blessed forest, exactly?"

Apparently Kayden had simply voiced a sudden curiosity and had no particular intention of continuing the conversation. At that, Han Se-ah — who seemed to have grown bored of internet surfing — lit up with sparkling eyes and immediately tossed a question my way.

Whether the stream was on or off, the operating principle of the human known as Han Se-ah was so simple that everything showed through completely transparent. Just like last time, she was probably planning to extract information from me in advance, then show off to her viewers once the stream went live.

Should I call that thorough game prep as a streamer?

"I've never been there myself, but I've heard quite a bit from the capital's nobles. There might be some exaggeration mixed in, but…"

I'd quietly closed my mouth after Han Se-ah's question, but Kayden was watching me with curious eyes. And Han Se-ah was beaming, giddy at the thought of showing off to her viewers. The problem was that the stories I knew weren't exactly accurate.

I'd phrased it nicely as "heard from the capital's nobles," but who exactly would be telling me stories about a beautiful forest near the capital? Obviously the noblewomen who, lonely at night, had dragged me into bed and whispered into my arm as a pillow.

Not accounts from nobles who'd actually visited for Knight Order business or hunting — just rumors circulating through the noblewomen's social circles. Naturally, the reliability ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the information was relatively low. Han Se-ah wasn't about to show off and get everything wrong, only to become a laughingstock for her viewers… right?

…Though that might be pretty entertaining too.

"The Avergne Forest is, quite literally, a forest the Goddess has blessed. The soil grows fertile, the air grows pure, and holy power and the energy of life overflow throughout. The reason the royal family and certain high-ranking nobles go hunting there is because of that holy power."

"A forest full of holy power, and orcs are hiding in it… That's kind of ironic."

"The Goddess's compassion is equal toward all living things. Unless you're something like an undead, even a lowly orc can receive the grace of holy power. That's why the forest is so strictly managed."

In RPG games, the ones who take damage from heal skills are undead races — not green-skinned orcs. So if orcs managed to settle in a bountiful forest, their numbers could explode like rabbits taking over Australia.

Of course, I'd never been to the forest myself, and an orc crawling into a place blessed by the Goddess was an unprecedented historical event to begin with.

If this kingdom had something like the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, this king's name would practically be covered in filth, wouldn't it? How unvirtuous must a king be, and how incompetent the Knight Order, for a sacred ground to be invaded by orcs — not even ogres or giants?

"Just entering the forest is said to grant you a baptism of holy power, and the fruit and game meat grown there are supposedly good for the body. It might be heavily exaggerated salon gossip, but there's probably some truth mixed in."

"Why call our party to a place that precious?"

"Handing us the commission itself is probably a form of reward. Even if we turned down the twentieth-floor request, we are still the adventurers who rescued a member of the Royal Knight Order."

What Han Se-ah had told her viewers — "Isn't this some kind of hidden quest?" — was a sharp take. It seemed that rescuing a female knight kidnapped by orcs triggered a commission as a reward. Both of them nodded at my explanation.

If the commission itself was the reward, then the reason the client had sent a carriage and coachman to escort us to the capital was immediately clear.

A medieval carriage was a vicious contraption that rattled and shook so hard you'd get motion sickness, with no cushions on the seats, leaving bruises on your backside and lower back. But the carriage the Royal Knight Order had sent had cushions, shock absorption, and even soundproofing walls that dampened outside noise — a genuine luxury item.

"No wonder the carriage felt insanely high-end… It's not even comparable to the one we rode when we first came to the city."

"Even a mercenary company wouldn't dream of buying a carriage this nice. It'd be pure extravagance."

"Just looking at how comfortably those two are sleeping tells you how good this carriage is."

No matter how well-paved the road from the city to the capital was, it was still a medieval fantasy thoroughfare. Even modern asphalt roads had bumpy stretches — of course a carriage racing down a medieval road would shake.

But Grace and Irene, who had drifted off to dreamland during the tedious carriage ride, were sleeping soundly nestled against each other — proof enough of just how luxurious this carriage was.

"True, the unnies look so comfortable. Maybe I should catch some sleep too…"

The idle chat had drifted from the blessed forest all the way to luxury carriages. In the quieted carriage, only the soft sound of gentle breathing remained. Then the carriage that had seemed ready to roll on forever quietly came to a stop.

The hoofbeats that had been muffled like a lullaby faded away, and the carriage settled with a slight jolt. At that tremor, the sensitive Grace opened her eyes first — and a knock came at the carriage door.

"Adventurers? We've arrived at the relay station. It looks like we'll need to lodge here for the night."

The carriage, which had been ambling along with no intention of forced marching while carrying passengers, had stopped at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an inn with a large stable. Whether it was a facility used by the Knight Order, the building that greeted us was strangely clean, with not a single other guest in sight.

Kayden and I, who had been awake, stepped down first, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠followed by Han Se-ah, Grace, and Irene. Filling their lungs with fresh air and stretching, the women slipped inside the building.

"Welcome, adventurers. If you head upstairs, every room is empty, so please use them as you like."

The outside was empty and guestless, but three women were waiting inside — presumably for maintenance. One cooking and two managing the building, maybe.

The sun had grown dim, but Grace and Irene had slept soundly in the carriage, so they didn't seem to need rest in a room. Thinking that, I sat at a first-floor table, and the rest of the party crowded over without any thought of going upstairs, taking seats at the table as well.

"The day's gotten dark — shall we start with a meal?"

"Sounds good!"

"…Hm?"

At the suggestion to eat first, a familiar voice I really didn't want to hear chimed in. I'd had a bad feeling ever since we got tangled up with the Royal Knight Order. Clearly three women had been managing the inn — so where had this sudden unfamiliar male voice come from? The party's heads whipped around to identify the uninvited guest who had abruptly inserted himself into the conversation.

A man of such massive build that looking up at him from a seated position was almost painful for the neck.

A knight of the Royal Knight Order, and the man in charge of adventurer-related affairs.

"Well, well, Roland! It's been far too long. How about a drink?"

"Ah, no, that's a bit…"

And my most burdensome middle-aged fan, number one.