Blessed Side Quest 4
Kayden's male disguise was truly flawless.
Rebecca, with her beast-like senses. Roland, an Upper-grade adventurer. James, a high-ranking knight. Not a single one of them had so much as suspected her true identity — that was how natural the transformation was. From her Adam's apple to her bone structure, her physique, her skin, even her voice — every last detail was perfectly, unmistakably male.
Honestly, calling it a disguise felt inadequate. It was closer to a polymorph spell straight out of a fantasy novel. And yet not a trace of mana could be felt from it, so the thought that magic was involved had never even crossed my mind.
Which meant that James, who had started spouting dirty jokes the moment every female member of the party headed for the kitchen, was simply being himself. He wasn't the type to talk filth in front of women — but among men, he had no such reservations.
"Even if you can't get a permit to go into the forest itself, nobles do occasionally come into the checkpoint garrison to receive Holy Power. Old men whose backs have gone soft, mostly. Sometimes they bring women along, and that gets… awkward. You've got a bunch of guys in their prime packed in here, and then all of a sudden you start hearing those little ahhn, ahhn sounds…"
"I-I'll go help carry the luggage."
James, apparently mistaking the blank-faced, red-cheeked Kayden for some green recruit too pure for his own good, only got meaner with his words. Given that he handled adventurer-related duties and rubbed shoulders with soldiers every day, maybe it was inevitable.
The lecherous grin, the way he rocked his hips back and forth — it was far too crude a display for a knight. Still, the man delivered when it counted. He hadn't climbed to high-ranking knight on nothing but muscle.
That said, watching a muscle-bound macho type gyrate his hips was still grotesque no matter how you sliced it. The hideous motion finally broke Kayden, who fled the scene. Even I found it revolting, so a woman like Kayden holding out any longer would have been a miracle.
"Hmm. Did I go too far? I heard he came up through the mercenary ranks, so I figured I'd try to get closer. For a merc, though, he's a remarkably pure-hearted kid."
"Trying to get closer?"
"That's how guys bond — dirty stories. Just look at how comfortably I get along with the soldiers."
Faced with Kayden's unmistakably panicked retreat, James gave an awkward laugh and sidled a little closer. In his own mind, that had been a gesture of goodwill. A muscle-headed macho man who'd followed the classic pipeline of all-boys school, military, and knight order — or in this world's terms, adventurer, army, knight corps — would think exactly like that.
I glanced at Han Se-ah's stream window. Kayden, face still burning red from being thoroughly roasted over the inventory bit, had just rejoined the others, and the chat was already spinning wild theories. After confirming the camera was still pointed at the kitchen, I turned back to James.
"That thing you mentioned earlier about the Grand Duke's daughter — was that a joke, or did you bring it up because something felt off?"
"Half and half. Orders did come down, but where they came from is completely muddied. A simple orc-scouting commission for some adventurers got passed down like it was a classified mission, bounced around through half a dozen channels. For the knight order to receive orders like that…"
"Means someone very high up put their thumb on the scale."
He scratched the back of his head sheepishly and answered without hesitation. He looked frivolous, crude, and like his skull was packed solid with muscle — but he wasn't the type to spout nonsense about something like this. So had a character quest actually linked up with a side quest?
I could only guess. Han Se-ah's quest window was only visible when she chose to display system windows on stream. Worrying about it wouldn't produce a clear answer either way.
"No point stewing over something I know nothing about. Anyway — thanks for the info."
James grinned like he'd expected exactly that response. The look on his face was just slightly irritating.
The night inside the barracks passed quickly and without incident.
The moment Han Se-ah's head hit the pillow, the game would save and she'd open her eyes the next morning. The rest of the party, worn out from the carriage journey, quietly turned in to rest for the commission ahead. As for me — I sprawled on a soft bed and sank deep into the internet.
For a military unit tasked with managing the Holy Power that flowed from the Blessed Forest, the buildings were cheaply built and the beds were nothing special. Even so, there was a genuine sense of comfort to the place.
"…Morning, everyone."
"Yes, good morning. Thanks to the Goddess's grace, my body feels so light."
The party members who'd risen early showed not a single trace of fatigue. What they did show was the pale, unguarded skin of beautiful women left completely exposed. Of course they weren't sleeping in full armor — that much was obvious.
Granted, "exposed skin" only meant ordinary shirts. Still, compared to the full leather armor or nun's habit they usually wore, the lighter clothes alone were enough to send the chat into a frenzy.
A little bare forearm and the fact that a shirt no longer fully hid their curves was enough to have the chat thanking the heavens. The same people who'd been chanting "inven-toooory~" and roasting Han Se-ah five minutes ago — last night, by my clock — only made it funnier.
After a quick wash downstairs, the party gathered around a dining table the way they would around a guild table. Nothing elaborate for breakfast — just yesterday's stew reheated to fill their stomachs lightly — and then the conversation turned to the commission. Grace, who'd emptied her bowl first, opened.
"So we start exploring the forest today?"
"Yeah. From what I heard, the soldiers aren't allowed inside."
"The forest looked quite large… this may take a while."
Once the conversation started, everyone tossed in a word or two. The general consensus: the forest was far too vast for five people to search. Fair enough. In the Tower, finding a path through a forest was the end of it — here, we had to hunt for traces of orcs. Different feel entirely.
"But how do we prove there are no orcs?"
"Right. We can't exactly check every single spot in the forest…"
That particular worry kept the discussion going. Every so often they shot me curious glances, but there was nothing useful I could say. Orc scouting was a side quest — completing it was Han Se-ah's job.
Her quest window, which she still hadn't properly shown on stream, probably had a progress tracker or something. She had a minimap and a quest log. She'd figure it out.
"Well, we could have Hanna leave magical markers at places orcs might camp, or come up with a few other methods. What do you think, Hanna? Think you can manage?"
"Ah, um, I think so. If I, uh, drive mana stakes into the ground, I should be able to check them…?"
Look at those eyes darting around.
Still, even if she stammered, she spoke with enough confidence that the quest window must have been showing some kind of orc-scouting hint or progress bar. Grace and Irene, clearing away the empty bowls, smiled softly at the sight.
Their party leader had just confidently promised to handle the one thing they'd been most worried about. Of course they were pleased. Though the look in their eyes was less "reliable leader" and more "big sisters watching their little sibling successfully run an errand"… well, that still counted as popularity, so I wasn't going to complain.
"Meals done, so everyone grab your gear and get ready to head out. This'll probably take a few days — just think of it as soaking up all the Holy Power we can."
"Got it. I'll pack up and meet you at the entrance."
Leaving the viewers' wails behind them, the party gathered their equipment and assembled at the building entrance. The moment they stepped outside, soldiers' eyes locked onto them again.
Some of those stares were for the beautiful women in the party, sure — but these were soldiers who managed the Blessed Forest, so a fair number of them were greeting Irene specifically. People who lived in the Goddess's grace every day were bound to be deeply religious.
We finished checking our armor and gear and were about to head for the forest when a single soldier came sprinting toward us. Our party must have been ready earlier than expected — he looked thoroughly flustered, running full tilt with his uniform askew.
"P-please wait just a moment, ma'am—!"
"Is something the matter?"
"Wh-when you enter the forest, hah, take this…"
The gasping soldier held out a metal plaque engraved with a sword and shield, similar to an adventurer's badge.
He'd clearly sprinted so hard he couldn't get the explanation out between breaths. Our kind-hearted party members waited patiently for him to continue, and the soldier — face flushed bright red — finally managed to finish.
"When you leave the forest, you don't necessarily have to come back this way. Soldiers are stationed all around the forest's perimeter, so no matter which direction you exit, just present this plaque."
"Ah, I see. Thank you."
"N-no need to thank me. It's my job."
Han Se-ah's polite, businesslike smile as she accepted the plaque left the soldier grinning goofily from ear to ear. Soldiers really were the same whether it was a medieval fantasy or the modern world, I thought absently, and started walking toward the forest.
Grace naturally took the lead and fell into step beside me, the rest of the party following behind with Kayden bringing up the rear as escort. They'd only been an adventuring party for a short while, yet the formation already looked practiced and seasoned.
"Alright! Side quest starts now. Objective: search the Blessed Forest for traces of orcs. Progress is shown as a percentage, so it looks like it'll fill up as we light up the minimap. Whether there are actually orcs or not, I have no idea. The quest window just says 'Explore the forest.'"
With Han Se-ah's explanation, we passed the tents and entered the forest.
…Alongside a deeply troubled-looking Kayden.