#061
At first, I planned to sneak out of the mansion like a thief, making sure no one would catch me. There was one reason for this: to avoid running into Carlisle. While it was impossible to never encounter him since I was staying at his house and would have to go on the next expedition with him, I needed to buy time at least until I could recover my shamelessness.
However, as soon as I left the second-floor hallway, I was caught by The Butler, which could have led to quite an embarrassing situation. But the situation turned in my favor. I was told that Carlisle had already left and to eat alone.
Naturally, I leisurely enjoyed breakfast and started my busy day in a good mood with my stomach well-filled.
The first place I visited was the Administrator of the Sacred Tree. After all, I needed to collect all the Fragments of the Sacred Tree for the Sacred Tree to be revived, and only then could I achieve village reconstruction and obtain the wish fulfillment ticket.
Of course, the more direct reason was that the lake with the Sacred Tree island was closest to Carlisle’s mansion.
“Raon-nim, thank you so much. How can I possibly express all this gratitude…”
After going through the same process as last time and successfully fitting the Fragment of the Sacred Tree into the intaglio model on the display stand, the priest gripped my hands tightly and was moved as if about to shed tears at any moment.
The priest’s hands were still cold, but their appearance had improved considerably. Some luster had returned to both their hair and skin, and their excessively thin body seemed to have gained some weight.
‘How fascinating…’
Since they’re the Administrator of the Sacred Tree, they must be different from ordinary resident NPCs. I had only brought one Fragment of the Sacred Tree, and their life hadn’t improved in any other way yet, but to see such a changed appearance. Was there some fantasy setting where they received mysterious energy from the Sacred Tree?
Looking at the beautiful face that had regained vitality wasn’t bad, but the excessively close physical contact was still burdensome.
“As for thanks, I only did what I should naturally do as one of the village residents.”
I seriously recited the predetermined dialogue while trying to slip my caught hand out. But the moment my fingertips were about to escape, my hand was grabbed again.
“…?”
I looked at the priest in puzzlement, but the priest’s closed eyes were directed toward my wrist. Another hand reached out and felt my wrist—that is, the bracelet on my wrist. I became even more bewildered.
“Priest-nim, why…”
“This… I don’t think you were wearing this when you came before.”
“Oh, yes. This is…”
I hesitated to answer for a moment. This was obtained from a sudden event, but that event itself seemed unknown even to Carlisle, who could see the Fragments of the Sacred Tree. Since time had stopped during the event, honestly, if this bracelet hadn’t been in my inventory, even I might have wondered if I’d had a dream.
For that reason, I wondered if I should ask the priest if they knew something about it, but at the same time, I had subtle feelings of not wanting to talk about it for reasons I couldn’t understand.
“…It’s something I’ve had since long ago, and I wanted to wear it as a charm. Why do you ask?”
“I thought I felt some sacred energy…”
The priest tilted their head and seemed lost in thought for a moment, then soon smiled brightly and shook their head.
“I must have been mistaken. I apologize.”
“……”
Was it just my imagination that their expression seemed to stiffen for a moment? But having already lied, I wasn’t going to take back my words, so I exchanged a few more obvious words with the priest about the next expedition before leaving the island.
The priest’s seemingly stiff expression strangely lingered in my mind, but since I had many things left to do, I brushed it off for now.
My next destination was city hall. As I entered the downtown area, I walked with a somewhat deflated feeling, wondering if I might run into Rosie and my other ex-wives. I equally didn’t want to encounter Muchi’s gang or Carlisle.
Come to think of it, why do I have so many people I’d find it awkward to meet? It wasn’t strange that my reputation was rock bottom.
Actually, since I was on my way to donate to the village, I should have felt a bit like a triumphant general. But because of the trashy things my game character had done—no, because the damn system didn’t reset properly and the in-game relationships got tangled up messily—I, who should be playing the role of this world’s savior, had become someone who skulked around like a criminal, conscious of my surroundings.
Grumbling and lamenting, I somehow managed to sneak into city hall without encountering any of the inconvenient people.
When I brought up the topic of this expedition’s results and the items to donate—the actual delivery of goods was scheduled to be handled by Carlisle—the Mayor spent a long time lavishly praising how altruistic and promising a young person I was, and what an excellent character I possessed.
Was it because I was sober without a Tranquility Potion? Since this expedition was 98% for personal purposes, listening to the praise really pricked my conscience. Fortunately, the Mayor finished the praise faster than last time and immediately brought out the next expedition mission.
“The next expedition site is the Forgotten Snow Mountain.”
I looked at the northern part of the map the Mayor pointed to. A pure white mountain covered in white snow and half-hidden in clouds stood majestically, looking sacred.
‘Extreme cold after extreme heat? My body won’t survive this.’
I swallowed a sigh inwardly, but it was one of the areas I had somewhat expected. The frozen northern region was also one of the conquest areas in the game. Thinking of the Desert of Eternity, the difficulty had surely increased to a completely different dimension compared to the game.
Most of all, thinking of the desert heat that seemed capable of turning a person into a mummy in an instant, the cold and chill of the snow mountain would probably be beyond imagination.
‘I need to prepare as many heating items as possible…’
After finishing the meeting with the Mayor and reciting my lines about working hard, the main quest window appeared again.
[Main Quest: Village Reconstruction]
[1. Conquer Wanderer’s Plains mine dungeon and contribute to village (Complete)]
[2. Conquer Desert of Eternity oasis dungeon and contribute to village (Complete)]
[3. Conquer Forgotten Snow Mountain ice dungeon and contribute to village]
[4. To be determined]
[5. To be determined]
[Complete all 5 area conquests and donate the harvest to receive a reward.]
[Reward: Wish Fulfillment Ticket]
Still, it was already the third mission. Should I be happy that progress was faster than expected?
I left city hall and stopped by Seiz’s workshop. When I took out the Halmite, Seiz’s eyes opened wide. He really hadn’t expected me to actually obtain this. Well, Eira had reacted the same way when I returned from Wanderer’s Plains. Thinking about whether I looked that unreliable, then considering my state where I would have had trouble preserving my life, let alone getting Halmite, if it hadn’t been for Carlisle, I probably wouldn’t have believed it myself either.
[Workshop owner Seiz’s request has been completed. Please receive your reward.]
[Reward: 2 Tranquility Potions, 10,000 Rual]
When I handed over the Halmite, the reward dropped. Finally, Tranquility Potions had come in. Just holding the potions in my hands seemed to somewhat calm the anxiety that had been lurking in a corner of my heart without disappearing. I wanted to drink one right now, but that wouldn’t do. Since I didn’t know when I could get more, I had to save them in preparation for battles in the snow mountain.
“Where’s the next expedition?”
“Forgotten Snow Mountain.”
At my answer, Seiz let out a low sigh.
“You’ll need a lot of heating items.”
We were on the same wavelength without having to say it.
“Could you make quite a lot? I need more than I thought.”
Seiz nodded with a serious face.
“Last time there wasn’t enough material, so it couldn’t be helped. This time, since you brought back a lot of heat stones from the desert, I’ll make as many as possible.”
It was welcome news to hear. Seiz bringing this up first before I even asked was naturally thanks to me handing over various minerals and materials including the Halmite I had obtained from the desert. Not only did this cancel the debt I had promised last time, but it also satisfied a considerable portion of the new commission fee. Of course, I still incurred new debt from making items to use in the snow mountain.
But unlike before when Seiz had reacted gloomily, he willingly accepted the new credit commission. He seemed happy just to handle materials he hadn’t seen in a while and to have work that had been cut off increase again. Even if it wasn’t completely shown in his expression, his excited mood was sufficiently felt just from him talking more and suggesting various things first.
“And about weapons.”
I showed him the Novice Explorer’s Sword I had bought from the Secret Merchant. Seiz’s eyes lit up as soon as he saw the sword.
“Where did you get this?”
“Uh… well…”
“No, never mind that.”
The Secret Merchant wasn’t called a secret merchant for nothing, and just when it was about to be difficult to answer, Seiz cut off his own question.
“With this, it would be better to use Halmite to enhance this rather than making something new with Halmite.”
Whether he was more excited than I was, Seiz’s speech became a bit faster.
“If you’re lucky when you go to the snow mountain, you might be able to obtain Lightmite. If you bring that back, I can make this sword even stronger.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
