Chapter 73
Howell was shaking the door of the carriage Elicia was in.
“…Why isn’t she answering? Did something happen? She is inside, right?”
At his question, the duke’s coachman, who had gotten off the carriage, quickly answered.
“Yes, I definitely confirmed that the young lady boarded the carriage. Perhaps she couldn’t answer because she fell asleep…”
The coachman tried to reassure him, but Howell cut him off.
“But Ellie’s the type who could disappear at any moment. She could’ve escaped from the carriage while no one was looking. Or… something really could have happened.”
His voice was restless, as though torn between worry and dread.
“She collapsed before after being poisoned, didn’t she? Or maybe someone else was targeting her and kidnapped her this time? You didn’t check on her even once on the way here, did you?”
At that, the coachman’s expression grew serious.
“Should I break the door?”
“…Step aside.”
Thump, thump, thump.
As the carriage door rattled violently, Elicia came back to her senses and shouted.
“Brother! I’m inside. Just wait a moment!”
“The carriage has a soundproof spell on it. He won’t hear you.”
Apparently, a soundproof spell had been placed to prevent voices from leaking outside. Pin, looking troubled, bowed slightly to Elicia.
“I’ll see you again next time, milady.”
So the only answer was for Pin to leave quickly. He must have planned to teleport away again. Before he vanished, Elicia hurriedly called out.
“P-please take care on your way back!”
“Ah, and…”
As if something had just come to mind, Pin turned back to Elicia and snapped his fingers lightly.
Whoosh!
A sparkling light of magic circled the interior of the carriage. Elicia’s eyes widened when she realized what it was.
“Restoration magic?”
As the spell was cast, her broken hair ornament and torn dress returned to their original state. In the blink of an eye, she looked as pristine as when she had first boarded the carriage.
“You seemed worried about your dress earlier.”
“…”
“Then, until next time for real.”
With a playful tone, Pin offered a neat bow and vanished—leaving no trace as though he’d never been there at all.
Elicia instinctively glanced around the carriage again. If not for her gown gleaming like new, she might not have believed Pin had been there at all.
“No… he really is like a wizard…”
Well, he was an actual wizard!
Just then, the carriage door swung open.
“Young lady!”
Seeing Elicia sitting calmly inside, the coachman looked flustered.
“You…! Why didn’t you answer at all…!”
Howell’s bewildered voice interrogated her, clearly never expecting to find her safe and sound. His face was more haggard and desperate than usual, showing just how worried he had been.
“Why are you here, brother? I thought you went to the banquet.”
“I did go!”
Howell raised his voice in exasperation.
“I went, but you weren’t there! And no matter how long I waited, you didn’t show up!”
“Ah…”
“How was I supposed to know if you’d been kidnapped, or poisoned, or attacked by monsters again?”
“…”
Elicia averted her gaze guiltily. Technically, she had been attacked by monsters again. She had no excuse.
‘Of course, I went into the forest on purpose…’
If she admitted that she deliberately went to meet monsters, he’d scold her even worse. She had at least that much sense. When she stayed silent, Howell continued.
“The servants said they had no idea where you went. When I asked around, I heard your carriage suddenly veered in the complete opposite direction! Do you know how… how terrified I was? The Mage Tower said they couldn’t track you without your consent. I only found out what you’d been up to after hearing it from them and Father…”
“…”
His voice trembled. The tension that had strung him tight was palpable. Maybe he hadn’t slept, because his eyes looked swollen. Then, Elicia noticed the stat floating above his head.
Suspicion: 412%
“…!”
Hadn’t it only been in the 300s when she left the house? When had it climbed so much? She hadn’t even gotten an alert. Maybe if the distance was too far, alerts didn’t show.
‘But wait…’
She hadn’t done anything threatening to him, so why had it risen by nearly 100? Looking between Howell’s worried face and the glowing word “Suspicion,” a thought crossed her mind.
That number. That category of “suspicion.”
…Was it really suspicion toward her?
A strange feeling made her shut her mouth. Normally, she would’ve brushed it off, saying “It was nothing,” or “I’m fine.” But maybe Howell truly had been worried about her.
Yet… what if it wasn’t worry? What if he was just angry at her recklessness? Then she’d be misreading him.
After some hesitation, Elicia finally said the only word that mattered.
“…I’m sorry.”
“…!”
“Leaving without telling anyone—I realize now that was thoughtless. I honestly didn’t expect things to get so big.”
“Then next time—”
“I won’t let it happen again. Even if I have to go in a rush, I’ll at least leave a message or something.”
‘Of course, there may be times I can’t say anything… and I can’t promise nothing urgent will ever happen again…’
She held those extra thoughts back. Now wasn’t the time. Surely another urgent crisis wouldn’t pop up… right?
Howell fell silent, his sharp expression softening slightly at her apology.
Ding!
Howell’s Suspicion has decreased!
412% → 351% → 312% → 215%
As Howell sighed and calmed down, the number steadily fell. Elicia stared at it quietly.
‘So it’s tied to emotions?’
When he relaxes, it goes down? If it spiked earlier because he was agitated, then it made sense.
Unaware she was watching his stat, Howell glanced at her and spoke again—this time calmer.
“Anyway. You must be tired too. We’ll talk more when we get home.”
“Ah, brother. Wait a moment.”
Elicia stopped him just as he was about to close the carriage door.
“You said to warn you before I act, so… I’ll tell you now.”
“…What is it?”
Howell stiffened at the ominous preface. Elicia looked down at her restored dress first.
Honestly, if not for Pin’s restoration magic, she wouldn’t have even considered it. But now she was presentable enough to attend a banquet. Emboldened, she said confidently:
“What if I… didn’t go home, and went straight to the banquet instead?”
“Are you serious?!”
Howell stared at her, utterly dumbfounded. Elicia pushed back shamelessly.
“Hey, you’re being unfair. You always said to warn you beforehand. If I know you’ll oppose me, how can I even bring it up?”
“And I told you: only ask if it’s reasonable!”
“Why isn’t this reasonable? I already left the house, so what’s the harm in stopping by the banquet?”
“For the love of—please, just go home quietly. Please.”
Howell shook his head in disbelief.
“And even if you did go, what excuse would you give the King and the Saintess for suddenly showing up now? What about the other nobles? It’ll cause more problems. It’s better not to attend at all. At least then we can use an excuse like you were too ill. People at the banquet already heard you were sick, so it would be believable.”
“…Hmm.”
That did make sense. To Howell and the duke, her attendance was nothing more than a social duty. They had no idea why she insisted on going.
‘They don’t know about my quest…’
For them, missing a banquet was trivial. For her, it was life-or-death.
Elicia nodded.
“Fine. I won’t go to the banquet. Let’s go home.”
Only then did Howell close the carriage door—though he checked suspiciously several more times before doing so.
“Elicia… You’re not going to smash a window halfway and run to the banquet, are you?”
“Of course not.”
“Maybe I should ride with you…”
“I said I won’t! If you don’t believe me, then come sit here and see for yourself!”
Did he really have so little faith in her? Elicia folded her arms with a sulky expression.
Ding! Ding!
On the way home, Elicia finally checked the chat. Ever since she told Howell she wouldn’t attend the banquet, the chat had exploded.
What??? You’re really not going??
Even if you promised…
Sis, what if your account gets deleted???
“…Of course, I can’t just leave it like this.”
She didn’t want to find out what would happen if she failed a daily quest. With a conflicted look, she opened her quest window again.
Quest
〈Today’s Daily Quest!〉
Condition: Stay by the Saintess’s side for at least 1 hour today.
Current time: 0 minutes
Stay beside Frillian for one hour.
Reading the words, Elicia suddenly grinned.
“But you see, everyone…”
Tapping the quest window, she spoke leisurely.
“If you look closely at the condition, it just says to ‘stay by the Saintess’s side.’ It never said it had to be ‘at the banquet,’ did it?”
?
What are you talking about?
It’s a banquet-day quest, how could it count outside?
“Yes. It will. I’ve done similar quests before.”
In Seiros Saga, if the quest didn’t specify a location, then being near the target anywhere was enough. People complained it was a bug, but the company insisted it wasn’t. Since this world had the same system, it should work the same way.
“So actually, this quest just means I need to be near the Saintess for an hour—no matter where.”
This wasn’t a quest forcing her to attend the banquet. As long as she spent an hour with the Saintess, she’d clear it!
With renewed determination, Elicia spoke energetically.
“Now, where’s the temple again? She hasn’t gone home already, has she?”
!!!!!!
Wait lmaoo are you seriously going to the temple????
No way—
