Defense specialization and quest three.
I am late. My apologies.
Maple held the spring in her gaze.
Since the woman said nothing this time, they had proceeded straight upward.
Deep within the rocky outcropping, the spring lay hidden.
"Let us land nearby for now."
After setting Shiroppu down near the spring, she returned to her ring form and moved toward the spring with the woman.
The area around the spring seemed free of monsters. They reached it without incident.
The woman drew water from the spring and turned to Maple.
"Sir Knight! Thank you so much!"
"No, I didn’t really do anything…"
"We should hurry back!"
"Ah, yes. You’re right."
Returning to the spot where Shiroppu had landed, she once again rose into the air.
Upon safely returning to Town, the woman handed the water to the girl.
Maple watched the scene unfold.
"How is it?"
"D-don’t worry… I’m fine…"
The girl says so, but her face is pale and her body trembles slightly.
She did not look well.
Of course, the next quest appears before Maple.
Quest: The Knight of Universal Charity 3
Yes, I thought so.
As Maple had anticipated, the next quest activates.
Maple checks the skill [Charitable Knight], but the skill still displays only its name.
Maple decides to accept the quest.
"Sir! Thank you!"
Very well, very well.
I have heard tales of a great town far away, where rings said to heal the body upon being worn are rumored to exist… I apologize, but might you bring one with you?
“A large… town? Could it be the first town?”
The Town where Maple was first when she began this game.
Maple could think of no other town so vast.
...so that means... the ring... could it be...
Maple withdraws a ring from her inventory.
The rare drop she acquired earliest.
【Ring of the Forest Queen】.
"Sir! You have brought it! Ah, how shall I thank you..."
"Ah... this is enough."
Maple hands the ring to the woman, though she has not worn it recently.
The ring is a rare drop, but not unobtainable again.
Thus, Maple could decide to pass it on.
"I will put it on now..."
The woman slides the ring onto the girl's finger.
Maple receives a quest completion notification. This confirms it was correct.
"Ugh... Gah..."
"...Are you alright?... Is it painful?"
"Gah...!"
The girl's face twists in agony, then suddenly she leaps from the bed, wrenching the door open and dashing outside.
"Wait—!"
The woman follows after her.
A new quest notification floats before Maple’s eyes, abandoned and alone.
Quest [Charity Knight 4]
Maple accepts it without hesitation.
“First… outside the Town!”
Maple hurries toward the outskirts of the Town as quickly as possible.
“There she is!”
Outside the Town, a woman sits hunched on the ground.
As Maple approaches, the woman begins to speak.
“Ugh… Knight-sama… my daughter…!”
“Where did she go? Is she safe!?”
“My daughter… she headed toward the [Temple of Eternal Night]… it’s dangerous there…!”
“…I’ll bring her back.”
“I’ll guide you… I can’t leave my daughter behind…!”
Maple would have preferred to go alone, but she cannot abandon the woman. She follows reluctantly.
Maple follows the woman’s guidance across the spring, then onward toward the northwest.
There, scattered among the rocks, stands an ancient temple, partially collapsed.
Undoubtedly, this is the Shrine of Eternal Shadow.
Maple returns Shiroppu to her ring and steps into the shrine.
At the far end of a single, simple chamber enclosed by walls and ceiling, a girl lies collapsed.
The woman rushes forward, but before she can reach her, black mist erupts from the girl’s body.
It forms a humanoid shape in an instant, then lunges toward the woman.
“Cover Move! Cover!”
That the woman could perform Cover Move and Cover had already been confirmed during the first quest.
Maple inserts herself between the two, blocking the attack with her large shield.
“…! Malnourished! I forgot…!”
Maple had forgotten that Malnourished had not yet recovered, due to the rapid progression of the quest.
The figure, having confirmed the attack had been blocked, steps back from Maple.
The proper use of the [Poison Dragon (Hydra)] must be considered…
Gug… Gagagaga…
…That is not something good.
Maple regarded the humanoid figure, voiceless yet emitting an unnatural sound, as a monster.
Gigigig…!
[Cover]!
The attack came in a rigid, predictable motion. Maple’s technique held firm.
Yet Maple’s options were limited. She could not afford to miss. She waited, careful with timing.
Thus, the fight dragged on.
After a while, the humanoid suddenly clutched its head, crouching and screaming.
Gugaaaaaahh…aaahhh!!
Without facial features, no expression showed. Yet it seemed to writhe in pain.
The humanoid’s arms sharpened into spears.
—! [Cover]
The humanoid attacking the woman had been blocked instinctively, but the spear-like arms struck with piercing force, as expected.
“Kk…u!”
Deflecting both attacks with the large shield was impossible.
Maple’s HP diminished rapidly. Yet she could not stop Cover.
The woman would not survive unharmed.
“Gugaa…aaah…gaga…gugaa…”
“Eh…?”
The humanoid, previously attacking Maple without pause, abruptly ceased and stepped back.
“Gug…gug…”
The humanoid crouched, clutching its head, then blurred, fading until it vanished.
“T-t…thank you…?”
Maple’s HP bar showed only twenty percent remaining. She had aimed for a decisive counterattack. But continuing like that would have been fatal.
“Certainly… the exorcist’s holy water must have worked.”
“Is that… from the spring just now…?”
“Perhaps… a demon was clinging to my daughter.”
As the woman had said, Maple had fallen without striking back, because she had completed the quest “Chivalry of Benevolence 2” unharmed.
That quest succeeded only if neither the woman nor the player died. If either died even once, the quest failed.
Yet either way, the quest advanced to the next stage.
Still, a player without the spring quest completed, wielding only a great shield, would find combat against humanoid foes difficult.
“Ah… quest cleared…”
The current quest was complete. No new quest had appeared.
Skills remained unchanged.
“Let us go to my daughter!”
“Ah, yes. That’s right!”
Maple and the woman rushed to the girl’s side and checked her condition.
The girl slept as if dead. Shaking her did not elicit the slightest response.
“For now… we’ll take her home.”
The woman lifted the girl onto her back and stepped out of the temple.
At the same moment, a blue monitor appeared before Maple.
Quest [Chivalry of Universal Love 5] has been triggered.
Additionally, due to damage inflicted on the mother in Quests 1 through 4 falling below the threshold,
Extra Quest [Love That Offers the Body] has been triggered.
Choose one of the two routes.
“Hnn?”
Maple tilted her head, surprised by the unexpected turn of events.