Chapter 25: Quest

 

Arc – 03 Guild

I’m going to change “The Oracle of the Divine Child” to just “Divine Child” from now.

****

The Victor Squad, a shadow of the royal family. Now is guarding “Divine Child.”

Their original purpose was to gain acquaintance within the academy with His Highness Adam, the third prince of the royal family, and the mission regarding “The Oracle of the Divine Child” was an afterthought that was assigned as a result of discussions among the senior officials.

However, the importance of the mission is much heavier than it initially appears.

Originally, there were other royal shadows trying to contact His Highness Adam besides Victor’s team, and it was only a matter of time before one of the teams could get things right.

However, this was not the case with the “Divine child”. Not only the upper echelons of the kingdom, but also the church are deeply involved. And the oracle of the goddess contains many disturbing words. Victor’s team could no longer afford to fail.

It is good that the “Divine child”, along with those who are associated with the royal family, will bring glory for a thousand years. But to join hands with the demon tribe and bring a hundred years of suffering darkness to the kingdom?

According to the oracle of the goddess, individuals are only those possibilities and are not allowed to arbitrarily manipulate the possibilities.

Both the kingdom and the church have faith in the goddess Elinora. However, this is a different story. Knowing that they are afraid to outwit the goddess, both the kingdom and the church are guiding Daryl and Cecily, the “Divine children” little by little, with such excuses in mind: “This is not to manipulate their own potential.”

There is no specific statement in the oracle about those who are associated with the royal family who walk with the divine child. However, due to the fact that he is the same age as the two divine sons, the church considers His Highness Adam, the third prince, to be the one who will bring a thousand years of glory to the kingdom.

The Church has a take-it-or-leave-it relationship with the Kingdom, and in the past it has never given in regarding goddesses and doctrine, but …… This time it is different. The oracle clearly shows the conflict with the demon tribe.

The Church is a doctrine that the Goddess is the property of humans. The doctrine even says that the “Demonic race is those who unjustly steal the grace of the Goddess.”…… It is only an afterthought for the convenience of humans.

The content of such an oracle related to the God Child can be said to have determined that the Church will actively give to the Kingdom of McBrane.

And the existence of “apostles”.

Its existence is strictly secret, and they are said to be the guides and guardians of the “Divine Child. It is said that there is even one who is specifically named in the oracle of the goddess, but the church stubbornly refuses to disclose any information about the “apostle. That is the Church’s line.

Manipulating the potential of the Divine Children. The quickest way to do so. That is to use “apostles. Unlike mikko, “apostles” are mere humans. They do not have the favor or blessing of a special goddess.

Although the person in question was informed that he was in fact an “apostle” and had been warned to be careful around him……. But the “apostle” himself secretly communicated with the demon tribe and tried to take the “Divine child” to the demon tribe’s territory. In the end, unable to do so, he attempted to kill them, but help arrived in time.

He escaped into the territory of the demonic tribe, overcoming the pursuit of the kingdom and the church.

With such examples, the church wondered if revealing the “apostle” would have a negative impact on the Divine Child. Wouldn’t that make the goddess unpopular? Isn’t there a possibility of manipulation? …… Many people have such anxiety. If Al knew, he would say, ‘What’s that?’ dismiss it as “ridiculous.

The current policy of the church and the kingdom is to be cautious about “apostles” while interfering with Daryl and Cecily in many ways.

****

(Once the tutorial is over, the game will allow the protagonists to do relatively more free activities, such as taking quests and getting to know the characters on each route. but in this world, they are being watched & guided rigidly as the ” Divine Child” …… How will they be treated? I heard that the Kingdom and the Church are thinking of bringing the two of them to His Highness Adam to befriend him. But the opening event rather made a bad impression on His Highness, didn’t it? Even in the game, I think His Highness was portrayed as a rival character to Daryl and his friends in the early to mid-part of the game. ……)

Al felt that in this world, the game’s development is rarely mirrored as it is in the game, and that some sort of reconciliation is done.

However, there are some things, like dungeons, that follow the game settings, which can be confusing, but are generally under the common sense of this world.

In the game, after the tutorial, the main storyline progresses by clearing event quests.

Then, free quests are completed to level up, branch out to other routes, and open up hidden episodes and hidden characters.

(In the game, I had accepted a quest through the request board from the Adventurer’s Guild. The guilds in this world are merely unions of various professions. And there is no such profession as adventurer. Those who protect merchants and carriages from demons and bandits are barely close to the guards or bodyguards? I’m sure there is a guild of escorts. ……? All the diverse quests would be escort-related. There’s no spread of events, no shit. How does this world handle that? At least there should be no agency that puts together quests…)

A month has already passed since the tutorial orientation in the dungeon was over and Al was collared as a provisional apostle.

Joel and his friends are a faction of a certain noble count family from the north of the city, and they often take Daryl and Cecily around with them in the name of meeting the people involved. but basically they seem to give priority to the subjects they are learning and the classes they are taking.

The main purpose of this “Radford Royal Academy of Magic” is to gather the children of noble families of the age, to exchange blood through intermarriage with families from other regions, to strengthen the war potential by incorporating magic, to strengthen horizontal and vertical ties among noble families, and to renew factions, etc. For many, the function as an “Academy” is a bonus.

Of course, there is the fact that it also serves as a source for academics who conduct special magical research, etc. but it is no exaggeration to say that it also serves as a large exchange organization for young people from aristocratic families.

In such a situation, do those who are associated with the so-called quest aristocracy ever work as a handyman?

If not in the form of a quest, how will the protagonists be involved in the various human situations and episodes?

Al had his doubts.

Master Al. What are you doing today?

…… That …… I’ve said it many times, but I don’t mind if it’s just a regular Al, okay?

Interruption of thought. Vera.

She has been acting as Al’s squire for a few days now, under instructions from above.

She saw in Vera that she had the potential to stop Al the Berserker in a brief encounter. …… And Vera, from her point of view, she is deeply disappointed in herself as an observer who is being defeated by the target of her surveillance without a second thought.

“No, I don’t think so. I have been instructed to follow Master Al as his follower. There are other eyes on me. I can’t address the main family as sir.”

(Your attitude is as stiff as ever. I guess it’s better that if she called me Al-sama instead of Master. But still… There is no hidden intention to be distant from me, and I’m sure she doesn’t like it either, … not that I’m saying she’s like Colin, but…. It’s a little tough when she’s so close to me and I’m like this.)

In a sense, Vera is also a person with a collar, with another person holding the chain that connects to that collar. There is no comparison to the relationship between Al and Colin, who trusted each other.

“……For now, I’ll just check out the people with flickers of black mana, as usual. However, I have a few things on my mind, so I thought I’d go out to the town of the outsiders today ……”

“The town of the outsiders? Yes, sir. Is there anything I can get for you?”

“No, I’m just going to wander around and see what’s going on. …… I’ll leave as I am.”

I felt suffocated, but I couldn’t begrudge Vera that. As if they had formed a party, Al took her with him to the town of the outsiders.

****

The “Angus Inn” where Al spent several months before entering school.

Because of its proximity to the back streets, the rates are lower than the market rate, but not particularly poor, and the inn is relatively popular.

“…… Oh. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? You hunting backstreet thugs again?”

“Greetings. Now that I know that the underworld of Royal City is a lax mutual aid society, I no longer have any use for the feckless thugs of the backstreets.”

“……. You’re still saying such things so casually and noisily, so what do you really want with your babes?”

Although it is an “Angus” inn, the owner’s name is Vargas. He is the second generation, and “Angus” is his father’s name. Why didn’t he change his name when he took over the business?

The back street is close by, and Vargas is a good man, despite his appearance of being a skinhead with a pair of eyes. He is a man of action, a man of bad manners, but he is also a pacifist who has never been involved in violence.

“Mr. Vargas. You’re a good man, aren’t you? You’re a good man in this community, aren’t you? I just wanted to ask you a few questions.”

Al’s purpose.

The mystery of the quest. How are quests handled in this world? An investigation to confirm this. It’s the early free quest “Lord of the Abandoned Church” that Al knows for sure.

“…… Hmm. Well, maybe you didn’t mean it, but that thug hunt has made this area a lot more livable. If I know anything I can tell you, I’ll give you a discount.”

“Well, you do help people, don’t you?”

“……”

Before Al entered school, he used this Angus inn as a base for hunting hoodlums in the back streets here and there, which affected the security of the neighborhood. However, since the hoodlums only changed the places where they hung out, it was a local thing rather than a totality.

Seeing the blank period when the vagrants and hoodlums stopped coming around because of the fear of Al, Vargas took advantage of the opportunity and got the neighborhood residents involved in lobbying the church and the Knights of the Order of Public Safety to fix an improvement in public safety in the neighborhood.

There is an episode that Vargas, who was originally the face of the community in his own right, became the organizer of the area in both name and reality through a series of these moves.

(Thug hunting? More livable? …… What was this guy doing?)

However, Vera, who is waiting in the corner as a squire, does not understand the story at all. She never shows it on her face, but the question has certainly popped up in her mind as a question.

“I want to ask you about that abandoned church. I’m talking about Deacon Franz and Mary’s dead spirit. I hear it’s quite the rumor, but what’s the real story?”

“It’s tragic that Master Franz and Mary or……. I’m not sure if those two …… Are the spirits of the dead. But it has indeed been a while since the spirits of the dead have inhabited that church. The building was originally in a lot of damage, and there was talk of demolition at the initiative of the church of the People’s District. …… Despite the presence of the priest at that time, it is said that several people were killed or injured by spirits of death. The church is adamantly denying it. But as the demolition talk has been dropped and the building has been left as it is, it must be true.

I’ve heard that the church is expecting those with a background in “sacred arts” who are enrolled in the academy to accompany them in defeating the spirits of the dead. I’ve only heard rumors on that side of…”

There are no adventurers in this world. There are no adventurers’ guilds, either.

However, there are still organizations that could take its place. In this case, the Church.

Those with a background in the “sacred arts” who are enrolled in an academy. Daryl and Cecily fit the bill perfectly. Although it is unclear whether their mana has the same origin as that of the sacred arts.

(I see. …… Certainly the church has jurisdiction over the “Lord of the Abandoned Church” this time around. And the protagonists must have been linked here and there as the “Divine Child” to the extent that they don’t even realize it. In this situation, will noble families or churches ask them to help them with their “problems”? I think it’s a way to give them credit or something so that it doesn’t seem unnatural to connect their faces to someone of even higher rank. …… That’s how this world’s quests seem to work.

Wait, but then, the general populace’s quests for trouble would not reach Darryl and his friends? In the storyline, there were many quests involving noble families, churches, and academies, but there should also have been quests from commoners, economic slaves, and even demons and demon tribe members who hid their true identities. Are those events going to go on unexplored?)

Al forecasts a friction of quests in this world. It’s not too far off the mark. Just a short time ago, Daryl and Cecily were approached by the church about accompanying them on the extermination of the Dead Spirits.