Seeker 366

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Chapter 366. Quest Complete

The party eventually descended the mountain, passed through the forest, and reached the city.

The roc’s egg was still intact. I let out a sigh of relief—carrying it so carefully to avoid cracking it was no easy task.

But come to think of it, we never officially accepted a quest to obtain a roc’s egg. So... what do we do with it now?

Putting that aside, we headed straight to the Holmhrund estate.

As soon as the count heard that his daughter had returned, he came rushing out to the front gate at full speed.

"Elviraaaa! Thank goodness you're safe!"

"F-Father, I’m back... but, it hurts… Ugh… waaaaahhh! Father, I was so scared!"

Elvira, wrapped tightly in the count’s plump arms, initially tried to act as if nothing was wrong. But soon, tears welled up in her eyes, and before long, she burst into sobs.

It was a heartwarming reunion of father and daughter... or at least it should have been. Unfortunately, the count’s poor reputation dulled the emotional impact somewhat.

Still, I was genuinely glad that Elvira—annoying as she could be—made it back safe and sound.

As for the butler, Orve, we had simply left him behind.

Dealing with these two every day must have been stressful, but given what he did, I don’t feel inclined to defend him. I just gave a brief report, and the rest is out of my hands.

Now then—

I turned to the guild lady, who had followed us to the estate gate with the count, and asked if we could somehow retroactively register the roc egg quest.

She smiled and said.

"Understood. I’ll negotiate with the count."

What a relief. She’s a lifesaver.

Meanwhile, the count had already decided that Elvira needed a bath immediately and ordered a maid to prepare it at once.

With things settling down, Elvira requested her father.

"Father, I have a favor to ask. Please hire Nils, who is standing over there, to replace Orve as our butler."

She pointed at Nils, who stood awkwardly behind us.

He looked incredulous. "You’re serious?"

But, despite his words, he didn’t seem too unhappy about it.

"What? My sweet Elvira, I don't know who he is, but surely that scruffy boy is not fit to be our butler."

"He’s not scruffy! Father, Nils is the one who saved me! Not even you can insult him!"

"O-oh, is that so? He saved you, did he? My apologies, I didn’t realize. But still, making him our butler is a bit..."

"No, seriously, Elvira, I—"

"Nils, be quiet! This is my decision!"

With a dramatic gesture, Elvira pointed her finger right at Nils.

Nils scratched his cheek awkwardly, sighing. 

"Fine, whatever happens, happens. I’ll just roll it."

At that moment, Kazane leaned over and whispered to me.

"Daichi, should we report his past?"

That’s the real problem...

It’s only right to report it, but if doing so gets him executed, I can’t help hesitating.

Yuzuki, overhearing us, chimed in. Kazane leaned in and whispered the situation to him.

Our junior companion muttered under his breath so only we could hear:

"He said he’d turn himself in, right? We should trust him. That’s good enough, isn’t it?"

"Man... You really know how to handle things."

I sighed.

"Yeah, let’s go with that," I agreed.

So we decided to take Yuzuki’s advice. Since Nils himself said he would surrender, there was no need for us to report anything.

Whether he actually does it—or whether he’ll be executed if he does—is unknown. It could just be a misunderstanding on his part.

But either way, we didn’t want to be the ones pulling the trigger.

You could argue we’re accomplices, or that we’re breaking the law by turning a blind eye. But this is the decision we made. If we have to get our hands dirty, I’d rather follow my own conscience.

After everything settled, the guild lady started her negotiations with the count.

It was about the roc egg quest I had asked her to handle earlier.

Whether it was her negotiation skills or the count’s good mood from Elvira’s rescue, I’m not sure—but he readily agreed to acknowledge both the quest's acceptance and completion.

We handed over the roc’s egg and collected rewards for completing two S-rank quests.

And then—

───────────────────────

Special Mission: Rescue the Count’s Kidnapped Daughter – Complete!

All party members receive 50,000 experience points!

Mission: Complete 3 S-Rank Quests – Complete!

All party members receive 80,000 experience points!

New Mission: Complete 6 S-Rank Quests (Reward: 200,000 experience points).

Daichi Rokuyari leveled up to 56!

Current Experience:

Daichi Rokuyari... 2,864,804 / 3,133,157 (Next Level: 268,353 XP)

Kodachi Kazane... 2,779,636 / 2,848,853 (Next Level: 69,217 XP)

Hotaru Yuzuki... 3,085,451 / 3,133,157 (Next Level: 47,706 XP)

───────────────────────

And that’s how we wrapped up the mission.

It seems both S-rank quests counted toward the mission goal, as the previous "Complete 3 S-Rank Quests (2/3)" mission was replaced by "Complete 6 S-Rank Quests (4/6)."

With today’s work done, we left the Holmhrund estate and parted ways with the guild lady. Once again, it was just the three of us—and the creature.

Oh, and as for Nils, he stayed behind at the estate per Elvira’s request.

What happens next is out of our hands.

It was lunchtime.

Under the bright blue sky, Kazane stretched with a satisfied sigh.

"Mmm... We finished early today. What now? Lunch?"

"Oh! I spotted an interesting place on the way here. It looked like a bakery with an eat-in area, and they seemed to serve Western-style meals too."

"Sounds good! If no one has any other ideas, let’s eat there."

"Agreed!"

"Kupii! Kupii!"

And so, we leisurely made our way through the streets of Lahati, heading toward the eatery Yuzuki had mentioned.