chapter 29
A side story that can be progressed if certain conditions are met.
It was literally a structure composed of completely separate stories that had no direct relationship or influence with the main story.
If the main quest is a story in which the main character is pushed to achieve his dream, the side quest is a story that reveals the personalities of the surrounding characters including the main character, small stories, and the setting of the world view in a clearer and fun way. It was a kind of content drawn.
It’s not very practical compared to the main story, but thanks to the fairly generous rewards, users who want to enjoy the fun, the essence of the game, used to play it.
There are many side quests, but among them there is a story that hides a shocking truth that is engraved in people’s memories…
It was the secret of origin for the main character of the game.
When the game first started, the scene that appeared to the players started with the appearance that the protagonist, who seemed ordinary to anyone, was just starting an adventure.
As the story progresses, the main character, which players can see, is a very common adventurer to the bone.
Although nothing was officially revealed about the appearance of the main character, who is far too distant to be called an aristocrat in his speech, habits, attire, or appearance, it was expected that everyone was from an ordinary family.
In fact, as you progress through the story, among the words of the main character that can be checked intermittently, you can see scenes where he says, ‘I came from a region quite far from the royal capital’, or ‘I was born as the child of an ordinary farmer’. Looking at it, it was almost a semi-confirmed fact that he was a commoner.
However, the side story about the main character who meets the conditions and can proceed gave people what a reversal really is.
House of Robias
It is a famous name that you may have heard of at least once if you are not only interested in in-game, but also interested in your own story.
If you look at the items in the game, you can easily check the emblem or existence of the Lovias family.
As I remember, the Lobias family was the founder of the nation with the same depth as this country with a history of a thousand years, and was a great noble among the nobles who could sometimes assert power that was not inferior to the ruling royal family of this country.
It was a family in a position that had risen too high, a position that an ordinary citizen would not even dream of looking up at because it was a bullsh*t.
However, the eldest daughter of such a family was actually the main character who acted more ordinary than anyone else.
As it was revealed that the eldest daughter of the Lovias family was none other than the main character, players who liked the story of the game could not help but be in shock.
Because the Lovias family, who rarely appeared in the game, pursued luxurious actions as much as commanding and showed arrogance, so they were very heterogeneous compared to the main character who was kind and plain to everyone.
Of course, they are not blindly scolding others, they are always polite no matter what their opponents are, and they are a family that can feel the learning commensurate with power. It was a family that created an atmosphere that did not.
However, considering the treatment they received, it is not at a level that is not so understandable, and it was a family with a vague public sentiment that could not be hated because it was shown to some extent that they were trying their best to be considerate of others.
In any case, if I go back to the main point, emphasize the conditions, and accept the side story progression, a letter will come to the main character like a piece of paper in front of me now.
The condition to unlock the side is that the protagonist must achieve a certain amount of stats.
However, the stats are so unspecified whenever a character is created, and the game side did not disclose any details.
However, as the main story progresses, the story is unlocked when the growth of the main character reaches the middle level.
There are two things I want to risk and fall over here.
First of all, the fact that the side quest was forcibly carried out even though I never accepted it.
This story that I will experience now is a side story, not an essential element that must be passed through, so it was possible for the player to skip it if he wanted to.
But right now, I don’t even want to proceed with the side quest, but a letter has arrived to Erina as an incident that marks the beginning of the story.
So far, the main story has been going well, but I was forced to start a side story, so I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that something was wrong in the corner of my heart.
But even though I said this, it was not strange that these words were denied.
The progress of the site story was regarded as a game permit to the last.
However, what I am clearly seeing now is not a game, but a real reality, and the facts I have experienced so far.
In the beginning, the main story, the side story, and everything that I corrected was just my prediction using the knowledge in the game to the end, and it was a reality that it would not be strange if it deviated at any time.
And second.
Unlike the progress of the story I was doing with her now, it was unlocked too quickly.
As mentioned before, the exact conditions for unlocking this side story have not been revealed, but the standard is measured by the player’s strength.
It depends on how you nurtured it, but in most cases, it was solved in the middle to the middle of the main story.
In other words, if we want to receive this letter, we have to achieve at least 50 progress.
However, the last main boss that Erina and I defeated was the Whispering Demon, Malua, which was a fairly early booth.
So, the main story we’ve been working on right now is 20-30 at best, but as if it were a surprise, a letter from the Robias family arrived to Erina.
There are some disturbing elements in this somewhat inconsistent development, but if you think differently, you feel more secure about your future journey.
In order to progress the story of Erina’s birth secret, that is, the Lovias family, you need to grow around the middle of the game.
Now, the fact that the letter has come like this means that the current Erina is guaranteed to be at least as strong as mid to late.
Of course, this was also based on the knowledge in the game, so it wouldn’t be strange if I was wrong.
Still, if the standard for unlocking the side story in reality is related to Erina’s strength, it’s good news because it proves that at least until the middle of the story, you can proceed without worrying about Erina.
“Is it okay if I read it once?”
Carefully asking Erina a favor, she still nodded weakly and allowed me to read the letter.
“Yeah… I’ve read it over and over again… And Harold… Even if I read it all, my attitude toward me shouldn’t change…?”
I didn’t like the side story that much, so I can’t remember the exact content, but I was able to predict the content of the letter even if it wasn’t accurate because I knew the letter and the story of the side quest including it to some extent.
“Erina, I’ve heard about you recently, and she’s been running wild in the Royal Capital.”
“Don’t read aloud…!!”
Even though she mumbled a little, Erina’s current psychological state is sensitive, so she hastily tries to restrain me, even in a voice that may not have been worn by others.
“I’m sorry… I’ll just read it inside.”
He hastily appeased her and starts reading the letter again, concentrating on the contents of the letter.
“Hmm… well…”
She just nodded her head while making a light noise with her mouth, and Erina was getting more and more anxious because she was afraid of what kind of response she would get whenever she saw me like that.
Tuk!
After reading all the contents of the letter, he vigorously placed it on the table and handed it back to her.
“What do you think…?”
After examining my expression, he carefully asks me about my feelings, then swallows dry saliva and waits for an answer.
Here’s the summary of the letter as a whole:
In a letter directly written by her father, the current head of the Lovias family, it was written that her mother, including herself, was uncomfortable because she had become so famous that her contribution to the adventure she didn’t want came to her ears.
Also, since he has closed his eyes to the adventurer’s work to some extent and even took care of it for a few days, I believe he will enjoy it enough now, and it is a message to return to the family as soon as possible.
It was as if the daughter Ai, who had left for freedom, had thought that she had been separated from her family and had achieved great independence, but in reality, she was speaking with the nuance that everything was in their hands.
“First of all, I don’t understand why you’re talking to me like that.”
“What…?”
For a moment, as if doubting his ears, he opened his eyes and looked at me, but soon his eyes began to show emotion and gratitude.
“Isn’t there anything in the content of this letter that makes me feel bad? So, at first I was curious about what the hell it was, but when I read it, there wasn’t much of it.”
When he said that, he smiled slightly as if he had been relieved, but soon became full of doubts.
“But isn’t it surprising, Harold, that I’m actually from the Lovias family? We’ve been keeping each other secret until now, but in fact we’ve been hiding something that shouldn’t be hidden.”
To be honest, I had forgotten that she was a nobleman, but it was a fact I had known before, so I wasn’t very impressed, and I too… I wasn’t telling everyone the secrets that shouldn’t be hidden, so in a way, she was a teacher.
“Everyone has at least one secret they want to hide, and even if you are a noble, you are yours, and Erina is my best friend.”
“Harold…”
Those words brought life to her subdued mood, which made her smile brightly, and returned to her usual lively figure, even a little.
“That’s right… I’m me, so I want to carve my own path.”
He clenched his fists with a confident expression and showed an attitude of trying to overcome the world that oppressed him.
“After all, since you found out about me, I will tell you all about my circumstances.”
“As you know, I am the eldest daughter of the Lovias family, a great noble who can hold the most power after the king in this kingdom, and my parents also taught me to live a noble life.”
I already knew it vaguely, but I didn’t want to break this serious mood by answering for nothing, so I quietly listened to Erina’s words.
“Despite such circumstances, I have always dreamed of becoming an adventurer who wants to explore the vast world by reading books that contain the anecdotes of many heroes.”
Rather than gradually sinking in the atmosphere, he slowly lowered his head with a slightly lingering face as if he recalled a bad memory.
“But, as you might expect, my hopes were completely denied by my parents… you don’t deserve an adventurer’s job…”
It was an era with a strong medieval feel that was different from the world I was living in, and I had the technology and culture appropriate for it to some extent.
Of course, by respecting people’s values first, anyone can do what they say is right, but that’s just a situation that only applies to an ordinary person like me.
In an aristocratic society that values the family more than the individual’s thoughts, if a woman who should look old-fashioned and calm would do a cumbersome job of harming dirty demons, the person of that family would stubbornly reject it.
Still, this also depends on what the family pursues, and in the case of a knight family, all children are raised as swordsmen regardless of gender.
However, it depends on the family, and since the Lovias family, the Erina family, values the tradition and nobility that the country has considered so far, the values held by the family could be in conflict with Erina’s will.
“So in the end, I gave up my family surname and ran away. I made up a name and family history that didn’t exist, disguised my identity, and took off the boring and disgusting dress and chose the armor that looked suffocating.”
As revealed in the side story in the game, Erina had a pretty dark past, and she wanted to take an adventure, but her family was against it, and it contained a story of conflict.
Once in-game, upon receiving this letter, the main character goes to the mansion of his hometown, Robbias.
After arriving, they had several conversations with their parents in a bad mood, and as the story began and progressed in earnest, they faced various crisis situations, giving viewers the thrill of tension and anxiety.
There are a lot of really tense situations, but in the end, the end of this side story ends with the obvious and heartwarming appearance of the protagonist, who is recognized for his abilities by his parents, is officially allowed to adventure, and goes on a journey as usual. .
The ending is very predictable, but considering it’s a side story, it was evaluated as a suitable ending for a short story. did.
“So… what are we going to do now?”
Now that I knew her situation, I thought carefully about how to deal with this.
“Once I’ve been called like this, I’ll have no choice but to go… If I refuse, I will use the power of the aristocracy to ruin everything around me, until I lose everything in this life and return to my own family.”
Although it has never been described in the game, I am surprised by the words that seem quite exaggerated and yet have a sense of reality.
“And, although it’s not in this letter, I’ve got someone coming to me today.”
Someone is coming…?
It was so vague like a memory from a long time ago, so I couldn’t remember everything, but I don’t think there was such a development in the game?
“Are you a member of the family?”
When asked that question, he slowly nodded his head and gave an ambiguous smile that didn’t know his true intentions.
“I have an older brother who is about three years older than me, and he is the eldest son of the Lovias family. He is now doing an honorable job as a knight protecting the royal family.”
brother?
Did Erina have a brother?
“Still, my brother was the only family that was friendly to me, and he taught me swordsmanship without my parents knowing, and gave me support for my dreams.”
It can break the atmosphere, but Erina’s words that come to mind as she recalls such memories are intercepted and she hastily spit out a question.
“Did you have a brother? What’s your name?”
In the game, no matter how you choose your gender, there were no siblings who were older than the main character.
But now, Erina said that she had an older brother who was three years older than her, and was actually saying that she had many good memories.
“Suddenly? I don’t care what you tell me…”
Sensing that something was wrong, she was embarrassed and asked in a rather urgent voice, and Erina appeared a little surprised.
“My brother’s name is…”
Still, I try to answer my questions faithfully, and the name that came out of her mouth immediately makes my eyes widen.
“Elbert Robbias, the eldest son of our family and my brother… As I said before, I’m serving as the commander of the knights protecting the king.”
chin!
At those words, I unknowingly slammed the table with both fists and lowered my head. My thoughts were so mixed up that I couldn’t even tell what kind of expression I was making now.
“Harold?”
Erina begins to show embarrassment and anxiety about my reaction.
When a character is created in the game, the gender is determined, and the protagonist’s own name exists in the story for each gender.
In the case of a woman, Erina was the same name as the woman in front of me.
And in the case of men… the name Erina called her older brother earlier.
elbert
It was none other than the name he would use if he had chosen the gender of the main character as a man.
“That… and there’s something I couldn’t say, from what I heard, the view that my brother is coming…”
“Now.”
Tickle!
At the same time, by chance, the door of the guild hall opens a little rough and begins to attract people’s attention.
“Is that Elbert-sama?!”
After that, several adventurers who saw the person who came in could not stop admiring each other as if a precious person had come to a shabby place, and whispered to each other in unstable tones.
“The Kingdom’s elite knights also followed.”
“Why did such a person come here?”
“I don’t think it’s normal if you’ve led that army…”
Befitting the reputation of defending the king while receiving the attention of many people, he silently entered the guild hall with shining armor and scabbard.
Let’s turn our attention to people’s reactions.
“I’m looking for a person.”
A man who seemed a bit more mature compared to the face I knew, calm and so majestic, slowly opened his mouth.
If what I know is correct… this person is definitely the male protagonist in the game…
“Is there anyone here named Erina?”
Elbert Robbias, there was a man I knew all too well.