Chapter 55

With great power comes great responsibility.

It was a phrase Xiaoming had heard or read countless times, and he had always believed it to be true. However, now that he found himself in such a situation, he felt deeply wronged.

'Why does great responsibility mean cleaning up the trolling of a predecessor...?'

Hero, since you have received my power, you must soon stand against the darkness that is approaching!

If it were a responsibility like that, it would at least be cool. But cleaning up the mess left by a troublemaker king...

-Even in real life, when you inherit an estate, the debts come with it. Isn't it the same here?

'I just wanted to enjoy pleasure without responsibility.'

There's nothing to be done about it.

Now that things have come to this, the only option is to find a way to appease her anger as stated in the quest.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty."

"Hmm?"

"From what I've heard, the previous Demon King once greatly helped the village. What if we consider that as compensation?"

"No. The price for that was already more than paid 800 years ago. When he made the last puppet, he swept away all the tears of the elves in the village. As a result, that year was a terrible famine. Ugh, that bastard. Just thinking about it gives me a headache."

"..."

Xiaoming regretted bringing it up and fell silent.

"Descendant of the Demon King, your name is Carpe, correct?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Very well. Carpe, do you feel my anger is unjust?"

"...No."

Just the fact that she didn't throw the artifact away on the spot was already a sign of great tolerance.

"I understand. I will take responsibility for my predecessor. What must I do to get the artifact back?"

"Hmm. Unlike the shameless Dretsch, you seem to have a sense of shame. Now I understand why Tina follows you so willingly."

"...Tina?"

The phrase 'follows willingly' seemed strange.

If she said it like that, it didn't seem like Tina was originally like that.

"Tina has always been a loyal knight..."

"Huh? Living so long, I've heard all sorts of things. Among the puppets, the one who was the most sarcastic to the Demon King was Tina..."

"Ah, Altair! Stop it. That's not important right now, is it!"

Tina's visibly flustered reaction was quite refreshing.

From her reaction, it didn't seem like she was making it up...

'How much of a reckless personality would the loyal Tina need to become sarcastic?'

-Just looking at what she did in the elf village, you can get a rough idea. She must have been a character who did whatever she wanted, no matter how outrageous.

That she unified the continent as an emperor 800 years ago made him feel sympathy for the residents of Arkham back then.

"Hmm. Well, your willingness to take responsibility is commendable. What should we do, then?"

Altair, with her snow-white hand on her chin, thought for a moment before speaking.

"Generally speaking, a storage fee should be charged."

"...A storage fee?"

It was such a common statement that it was almost shocking. At the same time, cold sweat trickled down his back.

...800 years' worth of storage fees. The amount was unimaginable.

"Surely not in money?"

"What use would human currency be to us? Our dietary habits and culture are different, so receiving items would also be meaningless."

The only thing Carpe could offer that would be useful to the elves was one thing.

"I'll have to take it in labor."

-Of course, it would come to this?

'Ugh... Well, that's how it is. After all, it's a game.'

The only thing a player could do for an NPC was to complete quests.

The background story of the Demon King's chaos was just that; realistically, it wasn't much different from the quests he had been diligently completing.

However, considering 800 years of resentment, what kind of absurd quest would appear...

"Don't be so tense. At most, you'll just be helping with the shortage of hands. Unlike Dretsch, I am an elf with common sense. First, go to the nearby forest and exterminate the bugs that are harming the trees."

"Exterminate bugs?"

"Yes. They're called sap bugs. Recently, they've been swarming, causing quite a headache."

According to her explanation, sap bugs were quite large but not particularly powerful monsters.

"As the descendant of the Demon King, you should be able to handle them."

'Oh, it's just a simple extermination quest. I was worried for nothing.'

-Well, it's the first quest. They wouldn't give something unreasonable right from the start.

But their speculation was completely shattered by Altair's next words.

"Let's see. About 800 should do to put out the urgent fire."

"Excuse me? 800?"

"Hehe. You don't have to be so impressed. As I said, I am an elf with common sense. I'd like to ask for 80,000, but I'll restrain myself."

"..."

Normally, an extermination quest would end at 20, at most 30. 800?

And to top it off, she was proud of reducing it from a much higher number...

'Is she trolling? Is she really trolling?'

-It's ambiguous. It's excessive, but not impossible if you really try.

'Ugh. This is going to be a grind.'

In PC games, where you could kill monsters mechanically with a few mouse clicks or keyboard taps, 800 wasn't a large number, but in a VR game that required full concentration, it was a tremendous amount of labor.

Tina, seeing Carpe's bewildered expression, spoke up.

"My lord, elves have a different sense of numbers compared to humans. To those who live for over 1,000 years, 800 is nothing."

"Ah."

Is that how it is?

Carpe sighed and nodded.

"I understand. I'll exterminate the bugs."

"Well done."

['Sap Bug Extermination' quest accepted. Successfully completing it will increase your favor with Elf Queen 'Altair'.]

"I'll assign a guide. Syrus."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

A male elf standing to the right of the queen in a fixed posture approached Altair in response.

"Guide the descendant of the Demon King to the forest. Inform him of any precautions."

"I will."

The start of a real quest. Carpe steeled himself.

Well, 800 is a lot, but with Hyeongi and Tina, it might end surprisingly quickly...

"Ah, by the way, Carpe, while you're exterminating the bugs, I'll borrow Tina for a while. We haven't seen each other in 800 years, so we should catch up, right?"

"Excuse me?"

Carpe looked at Tina in disbelief, and Tina nodded firmly in response.

"Altair, I want to talk too, but I cannot accept this request. I am your knight. As long as I live, I will never let you go to battle alone!"

"Exterminating bugs isn't a battle. You're still unnecessarily serious after 800 years."

"Anyway, no. If you want to catch up, do it later."

"Hmm... Well, you're right. It's natural for a knight to follow their master. Shall I ask the master's opinion?"

"Me?"

Is there a need to ask?

Of course, hunting with Tina would be much easier...

Ding.

[Exterminating the bugs alone will greatly increase Altair's favor. Additional rewards will be given upon quest completion.]

[Experience points earned during the quest will be automatically distributed to your followers.]

"Since I'm not so clueless as to interfere with a 800-year reunion, have a good time."

"Is that so? Tina, come this way."

"Master?!"

"Tina, you've worked hard. You should rest. If you don't want me to become a bad ruler, take this opportunity to rest."

"Keh... I can't."

Tina seemed reluctant, but mentioning a 'bad ruler' made her reluctantly agree.

Altair nodded, seemingly very pleased with the scene.

"And your magic squirrel."

"Kyu?"

"You should come this way too. As Tina's friend, you'll be treated as a guest."

"Kyu! Nye!"

But Mokhyang turned her head and refused.

Of course, it's only Hyeongi. Carpe was a little moved.

"Is that so?"

But Altair smiled cutely and snapped her finger.

Then, Syrus, who had been waiting nearby, disappeared and reappeared with a small box in his hand.

"Among the specialties of the elves, we have this."

Syrus opened the box with a click.

"Kyu?!"

On a soft red cloth, two acorns the size of walnuts were revealed.

As Altair rolled the acorns in her hand, Mokhyang's eyes followed them.

"These are special acorns that only grow in this forest. Will you not come now?"

"Kyuuuu..."

Mokhyang's tearful cry. Her previous firm stance was gone.

Seeing Mokhyang's struggle, Carpe chuckled.

"Hyeongi, it's okay. You can rest. This time, I'll go alone..."

Dodo!

Before Carpe could finish his sentence, Mokhyang ran over and sat on Altair's lap.

"..."

So this is why they say raising a child is useless.