Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu Chapter 63

Defense Specialization and Quest 3

Maple caught sight of the spring below.

This time, the woman did not say anything, so she went straight above it.

The spring was located at the deepest part of the area where scraggy rocks stood tall.

「For now, let’s get off somewhere close.」

After landing Syrup near the spring, she put it back in the ring and headed for the spring with the woman.

The area around the spring seemed to be free of monsters, so they could find their way there without incident.

The woman drew water from the spring and turned back to Maple.

「Knight-sama! Thank you very much!」

「Not at all, I didn’t really do anything special…」

「Let’s hurry up and go back!」

「Ah, yeah. Sure.」

They returned to the spot where they had gotten off Syrup and floated back up into the air.

They made it back to the town safely and the woman gave the girl some water.

Maple watched the scene.

「How are you?」

「I-I’m fine… don’t worry …」

The girl said, but her face was not looking healthy and her body was trembling slightly.

She didn’t seem to be fine.

Naturally, the next quest came up in front of Maple.

Quest 【Benevolent Knight 3】

「Of course, I knew it.」

As Maple had expected, the next quest occurred.

Maple checked her skill 【Benevolent Knight】, but it was still only displayed as a name.

Maple decided to accept the quest.

「Knight-sama! Thank you very much!」

「No problem, no problem.」

「There is a huge town far away, and I have heard rumors that there is a ring around there that heals the body when you put it on… I’m sorry for the uncertainty, but could you please bring it to me?」

「A huge… town? Could it be the first layer town?」

The first town that Maple was in when she started this game.

It was the only huge town Maple could think of.

「That means… the ring could be…」

Maple took out a ring from her inventory.

It was a rare drop that Maple had gotten in the very beginning.

The 【Ring of the Forest Queen Bee】.

「Knight-sama! You have brought it for me! Oh, I don’t know how to thank you…」

「Ah… it’s fine.」

Maple gave the woman the ring, which she hadn’t equipped recently.

The ring was a rare drop, but that didn’t mean she would never get it again.

So Maple was ready to give it to her.

「I’ll put it on you now…」

The woman put the ring on the girl.

Maple received the quest cleared notification, which proved that she was right.

「Ugh, gh—… gah…」

「…Are you okay? …Does it hurt?」

「Gh—…!」

The girl’s face was contorted in pain, but she suddenly jumped out of bed, threw the door open, and ran outside.

「W-wait!」

The woman chased after her.

A new quest notification appeared in front of Maple’s eyes as she was left behind.

Quest 【Benevolent Knight 4】

Naturally, Maple accepted it.

「At any rate… out of town I go!」

Maple rushed out of town as quickly as she could.

「There!」

When she got outside the town, she saw the woman sitting down.

As Maple approached, the woman began to speak.

「Uuuh… knight-sama…! My daughter went to…」

「Where did she go? Is she safe!?」

「My daughter went to the 【Temple of Everlasting Darkness】… even though that place is dangerous…!」

「…I’ll bring her back!」

「I will guide you… I cannot leave my daughter alone…」

Maple would have preferred to go alone, but it seemed that it wasn’t possible to leave her there, so she had no choice but to take her along.

Following the woman’s lead, Maple passed the fountain and came to a place further northwest.

There she found an old temple that was crumbling in places.

This was undoubtedly the 【Temple of Everlasting Darkness】.

Maple put Syrup back in the ring and entered the temple.

There was only one hall surrounded by walls and ceiling, and at the far end of the simple structure, a girl was lying on the floor.

The woman tried to run to her, but before she could, a jet-black mist erupted from the girl’s body.

It quickly took on a humanoid shape and charged towards the woman.

「【Cover Move】! 【Cover】!」

She had already confirmed during the first quest that she could use 【Cover Move】 and 【Cover】 on the woman.

Maple stepped in between the two of them and blocked the attack with her great shield.

「…! My 【Eating Inedibles】…!」

Maple had forgotten that 【Eating Inedibles】 had not recovered because she had been progressing so quickly, completing quest after quest.

The mysterious humanoid, having confirmed that its attack had been blocked, distanced itself from Maple.

「I have to think about how to use 【Hydra】…」

「Guhee… a-ga-ga-ga.」

「…That can’t be good, can it?」

Maple regarded the humanoid, which had no mouth but still made eerie noises, as a monster.

「Gi-gi-gi…!」

「【Cover】!」

The movements of the pouncing creature were monotonous, and even with Maple’s technique, she was able to block them well.

However, Maple had limited means of attack. She could not afford to miss, so she timed her attacks carefully.

This naturally prolonged the battle.

After Maple had endured for a while, the humanoid suddenly crouched down with its head in its hands and began to scream.

「Guhaaa— ah— a-a-aaaghh!!」

It didn’t have any face parts, so it had no facial expression, but it looked like it was in pain.

The humanoid’s arms sharpened up to look like spears.

「—! 【Cover】!」

She quickly protected the woman from the humanoid’s attack, but, exactly as its look suggested, the attack with the pointy arms was a defense-piercing one.

「Kuh—… kh!」

It was impossible to parry both attacks with its arms with the great shield.

Maple’s HP was being whittled away, but she could not stop her 【Cover】.

It was obvious that if the woman was hit, she would not be unharmed.

「Ggaaaaaaah! Gghha… ggaagh…」

「Eh…?」

The humanoid that had been attacking Maple single-mindedly suddenly stopped attacking and distanced itself from her.

「Guhee… Ghee…」

The humanoid crouched on the ground with its head in its hands, gradually blurred and finally disappeared.

「I-I’m saved…?」

Maple’s HP bar was down to about 20 percent. She was thinking of trying to make a one shot turnaround counterattack, but it would have been dangerous if things remained the way they were.

「I’m sure… this was the work of the 【Evil Expelling Holy Water】.」

「You mean… from that spring from earlier…?」

「My daughter… may have been possessed by a demon.」

The woman was right; Maple was able to defeat it without attacking because she had successfully cleared 【Benevolent Knight 2】.

That quest would be a success if neither the woman nor the player died and brought the water back, and a failure if either one of them died at least once.

But the quest would have moved on to the next stage in either case.

However, without clearing the fountain quest, it would be very tough for a great shield equipped player to fight the humanoid.

「Ah… quest cleared…」

Although she cleared the current quest, no new quests popped up.

Her skills remained the same too.

「Let’s go to my daughter!」

「Ah, yes. Of course!」

Maple and the woman rushed over to the girl to check on her.

The girl was lying dead asleep. They shook her to wake her up, but she didn’t respond at all.

「For now… I will take her home.」

With that, the woman walked out of the temple with the girl on her back.

At the same time, a blue screen appeared in front of Maple.

Quest 【Benevolent Knight 5】 has been unlocked.

Also, because the damage to the mother in the 【Benevolent Knight】 quests 1 to 4 was below the threshold…

The extra quest 【Self-Offering Affection】 has been unlocked.

Please choose one of the routes.

「Hmm?」

Maple cocked her head in puzzlement at the unexpected turn of events.