Chapter 52 – Reputation and Quest
The system’s first few panels didn’t have changes. However, two new achievements appeared in the Achievement panel.
…
Achievement: Vampire Hunt (Baron)
Achievement Level: Black-iron Medal
Unlocking Condition: Hunt a Vampire Baron.
Achievement Points: 50
…
This first achievement was within Zwei’s expectations. However, the other one came as a surprise.
…
Achievement: Small Reputation (Human)
Achievement Level: Bronze Medal
Unlocking Condition: Reputation among humans reaches “Minor Fame.”
Achievement Points: 40
…
Although he had obtained 90 achievement points in one go, recouping a portion of the points he spent on purchasing the Trial Gate, Zwei still couldn’t help a frown.
“Reputation… Sure enough, something new appeared?” Zwei muttered without attracting the others’ attention.
Along with this achievement, a new panel had also appeared behind the Achievement panel.
Unlike the layout of the empty Achievement panel, this new panel had a loading bar positioned on its upper half, with the words “Reputation Points” above the bar.
The bottom half of the panel had several things similar to dialog boxes.
Written on the left of the khaki-colored loading bar was the word “Human.” This most likely referred to his reputation among humans.
In that case, he might end up getting reputation points for orcs, elves, and other races.
When Zwei clicked on the reputation bar, the following notification box appeared:
[Minor Reputation (Human): With your deeds in Byk Town, your reputation begins to circulate in the Noeg Region. (Your reputation will contribute greatly to the establishment of your magic academy. Please try to improve your reputation as much as possible.)]
Displayed below the notification were the reputation points he had, which currently stood at 20 points. However, as he still didn’t know what reputation points could be used for, he left them alone for now. What caught his attention were the several dialog boxes below the reputation bar.
There was a total of three dialog boxes, and written on them were: [3* Quest: Girl’s Home], [1* Quest: Defeat the Saberwolves], and [1* Quest: Guard Byk Town’s Merchant Caravan].
When he tried selecting these quests, the introduction for these quests would appear, followed by the words “Accepting this quest costs XX Reputation Points.”
Dammit! Other people’s systems force quests on them, so why does my system require me to pay for my quests?!
After complaining silently for a moment, Zwei started earnestly scrutinizing the three quests’ details.
…
Girl’s Home: Send Tio Skange back to where she rightfully belongs. Accepting this quest costs 20 Reputation Points.
Defeat the Saberwolves: There is a pack of Saberwolves wandering around Byk Town. Please kill at least half their number. Accepting this quest costs 5 Reputation Points.
Guard Byk Town’s Merchant Caravan: There is a caravan in Byk Town seeking to travel to the Yonia Region. Please escort the caravan to the Yonia Region while maintaining the casualty count below three people. Accepting this quest costs 5 Reputation Points.
…
Aside from these three quests, Zwei also noticed a row of fine print at the bottom of the panel:
[After a quest is completed, huge rewards will be given. Rewards will correspond to the quest’s difficulty. However, failure will also come with a corresponding penalty, so please be aware.]
“…”
There are even penalties for failure? Also, if I hadn’t paid close attention, wouldn’t I have missed these tiny words?!
After ruthlessly flipping a table in his heart, Zwei sighed and started considering whether he should pick up any of these quests or not.
Honestly, none of these three quests appeared challenging. However, considering how unreliable the Magic Academy System was, it wouldn’t be strange if an accident occurred during the quest. Moreover, even though the highest-ranked quest available was only at the three-star standard, it already cost 20 reputation points to accept. If he spent his points now, should higher-ranked quests offering much better rewards appear in the future, wouldn’t he only be able to look at the quest?
In that case, it would be wiser for him to save the reputation points for now.
However…
When Zwei looked at the peaceful expression of the girl sleeping on his lap, he couldn’t help but sigh.
They would arrive in Horador City tomorrow. Although the “Girl’s Home” quest didn’t seem very difficult based on its introduction, he felt that things wouldn’t go as smoothly as he wanted them to. Even so, it would only be a few more days before Tio would leave him and return to her previous life.
Initially, when Zwei first met Tio, he only found her a heavy burden due to her identity as the lord’s daughter. However, he also couldn’t deny that her appearance led to him taking his first real step into this world.
After that, the little girl’s cute appearance, timid personality, and the unconditional trust she placed in him made him treat her inadvertently as a pet. Now, he couldn’t help wanting to spoil her.
However, during yesterday’s battle, Tio had suddenly appeared to save Alyssa. While this situation had led to Alyssa (unilaterally) becoming close to Tio, it had also firmed Zwei’s resolve to send this kind girl back safely to her home.
The Magic Academy System had Healing Potions capable of saving even someone on the brink of death. However, a near-death experience might leave a psychological trauma in Alyssa’s heart, which would make it much more difficult for her to develop her magic standards. Hence, Zwei felt extremely grateful to Tio for saving his first and only student.
Zwei admitted that he wasn’t some kind of samaritan. He wouldn’t step forward to right every injustice he saw. Although he would sometimes take action based on impulse, more often than not, he would prioritize his own safety and avoid getting involved in troublesome situations. This was most likely due to the influence of the Doctrine of the Mean traditionally adopted by Chinese people.
However, Zwei wasn’t the type of person to repay virtue with grievance. On the contrary, he was someone who would repay virtues given tenfold.
“Really…” Zwei sighed involuntarily.
Afterward, he stopped hesitating and spent all his reputation points to accept the “Girl’s Home” quest.
Whether it was Zwei himself or his predecessor, both of them had a certain degree of understanding regarding the dark side of nobles. Originally, he had planned to just send Tio back and wipe his hands of the matter. However, the situation was different now. He wouldn’t just send Tio back to the lord’s home. Instead, he would send her to the place she rightfully belonged.
This way, so long as he completed the quest, it would mean that the girl would’ve returned to her rightful place. She might even live a happier life because of it.
“This is as much as I can do for you…” Zwei gently stroked the girl’s long silver hair. As he felt the spring breeze blowing at his face, he murmured, “You’ll have to take care of yourself from now on.”