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Chapter 96
“Two options?”
A quest was asking her to choose which path to take.
Elysia tried to hide her unease, taking a quiet breath. There was Finn right in front of her, and of all things, the relevant quest had appeared—making it difficult to maintain her composure.
“One option is to reveal his identity, the other is to hide it.”
Just looking at it, she couldn’t fully grasp the meaning. She quickly diverted Finn’s attention.
“Ah, but if we explore the Mage Tower ourselves, what about the refreshments left here…?”
“It’s easier to handle them with magic. Just a moment.”
As he spoke, Finn suddenly looked troubled, as if he remembered something.
“Actually, Jerome… Lord Flumen of the Tower asked me for another favor. Could you wait just a little?”
“Of course!”
While Finn picked up some nearby documents to take care of his task, Elysia quickly tapped on the quest window.
“Sometimes, if there’s too little information, tapping keeps revealing something.”
She tapped quickly, and the sound effect rang out again.
Ding!
“Please choose only one!”
Quest
<Bonus Quest>
-
Reveal Finn’s identity!
Haven’t there been suspicious aspects about Finn Ende? Why not take this opportunity to investigate him thoroughly and uncover everything he’s hiding? -
Hide Finn’s identity!
No matter how curious you are, there’s a line of decency! Finn is at risk of being re-examined because of you. Will you help him conceal his identity?
“…!”
Additional descriptions appeared under each choice. The unexpected sharpness of the words made Elysia flinch. Compared to the usual status window, the tone was cold.
“Finn is at risk of re-examination because of you.”
It felt like it cut right to the bone. Elysia took a deep breath internally.
“I’ve always thought that, anyway.”
She had always felt guilty for involving someone outside the usual flow of the game world. And now, it had even appeared as a main quest.
She couldn’t allow herself to get further entangled. Without hesitation, she pressed option 2.
2. Hide Finn’s identity!
“Option 2 selected!”
Just as she moved her hand to confirm the choice,
Ding!
“Do you really want to choose this?”
The confirmation window appeared again.
“Yes! I want to choose it!”
Elysia was about to click “Yes” when she stopped.
“There’s no yes button…?”
She wanted to click it and move on, but it didn’t appear.
“Is this a bug?”
At that moment…
Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy?
Aren’t you curious! Cur! Curio… Curious?
Ding ding ding!
The confirmation window seemed to glitch, covered entirely with letters.
“W-what is this?”
Panicking, Elysia pounded on the notification window.
“Crazy. I’m not curious! Snap out of it!”
Cur!i!ou!s…!
The moment her hand touched the rampaging window, the trembling screen finally calmed.
Ding!
“Apologies. A temporary error occurred.
∥‘Who… are you really?’∥
I am an AI system designed to assist with game progression.
Due to the administrator’s absence, I am operating in automated mode.
Please leave the game progression to me.”
Elysia glanced at Finn. Fortunately, he was still busy with his own work and hadn’t noticed the situation. She urgently added,
∥“No, even so… what was that glitch just now?”∥
The AI responded:
“AI systems may occasionally experience errors. Minor errors can be ignored.
We will continue to strive to provide the best service for Elysia.”
“…A system error, huh. I guess it’s chaos because there’s no administrator.”
Dealing with an administrator was at least predictable. An AI system, however, was unpredictable and prone to glitches.
“I guess I should meet the administrator at least once.”
The administrator had asked her to rescue him from the basement. Even if it’s a trap, she had to check. Thinking this, Elysia watched the next screen the notification window opened.
You have selected option 2: <Hide Finn’s identity!>
Quest Assigned
Bonus Quest
<Hide Finn’s identity!>
It seems Finn doesn’t want to reveal his special abilities.
But while fighting alongside the villainess Elysia, the moment has come where he must explain himself in front of everyone!
He seems to have his reasons, but you’ll need to help him, right?
Condition: For one day, help Finn avoid revealing his identity to anyone except the Tower Lord, the Emperor, Ministers, and Dukes (0/1)
Quest Reward: Memories useful to you
Failure: Partial memory loss
“…!”
“The reward and penalty are a bit strange, huh?”
Memories useful to her? Elysia realized that she retained very few memories from before possession. She couldn’t even remember contact information or bank details, so she couldn’t report anything to the administrator.
It was absurd that only game knowledge remained. And now “useful memories” likely referred to her past.
“It must be about my previous life.”
This could help her recover from the confusion. Now that she could use email, getting her acquaintances’ addresses might turn things around.
However, the penalty was risky.
“Partial memory recovery… If they take that away, I’d be in real trouble. I mustn’t let that happen.”
Moreover, the quest itself was suspicious.
“Helping Finn avoid revealing his identity…? That means he must have a hidden identity.”
Surprised, Elysia glanced at Finn.
“Could he… be from a noble family?”
Considering his healing magic, teleportation, and offensive spells, he might hold a high position even within the Mage Tower, not just ordinary nobility.
As Elysia pondered this, Finn finished his work and turned to her.
“Shall we go?”
“Huh? Ah, yes.”
Elysia nodded hastily.
“Let’s go.”
“Since you’ve already been to the library, is there anywhere else in the Tower you’d like to visit?”
Finn’s question made Elysia think carefully. She was curious about the room she’d be staying in and the famous locations within the Mage Tower she had only seen in the game.
But now, knowing the situation and the quest, there was something she couldn’t ignore.
“There’s a re-examination…”
Elysia spoke cautiously.
“Where is it usually held? Is it similar to where I had my ability test before?”
“Ah.”
Finn looked momentarily troubled, as if caught off guard, then explained.
“This is a bit unusual, so it’ll differ from a normal ability re-exam. It’s more like a reenactment than a test.”
“Reenactment?”
“Many couldn’t understand the process of defeating the beasts from just an explanation, so they want to see the process in a place where the beasts actually are.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
Elysia asked seriously. Even if it seemed suspicious, sending someone to a place with monsters for a demonstration was risky.
“Moreover, we don’t know when or where the beasts might appear…”
“Fortunately, the temple predicted it this time. We have information that a beast will appear in the western forest tomorrow, so everyone will go there accordingly. According to the temple, it isn’t particularly dangerous.”
“Is that so…”
Elysia frowned. Could she really trust that it wasn’t dangerous? How does the temple even know where the beasts or saints will appear? Their information network must be incredible. Truly the power of the gods?
“Then… were you really planning to handle the beast attack alone?”
If Elysia hadn’t known, could Finn have really managed that by himself?
“That’s impossible. It’s right that I handle it.”
“But that would be a difficult situation for you too, Lady,” Finn interjected.
“I heard that during the initial test, you were measured as an ordinary mage.”
And yet, Elysia had created a ‘bomb’ with an insane amount of mana.
“If that’s revealed, the royal court and the temple will impose stricter checks.”
“Even so, I can’t make Finn take responsibility for it.”
“I already…”
Finn closed his mouth mid-sentence.
Elysia suddenly remembered the quest message: ‘Ensure that no one other than the Tower Lord, Emperor, Ministers, and Dukes discovers his identity.’
Could it be…
“Do… my father or the Emperor already know about Finn?”
“…I’m not sure.”
For the first time, Finn looked genuinely flustered and avoided her gaze.
