Free Web NovelWhen word spread that the current Hero was willing to handle even the most trivial requests, people immediately lined up in front of him.
"My bag containing all my precious belongings disappeared one morning! There must be a thief somewhere in this place!"
Ding!
[Quest] The Stolen Bag
The "careless" Pollen has discovered that the bag containing his emergency supplies, packed and ready for escape at any moment, has vanished...
The righteous knight reacted immediately.
"A thief? In a place like this? Isn't this somewhere people should be helping one another survive?"
"Exactly! That's what I've been saying!"
Ian dismissed the pathetic quest.
"Catch him yourself. Next."
"...?"
"Ian?"
"Do we look unemployed?"
Ian's threat shut Keith up immediately.
A look that clearly said Didn't you agree to find the kid's shoe? flashed across Keith's face, but he said nothing.
That's right.
Anyone with a conscience should know when to keep their mouth shut.
Because of that bastard, Ian had lost the chance to use an S-rank item!
"Next!"
"I-Ian! I broke a dish while running an errand for my parents! Could you help me find an identical one?"
"Go apologize. Next."
"...!"
The boy, who had been staring with shining eyes full of hope, retreated in shock.
To seek out Ian for something like that...
Keith was shocked too, albeit for a completely different reason.
But his magnificent fanaticism found something inspiring even in this.
...As expected, Ian is the friend and light of the lowly.
Drawn toward that light, people found themselves making requests they would never dare make of an ordinary Hero.
Had Ian known what Keith was thinking, he would have answered:
Village NPCs always ask Heroes to do random errands.
"The village has been out of alcohol for a long time. Those of us who can't sleep without it suffer terribly every night..."
"Get lost. Next."
Keith paid no attention to Ian's lack of mercy.
By Ian's standards, this was already an incredibly merciful response.
He hadn't kicked the man in the shin, after all.
The next person to step forward was a mysterious old man wearing a wizard's hat.
"There is said to be a legendary weapon buried in the graveyard behind the mountain."
"Really? Next."
"..."
"A legendary weapon! Aren't you even going to listen?"
The elf merchant stared in disbelief.
"What legendary weapon is going to be hidden in a dump like this? You actually believe that?"
"I-Ian. I'm standing right here, you know."
"Oh. Right. Next."
Ian waved the mysterious old man away.
Taking his place was a worried-looking woman.
"I burned a cake while baking. It used special ingredients. Could you help me make another one?"
"Of course, madam."
"...??"
The mysterious old man, who had been walking away, froze.
The elf merchant looked at Keith.
"What's his criteria for accepting requests? Physical appearance?"
"Watch your tongue, elf. Ian does not discriminate based on appearance."
"Huh?"
The elf merchant looked around at Ian's followers and then checked his own face in a mirror.
"..."
Regardless of the slander being exchanged among his companions, Ian had accomplished what he needed.
Ding!
[Keith considers you an 'Aesthete'.]
Ding!
[Dorian(?) is convinced that you are an 'Aesthete'!]
Ding!
[The residents of the settlement zone think you are a 'Collector of Beauties'!]
.
.
.
What is this nonsense now?
Ian swept away the utterly useless reputation notifications.
Only the important quest window remained.
Ding!
[Quest] Johanna's Cake (1)
Johanna's masterpiece, the Gelok Eye Cake, has been ruined.
This special cake requires the eyeballs of the mamool known as Gelok.
Hunt Geloks for Johanna.
Accept quest?
【Yes / No】
Good.
He had collected every quest he needed from this village.
Unfortunately, that process had also saddled him with a few unnecessary ones.
"There's a monster living by the river! Everyone's too scared to even wash their clothes!"
"Then don't wash them. Next."
"...Isn't cleanliness important for preventing disease?"
"T-That's right! You're always nagging residents about keeping things clean!"
"..."
His companions had somehow acquired common sense.
Which forced his hand.
Who taught them that nonsense?
Of course, the answer was Ian himself.
Still, aside from that, everything had gone perfectly.
The group set off to clear quests.
"Is that the cave?"
"I can sense beasts inside."
"Smells strange. Should we kill them?"
The cave was cleared almost instantly.
The mamool hiding within died beneath a casual wave of the elf merchant's hand.
A wind elemental summoned a violent gale that collapsed the entire cave.
It all happened before Ian could stop him.
CRACK!
KRAAAASH...
"..."
"How much debt did I just pay off?"
The elf merchant looked at him expectantly.
Ian ground his teeth.
"Go collect the quest item."
"The quest... what?"
"The shoe! Go find it!"
"Aw..."
After receiving a kick to the backside, the elf merchant tumbled into the collapsed cave.
In any case, once they recovered the shoe and returned it, the child revealed that his grandfather had made it.
And that his grandfather was actually a half-dwarf.
That led them through three consecutive quests involving a half-dwarf craftsman who had abandoned his trade long ago.
"To think I would work leather with these hands again..."
Tears gathered in every wrinkle of the old craftsman's face.
With a face like that, how did nobody realize he was half-dwarf?
Ian once again concluded that the game had been designed with shocking laziness.
"Sadly, this is all I have to offer my benefactors. Who would like to try them on?"
"Me."
"Very well. Try them. They should fit perfectly."
Of course they will.
Had anyone ever seen a quest reward become unusable because it was the wrong size?
Ian put on the leather shoes.
They fit perfectly.
Ding!
[Craftsman Nordshu's Leather Shoes (A)]
Handcrafted shoes made by Nordshu, a half-dwarf shoemaker.
They're so light it feels as though you could fly.
You may use the skills and .
Ding!
[Skill] Flight
You can fly.
Ding!
[Skill] Landing
You can land anywhere.
Incredible.
The true value of these shoes wasn't their stats.
Though the stats were excellent.
The real treasure was the skills.
Especially .
was useful mainly for preventing death by falling.
was different.
You could land anywhere.
And "anywhere" meant exactly that.
If there was an object capable of supporting a foot, then Ian could stand on it.
Which meant he could perform maneuvers like this.
"Ian, that's danger—?!"
"Stay back!"
Rejecting Keith's attempt to catch him, Ian planted his foot on a chunk of stone flying through the air.
!
A fragment blasted away by a mamool's attack suddenly became as solid as bedrock beneath him.
The posture Ian assumed after landing on the stone was bizarre.
The ground was in front of him.
The sky was behind his head.
To everyone watching, it looked as though he were standing sideways, parallel to the earth itself.
Maintaining that impossible stance, Ian twisted his body.
The mamool lunging toward him had never imagined its prey would suddenly change direction in midair and appear above its head.
"Keeeuuung?"
The confused creature let out a bewildered sound.
At that exact moment— frёewebηovel.cѳm
Ian stepped on the monster itself and launched upward.
"Eat this."
An Arrow of Light pierced straight through its skull.
CRUNCH!
Ding!
[Quest] Johanna's Cake (1)
Johanna's masterpiece, the Gelok Eye Cake, has been ruined.
This special cake requires the eyeballs of the mamool known as Gelok.
Hunt Geloks for Johanna.
Ding!
[Return to Johanna to receive your reward.]
"The eyes intact?"
The quest was complete, so obviously they were, but Ian asked out of courtesy.
Louise inspected the carcass.
"Yes. They seem pretty durable too."
"But what kind of cake uses monster eyeballs? I'm starting to wonder if we're helping a very strange person."
"She's not strange."
Ian corrected Sema's misunderstanding.
"She is a mage trying to poison her husband to death, though."
"...?!"
"Ian. Mages occasionally fall to the temptation of demon worship in pursuit of greater power. Anyone willing to poison a spouse is unlikely to be an ordinary criminal."
Keith offered a warning.
Feeling personally attacked, Sema immediately pressed a hand against his chest.
"I-It's not me."
"I know."
And Johanna really was connected to demon worship.
"That's right! He's definitely a demon worshipper! That's why I tried to poison him in secret. But now that I've been exposed, it's all over. Punish me if you must! Just... please spare my child. My child has done nothing wrong..."
"I'm not killing you. So where's your husband?"
Interrogate Johanna's husband.
Investigate the mastermind.
Uncover the village's darkness.
And various other objectives.
They completed six more linked quests and collected the rewards.
Ding!
[Saint's Rosary (A)]
A rosary belonging to a saint who sacrificed themselves for others and left behind not even a grave.
You may use the skill .
