When she came to her senses, she was in front of the inn where Rellia was staying.
Rellia only stepped on the ground after arriving there.
Perhaps startled from encountering Emperor Perseus, her legs trembled, making it difficult to maintain her balance.
Kallicks quickly grabbed her arm.
"Are you okay, sister?"
"...Yes."
Rellia answered with effort and pressed her lips together tightly.
Her stomach felt queasy, exactly as if she had seasickness. Yet Kallicks had run at such tremendous speed and showed no sign of exhaustion.
'He grew up completely like a monster...?'
The one who ran was Kallicks, yet I'm the only one struggling.
Rellia looked at Kallicks with an expression of somehow unfair resentment.
Entering the lodging, Rellia checked the clock on the wall. Romeo would be coming this way soon as well.
'Somehow my quarters ended up becoming the hideout....'
Rellia suddenly recalled that her quarters in the temple had become the same way, and she laughed.
As Rellia suddenly laughed with a deflating sound, Kallicks sat down on the sofa with a puzzled look.
Rellia poured water from the tea table and handed it to him.
"Despite all that showing off, you failed in the end. Should have gone with me?"
Kallicks asked sarcastically.
Rellia glared at him and sat across from him.
If Kallicks had gone together....
It would have been terrible.
Kallicks would have been startled by Emperor Perseus suddenly appearing, and would have beaten him down without hesitation. Things would have gotten much bigger.
"At least we didn't get caught. We just have to wait for another chance...."
Barely listening to Rellia's words, Kallicks gulped down the water and asked.
"What exactly is the thing you're looking for?"
"...There is one."
Rellia gritted her teeth tightly.
'I was 95% successful....'
This was all because of Emperor Perseus.
'Then what should I do now....'
Since that incident happened today, surveillance at the northeastern city gate would probably become even stricter.
One soldier lying unconscious in front of the gate, several soldiers who fainted while standing, and the emperor and knight unconscious in the hut.
Fortunately, there were no traces so it wouldn't be discovered, but the future was the problem. Rellia had to go back to that hut.
'Should I really disguise myself as Romeo's fiancée or distant relative to enter the imperial city...?'
A frustrated sigh escaped.
'Come to think of it....'
Rellia stared at Kallicks intently.
Above his head, the [!] quest icon and [?] affinity bar were still floating.
Rellia searched her memory.
[Special affinity can be checked starting from when the value crosses into +, or each time you use crystals or complete hidden quests! o(≧∇≦o)]
According to that explanation, Kallicks's affinity value currently meant it was in the plus range.
'Just how high is the affinity...?'
It meant that while everyone else was struggling with minus values, only Kallicks had risen to plus values.
He was like that when he was young too, but Kallicks was really... simple.
At that moment, a translucent square window appeared.
[Would you like to check the affinity of Special Affinity Target
※Caution
Since you don't have a quest clear ticket, 1,000 crystals will be used. ʘ‿ʘ
"......"
One thousand crystals? One thousand?
One thousand crystals was a whopping 1 million shillings.
'I'm not checking.'
It was too expensive, ridiculously so. Rellia turned her gaze and stared piercingly at the [!] quest shape.
Actually, she had wanted to check those quest marks floating above her five friends' heads since before....
Suddenly Oscar and Griffith left, and the schedule for infiltrating the imperial city was quickly arranged, so she was too busy.
The exclamation marks above the other friends were gray, but only Kallicks's was red.
It seemed that you could only proceed with the quest after the affinity turned to plus.
Ding!
Along with a cheerful sound, a rectangular quest window popped up.
It was special UI mode, so she could give commands without pressing buttons, which was definitely convenient.
[It seems Special Affinity Target
※ Quest Story Progress: 0%
Below that, the reward list icons were floating.
Rellia checked the rewards one by one.
∙ Affinity Check Ticket 1 sheet
∙ Special Recipe Puzzle Piece 1 piece
∙ Lv. 1 Random Gift Box[?] 1 piece
∙ Alchemy Lottery 1 sheet
The 'Affinity Check Ticket' seemed to be for checking someone's plus affinity without using crystals, as seen in the earlier guide.
And the 'Special Recipe Puzzle Piece' was....
'Do I have to collect all the puzzle pieces to get the recipe? How many do I need to collect? And what about the ingredients?'
Her head hurt from the ensuing questions.
Either way, if she collected all those recipe puzzles and cleared it, she would get closer to the final item, the 'Philosopher's Stone'.
'I don't know how many quests I have to clear, but....'
It didn't seem like something that would end overnight.
'What's that random gift box?'
Rellia quietly looked at it and speculated.
Given that the level was the lowest at level 1, and looking at the wooden box icon, it didn't seem like a box that would give good items.
'It might be ingredients for the special recipe.'
Once collected, everything tends to be needed later.
And lastly....
'Alchemy lottery ticket?'
Originally, this game had a lottery scratching system since the protagonist ran a lottery shop.
'But it was blocked here.... Whatever, let's just try it.'
Rellia looked at the 'Accept' button without hesitation.
[Will you accept the quest? (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑]
'Yes.'
As she spoke inwardly, she could confirm that a quest list was created on the right side of her vision.
Since it was special UI mode, the settings button at the bottom right, crafting button, inventory, and now quest as well—all were visible in her field of view.
Fortunately, they were small enough not to interfere with daily life.
"You're glaring at something alone, why?"
"It's nothing. Um... do you have any worries?"
"......"
When she asked point-blank, Kallicks's eyebrows furrowed. He looked at Rellia as if she were a crazy person.
The words had come out too abruptly.
Rellia panicked, shook her head briefly, and changed the subject.
"...Anyway, it seems I'll have to enter the imperial city again as Lord Romeo's distant relative sister, just as he said."
"Yeah, that would be good."
"......"
Rellia closed her mouth and pondered how she could hear Kallicks's worries.
Kallicks was sitting comfortably, polishing his weapon, looking like someone who had absolutely no worries.
That weapon was a greatsword he had received as a gift from a mercenary he had served as his master when he left the imperial city.
It was a heavy greatsword that no one could lift, and the mercenary had given it to Kallicks as a joke, having stowed it away in his house.
Naturally, he expected Kallicks wouldn't be able to lift it, but Kallicks easily raised the sword even at a young age.
It wasn't simply a matter of strength.
A sword with intelligence had chosen him.
In this world, swords with intelligence existed, and that sword was one of them.
Rellia asked to dispel the awkward atmosphere.
"The sword must be hard to carry around because it's so big."
"Yeah. It's not heavy, but it gets in the way. I was actually worried about that."
At those words, a rectangular window rose up.
[Special Affinity Target
It seemed to be a notification message guiding quest progress.
"......"
After thinking for a moment, Rellia came up with a good idea.
Rellia turned her gaze and brought up the recipe list, then scrolled through it.
'There it is!'
The item Rellia thought of was 'Object Shrinking Potion.'
It was a special item that could freely adjust the size of a single specific object.
Fortunately, she had just enough materials to make one. It was a somewhat precious item since special ingredients went into it.
'Should I give this or not?'
If she gave this, Kallicks's worry would be solved immediately.
'What if he gets suspicious?'
But Kallicks might become suspicious of her.
'...Somehow Kallicks is simple, so I don't think he'll be suspicious.'
Rellia hesitated, then gathered courage and spoke.
"I have a potion that can adjust the size of an object you want. If you need it...."
"Really? Give it to me! Me!"
Before she even finished speaking, Kallicks reacted. As expected, Kallicks was very simple.
Rellia proceeded with the crafting button with her eyes, then took out the completed potion from her inventory. She handed the potion to Kallicks, pretending to take it out from her bag.
"...This is also a potion that the people who raised me obtained together...."
"Let's try it, let's try it!"
Kallicks didn't even listen to Rellia's excuse. His expression held not even a speck of suspicion.
Rather, he cast doubt in another direction.
"The sword won't break, will it?"
"That won't happen."
At her answer, Kallicks sprayed the potion directly onto the sword.
Then amazingly, the giant greatsword shrank to the size of a dagger. Kallicks exclaimed in admiration and watched the sight with sparkling eyes.
"...But how do I make it big again?"
"You just need to give a command inwardly."
He must have done it right away, as the sword that had shrunk to dagger size returned to its original size.
Kallicks looked at the sword with a somehow moved expression, then turned his gaze to Rellia.
"I originally thought well of alchemy."
"......"
"I don't know who that alchemist is, but introduce me too. They'd be very useful."
"I don't know who it is either...."
Rellia gave a vague answer.
Kallicks repeatedly shrank and restored the sword, apparently fascinated by it.
At that moment, a rectangular speech bubble appeared.
[Quest complete! ✧*.◟(ˊᗨˋ)◞.*✧ Collecting rewards!]
∙ Affinity Check Ticket 1 sheet
∙ Special Recipe Puzzle Piece 1 piece
∙ Lv. 1 Random Gift Box[?] 1 piece
∙ Alchemy Lottery 1 sheet
And then the quest window appeared once more.
[Raise Special Affinity Target
※ Quest Story Progress: 10%
Rellia accepted immediately and moved to the item list.
'Since I need to raise affinity more anyway, I'll use the affinity check ticket a bit later.'
First, she pressed the Lv. 1 Random Gift Box.
She opened the box with anticipation, but only a few useless ingredients came out.
'I knew this would happen.'
Rellia, disappointed, pressed the 'Alchemy Lottery 1 sheet' item she received as a reward. Then a small notification window popped up.
[Alchemy lottery can only be used when the Special Shop is open! The Special Shop opens when sub-quests are completed. ٩(｡•ㅅ•｡)]
What's a sub-quest....
The situation was already complicated, and trying to manage the game too made her head feel like it was cramping.
At that moment, a knocking sound was heard at Rellia's door.
Checking outside through the small hole, it was Romeo.
When she opened the door, Romeo asked as he entered.
"Failed, right?"
"......"
Rellia nodded with a sullen expression.
Seeing that expression, Romeo paused for a moment, then clicked his tongue as if he knew it.
"So what now?"
"...I suppose we'll have to use the method Lord Romeo suggested...."
"Wait."
"Yes?"
Romeo, who flopped down across from Kallicks, glared alternately at her and Kallicks.
"Something's strange."
Romeo muttered.
"What is?"
Kallicks replied curtly, polishing the shrunken dagger.
Seeing that, Romeo looked at Rellia again.
"Didn't you call Kallicks 'orabeoni'?"
"......"
"Why am I 'Lord Romeo'? I'm the only one feeling the distance here, you know?"
Rellia clenched her fist. Are you seriously saying you want to hear that title too?
When she asked with her eyes, Romeo spoke.
"Instead, just call me by name without the 'Lord.' Why are you only discriminating against me? Why are you ostracizing me?"
"What, I like being called orabeoni, why are you picking a fight? I always wanted a younger sibling like Leo!"
When Kallicks flared up, Romeo sneered.
"Then make her call you 'hyung'?"
Kallicks frowned as if telling him to stop talking nonsense.
"Well, not bad. But she's a girl."
Rellia, who couldn't stand it anymore, stepped in.
"We don't have time to discuss such useless things right now. How do I enter the imperial city as Lord Romeo's distant relative sister?"
At those words, Romeo answered nonchalantly.
"That method is rejected. On my way here, there was a commotion, so I looked into it, and apparently the emperor is looking for some woman. A woman with green eyes."
"......!"
Rellia sighed with a sense of defeat.
She had worn the robe's hood deep enough that only her eyes were visible.
'I thought he was so drunk he'd think it was a dream....'
She understood why Romeo was certain of failure as soon as he came in.
"In this situation, there's only one way to enter the imperial city without being suspected."
"...What is it?"
Rellia looked at Romeo without much expectation. The corner of his mouth lifted slyly.
"You just have to go in dressed as a man."
"......!"
Rellia was so surprised she opened her mouth wide. Kallicks laughed with a deflating sound.
"Dressed as a man? Her? No matter what she does, she'll look like a woman."
No, that's not it.
Rellia blinked.
If the emperor is looking for a 'woman with green eyes,' there couldn't be a more certain method than this.
Thanks to the cross-dressing talk, she suddenly remembered that among the 'Alchemy Lottery' recipes, there was definitely such a potion.
'A potion that makes people mistake me for a man.'
That recipe had existed in the game since her past life, and it was an item for an NPC named 'Phantom Thief Luping,' one of the customers at the 'Alchemy Lottery' shop.
It was a potion specially requested by Luping, who deceived gender, age, name, everything to commit thefts.
When you open the medicine bottle, invisible smoke flows out.
That smoke causes the opponent to see illusions and make misconceptions. It could be seen as a kind of hypnosis.
It was a recipe she used conveniently since it gave a lot of experience points and money.
There were sister products like a potion to make people mistake you for a woman, a potion to make people mistake you for a child, a potion to make people mistake you for an elderly person, a potion to make people mistake you for a turtle, and many other similar series of potions.
However, the duration was very short. At most, about 10 minutes.
Because of that, she couldn't maintain the cross-dressing with this method, but if she were openly suspected to her face, it could be used to resolve that moment.
'Then I'll have to use methods like wearing a wig normally....'
Rellia pondered whether there were more items for disguise in the 'Alchemy Lottery.'
She would need to change hair color or eye color.... There were so many recipes that she'd have to look more.
"That's a good method."
"You're really going to do it?"
At Rellia's determined voice, Romeo asked as if it was unexpected.
He had said it as a joke, but seeing her accept it sincerely, his flustered demeanor showed.
"I'll use alchemy potion to change my hair color and make it short. Eye color too, the same way. For reference, that potion is one the people who raised me obtained together...."
"Do whatever."
"......"
Before Rellia could finish speaking, Romeo waved his hand and answered. As if he didn't want to hear detailed explanations.
'It's a good thing Griffith isn't here. If that guy was here, you would have been suspected right away, saying "Are you perhaps an alchemist?"....'
Rellia sighed in relief inwardly, looking at the two people who were incredibly simple.