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* * *

“Why are you grinning like that?” Axel asked, eyeing me warily as if my overly cheerful expression was cause for concern.

“Does it make you nervous when I smile?” I narrowed my eyes at him, and he shrugged, giving me a look that seemed to say, “Isn’t it obvious?”

Was it because it looked like Axel and I were about to get into another squabble? Bael, who had been quietly observing, quickly intervened in our conversation.

“Let’s talk about the Regennetasia Order first. I’ll give you time to argue later,” he said, using a tone that sounded like a teacher dealing with children. Axel and I exchanged exasperated glances, both of us annoyed but also momentarily united by our shared disdain.

“Argue? What are you talking about?”

“Yeah, we’re not kids.” 

Axel and I laughed heartily, pretending to be on good terms as we shook hands, and Bael shook his head as if we were hopeless.

“Alright, alright, I get it. Now, you two who get along so well, please focus on the discussion.”

His voice still carried that teacher-like tone, as if he had no trust in either of us. I was just about to voice my complaint when Bael dropped a bombshell.

“I think I should meet with someone from the Regennetasia Order myself.”

“What? You, Bael, going in person?” I was so shocked by his statement that I completely forgot what I was going to say.

“They’re unpredictable. Why go meet them in person?”

“Meeting them directly is the best way to get accurate information, don’t you think? We need to determine if the entire Regennetasia Order is in league with them or if it’s just a rogue faction.”

“Hmm…” I couldn’t deny his logic. But Bael, being a pure priest, wasn’t exactly cut out for combat. Sending him alone would be risky for various reasons.

“Then I’ll go with you,” Axel offered, seemingly having the same thought as I did.

“It might not be ideal for the Tower Lord to meet with the Order’s members, but you definitely shouldn’t go alone.”

“If Servian were here in the capital, he would have been the perfect companion,” I murmured, feeling a pang of regret. Axel and Bael nodded in agreement. After all, Servian was still on his way back from a long journey where he’d gone to save my life, so we couldn’t really blame him for not being available.

Then, a brilliant idea suddenly came to me.

“Or, wouldn’t it make more sense for me to go as a Saintess…?”

“That’s not happening.”

“Absolutely not.”

Before I could even finish my suggestion, both Axel and Bael cut me off in unison.

“What? Did you two plan this?” I asked, annoyed.

“Plan what? It’s just because what you’re suggesting is nonsense,” Axel said, sighing as he lightly flicked my forehead with the back of his hand.

“Kids shouldn’t meddle in adult affairs.”

“I may look like a kid, but I’m definitely an adult on the inside! And I’ve already made my debut at the Debutante Ball!” I straightened my shoulders and declared proudly, but Axel and Bael were completely unmoved.

“Even so, a kid is still a kid.”

“That’s right. Reshi, you still need protection from adults.”

Their stern looks made me feel a surge of rebellion. I was definitely an adult! Just as I was about to pout in frustration, a realization suddenly struck me.

‘Could it be… puberty?’

In my previous life, I hadn’t really experienced puberty. Or rather, I hadn’t had the time for it. My mind had been too preoccupied with surviving on the streets to worry about such things. Perhaps puberty is a kind of luxury, a right you can only indulge in when your stomach is full and you’re warm and comfortable.

As I pondered this, absentmindedly rubbing my chin, Bael gently patted my shoulder.

“And Reshi, you can’t openly use magic right now, remember? So, like me, you can only rely on divine power. That would mean sending two priests without combat abilities into enemy territory,” he explained kindly.

“That’s true,” I nodded, quickly agreeing with his gentle reasoning. Bael smiled approvingly and patted my head.

“Exactly. So, please trust Axel and me to handle this. Meanwhile, you stay here and keep an eye on Eugene.”

“Right. If you two make a move on the Regennetasia side, the former emperor might get nervous and target Eugene again.”

“It is strange, though. If they really were hit by a backlash from the curse, we should have received some signal by now…”

Knock, knock.

Before Bael could finish his sentence, there was a knock on the door. Axel’s face scrunched up in annoyance at the interruption.

“I thought I said we weren’t to be disturbed.”

“I apologize, young master,” the servant responded, his voice hesitant and apologetic. “But a letter has just arrived from the palace… They said it’s very urgent.”

At the servant’s words, Axel, Bael, and I exchanged glances.

I shrugged and remarked, “It seems like that ‘signal’ just arrived, don’t you think?”

* * *

Axel and Bael hurried off to the palace. Given my circumstances, it wasn’t as easy for me to freely come and go from the palace as they could, so I would have to wait to hear the full story later.

‘In the past, I might have been upset about being left out of situations like this.’

But now that I understood how the expedition members truly felt about me, I didn’t feel so bad. After all, when I had stopped breathing, they had all moved heaven and earth to save me. I was still a cherished ‘comrade’ to them.

‘Besides, I have my own tasks to attend to. This works out well.’

I needed to complete some quests and earn those “Divine Card Draw Tickets”! I quickly returned to the Sapphire Room and opened the quest log. To my surprise, there were quite a few new quests stacked up, likely because I hadn’t checked in a while. But there were also some quests that were still hanging around, occupying space.

‘This Four-Leaf Clover repeat quest is still here, huh?’

I blinked at the quest to distribute four-leaf clovers, a task from the Goddess of Fortune. I must have handed out tens of thousands of these clovers by now, yet the goddess still wasn’t satisfied and continued to insist on spreading luck.

‘Just how much does she love four-leaf clovers?’

If I ever got the chance to talk to her, I’d definitely ask. Now that I thought about it, I’d never had direct communication with the Goddess of Fortune. Even when the gods were auctioning off quests in Heaven last time, she didn’t send me any notes. Considering how many other gods had flocked to me, begging for my attention…

‘She doesn’t seem like an ordinary goddess, that’s for sure.’

But since this quest is excluded from the “Quest Encouragement Week” event due to being a repeat quest, I shouldn’t dwell on it. I forced my gaze away from it and quickly scanned the other quests, only to notice something unexpected. There was a “Claim Reward” button activated on a quest I hadn’t even accepted yet.

‘Right!’  

The post-acceptance quest tickets!

Heaven had given me 10 post-acceptance quest tickets as compensation for not properly maintaining their terms and conditions before. I had used one of them right away, but hadn’t touched the rest since then. Which meant I still had 9 post-acceptance quest tickets left.

Curious, I quickly flipped through the quest log and found that several other quests also had the “Claim Reward” button activated. There were a total of six. I hadn’t realized there were quests I hadn’t even accepted but had somehow completed, probably because I hadn’t looked at the quest log at all after becoming wealthy with coins.

‘This feels like a huge win!’  

It felt like I was getting free rewards without putting in any effort to complete the quests. And…

‘If I claim these rewards now, would it count towards the event week?’  

If so, it wouldn’t just be a psychological win.

Before hitting the “Claim Reward” button, I decided to check what quests had been completed. The first one on the list with the button activated was:

◈ Quest ◈  

**I Pity You for Not Knowing the Greatness of Love!**  

They say there are three things in this world that cannot be hidden: sneezing, poverty, and… love!  

Is there a happier life than one filled with love? Just having someone love you means you’ve already secured a wonderful life.

– Requester: Goddess of Love  

– Goal: Reach 3 people who love “Reshia”  

– Reward: 100,000,000 Heaven Coins  

– Hidden Reward: Blessing of Love

‘Huh…?’  

This was completely unexpected.

‘If the reward claim button is activated on this quest…’

For a moment, my mind went blank.

‘Does that mean there are three people who love me?’