Chapter 164: The Entrustment

“I didn’t want to entrust these to you in the first place. After all, adventurers have no limits—they’ll do anything shameless for so-called quest rewards, and they have no loyalty whatsoever. And your master is one of those adventurers.”

Shirley lowered her head, gently caressing the eggs with affection.

“But I have no choice. War is imminent, and the Adell Continent is on the brink of collapse. Perhaps what I’m doing is not what a Saint, a pillar of the Alliance, a beacon of hope for the continent should do… But before I held those titles, I was nothing more than an ordinary mother. For my children and loved ones, I can give everything. I can abandon all my faith! I only hope that my efforts will keep them safe.”

I fell silent, unsure how to respond. It felt as if something had pierced my naturally cold chest. As it ached, tiny holes seemed to open, allowing the warm air radiating from Shirley to seep in.

‘She’s just an NPC, why so sentimental?’

“Perhaps I’m not a qualified Saint. Unlike Ale, who is a warrior of faith willing to spill her last drop of blood for the world’s people, I always consider my own gains and losses, caring only about what matters to me…” Shirley laughed self-deprecatingly. A trace of exhaustion seemed to suddenly appear on her face, but it vanished in an instant.

“These two eggs—one is mine, the other belongs to a friend I once had… Before dying, my friend entrusted the egg to me, hoping that I, this so-called Saint, could give it a bright future. But Ale was right: with greater ability comes greater responsibility. There are hundreds of billions of beings across the three races in Adell, yet only a dozen or so Saints. I can’t stop… But the more I do, the more people I offend. Now, these two little ones have no place left in Adell.”

As she spoke, Shirley solemnly lifted the egg case.

“Call it abuse of power or whatever you like, but I want to leave them with you. I don’t ask that they become wealthy or famous for all eternity… I only hope they can grow up healthy and happy, even if they never return to Adell.”

I didn’t take the egg case. I smiled and said, “Are you asking me to take on two more burdens? I’m not a cow—I don’t have that much milk…”

“You don’t have to take care of them. I’ve cast a spell on the eggs. After they hatch, they can absorb magical elements and grow on their own.” Shirley shook her head with a bitter smile.

[Do you accept the S-rank hidden quest: “Shirley’s Melancholy”?]

[ √ × ]

[×]

“I refuse.”

“Why? Don’t worry about the reward. I’ll give you a suitable compensation…” Shirley was astonished by my answer and began to grow anxious.

[Do you accept the S-rank hidden quest: “Shirley’s Melancholy”?]

[ √ × ]

[×]

“Why? You only need to help hatch them, and you don’t even have to look after them. Can’t you even do that?” Shirley couldn’t understand my choice. Perhaps in her eyes, adventurers, or someone like me who follows adventurers’ orders, should be a bunch of money-grubbing thieves.

“No reason. Who laid the eggs, who hatches them. I don’t care!” I crossed my arms, turned my head away, and even took a step back.

“You little brat! You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!” Repeatedly rebuffed, Shirley was so angry that her sharp claws instantly extended, revealing her true form. “Do you know that not even the God King could make me swallow such humiliation? I told you I’d give you benefits! Hatching one is the same as hatching two. Why not help me hatch them? It’s not like they’ll eat you when they hatch!”

“Hmph…” I turned my back, making Shirley gnash her teeth in hatred.

“You— Hmph! I misjudged you. I thought we could be good buddies!” Shirley angrily prepared to leave. At that moment, she probably hated me to death.

[System Prompt: Shirley’s favorability towards you has decreased to ‘Disgust’.]

Entrusting her children to us—it wasn’t simply that she had no one else. She truly trusted us deeply, with extremely high favorability. I knew this well.

But I couldn’t accept.

“If you want to entrust your orphans before death, entrust them to whoever you like. I don’t want them, and I won’t hatch them.”

Hearing my words, Shirley stopped. She turned around, holding the box, waiting for me to continue.

“I won’t feed anyone spiritual crap soup. But I also understand that if you leave them here, you can rest assured and die with peace of mind, right?”

Shirley’s body trembled. Then she lowered her head and remained silent.

“I don’t know what you’ve discovered or how dire the situation in Adell has become—that you’ve resorted to last-minute orphan entrusting. I don’t give a damn about any of that, understand? I’m just an ordinary pet who shares the same pants as adventurers! I only care about my own children! I don’t want an ugly, stupid cat with a tail as short as a rolling pin to join my warm little group!”

“Your tail is the rolling pin! You’re the ugly one! You’re the ugly, stupid fox!” Shirley instantly bristled, grabbing her priest staff and raising it as if to strike.

“There’s no such thing as a free lunch. If you want me to help take care of your children, fine—it’s simple! It’s just that the reward you’re offering is too shabby! Pathetically childish!” I curled my lips into a disdainful grin and sneered.

“I haven’t even told you what the reward is. How do you know it’s too shabby?” Shirley was so angry that all her fur stood on end—hair, ears, tail—all puffed up like a hedgehog… Tsk, as expected of a cat, being able to do that. I can’t learn that.

“I only want one reward.”

“What reward? Even if it’s the head of a prime deity, I’ll—”

“I want you and Ale to live.” I raised an eyebrow. “And the reward must be paid in advance. Whether I fulfill the rest depends on my mood. I don’t like cats.”

I didn’t know what had gotten into Shirley to suddenly want to entrust her children, but I didn’t believe this game had meaningless quests.

Accepting Shirley’s entrustment was simple, and I might even get some rewards. But her implication was that she had no confidence in the continent’s situation—that’s why the entrustment quest was triggered.

I had reason to believe that soon after entrusting her children, Shirley would die in battle… Those with nothing to hold onto always die quickly, because life ceases to be precious to them.

Of course, it was more likely I was overthinking… But even if I was, it was just a quest. The reward might be tempting, but my choice might make Yingning sad.

If Aksiya or Shirley died, Yingning would be heartbroken. That girl, so sentimental, had admired the only two female Saints of the Alliance even before entering the game. Now that she’d met them, she worshipped them as idols. So I had to carefully keep those two idols sitting pretty on their pedestals!

Since I had discerned Shirley’s hidden intention, there was no reason to take the risk.

Shirley fell silent.

She lowered her eyelids and gripped her priest staff tightly.

She looked up, smiled bitterly, and took a deep breath.

Whack! The staff slammed into my face.

“Ow! What the hell are you doing?!” I yelped and ran. Shirley chased after me, brandishing her priest staff.

“Get lost! I’ve lived for centuries, do I need you to feed me chicken soup for the soul? If you’re lazy, just say so! Stop putting on airs! You’re as nagging as Aled—so annoying!”

[System Prompt: Shirley’s favorability towards you has increased to ‘Best Friend’.]

“Hehehe, I’ll nag! I’ll yap! If you don’t like it, go drink the River of Mother and Son!” I turned back and taunted Shirley, beckoning with my finger.

“You’re done! Just wait till your master logs in!”

[Congratulations! You have successfully achieved the second hidden branch of the hidden quest “Shirley’s Melancholy”!]

“A week from now, don’t come to Minos City looking for us. We won’t be there. My earlier instructions to return to Minos City were a lie.”

Shirley said.

“What the hell?!”

“What kind of plot twist is this?!”

[Do you accept the SSS-rank quest “???”!]

[ √ × ]

“Holy shit?!”

“What rank is SSS?!”

****

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