ALL NOVEL Chapter 71: Custom Quest
*DING*
[FAV with Alexa Garm has increased by 20]
"Hrm?"
Hearing Maria's declaration, the little girl tilted her head in confusion but felt a little bit endangered when she saw Maria's somewhat...passionate gaze.
The little girl felt a little uncomfortable by Maria so she quickly turned around and continued her meal while avoiding Maria's gaze.
"Huhu~ she's so cute~"
After finishing her meal, Alexa looked around before noticing that the lady who had offered her food still had their eyes on her.
She mustered up the courage to speak and quickly thanked her benefactor, "...Th-thank...you..."
"Oh my~ not only is she cute, but she's also polite!" Maria squealed gleefully. She quickly approached the little girl and pulled her into a tight embrace and began rubbing her face on the little girl's somewhat gaunt face.
"U-Uwah!"
The girl was surprised but Maria didn't let go of her.
"Heheh~ don't worry little one. With big sister here, you no longer have to worry about food!"
"U-ugh...s-stop..."
Maria quickly complied with her request and put Alexa down. The little girl was clearly very flustered but she didn't run away and just stayed put.
Maria crouched down in front of her and offered the girl her hand, "Hehe, let's introduce ourselves again. My name is Maria! It's nice to meet you!"
"...Alexa Garm... th-the food earlier...thank you..."
"Garm...hmm, are you perhaps related to this vampire here?"
"?"
Alexa turned to look at Ash who was intently staring down at her before she stepped back and hid behind Maria.
Seeing her act this way, Maria used one of her wings and slapped Ash across the face.
"Cut it out. You're scaring the poor little girl!"
"Ugh...M-My Lady..."
"Anyway, you heard her earlier. She said her name is Alexa Garm. She has your last name. Are you related?"
"...She may be my brother's daughter."
"Oh! So she's your niece?"
"...Probably...she has a familiar scent."
"I'm not sure how you vampires identify your kin, but since she maybe your niece, we'll take her in!"
"Y-yes?"
Maria ignored Ash who looked like he wanted to say something else and turned towards the little girl who was hiding behind her.
"Hey there, Alexa! I'm wondering, but would you like to follow us?"
"Eh? Uhm..."
"Hehe, don't worry, we won't force you! However, if you follow us, you won't have to worry about being attacked or going hungry!"
"...Okay..."
*DING*
[You have persuaded Alexa Garm to follow you! Congratulations on getting your first follower!]
[Quest Update! Gather 200 followers (2/200)]
"Alright!"
"Little girl, would you mind telling us your background?" Ash asked after he approached the girl.
The little girl was still guarded towards Ash, but after Maria continued coaxing and persuading her, she eventually told them about herself.
She didn't know much about her background except for her name. Her earliest memories were that of waking up in a cave not far from the town as a toddler. As a vampire, she didn't really need food to live and as long as she was able to eat something for a day and made sure to stay away from the sunlight, she would be able to survive.
It had only been a few years since she first left the cave because of the monsters that came to occupy it. After leaving, Alexa explained that she had been spending the last 5 years or so in the town since no monsters wandered here and because she was attracted to the Blood Fountain.
Because of the fountain, she was able to survive for so long even if she wasn't able to eat something for days on end. Maria saw that her level was really low so it wasn't a surprise that she couldn't hunt any of the monsters in the area.
Maria was rather touched and moved by her story. She felt that the game was too cruel to let an NPC child have such a tragic background. When Maria asked Alexa about the town, the little girl could only reply that it had been like this for as long as she could remember.
"Hmmm..."
"Is something wrong, my Lady?" Ash asked after seeing that his mistress was pondering over something.
"...I was just thinking, but since this ruined town doesn't belong to anyone anymore. Why don't we establish our base here?"
"Hm?"
"Since we're going to be building our own power anyway, we naturally need to have a base!"
"Okay, but I don't see the merit in doing that since we only have one other follower besides me..."
"Ah, don't worry about that. You said so yourself, the vampires respect the strong. We'll slowly build our base and since some vampires do come around here from time to time, we'll just subdue them and force them to join our side!"
"My Lady, how do you know there are other vampires that come around this deserted place?"
"I looked around the mansion earlier with Alexa and when she showed me her room, I noticed that she had some peculiar 'treasures' with her."
"Oh?"
"There were some clothes, Blood Gold, and other goods amongst her stash. It most likely came from a merchant or a group who were unfortunate enough to be attacked by monsters."
"...Can you be certain it's not the girl who—"
"I saw the claw marks and damages done to the goods. There's no way Alexa would be able to do it and her level is too low," Maria immediately refuted.
Also, when Maria checked out Alexa's status after she became her follower, a new stat appeared which was called loyalty and it was quite high at 80. She checked both Lilah and Ash's loyalty and they were at 100 so Alexa, who had 80, was pretty high, although she had just recently joined their small little family.
Maria had read the description of the new stat and found out that wi a loyalty of over 80 guaranteed that the person wouldn't leave her or lie to her.
"Anyway, we should just focus on rebuilding this place!"
"Alright, so how are we going to do that?"
*DING*
[Custom Quest Generated!
Warning! Continuing with this quest will have some effect on future gameplay! Will you proceed? YES/NO]
Maria didn't hesitate to press the [Yes] and the quest immediately revealed itself to her.
[Pioneer of the Universe
SS-ranked Chain Quest
You have come to a new world after being chased away from your previous one. With no faction or affiliation, you have decided to establish your own!
The first step to establishing yourself as an independent force is to first construct a base!
Main Objective 1: Rebuild the ruined town and turn it into your faction's stronghold!
Sub Objective 1: Rebuild the Lord's Mansion (0/1)
Sub Objective 2: Rebuild 5 Houses (0/5) (Locked)
Sub Objective 3: Rebuild the Farms (0/2) (Locked)
Sub Objective 4: Rebuild the Walls (0/4) (Locked)
Sub Objective 5: Rebuild the Market (0/1) (Locked)
Sub Objective 6: Rebuild the Clock Tower (0/1) (Locked)
Main Objective 2: ??? (Locked)
NOTE: Subsequent quests will be unlocked after you completed the previous quest. Take notice that this quest is subject to interference by other factions and counter-quests will be issued against your quest!
Time Limit: None
Rewards: Faction Surprise Box (x5), Crown of the [???], 1,000,000 Universe Gold
NOTE: Rewards will be received and changed after completing the Main Objectives]
"...Well, this is new. A custom chain quest, huh? Sounds fun. Now, how do we rebuild the Lord's Mansion?"
Maria quickly tapped her quest log and quickly found the requirements to rebuild the mansion.
[Lord's Mansion (Damaged)
Repair? YES/NO]
"Yes, sa~"
*DING*
[You need 500 Basic Wood, 500 Basic Stone, and 500 Blood Gold!
You lack 500 Basic Wood and 500 Basic Stone!]
"...Hmmm," Maria thoughtfully looked at the system window before an idea popped up in her head after looking at Ash.
"Here ya go, Ash! Go and cut down some trees for me!" Maria said as she tossed her axe-form Calamity at Ash.
"W-Woah! My Lady, what do you mean?" Ash questioned after he quickly caught the axe. He couldn't stand the weight behind the weapon and it slammed into the ground.
"Urgh..."
Maria waved him away while saying, "Go cut some trees with the axe. I'm gonna go explore this place and find some stones. Hurry, hurry~"
"..." Ash was rather perplexed at her orders but he didn't go against it.
The only problem was that the axe his master had handed to him was much too heavy for him to carry. He couldn't help but wonder how in the world his master could lift such a heavy thing with those dainty arms of hers and wave it around like a twig.
Ash dragged the axe with him outside of the ruined town and looked for the closest forest before he dragged himself over there.
Back in the town, Maria was walking around with Alexa. The little girl guided her around the empty and ruined town. After looking through the whole town, Maria was able to inspect every building and see what kinds of materials were needed to repair them.
There was a requirement that she needed to repair some buildings beforehand for a few of the buildings she inspected and there was also the fact that some buildings had different materials than just the basic wood and stone that she needed for the Lord's Mansion.
Also, the amount required for some of them was astronomical. If it was just her and Ash, it would take ages before they could finish rebuilding the entire town. What more, she wanted to expand it and create a majestic city from these ruins.
When she thought about the absurd amount of materials needed to accomplish this, Maria couldn't help but frown and think that she needed more people.
"Hmmm, anyway, now that I'm done looking around, I guess we should go hunt? I think I'll be able to find some stones in that mountain over there~"
Just before Maria could go out, Alexa quickly spoke up, "B-Big sis..."
"Hm? Something you need?"
"Uhm...i-if you need stones... there's a lot in the cave where I used to live..."
"Really? Then let's go there!"
"B-but...there are monsters..."
Maria smiled brightly before saying, "Don't worry, big sis is really strong~"
"...O-okay..."
"Ah, now that I think about it...my Calamity is with Ash...hmm, I guess I'll just use these chains~"
Alexa didn't say anymore before she quickly led Maria out of the town and towards her former home.