TIRS 60

CHAPTER 60…………..

: How Do I Defeat Salto!

“‘Duel Anselot?’”

My pupils trembled violently as I skimmed through the quest details.

“No way… how am I supposed to beat Salto in the first place!”

At that moment, Anselot frowned as he read the same instructions.

Trying to dig up information about Arno here was pointless.

Realizing that, I ignored Enzer, who was trying to chat as if we were friends, and trudged out of the party hall alongside Anselot.

“Originally… this wasn’t the plan! I was supposed to fight Prince Arno and save Maria!”

“How would Your Highness know that?”

Anselot, who had been silent the whole time, slowly blinked and asked.

“Sometimes… it’s like you know the future,” I said.

“That’s a secret too.”

I huffed, not revealing anything.

“You said he’s not the type to kill without reason… then why did Arno die?”

“I didn’t kill him.”

Anselot replied briefly, then explained in a calm, detached tone.

“He drank every day and caused trouble, so I tried to teach him a lesson. He resisted, hit his head on the floor… and later fell ill in bed. Then, all of a sudden, he passed away. But rumors spread saying I killed him.”

I suppose, even in the original story, he tormented Maria and did horrible things. That habit hadn’t gone away…

“Anyway, what do we do now?”

I murmured with worry.

When I had refused the quest in Azester, the system administrator appeared and attacked.

Even ignoring the threat from the system administrator, I couldn’t skip the quest.

To achieve the goal of eliminating the dragon, I had to move to the next scenario.

So this quest had to be completed no matter what.

“So, the clear condition is…”

I checked the quest notification again. There were a lot of lengthy descriptions like “threaten your love” or “bring shame,” but the important part was the clear condition.

▷ Clear Condition: Win a duel against in front of spectator

This quest required me to win a duel against Anselot, with Maria watching.

“Winning the duel shouldn’t be hard… I just need you to let me win…”

The problem was that the duel had to happen naturally in front of Maria.

“How can I duel her in a way that doesn’t seem strange?”

For reference, I was terrible at acting. Absolutely terrible.

“Why would that be hard?”

Anselot said lightly.

“Huh?”

“Trust me, Your Highness.”

He smiled meaningfully.

I understood the meaning behind that smile the next day.

Anselot… that crazy Salto…

Had kidnapped Maria from the temple…!!!

“If you want to save this woman, duel me.”

Anselot spoke like a true villain.

It was completely natural.

Even worse than the thieves who had taken Ilay hostage, he seemed more like a villain.

I wanted to ask, “Kidnap a saint from the temple? Are you insane?” Then I remembered he had stolen the relic yesterday.

He’d stolen a relic, so kidnapping a saint would be nothing to him.

“Ah… haha…”

A hollow laugh escaped me.

At this point, the best plan was to complete the quest quickly and return Maria safely to the temple.

“Anselot… how could you do such a villainous thing!”

Unlike Anselot, who talked about dueling naturally, my voice came out stiff and awkward, like I was reading from a script.

Piya beat her wings against her chest in frustration.

“Phew! So frustrating. I’ll help you, Luru!”

For the first time, Piya’s option felt welcome.

[The wicked Prince Anselot has kidnapped Maria. Will you help reassure her?

1. (Plunging your sword into the ground) How dare you threaten my love! I won’t forgive you, Prince Anselot!
2. (Plunging a rose into the ground) How dare you threaten my love! I won’t forgive you, Prince Anselot!
3. (Plunging Anselot into the ground) How dare you threaten my love! I won’t forgive you, Prince Anselot!]

Correction: Piya’s options were not welcome.

Still terrible…

“No, the rose is fine… but why plunge Anselot into the ground? Usually, you’d throw a glove.”

It was painful to have to choose, but at least it was better than my awkward acting.

Through gritted teeth, I made my choice.

I plunged the precious Azester greatsword, a gift from my mother, into the floor and shouted resolutely:

“How dare you threaten my love! I won’t forgive you, Prince Anselot!”

Ah… I hoped the blade wouldn’t get damaged.

Tears threatened to fall, but I held them back.

“Ah, Luribel…! You’d go this far for me…!”

Maria’s eyes sparkled, hearts seemingly blooming in them.

Finally, the duel with Anselot began.

[SYSTEM] Switching to duel mode.

Victory conditions: Reduce opponent’s HP below 5% or force surrender.

Since there was no need to waste that much HP, we agreed that I would attack lightly and Anselot would surrender.

“Go ahead, attack first.”

Anselot said in a casual tone.

“But…”

Still, even for acting, attacking another person was difficult.

“Will you attack only when her life is at risk?”

Anselot pretended to threaten Maria.

I shut my eyes tightly and swung.

“Sorry, Anselot…!”

Whack!

I struck Anselot’s shoulder with the back of my sword.

Luckily, his HP didn’t decrease at all.

“…Ah.”

A moment later, Anselot let out a short cry and collapsed.

“Impressive skill. I surrender.”

“….”

Unlike his villain act, his surrendering act was clumsy.

‘Of course, he’s never had to surrender to anyone.’

My victory felt awkward due to our poor acting.

[Main Quest: Love and Duel! (2/3)] Complete!

[SYSTEM] Quest Successful!

[SYSTEM] Gained 27,150 EXP.

[SYSTEM] Level Up! (Lv.40)

[SYSTEM] Gained 10 skill points.

Thanks to that, I completed the quest quickly.

“Luribel…!”

Maria, who had been a hostage and spectator, ran to me.

“Ah, Luribel. I was so scared.”

Maria leaned gently against me.

“Prince Anselot is so cruel… it’s hard to believe he’s your lover…”

She dabbed tears with her sleeve.

Her tears were beautiful, but more importantly…

“Can we just pretend today never happened? Anselot didn’t mean harm. I know it’s hard to believe…”

I defended Anselot and pleaded with Maria.

He didn’t seem to care about his reputation, but I did.

“But…”

Maria looked slightly displeased, but nodded soon after.

“Alright. But I have a favor, Luribel. Please go enjoy the upcoming festival with me.”

As soon as she said that, a system notification popped up:

[SYSTEM] As a quest reward, you have promised to attend the festival with .

…Damn this system. It just keeps trying to push me together with Maria.

My lips moved almost involuntarily:

“Fine.”

After making the promise, I moved to the reception room with the excited Maria.

Anselot, pretending to be knocked out on the floor, caught my eye slightly as we left.

Soon, the priests arrived at the prince’s palace.

“Are you alright, Saintess?”

“Someone saw the Saintess being kidnapped by Prince Salto this morning…!”

“Oh my, kidnapped? What nonsense!”

Maria feigned surprise, waving her hands.

“People might misunderstand.”

She covered her mouth and laughed gently.

“I just came to the palace to visit Luribel with his invitation.”

“But the priests guarding the temple doors say they saw Prince Salto…”

“Prince Anselot simply delivered Luribel’s invitation to me.”

“Is that true?”

The priests looked unconvinced.

“Of course. Though I understand your concerns about Anselot’s notorious reputation.”

Maria clasped her hands as if in prayer, looking at me with admiration.

“But! Luribel here is a noble and holy hero of the continent, unlike Prince Anselot!”

The priests turned their gaze toward me.

“As you know, he has the blessings of the God of Light.”

“Ah, yes, we’ve heard much about him.”

“He made difficult decisions to prove his divine mission…”

The priests nodded, impressed.

“And in just one day, I became very close to Luribel!”

…That sounded like it could cause misunderstandings…

“Oh! I see!”

The priests’ eyes sparkled.

Soon after, they entrusted Maria to me and left the reception room.

“How was it, Luribel? Cleanly resolved, right?”

Maria smiled brightly.

It was resolved… though I wasn’t sure it was exactly clean.

At least I had protected Anselot’s reputation, and I let out a sigh of relief.

Having caused trouble, I spent a little more time with Maria and then escorted her home.

Of course, the one at fault wasn’t me—it was Anselot.

Purrreeet!

―The last quest will come on the final day of the festival. Until then, enjoy the festival, Luru!

Piya was enjoying life in Luenhart more than anyone else, and her feathers were shiny.

“I just hope the next quest is normal…”

Meanwhile, I let out a deep sigh, continuing my miserable life in Luenhart.

Phew!

―Don’t worry! The next quest will be the most perfect and amazing, just as you expect!