[Escort the Lady]

[Difficulty: A

Irene, who has been kidnapped by the Yatan Church for a second time, has a very weak mind and body.

She can’t return to Winston Castle with her own power, so you must safely escort her to Winston Castle.

Please note that while Malacus has died, there might still be other followers remaining.

Quest Clear Conditions: Arrive at Winston Castle with Irene.

Quest Reward: Irene’s affinity will be MAX. Doran’s Ring.

* If affinity with a NPC of the opposite sex reaches the maximum, the possibility of a special event occurring will increase.]

[Doran’s Ring]

[Rating: Unique

Durability 10/10 Health: +1,000 Black Magic Resistance: +10% Poison Resistance: +10%

* If you become poisoned or cursed, your condition will recover immediately (60 minutes cooldown).

* 50% of the damage received will instantly be recovered (10 minutes cooldown when the effect is activated).

A treasure that Doran, Earl Steim’s shadow warrior, loved very much. He is said to have received the favor of the goddess of health and wisdom.

Conditions of Use: None.

Weight: 0.1]

[Quest Failure: Irene is likely to die. Affinity with Earl Steim will fall to the lowest point.

* The entire northern part of the Eternal Kingdom will fall into chaos because Earl Steim will lose his temper when Irene is killed.]

[Quest is in progress.]

“Kuoh...!”

Grid’s body trembled as he clenched his fists. Was it anger due to the quest proceeding without his permission. No, quite the opposite.

‘Yes! Great!’ Grid cheered in his head. ‘This is a chance to obtain Doran’s ring!’

He had wanted the ring since he first met Doran. The ring with great options was finally entering his grasp.

‘Wow, this is really great. There are no conditions of use despite the performance? If I have this ring, won’t I gain an extra 1,000 health?’

Grid’s strength and stamina were unusually high compared to his level. As a result, his current health was around 8,000 points. This was rather high compared to the average health of tankers at the same level.

For low-level users or users with low stamina, the value of 1,000 health attached to Doran’s Ring was enormous. Attribute resistance, recovery from abnormal conditions, and health recovery, these options were unquestionably the best.

‘This will unconditionally sell if placed at auction.’

Unique items without any usage conditions were rare. The value would be worth tens of millions of won... no, maybe it would be worth hundreds of millions of won... the situation was ridiculous.

‘If I gain this, won’t it be a result of the Divine Shield’s robbery?’

What was the reason Grid came to Rolf Mountain? It was to reclaim the Divine Shield.

But rather than finding the one who stole the shield, he encountered Malacus by accident, suddenly getting two tremendous quest rewards for nothing... and now a new quest popped up. It was like dropping an axe, only to pick up two golden axes.

‘I am just like a guy collapsing on the street, only to get back up.’

Grid knew that good luck was far away from him. Originally, he would’ve broken his nose when falling down. But ever since he became Pagma’s Successor, he, fortunately, gained some success.

‘It isn’t just Doran’s ring that I can obtain.’

If Irene’s affinity reached the maximum, he could possibly marry her. In other words, he would be the husband of the lady of a territory, and an earl’s son-in-law.

‘In that case, won’t I be like a lord?’

Right now, Winston was growing to become one of the best cities. The taxes alone would be astronomical.

‘Huhu, I will raise the taxes if I become a lord. Then I will be rich!’

Irene’s MAX affinity = marriage to her = become the lord = tax was his. He took a deep breath and decided to embark on the quest.

“Believe in me.” Grid released the ropes binding Irene, helped her stand up, and gave her the nicest smile possible. “I will safely escort you to the castle, so don’t you worry too much.”

“Thank you…”

Grid’s confidence had skyrocketed after beating the famous Malacus. He was determined to fight, even if the Yatan believers were to block his way.

‘The Yatan followers should be at a level similar to that of the monsters in Kesan Canyon. They are of no threat to me, even without the Divine Shield and Malacus’ Cloak.’

In the first place, Regas had defeated many followers, so Grid thought there would only be a few left. The immediate problem wasn’t the enemies, but Irene.

“Can you walk?”

“I'm sorry... I am a big burden to you.”

Irene was in such a bad condition that she couldn’t walk on her own. Grid saw that her health was low and tried to recover it with a potion, but her condition didn’t change. He tried to feed her many potions that would heal the status conditions, but they didn’t seem to have an effect.

‘This isn’t something that can be resolved by a user. She will be in this state until we reach the castle. How rotten... I wasted my potions.'

In the end, Grid placed Irene on his back.

“Kyaaak?!”

Irene was the sheltered daughter of an earl who never held hands with any man except for her father! Therefore, she now felt confused and embarrassed at being piggybacked by a man.

“M-Mr. Grid! You don’t need to help me this much!”

She blushed as she struggled, but she was as weak as a feather. This was Grid’ first experience with a woman outside of his younger sister, so he couldn’t help feeling excited.

‘This... a woman’s touch...!’

Grid had no experience with dating... so he was now experiencing a crisis in the game. But this was the best luck! Grid was excited by Irene’s touch on his back and replied vigorously!

“There is no need to be ashamed! Don’t be bothered. I will... no, I won’t let you do anything hard! Leave everything to me!”

“Mr. Grid...”

In the meantime, Grid had experienced several incidents and did labor, accumulating close to 250 stat points. Thanks to that, his current stamina was incomparable to before, and he could run while carrying Irene.

‘Okay, let’s go!’

The distance from Rolf Mountain to Winston was around five hours on foot! Grid was determined to arrive in Winston, but this was an A-grade quest, after all, so a crisis appeared at the very beginning.

“You! You are the one who killed Malacus!”

Three followers hiding at the front of the cave emerged and attacked Grid.

“I will get revenge for Malacus! Die!”

The Yatan followers used curse magic on Grid. They also summoned a poisonous fog that would rot his lungs. However, their magic didn’t work because Grid resisted all of it. The existence of Grid was the nemesis of magicians who specialized in causing abnormal conditions.

“Aren’t you weaker than Malacus? Why are you trying to get revenge when you are so weak? Quick Movements!”

[Quick Movements has been activated. Your agility and evasion rate will increase significantly for 1 minute.]

Grid didn’t activate Pagma’s Sword Dance. When deactivated, Pagma’s Sword Dance increased physical damage and the probability of critical damage by 10%. The attack power when equipped with Dainsleif wasn’t at a level that a magician could endure.

“Hiyaaaah!”

One hand held Irene on his back, while the other one swung Dainsleif. He lacked strength so he couldn’t completely control Dainsleif with one hand, but his incomplete and slow attack was sufficient to deal with the Yatan followers.

“Keook!”

“For Malacus!”

“Ahh! For God Yatan!”

Grid didn’t avoid the curse magic, slamming the sword into the followers’ faces. He gained a moderate amount of experience and loot, before running down the mountain. There were ambushes from Yatan followers all over the mountain.

"Souls of the underworld, use your grudges and fears to ensnare the enemy. Crush his mind with fear and make him lose his will! Become a doll with a lost soul!”

The curse magic poured down from all directions. It seemed a little grim, so Grid put the big sword away in his inventory, took out the Divine Shield, and protected Irene with it.

“Kuack!”

The Yatan followers suffered just facing the Divine Shield. Grid put away the shield in this gap and pulled out the dagger, aiming Wind Blast in the direction of the magic.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

There was an explosion in the mountain and the screams of the Yatan followers echoed.

“T-Too strong...!”

The followers of Yatan were completely defeated by Grid’s style of switching between the shield, dagger, and greatsword.

‘The Yatan followers were such great enemies when I met Doran, but now it is the opposite.’

“You monster! Eek!”

“Kyaak!”

The Yatan believers fell helplessly in front of Grid who was wearing a strange helmet and Malacus’ Cloak!

Some of them became tearful as they realized they couldn’t defeat Grid, while others were determined to fight. However, none of them retreated. Their madness made Irene frightened, but Grid was actually happy about it.

He destroyed the followers who kept on appearing.

“Hahahahat! Now come! Continue! It is thanks to all of you!”

Due to this battle, Grid realized a lot. General users were reluctant to deal with enemies that caused status abnormalities, but he was different.

‘Don’t monsters who cause special statuses often have weak attack or defense? Isn’t this a perfect meal for me? I should hunt these types of enemies in the future.’

Grid had almost 100% status resistance due to the characteristic of Pagma's Successor and the special stats.

He once again realized how fraudulent a legendary class was as he dealt with the enemies on Rolf Mountain. Dozens of monsters ran over due to Malacus’ Cloak. After three hours, Grid had reached level 97.

“We are delayed because monsters keep appearing. I’m sorry.”

“... As Doran said, Mr. Grid is the only one I can rely on. You are really strong.”

Irene had one of the most powerful knights in the north as her subordinate. Her father, Earl Steim, also had great people. Therefore, she had a good knowledge of combat and could tell that Grid had excellent skills. That made it harder for her to understand.

“Isn’t Mr. Grid a blacksmith? But how can you be so strong?”

Grid easily answered, “The power of items.”

“I...Items?”

"Well, it is the virtue of having great battle gear.”

“Even if you have great battle gear, won’t it be hard if you don’t have the skills? You are strong and humble.”

Irene smiled softly. Her appreciation toward Grid was rising exponentially. Grid thought it wouldn’t be long until he became her husband. He talked like this with Irene and arrived safely in Winston.