Conquered fantasy world

Chapter 8: I am sorry

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⛓ CHAINED SUB-MISSION COMPLETED ⛓

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Result: SUCCESS

Objective Status:

▸ Prevent the death of the target — Achieved

Target:

▸ Designation Updated

▸ Identity Registered

Completion Summary:

▸ Intervention successful

▸ Fatal outcome averted

▸ Conquest conflict disrupted

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🎁 REWARDS ACQUIRED 🎁

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▸ Stat Points +4

▸ Relationship Data — Unlocked

▸ New Interaction Routes Available

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🧬 SYSTEM UPDATES 🧬

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▸ Coward Mark — Averted

▸ Future mission difficulty normalized

▸ Moral Evaluation: Neutral → Slightly Favorable

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⛓ SUB-MISSION Ⅱ DETECTED ⛓

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Trigger Condition:

▸ Completion of previous Sub-mission and chained sub-mission

▸ Recognition by a Conquest-affiliated entity

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🧩 SUB-MISSION Ⅱ

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Objective:

▸ Obtain a formal offer from Elfrez Eniyon

Status:

▸ In Progress

Time limit: 3 months.

Restrictions:

▸ Offer must be voluntary

▸ Coercion or deception will invalidate completion

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🎁 REWARDS 🎁

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▸ Stat Points ×10

▸ Relationship Meter +50 (Elfrez Eniyon)

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⚠ PENALTY ⚠

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▸ Main Mission (Conquer Demiplane) ,Time Limit Reduction by 1-2 years.

   

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Two interfaces floated before Marfin's vision as he stared into the void.

He gently swiped away the first—[Mission Completed]—and focused on the newly revealed [Sub-Mission].

Or rather, his gaze fixed on a single line beneath it.

The 'Restriction' section.

[Coercion or deception will invalidate completion.]

His eyes narrowed.

'My initial plan was to play the hero—act all good and righteous. Maybe even a little pitiful, just enough to earn their sympathy…

However, this single restriction shattered every scheme I had planned to rely on.

What do you mean by no deception?

Someone who survived by lying—by pretending—was supposed to achieve something without resorting to it?

If I'm just… myself, then no one would ever like me.

After all, people hate those who are genuinely truthful...

or worse, those who are sharp-tongued.

And I happen to be both.

I don't think someone like that can survive..

not without lying,

not without hiding parts of themselves.

Phew. 

At least… I somehow managed to make him take a liking to me.

His gaze drifted from one head to another.

Above Elfrez Eniyon, a faint gauge hovered:

[Relationship Gauge: 20%— Interested]

Above Ryden Byron, the one armed man, the numbers were higher:

[Relationship Gauge: 40% — Deeply Interested]

Marfin exhaled quietly.

'So this is the relationship meter the system granted me as the final reward of the sub-mission…'

'It even says I could eventually read their minds if the gauge reaches a certain threshold…'

That's… interesting.

"Marfin!"

The sudden call made him tilt his head toward the source.

"What?"

"That's your name, right?" Ryden Byron asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice. 

"Anyway, how much longer until we reach your home?"

"Just keep walking."

Ryden laughed softly. "How cold. I don't recall doing anything to offend you."

Marfin turned ahead ignoring him completely and continued forward, leading them through narrow paths, beneath high domes of tangled branches, and through low arcs of twisted roots.

"I figured you lived somewhere in this forest," Ryden continued, glancing around, "but I never imagined it would be… this deep inside."

Irritation flickered across Marfin's face.

"How annoying," he snapped. "Is your brain slow, or do you just lack the ability to read the mood of others?"

He didn't slow his pace.

"Ever heard of 'don't blabber around someone who doesn't give a damn'?"

Ryden blinked...once, then again...staring at Marfin's back, genuinely baffled.

"I understand that you don't want to talk," he said carefully, "but I've never heard of that proverb."

Marfin scoffed.

"Hoh… so you're not an idiot after all?" he muttered. "I figured you'd at least be dumb enough to nod and stay quiet."

"Wha—"

Before Ryden could finish, shrill laughter rang out beside him.

Elfrez Eniyon gently patted his back.

"Let it go, Ryden," he said lightly. "Can't you see how exhausted and anxious he looks?"

"But—" Ryden tried to protest.

However,He stopped mid-word.

Marfin had already turned around.

The irritation was gone.

What remained was naked anxiety....

and something hovering dangerously close to dread.

As the silence gradually returned, Marfin's eyes flicked toward the sky.

To the two moons hanging above them.

'They had been tilted when I left the house...

now they loomed directly overhead.'

'Fully midnight.'

'The hour when...Mirai always nudges up and snuggle closer to me, waking up slowly.'

'Mirai.'

A tight knot formed in his chest.

If she had woken by her usual routine…

wouldn't she look for him?

Call his name.

Wait.

Worry.

The thought dug its claws into him.

What if the house felt too quiet?

What if the shadows felt wrong?

What if she was scared...

His steps unconsciously quickened.

Then he heard it.

A faint rustle brushing against the dark.

Low, wet groans slipping between the trees.

Monsters.

Lurking.

Stirring.

The closer he got to home, the louder the forest became—branches shifting, undergrowth whispering, something heavy dragging itself across the soil.

-Badum. Badum.

His heartbeat slammed violently against his ribs, drowning out his breath.

A wolf's howl ripped through the night, sharp and hungry.

Then another lingered.

Then..

Rustling.

Hustle.

And beneath it all...

a faint, trembling cry.

A girl's voice.

His blood ran cold.

One step.

'That's Mirai.'

Two steps.

'She's in danger.'

The air seemed to compress around him, fear squeezing tight around his lungs.

-DASH!

Marfin burst into a full sprint, boots tearing through dirt and roots, lungs burning as the world blurred.

"H-Hey, kid! What the hell are you doing—?"

"Did something happen—?!"

Shouts of confusion and concern echoed behind him....

but he didn't slow.

Didn't look back.

He sprinted forward, dodging exposed roots and low-hanging branches—leaping, crashing through the undergrowth without slowing down.

-Huff.Huff.

Marfin stopped the instant he reached the edge of the clearing... breathing sparingly.

His eyes widened.

Before him lay a sight he had never imagined—

one he never wanted to see.

A wolf's head had been brutally pierced, impaled by a jagged shard of ice.

Another lay nearby, its body completely flattened, frost still creeping across its upper half.

Judging by their frozen poses, both had been moments away from baring their fangs at a small girl standing between them.

Mirai.

She stood there unsteadily, knees trembling, panting hard. Her chest rose and fell in sharp, uneven breaths as wisps of cold air spilled from her lips, each exhale fogging the space before her.

Ice shimmered faintly around her bare feet and hands, thin veins of frost clinging to the grass, the air itself biting with unnatural chill.

And when she raised her head toward the new source of sound—and instinctively raised her hand toward the intruder—she finally saw him.

Her beloved brother.

The same worried expression flickered across his face.

It wasn't anything new to her…

but today, it felt far more distressing.

'Brother looks sad…'

The sight made her own heart throb painfully.

Was that guilt?

She couldn't tell.

Nor could she remain standing any longer.

Her legs gradually gave way, strength draining from her body as exhaustion overtook her.

Just as she began to fall—

a hand caught her.

Her guardian had already reached her side.

She clenched her small, trembling hand tightly around his shirt.

It felt different.

It seemed her brother was wearing

something new.

New…

It had been so long since either of them had worn anything decent.

"Wh—where did you go?" she asked shakily. "Why did you go…? Why didn't you tell me, when you always do if you have to go somewhere?"

The questions she had held back poured out all at once.

"M—Mirai was so scared…" she whimpered. "Scared that something might've happened to you…"

Sniffle… sniffle…

"Couldn't you have at least woken me up?" she cried. "Y—you big meany…"

At last, the tears fell freely as she buried her face against his chest.

Marfin didn't interrupt.

He simply listened, gently stroking her hair—her raccoon-like ears trembling beneath his touch.

"I'm sorry…"

It was the only response he could muster.

After all, this time…

....he had no excuse to hide behind.