"Queen Liyana really enjoys blueberry jam most."
I cannot imagine why this information is supposed to be useful to me, nor why anyone would ever ask. But being given useless advice is better still than having every answer handed to me by a clueless idiot partner voice. Not hearing it at all is the best choice, but this world has hated me since I arrived, so I will take what I can get.
Truthfully, it almost feels as if the voice itself just randomly grasped for an excuse to end the awkward silence that's been stretching over the room since my last comment.
Finally, Liyana laughs. It's not a pleasant sound. It's oddly metallic. She waves her hand. "Leave my sight and I will consider your foolish request, but in return, you will die when you fail my challenge."
I like those kinds of stakes, but I'm not yet convinced she'll be able to deliver an appropriate challenge for it. Maybe I'm being pessimistic. I suppose it's always possible that the challenge will be fighting that creature of the Elves', after all. It could be my first real challenge in this world.
We're escorted to another large room - somewhat smaller than the throne one we'd just left - while I'm still thinking about what the challenge will be.
Elara immediately takes this opportunity to begin pacing, wringing her hands nervously. "This is a disaster. What are we going to do?"
Meera shrugs and settles down on a seat that appears to be made of some sort of wicker. Her cat hops off of her head and immediately begins to trot around the room, investigating it. "The Queen seems nice. Maybe if we ask nicely she'll just let us go?"
Kael rolls his eyes. "That's really what you got from our interaction just now?"
"Uhh...." Meera fidgets. "W-well...she didn't seem that bad, right? I mean, we're not prisoners or anything!"
"We are the very definition of prisoners." Kael replies dryly.
"No! This is too beautiful to be a dungeon!"
We're not in a dungeon, no, but Kael's right. This is still a cell. But I don't really care. It's a temporary measure. We'll only be here until whatever it is the queen is doing or debating is finished and I can test my skills. Or...prove them. Whichever the case is. Ideally, it'll be a real challenge, but either option will still end with us getting out of thise endless forest and finally moving foward again.
"Queen Liyana has a resistance to charisma due to her own high stat, but your charms should-"
What does that have to do with anything? Absolutely nothing I'm thinking about, nothing anyone is talking about has anything to do with that damn charm! I'm not asking, and I don't want to know about the challenge. I'd like to at least have some time believing it will be fun even if it isn't, but why in the world is this System Helper rambling about the quality of the queen's charisma stats and her favorite jam??
"Answer: It's important to know that seducing her will be difficult, Master. It's better to prove your strength through raw power."
The idea of seducing her to escape was never a twinkling in my eye. Even though I'm not exactly in my usual element, I'm not going to become a playboy just because of the charm buff. The thought of playing into that is beyond annoying. It would be tedious, anyway. I'm not here to balance relationship points and fend off jealous and neglected women.
I sigh and shake my head. "It'll be fine. Just trust me."
"Do you really think you can pass a challenge like you suggested...?" That's Arin. He's looking at me with an entirely too worried expression.
"It'll be fine." I wave my hand, dismissive. "If the elves could provide a challenge equal to the Demon King, their only recourse for dealing with him wouldn't be hiding."
Granted, it wouldn't be the first time I'd encountered some group of people with a disproportionately powerful challenge who then couldn't defend themselves from something supposedly only as strong - or even weaker - than their challenge. I've fought final bosses weaker than poorly tuned challenge quests before. But if that's really the case...
I'm absolutely not about to complain. That's the exact kind of thing I'm living for right now.
"Ryo, you can't seriously believe-"
I shake my head. "I do. It'll be fine."
The room falls quiet after that, and I settle down on a bed that is surprisingly soft for a glorified prison cot. There's a window, though it's high up and not feasible for any of us to try to crawl through. As everyone else just paces, sits and quietly stares, or gets swatted by a bored cat, I simply cross my arms and watch the sky. There's not much I can do about anything until I at least get an idea of the challenge I'll be facing.
The blue peeking through the canopy begins to fade into a yellow-ish orange before we hear anything. The door opens and several elves enter the room. They're dressed in armor, with swords at their hips, and they look like they mean business. "You have been summoned by the Queen. Follow us."
I blink. Just once.
....They're definitely staring at me. So this must be about the challenge. I draw in a breath, straighten my clothes, and follow after them. Although it seems evident to me they were looking to bring me back to the queen for the challenge, the others follow after and aren't stopped by the guards. The guards lead us down the hall and into another room. This one is larger than the last one, and there are several chairs arranged around a long table. There's also a large window looking out onto a garden full of flowers.
The queen sits at the head of the table, and the guards gesture for us to sit down. I do so without hesitation, as do the others. The queen smiles at us each in turn. There is no kindness in that smile. She then turns her attention back to the guards. "You may leave us now."
They bow and exit the room.
Once they're gone, the queen speaks again. "I have decided on a test of your strength, and of your loyalty to your companions."
Loyalty? I arch an eyebrow. She's barking up the wrong tree if she thinks I've got any particular loyalties yet in this world. Of course, I don't want to cause any innocent deaths, but that's different...
Well, I shouldn't complain. If there's some test of loyalty that usually just increases the challenge, right? And that's what I want.
I nod. "Alright. Then, tell me about the challenge quest. How am I proving it?"
The queen stands up and walks over to the window. She gestures for me to come closer, and I do so. Outside, in the garden, there is a large circle of stone. Inside the circle, there is a small pedestal with a sword resting upon it. The sword is made of dark metal, and it gleams ominously in the fading sunlight.
The queen points to it. "That is the Sword of the Demon King. It was forged from the bones of the previous Demon King, and it burns any who touch it into dust."
Why is it here in the elves' hometown, lodged in a rock like a spicy version of the sword in the stone, then? And by spicy, I mean painful.
I frown. "So you want me to pull it out of the stone, then?"
She gives that unpleasant smile again. "Pull out the sword and survive to put it back in, and you will have passed the test."
Well. It makes sense, I suppose. An endurance trial, not combat. I'm sure the whole point of it is that I'm supposed to die immediately. But I won't. Probably.
...If I do, I have some very choice words for that damn goddess I've been wanting to give to her anyway.