One day later.
After reviving another three hundred fellow townspeople, Noah casually found a seat in the Shore of Lost Demise to sit down and rest, then opened his quest list.
Besides the ongoing main quest, there was only one daily quest.
[Daily Quest: If I Had Never Come Into This World activated.]
[Quest Description: Everyone wants to go to heaven, but heaven and hell are often not something we have the right to choose. Living on is the best blessing. (Watch a life theater according to the guidance.)]
[Challenge (Optional): Do not have any contact with the parties involved, Oret and Julius.]
Daily quests that were not about clearing Tacet Discords were the most troublesome.
Clearing Tacet Discords or Fractsidus members only required going to the coordinates given by the quest guidance, and they could be completed very quickly. But other types of daily quests could take several hours or even a whole day.
While he was thinking, Noah felt a pair of cool, soft little hands rest on his shoulders, then begin massaging them in a soothing rhythm.
Turning his head, it was indeed Phrolova.
"What are you doing?" Noah turned around and calmly avoided Phrolova's hands.
"I..."
Phrolova lowered her head slightly, folding her hands that had nowhere to rest in front of her lower abdomen. Her gaze was half-lowered as she explained in a soft, embarrassed voice:
"In the matter of reviving my relatives, I can't help much, so I wanted to massage your shoulders to help you relax. Sorry, did I scare you? I just wanted to do something within my ability."
So that was it. Strange. The Phrolova he knew shouldn't be like this.
Exactly where did things go wrong?
Noah stared fixedly at Phrolova, who lowered her head more and more like someone who had done something wrong.
He naturally didn't know that when a person has been in an environment of extreme material or mental deprivation for a long time, even the slightest kindness becomes extremely precious to her, making her develop a life-saving-straw-like dependence.
Once such an unhealthy attachment psychology full of repayment is born, it easily grows wildly, idealizing the other party more and more highly, uncontrollably becoming dead set.
That was why in the original plot, Rover became Phrolova's salvation fantasy, and Phrolova regarded him as the antidote that could change her fate.
And therefore, Rover's repeated broken promises brought Phrolova a faith-collapsing blow, causing Phrolova to directly darken and join the Fractsidus.
When you melt away the cold protective color on her surface, you will find she is far softer than you imagined.
"You don't need to do this kind of thing in the future."
After a thought, Noah continued:
"Perfect timing. I have a quest to do. Come with me."
Although he knew Phrolova probably wouldn't run away, in order to ensure the Threnodian gem and the main quest could be completed smoothly, it was better to keep Phrolova by his side and watch her at all times.
Otherwise, just like last time when he didn't watch Cartethyia for a short while, she was directly taken away by the Playwright.
"I'll briefly describe the quest. We need to secretly observe two people, but we cannot have any contact with them."
"Alright!"
...
Septimont, outside the bathhouse.
The noble Oret stood alone in the open space, enduring the varied scrutinizing gazes of the commoners.
He was usually pampered and privileged. This time, traveling alone, he had waited foolishly outside the bathhouse for a long time without being allowed in. His noble pride made him unwilling to lower himself to ask commoners for the reason.
"My lord, is this your first time at this bathhouse?"
A commoner seemed to notice Oret's resentment and annoyance. He took the initiative to step forward and bowed respectfully to Oret:
"My name is Julius. It is my honor to become your temporary servant."
Soon, under Julius's self-recommendation, Oret finally learned: this commoner bathhouse was only open to women before 4 PM.
After learning this, Oret felt utterly humiliated and flew into a rage from shame:
"No wonder so many people were staring at me — doesn't that mean I stood outside for so long and became a laughingstock."
"My lord, that's because the people here have never seen such a noble person as you. Everyone was momentarily awed by your bearing."
Listening to Julius's clever response, Oret's expression eased slightly. He then complained about the bathhouse's poor service.
Julius once again took the initiative to help, assisting him in proving his noble identity so that Oret could enter without queuing.
After entering the bathhouse, Oret was greatly disappointed by the simple facilities and disdainfully pointed out many flaws, all of which were humbly echoed by Julius.
After a round of conversation, Oret actually began to view him with new respect.
Finally, as the two were about to part, looking at Julius who was bowing in farewell, Oret made a meaningful promise:
"Next time I come here, I will contact you. For outstanding young people, Septimont will always give them opportunities."
"Thank you, my lord." Julius thanked him with deep gratitude.
All of this was taken in by Noah and Phrolova, who were hidden in the shadows.
"What are we observing them for?" Phrolova asked in confusion.
No matter how one looked at it, it was just a foolish and arrogant noble and a flattering, self-deprecating commoner.
The status gap between nobles and commoners in Septimont was very large. Phrolova understood this very well. But wasn't every place like this? There would never be true equality.
Could it be that Noah even wanted to manage this?
"No rush. Let's keep watching." Noah also had doubts but continued watching patiently.
Completing quests was like this. The panel only needed to issue the quest, but he had to put in a lot of effort.
In his sight, the two figures finally separated. Julius retracted the grateful expression on his face, stroked his chin, his eyes flickering as he muttered to himself:
"This noble is deliberately acting stupid in such a high-profile, showy manner. He should be putting on a performance for others. Is it to paralyze his political enemies? Or some other unknown reason?"
Shaking his head, Julius set aside his suspicions, his tone resolute:
"Regardless, this is my chance to climb upward. Since I've encountered it, I cannot miss it... no matter what price I have to pay."
One sentence made Phrolova view him slightly differently. She commented:
"I misjudged him. So he's actually a smart person with ideas and the courage to act. He wants to use his humility, quick wit, and insight to exchange for upward mobility for himself and his family."
As she spoke, she couldn't help but feel puzzled:
"However... is that noble really putting on a show as he said?"
"Let's follow and see."
The quest was not over yet. Noah led Phrolova and quickly chased after Oret, their footsteps extremely light as they observed Oret's actions from afar.
The noble held his terminal, pointing and gesturing at the virtual screen projected above it. His expression grew increasingly contemptuous:
"Julius, male, twenty-five years old, married to a female commoner, address is..."
"Has one son, seven years old, affected by the Dark Tide, mentally listless, weak and sickly — heh, no wonder he's so eager to climb up."
"Unfortunately, even if you really manage to enter the upper class of Septimont with some petty cleverness, you still won't be able to save your son. The Dark Tide is incurable."
Putting away his terminal, Oret sneered coldly:
"You'd better stay here, living your unrealistic dreams in the mud for the rest of your life."
"..."
Sure enough, neither of them was stupid.
One saw through the noble's carefully acted performance, while the other directly pulled up the former's personal information in return.
Phrolova's eyes lowered slightly. Her gaze toward Oret carried a trace of disgust.
At least Julius had helped Oret put on a show, yet the latter could still say such heartless words after learning about the other party's experiences.
If Noah weren't beside her, she would definitely give this arrogant noble a small lesson.
"I find him a bit unpleasant. Perfect timing. Since he wants to put on a show, let's help him complete the full performance."
Noah suddenly spoke:
"Go knock him out, then bring his terminal over."
The quest restricted him from contacting Julius and Oret, but it did not restrict Phrolova.
"Alright!"
This order was exactly what Phrolova wanted.
Phrolova went.
Thud! The sound of a hard object striking the back of the head.
Thump! The sound of a human body falling onto the street.
Phrolova returned.
With Oret's terminal in hand, Noah searched for Julius's address information while casually praising Phrolova:
"Well done."
Receiving praise, Phrolova lowered her head somewhat embarrassedly, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise.
"Hehe."
[This chapter's daily quest is adapted from real daily conversations of Septimont open-world NPCs.]