The Royal Capital. It was a place that existed—or so I’d heard. And in that capital, there were royals, and even a King...
“Um, well, the thing is... we have a request for a Royal Family Case. It involves acting as an escort to the Dungeon Core located deep within the Royal Capital Dungeon.”
“A Royal Family Case, huh?”
We were currently reporting our quest results at the Tsudon Adventurer’s Guild when the subject came up. In other words, it was a Nominated Request.
However...
“It’s not an SP Request, ssu. Pass, ssu,” Penpen said flatly.
“Right-o. Right now, we only feel like taking SP Requests-o,” Alto added.
“I see... Well then, please feel free to let me know whenever the mood strikes you.” The Receptionist looked a bit dejected.
Exactly. It wasn’t an SP Request, just a job with normal rewards. In that case, we didn't really care. Our priority was grinding SP. That was the general vibe of the party.
“Well, it sounds like a main scenario quest, so maybe we’ll take it if we feel like it later-o.”
“These things usually stay available until you accept them, anyway,” I remarked.
At that, the Receptionist timidly raised her hand. “I’m sorry, I forgot to mention one thing,” she said, her voice small. “U-Um... this is actually a ‘Limited-time Event.’ There is a deadline on how long the offer remains open.”
“Wait, what!? It’s limited-time, ssu!?” Penpen shouted.
“The tide has turned. Let’s hear the details.”
“Exactly-o. By the way, how long can we leave it before it becomes a problem-o?” Alto asked.
Alto, were you the type of person who didn't start their summer vacation homework until the very last night?
“Hey now, Alto. With these things, you never know how long the actual request will take to complete. It’s safer to just get it over with now, right?”
“...That’s true-o! I forgot to account for the duration of the quest itself-o!”
“But wait, don’t we have to actually go to the Royal Capital first, ssu?” Penpen pointed out.
She had a point. In this game, even if you skip the travel, the days still pass in-game. That could result in a fatal loss of time. Besides, if it was a place we’d never visited, we’d have to endure another long, bumpy carriage ride.
“The location is known as Royal Capital Frilene,” the Receptionist explained.
“Oh, I know where that is-o. I can use Fast Travel-o,” Alto said.
“Oh, nice. That makes the trip instantaneous... at least subjectively.”
“Even with Fast Travel, time still passes in the game, ssu. We have to be careful, ssu.”
I wondered exactly how much in-game time would elapse.
“Oh, if you want, I can just go ahead by myself-o. I’ve already established a Home there, so I can just perform a Home Linking-o!”
“Oh, that’s perfect. In that case, we’ll handle some other requests in Auto Mode while you’re making the trip.”
“There’s going to be a bit of a Time-space Distortion, ssu. We’re splitting all the earnings we make during that gap, okay-o?”
“O-o-o, sounds good-o. Well then, Situation Start-o!”
“...And that’s the Result-o! Home Linking and Fast Travel complete-o!”
“Let’s see... one month has passed in-game. Total income: 120 Gold Coins. That’s 40 Gold Coins each.”
“Ah. Are we splitting the profits from the Penpen Milk too, ssu?” Penpen asked.
“No, keep that. That’s Passive Income from your Ranch. It wouldn't be right for us to take a cut of that.”
And just like that, the preparations were complete. Man, it really did feel like an instant!
As a side note, we discovered that SP Requests are strictly tied to Real-world Time. Even if we skipped a whole month in-game, the quests didn't refresh; they only reappeared once a single day had passed in reality. This became clear during Penpen’s frantic SP Request Rush.
Of course, as usual, that “one day” for the game world was only about three hours for us. My head was starting to spin just trying to keep track of the logistics, so I decided it was best to stop thinking about it.
“Still, I’d feel bad doing nothing for you guys, so I’ll share some ‘Delicious Steak’ as a treat, ssu! Oh, just the in-game version, obviously.”
“Guboh!? Penpen-shi, what are you trying to do by raising our Affection Levels-o!?”
“Yeah! Penpen’s Affection Level is already The Sole Venerable One, you know!?”
“Eh? You don’t want it, ssu?”
“Of course we want it-o!!” Alto screamed.
“Damn right! As if we could turn it down! Thank you!”
“Thought so, ssu.”
I carefully tucked the gifted steak into my Inventory. I’d save it for a nice, quiet moment later. Yay!
“Well, player Affection Level is mask data that doesn't show up on a Status screen, ssu. It never hurts to keep it high, ssu.”
“Then at least let’s agree that these 120 Gold Coins should all go to Penpen-shi-o?”
“I agree,” I said. “Between the SP Items and everything else, we’re already coming out ahead. It’s the least we can do.”
“Oh, in that case, I’ll gladly take them, ssu. Now I can finally expand the Ranch, ssu!”
And so, it was settled.
Now that we were all geared up and ready, it was time to tackle this Limited-time Event. Let’s see what this Royal Family Request is all about!