The Villainess With A Heroine Harem

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The 'main quest' of Arcadia was actually quite simple, or at least that was how it appeared at first glance.

The first and only part that could be completed within the beginner area had them look for certain clues about a missing girl in the wilderness, and then report them to the village chief to be issued the next mission.

Everyone could decide for themselves what these 'clues' could be, or if they were 'good enough' to justify quest completion, and the village chief would solemnly accept them all the same.

But Emilia knew that this was just a trap.

The rewards issued for this quest's completion were directly dependent on how 'good' the clues the player discovered were, and how difficult they were to find. And even the experience reward for the quest varied accordingly.

It wouldn't take long for people to start regretting their greed when the game had 'generously' awarded them just one copper coin and a single point of experience while their friends were showering in thousands. There wasn't even an option to 'redo' it, since the next part of the quest would already have been issued.

'In the original timeline, everyone agreed that to obtain the highest reward in this quest, one had to defeat the Boar King, and bring back the torn skirt hidden in his lair.' Emilia chuckled. 'But contrary to popular belief, it later turned out that the stupid pig only found the skirt in the forest and enjoyed sniffing on it.'

To accomplish this task, one would need a decently skilled team of five at the very least, and the drops could hardly be considered worth the effort if not for the quest.

Obviously, once it was all done, the village chief would be heartbroken to discover that the girl he was supposed to have been caring for had been lost to a pig. But he would still honor his word and hand out the 'highest' reward, along with the next quest… informing the girl's father of his daughter's death, which would lead the player to the capital.

However, a rather sadistic man later discovered that if the 'Boar King' was tortured enough without allowing its health to fall too much, it would eventually start begging and groveling for mercy. And if the torn skirt was placed against its nose then, it would lead the player to a certain spot in the forest where they could find 'Tears of the Immortal' in the loose soil beneath a tree.

This was the quest item that, once identified, made the village chief realize that his daughter might have either 'ascended', or otherwise had some involvement with some immortal.

Either way, it was unlikely for her to have died.

Going this route… one could unlock the higher-level branch of the main quest, with a much better selection of rewards, but also a significantly higher level of difficulty.

Since both branches of the quest later 'joined' anyway, many players thought it was not worth it to take this path even after it had been discovered, since it would slow their progress significantly.

But Emilia didn't even hesitate before making that choice.

She happily led Crystal directly to the spot in the forest where the tear was supposed to be, and picked it up with a grin. "Wow, I thought it was only a strange stone, but this thing's so pretty!"

Emilia pretended to look around for more, but even after her hands were covered in dirt, she could only sigh. "It's such a pity that there only seems to be one. How do we split it?"

Crystal chuckled. "Since you found it, and also like it so much, just keep it."

She naturally had some idea of what her girlfriend was trying to do, but the blonde girl still diligently played her part.

The crimson-haired elf stared at her for a while, eyes shining gratefully, and Crystal's heart almost skipped a beat.

Then, as if suddenly having a shocking revelation, Emilia jumped. "W-Wait, since this is a game, why don't we try leaving this area and coming back again, to see if it respawns?!"

Looking at the gorgeous girl's exaggerated act, Crystal desperately resisted the urge to giggle as she nodded in agreement. 'S-She's obviously being paranoid and overly careful, but why is it so adorable?! I almost can't resist giving her a kiss, ahhh!'

Luckily, her self-control was thousands of times stronger than Sam's... which was something.

'I-I won't give in!' Crystal nodded to herself as she followed after Emilia.

To their 'surprise', they really did find the 'Tears of Immortal' in the same place again after re-entering the area.

Obviously, if these items didn't respawn, it would be impossible for more than one player per beginner's town to complete the quest with the highest reward, leaving the rest either envious or demotivated.

And if everyone were to receive the rewards anyway upon one person completing the quest, most people would just continue to farm while waiting for others to 'waste their time'.

In either case, it wouldn't have a very positive impact on the attitude of most, and would ultimately lead to a worse result for the world will.

Emilia and Crystal tried to gather a few more 'Tears of Immortal', but to neither's surprise, the spot where it was supposed to appear remained vacant.

Only when someone who hadn't already claimed a tear walked into its vicinity would it appear, and only that person would be able to put it in their inventory.

Naturally, others could still see, touch, and even steal it, but as long as the 'rightful owner' of that tear was strong enough, it was impossible to prevent them from taking it back.

Emilia grinned. "Well, it's a pity that we only got two, but these should be good to craft a pair of earrings, or rings? What do you think?"

Crystal pretended to think for a while before nodding in agreement. "Alright. I don't mind either, honestly. But… where do we go to get something like that done?"

The crimson-haired elf hummed thoughtfully. "I didn't notice any accessory makers in the town, but aren't there usually traveling merchants and hidden shops in games? Let's go look for some!"

The two girls 'excitedly' went on a search for the non-existent shop, though Emilia was obviously heading to the [Boar King] in a straight line.

The moment she spotted its big ugly snout from beyond the tall trees, Emilia screamed in 'terror'. "AHH!"

Crystal was only startled for a moment before she came back to her senses, and readied her bow. "C-Careful! It seems to have noticed us. W-We'll have to fight!"

Emilia couldn't help but admire her blonde girlfriend's growing acting skills. 'Ahh, Crystal is so charming when she's being so smart and clever! But then again, the clumsy and cute Crystal is also adorable!'

Cynthia chuckled. "You never change, do you?"

She might sound exasperated, but only the raven-haired girl knew how relieved she was in her heart. 'Thankfully, she's slowly reverting back to normal. I gotta keep it up!'

Unaware of her partner's real thoughts, the crimson-haired girl coughed in embarrassment. 'L-Let's talk later, I gotta focus on killing that big pig.'

Her partner smiled. "You do realize that pigs and boars are two different things, right?"

Emilia blushed as she dashed towards the [Boar King], who was just starting to stand up and take a 'combat' stance. 'T-Too busy fighting!'

Cynthia giggled. "Of course."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━