The Wesley family had been the ducal house guarding the northern part of the kingdom for generations. As befitting the title of Duke in K-fantasy, they had a touch of royal blood, receiving blessings from the Goddess and treated as nobility while protecting the harsh snowfields.
Unlike the tragic tales of siblings massacring each other and shouting "Seeding you, father!" to be the Duke, this noble house had steadfastly maintained its position as a pir of the kingdom. The only slight issue was that when Heroes Chronicle Season 2 began, an empire suddenly appeared in the kingdom''s north.
Because of this, the Wesley family''s role shifted from being the Northern Duke protecting the kingdom from the harsh snowfield''s monsters to being the Northern Duke maintaining order at the border with the empire.
To describe it in the most simr way possible... It felt like the Minister of Defense being forcibly transferred to be the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
"Hmm... This seems like some kind of character quest, doesn''t it? Maybe a clue to upgrade Katie to 6★, or something like a performance upgrade simr to awakening.
The problem is that it''s telling us to go to the northern part of the empire, not the kingdom, where a monster wave has urred."
-Haha, are they forcing us to go to the empire just to get a taste of what they''ve created?
-For real, I guess the empire was created for a character enhancement event.
-The party members are already fixed from Season 1 with the Goddess''s approval, so it''s probably not for additional recruitment.-Didn''t the Katie bring some ne and broken magic armor given as golem food when she ran away?
-I remember something about repairing an ice armor... It must be a key repair part.
As Han Se-ah immediately started talking about the quest, it was clear that while Olek''s nonsense was entertaining to listen to, a party member''s enhancement quest was naturally more interesting. Especially if it felt like a hidden quest concealed within the ramblings of an unrted NPC.
The viewers quickly shifted from missions and malicious chats intended to tease Han Se-ah, likeforting Rnd or touching his chest, to specting about the north.
However, there was something that Han Se-ah and the viewers failed to notice in their enthusiastic spection: there was a huge obstacle topleting this character quest.
"...So the story about magical equipment sleeping where the rainbow begins, huh?"
"Ah, I''ve heard that story too."
"I thought it was just a tale circting in the northern empire. It''s being told in the kingdom too, Miss Katie?"
"Well, it seems both the kingdom and the empire have simr thoughts when they see the pure white snowfields and high peaks of eternal snow."
Katie, as the daughter of a ducal family and a knight in the hero''s party, naturally spoke informally to Olek, who was older than her. After checking the tent, she abruptly joined the conversation between Han Se-ah and Olek, apparently curious about their chat.
Despite interrupting and speaking informally, Katie''s dignified appearance and straightforward attitude, befitting a Duke''s daughter and surpassing the level of a senior adventurer, seemed to prevent Olek from feeling offended. He responded politely to Katie''s actions, which lived up to her nickname.
However, as the two continued their conversation, Han Se-ah''s expression gradually hardened.
"Still, it''s just a fanciful tale."
"A fanciful tale, you say?"
"They say even the kingdom''s adventurers spent a long time searching the high mountains between the kingdom and the empire, talking about the Goddess''s equipment sleeping there or a dragon''s nest existing. Even our family''s ancestors got involved."
"Hmm... If even a ducal family, not just some adventurers, searched for hundreds of years and found nothing, I guess this story is fake too."
Olek seemed to sink into sadness, like a child realizing Santa doesn''t exist and it''s theirte-returning father who secretly leaves presents. Meanwhile, Katie appeared smug, as if educating a junior knight who didn''t understand the ways of the world.
It seemed that being from the same northern region, both second children, members of knight orders who hunted monsters and walked the path of the sword, and Katie being just slightly above Olek in rank, made her treat him like a junior.
Well, even if she was younger, her family''s prestige and personal skill could make her superior. Besides, given that Katie and his childhood friend Alisa called Olek childish, it seemed their mental ages weren''t that different despite the age gap.
The problem was that the conversation between these two was heading in the direction of "In the end, it''s all just baseless rumors."
"Hey, what should we do? If there''s no quest to go to the empire, we won''t have any reason to go to the Sibedev domain. I wonder if a side quest rted to the monster wave will open up."
-Haha, no, it''s not a baseless rumor
-Look at the synergy between Katie and the childish one ruining the quest, haha!
-But seriously, we''re already so busy climbing the tower, when are we supposed to visit the empire?
-These BB Games bastards are so cruel, aren''t most of the main quests time attacks?
-Throwing in a super long round-trip quest from the kingdom''s center to the northern empire while setting a time attack, wow~
As the two whispered to each other with an air of "Yeah, yeah, we don''t believe in rumors anymore," Han Se-ah must have been ready to go crazy and jump around.
I mean, it''s a character quest, but the person involved is denying its existence!
------
Just as hidden backstory (feat. Empire) was created for Rnd Bretagne when Season 2 started, Katie Wesley also got her own hidden backstory (feat. Family).
It seemed that since the empire and kingdom had finally managed to create a passage through those treacherous mountains and establish exchanges, there was bound to be intertwined history between noble families. Since party members were exclusively from the kingdom, this backstory appeared to be a way to incorporate the empire as a new field.
But there was a minor issue: for some unknown reason, the Wesley family''s ancestors had ventured not just to the kingdom''s north, but all the way to the northern empire.
"No way! If they''d just put it in the kingdom''s mountains, we could go to the duchyter! Hunt monsters! Look around! Stop by to show off the daughter! We could find it along the way!"
-It''s been said since ancient times: send adventurers to the kingdom and nobles to the empire. GG
-No matter how much you scream at the quest window, the quest item hidden in the northern empire isn''t going to move, lol
-What can you do? You were talking big, and now it''s backfiring, haha!
-So what can you do if you don''t strengthen your party members~~~~~~~
-This streamer gets exactly what she talks about, is this the karma of the East? The retribution is impressive :)
The problem was that Han Se-ah couldn''t tell Katie about this.
Han Se-ah, or more precisely, the ''yer,'' was set up as a country bumpkin who came to the city of adventurers by carriage from a nameless rural estate to be an adventurer.
From the start, hidden sses like being from a noble family or having royal blood, hidden lineages, and hidden family histories were the exclusive domain of NPCs.
How could a country girl from a nameless vige in the kingdom''s southeast suddenly talk about the northern empire, hundreds of kilometers away and over a year''s journey by carriage, let alone about the hidden secrets of a ducal family that was a pir of the kingdom? She''d be treated like a madwoman.
Moreover, with priests openlymunicating with the Goddess and saints regrly appearing, it was hard to lie about receiving divine revtions. So all Han Se-ah could do was pray desperately for a side quest to the empire to appear between the main quest and character quest.
[Rnds Sturdy Heavy Sword donated 10,000 won!]
If you run to the empire before reaching the 60th floor, I''ll give 100,000 won lol
[Katie Love Team donated 50,000 won!]
Are you abandoning your team? Not enhancing? Looking down on 4-stars because you have born 5 and 6-stars? tant discrimination?
[Katie Enthusiast donated 30,000 won!]
Hey, shouldn''t we do the character quest before defeating the boss?
It was the established flow of the stream that when Han Se-ah struggled with an unsolvable problem, viewers always came with missions.
Lying in the tent set up by the Ice Cross Knights, with them even taking care of the night watch, I leisurely watched Han Se-ah''s stream. Her face was contorted as she suffered from both chat and donation harassment.
Having more people around did make things convenient in this way. Even if we had to take turns for night watch in pairs, the Ice Cross Knights could handle it, allowing the hero''s party to rest properly at night like true heroes. Of course, with everyone having superhuman bodies, they wouldn''t get tired whether they stood watch or not.
"Rnd, won''t your eyes hurt if you keep looking up like that? Should I lend you some cloth for a blindfold?"
"I''m not trying to sleep, just thinking about the story Olek told earlier."
"The one about the treasure under the rainbow? When the children at the temple heard that story, they''d run outside on rainy days, and the nuns would often scold them for catching colds."
As Iy in my sleeping bag, watching Han Se-ah''s struggles, Irene naturally approached me. It seemed the awkward pampering time wasn''t over yet, as Grace hade after my conversation with Katie, and now Irene approached, like well-oiled gears.
She came to the head of my sprawled-out sleeping bag, gently lifted my head, and offered herp as a pillow. After briefly admiring herrge pouch of divine energy that shaded me from the sun so well I didn''t need a blindfold, I dropped a piece of bait.
"I''ve heard this story while traveling too, and I don''t think it''spletely baseless."
"Oh my, really?"
As I savored the gentle touch of her hand smoothing my hair and the soft feeling of her thigh against the back of my head, I nced slyly at the camera approaching to capture this scene with uncanny precision.
If the yer couldn''t tell the truth, I''d have to do it myself.
After all, our Katie needed that enhancement.
---