Chapter 276 - 260: The Moon Thief’s Secret, in Whose Hands Lies the Choice?
Chapter 276: Chapter 260: The Moon Thief’s Secret, in Whose Hands Lies the Choice?
Hearing Jon’s words, Arianna’s lips pressed into a tighter line.
She gazed at Dolores’s peaceful little face, complex emotions swirling in the depths of her moonlit eyes.
"Perhaps... they are trying to—"
"Trying?"
Jon’s gaze sharpened abruptly.
"Trying to do what?"
Arianna’s fingers, which had been gently stroking Dolores’s hair, paused for a moment. She spoke softly.
"Since you know of the Moon Thieves, then you must also know of the judgment my Lord passed down upon them back then."
Jon’s brow furrowed even deeper.
"I do. The souls of the ringleaders were all Purified, their bodies and spirits annihilated. Their followers were branded with the mark of eternal exile, forever forbidden from returning to Esifa, the Land of Eternal Night."
"They can only cower in the gloomy depths of the earth, eking out a miserable existence in eternal darkness."
"Yes."
Arianna nodded slightly, a profound worry reflected in her eyes.
"But so many years have passed. Even in those gloomy tunnels, time leaves its mark."
"Perhaps among the exiles from that time, some could no longer bear the eternal isolation and suffering. They grew to regret their actions, struggling, yearning to touch the world of light once more..."
She paused, her fingertips unconsciously twirling a stray lock of Dolores’s purple hair. The strand shimmered with a strange, soft luster in the faint light filtering through the stained-glass window.
"Dolores is an arrow pointing toward this ’attempt’."
Jon’s gaze fell upon the sleeping girl’s face.
She was curled up, her breathing even. Her long eyelashes cast shadows like butterfly wings on her eyelids, completely unaware of what her own existence truly signified.
"She is a Half-Elf."
Arianna’s voice dropped even lower.
"I can feel it. Part of the Elf blood flowing in her veins originates from the Moon Thieves."
"The twisted techniques those rebels performed on her might not have been merely to prove some fallacious theory. It’s also possible they used her as a... ’vessel,’ an ’observational sample’ to walk under the sun and moonlight."
In the column of light cast by the high church window, tiny dust motes drifted silently. The priestess’s voice carried an almost imperceptible tremor.
"Perhaps they are observing what happens when Dolores, who was implanted with an influence similar to that of the ’Moon Thieves,’ has her soul truly touch the sunlight and bathe in the moonlight..."
"Will she be scorched and torn apart by divine punishment like them? Or will she develop some kind of unexpected Resistance? Or perhaps... some other reaction?"
Jon’s head snapped up, a flash of deep blue light vanishing in the depths of his pupils.
"So, their real goal is to apply this ’influence’ to themselves, using it to resist Lord Neso’s divine punishment, to escape the pain of their souls being scorched by sunlight and devoured by moonlight, and ultimately return to the light?"
Before Arianna could reply, a notification popped up before his eyes.
———
[The Penitent’s Hope I (Rare Personal Quest), Completed]
[You have met a devout Moon God Priestess, and she has revealed past secrets to you. Dolores ???, the girl raised by the Moon Thieves, is their attempt to return to the world.]
[Completion Rate: B, reward multiplier 2.0]
[Completion Reward: 24,000 General Experience Points (Basic 12,000 x reward multiplier 2.0), 4,000 Unknown Faction reputation (Basic 2,000 x reward multiplier 2.0)]
———
[The Penitent’s Hope II (Rare Personal Quest), Quest Information Updated]
[Faced with Dolores ???, what will you do?]
[Option 1: Ask Arianna to remove the influence on Dolores, allowing her to return to a normal life]
[Option 2: Take Dolores with you and continue to investigate the secrets of the Moon Thieves]
[Option 3: Other]
[Basic Reward: 24,000 General Experience Points, 4,000 Unknown Faction reputation]
[Additional Reward: Additional Experience Points and reputation multiplier will be granted based on task completion rate.]
"Note: Different choices will result in changes to the Unknown Faction reputation."
———
’Looks like I guessed right...’
Jon stared at the notifications, thoughts churning in his mind.
For a player, even when encountering an unfamiliar quest, the prompts in the quest panel would provide some direction.
At this point, "The Penitent’s Hope" quest had undoubtedly reached its most critical juncture: whether or not to stop here.
The Moon God’s Divine Techniques excelled at soothing and mending souls. Memory and Spirit were also Domains the Daughters of Neso specialized in. If he chose to have Arianna remove the influence on Dolores, the quest would end here.
He could obtain Dolores’s loyalty as promised and gain a capable follower. At the same time, he would lose the opportunity to uncover more secrets and obtain greater rewards.
But if he took Dolores with him, the quest would surely have much more to uncover. Just the involvement of Deities alone guaranteed there would be no shortage of rewards, both obvious and hidden.
But...
’Perhaps... this decision shouldn’t be mine to make.’
Jon stared at Dolores’s peaceful, sleeping face, a thousand thoughts running through his mind.
If this were back when he was still a player, he, Jon, would have definitely chosen the path of maximum profit. To hell with the consequences, he’d pry more information from Arianna, then take Dolores to crash the Moon Thieves’ party, triggering all sorts of quests and raking in rewards and reputation.
But now, after experiencing so much in this world, he realized he shouldn’t be so utilitarian. He needed to consider people’s hearts more.
This world was vast. If he needed experience, any of the intel-gathering quests he’d gotten from meeting Po Ao could bring in a massive amount.
If he wanted to, he would never be short on quests.
So, when dealing with the people around him, he had to consider their feelings more.
What if Dolores was completely fed up with this kind of life and was desperate to be free of the influence the Moon Thieves had placed on her?
Why should he drag her around on adventures all over the place for a bit of paltry profit?
So, after a moment of deliberation, he looked up at Arianna and said seriously,
"Priestess Arianna, please wake her. This is a fork in her own Destiny. No one else has the right to make the choice for her."
The Moon God Priestess was slightly taken aback.
Just moments ago, this young man had commanded everyone with a dazzling aura of authority. It had made her think Jon was an arrogant and self-confident type of leader.
She hadn’t expected him to actually hand the choice over to his subordinate...
’It seems first impressions don’t tell the whole story...’
Arianna suppressed her sigh of admiration and nodded.
"Then, let’s wake the child..."
Her slender, pale fingers brushed over the girl’s furrowed brow like they were sweeping across harp strings, and a dot of moonlight, cool as dew, silently seeped in.
The sleeping Ranger Maiden’s eyelashes trembled, like butterfly wings disturbed by the morning dew.
Then, she let out a satisfied, almost whimpering murmur from her throat, stretching her slender yet powerful waist like a lazy cat.
"Mmm... Nya~"
Dolores rubbed her drowsy eyes. Her amber pupils slowly focused through the haze, as if she had just surfaced from the deepest sea of dreams.
"Hah... I haven’t slept that comfortably in ages... My bones feel like jelly~ Huh?"
The next moment, however, her stretching motion froze abruptly.
Jon’s gaze was as serene as an abyss, while a solemn gravity that couldn’t be concealed lay in the depths of Arianna’s gentle eyes.
Their gazes intertwined on her, like invisible threads that instantly bound her nimble limbs. She subconsciously shrank back, and the faint blush on her face from a good sleep quickly faded, leaving only a lost, helpless pallor.
Her small nostrils flared slightly with an imperceptible nervousness, her eyes darting quickly back and forth between the two of them.
"Wh-what’s wrong? Boss? And... this lady? Why are you both looking at me like that?"