Super Righteous Player
Chapter 918 - 453: The True Hero

Chapter 918: Chapter 453: The True Hero

The Silver Baron left, and Annan breathed a sigh of relief.

Because, indeed, he couldn’t quite figure out what to do with the rescued orphans... After all, on the surface, he hadn’t left the royal palace yet, so there was no way to explain how he found these children.

So, everything was over.

The innocent children had been saved, and the enemy had been defeated. There was no need for Annan and the player characters to stay here any longer.

Before the Eldest Princess’s army surrounded them, he must hurry back to the palace, and pretend as if he had never left... The players would do well to disperse and retreat to places far from here, to avoid trouble later on.

Depending on the situation... it might be necessary for the players to surround the troops instead.

But, it might not even come to that.

The best case would be to sort everything out in the court and have them withdraw their troops directly. That way, these soldiers wouldn’t have to die senselessly due to "a dispute over the royal succession."

"Lord Annan, is the enemy dealt with?"

The Delicious Wind Goose was the first to "successfully reach the summit"—running all the way from the base of this mountain-like monster to its steep peak.

This hearty bald man, wearing a very thin robe on his upper body and holding an unsheathed long sword, approached with a reassuring and steady voice, "Is there anything else you need help with?"

His gaze shifted subtly as he noticed Annan’s white robe had changed in style.

Annan’s previous off-shoulder white robe was now turned into a slanted overcoat. His left arm was bare from the shoulder down, even under the armpit, while his right arm was tightly wrapped, covering from shoulder to fingertips; his body was also crisscrossed with many white bands, mostly running from his right shoulder to his left waist or parallel to it.

Delicious Wind Goose recognized... This asymmetrical style was clearly that of elf fashion.

It was similar to the clothes worn by the ghost girl named Bofis.

...Speaking of which, was this the clothing Annan had been wearing before?

Why did his clothes change after defeating the BOSS? Did you stealthily burst out of your clothes again? And where did these clothes come from?

"Yes, it’s taken care of."

Annan nodded and adjusted his collar uncomfortably.

He asked with concern, "I thought you had accidentally been expelled from this world just now... Were you hit by Nicholas’s poison dust?"

"I’m not as reckless as I used to be, Lord,"

The old goose responded somewhat helplessly, "I’m now accustomed to my role as a Sword Saint, and I don’t fight as violently as before. I prefer to find the right moment to enter the battlefield and target the enemy’s weaknesses. As for Yi Yi, she came with me, but she was accidentally taken out with the first blow."

"No need to worry, she’s fine."

Annan explained, "She just came into contact with Hermes’s poison dust and was temporarily expelled from this world. She’ll be able to return soon."

"...Hermes’s poison dust?"

The Delicious Wind Goose paused, then nodded pensively without asking further questions.

Nevertheless, Annan still gave some instructions, "You all can start preparing to leave soon, or even later is fine. The Eldest Princess has sent troops to surround this place, aiming to attack Nata County... If you have any property or friends there, it would be wise to take them and leave quickly, but it’s best to avoid the area completely.

"But it might not be best to all leave—those children who were expelled by the poison dust will return shortly. It’s better to leave some people here to receive them so that they aren’t confused and accidentally run into the army."

It wasn’t about not being able to fight or flee.

After all, most of their main properties were in Noah, and if it came out now that there was a connection with Nicholas, even just a suspicion... it certainly wouldn’t be good.

"...However, you have surprised me somewhat."

Watching more and more people climb into this "cavern" through the frost-marked rock walls, the narrow space gradually became noisy.

Annan didn’t mind the noise; instead, he felt a sense of nostalgia and reflection, "Your growth has been truly rapid.

"I remember last year, you all were quite clumsy. Just like me, not mature enough... But now, you’ve developed an understanding that allows you to work together seamlessly without communication."

Without the Four Dark Monk players collapsing the mountain and clearing the path, Annan would never have been able to defeat Nicholas.

Although the final blow wasn’t delivered by them... the most critical, even game-changing assault that turned Annan’s defeat into victory, was the players’ incredibly synchronized cooperation.

"The children have been safely rescued. Sir Silver Baron just visited, and I asked him to take the children back... after all, neither you nor I are really equipped to take care of them."

Annan said gravely, "Thank you for arriving in time... Otherwise, not only those children might have been defeated, or even killed,

but I might have been, too.

"Thank you, everyone."

He even bowed solemnly to the players.

After the players saw the "new expansion pack," it took them less than ten minutes on average to teleport to Nata County. They rushed from Nata County all the way to the nameless village... and then plunged into Blood Butterfly Valley without hesitation.

At first, Annan was worried that the players might be tempted by the treasures in the village.

That would have been a very reasonable situation.

Players are hard-pressed to resist loot and packs — a teammate might not be saved, but a pack must be looted.

Under such "massive drops" conditions, they managed to suppress the desire to pick up items and came straight over to rescue, even without the incentive of main quest experience rewards.

This was a possibility Annan hadn’t foreseen.

Yes, Annan had not issued them a main quest.

Because it seemed unreasonable to do so.

This place did not have the avenging motive for Heath Tower of Black like they had against the spirit swallower monk, nor was it a case of shared enmity as when they followed Annan from Frostwater Harbor to assault Roth Fort.

Among these players, a good portion had never even seen Annan.

And although Nicholas was guilty... his connection to Annan was more of a personal vendetta.

Annan did not want to trouble the players for such reasons.

Since he hadn’t granted them any favors, he also felt it improper to ask for their help.

But he thought they might be interested in "saving people" — however, issuing a quest would feel a bit like moral coercion.

A bonus that depended entirely on voluntariness... as long as one arrived early enough, and in time, they could save someone; the earlier one arrived, the more people could be saved.

Such a thing, Annan felt, should not be a part of a main quest.

But the players shouldn’t have to go back empty-handed.

Annan planned to give everyone some favorability points after the offline players returned, and then set up a welfare quest under the guise of a physical exam, making up an excuse to give them some compensation... the compensation would be to clear their erosion levels.

Of course, there was still a sentence that he had to say:

"—You are all true heroes."

Annan said earnestly.