64. Imperial Princess Questline: Acts 3-5, Favorability System

Sphene City was a colossal metropolis, and also the largest city in the entire game.

The city was situated at the confluence of the rivers in the fertile Tansen Plain. In terms of shape, it could be described as a rectangle slightly elongated from east to west and slightly narrowed from north to south.

According to the measurement data of the lore researchers from his past life, the entire city was 9,721 meters wide from east to west, 8,651 meters wide from north to south, with city walls 12 meters high, and about 600,000 civilians living within its boundaries.

In the past, Sphene City was immensely prosperous and wealthy, serving as the political, cultural, and commercial center of the entire Sphene Empire.

However, right now, Su Yu was riding Dima along the streets, noticing that the residents on both sides of the road all wore worried expressions and gloomy looks. The entire city was permeated with a lifeless atmosphere.

This had a lot to do with the grand background of the times.

Currently, the northern Calet rebel forces were closing in on Sphene City, and none of the residents believed the royal family could hold the city. A massive catastrophe was about to befall everyone within the walls.

Of course, Su Yu also felt this heavy and solemn atmosphere.

However, since he was not from this world, he could not truly empathize with it deeply. All he had on his mind was finishing his quest quickly and claiming his rewards.

......

19 Berglit Avenue.

This was a three-story detached villa, complete with a reasonably sized garden. Caldron, the imperial princess's bodyguard, lived here during his rotational breaks.

"Hello! I am an adventurer, and I would like to see Caldron."

Su Yu put Dima's mount token back into his inventory and said to the two guards at the door.

"Greetings, my lord!" One of the guards, clad in full white armor, bowed respectfully to Su Yu. "Our master has been very busy with official duties lately and has already given orders that he will not receive any visitors during this period. Please forgive us!"

Because Su Yu carried 2 points of world reputation, his current status was no less than that of a baron, which was why the guards treated him with such great respect.

"I am from Nolan Village." Su Yu opened his inventory and took out a letter. "This is a personal letter from the village chief of Nolan Village to Caldron. I hope the two of you can pass it on to your master."

"Nolan Village?!" Both guards were quite startled upon hearing this name.

The fact that Nolan Village had connections with otherworldly adventurers was common knowledge among NPCs.

"Alright then, I will deliver the letter to master right away."

The white-armored guard dared not be negligent. He respectfully received the letter with both hands, then ran inside the villa with a clattering of armor.

......

5 minutes later, the white-armored guard came back out, and his expression was far more respectful than before.

"My lord." The guard bowed deeply to Su Yu, his torso bending nearly 90 degrees. "Master is waiting for you in the great hall!"

"Mm, lead the way." Su Yu's expression remained unchanged as he followed the guard into the residence.

......

Inside the first-floor hall of the villa, Su Yu met Caldron.

Caldron was a middle-aged man with a square face and a resolute expression, the kind of person whose appearance instantly marked him as a righteous figure.

Due to his rotational break, he was not wearing armor, but rather an ordinary blue silk robe.

Seeing Su Yu walk into the hall, he immediately stood up to welcome him: "Hello, adventurer, I am Caldron, the princess's bodyguard!"

"Hello, I am Bane, an ordinary adventurer."

Su Yu shook hands with him.

"I have read the village chief's personal letter."

Caldron gestured with a "please" toward a nearby seat and cut straight to the point: "The Star-Casting Dragon King is a powerful entity, and the number of powerhouses in the entire empire who can fight it is no more than five."

"Mm, I know," Su Yu nodded.

"If it were in the past, her highness the princess and his majesty the emperor would certainly attach great importance to this powerhouse, but now..."

Caldron sighed. "You know the empire's current situation; the rebel army is about to reach the imperial capital. Beset by troubles internal and external, her highness the princess is stretched too thin and is unlikely to grant you an audience over this matter."

"Then what do you need me to do?" Su Yu asked.

From Caldron's tone, Su Yu caught a hint of something: Caldron was not unwilling to introduce him to the princess, but rather wanted to use this matter to reap some benefits.

Sure enough, Caldron smiled and said, "If you can help me complete a few tasks, I will agree to introduce you to her highness the princess, and I will also put in a good word for you so that you can gain her highness's attention."

"For the empire, it is my bounden duty." Su Yu stood up and replied.

"No, no, no, not for the empire, but a few personal matters of my own." A trace of embarrassment flashed across Caldron's face, though fortunately, he quickly concealed it.

"Adventurer, the overall situation of the empire is deteriorating day by day. The royal family will definitely not be able to hold Sphene City—even a three-year-old child playing on the street knows this." Caldron's expression was heavy.

Su Yu nodded without speaking, quietly waiting for him to continue.

......

"Because the city is about to fall, the capable officials and nobles in the city long ago transferred all their assets elsewhere, and I am no exception."

"My family and assets have all been transferred to Forest City in the west, leaving only this house beneath our feet. However, because the road to the west is infested with bandits and is extremely dangerous, my family and I have lost contact for a long time."

"Adventurer, would you be willing to make a trip to Forest City and deliver a message of safety to my family?"

As he spoke, Caldron took out a personal letter and solemnly handed it to Su Yu.

"Ding! Your main quest has been updated! [Glory of the Sphene Empire (3/100)]."

"Quest Requirements: Deliver Caldron's personal letter to Millie Caldron at 24 Merk Avenue in Forest City."

"Quest Rewards: Experience Points X2000, Millie Caldron's Favorability +1, 100 Psionic Coins."

"It's actually an NPC with 'favorability'?" Su Yu was slightly startled.

[NPC Favorability] was a gameplay mechanic that would only be released in the second expansion pack. Currently, the first expansion pack should only be using the main storyline as a pilot test.

By increasing an NPC's favorability to a certain threshold, players could romance that NPC, become friends with them, or even get married.

After getting married, they could even have children, and the children came with a separate nurturing gameplay system where they could work, study, fight monsters... Anyway, it was an extremely complex mechanic.

"Alright, I will definitely deliver the letter." Su Yu said goodbye to Caldron.

"I'm counting on you, adventurer!" Caldron waved.

......

For the next period of time, Su Yu kept running Caldron's quests, which were loops 3 through 5 of [Glory of the Sphene Empire].

After dodging the pursuits and interceptions of bandits all the way and delivering the letter into Millie Caldron's hands, Su Yu returned to Sphene City and continued to help Caldron scout rebel intelligence, collect ill-gotten gains, and suppress political rivals...

It took him four hours to finish all the quests.

As for Millie Caldron's side, a side quest for cultivating favorability had also unlocked, but Su Yu didn't do it.

The reason was simple: she was simply too ugly.

"She's practically a live-action version of 'Ru Hua'. No wonder nobody in his past life married her as a wife," Su Yu thought with lingering dread.