Then he pulled the cover over himself and was about to sleep, but just then, someone knocked on the door.
Knock! Knock!
The knocks were gentle, so as not to wake him if he was sleeping.
"Come in," Gray said.
Creak...
The door slowly opened, and a beautiful girl in a maid outfit with silver hair entered.
It was Lina, Gray's maid.
"What brings you so late?"
"Uhmm... I just wanted to check on you, if you're awake." Lina replied.
"Oh..."
It seemed Lina was worried about Gray, so she came to check on him.
Well, it was a good thing she came. Gray also had many questions regarding her powers and the horn that had risen from her head.
After the fight ended with the masked man, Lina came to Gray, but her horns were gone.
'It seems her horn only appear while using that magic nullification skill.'
Moreover, using anti-magic is rare. Only dark mages can use that skill, and even that's rare nowadays.
So only one thing was possible: Lina also has a supporting Celestial being, Gray deduced.
But as the situation was already chaotic, Gray didn't ask then.
Now that she had come to him, it was a good opportunity to ask her about it.
Gray then looked at Lina, who was fiddling with her fingers in the door.
'Cute.' Gray slightly blushed.
Lina usually has a serious, commanding personality, but for some reason she was acting cute.
"Lina, why are you standing at the door? Come inside."
At his words, Lina slowly walked inside.
Step... step...
Then Gray sat on the edge of the bed like a sofa and gestured for Lina to sit beside him.
But Lina stayed standing in front of him, hesitating, her expression tinged with sadness.
"...?"
Right then, a system window appeared before Gray's eyes.
Ding'
[A side quest has been generated]
[Side quest: Melt her worries]
[Scenario: Lina has been in love with you since childhood and has never left your side, but you will be leaving for the academy, and she will rarely get to see you. Moreover, at the academy, you will be studying with your fiancée, which is making her insecure and jealous. To lift her mood, reassure her that you love her, and kiss her on the neck while laying her down.]
[Upon completion, you will get Reward: 100 credits]
[Upon failure: Castration]
Seeing the quest window, Gray became puzzled. It's understandable that Lina would feel lonely since he would be attending the academy, but what is this about having a fiancée?
I'll be studying with my fiancée? What fiancée?
Gray had been in this world for about a month. During that time, he had never heard of having a fiancée. It seemed she had been his fiancée before he transmigrated and that he already knew her, which was why no one had told him.
Moreover, wasn't he a bottom feeder, branded as trash and a waste of life?
How could someone like him have a fiancée?
Wait, is this a political marriage? Gray thought, narrowing his eyes in dissatisfaction.
'it must be the duches.'
As his stepmother, the duchess, hated him and had even poisoned him, it was reasonable to assume that she would sell him to gain power, since she held overall authority.
Well, he didn't mind, as he would get a girl in his harem without much effort. So it was a win.
But the only concern was whether his fiancée was just an assassin sent by the duchess, or might do something that would cause the family to throw Gray out.
"Haa...." Gray sighned, 'Let's meet her first. Overthinking it won't get me anywhere.'
As he came to a conclusion, his eyes fell to the next line of the quest:
[To lift her mood, reassure her that you love her, sit her beside you, and kiss her on the neck while laying her down]
Gray clicked his tongue inwardly. Before he met Julius von Legolant, he believed side quests were imposed on him, as if some external force were forcing him to complete them rather than him choosing or wanting them. But he learned from Julius that the side quests were his desires; subconsciously, Gray wanted to do those things, and the system window analyzed his desires and turned them into quests.
Thus, the quests weren't forced on him—it was Gray who desired them.
And Gray also learned that those weird quests only activate with Lina, and possibly this type of quest will activate when he meets his harems in the future, because the other maids in the household didn't trigger the quest.
'But… isn't this too extreme?' Gray thought looking at the side quest he had just been given.
Previously, he had to grab Lina's backside, but now he was tasked with kissing her neck, moreover, laying her on his bed.
'Damn, this is way too extreme...' Gray slightly blushed.
Kissing was okay, but kissing on the neck meant something intimate.
Right at that moment, another notification popped up.
Ding'
[Caution: If you fail to complete the side quest, you will be castrated.]
As soon as he saw the notification, Gray's eyes went so wide that they might have popped out. His body started shaking violently.
"Castration!!"
Gray only feared one thing, and that was castration. It was traumatizing for him. Even the word castrate would make him so scared that he would crawl on the ground like a bug.
It was like someone who had witnessed a murder by knife; as a trauma, they would be scared by seeing sharp objects. Gray's fear worked the same way.
"This was supposed to be my desire, but why is it saying castration?" Gray murmured.
The system window was something he got from Julius, and it was a system that worked by his imagination. So the quests were his desires, or subconsciously, what he wanted.
But no way in hell would he want castration. So why was it scaring him by saying castration?
Does it mean the system knows he wouldn't do the quests, or might hesitate, so it's giving a failure penalty as castration?
Either way, Gray needed to complete the quest.
Meanwhile, Lina saw Gray shaking and shivering and got worried.
"Young master, what happened?"