In Doran Village #2

After much explaining, the villagers finally understood what Drasil meant when he referred to Ryu as a murderer, and the man who was pushing the gate further couldn't help but laugh.

"As expected of Mrs. Drasil's grandkid…. This was why we never stepped on one of her plants, even by mistake."

"Tien, I never would've thought her grandson do the same," another villager knocked the shoulder of the first one, revealing his name to be Tien,

"I wonder how proud would Old woman Drasil would be if she was here," another one said. They all looked at Ardian as if they were looking at a joker, and his face was red with embarrassment. Ryu thought,

'Serves you right,' and suddenly, the last man to speak got his face bashed by an apple thrown at high speed,

"I haven't died yet," Ardian's grandmother snorted, and the Tien said,

"He was just joking, Mrs. Drasil… after all, your grandkid…. Puwhahaha," he couldn't help but begin laughing as he explained the resemblance between Mrs. Drasil and Ardian relating to plants and trees was too much. As she was famous as the caretaker of orchards and gardens in the village, she was also famous for doing funerals for plants and calling those who accidentally stepped on growing plants murderers for at least a year.

'So it is heredity,' Ryu sighed,

Finally, after 15 mins, the commotion settled, and the vibe in the room was back to serious the villagers were a bit happy as they felt a ray of hope in front of them in the form of Aiena, and finally, Tien, with nervousness asked Fusion Souls,

"Prieste… Ms. Cleric, what would you take as payment for restoring their vitality… We are ready to give anything we can afford,"

Ryu was about to speak some things, but before he could, Aiena replied,

"I will do it for free… the Miracle Song of Vitality is rewarding enough for me," she smiled brightly, bringing a smile to everyone's face naturally while only Ryu thought,

'At least ask for minimum wage!!!' but pushed it aside as he saw Aiena happy with the thought of getting Song of Vitality and helping people, and he grinned, speaking,

"Well, that is fine, but we cannot remain here forever. What do you Villagers plan to do when the next stampede happens" the villagers all fell into deep thought when Ardian remembered how easily Jue and Ryu made short work of Trent last night and asked,

"Ryu, you, you can deal with a dungeon, right?"

"I can, but I won't," Ryu replied with a shrug, and villagers and Ardian looked at him confused,

"Can I ask why?" Tien asked Ryu, who just replied plainly,

"Isn't it obvious you told this isn't a guild-sanctioned request and Lord Hathi is against it? Who in their right mind would go near such a dungeon?"

Hearing his reply, all the villagers fell into thoughts when Ardian replied,

"But how would Lord Hathi know who did it? If villagers will not tell him" The villagers, all hearing this began nodding as they spoke,

"Yes, I despise the lord already,"

"I just want that dungeon to disappear,"

"See, Mr. Ryu, no one here will tell. You can keep dungeon Core too!!" Tien said with hope-filled eyes that Ryu would not decline such a deal, but Ryu replied,

"That sounds easy, but the thing is, unlike Aiena, I am purely an adventurer, and it is against my principle to take danger without reward" hearing the Adventurer's Guild's basic principle come out of Ryu's mouth, the Villagers all fell quiet Ardian too didn't know how to convince him otherwise, and Jue was looking at Ryu with confusion as he thought,

'We were already going to the dungeon though…' but he decided against saying that out loud as he knew that Ryu was plotting something. But Rafa tilted her head in confusion as she spoke loudly,

"Ryu, we are going to Dungeon, right? Why are you lying again?"

Ryu slowly turns his head toward Rafa like a gear that hadn't been oiled in a while and stares. She tilted her head as she asked,

"What happened?"

'Ask what didn't happen!!!' Ryu wanted to exclaim as he moved his eyes, looking toward everyone present in the room once and everyone was giving him a look of disgust, especially Ardian, who was mumbling something. If not for Ryu's blunder being found out, he would've asked,

'What are you mumbling? If you got something, say it to my face,' but he mostly knew what Ardian would say,

"Umm, I mean…." he spoke, feeling pressured by gazes directed at him,

"I already knew he was a murderer… but this petty," Ardian said, and Ryu felt an arrow go through his chest, and then someone else from the village spoke.

"Even though such kind priestess follow him," Aiena was too focused on Ryu's crumpling face that she didn't bother with correcting the man,

"Ryu, you and your party will take care of the dungeon, right?" Tien asked,

Ryu stood up and moved towards Ardian's Grandmother and held her hand.

"Just for her and other patient's sake…. Fusion Souls will take this un-official quest for free!!" he tried his best to sound inspiring to recover from the embarrassment of being found out,

"Uh-huh," said Ardian,

"you totally were aiming for that," other villagers said,

"You are so great, Ryu, our village will remember your party's deeds for decades to come" Tien tried to motivate Ryu a bit, but the damage was done, and Ryu just went towards the door sulking and gestured Fusion Souls to follow him.

'I will teach her not to speak questions this loudly!!' he made a mental note.

After Fusion Souls left the hut, Tien asked Adrian,

"Can he really clear that Dungeon? It had been around for two years now already,"

Ardian, who was sitting near his grandmother, shifted her pillow and spoke, looking right into the eyes of Tien,

"I cannot say anything about his behavior and personality…. No matter how questionable those are but his strength is not average, and also people like Aiena, Rafa, and Jue believe him,"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, leaving him aside, those three seem like pure fresh sprouts… I smell no lie or trickery from them," Adrian replied with a thoughtful expression, and Tien nodded as he knew how the Drasil family is known for having a good sense of smell for plants as well as people,

"But he"

Tien kept waiting for Adrian to continue, who had shut his eyes after saying that, and not being able to wait anymore, Tien spoke.

"He himself what?"

Adrian's eyes were still closed as he spoke.

"He smells like the Drasil tree…. Although I've only heard the stories from Grandmother and never saw it or smelled it myself. When I interacted with him, the air he gave off was much older than that of a Great Pine. I believe if Drasil Tree was a human, it would smell like that,"

Tien was shocked, confused, and stupefied because he had been used to such kind of conversation as he was the one responsible for taking care of Drasil's old woman, but he couldn't believe what Ardian was saying.

'It does not make any sense!?' he thought as he asked,

"Are you talking about the same Drasil your surname came from? The Drasil that Drasil Auntie talks about,"

"I am…. I am as conflicted as you. He seems barely a year older than me. For him to smell like that is quite weird…. But it explains how Aiena, Jue, and Rafa seem nice to the bone,"

"What do you mean?" Tein asked, and the other villagers nodded.

"Aiena offered to do Miracle of Vitality for free," Ardian said, and one of the Villagers replied,

"I was shocked because the priestess at church charges silver for a single healing" other villagers nodded as all of them had ignored wounds in the past because the cost of healing is high in the nearby church,

"We do not plan to scam them, but she, Jue, and Rafa are people who would get scammed easily if not for him…... although that is what I believe. "

If Ryu would've been hearing what Ardian was talking about, he would've been shocked at the level of thought he put into observing Fusion souls in one night.

"But it did not change the fact he is an idiot, a murderer, and a rotten scammer!!!" Ardian suddenly spoke in a high-pitched voice as he felt uncomfortable praising Ryu in any manner, and everyone put their hands on their ears.

That night the Dungeon Quest plan was finalized at Ardian's grandmother's home. The surroundings were gloomy as the plants in the orchards were all dead. The house itself was cozy with a humble interior, and Ardian's expression was bitter looking out towards the orchards.

Rafa was pouty for some reason, and Ryu was petting her.

'Man, she is sulking worse than Naho did in his last life just after a mild lesson… it wasn't even a scolding!!' thought Ryu as he spoke.

"So the final plan is Aiena would stay back and sing the Miracle of Vitality for villagers. While me, Jue, and Rafa will go to deal with the Dungeon,"

"Will it be okay? what if one of you got hurt?" Aiena asked, concerned, but Rafa replied,

"I will protect Ryu and Jue" she gave a thumbs up, but Aiena still looked worried, and finally Ardian spoke,

"I will go to the dungeon too,"

"Why, though!?" Ryu asked on reflex as he thought,

'I don't want someone who will try talking with fungus there.'

"I know basic healing spells as I was raised in church gardens,"

Ryu thought for a bit, and suddenly a sadistic smile appeared on his face.

'Well, dungeons are the best place to have a small harmless get back…' he snickered as he replied,

"Sure, Ardian, we would really be grateful,"

Hearing Ryu say that Ardian was shocked. Even his flower halo shook a bit as he did not expect an instant acceptance, but Jue and Aiena looked worrisome as they thought,

'Big brother is up to something!'

'Ryu is planning something crazy again.'

"Well then, let's sleep in preparation for tomorrow," Ryu said, and they all nodded as they needed to have a proper sleep for dungeon subjugation and Aiena needed to sleep properly too as she would have to recite the miracle the whole day tomorrow.