141 In Illusia Town

The morning was getting brighter, with the sun rising slowly over the horizon. On a much empty road with plains of green on either side, a white carriage moves swiftly, being pulled by two majestic and healthy-looking horses,

Arion, a black-maned horse with sharp eyes accompanied by his partner Glad, a white-maned horse with soft eyes and a look of peace on his face. Even though both of them had been pulling the cart for nearly four hours, there wasn't a sign of exhaustion on their faces,

"We really were lucky buying these two, it's like a jackpot," Ryu said as he stopped meditating,

"These two are good kids, just want praise and treat", Rafa replied with a thumbs up, as she held rein with a single hand,

"But they weren't so obedient back then" Ryu remembered how the stable owner was actually intending to get rid of these horses for giving him a hard time with selling them. There were many problems,

'These two won't let one other be alone or let anyone take them. If one of them liked a buyer, the other wouldn't,' Ryu remembered as he looked at the back of both horses. It was only because of Rafa these two actually turned out this way.

"It was just because they were cautious," Rafa said as she smiled, remembering a time that made her able to relate easily with both of them.

"Rafa big sister, Illusia Town is near now. Do you want me to ride?" Ryu offered to ride horses as Rafa was doing it through the night, not being able to rest,

"No, I am enjoying", Rafa answered with a smile as she nuzzled her head on Ryu's shoulder, who understood the single,

"There there", he patted Rafa, as Rafa smiled with a thought,

'Exhaustion wouldn't happen if I could get Ryu to pat me.'

"Big brother are we there yet" a drowsy voice came from inside the carriage. Even though the voice was childish, it has a little depth to it now,

"We aren't. You can go back to sleep," Ryu replied, and Jue, who was still sleepy, spoke from within the carriage,

"Big brother, it is too cramp."

"Just sleep, and they'll disappear," Ryu said as he thought,

'It would be awesome if I had inventory like those game LNs! we can't even get all we want while raiding right now!!'

As Ryu said, it was quite true, and also why he was sitting with Rafa instead of sleeping inside at night. The carriage was filled with bags and piles of items that weren't really useful for them but were worth a lot for selling,

'Isn't there a skill like that?' Ryu thought as he looked at the bag in his dagger case. It was something he received from Lina and originally belonged to knights of Epnir, a space bag with storage of more than thirty kgs,

'This thing will degrade soon too…' Ryu sighed as he knew the more space bags are used, the rustier they get,

"Ryu, should we go inside the town or straight to the dungeon?" Rafa questioned, and Ryu fell in thought for a while. Going into town sounded sensible as it was late at night, and they didn't know the issue with the dungeon.

'And I am sure there is an issue…' thought Ryu putting a finger on his chin as he remembered how he originally came to know about the dungeon through a strange glyph.

"Let's go to town, Rafa big sister", Ryu answered after much thinking,

...

As Fusion Souls entered the town with their carriage, they noticed that the town was very different in design than the Villages that were in Lord Hathi's territory,

'I guess we are finally out of that idiot's territory!' Ryu grinned at the thought,

"Rafa sister, let's go to adventurer guild straight."

"What's the way?" Rafa asked, confused, and Ryu rubbed the back of his head awkwardly at the obvious,

'Ahh, it isn't an anime where the scene will change, and we'll be in front of the guild', thought Ryu and told Rafa to slow down the cart for asking directions,

After asking directions from a person passing by, who held a sword and wore oversized steel armor. Fusion Reincarnation made its way straight to the adventurer's guild, not caring about how shocked people were at the appearance of majestic horses and equally simple yet good-looking carriages,

"Big brother, why is everyone shocked?" Jue asked from behind,

"maybe because they aren't used to seeing this kind of carriage", Ryu answered, and Jue, with an awkward expression of confusion on his face, asked,

"But aren't there a lot of adventurers with carriages? We saw them at Hinsmark" at this question, Ryu wanted to shout,

'How am I supposed to know!? I become an adventurer at the same time as you!?' but he held back as he thought of a proper reason as he couldn't let his image of being a knowledgeable brother crumble. Aiena noticed the expression of tenseness that none else could on Ryu's face spoke,

"That's because not all adventurers own carriages, Jue. Usually, Adventurers travel from one place to another while taking escort requests for merchants, nobles, or townspeople. Remember Mr. Faltar's story? Sam became his escort because he wanted to come in the same direction."

Jue, who still had a confused expression, asked while putting a finger on his chin,

"Then why were there many of those at Hinsmark."

"That is because the dungeon was famous, and at the capital, many A and B-rank parties might've come for rewards", Aiena answered, and Jue finally nodded, satisfied. Only Ryu thought with a bitter smile,

'Rewards like no rewards in our case', but then he smiled as he touched the expandable bag feeling the cores inside.

....

The Adventurer's Guild was calm and vintage. The wooden floor and a small bar at the side reminded Ryu of Zerah's adventurer guild. Similar to it, this one also has a simple deposit counter and a reception,

Ryu, along with Fusion souls, moved toward the deposit counter, unaffected by the crowd of adventurers looking at them,

'No matter how you see it, aren't they staring at us?' Ryu thought as he turned his face around towards adventurers seated at the bar, and they quickly turned their faces whistling,

'I saw that you bastards!!' Ryu wanted to shout but held back as they reached the counter,

"Hey, we wanted to sell the dungeon cores," Ryu said, getting straight to the point, and the simple looking Receptionist with a young face and glasses spoke,

"How many do you have? Are they from Stray dungeons?"

"We have 3 for selling, and each of them are from Stray dungeons" Ryu presented the cores to the Receptionist, who examined them once and was surprised by the quality,

"Where do you get them from? All of them are grade 6 cores!!" The Receptionist wiped her glasses once,

"Is telling it compulsory?" Ryu questioned, and the Receptionist nodded as she brought out a register that was hardly used,

"We need to record them for labeling dungeon-prone areas", Ryu thought,

'Well, let's just lie, not like they can confirm' Ryu proceeded to lie about all the three in terms of location when Jue suddenly pulled the side of his jacket,

"Big brother…"

"What happened Jue?" Ryu asked, confused because Jue's expression was curious,

"Listen, those people…." When Jue said this, Ryu also focused on his surroundings. Due to Grandpa chief teaching them assassin's method of listening, there was barely anything that escaped their ears when they focused,

"Is it true Elite paladin sir is in town for hiring, Paladins?" a bald adventurer spoke,

"I saw him with my own eyes!!" another adventurer with blond hair said while nodding his head,

"I am going to try being paladin!!" the bald man who heard stood up and left with conviction. In this world, being Paladin was one of the easiest jobs until or unless there was a religious matter or dire war; Paladin could enjoy living in their living quarters with the rations they got,

"Hey… listen!!" the blond hair adventurer was about to say something else, but the bald adventurer ran before he could speak,

Ryu, who listened to the whole conversation with his full attention, so much so Receptionist kept shouting about payment, and he didn't budge,

"Ryu, Receptionist is calling you" Aiena shook Ryu's shoulder, who finally realized the Receptionist had been calling them,

"Ahh, I was thinking something… can I get the payment?"

"I would like to see your Guild card to put it in records," the Receptionist said with a smile,

As Fusion Souls gave their cards, Receptionist looked at them and then back at their faces,

"You are D rank!? How did you clear 3 dungeons!? Are these cores stolen?"

"Do we look like thieves to you?" Ryu asked in a calm voice, and all the Fusion Souls aside from Rafa stared at the Receptionist, and she coughed as she regained her posture,

"I am sorry for the sudden assumptions it is just because I've never heard about D ranks clearing dungeons alone…. Even with healers,"

Ryu, who heard her, nodded as she did make sense, and he replied,

"Rest assured; we are not thieves; we just didn't give our ranking test."

"That makes sense, " The Receptionist replied, and the payment was completed without hassle.

Ryu, as he moved away from the counter, moved towards the man sitting at the bar alone as every other adventurer seemed to have gone one by one after that bald man,

"Ryu, what are you doing?" Aiena asked, confused, and Ryu replied with a serious expression,

"I need to ask that man some questions."

Seeing all the Fusion Souls coming towards him slowly, the blond man began wiping his face with a handkerchief and moved his hand through his hair,

'This is the first time, two hot ladies are coming towards me….' he thought, as he completely denied the existence of Ryu and Jue, who were also coming towards him,

'I will give it my best!!' the man thought,

"Ryu, that man got a weird face…." Aiena said,

"Don't worry, if he tries anything funny, I am here", Ryu replied.

-to be continued