43 When the gods forget about you.

The three of them were currently walking on the street away from the Mercenary Guild. While doing so, Yusa could not help but say, "What are they even thinking about? Sending us to such a dangerous place, they might as well ask us to commit suicide."

Ao also could not help but add, "There's also this thing about sending someone to protect us. I would say it's more likely that this person was sent to spy on us. We have been improving way too fast after all, and it has probably raised some alarms."

Krune agreed with their point of view. "They say that this is a great opportunity, and I believe they're not lying about it. From what we heard from this 'Furiu Realm,' great fortunes are waiting for us. Still, did they think we need that at the moment? Our cultivation speed is already good enough. If we need anything, we can do some missions and buy them directly! Combat experience? We're going through our own fights every time we enter the danger zones to complete missions, so we have plenty of that already."

Krune might be in a hurry to improve his cultivation. However, he wasn't desperate to the point of throwing his life away just yet. Not to mention, if the one who was in danger wasn't him but his friends, does that mean the 'protector' won't lift a single finger to help out? F*ck that!

Yusa nodded in response. "Though, I'm still curious. Who exactly would they send to join our team in the end? Since they said this person would be able to protect Krune from most dangerous situations, it's bound to be someone very strong. Usually, someone like that already has a team, so why would they leave it to come to us? Other than spying, I can't think about any other reason."

They kept talking until they got to the restaurant.

---

Back at the Mercenary Guild, Lu Ganan still had a blank expression as his brain stopped working altogether. It wasn't until five minutes later that he came back to himself.

'They must be kidding! Do they even know how much effort the headquarters put to bring them together to the Furiu Realm? No, wait! How am I going to report this in the first place?'

The Mercenary Guild never forced its members to take any mission since there were several other great powers in the Yule Continent, after all. This measure was to prevent their own members from running to different sides. Still, no mercenary team would ever think about refusing such an opportunity. This was unbelievable!

Naturally, Lu Ganan then called the headquarters and told them the news. At the guild head's office, Bary and Kassius were looking at the roof. How could they ever expect Krune's team to refuse? It was near improbable to them. 

Kassius looked at Bary and sighed, asking him, "So, what now? We can't force them since it would just scare them away. Not to mention that the Alchemist Guild would love to hear that Krune left the guild and would definitely extend an olive branch for him."

Bary smiled bitterly in response. "What exactly can we do? Did you see the reason they gave? They said that they're already improving fast enough and have no need for extra risks. As for combat experience, they're getting it from missions. But that isn't the main point here, Shinja Avril is."

Kassius looked at Bary with puzzlement. Why would Shinja Avril be a problem? Since there's no more Furiu Realm for Krune's team, then she was basically free to do whatever she wanted. He knew that Bary would explain, so he just waited. Bary then let out a sigh as well and said, "Her blood contract is the main issue. It states that she would have to stay by Krune's side and protect him until the Furiu Realm closes. But nothing in that specifies what we would do if he refused, so I believe you can understand already."

Kassius's jaw dropped after hearing that. "Doesn't that mean that she will have to protect him until the realm closes, whether he enters it or not? I see...she will probably think that this was a trap we made to force her to join a team. Usually, we also don't know how long it takes for the Furiu Realm to close. All we know is that it won't be more than six months, or at least, that was the longest time it stayed open, according to the records."

Bary then said, "That's not all. Shinja wanted to enter that place as well, and she wanted to find an opportunity to break through into the Core Formation Realm while at it. But if Krune doesn't enter, she wouldn't be able to enter either, so I'm afraid that she will find problems for Krune's team, which would also lead to scaring Krune away."

Kassius then thought about something and asked, "Why don't you tell Krune's team about that, then? they would at least understand it wasn't on purpose."

Bary shook his head as he told Kassius, "I can't. One of the conditions on the contract was that we couldn't tell Krune's team about it. Shinja wanted to prevent a situation where Krune would court death by himself just because she was bound by the contract."

Kassius heard that and smiled bitterly. In the end, they could only pray for everything to end well.

---

Krune's group was having their lunch back at the restaurant. After Krune learned how to cook, they got pretty used to having good food even when they were out on missions. When they were in the city, they also went into a restaurant now and then. As for the time that they were out, Krune was responsible for their meals. Of course, Yusa and Ao always helped out with whatever they could.

It was then that someone appeared at the restaurant's entrance. She was a woman with blue hair and white skin, and her face showed no emotion whatsoever. Who else could it be other than Shinja Avril? The people there, especially the men, couldn't look away from her, and it raised quite a few fights between the couples who were eating lunch. Shinja cared little for all of that, though. She was already used to such a scene anyway.

It had only been a little bit more than one hour since Krune's group refused the offer to enter the Furiu Realm. Kassius and Bary just had their conversation back at the headquarters as well, so Shinja still had no idea that Krune wasn't going to the Furiu realm. She just came here earlier to find the target of her protection.

Krune's group was eating lunch on the second floor. When Shinja appeared in front of them, Krune's group became confused. Did they know her? She was very beautiful, but to her surprise, neither Krune nor Ao seemed to care much about her looks. It couldn't be helped since Krune was a wisp to start with. As for Ao, ever since he joined Krune's group, he lost interest in anything else other than training. Every day his cultivation and abilities soared, and that changed his way of thinking. A simple cute face wasn't enough to move him anymore. Only Yusa made him show some interest. But not in that way, of course.

Krune just gave her a single glance before focusing back on his meal. He is a wisp, so other than Feifei, he didn't care about the appearance of any other man or woman. It's just that his affection for Feifei had a lot to do with the fact that she saved his life that day.

Shinja went straight at Krune, and from the picture she got, this was definitely the right target. Well, it was easy to notice due to Krune's rainbow hair anyway.

"You're Krune, right? I received the request to act as your bodyguard during the Furiu Realm's exploration. If possible, I would like for us to move straight away to prevent any accidents from happening before we get there."

Yusa, Ao, and Krune looked at her in confusion. They refused to take part in the Furiu Realm's exploration, didn't they? What was she talking about? At first, Yusa thought that the Mercenary Guild used this beautiful woman to convince Krune to enter the Furiu Realm. But soon, she discarded this idea. The Mercenary Guild knew very well that Krune wasn't human, so a human beauty had little to no effect on him to start with. Eventually, Krune's confused expression was gone as he showed a look of understanding.

"Supervisor Lu Ganan had told us about the Furiu Realm's opening and offered us the chance to enter, but we refused. I don't know why they haven't told you that yet, but simply put, you're free to go. There's no need to protect me anymore, so goodbye." After saying his piece, Krune then went back to his lunch.

Shinja was taken aback! This was probably the first time in years that Shinja had a blank expression on her face. Refused? Who would refuse to enter the Furiu Realm? It was an event where everyone at the Foundation Establishment wanted to join but had no way to enter. Did he just say that his team refused? She took some time to come back to herself, but when she did, her expression went from its usual coldness to that of grimness.

"Are you making fun of me? Who would refuse such an opportunity? Do you think I'm playing here? I couldn't care less if you entered or not, but if you don't go, I can't go either. So, stop wasting my time and let's go already."

This time, it was Yusa who answered. "If you want to go, just go! What does that have to do with us anyway? We have decided that our cultivation progress is good enough already, and we don't need additional risks for the moment. First of all, what is that about if he doesn't go, you can't go either? We're not imprisoning you here, as far as I know. I can see that your realm is much higher than ours, and you're probably close to the Core Formation Realm, right? If so, take this opportunity and go by yourself. If you want, we can even give you our three slots. You can make a team of your own and look for fortunes together with them."

Ao also added, "We are pretty confident in our cultivation speed. Whether we enter the Furiu Realm or not will have little difference on our path. So, I thank you for your concern about us losing this opportunity, but you don't need to worry. We're fine the way we are at the moment."

Krune just nodded his head while eating. They were doing pretty well for themselves already.

After hearing that, Shinja was almost losing her wits! But she couldn't say that she was bound by a blood contract to protect Krune until the Furiu Realm closed. It wasn't as if she couldn't talk about it. The blood contract only specified that the Mercenary Guild couldn't tell Krune about that. If she wanted to, she could say it herself. However, it would be too humiliating for her, not to mention the risks behind revealing such information.

In her eyes, Krune might as well throw himself inside some perilous mission just because he had her to protect him. But then again, there was another issue. If she stuck around even after being chased away, it would be evident that something was up. They would figure it out sooner or later. She calmed herself and left. The Furiu Realm hadn't opened yet, so her mission to protect them hasn't started as well. Shinja first needed to contact the Mercenary Guild and ask them what was going on.

Back at the lunch table, Krune's group was discussing what had just happened. Yusa looked in the way that Shinja left and breathed heavily. "I know who she is. That's Shinja Avril, a peak 9th Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. She's quite famous, and I heard that she has a Pure Yin Body. Because of that, her control over the Water Element is unbelievably high. Also, as a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator and a genius at that, she can use other elements at the same time. I heard that she specialized in using the Water and Thunder Elements together."

Ao was surprised to hear that. "So, that was her? I also heard about this genius woman. It seems like she only acts alone. She has never joined a ranked team before, nor did she ever try to build one of her own. Because of that, people can't say for sure just how strong she is."

Ao then looked at Krune and said, "This is just a rumor, but I heard that she also has a universe foundation just like yours, Krune."

Krune put his spoon down and said, "It's not a rumor. I'm certain that she has a universe foundation as well. I don't know why, but I could feel it, and I'm sure she could do the same."

Krune was, in fact, just as surprised as Ao and Yusa. He didn't expect to find another cultivator with a universe foundation so soon. He always used his universe foundation as an excuse for a lot of things, and Shinja's appearance might cause him some problems because of that. Fortunately, she had already left.

"Forget it. Since she understood that we won't be heading to the Furiu Realm, she'll just leave. We should pay attention to our next mission in the Raskie Danger Zone instead. I'm planning for us to have some bigger challenges other than completing the mission. This time we have to beat down at least one 8th Stage Foundation Establishment Realm beast. It's going to be hard, and death is also an option. Then again, at least it's not as crazy as this Furiu Realm thing, so the two of you better be prepared for that."

Ao and Yusa nodded in response. They knew that although the Furiu Realm would probably have some dangerous situations as well. But in the end, the most dangerous thing would be the other groups or maybe even their own protector's, Shinja Avril's, greed. So, they preferred to have their own way of acquiring combat experience.

---

Back at the Mercenary Guild branch, Lu Ganan had a gloomy expression on his face. In front of him was a beautiful blue-haired girl, but he didn't seem the least bit happy about it.

"Cough, cough. How can I help you today, Miss Shinja?"

A cold aura started to spread from Shinja, and her face was getting darker and darker while looking at Lu Ganan. "Help me, you say?"

Lu Ganan was almost close to crying. The headquarters left Shinja for him to deal with. Or, to be more specific, he was the sacrifice for the day.

'Oh, gods! Why must you forget about me?'