Fusion Souls dressed in their finest clothes stood inside a room with a classy feel the walls were cream colored and there was a fine wood table in front of them, Faltar sat on one of the three sofas present in the room, and on another sat a person with much similar physique to him but with a thick beard and glasses on his eyes
there was a vibe of tension surrounding the room,
'He is waving his hand' Ryu noticed that Faltar was waving his hand slowly at the side without making his hand visible to the other person
There was only one other sofa so Fusion souls looked towards each other and with a mutual understanding nodded and Ryu went towards the sofa in order to sit but just a second before his hand fell on the sofa the other guy spoke in a bitter tone,
"The sofas here are for nobles"
'I should've declined… uhh as if it mattered' Ryu thought as he recounted the events that led them to this situation,
*
Earlier the morning after bringing Jue back from the adventurer's Guild, Ryu and Jue came across Aiena and Rafa at the door of the Inn, after Ryu explained the situation and why he was gone and why he thought it was okay.
Aiena nodded and turned to Jue her face was evidently angry although Aiena is sweet when she is scolding side, she can be very firm unlike Ryu whose main agenda for scolding was shifting attention,
"Jue always inform before you go somewhere and also where you are going, do you want me to complain to Hina sister or Geld brother in the letter" she stared for a while at Jue who apologized, and she sighed
"Just remember next time" Aiena patted his head and said smiling,
"It is good that you learned a new skill" and Jue smiled happily as he began explaining the skill, Rafa who was staring at Aiena and Jue's interaction nodded as if she figured out something,
Rafa turned to Ryu and Ryu asked,
"What happened Rafa?"
And Rafa imitated what Aiena said,
"Ryu always inform before you go somewhere and also where you are going, do you want me to complain to Hina sister"
'What is she trying to pull?' Ryu wondered and she answered seeing Ryu's confusion,
"I scolded because I am Ryu's older sister" Ryu smirked at her action of imitating, and Aiena who was watching pouted and scolded Ryu separately who wondered,
'I went out in first place due to Jue!!'
After they were finally done with the scolding and began moving towards the door of the Inn Ryu's [Instantaneous Detection] detected something,
Ryu suddenly turned back using [Quickening] with a dagger in his hand, what stood there was a middle-aged man with grey hair, wearing a brown coat cold sweat dropped off his cheek as he saw Ryu's dagger near his neck,
"Ahh, my apologies…" Ryu smiled awkwardly,
'I thought it was Fiona… everyone is staring' thought Ryu and felt a pull at his cuff from the side,
"Big brother remove the dagger..., hurry!!" Jue said hurriedly,
'Shouldn't I keep it there for a bit more…. So others don't think I did this by mistake stupidly' wondered Ryu but then seeing the middle age man sweating madly he conceded while removing the dagger,
"Sorry for that again, I thought it was someone suspicious" but uncle didn't speak until the dagger was removed all the way and was placed in its holder on the belt area,
"Haaa Haaaa" he took two deep breaths and then wiping the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief he spoke,
"It is fine Sir Adventurer it is good if the adventurer is cautious, just wanted to ask is the Dungeon conquering party staying here?"
"It is us" Ryu replied instinctively and the person looked towards Rafa and thought,
'They sure do match rumors' he coughed twice and spoke in a heavy voice,
"I am a messenger of Lord Hathi, he invited the Noble sir and his party who conquered the dungeon which was troubling us for the breakfast in 2 hours"
'The way he put it is weird' Ryu thought but nodded nonetheless,
"Big brother, will we meet Faltar uncle again?" Jue asked as they went back to their room in Inn, Ryu nodded as he thought it would be only logical if they are going into his home, they all dressed up in the best clothes they had packed expecting a formal breakfast when Aiena said
"We need a dress for Rafa too" she looked worried at Ryu as it would look out of place if only Rafa is in iron armor,
"Yes, Rafa sister would look good in a dress" Ryu chimed as he could imagine Rafa in a simple black dress complimenting her silver hair and skin shade, and it was decided they'll buy her clothes on the way to the mansion in the bazaar,
"Ryu looks like Lord Viscount," said Aiena as they all were showing their dresses after changing, Ryu wore a dark blue coat and a silver shirt inside, Aiena wore a red dress with a full-length skirt giving a sophisticated feeling and Jue looked charming in a black coat with a white shirt,
"You all look awesome" Rafa clapped as she stared at their new get-up shiny-eyed when Ryu replied
"We'll get one for you too Rafa big sister"
"Really?" she asked her fascination clearly in her eyes, and Aiena nodded,
"Really!! I will help you choose Rafa" hearing Aiena's assurance Rafa felt thrilled inside as she thought,
'I was right to believe them….'
And so after finishing their preparation they left the Guild on the way Aiena and Rafa stopped at a shop where Aiena helped Rafa choose a dress for her that fitted Fusion Souls budget,
After a few tries, she finally found the perfect dress for Rafa which matched her tiny wild side yet have a graceful feeling,
"Ryu, Jue see how beautiful she looks!!" Aiena's voice was filled with admiration as she didn't believe Rafa would look that good,
"How am I looking Ryu?" Rafa asked moving her face near to Ryu's face and Ryu who was already shocked by the beauty Rafa turned into, lost his feet balance due to sudden closeness,
"You are looking beautiful!!" Ryu replied as Rafa was genuinely looking good in the black color one piece that reached half the way down after knees to foot there were red ribbons on the shoulder straps and a light grey black color of the dress was exactly what Ryu envisioned,
Rafa gave a proudful smile with her hands on her waist, and they moved towards Lord Hathi's mansion,
*
As they entered the mansion, they were greeted by the same middle-aged man who Ryu accidentally threatened before,
"Please follow me this way Lord is preparing for receiving the guest," the man who turned out to be a butler said and took Fusions Souls to a simple guest room that looked pretty well crafted, they waited there for 15 or so minutes,
"This home is bigger than ours" spoke Jue with a finger on his chin,
'Well grandpa chief and Geld big brother believe in modesty' Ryu said with a smile,
"Think about the wastage Jue"
And Jue nodded as he thought this big house would probably exhaust Hina and cleaner auntie to maintain and they might not be able to do so properly,
'Make sense' Jue thought and the middle-aged butler came back and announced that the Lord Hathi is ready for breakfast and guided them to a room with a classy feel the walls were cream colored and there was a fine wood table in front of them, Faltar sat on one of the three sofas present in the room, and on another sat a person which much similar physique to him but with a thick beard and glasses on his eyes there was a vibe of tension,
'He is waving his hand' Ryu noticed that Faltar was waving his hand slowly at the side without making his hand visible to the other person,
There was only one other sofa so Fusion souls looked towards each other and with a mutual understanding nodded and Ryu went towards the sofa in order to sit but just a second before his hand fell on the sofa the other guy spoke in a bitter tone,
"The sofas here are for nobles"
'I should've declined… uhh as if it mattered' Ryu thought as he recounted the events that led them to this situation, and this was how they arrived at the current situation faced with a Noble supremacist.
There was an awkward silence for a while and Ryu stepped back and turned to Jue,
"Jue sit down, I think Lord wants to talk with you"
"But big brother…" Jue tried protesting but seeing Ryu's gaze he followed what was said even though he felt bad that all of her elders were standing while he was sitting,
And Lord Hathi spoke,
"Young master of Pernelle household it was quite a shocker that you were the one who saved us"
"Nice to meet you," Jue said although his eyes were displeased,
"I must say you are quite lax with your retainers that one there tried sitting on your spot" Jue was practically troubled inside and he answered,
"He is not my Retainer he is my big brother and others are family too"
"That is the way you believe due to your age" the lord Hathi cut Jue instantly, the maids arrived in the room with a cart full of various edibles which would've made Ryu salivate if not for having a bad taste in his mouth due to Lord's behavior,
They put the plates on the table and served food to Faltar and Lord Hathi but when it was Jue's turn he placed a hand over the dish indicating a lack of appetite,
"What happened Juelius, was that your name? my apologies I took the liberty to go ahead and had my retainer check your name at guild"
"I didn't want to disrespect Lord Hathi by rejecting your invitation, but unfortunately I had breakfast this morning at Inn"
'I would never eat when others didn't have breakfast' thought Jue,
Faltar was looking apologetic as he knew his father's ideology was unbearable but Lord Hathi just frowned and continued eating as he spoke,
"My boy here told me your party saved him… although he is clumsy, I am happy you did me a favor by saving him" Jue just nodded, and for a good time as he ate Lord tried to explain his ideology to Jue and also praised the antidotes and medicines that were traded to them by Zerah,
"So about the matter with dungeon core and saving my boy…. I would like to meet your father Lord Geld in Zerah and convey my happiness and appreciation gift personally if you wouldn't mind it"
"I see," Jue said the same way he was doing since the beginning when he suddenly felt a kick on the back of the sofa and realized it was a signal from Ryu,
'Ask him for a reward!!' Ryu gestured and Jue nodded understanding,
"You can not meet my father," said Jue,
'I didn't say that!!' Ryu thought and Lord Hathi who was looking at this as an opportunity to befriend and add neutral Lord Pernelle to his group was looking displeased as he asked,
-To be continued