A red rose grew and extended up, forming a pair of lips. “Master, it’s been a while.” Loci said with a giggle, “I see you brought a monster with you,”

“Calling her a monster,” Isdis stared at Loci, “Aren’t you a bit rude to her?”

“You might be right, but you’re wrong,” Loci replied.

Zephyr nodded, “Unlike you, we’re all monsters. No matter how human we look.” She then flew around Yuwaku, “You’re only alive around her since me and Arad are keeping her in check. You can’t even see her properly, can you?”

“No, I can’t. I barely sense Yuwaku’s magic.” Isdis looked at the empty air in front of her, sensing a blob of magic that seemed twisted, mixed with Zephyr and Arad’s mana.

Loci turned to Arad, “Since she’s like this, I suspect you want to give her a dryad’s body.”

Zephyr flew to Arad’s shoulder and nodded, “Make it close to a human,” She smiled, “We want everyone to be able to see her and not. Well, die.”

“Can’t she just control it?” Agnar asked, “If it’s magic, I’m sure she can figure a way to not kill or blind people.”

Zephyr shook her head, “That’s impossible. It isn’t magic.” She flew in front of Agnar.

“Imagin walking alone in a ghastly forest, exhausted and drained. Then you come along a vast flower field with a great blossoming tree in the middle, a mythical obsidian dragon sleeping beneath it with fairies dancing under the sunlight like specs of golden light.” She smiled, “Yuwaku represents that mystical scene. People getting blind or stunned isn’t because of magic. It’s because their brains can’t handle that image in the form of a single woman. She can’t do anything about them being too green for her.”

The dryad’s body would be like a veil, sealing her beauty to protect others. Currently, Arad and Gojo can handle her because of their powerful draconic brain, Zephyr is a great spirit, and Eris is a half-dragon with a strong head.

“I’m taking her with me,” Loci said with a smile, wrapping leaves around Yuwaku. “I will be out of a few hours to make her body. Please be careful.”

“Worry not,” Arad smiled, “I have a lot of helpers this time.” Flocks of crows, rats, birds, and bugs rushed across the forest, spreading his spies everywhere.

Arad crossed his eyes, worried, “This is weird. Are those some new monsters?”

He could see an adventurer dragged into the church for healing, his left arm and leg rotting with red fungus. But Loci had already left.

If she didn’t inform him, it wasn’t his problem, at least for now. He turned toward the carriages, “Go rest in my house. I’m heading to the guild.”

“Master, I’m going with you,” Agnar said with a stern face.

“You’re too young for the guild,” Arad replied, but he quickly sighed, seeing the dead-serious stare on the kid’s face. ^Who am I to object? He’s five times older than me.^

“Fine, but stay close. It shouldn’t be dangerous, I think.” Agnar is a fiery kid. He might end up ticking Nina off and have her break his legs. Like what happened with Abel?

****

Upon approaching the gate, the guards panicked as they saw Arad. “Open the gate!” One of them screamed.

“Baron Arad is back!” Another cried.

“You’re famous here as well,” Agnar stared at Arad.

“I’m not. I only lived for a few months.” Arad replied as the gate opened, and they walked inside.

“It’s been a while, Arad.” Rowan approached with a smile.

Arad smiled, “Father Rowan, how’s Nigel doing?”

“He’s doing well, out on a quest right now.” Rowan looked at Agnar, “Not as good as you. Did you already have a kid in a few months?”

“I’m not the father,” Arad replied.

“I’m his student. I currently train swordsmanship under him.” Agnar replied.

Arad looked at him, “You aren’t going to yell. I’m the blade of the capital! Or something like that?”

“I’m not!” Agnar gasped, “We aren’t in the capital…”

Arad laughed, patting Agnar’s head, “He’s a great swordsman, helped protect the capital against an undead invasion.”

“If you picked him up,” Rowan smiled, “I’m sure he’ll grow as fast as you did,”

After the brief conversation, Arad and Agnar headed directly to the guild. The moment Arad opened the door, all adventurers stared at him. He could hear the woman in the back cry, “He has a kid?”

“ARAD!” Alcott called him from the guild’s tavern, waving his hand with a mug of beer. Beside him, a man in a strange outfit with a pink-haired little girl sitting on his shoulders.

“That’s,” Arad approached, ^The man who stopped the dragons’ army, Kayden.^

“Who’s the kid?” Alcott asked.

“A talent from the capital,” Arad replied, looking at Agnar, “Wanted to grow stronger, so he stuck by my side.”

Angar bowed slightly, “Nice to meet you.”

Alcott stared closely at Agnar, “Hmmm, I see traces of determination on you. With tattered hands and sharp eyes, you’re definitely a rough gem.”

CLACK! Kayden stared at Agnar with one eye, and it made him freeze in place, terrified.

“Rakshasa’s blood, you’re contracted with that big cat,” Kayden said, drinking his beer. “You have potential,”

Arad patted Agnar’s head, “You got the approval of the two best swordsmen I know. One day, you’ll be a hero.”

“Arad!” Nina waved her hand from the counter, “Are you ignoring me”?

“I’m coming,” He replied and then looked back at Kayden. ^Isn’t he the one who cut her head off in the past?^

From what she said before, he was protecting his orphanage from her rage. There is no reason for bad blood between them, Mom explained, and Arad headed to Nina.

“It’s been a while,” He smiled, and she nodded, “We missed you, and a lot happened.”

“There was this thing,” Arad said, “I saw an adventurer with a strange rotting wound at the church. Do you know what was that?”

“You saw that?” Nina gasped, “Apparently, it’s a new type of monster that causes fungus to grow in blood. It infects the host through wounds and sucks the life out of them. We got to call it Crimson rot.”

“Zuggtmoy,” Kayden said in the back, and everyone stared at him.

“The demon queen of rot and decay, the lady of fungi. Someone must have summoned one of her minions to the world,” He looked back at them, “Don’t breathe, don’t open your eyes or ears, don’t get hit, and use fire. Defeating them should be easy.”

Kali, the pink-haired girl with Kayden, sighed, “I should have cleaned the backyard. Didn’t expect such fungus to grow,”

Some adventurers laughed, “Who’s Zuggtmoy, old man.”

“Aren’t you drunk?” Only Arad, Alcott, and Nina in the guild knew that Kayden was a problem. Everyone else thought he was only a drunkard.

CLACK! The guild’s door burst open, Merlin panting as she rushed inside, “I’ve found it,” She lifted an ancient, crumbling book. “That rot, it’s a trait of an ancient demon called Zuggtmoy. We must be against one of her spawns. But, we know nothing of their weakness.”

The whole guild stared at Kayden, “You serious,”

“I’m not repeating myself,” He went back to drinking, Kali mocking the adventurers with a weird face.