CHAPTER 278: BACK TO NATURE, BACK TO REALITY ( 278 )

"Err... can I ask something?" Hazuki said, scratching his cheek.

Ridan spun midair, already annoyed.

"WHAT now?!"

"How do you even know all this?"

Ridan puffed out his cloudy chest with pride.

"Because I was the best wizard in the world when I was alive! Knowledge was my weapon. Magic, ancient spells, forbidden incantations, forgotten languages, cursed scriptures—"

"Yeah yeah, I get it. You were smart. Big brain. Got it." Hazuki waved dismissively.

Ridan crossed his arms smugly, floating above him.

"Okay okay, but... why would someone want all these herbs?" Hazuki asked, glancing again at the parchment.

"It sounds like you need to risk your life seven different ways just to brew a cup of tea."

Ridan’s smirk faded slightly.

Then he spoke more calmly.

"Think about it. A list this long, with this kind of herbs? Whoever requested this isn’t just trying to make medicine."

"Then what?"

"This kind of quest... is only made when someone important is dying."

Ridan’s tone was low.

"Either they’re cursed. Or they have a terminal illness that normal potions can’t cure."

Hazuki stared at the paper for a long moment.

"So... they’re desperate."

Ridan nodded.

"Most likely. No sane alchemist or guild would even bother putting these all together unless someone really needs it... or someone really rich wants a miracle."

Hazuki sighed.

"Guess I can’t cancel this without feeling guilty now."

Ridan grinned.

"Sucks to be you, huh?"

Ridan floated lower, his voice losing its usual playful tone.

"Let me tell you something, Hazuki."

Hazuki looked up, noticing the change in Ridan’s expression.

"This kind of curse... sometimes it doesn’t just kill one person."

Ridan hovered in front of him, quiet.

"It passes. From one to the next. A chain that never ends."

Hazuki blinked. "You mean... like, once the cursed person dies—"

"—it moves to the next closest one." Ridan finished for him.

"Maybe... just maybe, they already lost someone. A parent. A sibling. A lover. And now the curse moved to someone else in the family."

Hazuki stared at the quest slip again, eyes no longer casual.

"That’s why they want all seven herbs. Even if it costs a fortune..."

Ridan nodded solemnly.

"Because it might be the only way to stop the cycle. To save whoever’s next."

A silence passed between them.

The wind blew gently through the grass.

Hazuki folded the parchment carefully, putting it back into his pouch.

"...Guess I’ll do it. One at a time."

Ridan tilted his head.

"Even if it’s crazy hard?"

Hazuki smiled faintly.

"I’ve been through worse. And hey... it’s better than sitting around doing nothing, right?"

Ridan smirked.

"Now that’s the idiot I’m proud of."

Hazuki furrowed his brow, walking slowly as he thought aloud.

"But you mentioned poison swamp earlier... I don’t even know what kind of equipment I’d need for that."

Ridan snorted.

"Huh? Why do you need equipment? You’ve got me."

Hazuki blinked.

"...Seriously?"

Ridan puffed out his cloudy chest.

"Of course. I have knowledge, remember? I know how to walk in a poison swamp without melting your boots. I know which plants neutralize the fog. I know what direction to move to avoid gas pockets."

Hazuki narrowed his eyes.

"And how many of those things will try to eat me?"

"Oh, most of them." Ridan said cheerfully.

"But I know which ones bite harder than others."

Hazuki rubbed his temple.

"That doesn’t make me feel any better."

" You humans always want safety instructions. Just do what I say when we get there. Don’t breathe weird gas. Don’t step on anything that glows. Don’t touch the red slime that looks like jelly. Simple."

Hazuki stared at him.

"...This is going to be awful, isn’t it?"

Ridan grinned wide.

"Absolutely. Let’s get started soon. I’m already excited."

"Nah... for now, we need to send these two Kruko to the guild, right?" Hazuki said, patting the side of his leather bag.

"Looking at the sky... it’s probably going to be evening soon."

Ridan floated beside him with a smug grin.

"Oho~ look at you now. Getting good at reading the ’clock’. Very good, very good."

He clapped his misty hands together mockingly.

Hazuki rolled his eyes.

"It’s just the sun, man. Everyone can tell when it’s late."

"Mmmhm. The same man who wanted a wristwatch last week"

Hazuki just grumbled and kept walking down the trail back toward town.

The leather bag wiggled slightly—Kruko still alive and squirming inside.

"Let’s just get paid, eat something warm, and crash at the inn. I’m not running around anymore today."

Hazuki and Ridan strolled along the road back to town, the sky painted in hues of gold and fading blue. The air was calm, the road mostly empty, and the light breeze carried the faint scent of forest and earth.

Hazuki looked around, taking it all in.

"Man... this world really is beautiful."

"You bet." Ridan floated lazily beside him, hands behind his head like he was reclining on air.

"So, no changes within a thousand years?"

Ridan shrugged.

"Maybe here and there. I don’t know about every place, but I know some don’t want to be what you’d call ’modern.’"

He glanced around.

"They’ve got their own culture. Their own pace. Their own laws."

Hazuki nodded.

"Feels more... natural, I guess."

"And their girls ain’t cheap like modern ones." Ridan added bluntly.

Hazuki coughed.

"Oi. That’s... kinda harsh."

Ridan floated backwards, smirking.

"Harsh? Tch. Let me ask you something."

He pointed a lazy finger at Hazuki.

"You got a glass of rum. Then a bunch of men dip their filthy hands in it—maybe they’re sick, maybe they’ve got scabies, maybe they just touched something nasty. You still gonna drink it?"

Hazuki grimaced.

"Hell no."

"Exactly." Ridan hovered beside him.

"Same thing. Why chase a girl when you don’t know how many guys she’s been with? How many hands have dipped in that glass."

Hazuki looked off to the side, silent.

Ridan wasn’t done.

"I’m not saying women are drinks, idiot. I’m talking about value. Respect. If a guy’s expected to work hard, protect, and commit, then what’s he getting?"

He tapped his cloudy head.

"Back then, people guarded themselves—because they knew the worth of their body and their loyalty. Now? It’s all open season, no standards, no shame. And when it all falls apart, everyone pretends they didn’t see it coming."

Ridan floated low, still circling Hazuki with that blunt old-man energy.

"Not to mention... some of them pull the ’victim’ card."

He narrowed his eyes.

"Like they didn’t have a choice. Like cheating’s just some accident."

Hazuki clenched his jaw slightly.

"Cheating isn’t a mistake. It’s a choice."

"Damn right." Ridan said.

"If you got problems, you talk. If you’re unhappy, you leave. But don’t go crawling under someone else and cry later like it wasn’t your fault. That ain’t love. That’s cowardice."

Hazuki nodded slowly, hands in his pockets.

"Yeah... you’re right."

( End Of Chapter )