"What?!"
Souta was surprised when he heard when the words "Mystical Light Fruit". He looked at the three adventurers and once again asked if it's really the Mystical Light Fruit.
The three adventurers looked at each other for a second before they replied.
"Well, you see... It's just a rumor but we think that it's true."
The one in the center looked around and carefully said, "You see... A lot of higher rank adventurers are gathering here so it's probably true. Even some nobles from Melosa Country are here."
"I see... " Souta nodded at them and once again asked them. "So, can you tell me where they saw the Mystical Light Cherry?"
"Desolate Woods." They answered his question in a simple way.
"Okay, thanks for telling me." Souta thanked them before he left.
...
Souta rubbed his chin and pondered what he should do.
It was probably true that the Mystical Light Cherry was in the Desolate Woods. If those nobles were involved here then they must have silenced the one who saw it and spread the words. Since the person who saw it was nowhere to be found, the other people thought that it was just a rumor with no clear evidence.
It will be hard dealing with those nobles but since they came from the Melosa Country, Souta wouldn't hold back at all if they bothered him. The nobles from Melosa Country were hard to deal if he was staying in the Melosa Country, but since he was staying in Hebrei Kingdom and the distance between them was huge, he doesn't need to worry about them causing trouble for him.
His priority right now was to get the Rotten Venomous Green Apple.
If he had energy left after he acquired the fruit then he wouldn't mind taking the Mystical Light Cherry for himself. Also, Bryan and Yuko were here with him so he could probably save more stamina in completing that low-level dungeon. He needed to save his strength if he wanted to compete for the Mystical Light Cherry. The battle for the cherry was going to get chaotic as nobles were involved.
Mystical Light Cherry was a type of fruit called Mana Fruit. It could greatly enhance the consumer's mana capacity and mana manipulation. The consumer's senses over mana will increase greatly.
If Souta wasn't wrong, the Mystical Light Cherry could increase a person's mana capacity by one hundred and also level up the mana manipulation skill by one. The only problem was that a person will only receive the full benefits of the fruit if they consumed it for the first time. If someone who ate the fruit before consumed the cherry then they will only receive half of the benefits.
For subsequent use, the effect of the fruit will lessen until a person wouldn't receive any benefits.
...
Souta left the Adventurers Guild and saw Bryan and Yuko waiting for him.
"What did you do?" Bryan asked him curiously.
"I just talk to some adventurers there," Souta replied.
"I know that. I see you talking to them for a while so I decided to wait outside. Say, what are you talking about?" Bryan asked him.
"I'm just gathering information about our quest," Souta answered him.
"Yosh! So how is it? I'm ready to depart any time to complete the quest." Bryan said with an excited expression.
"We're departing tomorrow morning. We just arrived here, so we need to rest first then we can go all out tomorrow." Souta said.
"Aw! Why? I wanted to complete it soon. I don't want to skip class you know." Bryan complained.
"It's important to rest," Souta said and he called Yuko.
Souta and Yuko walked away.
Bryan looked at them as he dropped his shoulders. He reluctantly followed behind them. He doesn't know what quest it is so he couldn't complete it alone. If he only knew the quest then he would go out to complete it this night.
The three of them went back to the inn. Bryan and Souta sat in the vacant table before they ordered their food.
"Enjoy yourself, sir!" The waitress said as she placed the food that they ordered on top of their table.
""Thanks!!"" Souta and Bryan thanked her at the same time.
Souta looked at the food and placed his palm together. "Thanks for the meal!"
"Oho! It looks delicious!" Bryan said while looking at the meal with stars in his eyes. He licked his lips before he began to eat his food.
Souta looked at Bryan and said, "We will go to the Desolate Woods 6am, so wake up early. We will investigate the outskirt of the woods to see if there is something wrong."
"Why?" Bryan looked at him with a question mark all over his head. He couldn't understand why they need to investigate the woods first.
"To see how many opponents we have and also to see the danger lies in the woods. We don't even know how powerful our competitors." Souta explained to Bryan.
Bryan could only nod his head. He couldn't understand what Souta was saying.
"Hais..." Souta sighed and he pinched his nose bridge. He knew that Bryan didn't understand him. He just needed to keep Bryan and once the battle started that's Bryan's stage. Bryan could help him greatly in battles.
He lifted up his head and looked at Bryan. "I will count on you when the battle starts."
"Yeah, you can count on me!" Bryan said as he patted his chest.
Souta and Bryan finished their meal before they went to their own room to rest.
Souta stretched his body and took off his clothes. He then lied down on the soft bed. He looked at the ceiling and took a deep breath. He relaxed his muscles and he slowly felt tired.
"Ahhh~" Souta yawned as drowsiness hit him.
He placed the [Vajra Sword Saya] on his side before he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
...
Souta woke up before 5am. He sat up and looked around the room. It was still dark outside.
"Ahh~" He stood up and he stretched his body. He crouched down and did some exercise.
After that, Souta went to the bathroom and washed the sweat on his body.
...
"Ho~ that was a good bath," Souta exclaimed.
He picked up a towel and used it to dry his hair. He then went downstairs and ordered a meal for his breakfast.
Souta heard someone coming down. He turned his head and found that it was Bryan.
"Yo! Bryan!" Souta greeted him.
"Good morning, Souta!" Bryan replied and he sat down in the seat opposite of Souta.
"Your early, huh?" Souta said.
"Yeah, I always woke up before six," Bryan said. He was used to waking up early. "What was it called again?"
"Body clock," Souta said.
"Yeah, that's right! It's body clock!" Bryan nodded at him.
"Here's your order sir!" The waitress came. She quietly placed his order on the table.
"Okay, thank you!" Souta thanked her.
Bryan looked at Souta's meal and asked, "Where's mine?"
"Huh?" Souta looked at him with a confused expression.
"Where's mine?" Bryan repeated what he said.
"Huh? You just came here! Why are you thinking that I would order a meal for you?" Souta asked him.
"Eh? You didn't?" Bryan looked surprised at Souta's words.
"Of course, why would I bother myself to order your meal if I don't even know what time will you wake up?" Souta said as if it was expected. He picked up the spoon and began to eat his meal.
"Ehhhh?!" Bryan had no choice but to accept his defeat. He ordered a meal for one person with his shoulder dropped.
...
After they finished having breakfast, they went to Yuko to give her her breakfast.
Souta was holding a cup of coffee while looking at Yuko who was eating her breakfast. He took a sip and looked in the sky. The sun was already shining brightly in the sky.
"Hmm... I feel that something is going to happen." He muttered while looking at the blue sky.
"Oho! Yuko's quite a good eater!" Bryan said as he continued to give Yuko a slice of meat. He was clearly having fun as Yuko ate every meat he threw at her.
"You're having too much fun," Souta said to Bryan.
"What's wrong with that?" Bryan replied. His focus was still on Yuko.
"Hais... You know that you need the owner's permission if you want to play with his pet." Souta said as he took a sip and glanced at Bryan.
"Ehhh?!! Is that so?!" Bryan exclaimed as he turned his head and looked at Souta with widened eyes.
"Hmm... I guess so." Souta smiled and he didn't further explain it to him. "Hurry up with that. We'll go now."
"O-Okay!!" Bryan replied.
...
After 30 minutes...
"Yosh! Let's go!!" Bryan shouted with both of his hands above his head.
"Hmm!" Souta smirked as he walked forward.
"Mu." Yuko followed behind Souta.
The three of them walked to the direction of the Desolate Woods.