The forest was quiet. The Violet Olive Team continued to walk forward slowly, but all their gazes were focused on a single man.
By now, Giveon had given Ryu a pair of loose gray pants to wear, the very same default clothing one spawned into Osiris with. However, Ryu had been lucky to get even that.
The truth was that the most valuable feature of Osiris was its ability to transport things in and out of its own dream world. Of course, this wasn't as fanciful as turning the illusory into reality. Such an ability would be devastating to the point of making Osiris' creator the most powerful being in all of existence.
Rather, Osiris relied on a system of inventory. Whenever a task was completed and to be transported to the real world, the appropriate treasure would be taken from this inventory and teleported to the person who earned it.
This was how the treasures of the Rainbow Scaled Eagle were distributed. Someone in real life must have slaughtered such a beast, thus keeping its most valuable parts in this inventory system for they as youths to take advantage of.
Of course, not everything was like this. Ryu's Great Swordstaffs, for example, weren't previously in the inventory.
After making his order, the weapons smith left to his real world workshop, forged the weapons, and then transported them to Ryu. Now, if Ryu wanted to take them out of Osiris, he would have to pay a certain fee.
This fee is exactly the reason Ryu didn't have any clothes at the moment.
As a young man used to getting into trouble, Ryu always had multiple sets of robes. But, due to the fact each was of such high quality, the fee for transporting them into Osiris wasn't small.
It could be said that the only item Ryu had on him from the outside world was his Mercenary Guild membership ring which could double as his Osiris inventory. If he wanted to transport things into and out of this world, he would have to use it as a medium.
Of course, these fees shouldn't have been a big deal to Ryu. It might have been a hassle to others, but with Ailsa's wealth, it was simply a drop in the bucket. It was just that moving things into and out of the real and dream world needed time and was just as involved as leaving.
Since Ryu didn't quite trust the few around him, he obviously couldn't take such a chance. While, previously, he hadn't considered the problem of clothing.
It wasn't long before the ground left the wilderness and made it back to the city, many eyes still glued onto Ryu as though they were afraid he would suddenly lash out.
They had no idea why their Team Leader had decided to accept this man. Worse come to worst, they could just threaten him with violence until he handed what they needed over. Yet, Giveon didn't try any of this.
"Where is your Life Partner?"
A curious and somewhat mischievous voice drifted to Ryu's ears. Ryu didn't need to look to know that Annette was speaking to him from Giveon's shoulder.
"She's handling some matters." Ryu replied.
"Is that so? I've never heard of Faerie and Partner separating for so long. Seems your intimacy isn't very high."
If Ryu had known more about the Faerie world, he would be aware that this was a slight. A lack of intimacy was maybe the greatest blemish on a partnership between a Faerie and their Life Partner.
Beyond this, much like most Faeries, Annette had a disdain for humans. There was no doubt that if the Faerie King new that his daughter was paired to one, his reaction would have been even more explosive.
Unfortunately, though Ryu could sense the hint if disdain in Annette's voice, he didn't quite understand where it stemmed from.
The Shrine Plane was a human plane. And, though Ryu had traveled with his parents in his youth, he had stopped doing that after his Awakening failed. So, his interactions with other species was very limited.
Of course, as an Origin Grade Ruin Master, his scope of the world was quite wide... but only insofar as books could describe. He could read about such racism and specieism, but his senses were a bit dull to experiencing it first hand.
Somewhat unexpectedly, then, his flat reaction to Annette's slight probing provocation left her feeling as though she was punching at air.
Still, after having confirmed Ryu was human, Annette was even more certain that Ailsa's standing was the lowest of the low.
The Team made their way to their holdings.
Though Ryu didn't know it, having a Team abode at all meant that the Violet Olive Team's standing was incomparably high. Unfortunately, their prideful faces were once more ignored by Ryu.
Guiding Ryu into the main meeting hall, Giveon sat at the helm.
The space wasn't grand. In fact, it was quite small, being not ten by ten meters in floor space. However, unbeknownst to Ryu, just this space alone cost a staggering amount.
"This is a safe location for trade. You can pass on the Spiritual Root to me now."
Numerous heated gazes landed on Ryu, seemingly ready for him to be exposed.
Yet, without hesitation, Ryu glided a thumb across the black ring on his hand, causing an inventory to appear before him.
A prompt immediately appeared before Giveon, stunning him into silence. Even during the several long seconds it took for the trade to be completed, no one spoke a single word.
When Giveon really confirmed that none of this was an illusion and that the Spiritual Root was really in his hands now, he couldn't help but be stunned. Had Ryu really taken that beast down alone... and at a lower cultivation level? How did this make any sense?!
Giveon wasn't a pushover, nor was he the type of person to easily allow another into his group. All members of the Violet Olive Team had been carefully selected.
But, for some reason, his elvin instincts seemed to scream at him whenever he laid eyes on Ryu, as though he was a trustworthy person.
Of course, Giveon didn't know about Ryu's Ice Jade Crystal Body, or else he would be far more understanding of these changes. But even then, it was hard to accept the facts as they were laid out.
"You..."
Giveon and Annette both looked toward the Spiritual Root with incredulous expressions.
Could it be that he had bought this elsewhere? But...
Giveon took a deep breath.
"I'm a man of my word. Since you've accomplished your end of the bargain, I will accomplish mine. Though, joining my Team won't be as great as you think it is.
"Among the teams of the Alliance, we are only ranked 12th. In addition, we have many enmities between us and other Teams as the competition for merits is fierce. This city that we have monopoly over can be considered to be among the safest territories we have, but the same can't be said for the others. Are you sure you want to join? There's still time to back out. We can complete the transaction with another exchange."
Ryu shook his head. The strength of this Team hardly mattered to him. In fact, if they were truly in dire straits, this was better for him. At least there would be opportunities to train.
Giveon gave Ryu a deep look before waving Amie over.
"Amie. I stored the Spiritual Root in the Team inventory. Go and bring our quota over to the Overseer."
"... Yes! Team Leader!"
Amie was in such a daze that it took her a while to understand that Giveon was speaking to her. After a moment of being flustered, she scurried away as though trying to hide her face away from the shirtless Ryu.
"You've all heard it." Giveon stood, sweeping his gaze over everyone in the meeting room. "From now on..."
Giveon looked toward Ryu, only now realizing he didn't know the latter's name.
Ryu's lip curled slightly.
"Call me Ryu."
Giveon's gaze flashed when Ryu didn't speak his last name. However, unlike those of the lowest Immortal Planes of the Shrine World, he knew better than to assume Ryu was nameless.
In the outside world where there were talents everywhere, there were no shortage of young masters and heirs running around.
Among them, there were two groups.
The first which flaunted their family status nakedly, and the second which forged a path for themselves without relying on their families.
Giveon had no doubt that Ryu was the latter, not knowing that he was only partially correct.
"... From now on, Ryu will be our Vice Team Leader. His words will only weigh second to myself and Annette. If any of you are dissatisfied with this choice, feel free to compete for the role with the usual rules. However... anyone found using underhanded means will be banished."
Ryu's gaze flickered when Giveon mentioned these rules, but he didn't say much. This couldn't be considered going back on his word. After all, if he was going to be a part of a team, he couldn't be above the rules. Plus, if there was no such caveat, who knew how long it would take before they stopped harassing him?
Before, there was an unspoken rule that Annette was their Vice Leader. So, no one challenged her. But now..
Just when Ryu was about to have to begin dealing with the numerous greedy eyes that had laid on him, there was a sudden bursting noise at the door.
"Team Leader! Team Leader! Amie was ambushed!"