"Cai has been neglecting her duties as of late, and the one performing her work is none other than Roseline," Maximilian said as he served Lux a cup of tea.

"She's Cai's sister and is two years younger than her. As you can see, Rose has a very strong and straightforward personality, but she is a very kind and loving girl. She's not always in the tribe because she usually stays on our ancestral grounds, along with her parents. Their duty is to watch over the members of our tribe that had been infected by the purple plague and prevent their condition from worsening.

"Rose is our Tribe's Second Priestess and, just like Cai, she has very strong spiritual powers. You must have been surprised to see that no villager tried to help Cai despite the fact that everyone here treasures and loves her, right?"

Lux nodded because he thought that anyone who tried to hurt Cai would receive the collective beating of the members of the Rowan Tribe. However, none of them stepped up to help her, which made him wonder earlier if he was still dreaming or not.

"The Priestesses of the Rowan Tribe are our Spiritual Leaders," Maximilian stated. "Their status in the tribe is nearly equal to mine. Also, Rose setting Cai straight is a natural occurrence, so everyone is already used to seeing this scene."

Maximilian chuckled because it had been a while since he had seen his granddaughter, who liked to bully others, getting bullied back by her own little sister.

"Just like Rose said earlier, what she was doing was a ceremony," Maximilian resumed his talk after having a good laugh. "It is a cleansing ceremony that will allow Cai to heal physically and spiritually. Since I have finished making the medicine for the Purple Plague, and Cai has returned to the tribe, I've decided to call Rose back for the time being.

"That way, she can take the medicine to our Ancestral Grounds, as well as perform the cleansing ceremony on Cai. This ritual will also heal the hidden injuries that Cai received during your expedition in the Gate of Conquest. You're planning to take a break from going to the Sacred Dungeon for a month or two, right?"

"Yes," Lux replied.

"Good. Cai will stay here in the Rowan Tribe for a month to help with her recovery. If she tries to sneak away and go to you, make sure to send her back here. I hope that you take this request of mine seriously."

"Yes, Sir. I will do as you ask."

Maximilian smiled and patted Lux's shoulder. "Good. Now, there is one more favor that I need to ask of you. You're already acquainted with Gerhart, right?"

"I'm not too familiar with him, but we talked a bit yesterday," Lux replied.

"You see, he is still unsure of what to do with his life." Maximilian sighed as he poured himself some tea. "His grudge against the Elswyth Royal Family still burns in his heart, and I'm afraid that if he doesn't do anything that will take his mind off things, he might do something reckless in the future. So, if possible, I want you to take him under your wing."

Lux's expression became serious after understanding what the Saint of the Rowan Tribe was trying to tell him.

"You want him to join my Guild?" Lux inquired.

Maximilian nodded. "He is a good lad, and I don't want to ruin his future by letting him sink further into depression each passing day. Gerhart needs something to do. It can be anything. Since you won't be bringing Cai with you for the time being, you can take him instead."

Lux scratched his head for a while before agreeing to Maximilian's request.

He was currently in need of trustworthy Guild Members, and since the Saint of the Rowan Tribe recommended Gerhart, he was willing to give his fellow Half-Elf a chance to think of things aside from revenge.

Cai's squealing had completely died down in the background, and Maximilian thought that now was the right time to go out.

When the two of them exited the tent, they saw Cai sleeping on the ground. Her dark-brown fur looked so glossy. It was as if she had just soaked in the hot springs. Lux couldn't find any injuries on her body, and from the way the shameless boar was snoring peacefully, it seemed that she wasn't in any pain at all.

Maximilian unceremoniously picked Cai up and brought her inside the tent.

Roseline, on the other hand, carried the sleeping Fei Fei and entered the tent behind her Grandfather.

Xander, who had aided Rose in burning Cai earlier, invited the Half-Elf, Keane, and Gerhart, who had also arrived at the scene earlier to have breakfast in their tent.

Lux and the others accepted the offer because they felt that Maximilian, Cai, and Rose needed some family time together.

To their surprise, Iris exited the Main Tent with Eiko on top of her head and walked towards Lux with a smile.

"Can I also join you guys for breakfast?" Iris asked with a smile.

"Sure," Xander replied as he led the way toward his tent.

The blue-haired beauty linked her hands with her fiance and walked side by side with him.

Eiko, who was on top of Iris' head, happily jumped to her Papa's head and giggled. Clearly, the Baby Slime had a good sleep and was in a playful mood.

"I thought you would be there to save Cai earlier, but you weren't around when your best friend was being burned alive," Lux teased his beautiful fiance, who seemed to have just finished bathing.

"Rose came to find me earlier and asked me to not interfere while she conducts a cleansing ceremony for her sister," Iris replied.

"You two know each other?"

"Un. We met a couple of times in the past. She also visited Barbatos Academy a few times before my birthday."

The Half-Elf smiled because it seemed that Cai's sister, Roseline, had a good head on her shoulders. Knowing that Iris was here, she decided to talk to her first and ask her to not interfere as she dealt with her sister.

Perhaps, the young lady knew that only Iris would dare to get in her way if she performed the ceremony without informing her.

The only person she didn't expect to appear was Lux, whom she had seen for the first time in her life.

Iris slowed down her pace in order to let Xander, Keane, and Gerhart walk ahead of them a little more before whispering in Lux's ears.

"Tell me what happened last night after breakfast, okay? Cai didn't tell me anything last night, but she seemed a little dazed when she returned to our room to sleep."

Suddenly, Lux remembered what Maximilian told Cai last night, and couldn't help but smile.

"It seems that Cai really likes you," Lux whispered back to Iris. "If she was a guy, she would definitely ask for your hand in marriage."

Iris giggled as she lightly squeezed Lux's hand. "Well, if Cai were really a guy, I just might have accepted his offer for marriage."

"... You're trying to make me jealous, right?"

"Yes. Did it work?"

A devilish smile appeared on Lux's face as he lightly squeezed Iris' hand and leaned a little closer to his fiance.

"It did," Lux whispered. "I'll punish you tonight for it."

Iris blushed after hearing Lux's threat, which she would happily welcome anytime.

However, they were currently away from Barbatos Academy, and she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to keep her voice down when her beloved punished her young and delicate body with his sensual touch.

"Don't worry. I'll be sure to cover both of your lips so that no one but me will hear your voice," Lux said softly.

Unknown to the two love birds, Xander and Gerhart heard their talk, making them want to tell Lux and Iris to go get a room.

However, they kept it in and pretended that they didn't hear anything. They even increased their pace to get away from the two lovers behind their backs, who were taking their sweet time talking about the things that they were going to do to each other inside Iris' room.

Only Keane, who was still thinking about Cai's little sister, Rose, was unaware that the Half-Elf and the blue-haired beauty were planning to do something tonight, which would make Cai unable to go to join Iris in her room.