Apricus was quite confused and suspicious, after all it didn't make sense. The village had a Pseudo-Cursed in its hands, not many villages can say they have such a powerful force. Furthermore in the face of a threat stronger than a Pseudo-Cursed there's not much a Beast can do, so Apricus's suspicion was quite justified.
"Why would this village need assistance, aren't you more than enough. And why trust a stranger, you don't know well enough."
Genso seemed a bit startled by this.
'I was misled by this boy's clone's personality, his actual body is much more calculating, even a bit cold. Top that off with his red hair and devilish dark eyes, he seems like the devil itself.'
"Well if im to gain your trust I'll have to trust you in return, and so I'll tell you why."
"You see this village is unique, for one it's quite large, one of the largest, and for two, in the middle of this village there's a holy flower that blooms once every 12 years. This flower provides strength, vitality, luck, and richer crops to everything and everyone in this village along with some other attributes."
"However this power can also be absorbed by an individual, boosting their strength by one entire category, there's even rumours that it can grant immortality to a person that absorbs it. So we get attacked by unholy creatures wanting this power every 12 years, but a year or two before that happens we recruit any and all help we can get, this year especially because the battle during the last cycle was devastating to us, this is why I chose to trust you as well as request your help. I'm aware you're only a Beast but you'll get trained for the year before the next battle of the holy flower as well as forty gold coins after it."
Apricus's poker face cracked with a devilish grin for a mere second before returning to normal, it happened so quickly that even Genso did not notice.
"I see, that would make sense. It's an interesting proposal for sure. Give me two days to think about it."
In the usual energetic voice Genso nodded respectfully and continued.
"That is quite acceptable, I will talk with you in two days, however in the meantime I shall pay for a luxury hotel for the duration of your stay, so if you'll follow me."
Apricus simply nodded in a slightly happy manner.
Soon they traversed down the mountain over to the village, which did not take long as the trip was slightly short. One thing Apricus had noticed was that all the houses were either made from clouds or white wood and bricks, which he assumed were from the nearby forest to the north. The clouds however, he had acquired about how the clouds could form in such a manner, where he found out it was simply due to the holy flower.
They traversed the village passing by many houses, villagers, and merchants from other villages. As it turned out Aria village was one of the most resource rich out of all the villages in the north side of the sky. So naturally it had a lot of merchants staying here. Actually there were so many that there were designated stall sections in set locations in the village, the number of sections increasing as they got closer to the middle.
Except for near the start the entire trip was filled with silence, with no disturbances which was unusual since Genso was known as the right hand man of the chief but no one even batted an eye towards them, which he soon figured out had something to do with an ability of his making the trip quite convenient. After a while they arrived near a tall building with a sign hanging near the door reading "The Royal Stay" the building itself however was made up of white marble which Apricus started seeing much more of as he got closer to the middle, even the holy flower Genso had mentioned came into view near the hotel.
The holy flower had an interesting shape; it looked like a thick large prickly vine with large leaves, but at the tip of the vine was a large bud radiating a gold light near its opening, making for quite the majestic but strange sight.
"That is the holy flower I mentioned, quite the beauty isn't she."
Apricus simply nodded.
"But setting that aside this is the exclusive hotel you'll be staying at. I have already paid for your stay, and the room you'll be in is room 5150 on the sixth floor. It has a nice view so I really do hope you enjoy it, and I'll be back in two days expecting great news, until then have a nice stay."
Apricus put on a grateful smile.
"Thank you, I really do appreciate all the help."
And with that Apricus entered the hotel, however Genso lingered a while longer, contemplating something.
'What a strange guy he seems unimpressed by everything and everyone, he does not seem like the type of guy to serve someone when it doesn't benefit himself. Not only that but he seems completely unaffected by the memories of the death loop he experienced, any other normal person would have gone insane, but he seems unbothered to the point it's terrifying. I'll have to keep an eye on this one before something disastrous happens.'
Unaware of Genso's alertness Apricus made his way to room 5150, and when he entered he was once again slightly shocked but what was before his eyes was also expected. The room was quite spacious to the point that it looked like a large apartment.
There was a wide hallway from the entrance to the living area, which contained a cloud sofa on the left wall with a coffee table, plants, and lamp near it. A tv was attached to the wall opposite the sofa with a fireplace underneath, There also consisted of a balcony to the left of the living area.
From the hallway to the left were two doors, one led to a spacious bathroom with two bathtubs, three showers, windows, toilets and a large pantry filled with shampoo, body wash, toothpaste and toothbrushes. The other led to a large room with a tiny bar filled with multiple board games as well as a pool table. To the right of the hallway were another two doors, one led to a large bedroom with a bed, tv, two closets, a small bathroom, and another balcony. Finally the other door led to a large kitchen with all the things you would need also supplied with a variety of ingredients.
Most of the furniture was either white, gold, or brown, some were littered with runic languages or engravings. The walls and roof were both white while the floor was also white it also had carpeting in certain areas.
Everything considered Apricus was quite happy with the room he had gotten, after all it was quite spacious, had everything he needed, and had a nice view from the balconies over seeing a large section of the village, It was quite hard to believe it was a hotel room even if it was an exclusive one.
Two days had passed since Apricus had started staying in the hotel, he had taken the time to get accustomed to the area and place near the hotel, meeting people and getting to know the area a bit better. He had also come to a decision about his participation for the battle, and so he had worn a simple black tee and pants. Getting ready to make his way to a nearby restaurant, to once again meet with Genso and discuss plans for the future.
Of course the decision had been made the moment Genso had told him about the rewards, after all getting free training and forty pieces of gold is not something you commonly receive from a Pseudo-Holy. This would benefit Apricus greatly as he would finally ascend to the Demon Category, increasing his strength by quite a bit.
He had only waited this long to give the impression he was not easily impressed and that his strength was valuable, even if it wasn't all that true. So he left the hotel and made his way to the restaurant he was supposed to meet Genso at.