The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

Chapter 276 - 276: 276 - A Suspicious Smell

Raye and the others woke up the next day.After sleeping outside in the wild for five whole days, once they got a comfortable place to sleep on, they all fell into deep slumber. Even now, traces of that exhaustion still clung to their bodies like a heavy blanket.

"Ugh..."

Raye groaned as he opened his eyes. After sleeping for more than 8 hours, he felt a bit groggy, his mind still trying to catch up to the fact that he was lying on something soft and warm instead of cold soil and rough grass.

He blinked slowly, forcing his senses to adjust to the dim room.

He looked beside him as he sat up on the bed. He saw Pyro and Zephyrus still sleeping peacefully, curled up and unmoving, their soft breaths steady. Seeing them like that made him relax a little as well.

He let them sleep, quietly deciding not to disturb them, and got out of bed alone. His legs felt slightly heavy from oversleeping, but the comfort was undeniable.

After that— he left the room to go to the dining area.

CREAK—

The wooden door noise echoed in the hallway as he stepped outside, the early morning air hitting his face.

*****

Tap-

The moment Raye stepped out of his room, he saw the others come out as well. Lycus, Sofia, and Jerusha.

They all looked the same as him— hair slightly messy, movements sluggish, eyes still adjusting.

It was obvious they all just got out as well.

"You guys hungry?"

He asked them.

The three nodded in unison at his question. They all felt groggy for oversleeping, their bodies trying to shake off five days worth of tension.

"Let's go get something downstairs then."

Raye suggested, and after that, without saying a word, they all came down to the dining area together, quiet and half-awake.

...

...

Once they got there, the receptionist saw them and greeted them.

"Good morning, we tried bringing you dinner last night, but it seems like you were all asleep."

He said with a small smile on his face.

"Yeah, we fell asleep as soon as we got here and only woke up now."

Raye replied with an awkward smile, scratching his cheek lightly.

"Well, that just means you all feel comfortable in our place."

"Anyway, I guess you're here for breakfast?"

The receptionist asked.

Raye, Jerusha, Lycus, and Sofia all nodded their heads.

"Yes please. And also, there are two spirits up in my room still sleeping, can you bring them any cooked meat later as well?"

Raye said.

"No problem. For the time being, please help yourself in any spot while we prepare the food."

The receptionist told him.

"Thanks, we'll do that."

Raye responded before looking at the others and signalling them to go to the tables.

After that, they all walked and sat on an empty table, each of them sighing quietly as they finally rested their bodies properly.

*****

"Ugh, my head is aching a bit..."

Raye grumbled as he sat down beside Jerusha. His hand instinctively pressed the side of his head.

The other three felt the same as him. Lycus rubbed his eyes repeatedly, Jerusha stretched her shoulders, and Sofia slumped forward a little.

"Here, take this guys."

Just then, Sofia took out a small circular red pill from her spatial storage. There were four of them, one for each of them.

"Hmm?"

Raye, Jerusha, and Lycus took the pill she handed without hesitation, trusting her completely. And before they could even ask—

"Those are medicines I made using alchemy, they help in headaches."

Sofia told them that.

"Ohh, thank you!"

Jerusha happily said when she heard that.

And without further ado— the three of them gulped down the pills in one go.

Immediately after they did so, they felt the tension in their bodies ease. Their headaches faded like mist, and a light surge of energy spread through their limbs.

"This is good, you're really a genius at alchemy."

Lycus said as he turned to Sofia.

And Sofia... she didn't say anything, but she was blushing and feeling proud of herself. Her eyes sparkled for a brief moment, clearly pleased.

She took the pill after that too.

...

...

...

Moving on, with the group fully awake now, they started talking while waiting for their food.

"Why was this called the Rose Village again?"

Sofia curiously asked the group as she leaned a bit forward.

"Well, simply because this village is covered with roses, wherever you look, there's many of them. They also have a whole meadow covered by red roses!"

Jerusha answered her question.

"This village became a romantic spot because of that, couples will visit everyday just to see the gorgeous roses growing in groups here. They even have a festival where people will give roses to whoever they are interested in, and if they feel the same, they will give you one as well."

She added and explained with a smile on her face.

"Ohhh...!"

Sofia seemed amused by her story, imagining it clearly.

Though, at that moment—

"That's weird though, I didn't see much rose to be honest. Just the ones at the arch in the entrance."

Lycus opened his mouth and mumbled that.

"..."

Raye didn't say anything, but he noticed that as well. The lack of roses was strange when the village was supposed to be full of them.

"Erm, well... I don't know why too, I just know the story about this place, but this is my first time being here as well."

Jerusha said, scratching her cheek.

(She knows a lot of romantic places because she wants to visit them with Raye.)

Just then—

"Well, that's because a problem had occurred to the field of roses, the meadow."

A man approached them and declared that.

The group turned to him upon hearing his words, and they saw him wearing a waiter's clothes. He also had their food on a tray.

The man didn't add anything else at first. He simply placed the tray with the party's food on the table.

"Huh? What happened to the roses?"

Sofia asked the man.

And the man, casually—

"One day, one rose in the meadow turned black. We plucked it out because it was a sign of bad omen, but then the next day— more roses became black."

"And lately, they started increasing more than we could remove them."

He told them that story.

"But isn't it just a premonition? It doesn't really mean that just because the roses turned black, it really is a sign of bad luck."

Lycus rebutted.

The man looked at him, and with a shrug—

"People living near the meadow of roses fell ill, along with those who plucked them out."

He said that with a straight face.

"Anyway, that's the reason you don't see much roses here at the moment. If you came to see the meadow... you all came at a bad time."

The man followed afterward.

He excused himself after that and left the group alone.

"..."

They all became silent. Nobody moved or said a word even though the food in front of them smelled delicious. The atmosphere shifted slightly, heavier and more wary.

After a while—

"The whole incident in the meadow of roses... it's super suspicious."

Lycus mumbled that.

And then—

"This reeks of a demon's work."

Raye suddenly muttered that, a frown plastered on his face.