"No," Ryan said. "This isn't up for debate."

"Why not?" Alissa asked.

"Because I said so," Ryan replied. "Besides, Mia is his guardian, and it doesn't look like she agreed to this."

"It doesn't matter. You are the one whose his mother asked to protect him," Alissa said. "Together, we can protect him better than anyone else."

"Incredible, you can still say this with a straight face after getting unconscious while fighting Baal," Ryan said. "I didn't do anything in that fight, so I can't complain. Still, that doesn't change that fact. Anyway, let me say this as bluntly as possible: Alissa, you can decide everything related to our work while I have to help you. However, this is the only thing I won't accept. Insist, and our temporary partnership will end right here, and I won't care if I will end up ignoring my debt. Aside from that, if you insist on taking Arthur on this journey to find the answers you are looking for, you will become my enemy. Maybe I won't be able to defeat you, but I am pretty sure that I will be able to buy time in order for you not to ever seeing him again."

"All right, all right. My bad… I got carried away," Alissa said, a bit pale. "Geez… you can really be a pain in the ass sometimes. Still, you won't mind if I visit him now and then, right?"

"That is none of my business," Ryan said. "However, try to do anything more than that, and you will become my enemy."

Even Ryan was a bit surprised with his reaction. Still, it was understandable since he had a strong sense of responsibility toward Arthur even though the kid apparently hated him. It wouldn't be weird to say that Arthur was the only thing preventing Ryan from becoming a power-seeking cold-blood man. After all, even though he felt bad about the death of Las Vegas survivors, he didn't drop a single tear for them. He was bothered by it, but only to the extent where he thought that it was regrettable.

Regardless, in order to calm down Ryan, who apparently woke up in a bad mood, Alissa decided to clear the dungeon and receive her new class. Meanwhile, Ryan was doing business with Tristan and Natalia. Fortunately, he obtained enough coins to buy the Wind Manipulation tome. However, he was more worried as to why Natalia was staring at him.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"You helped me before, and I am thankful for it, but why did you abandon your friends even though you helped so many strangers?" Natalia asked.

"I don't remember abandoning any friends," Ryan shrugged. "As to why I helped some strangers, it is because I imagined they would be useful down the road, just like now you two are being useful."

"Ouch, that was harsh, Ryan," Tristan forced a smile.

"What do you prefer: the harsh truth or a sweet lie?" Ryan asked.

"Can I have a mix of them?" Tristan asked. "I don't like things that are too sour or too sweet."

"Good luck finding someone who can do that for you," Ryan said and then headed to the dungeon and bought the tome.

"Hahaha, Ryan looks like a soldier who is constantly in the combat mode," Tristan laughed a little. "This is a bit sad, but don't feel too bad about it, Natalia. We know what he experienced in the past months, so it can't be helped."

"I am not feeling bad for myself," Natalia and then she began to pull the iron cart filled with the equipment.

As far as Ryan was concerned, most of his equipment was already more powerful than those that could be acquired through the dungeon shop. The only exception were his gloves, boots, chainmail, and helmet that he never got. Apparently, he could use amulets as well. In any case, he could buy five types of equipment. That being said, the best of each type cost around twenty thousand coins. To buy five, he would need one hundred thousand… it was an amount Ryan could easily get if he causes a few dungeons breaks on the goblins' dungeon. So, he decided to buy mana potions with the coins he still had. All in order to train his Wind Manipulation as fast as possible.

In the blink of an eye, just by controlling his bone arrows with the Wind Manipulation and by using the potions, the skill reached level twenty even before Alissa could return. In any case, even though the wind was quite useful, Ryan couldn't just attack his foes with invisible attacks. The very moment he starts to the concentrated wind in a certain area, the wind becomes more 'visible,' mana probably also had an influence over that, but that much was okay with him.

"Let's get going," Alissa said. "I want to return before lunch."

"For what reason are you planning to return to this place so soon?" Ryan asked.

"To play with Arthur, obviously," Alissa said.

"What happened to your goal?" Ryan frowned.

"Like I said, we don't have to hurry," Alissa said. "Also, Orgar said that I should focus on my building my strength in case we find another troublesome enemy in the future. So, it is fine."

"That is not fine. If you really want to build your own strength, you should get more classes and level them up," Ryan said. "Don't try to mess with me, Alissa. Our agreement was to work for six months in order to find the answers you want. I don't plan to work those six months, so you can't slack off now."

"I guess you have a point," Alissa rubbed her chin. "What do you think of working two days and then have a day off? No, I won't accept working more than three days straight without a break."

Alissa truly was a pain in the ass, but unfortunately, she was the leader of the operations regarding the things that she wanted to learn. Besides, that wasn't so bad. Some time away from that massive pain in the ass would help him a lot.