"What should we do? It's almost been an hour since he fainted," Ryan asked, his voice edged with worry as he stared at Akhil.

They had placed him on top of a makeshift stone bed.

His breaths were shallow; almost every second that went by, his skin grew paler.

Aria sat by the side of the makeshift bed, staring down at him. She woke up about thirty minutes after he had completely healed her, and she woke up finding the crowd of orcs around Akhil. Ryan told her everything that had happened.

He explained to her how he had no idea how he gained the ability to heal them and how they had no idea what had happened to him, and after all that, he tried urging her to rest, since her condition was still dire.

Her skin was pale, her body still weak. While her injury had completely healed, she was obviously still very weak from the loss of blood.

But how could she listen to him? Despite how weak she was—she couldn't let herself rest, not while he was still that way.

Her gaze softened as she looked at him. "You idiot, why did you have to push yourself so much?"

Cough cough

She let out a rough cough, blood leaking from the side of her mouth, but even with that, she didn't move her gaze from Akhil's face.

"You really should rest," Ryan urged as he held her up.

Aria shook her head stubbornly, smearing the blood on her lips. "We have to know what's wrong with him. He pushed himself to help me; there's no way I'll just leave him like this!" Aria shot back fiercely.

"Don't be stubborn. That is all the more reason why you should rest. Do you want to die after he's already done this much to save us?"

Their gazes locked, tension crackling in the middle, each fiercely holding onto their own beliefs on what Akhil would've possibly wanted if he were awake. But while the two were bickering, the sudden movement of blood quickly caught their sight.

A drop of blood fell by Akhil's side from Aria's cough. It was a subtle movement, but it was clearly noticeable!

In an instant, both their eyes gleamed brightly. Of course, that had to be it! Most of Akhil's abilities were all formed from blood.

Even the miracle he had performed not too long ago was done with blood! They didn't know how his abilities worked, but they both knew it was tightly related to the same thing.

"Blood!" The two muttered in unison, their gazes locking in mutual understanding.

"Could it be that he needs blood?" Aria asked calmly.

"Maybe, that could be the case."

Just then, almost as though in reply to their questions, a graceful chime echoed in their minds, followed by the sound of a trumpet.

{Ding!}

{A new sub-scenario has been unlocked!}

{The Faithful King. A ruler devoted to his people. In desperation to save them, he placed his own life in mortal danger. Now, the moment has come to learn the truth—was his sacrifice in vain, or do his people hold the same loyalty for him?}

{Sub-Scenario Title: The King's Dearest}

{Clearing Conditions: The king teeters between life and death. Only the blood of the one who holds the greatest sincere loyalty and admiration for him can save his life. Find this person.}

{Time Extension: 10 hours ----> 24 hours}

{Scenario Difficulty: ???}

{Rewards: 10,000 coins}

The entire settlement paused for what felt like a long hour as everyone seemed to hold their breath from the sudden quest. All the female orcs had their cheeks turn pink after reading the scenario description, faces flushed, some fidgeting with their fingers.

The deafening silence stretched until a calm cough tore through.

"Ahem."

"This is a difficult quest, but it's clear what it means. I believe we all hold great admiration and loyalty for this man who has given everything for us. But it seems this scenario is taking a specific direction," Ryan said with a stiff tone. A palpable tension seemed to spread across the entire settlement as the ladies hid their faces in embarrassment.

"I know this might be a bit embarrassing, but if we want to help Sir Nexus, then we all have to participate actively in this scenario."

Ryan calmly shifted his gaze toward Aria, who had already gone peach red from the scenario description.

'Why the heck does such a scenario exist?!' Aria screamed inwardly as she felt the gazes of all the orcs on her, embarrassment washing over her. 'And that title! Arrrghh! I swear if the system had a body, I'll squeeze the blood straight out of it,' Aria thought as she felt the embarrassment climb up her face to the tips of her ears, which were now red.

"Miss Aria... um, I believe you're the closest to Akhil. You should be able to get this done," Ryan said with a stiff smile as he now focused his gaze on Aria, handing her a dagger.

Aria shot him a sharp glare, but he quickly avoided her gaze, pretending as though he couldn't feel her prickling stare.

Aria turned back to Akhil, drawing a deep breath. She calmed herself, then calmly took the dagger from Ryan's grasp, and with a wince, she made a small cut on the palm of her hand.

Placing her hand on the top of Akhil's mouth, all the orcs stared in awe as the small drops of blood slowly leaked into his mouth. His skin seemed to regain its glow almost immediately.

"It works!"

They immediately burst into loud cheers upon seeing the rapid improvement. But the cheers quickly died out as they soon noticed that he still had yet to wake up.

"Huh?"

A hushed silence followed as the orcs all stared at the scene in confusion.

Several more drops of blood entered his mouth, but aside from the visible change in the glow of his skin, there was nothing more.

Aria's expression grew darker with every drop of her blood that fell into his mouth with no reaction. She tightly clenched the dagger in her fist as she watched her blood drip into his mouth.

'You better wake up, you brat!' Aria thought, embarrassment climbing up her face. 'Every drop of blood made her want to sink into the ground.'

She was embarrassed that she had to take on the scenario titled "King's Dearest." Since not just her, but all the others knew that she was the closest to Akhil, they all expected that she would be the one to wake him up.

But that didn't seem to be the case at all!

Now she felt even more embarrassed that it wasn't at all what she had expected.

A shocked gasp filled the entire settlement as the orcs watched in bewilderment. "If it's not Lady Aria, then who will it be?" Hushed whispers echoed.

And with each one, Aria clutched the dagger tightly, her embarrassment slowly turning into annoyance.

Noticing the change, Ryan moved quickly as Aria raised her hand to stab Akhil. He grabbed her wrist, holding her in place.

"Calm down, Ria! It's not that serious!" he yelled, holding her back from reaching Akhil.

"Hmph," she scoffed as she tossed the blade aside, storming off with a dark expression.

Ryan smiled wryly upon seeing her reaction, 'What a way to pass the test'

He let out a soft sigh as he turned his attention back to the other orcs who were gathered. 'If she wasn't the one, then who will it be?' An awkward smile spread across his face as he stared at the orc girls, who were sheepishly playing with their fingers and hiding their faces in embarrassment.

After a few more minutes of debating what to do, they decided the girls would try one by one.

Each stepped forward, made a small cut on her finger, and let a few drops of blood fall into his mouth.

But even after the first five, there was no sign of movement from Akhil's body.

Embarrassment lingered in the air from having their devotion tested so openly, but it was overshadowed by worry. Every girl wore a strained expression as she took her turn—especially under Aria's unblinking stare.

Her gaze was like that of a predator watching its prey. Not hostile. Not violent. Yet impossibly intimidating.

Having already failed herself, she now waited in silence for the one who would succeed. That unspoken pressure made the others uneasy.

Soon, only one girl remained.

And all eyes turned to her.

As Rin stepped forward—Grandma Gino's daughter, as she was known throughout the camp—Aria's sharp gaze immediately locked onto her. Rin stole a timid glance in her direction, her body trembling faintly under the pressure.

Fidgeting, she took the blade from Ryan's hand and made a small cut across her palm.

Drop.

A single bead of blood fell into his mouth, and a hushed silence swept across the entire settlement.

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