As Oliver returned to the camp, his thoughts remained occupied by the golden pear.

The image of that solitary golden fruit hanging from the tree simply refused to leave his mind. Five powerful beasts were guarding it, yet none of them dared to make a move. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that it had to be something extraordinary.

Korre was the first to notice him.

She looked quite exhausted after spending the entire day working on the boat. Her clothes were covered in bits of wood dust and a few strands of her brown hair were stuck to her forehead from sweat.

Wiping it away with the back of her hand, she walked over to him.

"Hey... what are you thinking about now? You seem kinda worried."

’Yeah, well, I’m worried that my fruit will get stolen by those beasts, what else?’

Naturally, he couldn’t exactly say that and so instead, Oliver forced a smile and shrugged.

"Huh? Not really. I was just thinking about home."

Korre’s expression immediately softened as she looked at him with a kind expression.

"Yeah..."

A small sad smile appeared on her face as she asked,

"You miss your family?"

Oliver gave a stiff expression as he nodded.

"Indeed."

It wasn’t really a lie as he really did miss his sister a lot, just not nearly as much as he was currently thinking about a certain golden pear.

As for telling the others about the treasure, he had never seriously considered it.

After all, who knew how valuable it actually was?

It was one thing to help people and entirely another to hand over your opportunities. The Spirit Realm was dangerous enough already. If fortune decided to smile upon him for once, then surely he was allowed to be a little selfish.

To make sure nobody became suspicious, Oliver spent the rest of the day helping with the boat. The work was slow and frustrating due to their lack of proper tools, but progress was still being made.

Ahreum remained the busiest among them, seemingly knowing exactly what needed to be done at every stage. Theo handled most of the precise cutting while Korre used her vines whenever they needed extra help moving or holding pieces in place.

He had tried talking to Ahreum, but she seemed a bit too emotionally invested in her work and mostly just gave a few nods or ignored him entirely.

The hours passed surprisingly quickly and before long, the sun began setting once more.

Exhausted, the four of them stepped back to inspect their work. The boat was far from finished, but it was no longer just a carved log either. Roughly forty percent of it was complete.

It was not enough to sail but it was enough that they could finally imagine it floating.

As darkness fell over the river once more, the group settled down for another night. They followed the same routine as before, taking turns keeping watch while the others slept.

The next morning, Oliver had every intention of heading back toward the golden pear. He had spent half the night thinking about it, and the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that simply leaving it alone would be a mistake.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan.

Just as he was preparing to leave, Theo suddenly looked up from what he was doing and asked, "Hey... where are you going?"

Oliver’s heart skipped a beat for a moment, but he kept a calm expression.

"Ahh, nowhere specific really. Just going for a walk with Goldie."

Theo nodded before exclaiming in a bored bratty tone, "I’ll come along. It’s quite boring here."

Oliver nearly sighed out loud in frustration.

Since he couldn’t exactly refuse without looking suspicious, he had no choice but to agree.

A few minutes later, the two of them were walking through the orchard together. This time Oliver deliberately chose a different direction.

If Theo followed him all the way to the golden pear, there was a good chance his little secret would stop being a secret.

Goldie moved alongside them at a brisk pace. Unlike usual, the squirrel didn’t climb onto Oliver’s head and demand a free ride and instead, he simply walked ahead, occasionally glancing back at them.

As they continued through the orchard, Goldie suddenly stopped and raised a paw and pointed toward a nearby tree.

Oliver followed the direction of his paw and he saw that there was a monkey sitting on one of the branches.

The creature was surprisingly small, barely larger than an ordinary monkey. However, it possessed an enormous red nose that looked completely disproportionate to the rest of its face. It was honestly one of the ugliest things Oliver had ever seen.

’Goddess... that thing is ugly.’

The thought had barely crossed his mind when Theo suddenly shoved him sideways.

Oliver stumbled and at the exact same moment,

KRRRAAAK!

A bolt of lightning slammed into the spot where he had been standing.

The ground exploded apart as dirt and splinters of wood flew everywhere. For a brief second, Oliver simply stared at the smoking crater before slowly turning toward the monkey again.

The ugly creature was still sitting on the branch looking extremely pleased with itself.

Theo had already summoned his wooden sword by then.

"Hey... be careful," he warned, his expression becoming serious. "It has elemental powers."

As if to prove his point, faint arcs of electricity began dancing around the monkey’s body.

Theo tightened his grip on the sword as he continued,

"It’s most likely a higher-grade beast."

Oliver slowly nodded.

Outwardly, he appeared completely focused on the enemy however inwardly, however, his thoughts were very different.

’Mate, if you hadn’t come here, none of this would’ve happened.’

’I could’ve been happily checking on that pear right now. And what’s wrong with your personality change, huh?’

He looked at Theo with a suspicious gaze for a second.

’Whining like a kid in the morning and now suddenly acting all serious. Just pick one personality and stick to it.’

Another spark crackled around the monkey’s body and Oliver sighed.