Johan hadn’t the slightest clue how he ended up in his bed. But there were worse places he could’ve woken up in, like Lucas’s basement, for example.

  Shaking the slight chill and blanket off of himself, he sat still in his dark room, a thin finger of sunlight coming through the drawn curtains. The last sight he had seen had imprinted itself in his mind. So much so, he broke out of the routine of checking his phone after waking up.

  Merilyn’s eyes. He could still recall them vividly. No, he wanted to recall them.

  An impossible blue, as though the sky itself had been distilled and trapped behind her lashes. They shimmered with an inhuman clarity, too sharp, too aware—eyes that did not merely see the world, but understood it. That’s the feeling they invoked in him.

  He felt naked in front of those eyes, like he couldn’t hide a single thing. But more terrifying was the fact that he wanted to see her eyes again. They weren’t leaving his mind anytime soon, that he knew.

  Maybe she is down there still? He half hoped she was. He had a few questions and some things to ask.

  Like what she did to make his body so light?

  Standing on his feet, he could almost fly away. Felt like he had shed off the chains that tied his limbs down for all his life. He didn’t really understand what she did since his focus was on her eyes at the time, and he had crashed into her shoulder soon after.

  The only other thing he vaguely remembered was the scent of lilies.

  Merilyn did look like a white lily in that white qipao of hers. He nodded to himself, taking the stairs to the mart below.

  Unlike the darkness of his room, the sunlight filled the mart below as the clock struck 2 in the afternoon.

  “The princess is finally awake.” Cara looked up from her phone, a grin on her lips.

  “What do you mean by princess? Never mind, why are you here?” He cracked open a new bottle of chilled water from the drink fridge, taking a long sip. It felt like he hadn’t had water for days, weeks, even.

  “Adrian asked me to keep watch since you slept so long.” She pocketed her phone, stretching her arms.

  “Long?” He capped the bottle.

  “43 hours counts as long, no?”

  “Are you joking?” Johan froze. His neck turned towards her like a stiff machine. 43 hours? How could he sleep for that long? No matter how tired he was, this hadn’t happened before.

  “Wish I was, I had to check up on you every hour.” Cara yawned, a small tear forming in her right eye. “But that’s all fine, looks like you got a good rest.”

  “Yeah…” He observed his reflection in the fridge’s glass.

  How should he say it?

  He looked alive again. Like the freshness a youth his age has.

  His nails had grown a bit. And the black roots of his hair started to show too. Above all, his skin looked really plump and clean. He might get cast in skincare ads at this rate.

  It was hard to explain. But he didn’t really need to make sense of it. Merilyn probably did something to him, and it didn’t seem harmful. Not that he could do much to resist if she had harmful intentions. Giving up would be a better alternative, more peaceful.

  “Sorry for the trouble.” He turned to Cara; her eyes had a redness that he knew very well.

  “Told you it’s no big deal.” She flashed him a smile. “Also, you should keep your hair like that, it suits you better.”

  “I’ll think about it.” Johan’s eyes turned to his reflection; it did suit him. But he didn’t have plans to dye his hair again; once was enough of a pain.

  “I am gonna take a shower. You sticking around?” He asked.

  “Why would you tell me about that?” Cara got defensive.

  “Because you are here to keep watch over me, duh.” What else could he mean?

  But it felt like it did something else with the way Cara’s eyes darted away. Did she misunderstand him? How was that possible?

  “What did you think?”

  “Wait, what’s that?” She turned to look outside.

  Tsk tsk, such a cheap trick.

  Was what he would’ve said if he didn’t see seven black vans stopped before the mart. Tens of men and women in black suits stepped out and blocked the road as a delivery truck pulled in.

  He would’ve run away through the back door if he hadn’t noticed the Hunter Association logo on the vans. It was quite surreal, watching them unload equipment and such from the truck, whispering into their earpieces. It felt like a movie scene.

  “Mr. Johan Askr, right?” The average-looking man in sunglasses approached, his tone overly respectful. “We are here to install the Hunter Terminal on Association President’s order.”

  The Hunter Terminal?! Johan felt overwhelmed as the eyes of the others fell on him. Cara was too busy making calls to pay attention to this.

  So, as any reasonable man caught out of depth, he could only nod with a strained smile.

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  “Yes, go ahead.”

  ***

  Hunter Terminal. In a nutshell, it was a device that read the Hunter ID before they entered any rift or government facility. It created a digital roadmap for each Hunter, keeping track of their movements and activities.

  After listening to Cara, Johan understood the motive; he also knew a fair bit about the Hunter Terminal thanks to Hunter Net. What he didn’t understand was why they used the strictest and most secure one, usually used for military facilities and S-Rank Rifts, at a Hunter Mart?

  No, he sort of did understand that, too. Merilyn seemed to value him greatly for his potions; in her position, he would probably do the same. But still, he hoped she would’ve done this in the dead of the night.

  The onlookers are increasing again. It really does feel like a movie shoot is going on. People from the neighbourhood and random passersby stopped by. Some even took videos, thinking some celebrity Hunter just appeared.

  Too bad for them that there was only a Farmer/Potion maker here.

  A different employee walked him through the installation of Hunter-Grade hidden security cameras that covered the building inside and outside, leaving no blind spot. They were wireless, camouflaged, saw through skills like stealth, could detect magik flow, and only needed one charge every three months.

  Johan could watch the feed on the special tablet PC they had given him, and aside from him, only Merilyn could see the footage. Apparently, it also alerted her in case someone broke in, just as it would do for him.

  Equipment of this grade was only used in big franchise stores of the Alchemist Association and other places that dealt with Hunters. Now, the humble Morgan Hunter Mart also had them.

  And as much as someone like Merilyn watching over his shoulder made him happy, through all this, Johan only had one thought on his mind.

  At least they left the toilet and bathroom alone. But considering the effort put into this, he decided to build himself a makeshift bath in Phantasia out of caution.

  As he saw the Hunter Association workers off, the focus of the crowd shifted to him. Someone might think that the mart sold a limited edition of Labubus or something. However, in that crowd, he saw Morgan.

  She pointed at the mart, shaking her head with the aged aunties of the neighbourhood who only ever complained. The bigger mystery was, why did she act like the centre of attention wasn’t her property?

  When Johan asked this over lunch, a lunch that he invited Cara to, because he felt bad since she had to live off delivery food, Morgan looked at him with an elderly sigh.

  “It’s changed so much, this place doesn’t even seem like mine anymore.” She ate the pot-au-feu with a resigned expression. “You can buy it off me, no? It doesn’t make much profit anyway.”

  Unlike Morgan’s other Hunter Marts, this one was on the capital’s outskirts. That was the whole reason he worked here. The foot traffic used to stay low, and he wanted to stay farther from the Hunter-focused Sectors at the time. Now, the place had flipped on its head because of him.

  “I don’t want to buy it.” Johan shook his head.

  “What good will money do in the bank? Put it to work.” Morgan’s spoon clinked against the empty bowl. “Or are you planning on moving?”

  “Moving? Where?” Johan’s hand stopped.

  “Moving to the capital, you know, like Sector H, M, or N, the Hunter economy is based there, after all.” The Association, Mage Tower, and most of the guilds were there, the so-called heart of the country’s Hunter society.

  Any successful alchemist would sell an arm and a leg to get their stores there, even if it was as small as a shack. However, Johan had no plans for that. He already had enough customers here; if he opened shop in those sectors, he and Eugene might get run over by the rush.

  Plus, he could open and close the mart when he felt like it. There wasn’t a need to adhere to the Hunter Marts' 24/7 policy in those sectors.

  The work balance had barely restored itself, and he had no wish to break that apart. And above all…

  “This place is like a home to me.” Maybe he was more emotional than he liked to admit. Then again, he had spent more years here than in his childhood home.

  “Heh?” Morgan placed her elbow on the table and rested her chin on the back of her hand, a playful smile tugging at her lips. “There’s more, isn’t there?” She poked him.

  “I don’t have enough money to buy a shop there, so let me stay, please, big boss.” He spat mechanically.

  “The truth reveals itself.” Morgan crossed her arms, nodding sagely. But soon, she looked at him with the same smile she showed when they first met. “You can stay here till you gather enough money, or you can stay here even after that. Because…” Her words were also identical.

  “…I am not letting my personal chef go.” Aside from this part.

  “Since when did I become your personal chef? No, wait…” He had handled her meals for extra cash all these years, hasn’t he?

  “It’s good that you are self-aware, but let’s get to eating before Cara shoves her face in the pot.” Morgan pointed at Cara. She had already eaten ten bowls and looked at the pot like a starving wolf. The only thing holding her back was the last shred of dignity, maybe.

  “Umai!” She shouted after each spoonful with bright eyes full of vigor. “Umai!”

  “I think she is broken,” Johan muttered as Morgan poured herself another bowl.

  “Umai!” Cara’s words echoed.

  “You caused this, so better take responsibility.” His Boss shrugged.

  “Yes, you better!” Cara cut in.

  “Looks like she recovered.”

  “…” Cara looked at Johan and blinked. “Umai!”

  “Ok, stop doing that.” His brow crinkled.

  She didn’t stop till Johan promised her a meal a week, just like Morgan. The two ate so much that Johan could already see the fatigue returning.

  Well, it wasn’t all that bad. Lively dinners were a luxury one doesn’t miss till they are gone for good.

  But everything was about balance in the end.

  As Johan wondered if he should sleep again or do some brewing in Phantasia for the night, his phone rang.

  “Did you rest well?”

  “Yes, Merilyn.” He answered, hearing the sound of running water in the background.

  “Good. I am sure you’ve seen on the news, but Adelan is healthy. He made something for you specially, as a gift. I will come around in a few days and hand it over.” Her voice sounded the same in person and on the call. Meanwhile, his voice on the call sounded like someone had plugged his nostrils.

  “That’s a relief.” Johan wondered what Master Adelan made for him. Was it an armour? Or a barrier ring? Anything will do. “Is that all?”

  “No, I have another request.” She added, taking her time. “A promising guild I know is looking for a skilled alchemist, and I haven’t seen one more skilled than you.”

  Johan felt his nose rising from the praise. Even if most of the credit went to the high-quality ingredients, he deserved some recognition, too.

  “Is it a big guild?” If it were, Johan would refuse.

  Most big guilds already had their own potion makers because of their large consumption rates; he doubted he could keep up with the demand without burning himself out again.

  “No, it’s a small one. They don’t have many members, so it won’t be too taxing.” Her voice seemed to echo a little. “But, if it clashes with any of your prior agreements, no need to say yes.”

  “No, it’s totally fine.” Since Merilyn talked about them, the guild most likely wanted the higher end of the potions. A small guild won’t buy more than 5-8 of those at once, even if they splurge, it shouldn’t go over 20. Totally handleable with his current speed.

  “Thank you, truly. Then, good night~.” Her voice lingered in his ear even after the call ended.

  Which guild could she be talking about?

  A small guild, but competent enough to catch the Association President’s eye.

  Was it the White Bulls? Last, he read that they signed a contract with the Alchemist Association.

  Dokkaebi? Weren’t they sponsored by the S.M. conglomerate? They won’t need a potion supplier either.

  Maybe Black Thunder. That was a new guild formed around an S-Rank Hunter; it had only one team.

  Just like another he knew.

  “Oh well, guess I’ll find out when Merilyn comes around.” He yawned.

  In the end, he decided to sleep for the night, after all. It was a good time to mend his sleep schedule after the hectic weeks.

  I can handle this sort of pace, so let’s keep it that way. He thought, turning the lights off.

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