While the two boys were examining a voice-changing potion, someone walked in.

  “Morning, Sebastian. Do you still have that eye-brightening potion? The one I bought last time. Its effects were incredible, thanks to the Flow, my eye has gotten so much better!” the man said.

  He looked to be in his thirties, wearing a black tunic and shorts, exuding a casual, relaxed vibe. He had short white hair, his beard, and even his eyebrows were the same color. His eyes were mismatched, one black, the other the pale gray of ash.

  Luther stiffened at the sight of him and moved to pull Aaron out of the store, but it was already too late.

  “Aaron Attenborough???!!”

  Henry almost thought his vision had gone bad again when he saw the boy standing by the shelf of acceleration potions.

  Out of reflex, hearing someone call his full name, Aaron turned to look at Henry, suspicion clear in his eyes.

  Who here would even know my full name?

  Henry hurried toward the two boys. In all honesty, the Attenborough case was the single biggest failure of his career. Not only had he been unable to accomplish anything, but he had also lost an eye in the process.

  Even though he knew full well that no one who took that job could have done any better, he still felt ashamed for receiving Michael’s payment. Worse yet, his reputation had taken another hit when Aaron had woken up that very night, right after Henry had declared the boy’s condition beyond saving.

  Henry had thought about reaching out to Aaron to ask what had happened, but his disappointing performance had already cost him Michael and Helen’s trust. They had refused to let him meet Aaron.

  “An apprentice knight?”

  Henry raised an eyebrow as he felt the steady flow of magic radiating from the boy standing in front of him.

  Wasn’t it just a little over a month ago that this kid was nothing more than a boy without the slightest trace of magic? How in the world had he already become an apprentice knight?

  Luther turned to Acher and asked:

  “What should we do?”

  The raven didn’t bother lifting his head from the EPhone and replied:

  “You two must handle this by yourselves. It’s a good chance to train your ability to handle unexpected situations. He’s just a master mage, nothing more. And besides, I don’t sense any bad intention from him.”

  “Who are you?” Aaron asked.

  “He’s Henry Richard, the mage your parents invited to ‘exorcise’ you while you were in the coma,” Acher explained.

  Aaron’s hand, which had been halfway extended for a handshake, froze in midair.

  So he’s that so-called ‘scammer’ mom and dad talked about? Damn it, why is he here of all places?

  Henry took Aaron’s hand anyway, giving it a shake.

  “Hello, I’m Henry Richard. You’ve never met me before, but I know who you are. Your parents invited me to take a look when you were still unconscious.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  His eyes swept over Sebastian and a few curious bystanders who were sneaking glances in their direction.

  “Could we talk somewhere else?” he lowered his voice and said.

  “I’m sorry, we’re very busy,” Aaron said, pulling Luther out of the store.

  Henry followed and walked right alongside the two boys, prompting Aaron to glare at him in warning.

  “Why are you following us? If you keep doing this, I will call the office of security,” Aaron threatened.

  “You don’t need to call anyone; I’m a four-star inspector of the Mariana Department of Ether Security.” Henry gave a faint smile. “And I wonder… do Mr. Michael and Mrs. Helen know that you’ve joined the supernatural world yet? I bet they are going to love this news.”

  Aaron stopped dead in his tracks at those words.

  It’ll be a disaster if mom and dad find out. This dude is so annoying! I really want to punch him in the face!

  “What do you even want?” Aaron glared at him.

  Luther’s eyes were also on Henry now. For some reason, even though the two in front of him were just at the apprentice rank, Henry felt a strange pressure when they stared at him like that.

  “Don’t worry, I only want a small, private conversation,” Henry said. “And this kid here… who is he? Mind to introduce him to me?”

  “My friend. You don’t need to worry about him. It’s none of your business,” Aaron answered, his tone making it obvious that he already had a very poor impression of the man in front of him.

  Henry shrugged.

  “Alright. Come with me.”

  He led the two of them to a café a few blocks away. The place was two stories high, its walls painted white, and over the main entrance was a sign that read “Lily Café.”

  A young woman in her early twenties, wearing a waitress uniform, approached with a sweet, cheesy tone.

  “Henryy, it’s been such a long time since you stopped by! Did you forget about me already?”

  Her long, light-brown hair reached all the way to her waist, and on her head sat a pair of cat ears that twitched gently. She pouted, annoyance written on her face.

  Another girl cut in:

  “Let me guess, it’s because the melting buns at Spring Avalon are just too delicious, isn’t it?”

  This one wore a black waitress uniform, her short hair the same color, and her eyes were sharp and cool.

  I still can’t get why Annie’s so smitten with this arrogant guy, she thought.

  Still, she had to admit, Henry’s looks had a dangerous charm. The number of girlfriends he’d had from New York to Boston was undeniable proof of that. On top of it all, this annoying guy was a master mage as well as a four-star inspector at just the age of thirty-two. Appearance, wealth, talent, status, he had everything except loyalty. She could only let out a helpless sigh, wishing the best for her friend.

  Henry ignored her sarcastic remark.

  “How could I forget about you, my little kitten! I think of you every time I close my eyes. As soon as I recovered from my injuries, I came straight here to see you. Can’t you tell?” he said, his gaze tinged with a trace of sorrow.

  “You were injured? Are you all right? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I just didn’t want to make you worry, that’s all.”

  Aaron and Luther could only stare at Henry, who was pouring sweet words into the young beastkin’s ears without missing a beat. If they hadn’t known his real reason for being here was to talk to them, they might have believed his act.

  “Annie, could you get us a private table? I need to have a quick word with these two gentlemen,” Henry asked.

  Annie then guided the group to a small table tucked in the corner, enclosed by wooden partitions.

  Once the waitress had left, Henry shut the door and turned to Aaron.

  “Aaron, how exactly did you get out of… that place?”

  “Someone happened to pass by and helped me,” Aaron replied.

  “Pass by? Help you? Don’t make things up! That was the Abyss!”

  “I don’t know. It was an old, skinny lady in a pitch-black robe holding a long scythe. The moment she appeared, that monster felt to his knees and begged for his life and let me go,” Aaron said, once again using his skill of spinning lies without even blinking.

  Luther:

  “…”

  “A scythe? So that means… a reaper, huh? I see,” Henry muttered under his breath.

  Although there were still many suspicious details in the story, the part about the reaper was most likely true. That was the only explanation that made sense for how the boy could have escaped an archdemon, gotten out of the Abyss, and returned to the mortal world in one piece.

  “I have to say, you are extremely, no, unbelievably, lucky,” Henry remarked. “Even a demigod, or even a real divine being of the living world, couldn’t save you in such a situation. Only the lords of hell themselves could do something like that.”

  He cleared his throat, then continued with an odd glimmer in his eyes.

  “And about… her… what’s her name? How could someone so stunning even exist in this world?”

  "Who?" Aaron asked in confusion.

  "The silver-haired beauty who captured you," Henry replied.

  Aaron, Luther, and Acher:

  “…”