“Oh, come on, man.” Gantz groaned. He was huffing and puffing as he followed Bear from behind. His clothes had already been changed into a new one, and luckily, Bear was collecting herbs nearby so he wasn’t left behind too far while he packed his scattered belonging—resulted from his fall.

“Can’t you just listen to my offer? Okay, I won’t strike a business deal with you if you didn’t want it, but your ability would be a waste.” Gantz said to Bear, who was kneeling next to a tree and picking the herbs growing on its roots.

“Bear didn’t heal Gantz to strike business.” Bear stopped and turned to Gantz. “Bear did it because Gantz was hurt.”

Bear gazed at Gantz for a moment, before continuing his task. Gantz felt like Bear was stubborn in his decision. Did he perhaps know what business means, and wouldn’t want to get involved in it?

“Bear.” Gantz called, deciding to rest somewhere close by as he talked. “Do you know what business means?”

“A big cobweb.” Bear replied, which gained a shocked look from Gantz. He didn’t expect that kind of answer from Bear. “Why would you think like that?”

Bear had already finished collecting the herbs from one tree, and looked around for more herbs. As he did, he answered, “Too complicated. Too addictive. Too hard to quit.”

Yet another answer worthy of praise. Gantz wondered what Bear’s real identity is. He sounded like he had dabbled in business before.

“Are you actually a secret merchant or something?” Gantz blurted out unconsciously. He immediately covered his mouth, while Bear looked at him.

“Do I look like that?” Bear’s tone unexpectedly lightened. His mood became visibly cheery as he picked up the herbs, which made Gantz more curious about him. Gantz rubbed his chin and began to ponder.

“You do look a little bit like someone I know. He’s a herbs trader, and he has a lot of shops.” Gantz carefully picked his answer.

“Oh.” Bear’s mood dampened. Gantz realized that his answer was not correct.

“And you resemble one of my friends who’s a shopkeeper. His shop is the biggest in the entire Western kingdom.” Gantz added—choosing a different answer—while waiting what kind of response Bear would give.

Bear’s ears flapped upon hearing what Gantz said. He continued on silently picking up the herbs, which made it hard for Gantz to determine whether Bear like that statement or not.

Gantz heaved a sharp sigh.

“Ugh, whatever.” He then opened his bag pack and began checking his items. The two of them made themselves busy, halting the conversation.

A clanking sound was heard when Gantz pulled out a couple of bottles of potions. Some of them had a little crack on, while some other spilled out from the bottle. Gantz groaned and complained while he arranged his inventory, contemplating of how much he had lost.

“What is that bottle?”

It took a while for Gantz to notice the body heat against his back. He looked up to see Bear looking down at him. Or specifically, the bottles of potions he took out.