The carriage shook as it came to a stop. The three of them jerked forward a little, but Himi saw that Aqueo didn't seem to notice. He seemed unaware of his surroundings while looking so confused outside. Himi had been observing him the whole time and it was intriguing for her to see him make such a baffled face. He did look amazed during the ride, but his confused face from time to time was for her, too, confusing. If he didn't say he had never been here before she would think the other way around. But what if he had been here before? She thought it wouldn't matter because she would still make a way to make him stay at the mansion.

    His very existence was such a mystery to her. It was the first time she smelled this kind of magical scent.

    In the entire history of the Liversprout family spanning centuries as she was taught, she was one of the few who inherited the ability of the first Liversprout, the founding ancestor of their family, the ability to smell magical energy. She grew up knowing everyone's magical scent and none was ever comparable to what Aqueo had been exuding ever since she met him at the fields.

    His magical scent reminded her of the most powerful healing potion she had ever encountered, but it still couldn't compare. It was like a drop in a lake compared to Aqueo's smell. His was the most pleasant scent of all . . . and the most dense, and yet most comforting—in contrast to the unsettling powerful auras she had encountered before.

    On top of that, he was the only person she knew who could recover his life force just by eating. And it was obvious he wasn't aware of it. None of her medical and alchemy books said anything about this phenomenon. His case would be the very first one in this field of study. That was why she wanted to make him stay—to study him.

    It had been a full minute before she finally decided to wake Aqueo from spacing out.

    "We're here."

    Himi's voice pulled Aqueo from his deep wondering. His gaze had been affixed to the most prominent building around the townsquare since it showed at his side of the window, perplexed by the significant time difference since Aquifer's latest memories. But, was ten years really enough to make such a dramatic change? Barely anything completely resembled the places in Aquifer's memories.

    "Stop thinking about my big sister. She only likes you to be her butler. Just another addition to her small army."

    Aqueo's mouth fell on the ground, as well as his heart. He told himself not to hope too much, but with the stunning blow of disappointment he just felt, he knew his heart betrayed him.

    'I bet they all had that same disappointed look but they all ended up joining her anyway,' Himi thought.

    His response also confirmed Himi's other suspicion that he was also thinking about her sister, Himera. He was making those weird expressions in the carriage some time after meeting her, but Himi felt certain he wasn't when he was making those confused looks while sightseeing. She planned to just ask him what he knew about the place later.

    She threw her attention to opening the door and went out of the carriage. Hermina was already waiting outside, she went out while Aqueo was in a daze.

    Aqueo shook his head quickly to get rid of the current disappointment. 'There are other girls out there. I'm already free, I won't run out of chances.' He joined Himi and Hermina who were obviously waiting for him at the back side of the carriage.

    "Hermina," said Himi in a knowing tone and with an equal knowing side glance.

    Hermina understood it and said, "Our dear guest, Aqueo! Welcome to Hyndrel Townsquare! Our most popular tourist spot!" She gracefully motioned her entire left arm to present the scenery in front of her while proudly smiling.

    Her action suddenly took Aqueo's mind into his memory at the museum before he died, the tour guide was also a young woman and had the same welcoming level of energy. He smiled a bit. He wouldn't get into an accident again, would he? He disregarded the thought and walked towards the back of the carriage because she was pointing to the scenery at the other side of the vehicle which he had not seen yet.

    Aqueo was stunned. He had already seen it in Aquifer's memories, albeit somewhat different, but seeing it in person gave him a different kind of joy. He started smiling—or rather, grinning. The Hyndrel Townsquare was vast, more spacious than the latest one in Aquifer's memories. It must be as big as a football stadium. They were now standing at the elevated wide road at the front of the biggest and most prominent building here—the one with the year calendar that made him confused—and the view from there was so great.

    Below them, the Hyndrel Townsquare was full of life. It was bustling with busy food stands and street shops. The townsquare was a huge park with a large fountain in the middle and some benches and tables here and there. The food stands and street shops were located quite randomly with most of them arranged in a circular line along the circular road encompassing the whole townsquare. And Aqueo could see all of this at the elevated road that was higher than most food stands. He could even see the open theater stage at the opposite side of the townsquare, there were people on the stage and he was certain they were doing some magical performance based on the sparkles of light they were producing. He wanted to go and watch them near.

    'My new life starts here,' he happily thought but paused when Aquifer suddenly blocked his view, dancing joyfully in front of him. 'My life with Aquifer starts here.'

    Hermina waited a bit for Aqueo to digest the new scenery before speaking, "Welcome to Hyndrel Town, our dear guest, Aqueo!"

    Aqueo turned to her and bowed a little, "Yes! Thank you for having me!" Hermina smiled so dearly. Aqueo looked at Himi beside Hermina and bowed ninety degrees, "Miss Himi. Thank you for saving me and taking me here!"

    "What's with this overdone expression of gratitude? You're going to pay me back so there's no need for this," Himi said, feeling bad about her plan to study him.

    "Uhh. Sorry, I just really feel grateful." He bowed again. Because of his terrible past Aqueo felt more than grateful.

    Himi felt guilty for making him sorry for thanking her. She should've been a bit more lenient with her words. She cleared her throat and remedied her previous words, "I mean, I accept your gratitude, but you don't have to feel so much in debt like that."

    She felt somehow conflicted. She wanted to make him feel indebted to her but her conscience said otherwise.

    "Young Master."

    The three of them turned around to see Azbert with a young man that looked like he was the same age as Aqueo.

    "He's the child of the merchant," Azbert said.

    The young man bowed and greeted, "Noble master, I'll be guiding you to a private place for the transaction as requested."

    "I trust you will tell no one," she asked in her more imposing tone than usual. Beside her and Hermina, Aqueo seemed to panic a bit. The young man called her noble master. Was he supposed to call her that too? He might've made a mistake of not calling her noble master. But they didn't say anything about it, so he just took the worry aside for now.

    "Of course, noble master," he responded, recognizing the tone.

    "Very well. Lead us," Himi commanded.

    "Yes, noble master! Follow me," he started walking and they all followed.

    The walk was brief. Just at the shop near the entrance they passed earlier—one made of bricks and nicely done woodworking—but instead of going in, the young man guided them to a narrow pathway at the side of it.

    They had to move in a single file in that narrow path until they reached a small open space at the back of the shop. The young man then guided them to a room that seemed to be a stock room. There were a few crates inside and a table.

    "I'm sorry, there are no chairs to sit on. But please, let's wait here for a while," the young man said. Himi nodded.

    "Hermina," called Himi.

    Hermina knew what to do and pulled out the bouquet of herbs from under her long wide skirt.

    'Huh?' Aqueo flushed a little at Hermina's action. He forgot about the herbs and didn't expect it to be under the maid's skirt. Hermina saw his look and blushed herself. "Uhm! I . . . had to hide it," she defended.

    It earned a startled look from Aqueo and he just nodded after panicking about what to say. He just turned his attention to Aquifer that had been floating and glowing around them the whole time and nobody except him could notice.

    "Oh. My father is here," the young man said as a man in his forties entered the room. He was carrying a large leather bag with him.

    "Noble master," he greeted with a bow.

    "Let's make this quick. I still need to attend the tournament," Himi immediately commanded. Hermina, being a fine attentive maid, stepped forward and held the bouquet of flowers in front of the man.

    "Let me see." He placed them on the table and started separating the flowers into seven different kinds and observed them one by one. He even pulled out a book as a reference.

    Aquifer just floated above the flowers while Aqueo tried to command it through their mental connection. He still couldn't quite grasp how to make the spirit understand most things he wanted it to do.

    "I'm afraid I only know four of them. But great heavens! These are all rare and expensive! I would need to pay you in installments. But . . . these yellow ones," he looked at Himi with a questioning look.

    "I'd like them to be turned into potions," Himi immediately said.

    "Ah. Of course, your father's cure." The man said.

    Aqueo was puzzled, thinking, 'Didn't she not want her father to be cured? And why does the man know? She may not be as bad as I thought.'

    "And this one," the man held out a small flower. "This is still small and not harvested at its peak maturity, but—"

    "—size doesn't matter for this herb," Hermina immediately interjected.

    Everyone looked at her, her face was burning red and smiling . . . confidently? Her lips were pursed and her eyes were . . . unnaturally bright? Aqueo couldn't exactly tell what kind of smile was that.

    "You know about herbs, young lady? You're right. Size doesn't really matter for this one. The buds are just as effective and as dense as the fully mature flower. The size is just really for looks. But I could have given you a higher price."

    "Yes," Hermina responded, her face still bright red, "The size is just for looks. The most important thing is that it is effective and . . . potent." Her face became even redder at the last word she just used.

    "I didn't know you had such knowledge of herbs, Hermina. But why is your face red?" asked Himi.

    "Uhmm, I-I'm just a bit shy about my knowledge," she lied.

    "I see. How much is everything?" Himi asked.

    The man pulled out a pouch from his bag. "I can only give you one thousand silversprout coins for now. It would be over three thousand silversprout coins deducting the fee for the potion. And if the demand is high, which I think would be the case, the price will be higher. You need to come back for the rest."

    Azbert received the money and the man took the flowers, leaving behind the three kinds he couldn't identify.

    "Uh-uhmm," Aqueo uttered. "How about the white flower with black dots? I believe it is used for making powerful healing potions."

    "Really? It's not in my books so I don't know about that. And I can't price it just based on what you said. But . . . I can bring it to an alchemist to see if they can turn it into a healing potion. Is that okay?"

    "Uhmm. Yes," Aqueo answered politely.

    "Then I'll take a sample of it. How about the other two?

    "I, well, you can leave them behind." Aqueo wasn't sure himself. It was just based on Aquifer's memories that the flowers could be sold at a high price.

    And then realization hit Aqueo. Most of the buildings in the town were different from the ones in Aquifer's memories. And now the knowledge about these rare herbs that should've been so well known between merchants in Aquifer's latest memories was gone. What could possibly have happened in that ten years gap?

    "You should take a sample of each too," Himi suddenly said. "All of them are exuding unique magical energies. You didn't bring a mage with you for proper testing?"

    "I, well, I lost my previous employee," he said sadly. "Something happened. With the situation right now. The King's soldiers. . ."

    Himi just sighed in understanding. "Alright, you can go now. We'll contact you later."

    . . . .

    After the meeting with the merchant they were back at the elevated road where Himera's carriage was parked.

    "Azbert will accompany me to the tournament. I need to be there hours before the games begin," Himi said, "And you," referring to Aqueo, "I'd like you to watch the tournament, but before that, you should explore our townsquare first. Hermina will accompany you to the tournament later."

    "Yes," Aqueo responded.

    "Azbert," said Himi. Azbert knew what to do so he gave the pouch he had been holding to Aqueo. "That's five hundred silversprout coins. I'll hold on to half of the money for now."

    "Mnn," Aqueo nodded. "Thank you."

    After that, Aqueo was left with Hermina. Himi used the carriage and went to the tournament.

    Hermina looked at Aqueo and said cheerfully, "Now, our dear guest, I will be your tour guide for today."

    Aqueo's face brightened at the thought that he could finally explore the townsquare and Aquifer floated joyfully around him as it sensed his excitement. He nodded and started following her.

    . . .