When Ryan appeared back in the room, he found himself standing, which must've meant his body had really been in the pocket dimension. He glanced around—it was early in the morning by the look of things.

A figure lay beside the bed, facing his direction and snoring lightly—Freya. Ryan smiled at how cute the fairy looked at the moment.

Looking around the room, he realized that the rest of the squad was absent. No doubt they'd attended to other matters while they left his safety to the fairy, who was fast asleep. Not that Ryan would judge; if he was being honest, it was difficult to find good people in Denair after all, and it looked like he'd hit the jackpot with Cicero and his squad.

Preparing himself mentally for what was about to happen, he made to step out from the circle.

Whoosh!

The white substance that had been used to make the circle went up in the air as though blown by a strong breeze, the sound rattling the curtains and windows as Ryan's foot crossed the now destroyed threshold.

"Achoo!"

A sneeze by the sleeping figure, and another, and before Ryan could tell what was going on, he had a sword to his throat, Freya staring at him intensely, her eyes searching for something. She must've found whatever she was looking for because the sword clattered to the ground as she wrapped her arms around him.

"We—I-I thought you were dead," she sobbed.

Ryan couldn't see her face, but he could tell by the tone of her voice that she was crying, and Ryan did the only thing he could—he hugged her, making sure to stroke her back. The situation they were in was totally unfamiliar to him.

"I'm here now and I am safe," Ryan started. "Thanks to you."

Ryan thought he heard a chuckle at the last part, but he didn't want to find out as this was way too good of a moment to pass up.

So he savored it, and so did she, the pair only pulling apart when she stopped sobbing. Then Ryan did the one thing that had been at the back of his mind since he'd last seen her... He kissed her.

She responded in kind, and when they pulled apart, the fairy was blushing at Ryan, who was pretty much doing the same.

"Where's the rest of the squad?" Ryan asked awkwardly.

"T-they left hours ago," Freya said. "They check in as often as they can though."

Ryan's first thought was 'ouch,' followed by a puzzled expression.

"What do you mean 'check back'?" Ryan asked, surprise on his face. "How long was I gone?"

Freya seemed to be debating how best to answer that question, and Ryan had a feeling that he was not going to like the answer.

"A little bit over a day," Freya said gently.

A day, a whole freaking day! He hadn't been in the pocket dimension for more than a couple of hours—five at most—and here was Freya telling him that he'd been out for more than a day... a day!

Ryan took a step back and ran a hand through his hair. If he was out for a day, that meant that today was... no, it couldn't be.

"The brew-out is still scheduled for tomorrow, right?" Ryan asked, hoping that he'd miscalculated.

"It's happening today," Freya said with a wince. "Sorry."

Shit, shit, shit, shit! Ryan had to get up and out of here... now! He couldn't miss an opportunity like this.

"Tell the rest of the squad to find me at the brew-out," Ryan said.

"I will."

Ryan sensed a bit of sadness in her voice, but this wasn't the time for that. He gave her a light kiss on the lips as he rushed out of the room, leaving the fairy behind.

Of course Ryan felt bad, but he couldn't jeopardize what could potentially be his last shot at one-upping the Looter's Heaven without them trying to crush him illegally.

He was out of the tavern in a flash, and as soon as he hit the cobblestones, he took off running to the Messy Inn. Arson's silhouette was still a ways from its peak, but he gave it an hour or two before it'd finally get there.

His mad sprint in the upper district had not gone unnoticed, and there were a few pointing fingers and muttering curses at him. As long as they didn't think he was a thief and try to chase him down, Ryan could care less about what they thought of it.

He only slowed down when he got into the Messy Inn, barreling towards the counter where Carl stood surprised. Ryan hunched over and tried to catch his breath.

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"Who's chasing you, boy?" the bartender said as he stood looking at the hunched-over form of Ryan, who was audibly gasping for air.

"Ma-i-l," Ryan managed to say between breaths.

"Mail?" Carl asked. "Speak well, boy. You know I'm too old for your shenanigans."

"Has anyone dropped a mail for me?" Ryan asked after he finally managed to gather himself.

"Ah, yes," Carl said as he walked into the back room, presumably to bring the mail.

Ryan used the few moments in between to compose himself, wiping away as much of his sweat as he could—no doubt he stunk right now. He'd have to have a bath and change up. Before Ryan could delve too deep into the amount of mundane tasks he had to do, Carl came out front.

"You actually got three mails yesterday—record mails for you in a month, eh?" Carl mocked as he handed him three envelopes. "Hope you didn't kill anyone though?"

Even though the last part was said in jest, Ryan could tell that there was real curiosity beneath the facade.

"Of course not," Ryan said as he reached for the envelopes.

The first was from the Trader's Guild. Ryan wasn't pressured as he opened the envelope. It held a letter and a card.

The letter read:

"Congratulations on joining our ranks, Mr. Lionheart.

We welcome you with open arms. Attached to this letter is a membership card.

We look forward to seeing you around.

Signed,

Guildmaster."

Ryan put the letter back in the envelope and moved to the next—it was from Leo. A surprise, causing Ryan to raise an eyebrow; Leo didn't write letters.

"Leo penned that down here, kept checking up on you until late last night when he left that for you," Carl said.

Well, that explains that. Time to see what Leo thought was so important that he had to pen down for him.

"Ryan, I'm not good with letters so I'll just get to the point.

My employer will be on the lookout for partners tomorrow. I'm leaving, so they'll be looking for a replacement.

Be on your best behavior and put out the best you can. I'll put in a word for you, but it ultimately comes down to you.

No need to tell you good luck—I know you'll crush it."

All Ryan could think after reading the letter was: wow. Leo had really upped his game. His handwriting had improved compared to the last letter the big man had written for him.

Ryan chuckled at his conclusion, but seriously, another opportunity had just opened up for him. Leo was letting him know there was an opportunity that was opening up.

Shaking his head, he moved on to the most important one—the letter bearing the Master of Silver's wax sigil on the seal.

Without any hesitation, Ryan opened the letter.

"We invite you to the brew-out hosted by the Master of Silvers. You have been allocated stand 13. We look forward to having you in our midst.

Location: Master of Silver's Courtyard, Upper District.

Master of Silver"

A smile bloomed on Ryan's face—this was it, he was in.

"Thank you," Ryan said to Carl, not waiting for a response as he dashed upstairs, had his bath, and changed his clothes.

He contemplated leaving the cloak behind since it had soaked in his sweat, but he decided to wear it... better safe than sorry.

Ryan ran all the way to the Eastern Gate to his shop, which was deserted probably because of the brew-out. He almost wanted to cry when he got there. The shop had been vandalized, judging by the broken lock. Ryan pushed open the door, hoping that was the only thing that had been broken.

Opening the door, he saw the scene he expected: the floor was wet, and his table... oh good Veron. His table was in tatters, broken vials lay strewn about, all the equipment he'd bought so far had been torn apart. The only things that were left untouched were his old potions and some empty vials.

Probably a sick joke by the vandal. Ryan couldn't even grieve for the loss—he didn't have enough time for that. Rather, he picked up the remaining vials of potion and stuffed them into a bag alongside the empty vials and took off. He was running full sprint to the Master of Silver's residence at the Upper District, managing to keep himself from crying at the loss of so much property.

He finally got to the Courtyard, and the brew-out was already in full flow; a crowd had already gathered outside the Master of Silver's residence. Ryan, however, pushed through, wiping his face as he made his way to his allocated stall.

He kept looking for the number thirteen stall, and he found it not by the number but by the lack of a crowd surrounding it. All other stalls had alchemists already handing out vials for testing to adventurers who were all too eager to get free potions.

As Ryan finally got to his shop, he began to arrange the items. He dropped the empty vials and the older minor health potion vials, as those were what were left in his shop. Even his remaining T-stones had been taken, but this was not the time to think about that.

He didn't have to wait too long to have the first adventurer come for tasting, and the adventurer grimaced as they downed the potion. Ryan knew why... it was the rat-tasting potion, and of course, it was still bad.

"This is rat's piss!" the adventurer screamed. "Impostor!"

Oh oh, even when it came to free things, adventurers always acted like entitled brats.

"Give it a rest, Warp," a familiar feminine voice said from the side, causing the adventurer to calm down.

"I apologize for that, ma'am," the adventurer quietly said before turning around and walking away.

Ryan hadn't heard that voice in a long, long time. Turning around to confirm his thoughts, he saw that it really was Jenora—the woman who had helped him on his way.

"Hi, thanks for that," Ryan greeted. "Sorry, I haven't been able to drop by."

"Pfft, no need to apologize to me, boy," Jenora started. "Such is the life of an adult."

Ryan had to nod in agreement.

"What brings you here?" Ryan asked, almost face-palming as the question left his mouth.

"I'm an alchemist, of course, even though I only brew on contract," Jenora said. "I see you're doing well for yourself."

"All thanks to you," Ryan said, giving credit to one who'd helped him on the way.

"Sure," she snorted, and Ryan winced. "I'll be heading back to my stall now. I think you might need this—nobody will reject your potions if you just add a little bit of this into each vial."

Jenora said as she handed him a pouch discreetly.

Ryan eagerly collected it before looking up at her retreating figure.

"What stall is yours?" Ryan asked, hoping to meet up after the brew-out.

"Stall 4," she said without missing a step, and soon she was swallowed by the crowd.

Ryan sighed as he looked into the pouch. There was a white powder within it, and he contemplated just not using it, but Leo said that he'd arranged the slight chance at employment for him, and with his current predicament, he'd need to be at his best.

Instead of putting it in all the vials, he simply picked one at random and sprinkled a bit of the powder into it, mesmerized by how the powder dissolved, leaving no trace within.

The next step was to test, of course, and he didn't have to wait too long for that. An adventurer walked up to him, all smiles.