Now that Scarlett had been thoroughly disarmed, the maid gestured for them to follow her into the building. They walked past flower displays of all kinds.

Most were innocently dazzling, with enchanting colours that ensnared the gaze of onlookers, while others were more unassuming and bland, yet still hit their notes in just the right ways.

Alaric could think of a place in the orphanage in the Five Hills that would be suitable to hold each flower they walked by. He even went as far as to compare which ones the boys would like more than the girls and vice versa.

It was a nice little game for his hyperactive mind. Sadly, it wasn’t enough to capture his full attention. While he appeared to be browsing through the store’s wares, another part of his mind was listening and observing everything else.

The workers' stiff gait and tendency to look away from Alaric when he met their gaze defeated the purpose of their otherwise beautiful attire.

Not only were their floral dresses beautiful, but it seemed every girl working inside the Sisters of Fragrance was beautiful. They were also of a high Temper Rank, with the lowest being a fleshling of the Wood Temper Rank.

[ Curious ] he muttered to himself, [ Alia, what do you think? ]

[ I think this place is not what it seems. Everyone here carries themselves with the grace of a warrior and yet even they look scared ] the guardian replied.

His guardian’s observation made his chest grow tighter. What had they just walked into? Was Helga’s warning one he should have taken seriously?

“You have nice flowers,” Scarlett told the woman they were following.

She turned her head slightly and smiled, “Thank you. We try our best to make sure we have everything our customers could need. Some of these flowers even come from the distant South.”

Alaric was not sure how far the South was to call it ‘distant’ but he had the mind to nod in approval before asking his neighbour in a whisper, “How far is the South?”

Scarlett was quick to answer, “It takes three days to get to the Elite Guard Academy by airship and ten to twenty days on the ground and that barely gets you to the centre of the East adding the fact that you’re using GateWays to make skip some parts of the journey.

We’re currently in the Northern reaches of the East Valeria which makes our humble portion of Valeria quite small compared to the whole continent. I’m guessing travelling South on land would take a few months… Possibly half a year.”

“Your logic’s sharp, miss. But given all the Wild Aether Zones between here and the South, it usually takes daring merchants the better part of a year to make that journey,” the girl attending to them responded.

They came across a flight of stairs and followed her up. Alaric only got a peek at the first floor as they were still going up. This part was filled with ingredients he’d never seen before. Had he been an alchemist, perhaps his eyes would have lit up with little hearts in them.

“Seems like a lot of trouble to get flowers to a place like Melbourne. Do the people of Melbourne love flowers that much?” Alaric asked absentmindedly.

The woman furrowed her eyebrows, “The Sisters of Fragrance is a large company with branches in as many cities as possible. We’re the largest distribution of flowers and the third-largest distribution of Alchemical ingredients.

The flowers are distributed across our branches as part of a network so the cost of transporting them is a lot lower than it seems. Flowers native to Melbourne and East Valeria are taken back South while flowers down South are brought here.”

Alaric’s mind blew up at the scope of what she was saying, “That’s… a lot of flowers.”

Past the second floor, they continued until the very top where they were met with a wooden door. Alaric felt shivers run down his body as they approached the door. He clenched his fists and swallowed, holding back the urge to run away.

The woman knocked at the door in a specific pattern, patting the wood in random places that Alaric committed to memory before the door swung open to reveal a long empty corridor.

The oppressive aura that made Alaric feel like running lessened just a bit… almost as if their lives would have ended without that peculiar password knock.

Down the hall, they were led to a beautiful door. Alaric had never felt his stomach twist as much as it did now.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

[ Alia… This place is dangerous ] he said to his guardian.

Even Scarlett had gone completely quiet. The air about the whole place had changed completely. The woman knocked at the door, “Miss Lucy. There is a young man here to see you. He claims to be Alistair.”

“Alistair? What would he be doing here of all places?” a female voice came from the other side of the door.

“He didn’t state his business, my Lady. I apologize for not asking him thorough questions,” the woman bowed even though the door was still closed.

“No, it’s fine. I have been talking about him a lot, haven’t I?” the girl sighed, “Let him in.”

“I should probably mention that he came with a friend. A Miss Scarlett,” the maid said once again.

“Oh! He brought the Assassin with him?” the girl panicked, “Did you check for weapons?”

“Yes, I…”

“Never mind. Scarlett stays at the door. I’ll talk to Alistair myself,” the girl responded.

Alaric wasn’t sure what kind of conversation he was witnessing right now. The shy white-haired girl he’d met just the day before didn’t sound shy at all.

‘We weren’t kicked out, at least,’ he tried.

[ It’s still too early to say ] Alia replied. The boy took a deep breath and steeled his resolve. From what he’d seen so far, there was more Lucy than he thought. Her silver ranking was making more sense now.

Still, he needed the girl’s help. If she kicked him out, then he’d be one party member short.

Seeing how tightly secure the place was, he was starting to wonder whether she could even help him with his mission.

The door creaked open, admitting him into the pinkest room he’d ever seen in his life. Everywhere he looked, he saw a shade of pink with only a single white garment of white marring the pink canvas.

Lucy sat on a wide bed dressed in white, her white hair cascading around her beautiful face as she smiled back at Alaric, “What brings you here, Alistair?”

Alaric looked around, curious about everything. Her room’s appearance was unexpected, with every surface clean and every last piece of furniture, clothing and accessory arranged to the finest detail.

If anything was out of place in this room, it was the girl. Her dress and hair were a white blotch in a sea of pink. She didn’t quite fit the picture, “Lovely room.”

Lucy’s smile faded, “You don’t have much time to speak to me, Alistair.”

Alaric took her warning to heart and proceeded, “I’m going on a quest or rather, I want to go on a quest but I need one gold-ranked and two silver-ranked adventurers. I have a gold-ranked adventurer I can ask for help and Scarlett has already agreed to help out. I’m here to ask you to join me.”

“Aren’t you too weak to be going on a Gold-ranked quest?” the girl asked, “And what happens if someone dies? Is someone as young as you are ready to shoulder that burden?”

Alaric froze for a bit. She made valid points… but to think such points came to her mind so easily. Was she as young as she appeared? “You make a good point. But I’m still going. I won’t force anyone to join me.”

The girl looked at him for a bit before pouting, “It’s a bit depressing that you went to Scarlett before me, don’t you think?”

That pout… also looked out of place. What had happened to the shy girl he’d met during the Adventurer examination? Alaric’s walls were going up around Lucy.

The girl he’d met that day was sincere. Not the person in front of him that made him feel like he was staring into the eyes of a serpent.

“Scarlett is surprisingly easier to find,” Alaric replied in a neutral tone. He wanted to ask for her answer but everything in his body told him that’s not how this was going to work. He was here to negotiate.

[ Don’t lie… ] Alia’s voice spoke to him before he could add anything deceitful.

The boy sighed, “This won’t be easy, will it?”

The girl shook her head, “I’m afraid not. For starters, you brought an assassin here with you. Is that how little trust you have in me? I thought you were a good guy.”

Alaric furrowed his eyebrows, “How did you know Scarlett was an assassin?”

Lucy’s face crossed over into anger, “Feigning ignorance will only make me mad, Alistair.”

“Oh, I’m being truthful here. I knew there was something mysterious about Scarlett but I had no idea she was an assassin. That would make her the first assassin I’ve ever met.”

Lucy was quiet for a bit before a voice interrupted them. Deep and dark like a demon’s growl, the voice thundered, “What is the meaning of this?”

Lucy had her arms around Alaric before he even saw her move. He stiffened as her angelic voice sang, “Master Dom, the boy I was telling you about came to visit. He wants me to join his party. Can I join them for just one mission?”

Alaric shifted his body stiffly to see this man. Master Dom was a man of sturdy build. His aura was as dark and scary as his voice. When he stared at Alaric in the eyes, the boy felt as though the man was staring right at his soul.

“No…” the man growled.

Alaric’s mind, fortunately, had been churning during the long pause it took Master Dom to make his decision, “What if we bring back an ingredient… free of charge?”

“You’re a novice adventurer without a single hunt under your belt. What could you possibly offer me?” the man asked.

“A Storm Orb,” Alaric responded.

There was a short pause as the man scanned Alaric’s form again, “She returns in one piece or I kill you and when the hunt is over, I will never see your face again… or else, I’ll kill you.”

The next moments found Alaric and Scarlett at the door, “Send the details of when the hunt will be to Master Dom once you’ve ironed out the details. Until then, don’t bother Miss Lucy with anything. The Master doesn’t like a nuisance.”

“Thank you for your help…”

“My name won’t be necessary,” the woman replied with a bow, “You’re welcome. Come back again… For flowers next time, of course.”

With that, the woman left to carry out whatever tasks she had to complete.

Alaric got his sword from the ceramic container at the entrance and stashed it into his Storage Bracelet, then waited for Scarlett to retrieve all her weapons.

Looking away from her, he allowed her privacy as he whispered a few words of the Old Tongue. An orb of air formed around them, creating a pocket of silence to allow Alaric to speak his mind without being spied on.

From the entrance of the Sisters of Fragrance, Alaric looked at the displays of flowers with new eyes. None of the flowers looked beautiful anymore, “This place. It makes my skin crawl.”

“Sounds like all prominent businesses, honestly. Always something secret happening,” Scarlett responded absentmindedly.