After a few seconds of awkward hugging, Oliver finally let go, allowing Mav to breathe a sigh of relief. Then, he turned to help his sister, Olivia, down the table where she had been sitting, with Mav stepping in to assist as well.

"Take it easy," he said softly, his tone gentle.

"Thank you, mister...?" Olivia asked, her voice still a little shaky from the ordeal.

"It's Azure," he replied with a soft smile. "And the woman over there is Ana. I'm just her assistant, so you should be thanking her, not me."

"Thank you, Azure," Olivia said politely before turning her gaze toward Ana. "And thank you, Ms. Ana."

"No need to thank me," Ana replied with a wave of her hand, her voice calm but firm. "Any healer would've done the same."

"We're really grateful to both of you for saving Olivia’s life, but..." Oliver’s voice trailed off as he glanced downward, his expression clouded with worry.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out four silver coins. "This is all we have from selling everything we collected since yesterday. I’m so sorry. I promise I’ll pay you more as soon as I can. You can even hold onto my necklace as collateral. Our father said it’s valuable—he bought it from another kingdom. You can keep it until I repay you."

"Hold on a minute," Ana interrupted, raising her hand to stop Oliver from unclasping his necklace. "Just give me two of your silver coins—one for me, one for my assistant. Right, Azure?" she added, glancing at him with a knowing look.

"Uh, yeah, right," Azure replied with a puzzled look.

"But... that’s not fair for you!" Oliver protested, his eyes flicking to his sister, who had fallen silent, staring at the ground.

Ana crossed her arms and gave Oliver a long look. "Alright, then. How about this: we’ll call it even after you've paid ten silver coins. But right now, we’ll only take two, since you won’t have anything left for yourselves if we take it all today. If you’re still not satisfied, tell us where you live, and my assistant will come to collect the rest later. You can even pay us in installments—weekly, monthly, however you prefer. Deal?"

Oliver hesitated, staring at the coins in his palm. "Okay," he finally agreed, though there was still a flicker of guilt in his voice. "But I still think you're giving us too much leeway. I’ll aim to pay it all in two weeks."

"If you insist," Ana replied with a shrug.

"I’ll help too!" Olivia chimed in, her voice suddenly determined.

"No, Olivia," Oliver said, his tone firm. "It's too dangerous for you to go hunting again, especially after what happened."

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"Please! Let me help! You saw earlier, right? I almost killed them all!" Olivia protested, her voice growing more intense.

Oliver paused, looking at his sister thoughtfully. "You’re right," he said at last. "I was the one who messed up." He took a deep breath, his shoulders sagging. "Alright, you can help. But we’ll take another flame user with us next time, just to be safe."

Olivia’s face brightened immediately. "Thank you, Oliver."

----------------------------------------

After the two siblings had left, the shop felt strangely quiet. Mav and Ana were left standing in the stillness.

"Well," Ana said, breaking the silence, "that was certainly something. Quite a bit of chaos so early in the morning."

Mav didn’t respond right away. He just stared at Ana, his expression unreadable.

Ana raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking at me like that for?" she asked, a smirk tugging at her lips.

"Nothing," Mav replied with a shake of his head. "I’m just surprised. You treated them so differently compared to how you treated me when I tried to buy a mana potion the first time."

Ana chuckled softly. "Are you... sulking?"

"Not really."

"Come on, don’t be like that." She waved her hand dismissively, though her smile lingered. "I have a soft spot for beginners like them. Besides, emergency situations like that are a bit different from selling mana potions. Most of the people who come to me for potions are experienced flame users, making plenty of money. So when you showed up without enough coins, it made me suspicious. And when you claimed to be the son of a noble, well... Didn't I tell you about my past experiences with them?

"When you put it like that... I understand. And I lied to you, so..." Mav’s voice trailed off as he scratched the back of his head.

"Are we even now?" Ana asked, her tone teasing.

"No," Mav replied firmly. "I was in the wrong from the start. I’m sorry, Master."

Ana let out a hearty laugh, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "It’s fine, it’s all in the past now. But I didn’t expect you to be so sensitive. But considering how you acted when I refused to give you that mana potion the first time—"

"Alright, that’s enough!" Mav interrupted, his face turning red as he tried to stop the conversation from heading in an even more embarrassing direction.

Ana chuckled again, clearly enjoying herself. "Alright, alright. I’ll let it go." She said, sighing softly.

"That said, I hope those two don’t run into any more trouble." Mav said.

Ana's expression darkened slightly. "Speaking of trouble... What was up with you the other day? You ran in here, pale as a ghost and panicking. You really scared me."

Mav hesitated, biting his lip. "I don’t want to tell her everything, but I don't want to lie to her again," he thought.

After a moment, he finally spoke. "It’s a long story, but a Daimoniki put a curse on me. I’d used up all my mana and needed one of your potions to cast my skill on myself."

Ana’s eyes widened. "A Daimoniki cursed you?" She leaned in closer, her tone becoming serious. "I’ve encountered curses before, but they were always random occurrences. I’ve never heard of something like that, even in my time on the frontlines."

"Yeah," Mav nodded. "I talked to the head priest about it too, and he told me to report it to the Red Flame Guild's leader."

"That sounds like the right move," Ana said, her brow furrowing in thought. "This could be something big."

"You think so too?" Mav asked. "I’ve already agreed to report it, but the head priest hasn’t contacted me yet since. The guild leader must still be busy."

Ana nodded. "There’s nothing you can do but wait. In the meantime..." Her gaze sharpened with curiosity. "I'm more interested in that skill of yours. When you cured Princess Adelfi, I wasn’t entirely sure if what she had really was a curse, but now that you’ve mentioned being cursed yourself... Could you show me the description of your skill again?"

Her eyes gleamed with curiosity, and Mav could tell she wouldn’t take no for an answer.