Henry was lying in a hammock in his courtyard, he had a big smile on his face as he appreciated the cool breeze. -" The weather today is so nice. " Henry had decided to take a few days of rest after returning from the Thundering Willow Timberland,
He gave his tea a small sip and continued to organize the inventory. -" Three hundred of the third level... A pity that I can't depend on herbs to level the system once again." Henry knew that finding third-level herbs on the outskirts of the city wouldn't be feasible. " If I had more money I could use potions." He regretted being so careless with his small fortune, which was now mostly gone.
Henry was bummed, the system's ever-growing need for treasures started to make him worried. " Maybe I should sell more treasures?" Henry had plenty of items inside his system's storage, many of them that he didn't have any use for. " Sigh... I will worry about this later." Henry closed the system interface and decided to relax, after all, this was his day off.
-" Excuse me, Master." Thomas entered the courtyard, he had a small plate of snacks in his hands.
Henry licked his lips as he saw the sweet pastries and quickly wolfed two of them. The sweet bums were delicious and complemented the taste of his bitter tea quite well.
Henry was about to get another one of the pastries when he noticed Thomas's strange expression. -" Oh right! Why don't you have a seat and eat with me?" Henry thought that the boy wanted a bite of the sweet bums as well.
-" I already ate a few of them." Thomas felt a bit awkward asking something from Henry again after what he had done to help his family. " Master... My sister is requesting a meeting."
-" Your sister?" Henry cleaned his face as he thought that this situation looked familiar. " You know that you don't have to ask for something like this." Henry prayed that this time this wouldn't be something troublesome.
-" Thank you, Master." Thomas was relieved that Henry didn't show any discomfort with his request. " I will take my leave then."
It didn't take long for Thomas to return with Maria, who looked a bit nervous. She meet the mysterious man when she first woke up, but, she was in no condition to thank him at the time.
-" Wait a moment, I will tell Master that you arrived." Thomas asked his sister to wait and entered the courtyard once again.
Maria only grew more nervous as time passed, she thought that the man known as Venerable H was some kind of legendary cultivator.
-"You can go in now." Thomas exited the courtyard and made a gesture for her to enter.
Maria nodded in response and took a deep breath before entering the courtyard, she was excited to finally see Venerable H once again, yet, what she saw inside the courtyard made her frown.
Henry was still in his hammock, and his mouth stuffed with the sweet bums that Thomas had made. -" Cough, Cough... You are Maria, right?" Henry choked as he swallowed one entire bum. " Are you feeling better now?"
Maria was frozen by the surprise, Venerable H wasn't anything like she thought he would be, but, she still showed respect to the man. " Only thanks to your help, Venerable H." Maria answered as she bowed to the man.
-" My name is Henry, you only need to call me H in front of strangers." Henry smiled, he wondered if the overly serious way that Thomas had was something that passed in his family. " So? Thomas said that you wanted something, what is it?"
-" First, I would like to show you my gratitude for not only saving me but, taking care of my father during the rescue trip." Maria had heard from her father how Henry had saved his life numerous times in the Thundering Willow Timberland. " Please accept this as a token of my gratitude." Maria took out a small box and opened it, showing a dark red dagger.
-" There is no need for you to give me anything." Henry quickly rejected the dagger, he was interested in it, but, he would never take anything from Thomas and his family.
-" If this isn't of your liking I can arrange another gift." Maria's face twitched in anxiety as the man refused her gift.
-" You don't have to gift anything... I didn't help your father in hopes of gaining anything." Henry sighed as he looked at the girl's disappointed face. " I helped your father due to my relationship with Thomas, not for some material gain."
Maria bit her lips, she didn't know how to respond to the man's goodwill. " Then please let me join Thomas and serve you!" She owed her life to the man, and she wanted to repay him.
Henry was astonished by her request, he wanted to refuse it, but, he knew that he needed allies. " I don't think that I need one more servant for now... But, if I ever need your help I won't hesitate to ask for it." Henry was impressed by the girl's resolve.
Maria was about to insist on serving him, but, she decided to accept the man proposition for now.
-" Is this the only thing that you wanted to talk about?" Henry was relived that the girl didn't ask for anything troublesome. " Hillia is staying here, she must miss you, why don't you go spend some time with her?"
Maria's eyes moistened as she thought about her younger sister, it had been months since they last saw each other, yet, she still had things to talk about with Henry. -" There a few more things that I was asked to speak with you about... The rest of the group finally woke up and they want to pay their respect to you, and they requested an audience with you."
-" Another meeting?" Henry sighed, it looked like his relaxing time would have to wait. " Did they awaken?" He was curious about the state of the group, their recovery was way slower compared with Maria's.
-" Yes... Mister Hugh asked the Chief Physician of the Royal Academy to take care of them."
-" Chief Physician of the Royal Academy?" Henry's eyes widened in surprise, he wondered who exactly the old man was. " He must be quite powerful to order someone like that around." Henry sipped his tea as he thought about the old man.
-" Uh? Mister Hugh? He is the Dean of the Royal Academy, so of course, he can give orders to the Chief Physician."
Henry almost choked in surprise, he would never guess that the old man was so influential. " T-T-The Dean?" Henry thought back to the time in the cave when he refused the man's help.
Henry wasn't sure if his decision was correct or not. On one hand, having a friend so powerful was convenient, but, he also knew that staying close to someone like him would attract even more trouble.
-" Oh! Mister Hugh and the Chief Physician are also looking forward to meeting you, they have said that they need to discuss something with you." Maria hit her head as she almost forgot about the most important part of this visit.
-" Discuss something with me?" Henry regretted trying to impress the old man, he wondered about what he could want to talk about with him.
Henry was hesitant, all he wanted was to cultivate peace, however, he couldn't just refuse a visit from such a powerful man. " Please tell Mister Hugh that he is free to visit me whenever he wants, as for the other group..." Henry didn't want to receive them at first, after all, he was hiding his identity and wanted to lay low, but, it seemed that he had already attracted the attention of too many people. " Please bring them here tomorrow."
Maria was relieved that Henry accepted to meet the group, they constantly asked Maria to bring them to the mysterious man, but, little did they know that she didn't even know the man.
Henry called Thomas into the courtyard after maria left, he ordered the boy to go shopping, after all, tomorrow they would have visitors and they needed to prepare something for them.
-" Should I receive them in the main room?" Henry was nervous, this was his first time receiving such a large group of people in his house. " The courtyard is more spacious, but, what if the weather is bad tomorrow?" Henry felt his head hurt as he tried to plan everything for tomorrow.