"You fool! I specifically told you not to leave it in the sunlight for more than three hours!"
Old Man Kaido had been reprimanding me non-stop, but what was I supposed to do?
Dig up the soil and relocate the entire plant?
Or maybe—I don't know—place an umbrella over it all day?
…Oh. Right. I could have done that.
My garden had a wide variety of herbs, most of which I barely recognized. Thankfully, Kaido knew what he was doing, or everything I planted would have died by now. The system, as usual, remained absolutely useless in this regard.
No fancy notifications, no special guidance—just me, a bunch of nameless seeds, and a vague sense of responsibility.
There was never a:
[Host, you have claimed the legendary World Tree Seed!]
or
[Host, you have obtained a Divine Cultivation Root! Plant it to achieve immortality!]
Nope. Just:
[Claimed.]
And boom—seed in hand. No explanations, no descriptions.
Maybe this was karma for hating system novels so much in my previous life.
"All clear," Kaido finally said, snapping me back to reality.
"Thanks, old man! I don't know what I'd do without you."
"It's fine, it's fine," he waved me off. "Still, I think we need to make some arrangements."
I nodded. He had a point. I couldn't keep dragging Old Man Kaido over to my shop every time a plant was on the brink of death. If I was serious about this so-called 'hobby,' it was about time I actually learned how to take care of my own herbs.
Watching them rot? Absolutely not. That's not my hobby.
Kaido took a seat, and I followed, settling down beside him.
"So," he started, "what do you think about Mary as an assistant?"
"Mm, good idea. I can't wait to learn from you—"
Wait. What?
"Hey, you can't just steal a dying man's secrets," he laughed, clearly amused at my reaction.
…Wait, what?
I squinted at him. Was he seriously dying?
"Don't worry about Mary," he continued. "She's a good student. I've taught her a lot. She'll be able to take care of your herb garden."
That… kind of defeated the purpose of my hobby, didn't it? But I held my tongue. If this was his dying wish, then…
I decided to comfort him.
"Don't worry, Old Man Kaido. From what I can see, you're healthy as a horse! You'll live for many, many years to come."
Kaido gave me a long, unreadable stare before finally responding.
"Luthian… are you wishing for my death?"
"What?! No! How did you even reach that conclusion?!"
"I never said I was dying," he huffed. "I just want Mary to take care of the plants so your clumsiness doesn't kill them."
I blinked. Oh.
Ohhh.
He was just being a grumpy old man who actually cared but didn't want to admit it.
I nodded sagely. "I understand, Old Man. I'll take care of your granddaughter. I'll treat her like my own daughter, too."
Kaido just stared at me.
I wonder what was going through his mind.
Surely, surely, I was on the right track here… right?
______
"How was the mission, Emily?"
A group of five sat around the table. Among them was the woman who had visited the shop earlier that morning.
"I failed," Emily admitted, her voice low. Then, miserably, she added, "I... I couldn't do it."
Mark, unfazed, leaned back in his chair. "Trust me, even Emily now knows how dangerous that shop is."
"Mark." A stern-looking woman silenced him with a sharp glance before turning to Emily. "Tell me—what exactly happened in that shop?"
Emily swallowed hard. "Captain Sasha, I… I had a near-death experience. I met a Seraphim."
Silence fell over the room.
Expressions flickered between disbelief and unease. A Rank 2 divine being? And she survived?
No one spoke. No one moved.
Then, cutting through the heavy tension, came an eerie sound.
Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock !
A mechanical voice whispered through the room.
"I want my monocle."
After the eerie sound—"I want my monocle"—emanated from the wristwatch, nothing else followed.
Silence.
Emily's gaze dropped to the wristwatch on her wrist, her fingers trembling slightly as she stared at it.
"What was that?"
Lance, the newest member of the team, broke the tense silence as the strange ticking sound faded.
"A monocle?"
Emily's expression twisted into a wry grimace.
"I… The shopkeeper forced this on me, and now I can't take it off."
She held up her wrist, revealing the wristwatch.
"Amon? Who's that?" Sarah, the last member of the group, chimed in.
—Amon.
The name rang a bell.
Emily's breath hitched as a cold sweat formed on her back. Something was wrong.
She glanced down at the watch. A moment ago, it had been an ordinary timepiece, but now… it pulsed with an eerie glow, faint symbols flickering across its surface. Her instincts flared, screaming warnings in her mind.
Tactical. Tactical. Tactical.
Her ability had never reacted this strongly before.
A Grade 3 artifact.
Emily's voice came out strained as she struggled to remove the watch. With a desperate tug, she finally yanked it off and let it drop to the floor.
She exhaled sharply, relief washing over her—
—until she looked up.
The others stood frozen, their expressions eerily blank.
A monocle rested over each of their hand.
Slowly, in perfect synchronization, they adjusted their monocles, placing it in their right eye and turned to stare directly at her.
Emily's heart slammed against her ribs.
This isn't real. This isn't real.
A scream tore from her throat.
The four figures moved toward her.
She stumbled back, grabbing at whatever she could for support—
—And suddenly, the illusion shattered.
Her team was back to normal, their faces etched with confusion and concern. They were just… standing there.
Sasha was the first to speak.
"Emily? What happened?"
"I…" She swallowed, scanning their faces.
Everything looked normal. The room. The people. No monocles.
"Probably just… hallucinations," she muttered, more to herself than to them, trying to convince herself.
The four exchanged uneasy glances.
Then Sarah spoke again.
"By the way… the wristwatch disappeared."
Emily's breath hitched.
She looked down.
Lying on the ground where the wristwatch had fallen… was a monocle.
Her hands clenched into fists.
Was it really just a hallucination?