An Age of Peace

"How's it going, buddy?"

Although the boss was clearly confident in his preservation method, he still pretended to be nervous and asked a question to give his customer a sense of control, as if "whether it's good or not is up to me."

For those in the service industry, the customer experience should always be the top priority.

His actions also caused Galan to change his previous opinion.

"Hmm, it's rare to find something so well-preserved. It seems the boss is quite the expert on Magic Device."

"Haha! You flatter me. I simply had the privilege of exchanging ideas with a Magic Device Master before, and received some guidance on maintenance..."

Galan wasn't stingy with his words, chatting casually with the boss. A few more compliments wouldn't hurt, and a few more words wouldn't delay things. But what bothered him was that he still hadn't seen the Apothecary; wasn't he supposed to be a resident?

Shouldn't people like this be brought to the forefront?

Why is it all so mysterious? He felt something was off from the moment he came in. Now that he thinks about it, he didn't see any trace of that Apothecary at the store entrance this morning. It's really strange. Often, top-tier Apothecary who are resident are promoted by the pharmacy to be prominent figures. This not only promotes the Apothecary's career development but also brings a lot of traffic to the store. It should be a win-win situation.

But he failed to glean from the boss's behavior and words the idea that the Apothecary should be promoted. If he could be hired permanently by those prop shops in Rogley, wouldn't he be giving every customer a huge shout-out?

Seeing his the boss chatting happily with him, he could only suppress his doubts for the time being. The two of them talked about their knowledge and insights into Magic Item, and then about the current battle situation and their predictions for the future.

Because they were all worldly people, and Galan was good at getting along with people, he quickly became friends with the boss. "I never expected Galan to be such an optimistic person..."

"No, I didn't expect you to be such a sentimental person, the boss."

The boss sighed softly upon hearing his words, saying with a hint of bitterness, "You must understand, even the [Hero of the South], hailed as the strongest human, was defeated by the [Seven Sages of Destruction], Demon King's subordinate. Now, who can shoulder the mission of destroying the Demon King?"

Every year, so many self-proclaimed heroes set out to defeat the Demon King, but without exception, they all fail. Only the [Hero of the South] brought us hope... but in the end...

"Blind,

He fiddled with the coins in his hand with a hint of regret, seemingly unable to understand where Galan's confidence in "humanity's inevitable victory" came from.

The reason he chose to stay in [Äußerst] was because he could feel safe and secure here with Serie in charge. Otherwise, he would have moved to the South countries long ago, like the others in his hometown.

Of course, as a time traveler from half a century in the future Galan would not have such a pessimistic view.

After all, in their own time, the Demon King had long been defeated by Himmel and his companions.

The mainland has also ushered in an era of peace.

Living in such a harmonious environment, he couldn't truly empathize with his the boss, a person from a war-torn era.

"There's no need to be so pessimistic. After all, so many brave souls emerge every year, which shows that humanity hasn't given up hope, right?"

"As long as there is hope, we will win!"

Looking at this shrewd-looking man with a protruding belly, Galan really wanted to say what was on his mind:

The boss, you probably don't know this, do you? There's a hero named Himmel's already on the path to defeating the Demon King. Although he can't draw the [Hero's Sword], he's a true hero. In less than three years, you'll see an era of peace!

But he couldn't say that, on the one hand, his the boss might not believe his nonsense, and on the other hand, as Serie said, it was best not to get too involved with too many people.

The boss tossed the silver coin in his hand, then caught it and held it tightly in his palm.

"Youth is truly wonderful... If you had grown up listening to stories of the battles between humans and the Demon King's Army, like I have, perhaps you wouldn't have such naive thoughts..."

Even if we win, I don't think I'll see that kind of future in my lifetime...

Hearing him say that, Galan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How about we make a bet?"

What are we betting on?

"I bet you, the boss, will live to see a peaceful era."

The boss was taken aback when he heard Galan say this in such a serious tone, then burst into laughter.

"Ha! You're quite an interesting guy, buddy."

He patted Galan on the shoulder forcefully, saying with a sense of relief, "Forget it, it doesn't really matter whether we gamble or not. [A peaceful era] is just my dream after all... I've been bothering you for so long, and we've gotten a bit carried away with our conversation. I bet you've been wanting to leave for a while now, haven't you?"

His expression was kind; he looked like a gentle, approachable neighbor.

However, given his age, he probably sees me as a child, so it's no wonder he feels he's being somewhat idealistic.

I can say I want to leave—no. To be honest, I still have important things to do on this trip; how can I just leave like this?

"Actually, I have another request." Oh? Tell me about it? Why didn't you say so earlier?

Hearing Galan suddenly become a little embarrassed and hesitant, the boss found it strange. For some reason, he saw a bit of Fitz in Galan. Why did he talk like that, so cheeky?

"I heard today the boss your shop has a resident master alchemist. I happen to be Apothecary myself, so I wonder... could I meet him? It would be a good opportunity for us to exchange ideas."

The boss's body stiffened upon hearing this, and his expression shifted from surprise and shock to calm in an instant.

The previously relaxed atmosphere suddenly became tense.

He withdrew his hand from Galan's shoulder, and his previously calm gaze suddenly turned sharp.

"They've come with ill intentions!"

Judging from what the other party just said, they probably wanted to test Fitz's abilities and see how much real skill he actually possessed. But if I really pushed Fitz out, wouldn't they discover that the "master" was seriously ill?

He might even dig up some dirt on her, which would be a real problem. All that effort I've put into this setup, all that hard work I've put in to create this platform for Fitz, I can't just let him tear it all down, can I?

No... could it be that he saw through my act...?

What?! Is this guy here to cause trouble?!