Why Him?

That person, that person—why did it have to be him...

Sir Enzo screamed inwardly. At that moment, he felt as if the whole world had gone dark.

"Right now, he's the only person I can think of." Link was being his usual talkative self, repeatedly lashing Sir Enzo's fragile heart.

After he finished speaking, he seemed to think of something and added, "Aiven seems pretty good at concocting poisonous potions."

Good at concocting poisonous potions... Sir Enzo closed his eyes in anguish. The Luxray before him had been poisoned by the other man's concoction—a poison no one could cure!

"What should I do now?"

"Should I go ask Apothecary Aiven for help?"

"He'll definitely recognize me. He has to. What will he do then?"

"He definitely won't help me. What should I do?"

Sir Enzo clutched his head. For a moment, he truly had no idea what to do. He wished there were a hole in front of him that he could jump straight into.

"Sir Enzo, are you feeling unwell?" Link asked, puzzled, as he glanced at the knight's deathly pale face.

Enzo managed a strained smile. "N-no, I'm fine. I'm just a little tired."

"Then let's hurry and set out. Mr. Aiven and I are good friends. I'll help persuade him to lend a hand," Link said enthusiastically.

Phyllis, standing nearby, gave a sweet smile at just the right moment. "Then I'll leave it to you, Mr. Link."

In the end, Sir Enzo, still dazed, was pulled out of the room by Link, who hurried toward the door.

Phyllis watched the two leave, her delicate brows furrowing. Anyone could see that something had seemed off about Enzo earlier.

Could he know this Aiven...? Phyllis guessed. And their relationship probably wasn't very good.

She recalled the information Link had shared about Aiven. Suddenly, something occurred to her, and her beautiful eyes widened slightly.

Petilil. This Apothecary Aiven had a Petilil...

On the stone road outside City of Ambition, an Ironclad Rhinoceros pulled a carriage along at a swift pace.

Sir Enzo sat quietly in the carriage, his mind already conjuring all sorts of possibilities for what might happen when he saw the other man.

Given the circumstances, Apothecary Aiven really was the only one who could save Luxray. He would do whatever it took to get him to help.

Should he test the waters first, or admit his mistake right away and beg for forgiveness?

And what would he have to offer to earn the other man's forgiveness?

Money? Or something else?

What if the other man refused to help? What would he do then—use force?

The more he thought about it, the more Sir Enzo's head hurt. His thoughts were a complete mess, and he had no idea what to do.

At Darby Farm.

That day, Aiven was training Petilil as usual.

After the attack the previous night, he felt an even greater urgency to grow stronger.

Petilil felt the same. Whenever it remembered the battle from the night before, its whole body seemed to boil with excitement.

It wanted to grow stronger, then defeat one opponent after another!

It was now nearly afternoon. After finishing its morning training in the Deadly Poison Technique and Absorb Technique, Petilil was practicing Leech Seed in the woods.

Nearby, little Andy sat on a rock, holding Mukkuru, which had been bandaged up, and watched Petilil train with keen interest.

That morning, when he saw Mukkuru injured, the little boy had been startled. He immediately decided to take good care of it, ignoring its protests.

Unable to get free, Mukkuru had no choice but to accept. Still, it was more interested in Aiven's training than in the little boy's attentive care.

It had never imagined that Petilil, whom it had once needed to protect, would become so strong after training with Aiven!

The previous night, Petilil had been the one to join Luxray in defeating the opposing Luxray and two Great Wolfdogs. It had played a crucial role.

And from what Aiven had said, Mukkuru could tell that Petilil had played a decisive part in the fight.

It had fought that Luxray itself, so it knew just how powerful the other one was. And with two Great Wolfdogs on top of that, its buddy would never have stood a chance.

At the edge of the woods, Luxray was resting quietly on the ground. When it noticed Mukkuru looking over, it raised its head and glanced back.

But in the next instant, Luxray abruptly lifted its head and looked toward the farm entrance. It sprang to its feet, its expression grave.

"Luxray, what happened?"

Aiven, who was directing Petilil's training, looked over at Luxray in confusion.

Meow!

Luxray gave Aiven a slight nod, crouched low, and assumed an attacking stance.

The next moment, Luxray broke into a run, bounding toward the gate!

"Another intruder?"

Aiven's expression changed. Without stopping to think, he chased after Luxray.

Little Andy hadn't quite realized what was happening, but when he saw everyone running, he ran after them too.

Following Luxray toward the farm entrance, Aiven spotted a carriage stopped at the gate in the distance.

Then he saw two people standing beside it, talking with Uncle Darby.

Luxray stopped well short of them and stared at the carriage. Aiven looked over too and saw that an Ironclad Rhinoceros was pulling it.

Luxray had evidently sensed an approaching Monster and hurried over.

But since it was only pulling a carriage and was wearing Beast Gear, it probably wasn't much of a threat.

Meanwhile, Sir Enzo spotted Luxray running toward them and nearly bolted in fright.

But he remembered that when he had visited the farm the day before, he had rubbed a special fragrance over himself to mask his scent. Luxray shouldn't be able to recognize him.

Sure enough, Luxray stopped at a distance and didn't come any closer. Sir Enzo breathed a sigh of relief.

Then his gaze shifted to the young man he had met the day before. He closed his eyes in pain. This was absolutely the last person he wanted to see.

"Apothecary Aiven, we meet again." Seeing Aiven, Link greeted him with an enthusiastic wave.

Aiven stepped forward with a smile. "Mr. Link, long time no see." He rather liked the talkative apothecary.

Then his gaze fell on Sir Enzo, who stood beside Link and seemed to be behaving rather strangely. Puzzled, he asked, "Mr. Link, who is this?"