"Remind me why are they here again?"

Noah asked Ann, confused by the unexpected lineup of people waiting to have dinner.

Ann stopped in the middle of adding Killium spice to the soup boiling in the pot and raised her eyebrows.

Behind Noah a little distance away she could see Gallahan, Will, Kalan, and Ezra seated in a row in front of the fire, each wearing a different expression.

Since they were cooking Ann and Noah were away from the gang, enough to faintly hear them talk.

While Kalan was calm as usual, trapped in his own world, Gallahan was describing the aesthetics of courtship to Jade, while Ezra and Raeden were seriously discussing the verification process to Orion, leaving an anxious Will on his own.

As to why so many people were added to their little circle was because when Ann and Kalan were returning to the camp they unexpectedly ran into the Grandfather grandson duo along with Ezra, who was searching for his master.

After Ann mentioned about Kalan having dinner with the Nero mercenaries, Gallahan insisted on joining them, and together they all came to the campsite, much to the surprise of the others.

"The weather in Orion must be nice this time of the year. Must be a great time to conduct tournaments..."

"..."

"Do merchants in Orion deal with ancient relics as part of their trade?"

"..."

"Not so talkative huh?"

"..."

Although Will tried to start a conversation with him, Kalan remained still like a stone unyielding to his approach. Not only Will, but even Gallahan failed in attempting to pull him into their conversation.

Ann knew Kalan was not a talkative person in general. He had a lot of patience considering how he patiently withstood her constant squabbles with Eugene without even the slightest discomfort. All he did was spectate their fights with an expressionless face.

In fact, Kalan had the aura of someone with a lot of baggage holding him down, the same as herself which made her feel pity for him.

"He was all Emo and I felt bad. So I invited him to join us for dinner. And the rest just tagged along. There's nothing better to lift someone's spirit up than delicious food" Ann said looking at them, her hand still suspended on top of the pot holding the spice sprinkler.

"Besides it won't do us bad to be on good terms with our employers"

Noah frowned, skeptical of her words. If anything he was worried about them making it out alive after dinner.

Although she had good intentions in inviting them to dinner, Ann didn't consider the fact that she was a terrible cook into account. Which was something she never accepted.

Since the Nero mercenaries were all beastmen with physiques stronger than average humans, they were able to withstand the ruthlessness of Ann's cooking to a certain extent.

But for normal people that would not be the case.

And unfortunately, tonight they were about to find out exactly what would happen to the average man if he consumed it.

The sprinkler in Ann's hand was Killium, a spice exclusively cultivated in the western provinces of Velven, known for its high level of spiciness regardless of the quantity used.

True to its name, the spice ranked top on the Scoville heat scale despite its harmless small cherry-like appearance. Given the right amount, it had the capability to kill even an ogre.

A spice that could turn bland dishes into delicious food, turned into utter chaos at the hands of a maniac like Ann.

Noah had taken out the bottle from Ann's bag when she was away and disposed of it. But little did he know that she had multiple backups hidden everywhere even in his own satchel unbeknownst to him.

With two shakes of the small container, the bright red powder was sprinkled on top of the soup.

"Yeah. Don't be so sure about that"

Noah gulped, his eyes focused on the contents of the pot which were turning red.

"Yeah. I don't think they would survive this"

Oliver came from behind them and plopped his hand on Ann's head.

"What did you just say?"

Ann asked, annoyed as she put a lid on the pot. She slapped his hand away that was ruffling her hair and got to her feet glaring at him.

"I said here's the hair tie you asked for. Your welcome by the way" Oliver smiled innocently and urged her to turn around.

"It took you thirty minutes to rummage through your luggage and find a single hair tie? Must be so nice to have hair that never gets tangled"

"Well, not everybody can be as flawless as me" Oliver said with a proud smirk and struck a pose.

"Now turn around, I'll tie it up for you "

Oliver lifted up Ann's hair and tied it into a ponytail with skilled hands. He pulled out a small mirror in his pocket, held it out for her to see.

"How is it?"

"It's great. If you ever end up jobless. You could make a decent living as a hairdresser"

"Well, my skills don't come with a cheap price..."

The three continued to talk when they noticed the aroma of the soup emanating from the pot.

"Hmm?"

Ann sat down and opened the lid to find a beautiful reddish-golden liquid with a delicious aroma. She picked up a spoon and tasted a bit of the soup to check.

"It needs a bit more spice.." She commented, thinking deeply.

"Noah! Oliver! Taste some of this! Wait, where are you going?"

""!""

The twins flinched when Ann caught them in the middle of their escape. Slowly they turned around and faced her, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Oh. We were going to esc...."

Oliver started talking when Noah elbowed him in the gut.

"Ugh..."

Clenching his stomach he bent down and groaned in pain.

"Why did you do that?" Ann asked, as she worriedly patted Oliver's back.

"Ahem...There was a bug on his shirt"

"Yeah.... we... we were about to check on the guests"

Oliver followed up on his brother's excuse as he glared at him.

"They seem fine to me" Ann tilted her head to find the others in the middle of a pleasant conversation, whatever the topic was. Even Kalan was listening to Gallahan talk looking fairly intrigued.

'When did the atmosphere change like that?'

Gallahan was explaining about the annual flower festival in Lorem.

Once they cross Therren, the entourage will be in Orion's territories. And Lorem was the city in the borders of Orion, where the security verifications were conducted before approving entry into the country.

'Ah. Our eyes just met'

Ann waved at Kalan looking her way.

"Anyway..." She turned back to Oliver and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You'll taste it right?"

"Yeah... sure"

Oliver trembled, understanding the meaning behind Ann's ominous smile.







"Around this time of the year there is the flower festival in Lorem" said Gallahan to Jade, causing the others to stop what they were doing and listen to him.

"Flower festival?"

Jade asked him in doubt. As far as he knew, festivals were quite rare in Orion aside from a few major ones in the capital.

"Yes. It is famous among youngsters in the region" Gallahan continued as the others eagerly urged him to talk.

"You might not know it since you've never been to Orion. But even people come from different territories come to the festival just to confess their love to each other"

"What's so special about it?"

"After the ceremonial dance is over after sunset. The priests start giving out flowers to the general public. And if a man gives the flower to the women he fancies, it is as good as confessing love and vice versa"

Gallahan closed his eyes, reminiscing about his past.

"Handsome gentlemen like you will be sure to get at least a dozen flowers. Haha.....my good old days"

"Accepting the flowers depends on the person. Though who would reject a flower from a beautiful girl?"

Gallahan laughed and asked Kalan.

"Isn't that right Sir Kalan?"

"No"

Kalan answered, looking away. In fact, his eyes were fixed on Ann, who was spoon-feeding a distraught Oliver in the distance and then to Noah.

"No? Why not?"

"I'm married"

"Pfft!"

Ezra spit out the water he was drinking when he heard Kalan's declaration. He stared at him wide-eyed trying to understand what was going inside his master's intention.

But Kalan simply looked disinterested and sealed his mouth, going back to his usual self, ignoring the curious gazes.

Ezra looked at where Ann was. She seemed to have heard them talk but quickly went back to her chore.

'We don't even know if she's the real one. Just what is he thinking?'

Ezra sighed thinking about the hardships he was about to face in the future.