Chapter 88

“Are you going home today?”

Theo asked as he climbed the steps in front of his house. Since Blaine had slept at his place last night, he meant for Blaine to return to his own home today. Blaine nodded slowly, seemingly understanding.

“…Yeah.”

Still, he couldn’t hide a hint of reluctance. His eyes clung to Theo’s doorway as if unwilling to let go. Theo, noticing Blaine’s gaze fixed on the entrance rather than himself, felt a flicker of unease.

If Blaine didn’t want to be alone or away from him, why wasn’t he asking to register as a companion? Honestly, if Blaine demanded companion registration, it would be pretty troublesome. Theo had no intention of ever approving that.

Unsure whether to feel relieved or anxious about the lack of a request, Theo shook his head lightly to clear his thoughts. Sighing deeply at Blaine’s hesitant stance, he knocked on his own front door. When Blaine looked up at the sound, Theo opened the door and asked,

“Or do you want to stay here again tonight? I don’t mind if it’s all three nights in a week together or spread out.”

“….”

Blaine’s eyes went wide. He blinked, glanced at Theo, and rested his chin on his hand, pondering for only a brief moment.

“Then… today too.”

“Alright, come in.”

Inside Theo’s bedroom, two beds still sat side by side with a nightstand between them. The sight of Blaine occupying half the small room brought a flush to his face.

Though not his first time here, Blaine still looked shy like a young boy. Theo, putting that aside, retrieved milk and honey from the mini-storage and stood before the cooking tools. As the ingredients cooked according to the recipe, Theo remembered something and looked up.

“Oh, Blaine.”

“Yes?”

“Tomorrow, let’s head to Flam Village.”

“Flam?”

“Yeah. I need to buy a good bed for you.”

Flam Village, the capital of the Karlo region, served as a central hub for all the overland routes. Regional specialties and traditional goods flowed through Flam, making it home to a massive bazaar where items from every area gathered.

Blaine nodded with a smile. Slowly but surely, it felt like he was taking a place beside Theo, and the thought made him happy.

The next morning, the two left the house early. They took the regular carriage from the relay station, arrived at Lucilvania, and headed to the sky station. Flam Village was far enough that a flying transport was far more convenient than a land-bound carriage.

Lucilvania’s sky station offered two types of transports: a large airship that could carry many passengers quickly, and a smaller, slower skycar that carried fewer.

Preferring not to be mixed with a crowd, Theo naturally chose the skycar. Paying for the two-seater, he and Blaine climbed aboard the sled-shaped vehicle. The skycar lifted off and began gliding through the air above Lucilvania.

The landscape rushed past in sync with the skycar’s speed. Crossing over Lucilvania, cutting through the Cottonflower Hills, and climbing over Pillat Mountain, the skycar soon left the Vikechi region behind.

After passing the mountainous Vikechi, the vast plains of the Karlo region spread out. Lost in the open scenery, they continued over the Daize Plains toward Flam Village’s sky station.

It felt like they had flown for about fifteen minutes from Lucilvania to Flam. Not being a daily sight, the ride felt short and too fleeting.

The two of them landed at Flam’s sky station, leaving their disappointment behind, and headed straight for the bazaar.

The bazaar in Flam was a massive street market. Goods from every region were piled up on countless stalls, and users and NPCs hustled around, buying and selling in a chaotic frenzy.

Despite the overwhelming crowd, Theo moved forward without hesitation. To check every shop properly, he had to keep a steady pace.

Flam’s bazaar had an incredible number of furniture shops, from long-standing NPC stores to stalls run by users selling their own creations. For some reason, it felt like there were more shops than usual.

Blaine followed closely behind, sticking to Theo like a shadow, as he went from shop to shop, examining every bed he could find.

None of the beds fully satisfied him yet, but there were plenty of other tempting pieces of furniture along the way. Theo briefly considered replacing all the single-person furniture in his home with two-person versions, but his house was already small. And with Blaine only staying three nights a week, it felt unnecessary to overhaul the furniture. A big, fancy piece in a cramped space would just become a burden.

Letting go of his desire for fancy furniture, Theo focused solely on the beds, scanning each shop they passed.

Blaine, sticking close like goldfish poop, grew curious as Theo stopped at every store, whether run by a user or NPC, and leaned closer to ask,

“Don’t NPC shops usually have worse furniture?”

He seemed puzzled why Theo bothered with even the NPC stores. Theo glanced down at Blaine and shook his head.

“Nope. Sometimes NPC shops can have better options than user-made furniture. If you’re lucky, you might even trigger a secret shop.”

Every merchant NPC had their own secret shop, which was the only way to obtain some rare items. These items couldn’t drop from monsters, nor could they be crafted—they were exclusive to the NPC’s secret shop.

Only one person could access a secret shop per day, and the exact conditions for opening it were never officially listed. This led to countless rumors and speculation among users about how to unlock them.

Theo pointed ahead at an NPC.

“Especially that one—people say their secret shop has really good furniture.”

Blaine followed Theo’s gesture. The shop had no stall—just a pile of goods stacked haphazardly—and the NPC seemed to be sitting lazily on a single chair, visibly tipsy even in broad daylight.

Theo approached the shop, and as they neared, a few users lingering nearby eyed them sharply. They were likely here hoping to access the secret shop themselves.

The users shuffled closer to block the shop, pretending not to care, trying to drive off the newcomers. But Theo didn’t hesitate, weaving between them to stand in front of the NPC.

The users clicked their tongues, glared at him, and reluctantly stepped back to position themselves behind Theo. With the tense atmosphere of being watched, Theo addressed the NPC—and was immediately disappointed. As expected, the secret shop didn’t open.

Resigned, he started scanning the available goods for anything usable, when an excited voice broke through.

“Hey! Hyung, the secret shop just opened!”

All the users who had positioned themselves behind Theo turned to look at Blaine like dominoes falling. Unlike Theo, Blaine stood there peacefully, unchallenged by anyone.

Curious, Blaine scanned the list of items. He looked over at Theo, hoping for a compliment, but his expression froze. Theo was surrounded by a few rough-looking users, and the atmosphere made it impossible for Blaine to relax.

“Hyung, come over here.”

Blaine quickly grabbed Theo and pulled him toward himself. Theo stumbled but went along. The users who had been trying to block Theo hesitated when they saw Blaine’s size and the thick tattoos on his arms. Muttering curses and spitting on the ground, they eventually left.

Watching them retreat over Blaine’s shoulder, Blaine finally relaxed and exhaled deeply. He had been scared that the users might pick a fight.

“What’s wrong?”

Theo asked, noticing Blaine’s hand trembling as it held onto him. Following Blaine’s gaze, he saw the retreating backs of the users—the ones who had been keeping watch.

He had looked intimidating, but apparently Blaine had found them scary. Theo, seeing Blaine’s anxious expression, patted his back reassuringly.

“So the secret shop opened?”

“Ah, yes. It did.”

“Does it have beds too?”

“Yes, beds, sofas, tables, side tables—all of that.”

“Let’s buy the bed first, then get the rest as much as we can afford.”

“Should I check the options?”

“They’ll probably be above average anyway. If it’s not good, we can resell. Just buy it for now.”

Blaine, excited, went to purchase the bed—but immediately looked troubled.

“Huh? I can only buy one…”

“Wait, only the bed can be bought?”

“No, no… I can only buy one bed. I wanted to get two.”

“You can only buy one per item in a secret shop.”

Blaine looked at Theo with a mix of frustration and disbelief. He had wanted to buy two, one for him and one for Theo, but the shop allowed only one.

“This is… ridiculous…”

Muttering sadly, Blaine looked crestfallen. Theo, with a small smile, urged him on.

“Here. Hurry and get the rest before the shop closes.”

Blaine, still visibly disappointed, bought everything available in the secret shop. When Theo asked if he was done, Blaine nodded gloomily.

“Yes…”

“Let me check the options.”

Blaine placed the bed he had just bought onto his palm. Theo examined the stats quickly.

“Wow…”

Theo couldn’t stop staring at Blaine, eyes wide in awe. How did a bed like this even exist?

The bed Blaine bought from the secret shop had an option that restored fatigue as long as it was set up in a residence—even if the user didn’t sleep in it. It was practically made for third- and fourth-generation players.

Seeing Theo’s amazed expression, Blaine’s own cheeks flushed slightly as he leaned closer.

“I’ll give it to you.”

“What?”

“You agreed to take one thing for free, remember?”

“This won’t help me. I’m a second-generation; I still need to sleep…”

It was a polite refusal. Blaine’s lips nearly trembled in protest at being refused again.

“You said you’d take it…”

“No, you have to give me something useful. This wouldn’t help me at all.”

Blaine stayed silent, clearly sulking. Sighing at his pouting, Theo asked, half-resigned,

“…You said there was a side table too, right?”

“Yes? Yeah.”

“Then I’ll take that. Put it between the beds.”

Blaine’s face instantly lit up at being asked for the side table and nodded vigorously.

“Let’s go home quickly and set up the bed and side table!”

Excited, Blaine started bouncing around as if ready to dash straight out. Theo held his arm to calm him and reminded him they still had more to do.

“No, I want to buy more.”

“Huh? What else?”

“Some ingredients. Good milk and honey, maybe.”

After a long, satisfying shopping trip, the two returned to Ratteon and set up Blaine’s new bed and side table in Theo’s room.

Blaine looked satisfied with his bed in Theo’s room, but Theo, frowning slightly, spoke without much hesitation.

“Wouldn’t it be better to put this in your own house?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Well, you sleep here, but not at your place. So wouldn’t it be better there?”

“I want it here…”

“Fine… it’s yours, do as you like…”

Blaine spent the night at Theo’s, eager to try the new bed, and that week’s three nights had already passed.

The next day, after running a dungeon to gather materials for Theo’s ship, they returned to Ratteon late in the evening. Blaine stayed with him at the front of the house, looking disappointed to leave.

Alone, Theo stepped inside and looked at the two beds set up side by side in the small room. The space looked unusually wide, yet slightly empty.

“…Should I put the beds away?”

After a moment of thought, he shook his head. No need—he’d be back soon anyway.

After passing some time, Theo finally felt drowsy, turned off the light, and lay down. His body sank into the bed, eyes closing, when suddenly he opened them.

“……”

Silently, he lifted himself up and stared at the living room window, a sense of suspicion rising. Carefully, he stepped out of bed, tiptoed across the floor, and stood in front of the window.

Could it really be…?

“Haaa…”

Theo let out a heavy sigh, then flung the window open.

“Gah!”

A gasp came from the flowerbed below. Theo grabbed the window frame and peered down. Blaine sat there, staring up at him, looking thoroughly startled.

“I knew it, come here, you little—!”