Rays of sunlight peeked through the windows and the curtains blew into the room and out the other like pale flags, casting a shadow on the ground below like wind does on the sea. Dark, long eyelashes fluttered open and King would be greeted by the sight of a fan whizzing above him on the ceiling. For a moment, he wasn’t sure where he was until he recalled the occurrences of the day before. Fragments of memories jolted through his mind as pictures of himself entering a bar, drinking cups of sake until he finished the entire bottle, fooling around with the waitress and ended up taking her to a cheap hotel. A sigh escaped his lips as he threw his forehand over his forehead, regretting the choices he had made otherwise, he wouldn’t be having such a headache so early in the morning.

By his side was a young woman, sleeping on his arm, snuggled close against his chest. Going over the features of her face, he assumed that it was the waitress from the bar last night and somehow, ended up sleeping with her although, it was difficult for him to remember through his pounding head. King noticed how her makeup was ruined, red lipstick smeared all across her cheeks and he presumed that it was most likely due to the make-out session that they had last night. The man sighed once again. He didn’t expect he would end up drinking so much and now, he was unable to reminisce his memories. Sliding his arm out of the woman’s weight, he sat by the edge of the bed, his back crouched while his elbows rested on his knees.

Clothes were strewn messily on the wooden floor, both his and the woman’s as he began to collect the pieces of his clothing. Perhaps, by chance, he acted carelessly on a whim last night, having grabbed the job slip and found it later, in the pocket of his yukata, crumpled so sloppily as it was matted with the scent of cheap sake. Unfolding the sheet, he read through the lines written on the crinkled piece of paper, addressing the message which was of simple request; to look after the shop while the client was gone. It was such an easy job, why couldn’t someone else just do it? But then, he realised he was the one who had taken up the quest which means that he would have to do a silly request once again. He hated wasting time on missions like this and wished he could do something more useful, perhaps, find a master and train as his underling.

Slipping into the white yukata that he had washed and cleaned the other day at a dry-cleaning store, the usual confident King returned. The cloak rustled as he whisked it over him and draped it above the yukata, gold chains adorned around the hood of his cloak. His outfit would be finished by a pair of teal, long boots that reached up until his knees and as he ran his slender fingers through his unkept silver hair, arrogance dominated those gorgeous golden hues of his.

After being entirely dressed in his usual clothing, King glanced over the woman who continued to sleep through the entire process. She was entirely naked and doesn’t even seem to be aware that a stranger was in the same room as hers. He continued to observe her for a brief moment until he decided that he would just let her sleep and draped the blanket over her bare body. It was a rare side of him to show such unusual affection towards girls and he always made sure no one would see that side of him. He may enjoy toying with women before tossing them away, he does have a bit of sympathetic sides towards them.
The streets of Magnolia were filled with people. Under the blistering sun, he could see people sweating bullets, especially the labourers who had to carry the load with carts. King still wasn’t used to the town, not yet and somehow, he kept thinking he was in a dream. He couldn’t imagine that he would be able to leave his own country without having a second glance. Things were really different in Fiore. It wasn’t as dry as the deserts albeit, the heat was still unbearable but it was still a hundred times less than Desierto. Walking through the road paved with stones and cobbles, he led himself towards his destination; Mag Drug Magic Shop.

The name of the shop was written in large, foreign letters that he had seen in books in his country. Taking another glance over the crumpled paper clutched in his hand, he wondered if he was at the correct place until an old man came out of the door and stared at him.

”Oh, young mister, I assume you’re here for the quest. Look after my shop, will you? I have to go out to the woods to collect some herbs.”

With that, the old man strutted of in a hurry, leaving King standing there, dazed. Having no choice but to listen to his demands, he permitted himself inside the store in which he would be greeted by the sight of numerous potions scattered all over the place and books neatly lined up over the shelves that filled up every space inside the building. He couldn’t help but be amazed at the sight in front of him. Although, it wasn’t as big as a library but the collection of books and potions stored were large for just one person to handle. Picking up the nearest book located, he blew over the dust that stacked on top of the cover of the book and flipped through the pages, in which it was written in a language that he didn’t know of.

The door swung open, followed by a soft ring of the bell hung over the top of the door. They were some teenagers with smug smiles plastered across their faces. Just one look at them and King was already pissed, he could be seen with a vein almost popping out of his temple. Sitting at the seat behind the desk, which he assumed was the old man’s seat, he threw his leg over the table and crossed over each other.

”Make sure you don’t destroy anything, kids.”

”Tch.”

Although King didn’t like the guts of these teenagers, he made sure not to cause any trouble since he didn’t want anything destroyed inside the store. Otherwise, he would have to pay for all the costs. Soon enough, the old man returned to his own shop with his basket filled with numerous kinds of leaves, twigs and other greens, which he assumed were herbs. As a reward, he received a bag of jewels for looking after the shop.