Before parting ways, Leonardo gave them one last reminder. “From now on, if anyone asks, you two are to say you’ve been studying magic with Oowrie and me since you were eight. Understood? It’ll make it harder for people to figure out your potential.”

  “Got it. No problem,” Aaron said. “By the way, what about those invaders, Mr. Leonardo? Found anything yet?” Aaron asked.

  “Not yet.” Leonardo shook his head. “But Chlorarborion has already sent a demigod into the Dream Realm to investigate and hunt down both the Eclipse Cult and the longnight spider tribes. They’d better pray they don’t get caught.”

  Aaron:

  “…”

  Damn. A whole arch being just to chase down a few arcane-rank guys? That’s brutal.

  Yeah… that’s Breath of Nature for you.

  In truth, that wasn’t the whole story. Leonardo hadn’t told the boys that, given how serious the incident was and the importance of Sicily, even a divine being from Chlorarborion had stepped in to perform divination. And yet, the god saw nothing. It was as if something had veiled everything, covering all traces without leaving a single thread behind.

  As they walked back toward the hotel, Acher stopped all at once. His black eyes locked onto something in the distance, unblinking.

  “You okay?” Luther asked.

  “It’s the Grand Being I sensed back in New York,” Acher said, his voice low. “She just arrived here. Looks like she’s trying to track us. Since Luther always keeps his cloak on, the one she’s following is most likely you, Aaron.”

  Luther’s brows drew together.

  “So what do we do? Ask Mr. Leonardo or Miss Oowrie for help?” Aaron asked.

  “No need,” Acher said. “She’s probably picking up the solar energy you used last night. Try channeling fire magic instead. Let’s see if that pulls her this way.”

  Aaron gave a nod. He raised his hand, and a small sphere of fire formed above his palm, hovering in the air.

  The raven tilted his head, listening and sensing for a moment before speaking again.

  “She hasn’t moved this way. That means she can’t pick you up when you use fire energy. Remember that. And Luther, keep at least a thin layer of the cloak around him at all times. Just in case.”

  “Phew.” Aaron let out a long breath.

  At the same time, in the Molting Bark District of Sicily.

  A woman with green hair wandered through the old stone streets, a sunflower in her hand.

  “So damn annoying… You better not let me catch you,” Photenis muttered through clenched teeth.

  She tightened her grip on the sunflower as if she were strangling someone unseen. The night before, during a candlelit dinner at a fine restaurant in New York, this cursed flower had glowed brighter than ever all of a sudden.

  She cast a tracking spell at once and locked onto a signal in the Golden Wheat Valley. Then she caught a midnight flight to Italy right away.

  But the spell lasted only a few minutes before it faded. By the time she arrived, the signal had vanished.

  “Tch.”

  After three hours of searching with no result, her irritation gave way to resignation. She glanced down the street, lined with thick greenery and warm sunlight.

  “Well. I suppose I’ll call this another vacation. What a beautiful city. No wonder it used to be the holy ground of the Harvest Cult,” she said as she stepped into a high-end flowerkin spa.

  …

  That night, the group boarded the Orion Express back to New York. The driver was a slime again, though this one shimmered in ocean blue.

  Aaron waved at it but got ignored.

  “Guess it’s not the same driver as last time,” he said.

  “This one’s female. The last one was male,” Acher replied.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “How do you even know that?”

  “That’s a secret.”

  “…”

  Just like when they had gone to the Mariana Market, Aaron couldn’t resist buying piles of ordinary-looking exotic fruits and foods to bring back as gifts.

  "I bet my mom’s going to love these Thesprotia watermelons. She’s got such a sweet tooth," Aaron said with a grin.

  "You’ve been gone for four days already. Did your parents say anything about you staying at my place so long?" Luther asked.

  "No, they didn’t say anything. I asked beforehand. And to my mom, you’re the most well-mannered kid she’s ever met. And they weren’t even home the past few days anyway. My mom flew to LA on Thursday for a conference, and my dad’s been in London since Tuesday, then went on to Australia. He won’t be back until this weekend," Aaron explained. "So what should we do now? We’ve got more than a full day before we reach New York. How about watching a series?"

  "Do this." Luther reached into his backpack and pulled out a thick book.

  The words “Advanced Chemistry Exercises” were printed across the cover. The half-eaten pear in Aaron’s mouth fell onto the floor with a thud.

  Who even brings textbooks on vacation???

  "You can’t be serious!!!"

  "I am," Luther replied without flinching.

  "Squeak squeak, what’s that?" Jack-O bounded over.

  "This is super fun! Jack-O, want to try it? It’s easy, I’ll show you how," Aaron tried to trick the pumpkin into doing homework for him.

  Luther:

  "…"

  In the end, both boys bent over the table and buried themselves in homework.

  "Ugh, why can’t we wait until we get home?" Aaron groaned.

  All those formulas and numbers swirling on the pages made him feel like he was losing his mind.

  "I want you to get into Columbia with me," Luther said.

  An idea flashed in Aaron’s mind. "Or maybe we just skip college altogether. We’re super rich now anyway! What’s the point of going to school anymore?" he suggested.

  "Just kidding, hehe." He immediately took it back when he saw a serious frown on Luther’s face.

  An hour later.

  "My head hurts so much," Aaron moaned, clutching his temples with both hands.

  They had just gone on a trip, and ahead of them stretched the long Serenity break. They would not have to return to school until mid-January. All of that made it nearly impossible for Aaron to focus on studying.

  "Lie down here." Luther patted his thigh.

  "Huh??”

  Aaron lay down, and Luther began to give him a head massage. He placed both thumbs at Aaron’s temples, pressing gently in circular motions, and worked slowly from there toward the center of his forehead. Then Luther moved on to other techniques: rubbing along the eyebrows, weaving his fingers together to press lightly against the brow, tapping softly at the forehead, and finally using all ten fingers to carefully knead the scalp beneath Aaron’s hair.

  As the thick, sharply defined eyebrows of the brown-haired boy gradually loosened and smoothed, Luther’s own eyes softened.

  "Aaaaah, right there, yes, that spot! This feels amazing! Where on earth did you learn to give head massages like this?" Aaron asked in wonder.

  "From my grandfather. I used to get sick a lot when I was younger."

  "Teach me, so I can give you a massage too," Aaron said.

  "Squeak!" Jack-O chimed in, bouncing forward.

  He wanted a head, no, a whole body massage too!

  They finally got back to the Ravenswood house by late Monday night. Aaron dropped his pile of luggage onto the floor with a cheer:

  "Yayyy! We’re finally home!"

  Luther set the incubator containing the two eggs on the table, then opened it and checked on them.

  The Hemerian egg gave a small twitch when his fingers brushed against it, asking for magic. Luther let out a soft laugh and fed it a bit of Ascended Power, which made the shell glow faintly, satisfied. After that, he opened his suitcase and began to unpack.

  Aaron stopped him. He had one arm full of three drowsy pumpkins who kept yawning, and with his free hand, he grabbed Luther by the wrist and pulled him toward the bedroom.

  “It’s almost midnight! Let’s just sleep. We can unpack tomorrow.”

  “At least change first…”

  …

  That Thursday.

  “Over here too, Jack-O,” Luther said, pointing.

  “Squeaaak~~~” the round pumpkin whined like his whole life was suffering.

  He’d wrapped a vine around a tiny hoe and was digging at the garden soil in the most awkward way possible. Dirt kept flicking up onto his own fur.

  “Come on, Jack-O,” Aaron cheered from the side. “Keep going. You’ll slim down in no time!”

  After they got back from Sicily, Luther had noticed the biggest pumpkin was getting a bit too… round. Jack-O had grown to one and a half times Pompo’s size, and he was almost twice as big as Squashy. Besides that, after signing the contract with Luther, all three pumpkins began to change. Their deep orange fur slowly shifted, now carrying a faint hint of dark blue.

  The boys got worried and brought them to Mariana Medical Center for a checkup.

  “They’re perfectly fine,” the doctor said. “No signs of illness at all. In fact, they’re far stronger than ordinary brute demons. Their magic is stable, and their spirits are pure; there isn’t even a trace of being affected by sinful energy. This is incredible! This may be a positive mutation. If that’s the case, it could help them break past the natural limits of ghostfire pumpkins. And this boy here’s a little overweight, but he’s still healthy,” the doctor said with a smile, patting his soft fur. “Just cut down on junk food and make sure he gets some exercise.”

  “Handsome Aaron, handsome Luther… can I take a short break, please? I’m starving. I want chicken nuggets…” Jack-O whimpered.

  “It’s only been ten minutes, and you’re already tired? Just try for five more. And we just had breakfast an hour ago! The doctor said if you get too fat, your skin will crack.” Aaron lied, putting on a serious face like it was the scariest thing in the world.

  Jack-O froze, then he shuddered and started digging twice as fast.

  He did not want to become some ugly pumpkin with cracked skin!

  Not far from them, Acher lay stretched out in the sun with his eyes half closed. Pompo was glued to his phone, busy with a game. Squashy, meanwhile, was helping Luther check the plants.

  She was the only one of the three pumpkins who liked gardening, and she seemed to have a real gift for it.

  “This tree feels sad. It wants more sunlight,” Squashy said, pointing at a gemstone cherry tree. “And this one’s thirsty!”

  “Squashy’s amazing!” Aaron said, ruffling her head.

  And just like that, it was another good day.