Erus's brows knotted the moment he stepped back into the inn. He stood frozen, caught in a fierce tug-of-war between complete awe and sheer exasperation at the sight before him. A massive, towering mountain of supplies filled the pub's storage area to the brim. When Cana had casually mentioned earlier that they bought a lot at the market, he had assumed she meant a standard restock—the usual amount the pub went through in a week.
He let out a heavy, defeated sigh, his gaze shifting down to Cana. She was currently biting her lower lip, desperately trying to play cute despite the absolute, chaotic mess she had just dumped on him.
"You bought all of these?" Erus asked, rubbing his temples. "You could have told me earlier. We could have just arranged for them to supply us directly without hauling everything back at once. Or, at the very least, I could have helped you carry all of this."
Cana did not dare argue with him.
While Letty was too surprised. She had been preparing to meet a mad Solari once he knew what happened in the market. Letty looked at her husband, who was as surprised as her too. They were both expecting the usual burst out of Solari, but what they were hearing was far from being him.
Then, Cana tiptoed and whispered something to Erus.
"What?" was Erus's reaction, even looking back at the pub. He scratched his head. "Let's get this done," he said before stomping his feet back inside.
While Letty hurriedly went inside to prepare the kitchen as the place for the confidential talk. She let everyone out of the room.
Cana went to the granddaughter of the old lady merchant, who was still shaking while patiently waiting and could not absorb the truth she had discovered. The wealthy noble they were to contract with for their supplies was the top hunter and tyrant Solari—the walking curse, as others called him.
How the hell would she be able to face him without dying first?
As they went inside the kitchen, the young girl was terrified, thinking she would become their next course to be served in the pub. Letty offered them seats before leaving the kitchen. Erus was also already inside and sitting.
Without any delays, the young girl immediately pulled the papers from her pouch and placed them on the table. But it was too far from Erus. Cana was the one who got it and handed it directly to him.
Even without him saying a thing yet, Erus's silent breathing and well-defined posture while reading could already shatter a person's soul. The young girl on the other seat was sweating, even though there was no lit fire in the kitchen.
Erus, not minding how his presence affected the surroundings, passed the parchments he just finished reading to Cana. "Tell me if there's something you wanted to change on it before I sign it," he told Cana.
The first parchment contained the seasons and weather conditions during hunting and the delivery of goods. It was well thought out, and everything was aligned to ensure no goods were wasted and no lives were lost during the hunt.
Cana nodded before giving it back to Erus. Another parchment was handed to her.
"Mm..." Cana tilted her head a bit. "Always having top-tier meat will become bland to the taste. Plus, top-tier meats can sometimes only be used for select dishes."
Erus took the parchment back. "What should it be then?"
"Any top-quality meat is better so we can have a lot of choices for our dishes. Plus, it would be better if there was sea—fish."
The young girl tensed upon hearing the mention of fish. No one dared to fish other than those trained hunters who possessed water abilities. Fishing was like putting one foot in your own grave.
"Do you have hunters who can fish?" Erus directly asked the young girl.
The young girl, startled and terrified for her life, cried silently while frantically shaking her head.
"Skip that part, Cana. Fishing is death for ordinary hunters. We'll get that from the guild's supplier," Erus said.
Cana nodded. "Really? Okay. I didn't know, so we won't include fishing anymore."
She could not argue with Erus about it. If a little octopus could eat a merman, then fishing truly was dangerous in this world.
The third parchment was purposely left blank for the other party to state their own demands.
"What will happen if your family cannot fulfill all the deliveries worth our money within a year?" Erus asked the girl again, who could not even speak in front of him.
"Hey, don't be scared. He is just asking," Cana said, but that didn't help. "If they are no longer able to fulfill the deliveries, then why not let them serve you until all scores are settled?"
"I'll keep this blank parchment for now. I'll bring it when it's time to deliver our next batch of goods," Erus said.
The young girl just respectfully bowed her head—thanking whichever of the gods had helped her escape death for today.
Cana patted the girl's head to ease her tension, then she pulled out five grilled merman-eaters and gave them to her. The girl was a bit confused by Cana's random actions. Furthermore, she was deeply confused as to why Solari was casually asking for this woman's opinions. Everyone knew him to be intensely wary of females.
"Did she come here with you alone?" Erus asked Cana.
"Yes."
"I can take her home later and meet her master."
Cana was a bit surprised by what Erus said, feeling hesitant to let the girl go with him even for a second. They had told her all about Erus' reputation regarding women, so who wouldn't worry? Right?
"I'm with Ryden. We'll be patrolling the borders tonight," Erus said when he noticed Cana's hesitant expression.
Cana nodded, though she was not sure if Ryden would ever be able to stop their captain if he actually meant harm to this girl. She wanted to suggest tagging along, but if patrolling was part of Erus' hunter duties, she must not slow down his work.
"Would that be okay with you?" Cana asked the girl, but she only looked at her with terrified eyes—telling her the idea was certainly not okay.
"It's either she goes with us or she goes home alone now. At this hour, the carriages only allow hunters we don't know," Erus countered.
"By the way, what is your name?" Cana asked the girl.
"M..meriam, my lady," the girl shyly answered.
"Okay, Meriam. What Erus is saying is, we cannot allow you to go home alone with unknown strangers. He may look tense and terrifying, but he is just concerned."
"Didn't say I'm concerned."
Cana rolled her eyes, but the girl didn't see it—only Erus did.
"Tsk! You don't have to explain to her. It's her choice to live or die."
Cana told Meriam to go out of the kitchen, find Letty, and wait for them there. Meriam immediately complied, desperate to flee Solari's heavy, suffocating aura. A few more minutes in that room and she would have collapsed.
The moment Meriam was out of sight, a barrier instantly enveloped Cana's surroundings. Erus was already standing right in front of her—his eyes blazing crimson. She was stunned. She knew he was angry, but why look at her with those killer eyes?
"Who marked you?" he asked in a low, serious tone that was almost a growl.
"Ha?" was all she could say in her confusion.
Erus pinned Cana against the edge of the table. Their bodies pressed together tightly, but he didn't care.
"Who marked you?" he demanded again in the same dark tone.
Cana remembered her palm and was surprised by how Erus even knew about it.
"I... This is not what you think." She could not look directly into his eyes. Their proximity and position were far from decent, and it was turning her cheeks a flustered red.
How the hell was she supposed to explain anything with this lack of distance? And why was Erus this worked up over a simple mark?
"This is more like a tracking mark. Not like yours," she stammered.
"A tracking mark!"
That was supposed to ease his mind, but it only heightened his fury.
"He is just a poor beast kid. I was the one who instructed him to mark me so he can easily catch my scent whenever I'm in the market."
"Why?"
Cana swallowed hard. What did he mean, why?
"Err... I plan on giving him food?"
"So you're saying you plan to let every beggar mark and trace you?"
Erus's face was now barely an inch away from hers. She could clearly see the dazzling crimson of his eyes and the length of his dark lashes. Instead of looking away, she felt an intense pull to stare back, though she felt herself melting under his heavy gaze. If not for his golden mask, she might have expected a kiss—but a kiss in a serious situation like this?
"Of course not. I select my subjects, Erus."
Erus frowned at Cana's answer. She seemed to have purposely allowed that boy to do it. But why? Who could that boy be, and why was it driving him crazy to know that someone else had placed a mark on Cana? Even though the mark was far from being a contract and could be erased this instant.
"Why are you this mad? Did you think I'm letting others mark me just to get rid of yours?"
"N... no."
"And not even hell could push me to get rid of you, so what's with the fuss?"
Erus was completely thrown off balance. It sounded like the interrogation had turned the tables on him. Cana became her other self again—the one he knew he could never defeat. His heart hammered violently against his ribs.
"I wasn't thinking that way. I'm just worried someone hurt you."
Ever since he had pinned her against the table, Cana could feel a rigid, heavy pressure poking into her, expanding by the second. She had tried her absolute best to ignore it and pretend it was part of his gear, but the throbbing heat against her waist was impossible to deny. This was already the second time.
She gripped the collar of his robe, her eyes locking onto his stiffened crotch before looking back up. "What a big liar," she whispered.
Erus had no idea how, but he suddenly felt her other hand slip beneath his shirt, sliding over his hard abs and moving downward with ruthless intent. He swallowed hard, his throat tightening.
Just what the hell was this woman thinking? Instead of being intimidated, did he actually turn her on?
He immediately seized her naughty hand, locking his fingers around her wrist before she could touch what she shouldn't.
"Do you dare seduce me here?" he asked, his voice dark. His words made Cana stop and blink twice, completely confused.
When Cana looked down at her palm, which was still pressed against Erus' belly, she realized her fingers were pointing straight down. That surprised her a bit. Had her fondness for his body taken a reckless detour? She still had no experience with men, so why were her hands moving like a pro?
She looked up at Erus again. "I... I was trying to fix your belt."
A terrible choice of words, but it couldn't be undone. She certainly wasn't referring to a literal belt right now. She swallowed hard.
"Oh? Care to finish fixing that non-existent belt?"
Without a second thought, Cana tried to slide her hand further down, but Erus tightened his grip, completely blindsided. His entire face flushed hot. His body locked up, genuinely shaken by the realization that Cana was ready to go all the way with him right then and there, without a single shred of hesitation.
"Cana, what were you thinking?" he whispered in a panic.
"Trying to ease your tension by playing along."
Erus sighed heavily as they both let go of each other. He even reached out to help Cana stand up straight, his eyes finally returning to their normal color.
"Don't do it again. Especially when we are alone together," he warned her, his voice tight.
"You want me to do it in public?" Cana frowned, staring at Erus as if he had completely lost his mind. Though she understood clearly what he meant, she just wanted to break the intense atmosphere between them too.
Erus coughed, clearing his throat uncomfortably. He had absolutely no idea how Cana's brain worked. Sometimes she completely dominated him, yet most of the time she acted like a clueless woman. She was a complete enigma.
"Certainly not," he grunted, diverting the topic to reclaim himself from losing to the mere touch of Cana. "Hey, I heard you were giving away merman-eater when you arrived. Where's mine?"
Cana laughed internally. So, her subversion of using seduction to put him at ease was successful. A man will always be a man, but seriously, he was the one who turned himself on and gave her the idea of just playing along by touching him.
"Oh, the merman-eater," Cana noted smoothly. "Of course, I have a lot here for you. Also, I have a pile of supplies for it and I have a lot of questions about the food in the market too. But that will be for later."
Erus looked at Cana, scanning her slowly with his gaze.
"I have a lot of questions for you later, too."
Cana gave him a questioning look. She thought they were completely done with his interrogation. Was there really going to be a part two?
"About your skills and the arrangement we need to change for the coming months," Erus continued. "And those supplies in your storage... they won't spoil, right?"
"Ah, yeah. They won't," Cana nodded. "Sure thing. In fact, I also wanted to ask you about my skills."
"Save that for later. And the supplies, keep them in your space for now. We have better storage for that."
Cana just nodded again. Then, she pulled the remaining grilled merman-eaters from her space and handed them to Erus. There were so many that he could have easily shared them with his entire team. But Erus simply took two sticks and threw the remaining skewers straight into his own space. He was not planning to give them to anyone.
Cana grinned at his childlike act of keeping it all to himself.
She reached out to touch his left shoulder. This time, her hand did not emit a blue flame. It was just a faint white flame, but it sent a totally different sensation rippling through Erus' entire nervous system. The soothing warmth it gave was all too familiar. He remembered this exact feeling from when he was struck by that brutal fever back on the floating island; it had been his saving grace from that heavy, downward pull toward his grave.
He let out a soft, unconscious moan after the entire energy of that white flame was absorbed by his body.
Cana was confused when he did that. She wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, just sharing her energy so his Reaper mark wouldn't go berserk while he was out on his mission tonight. She knew giving it the same blue flame to absorb wasn't enough anymore because the mark was flaring up again—and only she could see it.
Erus was shocked by his own reaction, and equally confused about what Cana had just done.
"That was your ability, right?" he demanded, trying to ground his voice.
"You're getting turned on by my ability?" Cana asked, a dangerous glint of amusement in her eyes.
But instead of answering, Erus simply pressed his palm flat over Cana's face, effectively muffling her. He really couldn't save face with Cana being so damn straightforward.