As the first rays of the sun penetrated the last stand of the night bringing forth the next morning, Aiden got up from his bed groggily. He did not sleep much, he was keeping a constant vigil of the stationary blip that appeared on the map yesterday, during dinner.

He decided, against his better judgment, to not mention this to Granny nor Lily, as for now, he wasn’t sure of its intentions, and there may have been more presences hiding in the back, outside of his range.

He couldn’t even focus on the finishing steps of the potion brewing last night, as with the 2 days and nights of cooling, it was finally ready for the finishing touches. He was still there, but his system and himself weren’t focused, and he did not gain any progress in the information gathering of the skill.

Since yesterday they finished preparing the potions, today they will pack them up and venture forth to the city and sell them to the merchant Granny had a deal with. During dinner, Granny explained to Aiden that today they would be going to the nearby town of Higrove, to a local general goods merchant, named Mr. Norton. Mr. Norton has his store at the southern side of the marketplace, close to the city gates. That would be their first stop, but after that, they could explore the marketplace a bit and buy some necessary supplies. They also agreed to spend lunchtime in the city, which immediately elicited a cheer from Lily.

While Aiden was trying to gather himself, and be ready for today’s journey, the door to the room was shut open as Lily ran in cheerfully and seeing Aiden waking up, launched herself towards him accompanied by a very loud ‘Yaaaaaaaa!” battle shout.

The last bits of grogginess was immediately expelled from his system, as the blonde rocket crash-landed on his chest. With the air being pushed out of his lungs as well, the need for increasing the intensity for gathering oxygen increased, and Aiden fulfilled this need with loud gasps, as Lily was still nuzzling her face, with cheerful laughter.

“Wake up brother! We have to get ready! Granny said we will have a small breakfast, then we need to set out! She also said we can get some of the yummy sweets before lunch if we can arrive early enough. So no more sleeping!”

“S-sure. Let me get up then Lily, if you keep pushing me down, I won’t be able to get ready,” said Aiden while patting Lily’s back.

Lily with a cheerful “Ehehehe”, got up, and ran out of the room, back towards the kitchen from where she came from when Granny mentioned that Aiden was waking up.

Smiling at the bolting blondie, Aiden finally left the bed, and after a fast breakfast, they packed up the potions, and with 3 large bags filled, Lily and he was waiting for Granny outside the house.

While waiting, Aiden was focusing on his map, to see the course of action their new ‘friend’ would take. When they left the hut, Aiden sneaked a glance towards the tree where the blimp was located only to see nothing unusual on top of its branches. He had to admit that whoever or whatever that blimp was that was keeping an eye on them, it was really patient, as it hadn’t moved an inch since its arrival yesterday.

‘Enya, just to be sure, there were no updates from yesterday? Did you find anything new out?’ he asked inwardly. Even if the guest could have escaped from his attention, there was no chance to slip past the detection of an entity like the system.

[No Aiden, the figure has not made any movement or action at all. The system analysis could not be completed for the time being but from the current progress being halted at 40%, the information it could gather so far was that it is a humanoid, and based on its posture and figure, most likely a female. It or I should say she is masking her presence along with her power level, so until it comes out of the shadows, the system cannot provide more information.

Her intent is still neutral, and seems to be only monitoring, probably gathering information.]

‘I see. Thanks for all the information that you could gather so far. I couldn’t even imagine myself without you!’ Thanking the system for the information it provided to him, he looked back towards the house, where the jam-packed figure of the elderly lady appeared on the doorstep. She had a backpack along with 2 bags filled to the brim with potions, while Lily and himself only had 1-1 small baskets.

“Let me help you carry some of that Granny.” he ran to him, and forcefully plucked the 2 bags from her hands, earning a sigh along with a gentle smile.

She rewarded his consideration with a few head pats as she gently thanked the boy. “Thanks, Aiden. I appreciate it, dear!”

Looking at him, and while her face still had her trademark gentle smile, her voice was stern this time. “Okay, so Lily already knows this, but when we get to the city gates, be close to me, and let me speak. Be calm, and don’t show any aggression. They will need to get you a temporary pass and the guards tend to charge extra for that. We should avoid trouble, and just pay the price without causing any problems, got it?”

Aiden nodded in confirmation without listening much as he was still lamenting about whether to inform them about the guest or not. Neither options were inherently good or bad choices, there were positives or negatives to it. However, in the end, as he decided to at the very least let Granny know about it, he looked up to her, and with a low voice, he gave voice to his decision.

“We have a guest watching us since yesterday’s dinner. I have not told you about it, as there was no hostile intent coming from its direction. I haven’t told you then, because I wasn’t sure about its intentions, but since yesterday, it hasn’t moved, and just kept a close watch on us.”

Without any change in her facial expression, she finished patting his head, and with a curt “I understand, thank you”, she made his way to Lily.

“Let’s get ready, if we can get into the city early, we can get some extra sweets before lunch from Mr. Norton! Come Aiden, let’s go!”

—

As the trio’s figure vanished into the treeline, number 3, who was tasked with monitoring them, also moved. Keeping her presence hidden, she soundlessly and agilely jumped from branch to branch, crossing the distance atop the thick treeline.

While she still couldn’t really understand the need to monitor this solitary-family in the forest, it was not something she should question. The Grandmaster’s orders are absolute, there’s no place for doubt in the ranks of the organization. Especially, when you finally prove your worth and earn your number and become an official Executor of the Grandmaster’s will.

Being in the ranks of the Executor’s was of the highest privilege, as it not just proved your worth and dedication, but it was also a testament of your power. There could be only 12 Executors in the Organization at a time, so becoming one, and earning your number earned both respect and awe in the lower ranks.

As an Executor, they mostly had to do espionage, infiltrate governments, armies, and anything of strategic value to the Grandmaster. Orders for assassinations were rare, but there were some cases, where a job that was about monitoring an individual later evolved into an assassination.

While she herself did a number of assassinations previously, it was always against targets that she also thought that deserved their end. Corrupt politicians, generals with their own nefarious agenda, slave traders… all of the targets that she received were always people that she could agree to, stand behind the decision.

This time, however, her target for observation was a family of 3 in the depths of the forest. The elderly lady seemed to be an ordinary alchemist, while the blonde girl was just a half-breed. Although their kind was sought after as slaves, it was not something they usually would send an Executor out for.

The boy was the main target that she had to keep a watch on, but besides the momentary glimpse in her direction earlier today, he had not showcased any action that was worth the invested time and effort.

The Grandmaster also ordered to keep monitoring the boy until new orders were given and provide weekly reports, which were also hinting that this gig will be going for an awfully long time.

As a short sigh escaped her lips, she jumped to the next branch as she kept her pace with the trio, who was closing on the nearby city gate where 3 other Executors were already gathered.