"By the way, the lady also gave you a premium membership card. You'll get a 20% discount on all your purchases at the store from now on."
As he spoke, the shopkeeper pulled a card from the counter drawer and handed it to Hayden.
草
Even Hayden, with his vast experience and knowledge, was momentarily stunned by these words.
"Wait, so what's the current status of Andrei's marriage?"
Fortunately, he at least knows to focus on the most basic questions.
"You've rejuvenated, so he's not in a hurry to get married?"
This question made the orc scratch his face, finally revealing a somewhat strange expression.
"I guess so. Actually, Andrei's marriage has already fallen through."
what?
Mr. Sok finally sighed: "Madina's daughter never really wanted to get married. The young lady summoned her, had her run away from home, and started a business with her. So, of course, the marriage..."
what! ?
072: Dream Flower
Although Hayden was shocked by what the boss said, he still used the membership card that Karen had helped him to buy a large amount of medicinal herbs at an 80% discount.
If you can save money, you should. There's nothing shameful about it.
Even so, after leaving the store with his large bag, Hayden still had to face the harsh question – what should he do now?
Actually, if you think about it carefully, it doesn't seem to matter if he doesn't get involved.
The old shaman's herbal medicine shop is going to stay open, which is great news for Hayden. He even has a membership card now.
Karen stole someone else's witch's daughter and dragged her off to start a business. While this is certainly a bit ridiculous, honestly, it has nothing to do with Hayden, does it?
Hayden tries his best to help his friends, but he doesn't know the witches in the Magina family.
If Andrei and that girl were mutually in love, or even if it was just a one-sided crush, Hayden might have offered some assistance. However, in reality, even Andrei himself didn't want to get married. Why should outsiders meddle?
Upon closer examination, this marriage was fundamentally absurd because neither the engaged couple wanted to get married.
"but,"
Thinking this, Hayden muttered to himself on the street.
"It's still necessary to go and see what Karen is up to, just in case."
That's why, before leaving the herbal medicine shop, he was careful and asked the owner of the shop, Mr. Sok, for the address of Karen's "business" project.
Hayden didn't spend much time afterward; he first delivered the large bag of medicinal herbs he had bought home, told Angela what had happened, and then headed to Karen's so-called "business" location to find out where she had opened...
...Heaven knows what that is.
Even though he had prepared himself mentally, Hayden was still dumbfounded by what he saw.
It was a shop located on a main street in the city center. Although the location wasn't as grand as a major thoroughfare, it was still considered a very good commercial area. Moreover, the two-story shop was as large as an entire supermarket, so you can imagine how much rent it cost.
However, these were not the main reasons that surprised Hayden.
"………flower shop?"
That's the key point.
For some reason, the shop was surrounded by flowers, and all sorts of different kinds. Hayden was skilled in potions and knew most of the plants that could be used in magic, but even he could only identify a few of them at a time—roses, chamomile, lavender, geraniums, jasmine, henbane… Flowers from different seasons and regions almost overwhelmed the shop entrance, a dazzling array of colors that attracted people's attention.
Such vibrant and dazzling energy is almost too much in this steel city, so much so that even ordinary pedestrians can't help but turn their heads to take a second look.
Besides, there was a witch standing at the entrance of the shop. She wasn't wearing a black robe or a pointed hat; her brown hair was tied in a ponytail, and she wore a white top and blue cotton trousers. She also had pink nail polish with a touch of gold glitter on it. She looked to be in her early twenties, seemingly just a fashionable college student working part-time. She greeted customers with a big smile, and her teeth were white and even.
But Hayden had dealt with far too many shady things, and recently he'd become quite familiar with Abigail. So, just from the smell of medicine on her, he suspected she was a witch.
How many witches are there in New Yatu? Perhaps even the gods themselves don't know. But Hayden could at least guess who this witch was—clearly, she was the daughter of the current generation of the Magina Magic House, who had been taken away by Karen.
He remembered that Eric had mentioned her name was something like "Juliet".
He looked up again at the shop's facade. Amidst the vibrant flowers, a large, boldly written signboard displayed the shop's name:
【Flower Magic Workshop: Dreams】
...Could this thing really be a flower shop?
Just then, an old lady walked up to the shop entrance, looking around suspiciously. Hayden simply found a corner to hide in and observe the situation.
"What are you looking for, sir? How about these Holy Star Lilies over here? Their fragrance has a magical power to uplift your mood and dispel worries!"
Sure enough, the witch immediately greeted her with a big smile and began to act as a salesperson in a very professional manner.
"But this is very expensive."
The old lady looked at the price list and hesitated.
"These are all unique varieties cultivated by our store manager himself, so they're naturally more expensive. Or how about those geraniums over there? They're not only adorable, but they also have the effect of slowing down skin aging and protecting the liver."
Finally, the old lady bought two potted plants and a bottle of lemon balm essential oil with antioxidant effects, and left happily.
In this way, Hayden could roughly understand it.
Such a large store certainly didn't only have the witch as an employee; there were other staff members serving customers or pruning trees. But Hayden observed carefully and noticed that all the employees were young women, dressed in a light and pretty manner, their clothes adorned with plant and flower patterns. Even the back-of-house staff who were moving goods around were no exception.
By the way, judging from the patterns on her clothes, the young witch seems to be a manager.
So Hayden walked into the store like any other customer and began to carefully examine the various items on the shelves. There were ordinary fresh flowers, of course, but also artistically designed bouquets. In addition, there were essential oils, perfumes, cosmetics, skincare products, and even nourishing snacks made primarily from various flowers.
Fresh flowers, bouquets, and almost everything related to flowers.
Hayden even saw some things among them that horrified him. For example, there was a flower essence made primarily of juniper flowers, with unknown additives; adding a portion to bathwater daily was said to slow down the aging process. The most expensive one could even reduce the user's aging rate by half!
In other words, theoretically, as long as you add this flower essence to your bath water every day, you can live twice as long as a normal person.
And its price, no matter how high... is obviously not as expensive as the Rejuvenation Potion!
After looking around, Hayden understood.
It’s obvious that this is not just a flower shop, but you could certainly call it one – they sell everything related to flowers, so doesn’t that make it a flower shop?
It's no exaggeration to say that this [Flower Magic Workshop] is the ultimate form of a flower shop!
That's why Hayden found this matter particularly strange.
Karen's talent and skill in potions and alchemy far surpassed Hayden's. He had known this since college, and today was simply another testament to her genius, nothing to be surprised about.
However, no matter what, a flower shop like this is obviously not something that can be opened in just half a month... But then again, perhaps Karen had long been planning to break away from the Mitra Group and start her own business, opening a shop like this.
Hayden rubbed his head, realizing this was actually quite frightening. Karen seemed strong-willed and unable to keep secrets, but she might actually have a lot of wicked ideas up her sleeve.
He went over to the counter and said to the witch, who was probably named Juliet, "I need to see Karen. Is she in the shop now?"
Upon hearing this, the young witch gave Hayden a strange and confused look before replying, "I'm sorry, it's not convenient for us to inform unrelated customers about the shopkeeper's current whereabouts."
Interesting. Is Karen so cautious that she even keeps her whereabouts a secret?
“Tell her that a man named Hayden is looking for her. Karen will be willing to see me.”
Hayden said so.
But the young witch manager still shook her head: "I'm sorry, sir. We can't bother the manager all day with such a reason."
Damn, why is it so complicated?
If Hayden had been stopped like this elsewhere, such as in a gangster's shop, he probably would have immediately started casting spells to blow up the ceiling or hacking into the server—Hayden's hacking skills and confidence had become somewhat inflated since he acquired Alastor's knowledge six months ago—but this was Karen's newly opened shop, and he was there to meet friends, not to cause trouble.
Damn it.
Looking at the serious-looking young witch in front of him, Hayden couldn't help but mentally complain, "How come Eric's ex-girlfriend is such a troublesome person?"
...Hmm? Ex-girlfriend?
A thought flashed through his mind, and Hayden suddenly had a brilliant idea. With a wave of his hand, he began to spout nonsense: "Just tell Karen that her ex-boyfriend came to see her, and she definitely won't blame you."
The young witch's eyes widened instantly, reaching the size of teacups: "Huh? Ah!?"
Needless to say, the little witch wouldn't say she didn't want to bother the shopkeeper with that excuse anymore. In fact, Hayden's actions had actually piqued her curiosity. Juliet immediately pulled out her phone and urgently contacted Karen. Two minutes later, she looked up again, a puzzled expression on her face, and said:
"The manager said, 'Let us beat you up first, you bastard who's spouting nonsense, before we take you in to see her.'"
See! This trick really works, doesn't it?
————————————————————————————
In any case, these shop assistants couldn't possibly beat Hayden up; in fact, they couldn't. So soon, the young witch led Hayden toward the flower shop's staff area.
"This is the first time I've seen the store manager react like this. What exactly is your relationship? Are you really ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend?"
Juliet asked curiously, her eyes sparkling with gossip.
So Hayden nodded: "Yes, yes. Karen is my ex-girlfriend."
The young witch's eyes practically shone with excitement upon hearing this. Why was she so thrilled?
In any case, thanks to Hayden's colossal lie, the witch immediately led him to where Karen was. Surprisingly, it was neither the reception room nor Karen's office.
Juliet actually led him to a laboratory located in the basement of this flower shop.
"Don't spout nonsense and make up stories for my employees. Why haven't you improved at all?"
In the spotless laboratory, Karen, dressed in a white lab coat, stared at the monitor screen on the wall while muttering complaints without turning her head. The complex machinery around her didn't need detailed explanation; even a layman could tell they were definitely not cheap.
Hayden hadn't seen Karen in her lab coat in the lab since graduating from university. Seeing her again today filled Hayden with mixed emotions.
Moreover, the fact that she is now wearing a white lab coat and conducting research in a private alchemy workshop also illustrates another point.
"Are you really quitting your job at Mitra Corporation?"
Hayden couldn't help but ask. It wasn't the most important question, but from the perspective of curiosity about important things, it was still of extremely high priority.
"Of course. This isn't something I did on a whim; I've been planning it for months."
Karen waved for Juliet to leave the room, then calmly replied,
"For the past six months I've been looking for a suitable opportunity, and in the end, fate delivered a great opportunity to my door. I'm really lucky."
She pointed to Juliet's back and gestured to Hayden.
Hayden understood Karen's meaning. For someone starting a business, other employees and talent are always invaluable. Juliet was both a traditional witch and an enhanced human, and her family used to be in the cosmetics and skincare business. Recruiting her would be an excellent opportunity for Karen.
Karen was able to seize this opportunity without hesitation, resign from her job, recruit people to start a business, and accomplish it all in one go. This shows her courage, which even Hayden admired.
However, that's only one aspect of the matter.
"The other things are fine. Your mood-boosting chamomile essential oil, heart-healthy rosemary ointment, and basil vitality tonic—they are certainly a little better than ordinary stuff, but not overwhelmingly better."
Hayden rubbed his hair and frowned.
"The only thing that baffles me is that flower essence that slows down aging—where did you get the formula for that? What about the ingredients? Are you sure there are no problems with sourcing and selling it? Won't the Mitra Group have a problem if they find out you have this formula? And where do you get so much money?!"
He bombarded her with questions, his tone revealing undisguised worry. Karen could tell, and surprisingly, a smile appeared on her face when she was asked.
“If I hadn’t solved those problems beforehand, how could I have opened the shop? Part of the initial capital came from my own savings, and of course, there were also loans.”
She said this with a calm expression.
"As for the flower essence that slows down aging, it is indeed a very important research result of mine in the past six months, but it is only a byproduct of my research on flower magic."
……what?
"Do you remember six months ago, when a terrorist organization called [Bo Xun] caused a lot of trouble in the city? At that time, they fought against the [Vajrapani] forces in the underground of the still abandoned industrial area."
Karen continued answering. She paused her work on the lab equipment and turned to face Hayden. Her eyes shone with a joy that Hayden rarely saw on her face.
"After that, the company pulled me over to jointly inspect the site. I initially thought it was just a waste of time, but it turned out to be very rewarding. In those dilapidated underground warehouses and sewers, I found things I had never seen before and never had before."
For some reason, these words gave Hayden an extremely ominous feeling: "Uh, what is it?"
"flower."
Karen answered crisply, gesturing to Hayden to show the monitor screen on the wall. The huge screen displayed the interior of a sealed glass box. The contents of the box appeared to be nothing but sludge, toxic fumes, and contaminated garbage. Even through the screen, one could almost smell the stench emanating from it.
"That eco-box has been sprayed with several common pollutants, which can be said to simulate the state of wasteland and industrial pollution areas. If you put a white mouse in it now, it will die in a few minutes."
Karen said,
"So, I'll add this to the ecosystem box now."
She tapped the keyboard lightly, and the laboratory equipment immediately placed a tiny flower seed into the sludge in the ecological box.