The Supermarket System

Chapter 53: 53. Discussion

Kai hadn’t expected his father to be so worried about him so much, so that early that morning, when the clock still read half past three, his father came and took him out front to the pavilion.

At first, Kai complained because he felt very tired after the fairly long journey.

"Why are we here? It’s still cold out, father—"

"No, we can’t wait any longer; I have to teach you this right now. Because I have a lot of work, and I can’t work in peace—or sleep in peace—until I’ve taught you this: protective magic. This magic does require someone with at least pink-colored magical energy, and I think you’re perfect for it. Besides, you’re the target. I won’t be able to relax and work calmly until I’ve taught you, Kaileon."

Hendry was very serious at that moment, yet he also looked panicked at the same time.

Kai had seen Hendry panic before when he realized monsters could get near the pavilion, but this was more than that.

For some reason, Kai felt a sense of joy knowing that his father, Duke Hendry, cared about him like that.

After previously not caring about him at all, now he was starting to show concern for his family. Especially his children.

Not just Kaileon, but also Jessica and Justine. Even Jessica was very surprised by this. Suddenly, their father was acting like a real father.

Thirty minutes passed.

Kai couldn’t believe that learning magic from the ground up was so difficult. Up until now, the system had spoiled him by letting him buy everything he needed. Even though Kai bought them by completing missions, it was still too easy.

The foundation of magic is imagination; its fuel is magical energy; and it requires balanced energy management.

Kai already had all of that, but it still wasn’t easy.

In the end, thirty minutes was enough time to learn, even if it was just basic protective magic. Even then, Kai could only protect himself. He created a sort of defensive dome with his magic to protect himself. It extended one meter around him and lasted only ten minutes.

"Did I do it, father?" Kai asked, catching his breath.

Casting a major spell without eating first had completely drained Kai’s energy.

At that moment, Kai turned to look at his father’s expression, which he thought would be one of great satisfaction. But his father’s expression was actually quite neutral.

"That’s good for now. Keep practicing this spell until you push past your limits. Try creating a thicker defensive dome, because... hmm—here’s what we’ll do: try casting it again like you did just now, and I’ll attack you."

Hearing that, Kai was surprised, but he immediately recreated his defense.

Hendry attacked with just one spell—strengthening his body, especially his arms—then punched Kai’s defensive dome.

The dome shattered instantly.

"See? It’s very fragile."

Now Kai understood a few things. First, Hendry was indeed very strong; there was no denying that. Second, Kai shouldn’t be arrogant just because he could easily kill all those high-level monsters.

Physically and in several other aspects, Kai was still far inferior to his father.

As Kai pondered all this, he suddenly felt his father’s large hand on his head, ruffling his hair while laughing happily.

Kai looked up at his father, who was laughing. He then asked, "Why are you laughing, father?"

Hendry shook his head. "No, I’m very proud of you. You’re not like I was when I was young—back then, my emotional control was terrible. Well, maybe even now I still have a hard time controlling my emotions. But you’re different. You reflect on your mistakes like that, turning them into motivation to become even stronger without getting angry or feeling ashamed."

Kai was surprised to hear this. "father, can you read my mind?" Kai asked.

Hendry shook his head, then replied, "No... but I can read everything from that funny expression of yours, hahaha! That’s enough training for now. I’m already relieved, because I know you can improve the protective magic I just taught you on your own. Later, I’ll send you a book on protective magic so you can study it yourself. Now, let’s cook while we talk about all sorts of things."

"I want to tell you about what I experienced in Verdez."

"Hahaha, I’m looking forward to it, son!"

***

Kai recounted everything he’d experienced in Verdez. Hendry was very supportive of Kaileon’s efforts; in fact, he fully backed Kaileon’s decision to use the name Duke Arslan if he ran into trouble later on.

Hendry was also happy to provide financial support in the form of gold coins to ensure Kaileon’s efforts to boost Arslan’s economy would succeed.

However, the Duke mentioned one thing that would make things difficult for Kai in the future.

The Duchess.

Even though the Duchess had been proven to have brought poison to harm the Duke at that time, the Duke could do nothing about it. This was because the Duchess had the Queen and Princess Annabelle protecting her.

In fact, the Duke could not divorce the Duchess, because she had been chosen by the Queen.

To get rid of the Duchess, they would have to get rid of the Queen as well. Because both the Queen and the Duchess were two people who shared the same goal.

To rule over everything.

Then, the Duke also said that there was something strange about the war against the Demon race.

"Seeing your vision last night reminded me of this, Kaileon. This war against the Demon race is very strange. Because, actually no one remembers what triggered it. The Demon Kingdom claims that our kingdom started it first. Meanwhile, as far as we know, they were the ones who started it. Even King Eleflare finds this strange. He said it seems as though someone is pitting the two kingdoms against each other. Even though our Nagreize Kingdom defeated the Demon Kingdom, it still didn’t resolve the issue at all. Now, it turns out their prince is spying on you; he’s even deliberately provoking monsters to attack you. That’s very strange, Kaileon. That’s why I’m so worried about you."

Kai set a cup of warm coffee latte on the table in front of his father, then sat down beside him to enjoy his own drink.

"What do you think, Kaileon?" Hendry added.

Kai shrugged, gave a faint smile, and replied, "I don’t know. All we can do right now is build up our strength and find out more. We can’t be reckless, but we also can’t let our guard down. I don’t know for sure myself, but I think he’s just spying on me to see how strong I am. Maybe that’s it... and from what I’ve seen of him, he’s very strong, Dad."

Hendry nodded, then took a sip of his own coffee. The man remained silent for quite a while, as if deep in thought.

Kai continued speaking while his father stayed quiet.

"What I can conclude from him is that he can sense when I’m aware of his presence. When I wore the black pearl bracelet to ward off black magic so I could see his face clearly, it was as if he already knew I could see him."

Hendry nodded, "That’s right, not all demons are like that. Only the very powerful ones, or... maybe he’s just like you."

Kai furrowed his brow in confusion, "Like me?"

Hendry nodded, "Yeah, I mean—look at yourself. You’re full of surprises. All of a sudden, you were able to cast such a powerful detection spell. You also know that a black pearl imbued with great magical energy can ward off black magic... Do you think a normal person could do that? No, Kaileon, it’s clear you’re a genius."

At that moment, Kai could only remain silent and accept his father’s words as they were.

Because he couldn’t possibly argue with him and say that it was all thanks to the supermarket system he owned.

Let his father and everyone else think it was all thanks to his mother, who was half-fairy.

That morning, Kai had a mountain of work, which looked like it would be quite a hassle. But it all had to be finished before he left for the empire to help Jessica.

That’s finding plenty of suitable workers for his business.

Fortunately, the job posting had already been circulated before Kai got busy in Verdez.

And that day was the day he would select the right employees.

There were no specific requirements for the employees Kai would choose; he only asked that they be able to read and write and be willing to serve Kaileon Arslan.

Of course, the name Kaileon wasn’t exactly well-regarded, especially among the nobility.

Even so, it turned out that many prospective employees came to apply.

Keith and Raka had set up large tents on an empty lot right next to Kai’s supermarket.

No one expected so many applicants to show up, and many of them were the children of nobles.

For that reason, Kai needed something that could help him determine whether someone was trustworthy without expending too much magical energy.

Namely, a lie detector lamp.

It was a magical device Kai had purchased from the System Supermarket—or, more precisely, from the Magic Tower.

The expensive device worked perfectly. It would only light up when someone lied to it and would emit a loud sound when someone had malicious intent. The target didn’t even need to hold the device.

"I’m Farel, and I’m the second son of Viscount Zhamit. I’ve learned a lot about business from my parents, so of course I’m very—"

"Rejected!"

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