Chapter 89. Same story

Chapter 89: 89. Same story

"You prepared a banquet, but you’re here all by yourself? Haha, this is really funny," said Kai.

Duke Velhert gave a wry smile, then immediately replied to Kaileon’s question.

"That’s because I wasn’t sure you’d come, and look—you’d rather sneak off to explore the city than go out for a quiet meal at a restaurant. Hahaha, even though I was really looking forward to your arrival," said the Duke.

Upon looking again, no one else had come with the young Duke. This convinced Kai that the young Duke wasn’t lying, though Kai could still be wrong.

"In that case, this is truly a coincidence, because I’m very interested in this city. If you have time—"

"I have plenty of time, Kaileon, because I’ve also heard some very interesting things about you... especially about what you sell in your shop. By the way, I’ve already seen your shop in person, but you weren’t there. Oh, let’s talk, just the two of us," said the Duke.

When the Duke said he wanted to talk privately, Jo’s reflex was to hide Kai behind his body. Even though the Duke didn’t seem suspicious, asking to talk alone—especially when they weren’t in a closed room—was very risky.

Kai stopped Jo, signaling that he’d be fine.

"I’m going to take a walk with Duke Velhert; you guys can follow behind us," Kai said.

Jo stepped back along with Ricky. Kai handed them some steamed sweet potatoes, then walked alongside Duke.

Duke led Kaileon to a quieter spot so they could speak more freely.

"By the way, my name is Stevan Velhert. You can just call me Stevan—"

"I can’t. It’s impolite to address you by your first name alone," Kai interjected before Stevan could even finish his sentence.

Stevan chuckled, then said, "But cutting me off before I finished speaking is also impolite, Kaileon."

Kai, who had just realized his impolite behavior, apologized by bowing his head slightly. That was the imperial way of apologizing to someone older or more respected. It was a sign that he was sincerely apologizing or deeply regretful.

Stevan laughed even harder at the sight of Kaileon bowing slightly.

"Hey, you don’t need to be that formal with me—just relax, Kaileon. Oh, by the way, do you know a world called Earth?"

Kai’s eyes widened; he reflexively turned to look at Stevan at that moment.

Stevan, seeing Kaileon’s reaction, grinned. It seemed his hunch was right.

"Judging by your reaction, it looks like my suspicion is correct, huh? Have you been reincarnated just like me?" Stevan asked.

Kai swallowed hard. He felt nervous about the question. He didn’t know whether he should be honest or not.

[As long as you don’t say anything about the supermarket system, everything will be fine, master]

Since the system thought so, Kai decided to be honest with Stevan.

"That’s right, I used to be from Earth, but... how do you know about Earth?"

Stevan gave a faint smile, his eyes fixed on the artificial lake in front of them with a wistful gaze.

"Because I used to be from there, too. I still remember how I died—trying to save my little sister who had fallen into a swamp. I panicked when I saw a huge alligator approaching. I recklessly tried to save my sister, but unfortunately, I was the one the alligator bit. I don’t know if my body was eaten or not, but one thing’s for sure—I lost consciousness after seeing my younger sibling safe and carried away by my mother. I was in my early twenties back then."

Kai kept staring at the young Duke as he spoke; he looked deeply sad, disappointed, yet also nostalgic all at once.

"So..."

"My mother didn’t care about me and just kept walking away; she didn’t even look back at all when I was bitten. Hahaha, strangely enough, in this world, it’s actually my mother who loves me dearly. Even though my mother in this world passed away ten years ago, she managed to help me regain my will to live, and then build this small town..." muttered Stevan, his words audible only to Kaileon.

Kai himself didn’t understand why this young Duke was just telling him stories about his past like that.

"Haha, you’re probably wondering why I’m telling you all this, right? Look at this..." Stevan reached into his pants pocket, then showed Kaileon something.

Kaileon immediately recognized the object—it was a cute little reindeer keychain.

"Take a look at the bottom," Stevan said again.

When Kai looked at the bottom of the reindeer keychain, he saw some very small writing there.

Made in Korea.

"I used to work at that keychain factory right after I graduated from high school. I even made one for my little sister... exactly like that. And I found that keychain in your store... that’s when I realized that you must get the products you sell from somewhere in the world, right? Whether it’s China, Korea... and I—"

Stevan didn’t finish his sentence; he fell silent and tried to calm himself down. Then Kai interjected.

"Are you telling me this because you don’t have anyone else to talk to?" Kai asked.

Stevan, who had been looking sad, now chuckled softly. He turned to Kaileon and said,

"That’s true... you could say I was really happy when I found out. We can work together if you want... I know your reason for coming to the empire is to help your sister, right? Opening a shop in the empire... that’s pretty tough, but you’ve got me."

"Whoa, whoa, hold on! Why are you suddenly offering to help? I don’t want it if it’s just for free... it’d be more interesting if there’s something in return," Kai replied.

Stevan gave a slight smile and said, "The only thing in return is to be my friend and open a shop here too... and—oh, aren’t you trying to improve the economy in your region? Maybe my special magic can help you; I have a few special spells... and I know you do too. We can benefit each other, you know."

Kai extended his hand. "In that case, let’s work together. I’m just like you—I need someone to share stories with."

Using his detection magic, Kai was able to gather various pieces of information about Stevan Velhert.

Things like what skills he possessed, what special magic he was referring to... and even whether he could be trusted or not.

It was all listed there.

Kai was simply amazed.

How could someone with such incredible abilities still be a good person? After all, he had everything that could make him greedy and lead him to do evil.

All Stevan really wanted was a friend to talk to—exactly what Kai had wanted as soon as he entered Ardhez, the new world he now called home.

"So, what country are you from, Stevan?" Kai asked, by then starting to feel comfortable and at ease with Stevan. He’d already forgotten about their vastly different statuses and ages.

"Oh, you’re starting to relax around me? I like this... hmm, can’t you read the bottom of my deer keychain?" Stevan asked, holding up his deer keychain again.

"Korea? South Korea? Then what was your name before?" Kai asked.

"Sungchan. What about you—what was your name before?"

"My name used to be Kaiden, and I don’t know if I’m actually from a specific country or not. I mean, my face doesn’t really fit the Southeast Asian look—it’s more like a European’s... because I don’t know who my biological parents are. It’s possible I’m mixed."

Stevan was shocked to hear this. "You’ve never known who your parents are? And now you’re in Kaileon Arslan’s body? This is completely crazy! Didn’t your father not care about you...?"

Hearing that, Kai laughed awkwardly; he knew his story was truly heartbreaking.

"Now he’s starting to come to his senses and is becoming a father who cares about his children. At least now I have a father—that’s a bit of a relief for me... because in my previous life, I only had cruel adoptive parents."

"How cruel were your adoptive parents? Why would they adopt you if they were actually cruel?" Stevan asked.

Kai looked up, gazing at the dark sky dotted with stars and Lunez, which was shining quite brightly tonight.

"One thing’s for sure—I was adopted to be turned into a hitman."

Stevan was utterly shocked to hear all of this.

"What?"

"And I died because they killed me after I refused to kill a girl with Down syndrome..."

Stevan covered his mouth, so shocked by the unusual story from a young man who still looked so young.

Kai turned back to Stevan when he realized Stevan was just staring at him in silence, his eyes wide with surprise.

Kai laughed at how shocked the man was.

"I’m actually pretty happy to be here now... no one’s asking me to kill anyone else anymore, but it did give me some great hunting skills—hey, why are you staring at me with teary eyes? I—"

"We’re exactly the same, Kaileon... except that you have adoptive parents, but in my case, they’re my biological parents."