Chapter4-The First Customers

The words "Lovely brother" pierced Owen's chest like a sharp sword, stopping him in his tracks.

He took a deep breath.

Lovely brother?

Lovely brother!

Oh, God, even in his previous life, when Owen had 500 male friends and 20 female friends online, no one had ever called him "Lovely brother."

Of course, he had no other thoughts about this strange girl. It was just that this sudden form of address gave him a strange feeling of warmth and familiarity.

"No need to call me something so intimate. What do you need?" Owen asked, trying to maintain his calm exterior.

"Sorry, we just wanted to thank you," the older sister said. "We were unfortunately captured by a band of ruthless mercenaries nearby."

Ruthless mercenaries?

And nearby!

Owen trembled slightly—this was far too dangerous. He needed to move. Immediately!

"Fortunately, we ran into a ca(t)..." She paused, sensing the pressure again and quickly corrected herself, "a ca(ped) master, someone skilled and unknown. He dealt with the mercenaries and let us escape."

"So that's how it is," Owen sighed in relief, hearing that the ruthless mercenaries had already been dealt with.

"This place is so peaceful and beautiful; it really helped us regain our strength," the younger sister chimed in. "So we wanted to thank you for providing us a place to catch our breath."

These sisters were so polite and grateful that it made Owen feel a little embarrassed.

It seemed he had been overthinking things.

They must be good people.

"Well, since you're already here, why not come in and sit down?" Owen smiled. "I've run this pub for many years, and you could say you're my first customers."

He generously invited the two inside.

The sisters exchanged glances.

He truly was a hidden master.

Not only did he appear surprisingly young, but they couldn't sense any mana flowing through him, nor were there any visible signs of physical training. This could only mean one thing:

This mysterious master's power far surpassed their imagination.

He had reached a level where outsiders couldn't even gauge his strength.

With that realization, the sisters became even more cautious.

They remembered Lord Cat's instructions and did their best to treat Owen like an ordinary person, careful not to offend him. After all, powerful individuals often had strange quirks.

Compared to those powerful beings who liked to eat people or set things on fire, this master's quirk of pretending to be a normal person was downright adorable.

Owen had no idea what the sisters were thinking.

He was quite happy at the moment.

"Friday, turn on the air conditioning," he commanded as he stepped inside, "Open the curtains two-thirds of the way, light the ambient lights, and play some soft music—let's go with 'Summer Garden.'"

[Understood.] A slightly mechanical voice responded.

This wasn't the system coming back out of the goodness of its heart.

It was a mechanical butler Owen had created.

Over the past twenty years, Owen had often missed the conveniences of modern life, so when he built the pub, he installed many modern technological devices.

Some of these things were self-made from the knowledge the system taught him, while others were rewards from the system itself. In areas outside of magic equipment, the system wasn't too stingy.

With Owen's commands, a refreshing cool breeze flowed through the room, easing the heat and making the interior comfortably cool.

Then, the dark room lit up with warm, floating lights, neither candles nor flames, but more like hovering fireflies suspended in the air.

Soft music began to play in the background.

The sisters were startled, looking around but unable to find a hidden musician.

Owen's casual setup left their eyes wide with shock.

"Wow, this is incredible!" The younger sister couldn't help but exclaim. "Is this the legendary magic equipment? Such rare and expensive things, used so casually."

The older sister's thoughts were even more turbulent.

She could feel it the moment she entered.

The mana concentration here was unbelievably dense!

Even someone like her, who was virtually useless with magic, could feel the overwhelming magical energy.

"Alice, do you feel it?" The older sister tugged at her starry-eyed younger sister. "There's definitely a powerful magic formation here!"

"Mm-hmm, the mana concentration is at least ten times higher than outside," Alice replied. "I've heard the knights say that even the Duke's mansion only has three times the mana concentration of the outside world."

The two sisters exchanged glances and nodded.

"We must seize this opportunity!"

"We absolutely must follow Lord Cat's instructions and treat this master like an ordinary person. If he's happy with us, maybe he'll help us."

The older sister took a deep breath, forcing herself to relax.

She tried to think of the master in front of her not as a mighty lord, but as a newly acquainted friend, just as if she were visiting a friend's house, carefully observing everything inside.

What was that metal box that exuded cold air? It was filled with magical items, including strange blocks of ice.

And what about those oddly shaped metal vessels? The fact that they were carefully arranged by the master meant they must be powerful magic weapons.

Everything here was so novel.

Many things, the sisters had never seen before.

Owen, in the meantime, happily began preparing drinks for his guests, even wearing a faint smile.

Seeing that Owen wasn't stopping them from looking around, the sisters started to relax a little.

But then, the older sister's body stiffened, and she froze in place.

"This... this is mana surging!" Her breathing quickened. "How is this possible? There's a strange power rising inside me—could this be mana?"

"Big sis, I... I…" Alice excitedly grabbed her sister's hand. "I can feel mana! Ahhh!"

Their faces flushed red, and they bit their lips, trying hard not to scream.

As natural-born failures with no awakened mana core and no ability to use magic, this was the first time they had ever felt mana flowing through their bodies.

The feeling almost brought them to tears with excitement.

But no.

They had to hold it in.

They couldn't disturb the master over something this small!

The next moment, both of them felt something indescribable explode within them, as if something had awakened inside.

"My mana core!" The older sister's eyes turned red. "I've actually awakened my mana core! This isn't a dream, is it?"

"Big sis, is this real? Is this what it feels like to have a mana core?" Alice was equally thrilled. "But... aren't mana cores only supposed to awaken before the age of fourteen?"

They were both well past the age of fourteen.

"I don't understand why, but I'm certain this has something to do with the master."

The two sisters looked at Owen with immense gratitude in their eyes.

"Come over and sit down," Owen gestured toward the bar, "Feel free to pick any seat."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Alice couldn't help but bow deeply to Owen. "Thanks to you, my sister and I have awakened our mana cores."

"We will never forget your kindness!" The older sister said seriously. "I swear, we will repay you."

Owen, however, was utterly confused.

What was up with these two girls?

Since the moment they stepped in, they'd been overreacting to everything, looking at things with shining eyes. And so what if they'd awakened their mana cores? What did that have to do with him?

"Could it be that people here just love to express gratitude all the time?" Owen wondered. "That must be it. This is another world, after all. The customs are different. Fine, fine, if they like to give thanks, let them. When in Rome, right?"

He shrugged, quickly dismissing the thought and moving on.

"Alright, no need to be so formal." Owen waved them off and began preparing drinks.

"Yes, sir!" The sisters obediently sat down.

Now, in their eyes, Owen was the greatest and most amazing master of all time!

Just sitting in his house for a while, and their mana cores had awakened. Such a thing only ever happened in the tales told by bards.

It didn't matter what Owen asked them to do. Even if he told them to stand on their heads and imitate monkeys, they would have done it without hesitation!