The Supermarket System

Kai suddenly woke up from a nightmare. He was gasping for breath. His gaze darted around, and he realized he was already in his room, in the pavilion, and then—

Kai’s gaze locked onto the figure of a small wolf cub—resembling a cute puppy—fast asleep next to him on his bed.

It was clearly Jo, in his monster form, but with only a little of his power remaining. Indeed, a diamond-horned wolf monster like Jo could choose which form to use when transforming into a monster: the weak form or the strong form.

While the strong form consumed the most magical energy, making it dangerous to use continuously,

However, Jo’s current form was that of a wolf cub—even smaller than his normal small form. That meant Jo was weak after fighting all night. It made Kai feel guilty. After all, Jo had fought for him, even though those high-level monsters had suddenly gone on a rampage partly because of Kai himself.

Kai raised his right hand, looking at the fairy king’s ring on his index finger. Then he turned his attention back to the little wolf cub sleeping soundly.

So cute.

Kai scanned the area again, and his eyes landed on the young man he’d found unconscious in front of the treehouse. Rio.

Kai had only healed Rio’s wounds; he’d let the boy remain unconscious so he could sleep soundly and his fever would subside quickly. Another reason Kai let the boy sleep so soundly was... so he couldn’t run away.

Kai had to interrogate him.

"Young master—"

"Ssshhh!" Kai placed his index finger over his lips, signaling to Keith—who had come rushing in—to stay calm and not ask too many questions.

After Keith saw a young man sleeping on the sofa and a small wolf cub fast asleep, he signaled that he would wait for his young master downstairs.

Kai knew that Keith was already aware he had sneaked out last night with Jo. Keith had surely prepared all sorts of scoldings for Kaileon.

But for now, Kai would tend to Jo first, who had fought off a massive horde of high-level monsters the night before.

Last night, before Rio passed out, high-level monsters kept coming and were about to attack Kai and Jo. That’s why Kai hurriedly created a strong protective dome.

Thanks to that protective dome, not only Kai and Jo, but also the forest animals and even the weaker monsters were able to take shelter from them.

What Kai noticed last night was a pattern different from before. Specifically, only high-level monsters—or monsters ranked C and above—were attacking. Even then, they didn’t attack other creatures; they were solely focused on Kai’s location.

It was clear that they had been sent by someone hiding inside Rio’s body.

Kai didn’t know if that entity was still inside Rio’s body or had already left.

After healing Jo, Kai let him rest in his room and asked him to keep an eye on the boy named Rio, who was still asleep.

Kai then left his room to look for Keith.

It turned out Keith was waiting for him in the kitchen with Jean and Duke.

At that moment, Keith was cooking black-fire beef steak, and Jean was making coffee.

The three men were still relaxing when Kai joined them. But as soon as Kai sat down, he sensed that the atmosphere around him had taken a strange turn.

"How could you decide to go hunting in the forest with just one wolf cub? At the very least, you should’ve told Keith first—"

"You guys wouldn’t have let me go, and I was in a hurry... and I wasn’t hunting—those monsters came attacking, just like before, under the influence of black magic. But this time it didn’t come from the demon’s necklace, but from the demon itself. And I didn’t go without a reason—ow!"

Kai rubbed his head, which Duke Hendry Arslan had just smacked. Seeing his father’s serious expression, Kai shrunk back in his seat, still rubbing his throbbing head.

Duke Hendry’s strength was not to be underestimated, even though he’d only given his son a light tap on the head.

"Don’t you feel guilty, Kaileon? Look at Keith and Jean—they’re in a bind because of you. I think I overestimated you; I mean, you’re still just a kid. I thought you’d act more mature than this. Dad knows you must have a goal, but what if things don’t go the way you want them to? There are many possibilities, and you’re too confident in your meager strength."

Kai really did hang his head at that moment, feeling guilty—but at the same time, he didn’t.

Oh, Duke was right about Kai still being a kid—not as mature as Duke had thought.

Well, the system had already told Kai earlier that his mental age would decline along with his actual new body age. But Kai never acted his age; he just did whatever he wanted.

It was true—Kai hadn’t thought things through this time. He was wrong.

"Pardon me, everyone. I was wrong this time," Kai said afterward, in a tone that made it clear he truly felt guilty.

Duke gently patted Kai on the head, then laughed.

"Good. A real man doesn’t run from his mistakes. You were able to admit your mistake, and I’m proud of you. Now, tell us—what was your purpose in going into the forest, and how did you end up getting attacked by those high-level monsters?" Duke asked.

Kai nodded, then began his story from the beginning, explaining that he was searching for the fairy king’s ring, which he could sense was somewhere in the forest. In this part, Kai was lying—but it could also be said he wasn’t exactly lying.

Afterward, Kai admitted that he’d taken Jo into the forest using a teleportation spell he’d accidentally mastered.

Kai explained that the fairy king’s ring required a magical plant to summon it, so he told Jo he only needed that plant. From there on, Kai recounted the events exactly as they had happened.

A heavy silence fell after Kai finished his story. Thirsty, Kai reached for a glass and poured himself some fresh water to drink.

"You said the fairy king’s ring, young master?" asked Jean, who couldn’t wait to ask his young master many questions.

Kai then showed them the fairy king’s ring on his index finger.

They were surprised to see the ring.

It was indeed the fairy king’s ring, as Duke and Jean had read about it before.

The fairy king’s ring was like a legendary artifact that was nearly impossible to find. However, they weren’t at all surprised that Kaileon knew about it, since he still had fairy blood from his mother.

"What do you plan to use the ring for, if I may ask, young master? Because you really shouldn’t misuse it," said Jean with a worried expression.

Kai smiled broadly and replied, "Don’t worry, I’ll only use it to summon the plant fairies. There are so many trees around the pavilion that it’s practically a forest, right? I’m going to clear part of that forest to make it the Duke’s private garden, and then I’ll ask the plant fairies to help me grow vegetables, fruits, and flowers," said Kai.

The Duke laughed upon hearing this; even after being scolded, Kai was already cheerful just from sharing his brilliant idea.

The Duke reached out his hand again and ruffled his son’s hair, showing just how proud he was of him.

"You’re really hard to figure out, Kaileon. Once you’ve successfully grown vegetables and fruits, will you teach the villagers how to cultivate them?" asked the Duke.

Kai was surprised to hear his father’s words. "Wow! How did you know? But that’s a plan for later. The main thing is how we can produce plenty of high-quality vegetables. Our land is tropical with many volcanoes, which means it’s incredibly fertile. It would be a shame to use it only for growing wheat. Then, when I harvest later, I’ll sell them to the villagers at a low price. Well... we can figure that out later. What’s certain is that I want to set up a vegetable and fruit farm first."

The three men smiled, seeing how brightly Kaileon beamed as he shared all his plans for the future. This made the Duke realize that Kaileon was far too capable to be merely a nobleman’s son.

Simply because he was the son of a concubine, Kai couldn’t inherit his father’s title. This also made the Duke realize once again that Kai was indeed a threat to the Duchess, who was extremely ambitious.

"In that case, we just need to interrogate that boy, right, young master?" asked Keith.

Kai then remembered that Rio was still in his room.

After a moment, Kai led Keith to his room, and when they opened the door, a shocking sight awaited them there.

It was Jo in human form, and he was stopping Rio, who was trying to escape through the bedroom window.

Keith hurried to help Jo restrain Rio. Meanwhile, Kai was still shocked by Jo’s changing appearance.

As far as Kai could recall, the blood contract was only supposed to grant Jo a slight boost in power from Kai.

However, it had caused a major change in Jo’s physical appearance in his human form.

It wasn’t just that his ears had turned into human ears, or that his tail was gone. Jo’s body had changed drastically—he was a few centimeters taller, and his arms looked more muscular. His black hair had turned silver.

His baby-faced features were also beginning to take on a more mature appearance.

How could that happen to Jo just from gaining a little power from Kaileon?

Meanwhile, Kaileon didn’t undergo such drastic physical changes, except for a slight increase in height.

Kai still retained his childlike physique and cute face.

Damn it.