260 Chapter 178: Lunch

"Hum~ La la la~ La la~ La la la~"

Inside a rather large bathroom, in a white ceramic bathtub full of hot water, a naked young man was singing.

The man had a huge smile on his face, his face was shining and it seemed that a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders.

"La la~ lalala~"

His voice was quite good, and had a certain smoothness and softness that would attract quite a few women, single or not.

"La la~ La la~ Larala.." the man finished singing while letting out a sigh.

He looked up at his beautiful ceiling, personally decorated by one of the best artists in the last 30 years, and sighed again with pleasure.

'Finally... I'm finally an Apothecary!' He thought in ecstasy as he looked down at his body.

He ran his hand through his hair and before his eyes, an aura appeared all over his body.

There was a decent amount of various colors, greens, reds, blues, oranges, yellows, etc.

Although he did not understand very well the reason for the colors, thanks to the knowledge brought by the potion he knew what the colors were and represented.

'Each color is the health and state of my body, the lighter the healthier and the darker the worse...' he thought, surprised with himself as he looked at his hand that glowed a brilliant lime green.

His entire body glowed with health.

The smile that was on his face grew with pride.

He looked to his side and through the steam, he pictured a standing Adryan.

This Adryan looked embarrassed and shy.

Glaint's smile turned patronizing and he rested his head in the palm of his hand as he ran a hand through his hair again.

'See Adryan? I did it by myself without your help! Now I am a true Beyonder!' he mentally exclaimed as he used his hand and splashed Adryan's illusion and it disappeared.

At this, Glaint laughed proudly and arrogantly, he sank further into the water.

"You won't be able to bully me like you've been doing all this time... Now I can protect myself..."

With his new knowledge of making potions, he would now be able to defend himself and even exact revenge on Adryan.

'It looks like he takes great care of his hair... I wonder how his reaction would be if one day he wakes up bald!'

He thought evilly while laughing under the water generating bubbles.

Knock knock.

Before he could continue his evil thoughts, someone knocked on the bathroom door snapping him out of his fantasy.

Glaint frowned and looked annoyed at the door.

"What?!" he exclaimed as he stood up until his torso was out of the water, his torso was not muscular but it was healthy, he had a very decent lady's hips and the coconut oil left his skin glowing.

"Master Glaint, we have to leave in an hour if you wish to be on time for lunch with Master Dutch." Alfred's calm voice sounded from behind the door.

At the mention of his friend, Glaint's expression softened and he sighed.

"I'll be out in a few minutes, get my clothes ready Alfred."

"As you wish, Master Glaint." Alfred responded and left to fulfill the request of the noble viscount.

Alone again, Glaint could only sigh and sank back into the water.

....

Wilson Mansion. Dining room.

At a long table, seated facing each other, were Dutch and Glaint.

In front of each them was a plate.

On this plate there was a juicy piece of rib in wine, still with the bone, it was accompanied by creamed potatoes and a glass of fine wine.

"Thank you for accepting my invitation Glaint. I know it was sudden and you're busy but I appreciate you coming." Dutch said gratefully, a small smile on his face.

Glaint returned the smile and shook his head.

"It's nothing my friend, these last days I haven't had much work so coming here wasn't a problem."

"Besides, you know I can't turn down your chef's prime rib."

Dutch raised an eyebrow gracefully and snorted slightly.

"You're only here for the food." He teased and Glaint snorted back.

"If that's your image of me, you offend me Dutch."

When Glaint said that, he laughed followed by Dutch.

While they both laughed, Glaint took advantage and took a better look at his friend.

'He seems to be better than last time... But I cann't tell... I'm not a Psychiatrist...'

Thanks to the ability brought by the potion, he could detect evils in people's bodies without using his special vision.

But ever since he'd seen Dutch, other than his pale skin there was nothing wrong with him.

It could even be said that he was healthier than Glaint!

Glaint noticed at first glance that his friend's body was quite strong and very healthy.

'But how much... If only I could know...'

An idea struck him and he gave himself an imaginary slap.

'But I am an Apothecary! If I use my special vision I can see it!'

Determined, he took advantage of the fact that he was laughing to take a hand to his hair and run a hand through it.

But before the movement was finished, Dutch shook his head and looked at him with a small smile.

"Tell me my good friend, what have you been doing these days? Something interesting?"

At the mention of interesting, Glaint froze and realized something.

He still hadn't told Dutch that he was now a true Beyonder!

'How did I forget about that? There's no need to peek at him, if I tell him I'm an Apothecary now he'll let me analyze him all I want!' Glaint thought, feeling dumber than a Curly-haired baboom.

How did he forget to tell him that?

'Maybe I'm just distracted...'

Shaking his head, Glaint smiled proudly and put a hand to his chest.

"I'm glad you ask that my good friend! In fact I…"

A horrible chill went up his spine, so strong it was that he swallowed his saliva and couldn't finish.

His body began to shake and a cold sweat began to run down his back.

He lowered his head and looked at his left hand...

It was shaking.

'Why am I so cold?' Glaint thought confused and a little scared.

"Hey, Dutch? Aren't you cold..." his words died in his mouth as he raised his head.

His breathing stopped and his pupils shrank.

Dutch raised an eyebrow at his friend's question.

"Glaint. It's almost 27 degrees outside." Dutch replied confused.

He looked normal and there was nothing unusual...

But in Glaint's eyes...

He was a monster in human flesh.

He was barely able to control his body from reacting and he stayed glued to his seat, despite how much he wanted to run away and not look back, he stayed still.

'I'm going to die...'

'If I tell him I'm an Apothecary I'm going to die!' Glaint thought horrified as his back was now completely wet.

He didn't know where that idea had come from or why he was so scared, but he knew it was a reality.

The Dutch in front of him looked like a normal person but now Glaint felt that this was a mask to hide the monster under that human skin.

Fear was born in his stomach and coiled tightly, suffocating him like a snake.

The smallest mistake and he would die.

Knowing that he could not remain silent as this would risk his life, he gathered his courage and spoke, trying to hide his fear as best he could.

"I... I attended a Beyonder gathering yesterday afternoon!"

"Really? And how was it?" Dutch asked in surprise, his mouth hanging slightly.

"It was an incredible experience, the organizer had a very strong presence that I felt from where I was despite being more than 20 meters away from him." Glaint said with a shaky smile.

Dutch nodded showing an envious expression.

"You have to take me one of these days my friend."

"Maybe," Glaint said with an awkward laugh.

"The party is quite irregular and I will have to wait a long time to know the next one." He lied as best he could, praying to the Goddess that his friend... No... that thing would buy it.

At that, Dutch sighed in disappointment.

"Well, it will be the next one..."

Glaint gave a shaky smile but didn't comment.

Dutch then sighed and asked.

"Did you at least manage to get something?" he asked unhurriedly.

Glaint felt like a rope was wrapped around his neck, ready to hang him.

'He wants to know if I got the Apothecary formula!' Glaint thought in alarm, detecting the thing's intent instantly.

Controlling his fear and nerves, he responded trying to show as much annoyance as possible.

"I didn't get anything! There's no trace of the Apothecary formula no matter how hard I search!"

When he said that, Glaint felt his body relax and his nervousness completely disappeared.

It was as if that fear had never existed and it was all an illusion in his head.

'huh?' this change so unnerved made him felt lost.

'Was it all an illusion? All I felt was a game that my mind played? But it was so real...'

Trying to find an explanation, Glaint came up with the only answer he could find.

'It's the change brought by the potion... I didn't meditate enough...' He even still heard whispers every 3 hours.

'When I get home I'll meditate until I pass out' Glaint thought quite scared.

Adryan had told him about this whispers and how dangerous they were.

While Glaint was in his world, Dutch sighed and nodded.

"Someday you will find it, my friend, I'm sure of that. Just remember to tell me and maybe I can help you with a missing ingredient."

A small shiver went through his body, tiny compared to the previous one so Glaint didn't give it importance.

Smiling at his friend, Glaint returned the same question.

And Dutch, after taking a sip of wine, responded.

"Not much, I've been praying to the moon and talking to a few people about new business."

"What kind of business Dutch?" Glaint asked as he raised a bit of rib to his mouth.

"Hehe" Dutch chuckled and took another sip of wine.

"Business was the wrong word, the best thing to call it would be donation."

'How do you confuse business with donation?' Glaint thought but he didn't asked that but something else.

"And that would be?"

Dutch smiled as he lightly shook his glass.

"An orphanage."