“You pop into our building promising miracles?”

  The room, which was already ablaze with doubt and speculation, only grew more dense upon hearing Monsour’s initial words. The pink-haired vulpur cleared his throat, smiling as he parted his bangs. Behind his bangs were a pair of light-red eyes that flickered.

  “Yes, there’s other agents within the Agricultural District producing a serum that can work miracles on your food. Earlier today, I heard they made a pea the size of a watermelon—or was it an apple?”

  The pawnbrokers sitting amongst the rows and rows of seats all exchanged subtle glances, but they didn’t turn away from Monsour for more than a few seconds. At this moment, Monsour pulled out a singular piece of paper, holding it up for the others to see.

  “I’m not entirely sure of the literacy rate of this kingdom, but within the lines on this paper is a deal crafted over restless nights, and forged from the depths of the vulpur mind—a mind running amok with financial knowledge and precision beyond the scope of your imagination.”

  “Why should we take a deal from a tail-back like you?” One of the pawnbrokers, a plump woman with a silk dress, shot up from her chair and spat angrily.

  Monsour remained still, a sly smile creeping up the corners of his lips. He opened his mouth, running his furry fingers along his tongue, gathering enough saliva to moisten a spot on the paper—the line where his name would be signed in agreement with the opposite party.

  “Put the meaningless and dogmatic hatred aside for once, and open your eyes; you must have to grasp the situation in order to achieve balance. After all, the answer to every problem can be found within itself.”

  The women clad in the silk dress didn’t step down, instead, she only insisted further. “We must hear this deal if we are to agree with it. If it's faulty, and all the lines are scorched with lies and deception, we’ll set fire to your kingdom like the centuries of old!”

  Monsour’s eyes flickered with crimson as his smile vanished. His grip on the piece of paper tightened fractionally, the sounds of it crinkling echoing through the room.

  “I instruct you to remain silent now.” His voice was dual-tone, one half was his own, the other unknown.

  The woman instantly shot down back into her seat, huffing as she crossed her arms. Even from a distance, Monsour could see the hesitance and fear slowly growing within her expression.

  “Now, allow me to go over the details, shall you all be silent and this’ll end smoothly. I hope by the time I’m done, a deal has been enacted… you will lose your empty mouths, and use gold coins as paperweights."

  …

  A mere few hours after he had made his declaration, Emperor Katsuki wasn’t surprised to see the sheer quantity of people lining up in the palace for this miracle. He looked at the countless bottles of growth serum, and he couldn’t help but sigh to himself and nod to the first person in line. A woman, standing beside her two kids, stepped forward.

  Emperor Katsuki immediately noticed the fear in her gaze. Her body trembled as she slowly ushered her two children behind her back. Katsuki’s eyes softened as he stepped down from the throne, chuckling.

  “No need to be afraid of your own ruler.”

  The creaking and groaning of his armor only seemed to unsettle the children even more, as they practically sank into their mothers body. When they began to whimper, Emperor Katsuki looked down at his attire and silently grumbled to himself. He reached for his gauntlets, wrist guards, even down to his boots and chestplate, removing them all in succession.

  Even the entirety of his armor had been stripped, revealing his starkly contrasting clothing underneath. Unexpectedly, it was a habit of his to wear his nightwear under his armor when the weather got cold. Looking at the pile of armor in the corner, he cleared his throat.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Close your ears, please, all of you.”

  Everyone in the room habitually covered their ears. Emperor Katsuki opened his mouth, but before he could yell, the side door leading to the throne room opened. Demetruis, clad in servants attire, shuffled into the room and bowed before Katsuki.

  “I didn’t want to make the people fret.”

  “I see,” Emperor Katsuki acknowledged. Without wasting another moment, he pointed to the stacked armor on the floor.

  “See if you and your friends can clean that up.”

  Demetruis scurried over to the armor on the floor, groaning with effort as he heaved it all onto his shoulders. His knees trembled like twigs in a hurricane as he stumbled out the door. When Emperor Katsuki heard the sound of Deemtruis’s sudden grunt, followed by the armor falling all over the hallway, he chose to ignore it.

  “Don’t mind him. Now, show me what you have for me.”

  The mother and her two children swiftly obeyed like they had revolvers pointed to the backs of their skulls. Reaching into their bag, they took out a singular piece of bread. It was dried up, bordering on expiration and filled with traces of dirt and grime.

  Emperor Katsuki didn’t know what to say at first. Though, his stomach plummeted to the soles of his feet. Stifling a gasp, he cleared his throat again and smiled softly. He leaned down, picking up one of the potions of growth serum and unscrewing the lid. The mother and her two children watched with rapt attention as a singular drop of the serum touched the surface of the bread.

  A tide of ocean-like energy engulfed the surface of the bread, making it radiate with powerful light. In an instant, an entire loaf of bread manifested from the ‘tide’ of energy. It looked just like new, like it had been baked in an oven mere minutes ago. The people in line all audibly gasped, some covering their mouths in awe, while others simply broke down.

  Dogs wagged their tails, and young children already began chatting excitedly with their parents, who told them to remain quiet out of respect.

  Upon seeing the liveliness and response to his action, Emperor Katsuki internally chuckled to himself. As the mother and her two children departed with their newly manifested loaf of bread, another person stepped forward. He was a scrawny man with a pet dog.

  Before Emperor Katsuki could attend to this man, the side door on the other end of the room opened. Out walked a figure—a man. He had green hair and freckles peppering his cheeks. Emperor Izuku. Katsuki’s eyes widened as he shot up from his throne like Izuku had an armed rifle pointed to his skull. All the citizens in the room turned to Emperor Izuku, all watching with rapt interest.

  Emperor Katsuki stormed over, taking Izuku by his shoulder. “What the hell are you doing? Go back to bed and rest; I need to figure out your issue and cleanse you of it.”

  “Relax, Katsuki,” Izuku said softly as he lowered the hand on his shoulder, squeezing it in his palm.

  His dark-green eyes remained placid like a moss-covered bog as they fixated on Katsuki’s complicated expression. After a short moment, he smiled.

  “I was hoping we could walk together after you’re done with…” He looked past his friend, gazing at the seemingly endless line of people.

  “What’s all this commotion?”

  “Listen, there’s no time for talking. These people need me, they need us. And if you want to see them be happy, I strongly recommend going back to bed.”

  Izuku fell silent, staring at Katsuki with an indescribable expression. After a second or two, he nodded his head solemnly and headed out the door. Before he completely left Katsuki’s line of sight, he looked back at him one last time.

  “Though, I would've enjoyed a walk; it would've been nice to get back onto my feet.”

  The paff, paff, paff of Izuku’s slippers slowly drifted down the hallway, eventually leaving no traces of his presence in the hallways. Katsuki slowly let out a sigh and looked back at the man and his dog, smiling.

  “What’d you got for me?”

  The old man reached into his pocket, pulling out a singular apple. It was moldy and covered head-to-toe in holes, which upon closer inspection, were occupied by a myriad of different arthropods. Katsuki recoiled, his skin slithering beneath his nightclothes.

  “Damn…” He gawked, slowly grabbing the apple.

  He reached for the same bottle of serum, opening the lid and letting a singular drop fall into a hole in the apple. The moment the two collided, the surge of power engulfed the fruit’s surface, illuminating the entire thing in a ‘tide’ of radiant oceanic light.

  But within the apple, Katsuki’s brows furrowed as he saw something. One of the pests within it—a worm—began to mutate and change. Its pink slimy body gradually darkened, turning iron black. A pair of beaming crimson eyes appeared on the end of its body, and sharp spines protruded from its pillowy flesh.

  “Get back!—” Katsuki could barely holler the command as he tossed the apple into the air.

  He conjured a spear of pure energy in his right hand, fists clenching taut as he threw it directly into the apple. The spear impaled the quickly growing worm, making it fall limp and fall out of the apple's core. It was now the size of a rattlesnake. The tip of the spear was stained with pink blood that ran down the hilt.

  The townspeople gasped, huddling together.

  “W-what… what was that in my apple?” The man’s hands trembled as he held his dog back, who saw the mutated worm as nothing more than a flesh-covered biscuit.

  “A danger… Now, I believe this is yours.” Emperor Katsuki picked up a bushel of apples that had appeared, scattered across the throne room floor.