"Don’t call me ex-husband out loud in public," Luke said, looking around the street. Good thing no one seemed to have heard.

"You deserve it," Scarlett replied. "I waited for your text for hours, and...

Are you out of your mind?"

"What do you mean?" Luke countered.

"The academy is in chaos because of you. You’re the lowest-ranked student, yet you dismembered Chloe’s summon. Right now, everyone is trying to figure you out. Also, you’ve made more enemies, but your half-brother remains the main villain in your story."

Luke stayed silent. There wasn’t much he could say. Scarlett looked at him from head to chest.

"How are your wounds now, husband?" she asked.

"Still a bit sore," Luke admitted. "But they’ll be gone before the week is over."

While anyone could offer concern, Luke didn’t need to be told that Scarlett was sincerely worried about him. The Trump estate sat far from the city. You couldn’t just leave a place like that on a whim without truly caring.

"How did you manage to get out of your house?" he asked curiously.

"I lied that I was going to martial arts class," Scarlett admitted.

"On my part, I only sent you this location as a dare," Luke said. "I did not expect you to actually come to the slums."

"Well, I came because you are injured," Scarlett explained with slight anger. "I wanted to see what you were doing out here instead of resting properly. Now, explain what this little shop is."

"Isn’t it obvious?" Luke replied, polishing a sabaton. "Since my family kicked me out with nothing, I have to make a living. Otherwise, I’ll starve."

Really? Is that it?

Scarlett tried to speak, but her tongue was tied. The cause? Luke.

Much like Vivian, Scarlett asked herself how Luke wasn’t six feet under by now. He had been stripped of his status, cast out like trash, and severed from all resources.

A disgraced heir of that manner should have been weeping, begging for mercy, or drowning in despair. Yet, Luke did none of those things.

For the first time, she saw why her father had been so adamant about him being her husband, and she approved of the man’s foresight.

Luke watched her inspect his shop, trying to find the forging area, his blacksmithing tools, and other necessities.

"Do you actually know how to smith?" Scarlett asked. "Can you even make any money with this setup?"

"Careful, or I’ll charge you double," Luke teased, admiring her bossy beauty. "The armor I make here sells out instantly. People fight over it every day."

As they were talking, Amigo happened.

Scarlett’s gaze dropped to the crate, her finger pointing at a shell that had just appeared out of nowhere.

"Huh? Did I just see a live turtle?" she asked.

Luke coughed, trying to act like it was no big deal while simultaneously pushing Amigo back under the crate. "Oh, that? Yeah, it’s just a pet turtle I found by the river. He likes to hang around the shop for scraps."

But Scarlett was already suspicious.

"Hey, I don’t think that’s a regular turtle," she said, grabbing Amigo’s shell and lifting him to eye level.

Caught off guard, Amigo’s heart raced. He tried to act like a dumb, ordinary turtle to fool her, but it was as if she was the one with the All-Seeing Eye.

Scarlett stared at the strange shell, which looked nothing like any ordinary turtle shell found on the market. Meanwhile, Luke’s heart ran a marathon.

"Tell me the truth, Luke," Scarlett said, holding Amigo in the air. "Did you secretly awaken a beast?"

Luke remained silent, desperately trying to think of a quick excuse.

"Hmmm. If you don’t tell me the truth right now, I am going to drop this turtle onto the floor," Scarlett threatened.

Luke looked at Amigo. Technically, a drop from that height wouldn’t even scratch him because of the armor. Luke was fully prepared to maintain his lie, but Amigo immediately gave himself away.

What a coward!

"Wait, wait! Don’t drop me! Miss, please don’t drop me! Master, save my life!"

"Oh, Luke..." Scarlett whispered in shock, realizing he had actually awakened a beast behind everyone’s back.

************

By 7 PM, Luke had sold off all his armor, counting up a profit of 72,000.

Scarlett sat on a chair nearby, having stayed with him the entire time just to see how profitable his business really was.

Her original plan had been to convince her father to take him in, but Luke had just proved he was independent and didn’t need anyone’s charity.

To his relief, she had taken the news about Amigo better than he could have ever hoped. In fact, she and the turtle had already become friends.

"Luke, you are going to turn the academy on its head when they realize you aren’t weak," Scarlett said.

Deep down, she couldn’t help but feel that their dream of becoming a power couple was still alive.

Luke smiled warmly, but he didn’t say much as he closed up his workshop.

Buzz. Buzz.

His phone suddenly vibrated in his palm, and a new message flashed on the screen.

The sender’s identity sent a shiver through him. It was the leader of Team Blue Crow.

The message read: "We have managed to get a dungeon gate ready for you. Come to the meetup spot immediately."

Luke’s smile slowly fell to a frown.

Team Blue Crow had upheld their end of the bargain after all, but he wasn’t nearly as thrilled as he thought he’d be.

While it was great that level-up opportunities were rolling in so fast, the timing couldn’t have been worse. He was far from 100%, and in no condition to clear a dungeon tonight.

He quickly messaged back: "I am still recovering from practice today. We should just skip or leave this one for now. Let’s do it another day."

A few seconds later, the Blue Crow leader refused his request: "No. I already paid to secure this gate for tonight. I cannot afford to waste it. You must show up and clear it, or our deal is off."

Luke gripped his phone, his mind racing. If he backed out now, he would lose connection to his proxies. He had to figure something out, fast.

Then, his gaze drifted to Scarlett, and a brilliant plan formed. He would get her to clear the dungeon for him tonight.

"Can you give me a ride to a meetup spot?" Luke asked. "I am supposed to meet someone, but I can’t get that far."

"Sure. My car is right outside anyway," Scarlett agreed.

Quickly, Luke locked up the doors of his shop, and the two of them got inside her sports car.

"Have you ever cleared a dungeon before?" Luke asked as the vehicle glided over the streets.

"Of course I have," Scarlett answered, much to Luke’s surprise.

But it was understandable given her status. Even though it is illegal for an unregistered hunter to enter a gate, Scarlett was the daughter of the president, meaning those rules did not apply to her.

"My family routinely prepares beta-grades for me to practice," Scarlett narrated. "Although I haven’t single-handedly cleared one all by myself yet, I have plenty of experience dealing with them."

"Master, having her and her experience fight for us is way better than you fighting while injured," Amigo commented from a cup holder. "Let the lady handle it!"

That was when Scarlett realized what was actually happening.

"Wait. Are we going to clear a dungeon right now?" she asked.

Luke slapped his forehead, disciplining himself from squeezing Amigo to death.

"Yes," he answered. "Since I am injured, I need your strength."

Scarlett didn’t know what to say. Of course, she had to help him to prevent him from sustaining more wounds, so she kept driving, keeping her face flat.

However, she slowly became excited on her own, eager to show Luke how powerful she was.

〖Item: Female Hunter Mask〗

〖Description: Ideal anonymizing face armor for female humans〗

As they neared the destination, Luke forged a mask for Scarlett and handed it to her.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Put it on. It will hide your identity from the hunters we’re about to meet," Luke explained, donning the Molten Triceratops Mask.

Scarlett marveled at the perfect fit as she slipped it over her face. Moments later, the car arrived at the meetup spot.

The meeting point sat on a mountain ridge overlooking the cityscape, landmarked by giant letters that spelled out NEW FLORENCE across the hill. Under one of the letters, the headlights of a jeep cut through the dark.

The leader of Team Blue Crow watched from the driver’s seat.

"Damn rich bastard," he muttered under his breath when he saw the sports car. "Must be nice to play hunter with a silver spoon in your mouth."

However, the man’s scoff quickly turned to suspicion when two figures stepped out of the sports car instead of one. He became worried that Luke was trying to pull a fast one on his team.

"Who is the girl?" the man called out. "This wasn’t part of the deal."

"She’s my partner for the night," Luke answered. "You don’t need to know anything else about her identity. She will be doing the fighting."

The Blue Crow leader scoffed again but didn’t press further. His only priority was getting the dungeon cleared so he could recover his investment and pocket the profit.

"Fine," he said. "But if she gets herself killed inside, it’s not my problem. I’m not playing savior."

With that, the man rolled his window up and led the way down the mountain ridge.

Luke and Scarlett exchanged a glance before getting back into the sports car, tracking the jeep’s taillights for several minutes until they arrived at an abandoned airport.