Sangji seemed a bit at a loss, while Aiven naturally patted his shoulder and joked with a smile:

"Someone here seems to have forgotten that the one trying desperately to prevent me from joining the military under Aunt Mary's name was you, wasn't it?!"

"Hahaha, really? I don't remember."

Sangji scratched his head, pretending to be silly, with the same clumsy demeanor as a year ago.

After all.

Who would have thought that the boy who insisted on joining the Kingdom Navy and was asking for information about the Navy Base and recruitment a year ago would have grown to such an extent today?

"By the way, who is this?" After the catching up, the sense of estrangement from not seeing each other for a year gradually faded, and only then did Aiven get the chance to inquire Sangji about the skilled woman standing behind the counter.

"Hehe, this is my wife Sharon, whom I talked to you about before you left. Oh, her home is in the West District, so you might not have met her before." Sangji proudly pulled his wife's hand as if a bit pleased.

At this moment, none of his previous shyness was visible.

'I already know you're not single anymore, no need to show off...'

Amusing himself inwardly, Aiven recalled that before he left for the military, Sangji mentioned to him that he was engaged to the tailor's daughter. Now, a year later, it's only natural that they got married.

"By the way!" Ignoring Sharon's shy pinch on Sangji's waist, Aiven pulled out a delicate silver pocket watch from inside his coat and handed it to Sangji with a smile.

"I wasn't in Leopold during your wedding, consider this a belated wedding gift."

"This? This is too valuable, we can't accept it." Even though he'd never owned a pocket watch, Sangji knew such a luxury item's worth and continuously declined.

"Take it. To ensure better quality in potion mixing, timing is key! Consider it an additional investment in your pharmacy." In fact, Aiven, at this point, didn't care much about the small store's annual profit of at most several dozen Golden Lions.

Thanks to the "Ocean Treasure" deal from the past, the vanilla manor in the Southern Continent brought him at least a thousand Golden Lions in pure profit annually. Moreover, as a captain with real authority, Aiven could surely gain more by leveraging his identity wisely.

It was just an excuse to make it easier for Sangji to accept the gift.

Whether it profited or not was irrelevant; Aiven simply wanted the store that held the memories of the hardest times for him and Grandpa Leo to always exist.

As a pharmacy, not as just an empty building!

"Well... alright then!" Although Sangji agreed to accept the costly gift, as the acting manager of the pharmacy, he insisted on settling the profits from the past year when Aiven wasn't around.

Unable to resist the honest and straightforward man, Aiven could only pocket the earnings of eighty-six Golden Lions and two Silver Bulls.

After all, when Aiven initially chose Sangji as the store manager, it was precisely due to this quality of his.

Upon returning to his hometown and seeing the store run smoothly and the Sangji couple living blissfully, Aiven felt relieved and genuinely happy for them.

Moreover, outside of this belated gift, he had no intention of using his authority to change their lives or giving them gifts beyond their specifications.

For ordinary people like them, the vast and majestic ocean adventures might not compare to the peace and happiness of a small town life.

Ding, ding, ding—

The bell on the door jingled again.

"Gleam?"

Seeing the new arrival, Aiven couldn't help but smile; today, as he returned home, his most familiar friends all seemed to have gathered. It was none other than his former comrade, the hunter friend, Gleam, who entered the store.

"Are you... Aiven?!"

Gleam hesitated for a bit, but perhaps due to his hunter's intuition, he reacted much faster than Sangji.

However, upon noticing Aiven's major's uniform, he instantly straightened up and saluted:

"Sir! Gleam from Leopold City Guard's third squad greets you!"

"At ease, soldier!"

After the formal military protocol was adhered to, Aiven noticed Gleam was wearing the City Guard uniform.

"Gleam, how come you joined the City Guard? Are you no longer a hunter?"

Seeing Aiven's friendly tone unchanged from before despite any difference in status, Gleam relaxed a bit and smiled:

"My son was born. For family considerations, the City Guard offers a bit more security. The Lord still appreciates me a lot!"

"Congratulations!"

At this moment, Sangji retrieved a pre-wrapped package from behind the counter and handed it over to Gleam: "Here's the wound medicine this time, let me know ahead of time if it's not enough."

"Alright, thanks, Sangji!" Gleam thanked Sangji as he took the package.

"And this is?" Due to his connection with Aiven, he knew the two were familiar and frequently interacted in the past. However, he was unsure about the nature of this exchange.

"Oh, Sangji has quite a business mind. He's now taken on part of the City Guard's medical supply contract. Though it's small in scale, it's a good start.

Hehe, it's at least more attentive to the shop than when you were around."

Perhaps the familiar camaraderie among friends had returned, and Gleam jested about Aiven.

His words made Aiven a bit bashful. He had never considered tying himself to the pharmacy his entire life, just "running" it before.

Even though Grandpa Leo provided effective ordinary potion formulas, Aiven had never thought of expanding the market or growing the pharmacy significantly. By comparison, Sangji's current efforts made him seem like an unqualified manager.

"Hahaha..." Aiven could only laugh awkwardly to cover up his embarrassment.

Ding, ding, ding—

How curious. What's going on today, with this small shop having visitors one after another? It had never had such good business before, had it?

The group in conversation all looked back simultaneously; the newcomer, not a customer, was indeed a familiar figure to this city's residents.

"Lord!" This came from Sangji and his wife, Sharon.

"Sir!" The formal salute was from Gleam.

"Lord?" This was from Aiven, who had previously met him briefly.

"Aiven… Major, it really is you!"

Lord Nabri, clad in exquisite noble hunting attire with a longsword at his waist, entered. His eyes lit up upon seeing Aiven.

As the commanding officer of a small city's City Guard, Lord Nabri's rank was similar to Aiven's Major rank; however, Aiven's extraordinary level naturally placed him above Nabri.

Breaking through to an Official Knight before twenty is considered genius, before thirty is talent.

And, thirty marks a threshold, as breaking into the extraordinary level becomes increasingly difficult each passing year. After age thirty-five, as bodily functions begin to decline, the chances of breaking through become nearly impossible.

Having crossed thirty-five, Lord Nabri evidently had given up on leveling up; his strength was virtually unchanged from a year ago.

A year ago, Aiven was just an ordinary boy; within just a year, their status comparison had nearly reversed.

While it left Nabri somewhat wistful, his thoughts also carried a trace of complexity; however, with fitting noble composure, he managed his emotions well, greeting warmly:

"Haha, welcome home, Major Aiven! The Viscount heard of your return....."

When the City Hall staff returned after the exchange of letters and reported that the "Conch" had changed captains, they mentioned the new captain's name was "Aiven Galliot." As the Governor, Viscount Andrea, upon linking this to previously heard rumors, couldn't sit still.

Though combining the gossip, it was still somewhat unbelievable, to show reverence he dispatched his trusted subordinate, Lord Nabri, to invite the newly appointed captain, Aiven.

"Alright, this time I do plan to visit the Viscount."

With the intention of visiting Viscount Andrea, who previously gave him a recommendation letter, arranged a separate passenger ship, and immensely helped him, Aiven readily accepted the invitation.

"Please, Major Aiven!"

After bidding farewell to his past friends, Aiven, along with Gary and the Lord, rode Viscount's lavish carriage to the City Hall.