146: Family

Hari fell into his chair and sat in silence for a long while.

“Hari… come on. You’ve got to tell him,” Jen said softly.

“I know. I know. I don’t know where to start,” Hari said.

There was a long pause before he finally said anything.

“Alright. The start I guess.” He drew a slow breath. “I was young—only about your age—when I got my class. At the time, it was just a common warrior. My father was disappointed. He believed all noble house children should be uncommon at least, and if they failed to get that, then it was their own shortcomings.”

As I looked around, it was obvious the others already knew all this. It was just me sitting there with questions.

“I thought the rarity you get from the orb was entirely random?” I said, knowing you could influence certain jobs and roles by taking part before you selected your class, but the actual rarity itself was always by chance.

“It is,” Milo said, nodding.

“And I was excited about it. I wanted to join the military, become a powerful general, and fight against the demons like I’d read about. This was not acceptable. I was told that was for lower nobles and peasants, not for important houses, and I was told to study—maybe one day I could be redeemed through an evolution.” Hari kept his head down.

“I’m guessing that didn’t happen,” I said with a chuckle.

“No. Not at all.” Hari’s voice hardened. “I joined the army anyway, and when I was just about to leave the capital, I was pulled from the group and forcefully returned to the house. My father pulled strings to ensure I was dismissed from the army and couldn’t sign up again.”

“It was probably for the best given what we know now,” I offered.

“Perhaps, or maybe I could’ve made a difference if I’d made it high enough.”

Hari exhaled slowly. “Anyway—after being taken back to the house, I was essentially locked away. Unable to leave for anything outside of lessons. In the end, I managed to get some help from one of the servants—someone who helped me sneak out.”

“And you became an adventurer?” I asked.

“Sort of. Like you, I had to flee my home city. I found myself in Farnox, changed my name…”

“Barely,” Liane cut in with a snort. “You didn’t even change your first name!”

Hari groaned. “I was young and not all that bright at the time. I thought it would be enough—that he’d never chase after a failure of a son if he wasn’t using the name. But it didn’t work out. Because of the name, I had difficulty signing up as an adventurer. I sold most of my gear to survive, but I ran out of funds. When I tried to reach out for support…” His jaw tightened. “I got a message that simply said: I have no son. Nothing else.”

“Seems that’s not exactly the case now, though,” Milo said.

Hari shook his head.

“Unless this is all an act by him just to get closer to Trevor, I don’t know what to believe with that. He’s a scheming old bastard, always has been. By chance I was picked up by Wyatt who gave me a place to stay and eventually got me into the adventurers guild with his party, where I spent most of the years until Wyatt retired, I started my own party and the rest is history,”

“And what will I say to him if I speak with him?” I asked, looking around.

Hari let out a long sigh. “Nothing… nothing at all. I’ll speak with him. If he’s here just to get closer to you, I’d be stupid to allow him direct access like that.”

“We’ll be with you,” I said, and the others nodded.

“No. I should do it alone,” Hari insisted.

“Not a chance,” Liane said, cold as ice. “We’ll leave when we know he’s sincere, and not before.” Getting up from her chair. “I’ll get him. Trevor, take your proper seat now. This is your house.”

“I’ll be okay,” Hari tried again.

“We’re not leaving,” Jen said firmly.

Crisplet, who’d been listening the whole time, turned a deep crimson red—clearly with no intention of leaving either.

We sat in silence until the door opened.

A much older-looking Hari walked inside, wearing an opulent blue robe. Greying hair but still very large, both in height and size, like Hari was. The face was also very similar, just clearly aged.

He hesitated, seeing everyone in the room, and his eyes began to tear up as they landed on Hari, who was currently looking anywhere but at his father.

Gabriel didn’t move to sit down, or move any further into the room, just spoke directly to Hari. “Son, I am sorry for what I have done. For over a decade I have regretted that note, regretted my actions, desperately wanting to take it back. I wanted only what was best for you and refused to accept your opinion of it. It was arrogance, and I have failed you as a father.”

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Hari didn’t answer.

“I want to make it up to you. To get to know my son again—to be a family once more,” Gabriel continued, a tear sliding down his cheek.

“Why now?” Hari’s voice was rough. “Why now, after fifteen years?”

“I’ve tried many times to get in contact with you, both when you have visited the capital, even going to Farnox and tried to talk to your friend. I even asked the king to summon you here. I have tried. I also knew simply sending a messenger would not be enough; I needed to see you, I needed to make this right. A foolish note and the actions of a foolish old man drove my son away.”

Silence again. Hari still didn’t look up.

Everyone else stayed quiet.

Everyone except Crisplet, who chose that exact moment to lob a piece of coal at Hari’s head. It bounced off and skittered along the floor.

“I…” He swallowed. “I… it’s not so easy. There’s so much I have to say. I hate you… hated you. I don’t know.”

“I think we should leave and let them talk,” Jen suggested to rest of the room.

“You’re right. Let’s go; we’ll be just outside,” Milo said, standing up.

We all made our way out, Liane rubbing Hari’s shoulder and whispering something before leaving.

Making our way to the library so we could still hear when the door opened, I couldn’t help but ask, “Will he be okay?”