No More Pain For This Villain.

(In the antique shop.)

After some time, my father returned with a long sword in his hand that resembled a Roman gladius sword in appearance, with the exception of that

'It is rusted.' If I swing it too hard, it appears that it will break.

It looked brittle; there were a lot of cracks on the surface of its nearly 18-inch blade. The width is like 3 inches, but interesting is the handle bar with snake carving.

"How is it?" My father asked as he held the sword towards me.

"Ah? Oh, yes, it's great. It's totally great." I said that it's not only the thing that I received, but the emotion behind it is also important, and I think my father gave this to me with some good intentions.

"Haha, you don't have to lie; I can tell you were expecting something grand by looking at your face, but don't look down on this piece of art; it's a companion that saved my life in countless battles, and if you reforged it, it'll be quite helpful for you." My father said, Yeah, I can reforge this thing and it'll be as good as new, but I'll also require some sword skills since I am only skilled in martial arts.

"I will when I have a chance." I replied, "Yeah, it's not like you can find good artisans to work on something, so I'll think about reforging this piece of art when I have time; until then, I'll keep it in my room as a decoration.

"What happened?" I asked since my father didn't respond to me; he just looked at me silently, like he was observing me.

"It's nothing important." He ruffled my hair and said, "It's just that this is your last day with us and you'll be leaving tomorrow, but I don't feel worried at all; it's like you've become more responsible in these few days." The father sighed as he said this.

"Have I?" I asked teasingly.

"Yeah, you've become more responsible after you broke your engagement; well, they say that a boy tends to turn into a man after a heartbreak." My father said something that doesn't make sense to me.

"That's some deep knowledge; only an experienced man can understand such meaningful words.' but for some reason Blaze got it.

T i n k.

"Is anyone here? I wanted to look for some potions and a bronze-plated cauldron." The door swung open, and a female voice entered the store; it was a customer.

"Yes, we do have those on the shelf there; please come this way, and I'll show you." Father attended the customer, but before going, he turned around and said, "You can go home now, and once again, happy birthday."

"I think I'll stay and help you today." I said, I can help him for today at least.

The father's eyes widened slightly, but he shook his head while chuckling and went on with the customer. I think that means I am allowed to help.

T i n k

The bell rang as the door swung open again. "Umm. Do you have a magic broom?" Another customer entered the store; it's going to be a busy day, I think.

"Yeah,we do." I replied and began attending to the customer. I showed her some brooms of her liking while she gave me sideways glances multiple times. I think it's because I have a new face here.

After that, the store got quite lively as the customers kept bombarding me. I got so busy handling them that I forgot that the sun had set and that it was almost time to close the shop.

"I think it's a wrap for today. Thanks for your work, son." Father said he reorganised some stuff on the shelves.

"It's nothing; I can at least help this much." I threw it back at him.

"But still—" Father's sentence was cut in the middle due to a sudden sound.

T i n k

"Sorry, we are closed for today." I said this as I looked at the man who had made an entry.

"I am sorry for that, but please, I am in a hurry. Where is Mr. Chris? Huh? Hey, you are-" The man paused when he looked at me. He has a broad build, golden brown hair, and a broad jawline, and I don't know why his eyes look familiar to me.

"Here I am, Sir William; how can I help you?" My father intervened in between; it looks like he is familiar with this man.

"No need to be formal; I am off-duty right now; it's just that did you get the item I was looking for? I am in a bit of a hurry since I have to leave tonight for my hometown." William said it hastily, and now that I think about it, his voice also seems familiar.

' Uh Oh," a single person's identity flashed before my eyes, but I hope I am wrong.

"Yeah, I did; it was quite hard work to find what you were looking for, but at last I got it from a wandering merchant from Empires Capital." Father said as he went to the back room,

"Do you work here, Mr. Ren Hilton?" William asked as soon as his father was out.

"Nope. My father is the owner, and I am just helping today." I explained and asked. "And you are?"

"You might not have recognised me because I am not wearing my armour; then let me introduce myself. I am William,the knight you met a few days ago at the guild." William said,

"What a pleasant coincidence to meet you here at our shop, sir knight." I tried to keep a straight face. A pleasant coincidence? My ass. 

"Here it is!" Father returned at the right moment to save the day because I don't know what kind of question this guy will ask next.

He brought a high-quality wooden box with beautiful carvings; it's a sword box with a lot of sword protection and a double key.

"Thank God! I've been searching for this thing, but I was not able to get my hands on it. You are a god to me!" Williams' way of talking changes when he talks to my father compared to the way he talks to me; it's more polite.

"No need for praise; it's my work to excel in these things while yours is to protect us; it's just on two opposite poles." My father brushed off the praise, but he sure was happy about it.

 "Nevertheless, who is that sword for? Is it a gift?" Father asked, Why is he asking this man useless questions when I want this man to leave the shop as soon as possible?"

"Yep, it's a gift for someone important; that guy loves swords." William answered. He looked happy when he said "That guy", Is it for a family member? Well, who cares?

"Anyways, who's going to take charge of the case you were working on since you'd been gone for a few days?" My father asked, "Is he talking about Kale's group's missing case?

S i g h

"We decided to close the file, saying that those guys were attacked by some Mana beasts and lost their lives since we didn't find a single clue about them, like no corpse or items that belonged to them." William sighed. "If not for higher-ups pressuring us to give back the access to Balcker Forest to the town folks, I would have solved the case." He said this as he glanced at me sideways.

"It's not your fault; your higher-ups are the ones to blame for forcing you to shut the case." The father tried to console the sad knight.

"Yeah, that's true anyway; I'll be going, or I'd be late for my carriage." William bid his farewell, but not without giving one last dirty glance before stepping out.

Phew

'It's a good thing he didn't talk about you being a potential suspect in his investigation in front of your father.' Blaze transmitted to me that William won't say something that he isn't sure about in front of other people, not when he has no proof against me.

"Well, let's close before someone else comes in." Father said, and I nodded along, I want to go home as soon as possible now.

Then we closed the store and walked back home while chatting; it's already like seven in the evening and two moon adored the sky with their light.

We also bought some sweets for Mom since she has a sweet tooth.

D i n g d o n g .

I pressed the doorbell, and Mom opened the door for both of us.

She opened the door for us, and I could immediately smell something delectable.

I'm ready for some nice cuisine at any time, and there's something tasty cooking right now.

I avoided looking at them while Mom gave Dad a welcome back kiss.

As soon as we got inside the house, I went to the living room and saw something odd. I can see a couple more people I recognise.

"Ana?" I saw Anabelle sitting on the couch while Marylin sat beside her with a notepad and glasses on.

'Is she doing some kind of interview?' I thought 

"Hi." Anabelle said awkwardly, Now that's concerning.

--------------------------------------------------------------------