It has been two days, and he was, only a little, ignoring Wey and Isona. The group practically texts every day while Neban barely responds, but when he does, it is usually to Wey or Isona. And now, he won't say anything unless the question was coming from Owain.
Neban felt childish doing this, mostly since he was a grown man close to his thirties, but Wey and Isona were making him feel emotions he never felt before, less alone knowing what they are, so he thought the best course was to run away.
He was good at running away from problems.
And speaking of problems, he is in trouble with Xan. He did not tell the man about the job he agreed to do when he went with the hunters a couple of days ago. So, the man was not happy when he found out the next day (the paynt goes through the company before making its way to the porters' account).
He spent the morning trying to assuage the man and apologize; well, the whole talk consisted of him saying 'sorry' and 'I won't do it again.' Xan probably get annoyed with him, because he heard the man sigh before telling him to ssage him next ti he wants to take a job. Each job, as a porter, that Neban takes has to go through his representative first.
He will rember that for the next ti because it was like listening to a lecture from his parents when he was younger and got in trouble for skipping school all the ti; Neban rather not be on the receiving end of another again.
"Papa!" He heard his son shout, cutting him from his thoughts.
They were hanging in the backyard of his house. Neban had a pool that he only got because his son wanted to learn how to swim as he saw in the movies. Sadly, Neban could not teach him because he never had ti like now. But, his father taught Theo for him.
His son was on a floaty in the pool that looked like a poolside chair. Theo was smiling at his dad while wearing silly sunglasses. "Yes?" Neban answered as he leaned in his chair.
Neban was sitting on the patio, lounging in one of the comfy chairs at the round table. Even though it was sunny, he did not need to cover his eyes to look at his son since he had a patio cover.
"Join ! And bring your friends!" Theo shouted, even though he was not far from his dad. Neban sighed; ever since his son t the others, he wants them over all the ti.
He shook his head at inviting them over; he already saw Wey and Isona in their pajamas; he did not need to see them in a swimsuit. He will save himself from those images.
Neban stood up, bringing his phone with him as he made his way to the pool. When he reached it, he sat on the edge of it, dipping his legs in. Theo pouted at that. "Co inside, please."
He would say no, but his son already started the puppy dog eyes; maybe he needed to cut down on letting Theo watch TV because he is learning bad habits (or it could be his parents teaching him bad habits). So, he sighed, using [Creation] to make himself a waterproof pouch for his phone.
It was not perfect like the actual one a person can buy in the stores, but it was enough.
After putting his phone inside and sealing it, he slid into the pool, making his way to his son. He could walk, as they were on the shallow end of the pool because he did not want his son anywhere higher than 3-4 ft.
He picked up his son to get on the floaty before laying his son on top of him. Theo made himself comfortable before saying, "We could have swum together."
"Do you want to swim?" Neban asked, raising an eyebrow. He did not want to swim at all. But, if his son wanted to, he would not mind doing it.
"It's fine," Theo replied, "I'm comfy."
He chuckled at that as he brought his arms forward, wrapping one around Theo while he used the other one to check his phone. It was harder to scroll through his phone since the pouch made it harder to recognize his touch.
Honestly, he wanted to check his new sword, Siren, at the mont. The past two days, he did not have ti to, and now that he does, he is spending it lazing around with his son. He did not mind it, but he was curious about the weapon.
Since he took it, it has been quiet, not saying anything to him as it did before. He wonders what was so special about it and why the King of Droks said it would bring destruction to the world.
Thinking back to when the sword absorbed the corpses' blood, he wondered if the way to get it to talk again was by feeding it. Neban heard of weapons that could only activate by either a word or giving sothing to it. Maybe this sword only worked when it had blood?
His hands were already itching to test the theory; he wanted to go into a dungeon. But he couldn't like this, and he definitely couldn't do it in his old hunter get-up.
And speaking of his old hunter get-up, Neban has been following any news about SilverSoul discovering his body. But, there has been nothing; even the old article that talked about him missing was gone.
Did they find his dead body, and now the governnt is covering up because they do not want an uproar? Or is this sothing more profound?
Neban sighed at those questions. Maybe he should let it go because it was working in his favor. No one knew that Obsidian was gone, and he could still work as a porter without the worry of anyone finding him.
It is not like they could, anyway; all the information he gave SilverSoul was out of date. But then again, when the governnt wants sothing, they will go through any ans to get it.
Hearing his phone go off after those thoughts caused Neban to stiffen. Feeling his dad becoming tense, Theo looked up, "Papa? Are you okay?"
Looking at his phone and seeing that Xan was calling him again, his body slightly relaxed before turning back to his son. He gave him a small smile, "I am fine, sorry to worry you."
Theo shook his head like he did not mind before laying his head back down on his chest. Neban moved his arm to run his hands through the boy's hair. He fully relaxed as he answered the phone call.
"Neban," Xan took a short pause before speaking again, "sorry to call you again in such a short ti, but the hunters you worked with last ti would like to work with you and the group you were with, again."
Neban furrowed his brow at that; he could not understand what impression they could have left on the people when all they did was hang back. Minus when he knocked them out and changed their mory.
But, it still did not make any sense. What was the endga here?
"Do you know if the others heard already?" He asked.
"I do not know. But, I can ask the other representatives if you need to."
"It is fine, I can ask. I will ssage you back with a response."
Xan sighed at his reply but did not say anything about it, "Give it by the end of the day; they are entering a mid-level dungeon in two days."
"Okay, bye." He hung up on the man before pulling up his ssages. Since the group chat started, Neban finally sent a text ssage first.
Neban: The hunters, from a couple of days ago, want us to be their porters again.
Isona: Really? My representative hasn't called yet.
Wey: I just been inford.
Owain: Sa
Neban: And your response?
Owain: I do not mind going if all of you are up for it.
Wey: I find it a bit suspicious, but I am always with you guys.
Isona: It is more money which I need. I am taking online college classes, plus my birthday is next month.
Owain: Oh, your birthday is next month. We should celebrate!
Wey: Remain on topic for a second.
Owain:....sorry.
Neban: Then, I will take it.
Wey: Okay
Isona: Okay, I will tell my person 'yes' when they call .
Owain: Now, can we go back to planning a birthday party?
Neban got out of the group chat after that; he did not want to be part of the conversation over Isona's birthday. He sent a ssage to Xan that he would take the job before turning his phone off and setting it down near his leg (he made sure it wouldn't fall in the pool).
He was going to be off to another dungeon soon. Even though Neban had a lot of free ti, way more than when he was a hunter, he felt like he had been in a dungeon back to back.
Hopefully, when they go to dungeons, he doesn't have to fight any monsters and let the hunters do all the work. He wanted to play as the porter for once, not the hunter.
He wrapped his other arm around his son before leaning back so more, so he could relax in the sunlight as they floated on the pool. Theo moved a bit as Neban heard a small snore from him. Neban chuckled at that; his son could fall asleep anywhere.
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