270 Arafunn, The Bard Hero
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The people began to clap at the elf’s story, it wasn’t even a song but accompanying it with melody and the sound of the guitar really gave it a new ambience to the entire story. The children seemed to have learned to be nicer, but I don’t know how long that will last. No matter how much we try to teach one another to be nice with people, there are always those that due to the circumstances of their surroundings, they grow selfish nonetheless, and sometimes, they seek the suffering of others for their own pleasure. Sometimes people feel better when others are more miserable than them, it has always been like this to be honest.
Well, but the world is not like this, right? This world… or the previous world where I was, there is always good and bad people, there are never too much of the other, and if that were to ever happen, the other side will grow exponentially to overpower the other side that was growing too much. I guess humanity never change even in other worlds, a balance between good and evil is almost intrinsic, even in my own self, I can tell that there is a dark side to my own personality. It is certainly not normal to be willing to kill someone if they were to threaten me, but because of what I did in my previous life, I’ve shaped myself to see murder as an option.
Some might agree that it is the correct thing to think in this harsh world, others might think that it is a flawed way of thinking that only the wicked think about, but I don’t really care, I just want to live my own life, and be my own self… But I guess the “not caring” is also quite the flaw, isn’t it? At least I don’t really want to make other’s people’s lives miserable, and that’s already being a nice person, so let’s just continue being like that.
Nonetheless, this man had a different way to see life, this mysterious elf…
The people quickly offered him some tips, he had put his hat over the floor and it was filled with coins of the people, they were all rather generous.
“Thank you, thank you for your generosity, I am really grateful. Please, have a good day. I will pray for all of you.” He said with a gentle smile.
When the crowd slowly dissipated, my parents who were staring at him with faces filled with emotions slowly walked towards him. I had not seen my parents like this in a while, only when they talk about the past most of the time. These expressions with many mixed feelings… Do they know him? Ninhursag seemed to recognize him as well, but she wasn’t filled with many emotions, but was very surprised, nonetheless. Meanwhile, Aquarina, Zack, and I were completely clueless.
I held a silver coin in my right hand and gave it to the man. The gentle and handsome blonde elf smiled warmly at me.
…..
“Thank you, dear.” He said. “I’ll pray for you every night.”
“You don’t really need to pray for me, but the story was very interesting… Were all those heroes that died… real?” I wondered.
“Why yes… Have you not asked your parents?” He asked.
“E-Eh?” I asked in surprise.
“Long time no see, Arafunn. You look the same as I remember you.” Said my mother with a smile.
“Arafunn?” I wondered.
“Hahaha, no matter what sort of magic you use, you can’t escape these eyes.” Said the elf man, as he laughed cheerfully. “It has indeed been a long time since we saw each other, Faylen, Allan, Shade, Ninhursag… Looks like you even got kids now, that’s good.”
“Yeah, we got a little girl named Sylphy, she’s the cutest, isn’t she?” Said my father pridefully. “And Faylen is waiting for another one to come soon as well!”
“Oooh! Allan, I guess you’re putting a lot of work. I suppose there is nothing to worry about within your marital relationship! Hahaha!” Laughed the elf, as my father hugged him and the two laughed together like good old friends.
“This is Aquarina.” Said Shade. “Been a while since we saw you, I suppose you’re doing good.”
“My daughter is also the cutest.” Said Nepheline. “Also you’ve not put up any muscle at all, Arafunn, are you even eating properly? Why do you like to live like a homeless man?” Nepheline sighed while crossing her arms.
“Hahaha, it is nice to meet you two, Shade, Nepheline. I always knew you two had some chemistry.” Said Arafunn. “But I never actually thought I would ever see you two having a kid from all things. I guess I really underestimated your commitment to a relationship.”
“Don’t joke around with stuff like that, elf.” Said Shade rather angrily.
“You’re as annoying as always.” Said Nepheline with a smile.
“I-I… Erm… Y-You’re a hero?” Asked Aquarina nervously.
“Why yes… But let’s not talk about that here, there’s a lot of people around… Come with me, I got a place where we can talk stuff out.” Said Arafunn. “Also, Ninhursag, is that your kid?”
“N-No, this is Zack, a child I… Well, he’s my kid, yeah.” Said Ninhursag.
“H-Hi…” Said Zack rather shyly.
“Hello boy, you’re going to take care of the two little girls when they grow up? You gotta be their big brother figure, got it?” Said Arafunn out of nowhere.
“B-Big brother?! With someone like Sylphy I doubt I can really take that role…” Said Zack.
“Mom, can you explain this to me?!” I asked, wondering what was going on. But my mother told me to calm myself until we reached a closed area.
The elf guided us into a small house he had rented, where we entered, he quickly unleashed a strange magic with his very voice.
“Deafening Barrier, Raise.”
FLAAASH!
And then, a barrier made out of invisible sound vibrations suddenly emerged all inside of the house, deafening any sound from coming out of it.
“Now that we got some cozy place, come sit here, I’ll prepare something to eat really quick. It’s not common to find old friends like this.” Said Arafunn. He had a really charming smile.
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