34 Day off
"Yaaaawwwn"
Hans woke up and stretched his arms, the morning light was shining through the windows, painting his room of gold.
He pinched the nose between his eyes because of an headache.
It is more difficult for awakened to get sick, so usually, when a mage feels an headache it is because of the excessive use of mana.
This time however, it was because of the nightmares that tormented Hans during the whole night.
He kept dreaming about the dead calling his name, saying it was his fault.
And he also dreamt that some of the families of the deceased blamed him for their loved's deaths.
" Not a really pleasant night if I must say"
Seeing that he couldn't fall asleep anymore, he decided to get moving in the early morning.
Today was a day off, actually, it was the first one in the last few weeks.
He was so focused on becoming stronger that he didn't even bother wasting time on things like relax and peace of mind.
But it seemed that, especially for a mage such as him, taking some time to rest and refresh his mind was not to be underestimated.
The fatigue and the stress he had built up while fighting the golem were still accompanying him, and he didn't want to return inside a gate in those conditions.
Luckily, because of his {medium body restoration} he could recover a bit over the night, allowing him to move.
And his {mana route} also helped in reducing the mental strain received from the innumerable casted spells.
But even with those, his strength was still about the same of a tier-2 mage, meaning he definitely couldn't enter any gates.
But…. What to do.
He had no friends, no hobbies, no family.
What would he do all day.
He thought about it, and for him, finding the answer was even more difficult than clearing a gate.
But he finally found a decent option:
You see, he had lots of money, and with his work as a hunter, it wasn't difficult to get a loan from the association.
It would've been better taking it from the bank since the interest over time are lower, but because of the hunters high death rates, banks have stopped loaning money to them quite a long time ago.
Anyway, that meant he was almost considered rich.
And for a rich person like him to live in a little flat like that, it truly wasn't normal.
Since he had no interest in other things, all his money would be left there, becoming moldy.
Instead, it would've been better moving into a new house.
Actually, having a nice house to welcome his family wasn't the only reason he needed it, but also because the safety inside his apartment wasn't really the best, and he was very vulnerable while creating new circles, so as he grew in fame, it would become more and more dangerous living into a flat in the suburbs of the city.
He searched online, and the highest loan a registered C-rank hunter could take was $250 000.
That sum coupled with a little bit more than a hundred thousands he had in his bank account, would've been more than enough to
buy a decent, to say the least, house.
He left the apartment, and headed for the real estate agency he passed by many times before, while he was going to the association.
When he arrived, it was closed.
"Huh? Are you for real?"
I passed by dozens of times and I've never seen it close but today it's closed??!!"
Hans was internally crying, now he didn't know what to do, he searched for another one, but even maps told him that they were all closed.
He wondered why, but watching his phone he immediately understood.
It was a Sunday.
He had worked so much lately that he didn't even remember there were any break days for agencies.
He would have to postpone his plan then.
Since he didn't have anything else to do, Hans decided to pass a little bit of time with Aiden.
That kid was always alone, and even if Hans had initially approached him because of his unique class potential, he now grew attached to him, and wanted him to grow well.
Leaving someone at that age working wasn't something good for him, and Hans knew how painful it was to be alone, working at an early age.
He messaged Aiden, who had given him his number.
[are you free right, now?care for a coffee?]
[im having breakfast at the bar beside the association, you can come here if you want to]
An immediate response came from the other side.
[sure, wait for me, I'll be there in five minutes]
And five minutes later, Aiden arrived, he was out of breath, probably because he had run.
"B-brother Hans"
He sat at the table and breathed heavily.
"Hey, you could've taken your time, there wasn't any need to hurry so much"
"I didn't want to keep you waiting"
"Ah that's not a problem, I have nothing to do today"
The reason Aiden was in such a hurry to come here, was because he hadn't seen Hans for three weeks, the last time, he had visited him in the hospital, and after three whole weeks, nothing came from him.
Not a message, not a visit to the association, when he asked Emily what was going on, she answered saying: " well, he has a matter he needs to resolve on his own, it's better if you don't disturb him" even while saying that, her voice also seemed curious about what Hans was doing.
So when he finally got a message, he rushed as fast as he could.
"Have you finished what you needed to do?"
Asked Aiden.
And Hans, that was quite surprised by this question, took his time before smiling and answering: "yes"
"That's good"
The waitress came by, and asked if they wanted something else, Hans ordered a cream-filled brioche, and a coffee, while Aiden ordered a hot milk with a donut.
After the waitress took the order and went away, Hans smirked and watched Aiden in the face: "see, you really are a kid, only kids drink milk at the bar"
…
Time flew while staying at the bar and chatting with Aiden, and before they even knew it, almost an hour passed.
Aiden talked about how he still went to school, but didn't manage to make much friends, because he passed all the time after school working at the association.
Apparently, he remained an orphan at the tender age of seven, because of the disaster, and lived in an orphanage until he was ten, when he awakened as a potion brewer.
Someone finally willed to adopt him; the current association security team leader.
He adopted him because of his production class, that was very sought after at the time, hoping to make money out of him.
He taught him many recipes and invested in him, but as time passed and Aiden's skills still hadn't grown, his new father begun to despise him.
The once warm and welcoming smile left his face, just disgust and hate were now in his gaze every time he crossed path with his adopted son.
After two years, his father decided to abandon him, he couldn't do it publicly because it would've ruined his image, so in the pretext of making him experience real life, he just sent him to work, not even paying him, barely giving him a place to sleep and food on the table even if he worked over eight hours every day.
He then prohibited anyone in the association from helping him, threatening them with lower pays and firing.
The workers dared not to come close to Aiden, even if they pitied him.
Insiders knew about the poor conditions of the young boy but no one posed an helping hand, afraid of offending the association security team leader, a fearsome B-rank warrior.
Aiden grew alone, and had to spend all his time studying and working.
Only then, he met Hans, who continuously talked with him, and gave him attention.
They became friends quickly even if their age gap wasn't small.
And he could now fully trust someone.
In a life so dark it was difficult to look ahead, even a faint light like Hans's kindness shone bright like a star, making Aiden finally feel like a normal person, and making him feel the pleasure of living.
Hans felt guilty, even if for different reason, he had approached Aiden with the same intentions as that despicable human being: to make use of his powers.
He made another vow to himself, the moment he would've been able to, he would've taken Aiden under his wing, sending him to college and making him live a normal life.
He wanted to do it immediately, but he had yet to obtain enough power to do that.
"You know Aiden, I have a younger sister the same age as you"
"Is she pretty?"
'Maybe… i should just leave him to suffer a little bit more'
thought in all seriousness Hans.
