"You know?" Lia was shocked for a second.
She hadn't expected him to know it as she had just wanted not let any opportunity pass by. Her eyes shone in a different light hearing it and in excitement, she asked,
"How did he get the scar?"
But Oslo shook his head and said solemnly, "You don't have to know!"
Upon receiving his answer, her face turned grim as the smile got wiped out along with the luster her eyes had just a moment before.
Same!
Both of them are same!
It was the same reaction she had received of Charlie when she had tried asking him about that scar of his. She tried to ask him again and again but as always his response would be the same, and one day he even shouted at her, which made her to stop asking him about the scar.
"Don't pry into others life."
It was the first time she had ever been scolded by Charlie, heck, it was the first time she saw Charlie could be so scary. Compared to before, he had turned into a different person when he got asked about the scar. Replacing the calm Charlie was the angry Charlie with a red face and cold eyes.
That was the last time, she had tried asking him about it but she hadn't given up on knowing about it. On the contrary, it had supplemented her excitement and curiosity. But she couldn't just try and ask Charlie again so, she had to try asking other who knew about Charlie. But unfortunately, the information related to Charlie was limited as well, so it was very difficult and the names she had received was only few which was even less than her own finger.
Except for Charlie, no others knew about it or so she thought but after hearing Oslo knew she couldn't just hide her excitement but...as Charlie, his response was same.
A disappointment again! She sighed and didn't pushed it any further. She left the plaza with a gloomy face.
"You sure have a good friend." Anna said.
"Haha." Oslo only laughed and looked at Anna, "Would you mind not deducting the pay."
It was bound to his future and wealth would play a vital role for an adventurer of low rank, weather it was related to some family affairs or gears needed for adventurer so he couldn't handle half a million of pay being deducted just like that.
Anna held her chin and said, "I can consider it if you place some good words for me in front of Charlie..."
Damn Witch! She was trying to gain a long term profit using him. But placing good words wasn't something big of a deal as the decision solemnly relied on as to how James...no, Charlie would think about it. He immediately answered,
"I'll definitely do it."
"Ok, its a deal then." Anna immediately came to an agreement on regarding the matter.
Oslo then again rolled his eyes and surveyed the surrounding and said,
"The person you mentioned isn't here yet, so I'll go home for now."
"Wait!" She said as she took out her phone, "I need your contacts and bank account number."
She even gave him her contact information but he wasn't quite happy about it. It was the first time he had shared a contact information with a girl but it didn't go as he had imagined it before. Anna just exchanged contact info because she didn't trust him too much.
He sighed and slowly walked towards the portal and upon being in front of it, he calmed his nerves. He raised his hand and as it touched the mirror small ripples were created as if someone had just thrown an object in a calm pond.
The ripples became more and more as it sucked Oslo inside the darkness. Oslo got out from the hole and found himself again in a place he was familiar with. He had spawned out of public portal from which he had entered before.
Czak- Czak-
The hole was dark and the sound it made while letting people teleport was that of a crackling thunder and distorted space. In his surrounding, many people were gathered to enter the Magic Land.
If he had to enter the Magic Land again, then he too had to stand in line. It was very boring with so many people traveling there everyday. It was too much to handle unless one had their own personal portal. But a person needed to have certain influence to have a personal portal as they couldn't just hand out a personal portal to some Tom, Dick, and Harry.
Because of that there were only a few people in the country he was residing in who had their own personal portal who could be counted on fingers.
It was a pain in the a*s if one wanted to enter through public portal.
"Damn, those lucky bastards who had a portal formed inside their own home."
Unlike many, few people had a portal formed inside their own house so they didn't have to waste any time just to line up for teleporting. Those lucky dogs!
Be then walked towards the place where his house was located. With every turn he took, the city had less and less building and the number of people walking significantly decreased as well. After the last right turn, he was greeted by about fifteen houses.
Those were small as compared to other skyscrapers and only about two storey high. Seven houses were facing each other which was separated by a way and at the end of the way was a house.
Oslo's house was first house in the series of the left which looked very old as compared to other houses. It was also two storey high and it's condition was very poor as it seemed like it would fall any monent if a gust of the wind was to blow through it but unlike it's other view, it was very sturdy.
If it wasn't strong then it would have crumbled long ago as it's plaster also had holes in it and was about to tear off. It was in very bad condition...After I get paid, I'll make this house beautiful as a bride, Oslo thought in his heart with his hands resting on his waist and eyes fixated on the house.
The house that face his' was the house that belonged to a married couple. It was Uncle John's house and in it's balcony was a woman who was in her thirties sitting in a chair as she knitted sweater.
Her knitting skills were applaudable. With her dark eyes she glanced over a teenage boy who wore a normal attire and stood in the street.
"Oslo boy, you've returned." She smiled and said, "Do you want me to cook something for you?"
Oslo glanced at the lady in the balcony before shaking his head,
"Aunt Yi, I appreciate the gesture but I think that my brother has left something for me to munch upon."
It was daytime and his first thought was that his brother was in the school studying. Aunt Yi smiled all the same and said,
"Oslo boy, he'll be back only tomorrow and as for the food, it must have gone stale as your brother had gone in field trip for quite days."
"It doesn't matter. Even stale food is good after I warm it a little bit." Saying that Oslo opened the door to his house and entered. Aunt Yi only smiled before standing up and went inside her house.
It wasn't glorious but, it was homecoming all the same. When Oslo entered the house though, his eyes went cold. It had happened again.
The bed was broken to pieces with the rest of the furnitures. He slowly walked through the mess and stood in front of the table which was covered with notes which were shredded to pieces. The house was covered in sword marks and the study table was also in bad health.
"Those bastards..."
Oslo gritted his teeth and walked to check that what other damages were sustained. He looked at the ground when he heard "Twang" sound as if his legs had kicked something. It was a metal plate which was half covered in plastic. The stale food were all over the ground. There was also a paper roll in the ground which was in a bad shape.
He picked it up and unfolded it slowly. It was a note left by his brother.
"You're late again. I'm going to the field trip so if you come home early then eat the food even if it is stale after warming up. If you're thinking how I got money for the field trip then don't forget to thank Uncle John and Aunt Yi."
He read the note as his teeth grinded fiercely. His house was in a mess again.
After I pay those debts, I'll return every suffering a hundred fold, you wait and watch, you bastards. He cursed as he sat in the ground.
From the pocket, he took out a pill and stared at it.
"This pill! It might help me a lot if I eat it. Will I become stronger after I eat it? Will my constitution become stronger?"
Although he knew that strength was something that couldn't be achieved overnight, he was in his last nerve seeing the house again. If he was stronger, it wouldn't have come to this. Without any hesitation, he threw the pill inside this mouth and gulped it down in one go.
As the saying went, one shouldn't rush things. He immediately felt pain surge all over his body. Tide after tide, the pain was increasing with no sign of stopping. It happened all of a sudden that it took him by surprise.
The Mana inside his body became unstable and he couldn't even control the energy flow of his body. It was as if it wanted to burst out of his body tearing him to shreds. Slowly darkness blurred his vision as he coughed a mouthful of black blood.
"What's happe..."