I was a little surprised when the man began speaking again. I thought he was done with his explanation, I thought he was done answering my question.
But guess he still had some more things to say. These were the utterances that flowed out of his mouth...
"Before my father died back then, there were some lands that were granted to him in secret which he didn't reveal to us while he was alive. It was during his last breath he revealed that information to us,
I have two brothers, including me, so my dad gave birth to only males, three kids in total. My brothers were present when he was revealing this,
He told us he was granted about four good lands by a generous wealthy man 'cause of a certain good deed he did for the man. And at that moment, we began wondering why he kept it a secret from us all this while,
Well, what mattered was that he had already set a will ahead of time. There were about four lands, and there were three of us, including our mother. Each of us was to take a land each, and trust me, the lands were of high value".
..The man paused speaking for some seconds, shook his head a little, then continued speaking.
"I didn't know what my brothers did with their own lands up till this date, but I sold mine for thousands of dollars. Then I invested the money in a certain business venture, all of it,
The plan was to triple that money. Now, while I was venturing into that business, I received lots of warning here and there that I was going to lose all the money, but I didn't listen,
I was advised by good friends to split the money into different legit businesses that would bring me income and make me a fortune, I didn't listen,
There was this certain guy that kept telling me the business I invested all the money into would definitely yield massive money. He was the only one telling me the business would work out, while the rest were telling me it wouldn't,
With the way he brainwashed me, I wasn't even listening to what other people were saying. I was only focused on the amount of money I'd make if the business actually worked out,
Well, to my utmost dismay, the business failed, and I lost every single penny I invested into it. All the money invested went away in a blink of an eye. The next weeks that came after that were filled with depression and sadness,
I went through a lot of dark days, and none of my friends came to console me 'cause they'd already warned me the business would fail, but I didn't listen. And the one that kept assuring me the business would work out and yield massive money disappeared,
I was so lonely and frustrated. If only I'd listened to those friends of mine who had my best interest at heart, then maybe I wouldn't be so poor now. I was given a chance to make something good out of my life, but I misused it,
And I'm still bearing the consequences of it up till now. Look at me wallowing in poverty with my children, and it's been going on for years,
I remember after that incident, I struggled so hard again to see if I could raise a good amount of money, but all my struggles were in vain. At some point, I just had to give up and wallow in poverty".
..Shit! This man had ruined everything, I wouldn't be able to render help to him and his family anymore 'cause they didn't deserve it.
Why? His foolishness in the past was what was affecting him now. I thought I was going to help out a family soon, then it would remain one more for me to help out before accomplishing the quest.
But everything had been ruined...the man didn't have a valid reason for being in this situation. He had before, but after making that utterance, he doesn't anymore.
Apart from accomplishing the quest, I was somehow sad I wouldn't be able to help out this man. As I said, I wanted to help out that small boy. I needed him to complete his schooling and all that.
But seems like there'd be nothing I could do about it. In the end, accomplishing the quest was the most important...
Or maybe I might still be able to help out the man. That thing that happened to him in the past can just be considered as a mistake. Yes, everyone makes mistakes.
..So the mistake he made in the past was what was affecting him now.
I'm sure if he was handed another nice sum of money, he wouldn't make that same mistake again.
'I might still be able to help him out'. I thought to myself, I just really wanted to help out him and his family.
And the moment I was done thinking that, I got the system's notification...
And that's it, the system has spoken, I wouldn't be able to help out this man and his family. Though I want to help them out...I can't go against the system.
That means I wasn't close to accomplishing the quest. Once again, the system knew why she gave me 10 days as the time limit to accomplish the quest.
I glanced at the man before uttering, "I'm sorry for what happened to you in the past. The only thing you'd have to keep doing now is to keep hoping your children would be able to become something in life,
Even if they don't make it to the highest top, at least, they can achieve a certain amount of success. Even if it is only one of your kids that is able to achieve this, that one would change the family's situation, and things would become better".
That is all I can do right now, to give words of encouragement...I can't hand even a single note of money to him. If I do that, I've rendered help to him to an extent, just a little.
After making that statement, I walked toward him and patted his right shoulder a little before saying, "Keep persevering and keep hoping things would get better".
..To pat his right shoulder, I had to bend a little since he was sitting down.
And while I was saying that to him, he was just staring at me while nodding his head a little. After that, I turned around and began walking out of the house.
And while I was doing so, I remembered something which made me stop walking immediately. That boy, I can't just leave without giving him anything.
It would be too unfair...
Even if it's a $20 note, it's something. I remembered giving that first boy a $20 note, I can't just leave without doing the same to this one. I turned around and glanced at the man, then I uttered to him,
"Can you call your son for me?".
"Sure". The man retorted before walking into the room where the boy entered.
And in about a minute, I saw the boy walk out of the room. Then I said to him,
"Follow me outside".
I walked outside after saying that, and he followed suit. Then I brought out a $20 note from my pocket and handed it over to him while saying,
"Manage it".
He collected it with immediate effect as his face lightened up. Then he said to me, "Thank you".
A smile appeared on my face immediately as I said, "It's nothing".
Then I caressed his hair a little before saying, "Keep living fine alright. If you see a good chance to change your life, grab it with both hands and turn your family's lives around".
He nodded his head a little with the $20 in his hands. Then I caressed his hair again before I began walking away. I had walked meters away from their home, and trust me, I was truly sad I couldn't help out the man and his family.
..They badly needed help, but they didn't deserve it due to the foolish mistake he made in the past.
If it was up to me, I would still help out him and his family. To me, what happened to him in the past was a mistake...as said, everyone makes mistakes. But since the system said I shouldn't help them out, there was nothing I could do about it.
While I was walking out of the house, I was even expecting the man to halt me and ask if I wouldn't render any help to him.
But he didn't, and I was somehow surprised though I didn't let it show on my face...