Russell's POV
Later, at 6:23 p.m., I arrived at home in my estate after a long, usual day of driving around as a bus driver. The day was exhausting yet rewarding as usual. As I closed the gate of my estate home, some of the neighbors nearby greeted me welcome back home and good evening. "Yeah, thank you and good evening to you guys, too," I responded back nicely, before locking the gate and turning around to walk to my home. But then, Azalea and Rai came to me, all sad and concerned for someone or something.
"Russell-kun! Thank goodness you're here."
"Something terrible had happened to Marcel."
Being a bit confused at their faces, I replied, "What happened to him?"
"Marcel…" Azalea responded back while trying to hold back her tears, "…he's dead…"
That one dropped my heartbeat to zero in shock. "What? He is?"
Rai then nodded. "Yes, Marcel's body is now cold and everything."
"Where is he?"
"He's in his cottage home on the bed. Nathan-san and the others are there, too," Azalea replied back.
Because of this, I handed her and Rai my pasalubong treats and said, "Let's go there!"
And so, we went to his cottage home within the estate property. There Nathan and the rest are crying and grieving for Marcel's death as he lies on his deathbed with a cold and motionless body. Seeing that made me shocked and devastated. All of those happy times with Marcel had started to flood my mind. And these made me cry in grieving.
And then, Nathan noticed me crying and went to me, hugging me while holding back his tears. "Russell, amigo…Marcel is so good, kind, and humble to us…"
Hugging him back, I replied back, "Yes, me too as well."
John was grieving for Marcel, for Marcel was his good friend also.
After that, while Nathan and Kelly went out to notify the neighbors about Marcel's death, I looked around in his humble abode, seeing all of his few and simple possessions: his tools as the caretaker, his fewest books and writing tools, and some of his clothes, a pair of worn-out shoes, and even some porcelain plates and silver dinnerware. And then, I took one of his books and started flipping the pages in an attempt to know more about his past, life, and personal life.
And then, I was taken aback by the contents of this book. This book was the journal of his daily life. The entries of it were so…sad and full of regrets. Why? Because these described Marcel's regrets in his life. Here are the following:
Not getting a formal education
Not joining an adventurers' guild after finishing school
Not discovering my magic and abilities
Not getting a nice and desirable occupation
Not getting married
Not having any kids
Not getting a house for us
The list was basically chronological by detail and description. But yet, it was still sad for me to read those entries while he was still alive. In fact, I don't even know about this until now.