Free Web NovelChapter 190: Harik’s Past
Three years ago.
Harik was on his way home.
He lost his parents at a young age due to an accident, living now alone in a small house in Youra. Of course, he received the support of those around him and the royal family to survive every day despite being on his own. Harik was even allowed to attend the pre-academy of Youra, which was attended by those, who were between 12 and 14 years old.
Being in his first year, Harik already made some friends. And among his friends was Asak, whom he had known since his childhood. He and his parents were very kind to Harik and treated him almost like their own son, supplying him with food if needed.
Asak and Harik were on very good terms and played almost every day together. It was like a brotherhood.
Harik lived his daily life with a wide smile on his face, impressing the other people, who knew about his harsh situation. But Harik did not care about his situation as he had people around him, who would play and laugh with him.
However, it was on a certain day, when his daily life came to an abrupt end.
"Wh-who are you?!" Harik asked shocked when he arrived at his home.
Usually, it should have been empty because only Harik lived there but on that day, a middle-aged black-haired man with a robe was sitting at the table.
His hair was reaching to his shoulders and was wavy. The lips were dry and his eyes looked tired with eyebags under them. His robe was covered in dirt and seemed worn out.
But most importantly, the man’s eyes were pitch black.
"I am Cres." the man replied with a gentle smile.
"..."
But Harik was obviously still cautious and took some steps back.
"Don’t worry, I won’t harm you. I didn’t know that someone was living here when I searched for a place to stay." Cres elaborated, scratching the back of his head embarrassedly.
"Y-you’re searching for a place to stay...?"
"Yes... I was previously in Malnor but due to an incident I had to flee the nation and ended up here..." Cres said, laughing wryly.
He got up from the seat and was about to head out.
"I’m sorry for scaring you, boy. I will leave now." he apologized.
And maybe it was because Harik knew the feeling of being all alone and having no place to stay that he felt a connection between him and the man.
"W-wait!"
"?"
"Y-y-you can stay here if you want...! I’m living here alone so it wouldn’t bother me if you’d stay here..." Harik suggested nervously.
"..."
Cres was speechless at first.
"Heh... You’re really a kind boy. But didn’t your parents teach you to not trust strangers? Especially, old men like me?" Cres stated with a comforting smile.
"I... I don’t have parents..." Harik said with his gaze cast down.
Cres’ eyes widened.
"I see... I apologize..."
He comforted Harik by gently caressing his hair.
And that was the moment when the two started to live together.
In the beginning, Harik’s daily life did not change much but slowly but surely Harik would spend less time with his friends and instead, stayed home with Cres, who was always at home. Asak felt something suspicious but did not pursue it at that point in time.
Back at home, Harik was talking about a lot of things with Cres, including about himself.
Then, three months had passed since Cres appeared in Harik’s life.
"Is there anything that scares you?"
Harik was in his bed, on the verge of falling asleep when Cres, who was sitting at the table, suddenly asked him a question.
Cres sounded calm as he read the newspaper.
"Hmm... I don’t know..." Harik mumbled with his eyes closed as he rolled over in his bed.
"Really? Not even an insecurity?"
"..."
Harik was pondering as hard as he could in that situation.
"Maybe... Maybe the thought of being isolated and being on my own again..." he muttered softly balling himself up slightly.
"I see."
Cres stood up and walked over to Harik, putting the cover on Harik and stroking his arm gently.
"Cres...?"
Harik slowly turned his face to Cres. He noticed that something felt strange.
"Close your eyes and sleep already."
"..."
The whole time, Harik’s eyes were about to close.
However, that was the last time, he saw Cres. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
After all, Cres vanished without leaving traces behind on the next day.
In a panic, Harik stormed outside and looked around.
"...?"
Even when breathing became painful as he ran around all the time, he continued. But in the midst of his search, Harik sensed the stares of the people. Unlike usual, they were terrified of Harik and took some distance from him. Some even ran away from him.
"W-what’s wrong, everyone...?" Harik asked with a nervous smile.
Then, Asak emerged from the circled crowd.
"Have you taken a look in the mirror, monster?" he stated coldly.
"H-huh?"
As he was focused on finding Cres, Harik did not notice the change in his own appearance.
"I’ve always known that this kid was a bringer of misfortune...!"
"Maybe his parents knew about this all along!"
"Get lost, you fiend!"
The people around him started to aim their hostility in the form of words at the young and clueless Harik. Even those, he considered friends like Asak, turned on him and threw stones at him.
Harik ran away instinctively, protecting himself from the stones.
"..."
Tears did not stop coming from his now black eyes, completing his demon-like appearance.
For the rest of the day, Harik was occupied with escaping from the people and their gazes. And when he thought that he could return to his home, he found a group of people in front of his house, lurking for Harik.
That night, Harik had to sleep in a dark alley near a small shop selling all kinds of goods. There, he looked into a mirror for the first time of the day.
"!"
He could not believe what he saw. His blue eyes were now as black as Cres’. However, he did not fully understand, why the people were so eager to drive him away. Still, he at least understood that it was due to his eyes. Therefore, he stole a pair of sunglasses and hid his eyes.
Harik spent the following day with sneaking around but Asak and his friends found him in an alley.
"Do you really think a pair of sunglasses could hide those hideous eyes of yours?" Asak said sharply with his arms crossed.
"W-what’s wrong with those eyes...?!" Harik tried to protest.
But then, Asak broke into a loud laughter.
"You’re kidding me, right? Do you really not know that you’re looking like a demon?"
"D-demon...?"
Harik legs were trembling.
"There he is!" a man shouted from behind.
"!"
With his brain overflowing with thoughts and questions, Harik ran and ran even if he could no longer run.
That was also the moment when he realized that he was not welcome here anymore. At that point in time, almost everyone in Youra must have known about Harik already. Thus, he decided to leave the capital behind and aimlessly headed to another town.
However, his treatment was the same no matter where he went or how he dressed himself. People would always find out about his eyes and treat him like a demon.
And in that time span, the memories he had with Cres were overwritten with hate, wrath and the vow of getting revenge. He would also regret the fact that he could not realize sooner that Cres was not normal.
But it was too late and Harik had to pay the price for it by bearing the loneliness for the coming years until he managed to sneak onto a ship, sailing to Malnor, where he would then head to Loogam and enroll there.
There, Harik would not spend a single night without reciting the events that have occurred and vowing to himself to not forget Cres’ face. And despite Mika curing him of his curse, Harik was not satisfied until he got his revenge on Cres and the people in Youra, who would not even let him explain his situation back then.
He wanted to show it to everyone.
And that time was now.
"Go get them." Mika motivated Harik with a slap on the back.
"..."
Harik nodded his head firmly as he headed to Belian and Rachel, who were waiting for him.
Mika, Ophelia, Lisa, Lily and Sylvia were sending the team off with confident and cheerful smiles as the team embarked on the stage, where the match between Loogam and Youra would be held.
"First of all, let me welcome our guest from the other side of the sea! The white-class students of Loogam!" Cylia announced vigorously.
Standing in the center of the arena, which was originally used as the training field for the weapon combat class, Cylia volunteered to take on the role of the referee.
"Are you two ready?" Belian asked his teammates one last time. frёewebηovel.cѳm
Rachel nodded her head with a stern gaze on her face.
Belian took a deep breath.
"Yes!"
