Return of the Fallen Volume 7 Chapter 20
Kazuki returned to Sid’s shop downtrodden. It was an odd feeling to have a friend and you see said friend a certain way and then comes one of their children that changes how you see them. Kazuki still thought of Tilly as a friend but he knew that Jool didn’t turn out the way he did because Tilly did everything right in his upbringing.
Kazuki could see that Jool truly loathed his mother. Tilly was too into the drink as well as crafting. It took up much of her time and left almost none for her son. To many Tilly was an incredible person, talented with crafting at a level most could never begin to approach but to the one who was supposed to be closest to her, Tilly was only someone who shared a house with him.
Kazuki could relate somewhat to Jool. He was orphaned at a time before he could even remember his real mother’s face. Love was not something he had until he met Kai and the two became orphaned brothers together. The two suffered but they suffered together. Jool who had Tilly as a parent but never had the affection or love he wished for, that type of loneliness even when someone was there, it was something hard to endure.
Kazuki wondered if he might have turned out similarly if he never met Kai.
At this time, there were no longer any customers in Sid’s shop. Instead, there were a few workers hauling large boxes filled with equipment and other materials to the back room. Kazuki walked by them and they all bowed or nodded politely.
(Sid must have told them I’m a guest of his.)
Heading into the backroom, Kazuki saw Sid pointing at some of the boxes and telling the workers to move things here and place things there. The orichalcum block of metal Kazuki had left behind was under a large tarp, hidden from the gazes of the workers. After Kazuki came in, it just so happened that the last worker finished putting down a box.
Sid waved Jaken over and threw a bag of Gold over toward him. Jaken hastily caught it in surprise.
“Boy, you’re finished for the day. After you close up announce to everyone that the shop will be closed for at least a week and no one should come in for work. That gold Zeni is to compensate them while the shop is closed. Now hurry up and go.”
Jaken could see a fire lit in old Sid’s eyes. He had seen that look many times. Whenever Sid got that look it meant he was about to work on something big. Every time he worked on something big it took a while and Sid wished to not be disturbed. Jaken understood the drill as he had handled things whenever Sid dove into whatever project and didn’t resurface until he was finished.
Jaken took the hefty bag of golden Zeni and left the back room, closing the door on his way out. Afterward, there was an announcement and a wave of cheers rang out. All the workers loved it whenever Sid started working on a big project. It meant they didn’t have to come in for a while and at the same time, they’d still get paid. This was a paid vacation and was one of the great perks of working at Sid’s place.
After everyone else left, only Sid and Kazuki remained.
Sid had a large proud smile on his face and he began to brag.
“All of these rare materials will help make the ultimate Golem. The number of shops in the entire kingdom that can acquire all of these rare items in a single day, you can count them on a single hand. My shop wouldn’t even lose out to the capitals.”
Right after he said that he took a look at Kazuki and could see he wore a sour expression.
“Hmm, my boy what’s wrong?”
Kazuki didn’t hide anything and told him about his conversation with Tilly’s son Jool. Afterward, Sid couldn’t help but sigh.
*Haa*
“That bastard has the gall to speak ill of Tilly. Sure she wasn’t the best mother but that doesn’t take away all of her accomplishments.”
“See that’s the problem. Tilly was extraordinarily talented but the relationship with her
Sid put a hand up and cut Kazuki off.
“If you go digging into people’s past you’ll see mistakes from everyone. Tilly’s was how she raised her boy but what can you do about that shit. Tilly’s gone and her past is in the past. You can’t hang on to everyone’s past. That was just a single aspect of that old crow. She for some reason couldn’t love that boy and that’s just the way it is. It wasn’t right but had she faked her love that might have been far worse. All we can do is try to work on ourselves. Trying to fix others is a useless errand. Especially trying to fix those who are no longer of this world, that is the definition of pointless.”
Kazuki shook his head.
“To not even try…I think that is the worse option. If I can work on myself, why can’t I help others try and fix their own bad?”
Sid shrugged.
“I don’t know, I just know what I’ve been through and in my experience, you can’t change someone who doesn’t wish to change themselves so what’s the point?”
Kazuki didn’t know how to answer this. He didn’t even know if he wanted to. All he knew is that he was friends with Tilly but at the same time, he understood where Jool was coming from, and that in turn made Tilly look bad in many ways.
In the end, Kazuki didn’t even know where he was going with this, he just knew he didn’t like how things turned out and he felt like he might have gone a little overboard. He didn’t hate Jool, he didn’t like him either but stealing his house might have been a little too much. Kazuki thought he was more in control of his emotions but every time he thought he had tamed them, once he grew stronger it was like his emotions grew stronger as well. Sometimes he felt he could take on any burden. Being attacked, he could take it but when it came to others in his life, he grew fangs when people attacked them.
Finally, Kazuki shook his head.
“Fuck I need a drink.”
Sid chuckled and waved his hand. The ring on his finger lit up and a large barrel appeared next to him. Slapping the side of it, a cork at the bottom popped out and a dark brown liquid began to pour out. Sid Already had two large pitchers and proceeded to fill them up with the drink. Once his pitchers were full, Sid kicked the barrel and the liquid stopped pouring. A magic inscription lit up and held the liquid back.
“A drink you wanted and a drink you’ll get.”
Sid was about to pass the drink over to Kazuki but then stopped.
“I’ll let you have this and as much as you want but first you gotta promise me one thing.”
“Promise what?”
Sid pointed at Kazuki’s ring and chuckled.
“Whatever you do, no matter how pissy or off you feel about it, promise you won’t give Tilly’s mansion back to that shit stain.”
The room became quiet for a moment before the two both broke out into laughter. Kazuki nodded.
“Fine, now give me that drink. I want to numb these thoughts at least for a while.”
Sid passed the drink over and Kazuki immediately caught a whiff of something both earthy and bitter from the drink.
Sid slammed his pitcher into Kazuki’s.
“Cheers my boy! let’s drink to Tilly, drink to the Golem, and drink until we can drink no more.”
The two threw the drinks back and drank them down in a few gulps. The taste of this drink was bitter and hot. If Kazuki were a regular person, this would have burned tremendously on the way down but because of his body, it just felt like drinking bitter water.
A little disappointment was evident from Kazuki’s face. Kazuki grabbed the barrel and lifted it off the floor, tilting it back, he opened his mouth wide and began to empty the barrel of its contents. Sid watched this and gawked as barely three seconds passed and the entire barrel had been dried of its alcohol.
Kazuki dropped the barrel on the ground and asked.
“Do you have anything stronger?”
Sid’s eyes lit up once more. He waved his hand and 20 more barrels appeared out of nowhere.
“This is the strongest shit I have. Let us drink for an eternity Kazuki.”
Kazuki didn’t care what it tasted like he just wanted something to numb the thoughts. Barrel after barrel was emptied. At first, Sid had helped split the first three barrels. This shocked Kazuki as Sid was less than three feet tall. Somehow he could handle that much. After the first few barrels were done in though, it was Sid’s turn to be stunned as Kazuki proceeded to finish every single barrel.
The two told stories while they drank and Kazuki brought out some food he had received from Oren and the two proceeded to snack while they drank and laughed. The alcohol didn’t affect Kazuki in the least but the pleasant conversation and joyful atmosphere helped cloud the sour thoughts. After several hours, Sid passed out.
Kazuki sat quietly in deep thought. As he did, he started thinking about Asuna, Nunully, and the rest of his friends.
In this calm and quiet setting, Kazuki drifted off to sleep.
Although he slept in a chair, it was comfortable. Maybe because he hadn’t slept so peacefully in a long time or maybe because he was sleeping around another human, it brought him tranquility and with it, the night quietly passed.
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