Hints of the Past

The whole room went silent. If a feather floated slowly down to the ground, it would've been audible. Everyone in the room was looking at Leon who seemed to stop functioning like his brain had encountered an error.

With his face emotionless, Leon just stared blankly in front of him as his thoughts tried to stabilize.

'I am speaking with one of the most important people in the kingdom..... Like the whole Kingdom of Partha. Surely this isn't a dream? Do I have to pinch myself? Maybe a kick to the groin will really be accurate if I want to wake up from this dream. Maybe I should ask if he's joking? But everyone all looks so serious, maybe this isn't a joke? I feel like I'm missing something...'

Then it finally clicked in Leon's mind, the things he had to know.

"Wait! The governor of Orsini is friends with Erik and my parents?"

After Leon finally spoke, the tension in the room dissipated and Sava put on a grin that revealed his pearly teeth while laughing.

"Haha, not exactly Leon. I'm not a friend, but more of a comrade or maybe best pals. Erik and I go way back and so did your parents."

Finally, after sorting out all the questions he had, Leon planned to have them all answered.

"How do you guys know each other?"

Sava replied instantly.

"I used to be a part of the same party as Erik and your parents. Although, we were more of a family than a party. We stayed together for years and disbanded only after your parents died."

Leon pondered.

"So you guys all disbanded after my parents died by monsters on one of your adventures?"

The calm and collected Sava looked a bit confused at Leon's question and gave a slide glance towards Erik. Sava was a fairly advanced mage and could be considered the apex of B Tier mages at the moment if compared, even when he had been out of action for almost ten years. Due to this, Sava used a unique skill of a high-tiered mage and establish a psychic connection with Erik.

'Erik, why does he think his parents died by monsters?'

'I had no choice Sava, Anna didn't want him to know the truth.'

'You know you can't keep this from him forever Erik. He has a right to know. Even if Anna asked you to keep it secret.'

'Sava don't start now. Don't tell the kid.'

'Erik, you know better. The poor lad deserves to know the real truth. That his parents died from human greed and not from the hands of some beast. I mean come on Erik, Anna's own family killed her and Demetri.'

'I know... I know. But cut him some slack, the kid is barely gonna turn 16 soon. He's only an E Tier. Who know if he will try to take revenge? If he does, it will be the death of him. Even we can't do anything to them and we aren't pushovers. Anna wouldn't have wanted this.'

'.... Fine. But sooner or later, he will find out. A fact like your parent was a princess isn't something that can hide for forever. I won't say anything, but eventually, you have to tell him, Erik. It's better if he finds out from you, rather than him discovering on his own.'

'Alright, I will, Sava. But only if he is ever ready, I won't let him throw his life away. I mean the kid is practically my adopted son. Just... just don't mention it.'

This entire conversation was sped up greatly but still lasted almost twenty seconds.

Leon asked out of puzzlement.

"Governor? Are you okay?"

Sava gave out a chuckle.

"Oh nothing, I was just reminiscing about the past. Also, call me Sava from now on. Let's see where were we? Oh right, the parties disbandment. We did disband and we mostly went all our own ways. I ended up here and Erik has been with you. The others have been gone for quite a bit, most of them are wandering the continent or have settled down in distant places."

Leon was satisfied with the answer. He had a bunch more questions but decided to hold off since he didn't want to annoy Sava.

Seeing that he was done, Sava finally asked his own question and pointed towards the wagon Erik dropped outside the room with the bandit leader still sitting there cross-legged with the taxes and records.

"So are you gonna explain that Erik? Or....."

Erik finally spoke for the first time in a while.

"Ah yes, those are the taxes from Verin and the essential records that were supposed to be delivered for the annual collection for the capital."

Sava rubbed his temples and almost facepalmed.

"I know that. I was referring to the grown man sitting in the wagon, not the gold or scrolls...."

Erik let out a hearty laugh.

"Oh, that. Right. Okay, you won't believe what happened."

Erik retold his entire experience throughout the trip, from the boring part of the trip to the ambush and battle of the forest. He left no detail out and finally explained who the person was sitting in the wagon.

Sava had a grave look on his face.

"Erik. I don't see how you can laugh this is serious. A bandit? Hmm, maybe that isn't exactly the whole thing... Never mind. Anyways this is something that must be investigated. Don't worry about the wagon and the man. I will personally see to those matters including the bandit."

After this, the trio exchanged some more words and pleasantries, but nothing interesting was spoken about since the talk about the bandit.

This went on for almost twenty more minutes until Sava eventually bid them farewell.

"Farewell, if you ever need advice or a favor you can come see me anytime. I'll try to see you, but no guarantees you all know how time-consuming this job is."

Erik waved goodbye and took the lead and eventually walked out of the room, as Leon was about to follow Erik and do the same.

Sava put his hand on Leon's right shoulder and whispered into his ear.

"Take this and don't lose it. Keep it on you at all times. If you ever meet anyone from the photo inside, just show them the item. This will eventually come in handy in your future. Don't show Erik or tell him about this, he won't understand why I gave this to you. All you know is that this is for your future. Now take care."

Putting a beautifully carved locket that was cold to the touch into Leon's hand, Sava eventually walked away and waved Leon goodbye.

"Don't get into trouble, I don't want to bail you out on your first night here!"