238 The secret is revealed
*Thud, thud, thud*
“Big brother, I am tired of waiting. I wanna play with Plow. ” Tula abruptly entered the bedroom and went to sit beside Vincent. She looked at Vincent, slyly smiled, and swiped Plow from his lap.
Tula looked at Ben and noticed he was looking at her with a worried expression. “Is uncle Ben with an owwie tummy? I can ask mommy to help.”
“No, Tula, you got it all wrong. Please stay away from Vincent. ” Ben spoke with an agitated tone.
The situation happened so abruptly that his mind couldn’t process if the savior of Tula was a dangerous branded criminal or, worse, a retainer of an invader.
“No! I like big brother Vincent and Plow. I stay here!” Tula pouted.
Lenn and Renn rushed inside the bedroom after hearing Tula raise her voice. “Elder sister, let’s not bother teacher and go down...” Both said before they saw the hero mark on Vincent.
Lenn, “Teacher! What happened to you the past six days?”
Renn, “That! Is that the cursed mark? What did they do to our teacher!”
.....
Both Lenn and Renn became angry. They thought someone must have branded Vincent in the past six days.
Vincent was kind to them. He brought their sister alive, brought their father’s sword, their uncle’s shield, and taught them how to train and become stronger.
Lenn and Renn saw Vincent as their idol. A man to respect unconditionally. They placed Vincent on a pedestal.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe twins thought it was strange to see Ester and Lupa in the evening bringing Vincent covered with a green remedy covering his body and a peculiar demon-like goblin wearing a collar following with her head down.
‘Something unspeakable other than fighting a few bears must have happened. I think they met with bandits.’ The twins had in their minds.
“It looks like everyone is here. Ms.Yula, thank you for your hospitality, but now that everyone knows about my secret, we have to leave.” Vincent stood up and wore his shirt. He believed one person might get persuaded after saying a couple of words, but persuading five people at once would be a difficult challenge.
Yula stopped hiding from behind the door after Vincent noticed her and called her name. She walked past her sons and then past the worried Ben.
[This is getting out of hand. The twins believe what they want, and Tula, with her child, mentally ignores what’s happening. However, I don’t think we can convince Ben and Yula.]
Tula extended her hand and grabbed the side of Vincent’s shirt. “Don’t leave me! Big brother, you said you would not go anywhere. Tula knows big brother never lies... ” Tula started tearing as she said these words.
“Teacher! Stay here! We will not reveal what happened to you! Mother, please say something.” Lenn exclaimed, hoping to persuade Vincent to stay.
“My brother is right! What they did to you can be hidden by a bandage. So please stay here with us. Mother, please agree.” Renn added after his brother finished his sentence.
Yula, “Are you a criminal?”
Vincent, “No.”
Yula, “Are you the retainer of an invader from another world?”
Vincent, “No.”
Yula, “Is the mark on your body a tattoo? paint? makeup? or a brand?”
Vincent, “I think it’s a brand.”
Yula, “Are you an invader?”
Vincent, “I...”
[Don’t! Don’t make things worse than they are and leave here imm...]
“I will be honest even if I say things that will endanger my life and the life of my loved ones. I Vincent Agius am an unwanted hero summoned to this world as the seventh hero by the book created to save humanity from the war against the demon race centuries ago.” Vincent honestly said with his life on the line.
Vincent knew Tula’s family was kind, but fear can make people do unpredictable things. He gambled with his life, his harems lives, and Plow’s life to win their trust.
However, Ben was like a joker card in this situation. Vincent worried Ben might decide to attack them after spilling the truth.
Vincent apologetically lowered his head while he tried to gain some pity points and said with a saddened voice, ” I was in my room when I was teleported out of the blue to this world. I worked in a library and didn’t go out much other than work. I was a gloomy person and only smiled when I read a story.”
“However, I changed after I got a family to worry about. There is a saying which goes like this. Don’t take a dump where you eat. So why should I, as a person of another world to destroy this world where my women live in?”
*Sigh*” ...now that I revealed my secret, we have to leave. I can’t let good people suffer because of our presence. People tend to believe what they hear and then distort what they see. I was like that once, and it made me drown in sadness.” Vincent shared the truth.
Ester sweated bullets, and Lupa clenched her fist. Iris frowned, and she stopped shaking from the selfless courage to act while Kazumi tried to think of a way out of the situation. However, Vincent kept digging their grave.
Tula rushed between Vincent and her mother. She snuggled with Plow and said, “Mommy, please tell big brother Vincent and big sisters Ester and Lupa and my new funny red cheeks big sister Iris to stay. I don’t wanna lose Plow too.” Tula started tearing up and sniffling after she spoke the last word.
“Tula, come here. Your uncle is worried about you...” Ben said while slowly waving his hand.
Ben was so worried and shocked by what he heard that he doubted if Vincent’s story was true or not. Ben wanted his friend’s family to stay away from the potential danger, yet Tula interrupted him with a loud...
“NO!” Tula stomped her foot and quickly went beside Ester.
Yula looked at Vincent unusually calm and didn’t act wary of Vincent. Her children trusted Vincent to be a good person, even if the person in question admitted to being one of the invaders people call calamities upon the world.
“You have done so much for this family. To me, you are a good man, a good hero. But if what you are admitting is true, what are you going to do in our world?” Yula spoke without showing fear. She remembered the state Vincent came in when he brought her daughter.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmYula wanted to confirm something before Vincent replied with a lie or with a truth, “Tell us what happened to my husband and my brother-in-law. I want to hear the real unchanged truth.”
[Are you making this choice? Are you going to take another gamble after you managed to win the last one against the bear and survived?]
-It’s better to make a compromise. We can’t leave this house and live a life worrying if the world knows about my existence or not. I don’t want to live my life on a ticking time bomb.-
Ester wanted to help Vincent explain how he isn’t a dangerous person, “One the first day Vincent came to our world without a choice, he saved my life and Lupa’s life.”
“Vincent even used his power to free me from being a... being a slave...” Ester said with a sorrowful expression.
“Impossible! Even if it’s the lowest slave curse condition, only a high-tier healer can cure an enslaved person. Do you intend to start a slave rebellion with such words?” Ben said, feeling conflicted on every word.
Vincent always acted friendly and humble. The addition of Tula, Lenn, Renn, and Yula not displaying hostility started to confuse Ben’s emotions.
Ben didn’t know if he should arrest Vincent for further interrogation or try to understand if Vincent was a danger to the world or not. Even if Ben was taught to capture or kill people like Vincent, his morality of doing such a thing to Vincent conflicted with his sense of duty to the world.
To Ben, Vincent was a good person in his book. Vincent saved and brought Tula back home, yet now he is revealed to be a man who everyone says can destroy the world.
“Then... is a teacher really from another word? My father always said to only trust what I see and not other people’s words.” Lenn asked.
“Teacher, you saved my elder sister and taught us that family comes first. Teacher is always kind to us and even taught us how to become stronger. Is the teacher going to harm us?” Renn added.
“No, why would I? That’s why I am going to leave this house. Even mentioning a hero’s retainer staying in this house for a day would bring disaster to this good family.”
“I am a person from another world supposedly brought here to help this world with my retainers behind me. The cultivator leader from the Northern Continent saved my life even after he found about my identity. So don’t worry. We will go far away so that everyone will forget we stayed here.” Vincent said with a poker face.
In truth, Vincent was sad to leave right now. He wanted to stay for a few weeks or months after getting comfortable living in such a welcoming environment.
“I still haven’t heard my answer yet.” Yula restated with a frown.
Vincent looked at Yula with a puzzled expression. He was discussing a way to keep his secret, yet Yula wanted to know the entire story of what happened in Aero Forest and insisted upon hearing it.
[Just say what you want to say now that you messed any means for me to save the day, but if the situation becomes terrible and you have to fight Ben, I hope you don’t hurt him too much.]