The Porter is Secretly an SS-Level Hunter - Chapter 28: What is the Truth? (2)

Isona’s birthday was here, and Neban did not know if he wanted to show his face in front of her and Wey.

He would admit that he was scared because of the feelings he had for them.

The past two weeks, Neban did not work as a porter nor speak with the others. Well, he did talk with Owain, but he ignored Isona and Wey outright.

Initially, on the working part, it was not Neban’s idea to not work as Xan thought it would be better since the government was starting to take action on the deaths happening in the dungeons.

After the first week, Neban began to enjoy staying home and doing many activities with Theo. Theo loved having his dad at home all the time.

Although Neban was restless from not doing anything, he loved being with his son. Maybe Neban should have become a stay-at-home father.

And it did give him the excuse of not seeing Isona and Wey. At this point, someone would call say he is acting cowardly, but he was not good with emotions.

If he was, wouldn’t everything be better for him?

Now, it is Isona’s birthday, and not only did she text the group chat an address to her house (because that is where the party is), but Theo remembered her birthday and asked if they are going.

Neban sighed at his son, who was excitedly talking about going to a birthday party in front of him. He wanted to speak with Siren, but the wretched sword was silent for two weeks.

Neban swears he should have thrown the weapon away a long time ago since it would not tell him anything.

“Papa!” Theo shouted, trying to catch his dad’s attention.

Neban looked at him.

“Can we go to the birthday party? I miss seeing Isona, Wey, and Owain.” His son was giving him puppy dog eyes, causing Neban’s resolve to break.

Was it wrong that he could never tell his son no? Neban knew that one day, that would bite him on his behind.

“Yes, go find something to wear,” Neban told him as Theo pulled a vast grin.

The boy excitedly nodded as he turned around and ran to the bedroom to find an outfit.

Neban sighed, running his hand through his hair before reaching into his sub-space and taking out the protection bracelet he wanted to give Isona.

After figuring out his feelings, Neban has been carrying the bracelet instead of leaving it at home. Neban sighed for an umpteenth time, ‘Maybe I am a coward.’ He thought before standing up and walking to the bedroom to get dressed.

****

When they reach Isona’s house, Neban feels dread sinking into his stomach and maybe some nervousness mixed inside.

He hated this; Neban could deal with fighting monsters with no problem, but facing two people who make him feel: impossible.

Theo stared at his papa, wondering why he was looking at the door and not knocking. After a few seconds, Theo took the initiative since he was in his dad’s arms and knocked on the door.

Hearing Theo knock took him out of his thoughts as he looked at his son. “You were taking too long, papa.” Theo giggled.

The door opened, and when Neban glanced back at it, Wey was the one who answered the door.

When they glanced at each other, the tension quickly built as Wey looked at him with longing and sadness in his eyes while Neban swallowed a lump in his throat.

“Hi, Wey!” Theo greeted, causing them to look away.

Wey smile, “Hey, Theo, glad you could make it.” Neban could not help but wonder if the last part was directed at him or used to show that Wey would not acknowledge him.

Moving from the door, Wey allowed Neban and Theo to walk in. Neban put Theo down and let his son join the others as he stood by the door.

The same door that Wey was closing; the man did not walk away once he locked it. They stood in silence before Neban cleared his throat and spoke.

“Is it us, or did Isona also invite her friends?” He wanted to know if he should make something to cover his face or remain bare since the group has seen his face before.

Although it was still uncomfortable, he was trying.

“Just us.” Wey softly answered.

Neban hummed, getting ready to walk away from the awkward area when Wey stopped him by saying, “Neban, wait.”

Neban abruptly stopped but did not turn around. Wey was thinking of what to say, but he could not think of anything for some reason.

Once again, they were standing there in silence until Isona walked their way.

“Hey, I saw Theo, so I could not help to see if you came.” Isona started as she tried to act tough, even though she was still hurting from Neban ignoring her.

Neban looked at her before quickly looking away. He felt like it was not fair that her, and even Wey, were unbelievably eye-catching.

“Yeah,” was the only word Neban could muster as he reached into his sub-space and pulled out Isona’s present. He moved closer but still kept a distance as he handed her the gift.

“This is for you.”

Isona grabbed the gift as a smile graced her face as she kept staring at it.

Neban moved away and was getting ready to leave once again until Isona stopped him this time.

“Wey and I want to speak with you.” Isona quickly spoke as she saw Neban getting ready to walk away before glancing at Wey.

“Please,” Wey added as he moved closer to where he was standing next to Isona.

Neban thought for a while, not wanting to speak because he knew where the conversation would go. But, he sighed and said instead, “After the party,” before he walked away.

When he entered the living area, where Isona decorated it, Neban saw Theo and Owain playing a dancing game. He smiled at Theo’s happiness as he made his way to one of the couches and sat down.

Isona and Wey walked into the room, glancing at Neban before joining Theo and Owain.

Neban leaned back as he watched the others instead of joining in; it wasn’t for him anyway. But he did enjoy seeing how happy Theo was.

As he continued watching, he heard Siren beginning to speak after they had been silent for a while, ‘You humans seem to have weird celebrations.’

Neban internally frowned at the weapon, who finally decided to talk again. ‘Oh, look who decided to come back from the dead.’

Siren scoffed, ‘Be quiet. I’ve been resting and thinking for a while.’

Neban rolled his eyes as he leaned back on the couch, making himself comfortable. ‘No more excuses, Siren. You owe me.’

Siren sighed, ‘You humans have no patience.’

‘I’ve been patient long enough; it seems like you do not know how to keep the end of your deal.’

‘I do keep my deals; I was only giving you time.’ Siren responded.

‘I do not need time; I need answers. Especially since monsters are parading as humans.’

Siren was silent for a while, making Neban think that the weapon would run away again. But it started to speak after a minute, ‘The dungeons come from a different world; originally, they were not dungeons.’

‘What do you mean?’ Neban asked, interrupting the weapon.

Siren made a sound of annoyance at Neban interrupting it before speaking again.

‘The monsters come from another world, a world that was dying because of the wars happening there.

‘Four main clans ruled over the world as there was a woman, known as Mother, that ruled over them. In the beginning, it was peaceful, and the monsters thought they had found a beautiful place after the other worlds they went to and destroyed.

‘But, after two millennia, Mother grew bored with the peace and used her weapon to trick the monsters into war with each other. Blood, destruction, and bodies filled the world as it turned from a beautiful one into an ugly one.

‘The war went on for five centuries before the monsters decided to stop because everything was dying around them. The clans had a meeting, not knowing what to do when Mother came with a new idea: taking over this world.

‘Mother told the monsters of your technology and how they could bring humans’ abilities to turn them into slaves. Mother wanted the strongest human as hers.

‘But, the high-level monsters could not come to this world because the portal, or barrier, was not strong enough to cross through. So they decided on the dungeons to help the humans grow stronger. Because the more robust humans became, the more dungeons appear, causing the barrier to weaken.

‘The dungeons and your abilities come from Mother. She even made the loot from her treasure once a human kills a monster because humans are greedy. And when humans want something, they keep coming back for more.

‘For the past twelve years, you humans have only weakened the barrier, allowing the high-level monsters to enter this world, just like Trickster.

‘You may think those creatures you humans call “high-level” are strong, but they are nothing compared to the royals of the four clans. And if Trickster was able to come through, then the barrier is one step from allowing the royals to cross over.’ Siren explained.

Neban took all the information in, his head hurting as he rubbed his temples. What he learned was too much, and did this mean that the world was coming to an end?

‘See, this is why I told you to wait.’ Siren teased.

Neban ignored it before asking, ‘I know you are a part of this somewhere, so what was your role? Why were you protected from humans and monsters alike?’

Siren was silent for a second before answering:

“I am Mother’s weapon.”