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“That–”

“You claim to know all the facts yet didn’t bother asking how many lilies they recovered. You claim to have helped the family yet for the last few years we have been spiraling downward financially. You claim to have adjusted our budget to save money yet you continually cut funding to anything that would help the family grow in the long-term,” reasoned Hurman. “Mertin, you’re my son and that will never change. But being a part of the family doesn’t mean you’re exempt from judgment or accountability.”

“All that I’ve done is for the family!” shouted Mertin, standing tall and clenching his fists.

Hurman shook his head with a disappointed sigh. “Perhaps that is true, but is your vision for the family the same as everyone else’s? That’s what I’m starting to wonder...”

“Please, excuse us!” Pulling his wife to her feet, Mertin looked to his children. “There’s no reason to be subjected to such blatant conspiracy. We’ll be retiring for the night, so excuse us, Father.”

“You’re excused, from the dining hall and your responsibilities as family manager...”

.....

Melinda blinked, unsure of what was going on but sure that things weren’t going to be fixed so easily. Milo kept quiet but needed to be pulled from the table by Mertin before giving in to leaving. Mertin and his family hurried out of the dining hall, leaving everyone else with a sour taste lingering over the rest of the meal.

“Please, continue eating,” Hurman commented, chomping into the leg of a massive chicken. A genuine smile was on his face as usual. However, even Hurman in his wisdom and experience wasn’t able to fully hide the tinge of water starting to build up in his eyes.

‘It’s better this way,’ Vloz mentioned to Oli. ‘Had a fight broke out, there’s no telling who would’ve been injured by the end. And had you spoken up, you would’ve likely become the biggest target.’

‘Right...’

‘Oli, you can’t expect everyone’s families to be perfect. Everyone has their own issues. And, clearly, there are some internal issues beneath the surface of the Practor Family’s supposed appearance.’ Vloz added, ‘I would like to verify the extent of how Hurman plans to deal with this put-off issue before we both talk with him. Please keep that in mind.’

Oli nodded before resuming to eat what was left on his plate. ‘I’ll remember that. I won’t ask you out unless it’s an emergency.’

The meal ended quite quickly. No one was in the mood to grab anything more and some didn’t even finish what remained on their plates. Looking at Hurman only made it harder for anyone else to enjoy their meal.

Once everyone was finished, Hurman spoke up, “You may all be excused. But Oliver, would you please join us for a discussion?”

“Of course.”

One-by-one they exited the dining hall. Jonon kissed his wife and embraced Johan with a smile before following Hurman to the patriarch’s pagoda. Keldon followed Hurman from the get-go while Oli smiled, waving to Leon and Pauller who were still somewhat excited as Shadur was about to evaluate their father’s condition.

With Oli joining them, Hurman let the group into his main chambers and swiped his hand over a seal on the wall to soundproof the room.

“Now... we can–”

Knock, Knock. A voice suddenly called out from the other side. “Patriarch Hurman, Master Mertin and his family seem to have left the premises along with all of their belongings.”

Taking a second to deactivate the silencing formation, Hurman replied with a shaky voice. “Thank you for informing me. Inform me the moment any of them return...” Hurman then reactivated the formation and sat before the other three.

“Father...” Jonon sighed, knowing that his father was struggling with his emotions.

Keldon spoke up, “Hurman, now is not the time to let your emotions interfere with how you run the family. Mertin was running this place into the ground and you know that. You’ve known for longer than you want to admit.”

“Either way... right now we’re here to discuss the details of the trip to harvest the Living Lilies, Oliver’s involvement in the family from this point onward, and how the Practor Family can avoid catastrophe.”

“Oh? You’re that confident in the boy?” Keldon smiled, scanning over Oli with a fresh mindset. “Tell me, Hurman, what makes you want this stranger to become involved in your family matters? That’s very unlike you.”

“I won’t say much about that personally. If you wish to learn my reasoning for such actions, then you should get close to Oliver yourself and discover the benefits from him directly. Now, Oliver, can you please inform us about what truly happened along your little trip?”

Nodding, Oli explained, “The trip went very much as expected. Day one was without any incidents but we awoke to a stampede of Tri-horned Deer. I scared away the herd before they entered our campsite and we fled immediately in the case that bandits had incited the stampede.”

“Smart move,” complimented Jonon.

“On the second night, we were ambushed and surrounded. I confronted the lead bandit while picking off other bandits one-by-one. Shadur was a great help as he slowed and snared the enemies that were pressuring Leon and Johan. After eliminating roughly half of their men, the bandits retreated but kept close. It was that fight where Leon’s and Johan’s injuries took place,” continued Oli.

“Hmm... Do you have any leads on to who those bandits were?” Hurman asked.

“The third day began smoothly with the harvest. We were lucky to avoid complications while Shadur cleanly extracted the lilies.” Oli paused for a moment to blink and prepare his explanation for what happened next. “After that, we discovered the remains of a massacre. It was the bandits from the night before and they had been slaughtered by a beast that we would soon run into. But from the remains we recovered their supplies and discovered more about them. Such as this...”