1169  Father and Son

"You have a rather interesting approach to ambushes," said Mister White while dipping his spoon in soup, swirling it, and then having a taste. "How did you survive for this long?"

"Ambushes are nothing but surprise attacks," said Arthur with a smile. "If you take away the element of surprise, you can use their attacks against them. If we prepare for their ambush, it becomes ours."

"Although I never tried to outsmart someone as terrifying as the Yalen King, I would roll those dice alongside you," said Mister White as he cleaned his mouth from soup. "The execution will take place in two weeks from now, so we have enough time to infiltrate and stop it."

"This will endanger your gang," said Arthur in a frown. "Is helping someone you respect worth this much risk?"

"You don"t trust my intentions because I know that they don"t make sense for you," said Mister White with a knowing smile. "However, your contributions to Kera saved many of my men, and I heard your speech. In our world, favors are earned."

"I don"t accept favors," said Arthur with a smile. "Name a price. It can be anything this world has to offer, and I will be able to grant it."

"I don"t take money from friends, so this is a way of becoming your friend," said Mister White with a smirk. "If you were just a criminal, I wouldn"t even hesitate to devour your wealth. If you were a criminal that Joe introduced, I would help you without taking a penny."

"I appreciate that, old man," said Joe with grat.i.tude, as he felt proud that his word carried such weight. Mister White waved his hand and began eating again. Arthur, however, was not about to accept a free lunch. He wanted to offer something that Mister White wanted.

"I can make you meet your son."

The dancing utensils pouring food into their plates froze midair, as the chilly wind of December made its way into the tent. Mister White had his spoon close to his mouth when he heard the words, but his eyes were as wide as eggs.

"What… did you say?" asked Mister White as he raised his eyes, looking at Arthur as if he has seen a ghost. "Did you say that…"

"I can let you meet him and even talk to him," said Arthur as his golden eyes studied the old man, in them the man saw knowledge of his deepest regrets. "I met him in the Kingdom of Wrath."

"What is that?" asked Mister White with trembling hands that placed down the spoon into his bowl. He could see that Arthur was not a man who would lie or joke around about such things, so he knew this was the truth.

21:51

"Is that you? Is it really you, Dominic?" asked Mister White as his son helped him stand, grasping to him like a drowning man.

"It"s really me, pops. Our king summoned me to meet you," said Dominic with a warm smile. Mister White shed tears as he rose from the ground, and Arthur turned around to leave. The rest followed after him to leave the pair of father and son behind.

The earlier bright sky has now turned cloudy because Arthur used his powers. Sarohan wiped away his tears as the four stood outside the tent, where QQ was still standing guard. Seeing them stand there with his boss talking to someone inside, the guard was confused.

"Is everything alright, Little J?" asked QQ with confusion as he rubbed his chin. His thick mustache bounced up and down as he glanced at Arthur with recognition. "Our boss doesn"t have a phone, so who is he talking to?"

"His son," said Joe with a smile. QQ looked at him with confusion, but the bartender turned toward Arthur to explain. "Dominic was never a part of our gang, no matter how much his father tried to persuade him. In the one time that Mister White managed to convince him to join us, he was killed in battle."

"And thus, the old man blames himself," said Sarohan as he burst out crying, tears filling his goggles. "But Dominic never blamed him! He never did!"

"How would you know?" asked Koby with a sigh. "If he did not blame him, he would have never entered our lord"s kingdom of wrath. He still has unfinished business in this world."

"Not against his father," said Arthur to confirm. "I remember meeting him a few weeks ago and hearing his story. If he blamed his father, he would have said something. He just regrets not changing his father"s line of work."

"Oh Dominic!" cried Sarohan harder, making QQ shed tears of his own. The guard did not understand, but he knew Dominic as well. After almost an hour, the clouds parted, and golden glow shone from inside the tent.

Arthur turned around and walked into the tent, to find Dominic as golden as his own mana. The dashing young man looked at him with grat.i.tude, as his father wiped away tears while on the ground.

"I never thought that our promise would be fulfilled this son, our lord," said Dominic toward him as he looked at the golden mana. "It seems I am now ready to be reborn as someone new. And I will never forget this debt."

"Neither will I, Lord Arthur," said Mister White as he rose from the ground, his spotless suit now wrinkled and dirty. "You have given me closure in life, and for that, I shall offer this humble life for your sake."

"Dominic has to leave now," said Arthur with sadness as he looked at Mister White. "Bid him farewell, and let him enter the cycle of reincarnation."