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- 5 years later -
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"Ah." Olya noticed a lone snowflake fall on his nose as he quietly sat at a café terrace, "Winter's fast approaching, huh?"
What most would consider a charming and nostalgic emotion at this moment, Olya certainly could not. Winter, in other words, the season that most reminds him of that day - The day the Sun God that he and his best friends worshipped betrayed them and cursed him to such a lonesome life. It's been half a decade now, Olya had already lost almost all of the fat he had previously been known for - be it due to the extensive traveling he's been doing in order to hopefully find another way to bring his companions back to life, or the depression of having to cope with each setback in that mission.
"Hey, hey!" A peppy and high-fidelity boy ran up to the lonely middle aged man, bearing a smile that shone brighter than the Sun, "Dad! I think I got something!"
"Oh?" Olya chuckled, "Let's hear it then. Well, would you look at that - that's quite the catch! We're gonna have a nice dinner tonight!"
The boy obviously wasn't Olya's real son. After all, excluding the succubus ladies who didn't really have any standards, he really wasn't all that favored by the women he would meet. Besides, this boy was already around 13 years old, meaning he was born way before Olya had even met Shaid and Schnell for the first time. Actually, during one of his trips around the World Olya would take in the hopes of finding an alternative way to revive his friends, he ran into a slave trader who was offering a cheap deal to the pathetic looking man. Olya, thinking he could get himself a fine woman around his age to hopefully quell some urges, all too easily agreed to check out the stock, but what instead met his Eyes was a frail and weak looking boy that looked like he was already knee deep in the grave. Feeling a strong sense of wanting to protect and help him, Olya had instead bought him for a whole 100 gold coins. Way too pricy for such a thing, but Olya had all the money in the World thanks to the lair back in Sibirus.
"What's the matter?" The boy noticed Olya's melancholic expression, "You thinking about your friends again?"
"Alp..." Olya called him by name before chuckling and rustling up his spiky Gray hair, "Was it that obvious?"
"Don't worry about it, dad!" Alp struck a strong and hopeful pose, "We'll get 'em back before you know it! It's only a matter of time before we run across a lead in the right direction! And when we do, we'll go see those stupid Gods and kick their-!"
"No." Olya got up, leaving his coffee cup still half filled, "I'm immortal, and so are they. No matter what happens, there's just no way either one of us will ever come out on top. It'll be an infinite stalemate that'll only make things worse."
"But they killed your friends!" Alp shouted, "They need to be punished for that!"
"Alp, you're hearing, but you're listening." Olya sighed, "I am immortal. They are immortal. But you, on the other hand? You are not."
"Dad?" Alp tilted his little head to the side.
"I don't wanna lose anyone else, son." Olya patted him on the shoulder, "Cheh, besides, you still got a role to fulfill, doncha'?"
"I do?" Alp only looked more confused.
"Don't gimme that look." Olya made a lecherous face as he smirked, "Do whatever you want AFTER you find yourself a girl, okay? I got all the time I need to revive my buds, but you on the other hand? I'd at least like it if you showed me some grandkids, y'know? Virginity and chastity may sound appealing while you're young, but the longer you go, the more desperate you are to feel a woman's folds, feel me?"
"A woman's... folds?" Alp could only parrot his adoptive father's words with a blank stare as all the other nearby customers of the café looked at them with disgust.
"Guess there's still some time before you'll understand what I mean." Olya chuckled a bit as he turned to leave, "Come on, now. That fish ain't gonna cook itself. It'd be a shame if my son's first ever big catch went to waste."
"Oh, right!" Alp looked at the big carp he had caught during today's fishing expeditions, "I totally forgot! Come on, fishie!"
"Hrm..." Olya could only grumble as he recalled how Schnell had referred to the megalomanic in the same way.
This impromptu father son duo had spent a good couple of years now traveling the World together. Olya had originally been blinded by rage and a sense for revenge, only ever thinking about finding a way to make Ouroboras experience the same pain he had felt after that day. Alp, as the naive child that he is, still doesn't quite understand the sudden change of heart Olya had experienced soon after adopting him. For Alp, who had experienced abhorrent treatment from the slave trader as well as the beautiful care of Olya, he knew full well that a person's nature was fully determined by their actions. In other words - There were people whom he hated, and people whom he loved, and he made sure to keep the line between those two heavily bolded. In his Eyes, a person cannot change, so seeing his father lose that fire for revenge suddenly was quite hard to come to terms with.
"There we go." Olya had tossed the fish into the oiled up pan after making sure to cut and clean it properly, "Yeah, this one's gonna be juicy. Nice going, Alp."
"Hey dad?" Alp hesitantly approached him, "Why'd you stop being angry at the Sun God?"
"...Why you ask?" He took a short pause before answering with a chuckle, "If you ask me such a straightforward question like that, bud, I guess I wouldn't really know either. For a long time, I've harbored immense hatred for that ass, but then one day I woke up after you wet the bed we were sleeping on."
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"E-Eh?" The boy blushed a bit, "T-That was back when I was nine, okay!? When are you gonna let me live that down?"
"You misunderstand." Olya smiled, "While I was cleaning the sheets and you were sobbing from the embarrassment in the other room, I suddenly asked myself - Alp is so small, so tiny. If the Sun God found him, he'd die just like that. I cried for the first time since losing my friends that day."
"Oh..." Alp looked down.
"I realized one thing." Olya continued fiddling with the pan as he continued, "I was never the one hunting them down, it was the opposite. In their Eyes, I'm a sinner who just bought himself immunity from eternal damnation. That Ouroboras, he's a damn stubborn sunovabitch, so I'm sure they'll come after the one's around me if they can't get me. Ever since then, I focused my all on finding a way to revive anyone and everyone the Gods would take away from me."
"Dad..."
"Yes, son?"
"The fish charred while you were talking." Alp pointed to the pan.
"Ack, shiet!"
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"Thanks for your help, Shaid!" The local handyman expressed his gratitude, "Those tips about the infrastructure really saved my ass!"
"Don't mention it." Olya smiled and waved.
"Oi, Schnell!" The baker ran up with a smile, "How's Alp been doing these days? That fishing rod servin' him well?"
"Yeah, he's really fond of it." Olya shook his hand, "Thanks for gifting it to him for his birthday. It means a lot to have him finally show interest in something."
"Is that so?" The baker looked around before coming up close to whisper, "Heh, speaking of showin' interest, my sister has a daughter right around his age, y'know? They're comin' to town to visit for a while, so I'd really appreciate it if he could keep her company. She's a real dear, I'm sure they'd get along."
"The niece or her mom?" Olya asked.
"Phah! You never change, Schnell!" The baker patted him on the back before running off, "Ah, I gotta go, my break's almost over. I'm countin' on him, though!"
"Yeah yeah!" Olya waved him off, "I'll be sure to let him know about your sis!"
"Ack, not her!" The baker shouted back as he ran on over to his station again.
"Something to do with me?" Alp suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind Olya, startling the poor middle-aged fool, "When are you gonna tell them your real name?"
"My real name isn't important right now." Olya clenched his chest before composing himself, "Ahem, I told you this already, but this is just a precaution in case I don't find a way to bring those two back. If such a thing were to happen, I need to at least make sure their legacies make their way in the history books by doing good deeds and letting them take all the credit."
"And what about you?" Alp asked, "Can't you at least take SOME credit? I mean, you ARE the one doing all those good deeds, and you're still insisting on letting your dead friends take all the fame?"
"They say a man only truly dies when he is forgotten." Olya smiled melancholically, "So let's just say I'm keeping them alive, one way or another."
"You're really wasting your life, old man." Alp frowned at him.
"Where'd you hear such a nasty line?" Olya recoiled.
"From Kenny." Alp pointed to his left, "He always bickers with his dad, so I hear it a lot when I come over to play."
"Kenny ought to learn some manners, geez..." Olya scratched his head, "I feel like I was getting bullied by kids like him at your age, so my best advice is to be goody-goody with him the best you can."
"Sure, I mean we ARE best friends." Alp shrugged, "Anyways, what were you and the baker talking about just now?"
"Oh, right." Olya pulled him close, "I hooked you up with a girl, so you owe me big time. Don't mess it up, I heard she's a real looker."
"Wha-!?" Alp jolted, "I don't want a girlfriend! They're icky and full of cooties!"
"Ah shut up. You'll change your tune the moment you see her." Olya didn't wanna hear any more bullshit from his boy, "Well, I say that, but truth is I dunno how she looks either. At least scope the scene out first before backing off, okay?"
"Do I have to...?" Alp whined.
"You do, in fact." Olya raised a point, "She's that guy's niece, and he makes some fine-ass bread. Just hang out with her a bit and bring her along when you hang out with Kenny or something."
"I'd rather not..." The boy looked uncertain, "What if I end up liking her but she falls for Kenny?"
"Then fucking keep her away from him, I dunno!" Olya gave up as he shouted in the middle of the street, "Dude, I gave you the tools, so make something out of the situation yourself! Besides, what ever happened to that fear of cooties you just spoke of?"
"Well when she's offered to me on a silver platter like this, I think I can power through a cootie or two." Alp reasoned.
"...You really are learning a lot from me, boy." Olya ruffled his hair like any proud dad would, "You'll either be a womanizer or a heartbreaker, and honestly I don't know which one's better."
But that's a story for another day. For now, these two will be spending their time together in this town, spreading the good name of Shaid and Schnell as they embark for expedition after expedition in the search for another way to revive them. A new chapter had begun for Olya ever since that fateful day, but unlike this one, it has no end in sight.