"Did you really fall from the 2nd story of your house?" Ning asked.
The group had already started moving. Zand kept quiet for a while and finally spoke, "yes, I did. Well, I was thrown off of it to be exact."
Ning got a little curious.
"I think I will have to explain from the beginning really," he said.
"When my mother gave birth to me, my mother's body grew weak and she started easily contracting illness. Right around when I was 11, she died after a long battle with a disease. Just like today, I had walked all the way up to the mountain peak back then too," Zand said.
"My father and brother were there as well. When we were going around, I got cold and fell down the back of the mountain. That was how we came to discover a cave with Aether Ores there. Father wanted to mine it, but we couldn't get out hands on it due to the Seal's requirement of entry."
"So, my father forgot about it. However, my brother never did. Only, he didn't have any methods of gaining entry to the mountain either."
"That was until he went to the town over and learned about Khrom. He recruited Khrom and made him move to this town. Then, he gave him the task of killing a person or two every month."
"During that time, he would send his own men to peak with every funeral group and mine a little," Zand said.
"How do you know all of this? I thought you were completely paralyzed with no way of knowing," Ning asked.
"Ah, I asked a few people in the last 3 days. When I threatened a few close people to him with execution, they spilled the bean pretty easily."
"Besides, I was there when he made the plan as well," Zand said.
"You were there?" Ning asked with confusion.
"Yes. One day when father was out on a merchant trip, he called Khrom to our mansion under a disguise and called me too to take part in the planning."
"When I heard what horrible things he wanted to do for the money, I told him I would tell everything to father. In hindsight, that was stupid of me. But… I never thought my brother— no, that monster was capable of what he did."
"Before Khrom could even do anything, he grabbed me and dragged me onto the balcony before throwing me off of it. Luckily, I landed on the grass and survived, but unluckily, I was paralyzed."
"Since the servants found me, he couldn't kill me off, but since I was paralyzed he didn't need to."
"Ever since then, he had been running his operation unobstructed, making hundreds of thousands of Rops in the process," Zand said.
Ning thought for a moment and asked, "Did your father not get suspicious of the sudden increase in income?"
"Oh, he never sold anything himself. He sold the ores through the bandits. He would give the bandits the task of selling the ores, and they in return would get a cut of the money. I wonder what would've happened if he ever told the bandits the location of the ores."
"I doubt any of the village or town folks would be alive at all given how lucrative that would've been to them," Zand said.
Ning remembered the pile of Rops that Khrom had when he had entered his room. That necklace that held the money was still with him and had yet to check it.
"How do you know he made Khrom sell all of it? Did his people tell you that too?" Ning asked.
"Well, yes, but I already knew that beforehand. Every time he was about to get his money, he would come to my room and boast it to me. He would tell me what sort of idiotic mistakes I did by not helping him, that bastard."
"He would sometimes come in and tell me how he destroyed all the letters that were being sent to the Pestonia empire. If they had gotten my letter, I would have likely been treated by now," Zand said.
"I wanted to beat him, even kill him then and there, but I couldn't. I was paralyzed. So, all I could do was wait and bide my time. Thankfully, since I was planning to go to the university in the empire very soon, my father had bought me a rather expensive Aether absorption method, I spent all my time absorbing it."
"That was how I got this strong," Zand said as he made a fist. "I got strong enough to kill that monster in one shot."
"Goddammit, I should have killed him the moment I got my movement back, but I was too weak and couldn't think properly. If I had… If I had killed him, then father would still be alive right now," Zand said and started tearing up again.
Ning looked up and said, "so all the problems that the villagers and the town folks faced are gone now, right?"
Zand wiped his tears and said, "yes, they're all gone. The villagers can finally rest in peace. Maybe I should go apologize to them for what my brother did."
Ning thought for a while and said, "Don't."
Zand was a little surprised and looked at him.
"Let them stay happy in ignorance. They think they lost their lost one to unfortunate causes. If they find out your family was behind it, they will hate you forever."
"Instead, if you want to atone for the sins of your brother, try to make this a better place for them to live in," Ning said.
"Yes, yes I shall," Zand nodded. "Oh, right. I nearly forgot, what was it that you wanted to talk about with my father? If it's something I can help with, please tell me. You are my benefactor, and I will do anything you ask for."
Ning thought for a second and said, "Well, there are a few things you can do for me."
