Chapter 306: Russell

There's a grandpa and his grandson playing in the garden, while there's a woman inside the house. That must be the mother. As for the father, he seems to be away at the moment. Probably hunting.

Well, I don't care. I'm just here to see old man Henry's friend. Probably that grandpa.

As we get closer to the big house, the grandpa in that house noticed us and stopped playing with his grandson. He and his grandson then proceed to greet us.

"Welcome to our humble village! I'm the chief of this village, Russell!" The old grandpa greeted us. He's the mayor of the village.

"Greetings! And I am the one who rule over you, Henry!" Old man Henry said as he removed his robe. Was that necessary?

"Grandpa Henry! It's you! Wait, it's my turn! Hm… And I am the grandson of the chief, Russel Jr!" The chief's grandson said.

Wait, so this is a normal thing here? Or is it just them? Well, I don't want to be left out so I'll join.

"And I am the not so normal passerby, Roy!" Hmm… I think my introduction lacked impact.

"Not bad." The chief said.

"I know, right? He has great potential." Old man Henry said.

Potential to do what? To be what? You need to complete your sentences, old man.

"And I am the Destroyer from the sea, Spot! Nice to meet you all!"

Suddenly, Spot joined us. He said the first half imposingly, while the latter half is how he is normally. As for the Destroyer from the sea, he's right about that.

Spot also leaves my waist, and started floating in front of me. at first, the grandpa and grandson duo were surprised, but seeing how friendly his introduction was, they must be thinking that Spot is a nice monster. They must be thinking that I'm either a summoner or a tamer.

"Wow! A talking and floating snake! Nice to meet you too!" Russell Jr. already getting friendly with Spot.

"Sigh… is this how you greet each other? I'm Victoria, a Black Slime. That's all I'm going to say."

Victoria also joined introducing herself, but she did it normally.

"Two talking monsters! That is so cool!" Russell Jr. shouted.

"Well, they are my companion. I have something important to ask of you and this is only something that you can do. Let's talk somewhere private." Old man Henry said.

Maybe he noticed that he will be asked something serious, his demeanor changed.

"Understood. Then, let's enter my room for a chat. Though since the wall is so thin, other people might hear our conversation. I guess we need a change of place." Russell said.

"No need. Your room is fine. As for other people, they won't listen to anything in your room. Let's talk there. The faster we find a solution, the faster we can complete the mission." I said.

"Mission? You want me to participate in whatever mission you are in?" Russell asked old man Henry.

"We'll talk first. May we come in?" Old man Henry said.

"Okay. Junior, you go and help your mom." Russell told his grandson to leave. It's also not something that a kid should hear.

Then, Russell Jr. entered the house and told his mother that they have guests. I guess we will wait until the tea is served before we get into a real talk. But as soon as I entered the room, I should put up Air Barrier right away.

"So, what can I help you with?" Russell asked.

"First, how much do you know of the Evil Cult?" Old man Henry asked. I should leave it to him to do the talking.

"They are bad guys. Some of them even entered this village as bandits. If not for your warning about the cult, this village would be gone already. We have been wary of any travelers entered this village ever since. Have they started something again?"

"Not started. It hasn't ended yet in fact. I just knew a few days ago that my son, Keith, the one that I thought would be suited for the throne, he was actually a member of the cult." Old man Henry said.

"What!?" Russell was extremely shocked to hear that.

"Not just him. Almost half of my children are members of the cult. If not for Roy and his companions, we would never notice how much their influence has spread. I almost give my kingdom to the cult. Sigh…" Old man Henry sighed. That's one thing that he regrets the most recently. Each time we talked, the topic always ended with how he regretted about it.

"…I'm sorry to hear that. What can I do for you? Hypnotizing your children? I think with how smart you are, you already know what you're going to do without my help." Russell asked our intention in visiting him.

"I want you…"

"Wait. Tea is coming."

I stopped old man from continuing since the tea is about to be served. Both Russell Jr. and his mother then entered the room bringing us the tea and some cookies.

"Thank you Junior. You're a big help to your mom." Old man Henry said as he patted Russell Jr. on his head.

"Hehe, I made these cookies. I'm going to live in the capital in the future, and be the best chef in there!" Russell Jr. said and then he left the room with her mother.

"…I wish I could provide a future to the children. But I need to find the right heir for the kingdom. And the cult… they are too dangerous." Old man said after the two leave the room.

"Then, can you tell me what's going on?" Russell asked.

"I'll tell you everything I know."

Then, old man proceeds to inform Russell everything that I have told him. This time, I'm the one listening to the story instead of telling it.

After listening to everything, Russell looked at me.

"So, you're from the future?" Russell asked.

"Yes."

"And the world was destroyed by the cult?"

"I didn't witness it myself, but that's what I heard from Javier who came from even distant future and brought me back to the past." I said.

"Then, tell me your reason why you tried to change the future."

"Sure. It was because…"

"Wait, I don't need to hear it from you. If you trust me, let me read your mind. I will see your past as well." Russell said.

"You can do that? I thought your magic is just to hypnotize people." I asked.

"It was just Henry who said that my magic is Hypnotism. It's actually some kind of mental magic that affected people's mind. Hypnotizing is just one of them. And I can also read people's mind. Though I rarely used this power. Anyway, I haven't trusted you yet. If you want to earn my trust, let me see inside your mind." Russell said.

"Sure. I don't mind. It's not like I have any secrets that I want to keep. Everyone around me already know them all."

Like, seriously. I have told many people that I came from the future, and returned to the past. What else do I hide? That I was a doctor? No, I even discussed about medical knowledge with doctors in Cassau, and even old man Henry. As for anything else… I have nothing to hide.

And in fact, letting people read my mind is much easier than telling them the truth. They can see for themselves what will happen in the future if I don't intervene.

Then, Russell closed his eyes. Just in case, I undo my Air Barrier and other magic as well. who knows if they will intercept his magic? And also, I relaxed my body and make sure I don't leak any Aura at all.

Soon after, my eyelids grow heavy. I started to get sleepy. This must be the side effect of his mind reading skill. I don't have to worry about anything since Victoria is here. And he's someone old man Henry trusted as well. Let's just take a nap for a while then.

…

"Roy, wake up."

"Hmm? Can I sleep again?"

"No. He's done reading your mind."

Reading my mind? Oh, right! I was asleep because old man's best friend casted a magic on me. His name… shit, I forgot.

"My name is Russell." Russell said.

"Oh, right. Then you must have known that I can't memorize people's name well. Sorry about that." I said.

"It's fine. And I can trust you now. I will help you." Russell said.

"Help me with what?"

"Brainwashing those children. That's what you want me to do, right? You're here to find a solution that doesn't involve you killing children, right? I'll help you with that. I also don't want children to fell victim to the cult." Russell said.

"Really? Thanks, Old man's best friend!"

"Just call me Russell."

"But why did you choose to trust me? There's nothing worth-mentioning about me that can make you trust me this easily." I asked.

"You're right about that."

"Hey! At least don't say that so bluntly!"

"Anyway, it's because I noticed your reason to destroy the cult. It's just because of your selfishness. Not because of your righteousness. If you did it because of your sense of justice, then I will never help you." Russell said.

"Why?"

"I have read the minds of many people with sense of justice. But those people are easily influenced by other people. Especially by smarter people. And most of them are those who ended up entering the cult. They entered this village and I hypnotized them to kill themselves far from here." Russell said.

"You can make people to kill themselves!? Man, you're so powerful!"

"But there are some conditions that I need to be achieved first. Though with my position as the village chief, it's easy to do. Anyway, I can trust you because you just want a peaceful life with your harem. You already know what you want to do, and to achieve that, you need to cult to be destroyed. That's why I trust you. Let's get along from now on."

"Alright, Russell. Pleased to make a new old friend." I said.

With this, I hope I don't need to have those kids killed. The reason I need all the cult members in the capital is just because of my fear. Afraid that in the future they will bring more trouble. But if Russell can help, then I don't need to kill them anymore.

I don't want to feel the guilt of killing children on my own. If possible, I'd like to avoid that.