250: Haruto Kazuya

Haruto Kazuya

Hearing Haruto's name Kretos first thought was, this guy was a noble? He then dismissed the idea, the way Haruto acted and talked had no indication that he was raised in a noble household. 0

"Haruto Kazuya, so Haruto is your given name and Kazuya is your family name, correct?" 

"Yeah, that's right," Haruto answered as he cleaned his plate. 

"I'm Kretos, I have no family name if I do have one I can't remember it." Haruto looked at Kretos and started assessing him. 

"Do you have amnesia?" 

"Is that what you call this, where I can't remember anything from my past." Hearing Kretos's response Haruto took out his box of cigarettes and gave one to Kretos. 

"It must've been rough having no memories of yourself, here you should try one." Kretos curiously took one cigarette. After seeing Kretos take one Haruto took one as well and placed it in his mouth. Haruto was about to take out his lighter and help Kretos in lighting his cig, but then Kretos pointed his finger at the cigarette and a small flame came out. 

Watching the scene before him made Haruto shrug his shoulders. 'Of course, someone from this world could do that.' Haruto then lit his own cigarette and the two started smoking.

The first time Kretos took a puff of the cigarette made him cough a bit. Watching him made Haruto smile as it reminded him of the kids back home who tried a cig for the first time. 

On the other hand, the moment Kretos took a puff he remembered something. This wasn't his first experience with a cigarette. He had tried this before, the memory was vague but he was sure that he had experienced this before and he remembered a bit about the person that gave it to him.

"I see... So you're a summoned individual." When Haruto heard what Kretos said he almost swallowed his cig. 

"What did you just say?!" 

"I said you're a summoned individual." 

"Do you know others? Do you know how do I can get back?!" Haruto was getting excited as he held onto Kretos's shoulders. 

"I think I remember meeting someone before. But he's no longer with us." Kretos answered. 'Of course, he's no longer here, though my memories are vague I'm sure I was the one who ended him.' 

Hearing Kretos's answer like a deflated balloon Haruto sat back down. "Is that so..."

"Yeah, sorry about that. So you're an otherworlder." Haruto nodded his head.

"Yes I am, I came from a place called earth in a country called Japan." 

"Interesting, so how did you get here?" Hearing Kretos's question, Haruto stood up and started mixing some drinks and passed one to Kretos. 

"It's going to be a long story, do you have the time?" 

"I got nowhere else to go." Haruto nodded his head and sat in front of Kretos while taking a sip of the drink he just made.

"Alright, it all started a few months ago."

...

Haruto was once your everyday salaryman. He came from a normal family and had a normal life. That was until his parents died. After his parents' deaths, he inherited the pub they own in a street corner in Harajuku.

He visited the pub and as he entered a lot of nostalgic memories came flooding in. This was were he grew up in, specifically the upstairs of the pub was his childhood home. He would sometimes go down here during working hours and meet all sorts of people. 

Those people had a lot of interesting stories to tell. His dad who was the bartender would listen to their stories, and they would usually have smiles on their face. His mother who was the cook would serve meals to the people and as they ate they all had this look of content. It was like all there worries were expelled at that moment. That was the pub Haruto remembers. 

As Haruto continued looking around the pub he found the pub's ledger. In it, he was surprised to see that the pub was in the red for a couple of months now.

'What happened and this was such a good pub? Also, why didn't they tell me they were having difficulties.' Haruto then remembered his dad's reassuring grin. 

'Yeah, he was like that wasn't he... No matter what happens he would never have told me if he had problems, he would foolishly try to solve the problem himself.' Haruto could very well imagine his father going around town passing flyers to people asking them to come and visit the pub. 

Haruto then closed the ledger and started thinking. This place was the only thing left of his parents in this world. He also had a lot of good memories of it. 

'Maybe I too can make people smile like that when they visit the pub... Can I really bring this pub back to its golden age?' 

As Haruto's enthusiasm was slowly going down he remembered something his father used to say. "You know son when I was just starting out. I had this big dream of opening up a pub, where people who get tired of the daily grind can find solace and share their stories and worries in it. I wanted to create a pub were it wasn't just a pub, it was a home." 

Remembering what his father said Haruto clenched his fist. 'I'll do it, dad! I'll make the pub of your dreams!' With renewed enthusiasm, Haruto quit his job got his severance money, and used it to reopen the pub. 

On the first day, some old customers came to visit. They went to support Haruto in his endeavor and also to offer up condolences. Yet despite their support, they weren't enough. On the following days, no new customers arrived, and the old ones would seldomly come after the first few days. 

After a full month of persisting the end result was horrible. Unlike when it was his parents' time even in their darkest hour the pub still made a tiny bit of money. On the other hand, Haruto was actually losing money. 

As Haruto was losing confidence in himself, he heard a voice in his head. [Congratulations you have been chosen as the host of the Tavern System.]

...

"After a few more mishaps, I was transported here into this world." 

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