The Porter is Secretly an SS-Level Hunter

Chapter 48: There is no Running

Neban did not dwell on looking at the man as he was already making his way to his bedroom. He needed to clean off the blood on him and change his shirt before Theo sees him. 

Plus, he had to get a high-grade healing potion for the man, bandages, and a new shirt. 

Once Neban finished those tasks, he walked back into the living area, setting the potion, bandages, and new shirt for Xan on the table when his son called him. 

"Papa!" 

He hurried to the kitchen and saw that Theo finished cooking the three omelets. The boy was standing on a stool, trying to turn off the stove. Neban walked over and turned it off for him. 

"Was that grandma?" 

Neban shook his head, "No, it was Xan." 

"Oh, does he want an omelet?" Theo asked, looking back at the stove with uncertainty. 

"Not now. But I need you to stay in the kitchen until I tell you that it is okay to leave, okay?" 

Theo looked at the omelets that he put on individual plates before glancing back to his dad, wanting to ask why. But he knew not to ask because Neban sounded serious. 

"Okay." Theo nodded. 

Neban smiled at him before quickly going back to the man that was slowly bleeding out on his couch. 

Xan was sweating hard, and when Neban touched his forehead, he could feel that the man was running a fever. 'I need to get some wet towels to calm him down.' Neban thought. 

But first, he must deal with the bleeding wound. 

Neban lifted Xan's shirt, seeing that someone stabbed the man multiple times. 'At least I can deduce that his attacker was human and not a monster. I do wonder if it was a civilian or a hunter that did it.' He thought to himself. 

He grabbed the healing potion off the table and poured it over the wound. The bleeding quickly stopped as it started to heal, leaving behind sensitive pink skin. 

Neban stood up, grabbing Xan by his shoulders while putting the man in a sitting position. Xan seemed to protest at being moved as the man started groaning, but Neban ignored it. 

He went for the bandages next, wrapping the area so that the man would not irritate his freshly healed wound. Once Neban finished, he thought about how he was going to change the man's shirt. 

As he thought about what to do, there was a knock at his door. 'That could be my mother.' Neban thought. 

He walked over, opening it, only to see that it was his mother, and she could already sense that something was wrong. 

"What happened?" His mother asked, her smile falling off when she took in her son's body language.

Neban moved out of the way while saying, "Why don't you see for yourself?" 

His mother walked into the house as Neban closed the door behind him when she saw Xan on the couch, his mother gasps before cooling her features. "Is he okay?" She whispered like she did not want to disturb the man. 

"Yeah, I already gave him a healing potion. He has a slight fever, but other than that, everything is fine." He answered, already walking back to the Xan. 

His mother nodded before saying, "Where is Theo? Do you need me to do anything?" She decided not to let this affect her. Ever since her son became a hunter than a porter, she learned to take everything in without a problem (although she could not help but worry all the time). 

"Can you stay with Theo while I deal with this? He is in the kitchen and made you an omelet." 

His mother nodded, already walking off to the kitchen. 

Neban put his attention back on Xan and decided to rip the man's shirt off him. He would have used scissors, but Neban did not feel like going to get them. 

He grabbed the collar of Xan's shirt and ripped it down. Xan made sounds of protest due to the movements before quieting down, minus his heavy breathing. 

Once he finished ripping the shirt, he moved Xan's arms, pulling the sleeves down so that he could free the bloody top from the man. When he got it entirely off, Neban threw the shirt to the ground. 

He picked up the clean shirt he brought off the table and put it on Xan. Neban did struggle a bit because the man did not like all the moving around. 

Once he had the new shirt on, he laid Xan back down, so the man could finally relax before walking away to get a small wet towel from the bathroom. 

When he returned, Neban set the wet towel on Xan's forehead, watching the man that was warm to touch, sweating hard, and sleeping soundly. After a minute passed, he walked into the kitchen to see Theo and his mother speaking. 

They have not touched the food, almost like they were waiting for him. 

"Let's eat in the dining area," Neban told them as he grabbed his and Theo's food, making his way to the other room. 

His mom and Theo followed after him. 

****

An hour passed when Xan was finally awake. 

Before Neban let his son in the living area, he covered Xan's body with a blanket to hide the couch's bloodstains and sneak the dirty shirt under the sofa. He did not want his son to see it. 

Neban knew that later on, he will have to find something that takes blood off of couches. And not forget about the dirty shirt under the sofa. 

When his mother and Theo entered the living area, it looked like Xan was suffering from a fever rather than an attack. 

They sat on the other couch, watching TV on low volume as Neban glanced at Xan a few times, waiting for the man to wake up. He wanted to know what happened. 

After an hour, Xan opened his eyes, squinting them due to the light that hit them. 

Seeing the movement, Neban stood up and made his way to Xan, crouching down next to him. Theo and his mother looked over as they stayed in their spot, glancing back to the television. 

"N-Neban?" Xan called before coughing due to his throat feeling dry. 

Neban stood up, walking to the kitchen to get a water bottle for Xan. When he returned, he handed the water to the man. 

Xan put himself in a sitting position, taking the towel off his forehead as he winced from the movement. He grabbed the water bottle from Neban, unscrewing the top off, taking a big gulp before closing it. 

Neban watched for a second before asking with a whisper, "What happened?" 

Xan gave a bitter snort before frowning, "Hunters," the man started, pausing to take a sip of water before starting again, "it is not all of them, only a few from Wonderstone Company. More F-levels are coming out, stating that they have gained abilities and some hunters are not happy that porters are leveling up. 

"Which I do not understand why they are complaining? It is not like there are dungeons to enter anymore with how they are caving in on themselves. They should be worried over the portals appearing more frequently, not porters leveling up. 

"But they foolishly are. So, four hunters wanted to have a 'conversation' about it. It was only another person and me at the company when they came. The conversation was initially okay until I commented on something, and one of the hunters decided to stab me in anger.

"Everything happened so fast; no one had time to take in the situation when the hunters were already running. The person, who was with me, tried to help, but I shoved them off and decided to come here instead of the hospital because I rather not tell the people there what happened." 

Neban looked at the man with a blank expression, not reacting to the story because emotions would do nobody good, "Are you going to talk to Wonderstone about the hunters? It is wrong for a hunter to attack a civilian unprovoked." 

"Not if the said attacker is an S-level hunter. I rather not put a target on my back." Xan bitterly answered, running his hand through his hair out of frustration.

Xan was not wrong. The company and government would write the incident off because the said attacker is an S-level. Plus, with the unexpected portals and destruction of dungeons, the governments need hunters more than ever, so they would probably pay Xan off to keep him quiet. 

"Can you tell me who it was?" Neban asked after a minute of sitting in silence. 

He could feel his mother's gaze on him as she heard his question. His son glanced at him too, but he did not fully understand why Neban asked for a name. 

"Why?" Xan asked, looking confused. 

Neban would not call Xan a friend but someone who was supposed to be his representative. And even though their relationship was growing, Neban grew uncertain with the man when he found out that he was related to Angel (Xan mentioned that they stopped talking years ago, but it did not assuage Neban). 

But, the man dealt with whatever Neban threw at him while barely asking questions. So he would not mind helping the man again by getting rid of the one who stabbed him. 

It is not like anyone could stop him; the government would give him a pass if he went on a killing spree. Neban could say that sometimes, being an SS-level had its perks. 

"I only want a name," Neban answered, keeping his expression blank and his tone indifferent. 

Xan looked at him for almost a minute with narrowed eyes before opening his mouth and giving Neban the hunter's name that stabbed him.