Balfur

Next morning,

Nikolas and his brother Erick headed downtown again. Even with their bank account empty, they intended to go shopping once more. But how, you might ask? It was quite simple actually, they weren't carrying their own wallets: but Reginald's credit card!

After convincing their parents that the world would collapse and money would be useless, they gave them the unlimited credit card.

"If this calamity thing doesn't happen and I don't become like the superman you've told. Well… you better run faster than my belt, boy!" Reginald warned them before handing the credit card.

Now, the brothers were laughing as the car sped up on the highway.

"Father really wants to become like superman, is it even possible!?" Tears rolled from Erick's eyes as he laughed too much.

Nikolas calmed himself and nodded.

"Yes! I could cut a mountain in half if I wanted. Actually, I did it twice!"

"You know I'll be even stronger than that!" Erick's eyes shined and he showed his defined biceps.

"HA! Wanna bet?"

"Deal!"

"Still, don't you think it's cheating to know what's going to happen?" The idea crossed Erick's mind and he soon asked his brother. "You already know who's going to die and who's going to get stronger..."

"In theory that makes sense..." Nikolas sighed, that idea had already occurred to him. He had no idea why he returned to the past or why he was 'chosen' - or even if that was true. Anyway, there were many things he was unaware of from the past and couldn't do much about it. "If it wasn't for my master, I wouldn't have lasted a year! And even though I knew the names of some very strong people from the future, I had almost no contact with them. You will soon realize that the more powerful a person is, the harder it is for normal people to get in touch with them."

Nikolas then explained to his brother about his first year in the apocalypse: How he had to fight to survive alone most of the first year and how he found master Yuemura. In fact, even the tragic stories made his brother more and more excited. Of course, knowing about the future and being able to prepare for it helped a lot. As they discussed, they soon arrived at Balfur's store.

The doorbell rang as the brothers entered the store and were greeted by the same dusty place. However this time there were no weapons or armor on display, apparently they had bought everything yesterday.

"Greetings! Oh - Nikolas and Erick, right?" Inside the shop, old Balfur raised his eyebrows in surprise but smiled afterwards. He never imagined seeing his favorite clients, the only ones he had actually, so soon "Have you young people forgotten something?"

[Yes, you!] That was what Nikolas wanted to say. But he was once again caught in the same dilemma: how to convince the old man that the world would end and they were here to ask for his help?

"Hmm, it might be weird, but…" Nikolas started, unsure what to say. "You remind us of our kind grandfather who passed away a long time ago. He was the one who showed us the greatness of the warriors of the past, so we thought we could help you with the shop or something..."

Balfur was startled, was that true? He was just an old man who had a great passion for ancient things and knight stories. But this passion was not shared with normal people, modernity really didn't know how majestic the Knights were! It was all about stupid internet games nowadays!

Seeing Balfur quietly looking at them, they mistook it as unwillingness.

"If it's not enough, we can buy the entire store!" Erick added as a matter of fact.

"Or you can come with us! We just recently bought an old house near ours and we could put up your store there and help you!" Taking the hook Nikolas added.

Balfur laughed, it seemed strange to him, but the boys warmed his heart. After all, he didn't have any family and he was really lonely in the shop.

"I don't want to be a burden on you, but I really appreciate the offer." He declined with a sincere smile. For a short moment he had considered accepting it, but decided against it. I had known the boys for a short time for this, who knows one day?

"We won't force you, but we won't change our minds either! For now, what about we help you clean the store?" Nikolas knew it would be almost impossible to recruit the man now. The best thing he could do was to maintain a good relationship.

That way, the brothers helped the old man by cleaning the shelves and removing the dust from the objects that remained. Minutes after they began, louds sneezes were heard throughout the store. It seemed as if a hurricane had passed through the desert and a cloud of dust hung in the air.

***********

The sun was high in the sky when they finished cleaning up. The store transformed and seemed brand new, not only did the shelves and floor shine, but the items on display looked brand new! Nikolas also took advantage of this time to look for Relics, but unfortunately he was unable to recognize any object.

[I wish I had the system now…] He complained. In an analogy, we could say that Nikolas had an abusive relationship with that system, he completely hated it in the beginning, but now he was craving it!

After they finished the sun was high in the sky and Balfur had prepared a delicious lunch at the back of the store where he lived. The table was not big but it was filled with food. There, the group chatted happily, mostly continuing their discussion about samurais and knights. If one looked in from the outside, they really did look like a family: A grandfather with his two grandchildren.

"Thank you for the cooked cornmeal sir, it was delicious!" Erick thanked the old man as they left the store.

"Now you know where we live, if you change your mind. You are welcome whenever you want!" Nikolas remembered the old man.

"Haha, thanks kids! I'm really thinking about it, who knows?" Balfur laughed, today was one of the greatest he had in a long time.

"And who knows, maybe the Age of Knights will soon rise again…" With one foot already in the street Nikolas said it lowly, but loud enough for Balfur to hear him.

The old bearded man opened his eyes, surprised.

**********

In the afternoon, they went to every store possible and bought whatever they wanted or felt it could be useful. Moreover, they spent most of the money buying another pickup truck similar to the one they were driving right now, the money wasn't enough but they parceled it in 50 times! Long live the Credit!

They bought more food, water, equipment and even two diesel-powered generators. And of course, over hundreds of liters of diesel that they bought at different gas stations to do not draw too much attention. However, Nikolas didn't mind getting that kind of attention right now: at best, they'd just think he was a weird guy and when the zombies showed up, he knew people wouldn't have time to remember him anyway.

Because the pickup truck was not big enough to carry everything, some items would be delivered to his house during this week, the last one before the apocalypse.

Now that most of the items he could think of were brought, he spent the rest of the day relaxing with his family.

It was midnight when Nikolas woke up. He dressed himself with black clothes and got his newest weapons: a matching pair of a tanto and a katana that he had acquired at Balfur's store.

Hearing his father snore loudly, Nikolas went quietly into Erick's room and woke him up.

"Hmm.. What?" The boy asked, sleepy.

"Put some black clothes on, take your weapons and come to the garden!" Nikolas said harshly

"M..kay" Erick mumbled, not not knowing what to say.