After presenting her dantian to Richard.
In the endless darkness, Sharon Pierce looked back on herself.
In retrospect, she was nothing. Just blindly chasing after one desire.
That desire wasn’t something grand like growth. It wasn’t as noble or prestigious as knighthood. It was something too mundane. Yet, it was more precious to Sharon than anything else.
That’s why Sharon Pierce is straight.
Both the path she walked and the path ahead of her are straight.
Every straight line has a beginning and an end.
Her starting point was one night.
.
.
.
It’s red.
Though her eyes should be white, everything is red.
“Mom!”
The little girl, despite being washed away by tears, stood up again and knelt beside her mother.
— Splat.
The girl’s knees stained crimson with her mother’s blood.
“Are you okay?”
“Why, why is this happening? Blood, blood, mom’s blood.”
Sasha Asilia smiled faintly.
“Mom is fine.”
“H-how… can you be fine?”
“Sweetie.”
Asilia gently wiped Sharon’s cheek with her bloodied hand.
“Mommy has to go a little far this time.”
“But… you’re hurt? Don’t go…”
“Sharon. Beware of the Bloodstone Cult.”
Asilia couldn’t bring herself to say more.
If her daughter defies Richard, she’ll die soon.
So she taught her to hate the Bloodstone Cult.
When she realizes Richard is a Bloodstone Cultist, then she must resist.
That was the best she could do.
That’s the best she could do.
“Listen to the Lord well.”
“Ah… okay. Okay. Will you come back?”
Asilia smiled weakly.
“Sharon… remember our promise?”
“Yeah, promise?”
“To which number do you have to count for Mom to come back?”
“Uh… ah… 10,000.”
“Okay. 10,000. Will you count well?”
“Yes. I’ll count properly. Mom.”
And so.
The snowfield thickened with blood.
.
.
.
Why do memories from that lost moment come back now?
It’s a nightmare, the only moment she can see her mother.
Memory fades, plunging into darkness again.
… It must be darkness.
The surroundings are noisy.
— “Sharon Pierce!”
A voice Sharon didn’t want to hear reaches her ears.
It’s Ian’s voice.
He who constantly hindered her.
He seemed to have come here.
‘Be quiet. I don’t want to hear your voice.’
Even though she thinks so, she keeps listening to that voice. She doesn’t know why. But it has always been like this.
Maybe.
Yes.
Perhaps because she feared deviating from the straight line she was walking.
He kept making her look back, for whatever reason.
Gradually, her vision returns.
Sharon stared blankly outside.
Someone’s swordsmanship moves vaguely into her sight.
‘… Mom?’
In Sharon’s memory, her mother’s figure, each of her movements during training, unfolds before her eyes.
— Mom might be struggling now, but someday, she’ll bloom like a flower. Sharon, watch closely.
The movements of the sword that seem like flowers will bloom for sure.
Her mother was clear about that.
No one else could do those movements except her mother.
She wants to open her eyes.
She wants to see that figure more clearly.
Her blurry vision starts to clear up bit by bit.
Finally, her mother…
But what’s stuck in her sight isn’t her mother.
‘… Ian.’
Ian. That guy.
Why is he the one performing her mother’s swordsmanship?
— It is a trick of deception. Don’t fall for it.
The voice of Master Pierce echoed.
Yeah, Master Pierce must be right.
Mother said the same. Follow Master Pierce.
As Sharon tried to sink back into darkness, Ian grabbed her.
His movements seized her.
It was undoubtedly her mother’s swordsmanship that Sharon had been trying to replicate.
And so.
A snowflake gently descended before Sharon’s eyes.
Bright.
Bright and pure white, piercing through the darkness.
Sharon opened her eyes.
Ian stood there, his entire body soaked in blood, smiling brightly.
“Sharon. Did you sleep well?”
The boy who bore all her doubts and hatred, smiled brightly amidst the blood.
◆
Ian smiled.
If Sharon get away from this situation, Richard will lose his prison once again.
Richard’s wavering gaze hinted at that fact.
And so, Ian focused on Sharon.
As long as Richard blocked her, he concentrated on getting her to stand up.
‘I just need to prevent Richard from harming Sharon, right?’
Such foolishness.
He can make Sharon walk on her own.
Ian smiled as Sharon opened her eyes.
‘It will be your defeat, Richard.’
Humans are not just prey.
They have emotions.
The Bloodstone Cultists fail to recognize this fact.
That’s why they make mistakes.
Richard’s mistake was Sharon.
Though Sharon may seem devoid of emotions at first glance, focused solely on her sword, she wasn’t really like that.
She had someone she watched over.
It just appeared that way because the sword was on that path.
Ian smiled at Sharon.
It didn’t mean forgiveness for all the torment Sharon had caused him.
— Look ahead, not just in front of you, but feel. Your surroundings. The environment surrounding you.
It was merely satisfaction from realizing the teachings of his master, Asilia.
It was satisfaction from seeing the trembling gaze of Sharon Pierce, who had run in a straight line so far.
It would be satisfaction from the situation where the proud and noble knight trembled and asked him for guidance.
“… Ian.”
Sharon’s mouth, barely opening, shut immediately.
Parrrr.
Her lips trembled.
◇
“Ah.”
Only meaningless sounds escaped.
She had to say something.
At the same time, she didn’t know what to say.
What had Sharon lived for until now?
Mother.
Sasha Asilia. Mother.
Only her.
But.
But why.
Ian, why does he.
Know her mother’s swordsmanship?
“……Ah.”
She had to ask.
Why do you know my mother’s swordsmanship?
Why do you know my mother’s laughter?
What kind of connection do you have with her?
— Are you my mother’s disciple?
One simple question would be enough.
Not asking that easy question stemmed from fear of what his answer might bring.
Fear.
For the first time, Sharon Pierce felt fear.
She feared Ian’s answer being “yes”.
She feared all the truths that would come as a result of that answer.
She feared that she had wrongly suspected Ian as a villain.
She feared that her actions towards him had been a mistake.
Because she thought so, she feared those actions themselves.
She feared the consequences of her actions, something she could never repay in her lifetime.
Ultimately, it was fear of her own foolishness.
Fear of walking the wrong path.
Fear of admitting that everything was wrong.
“…….”
Her lips felt parched.
Her focus continued to scatter.
She couldn’t look directly at Ian.
But even so.
Sharon had to face that fear.
Because it was the consequence of her actions.
This question wasn’t meant to doubt Ian.
It was a question to confirm her own mistakes.
“Have you… ever placed a curse on me?”
“Impossible.”
“Was it my delusion that you hindered my path?”
“I had my own path to walk.” “Then Ian, are you… not part of the Bloodstone Cult either?”
“Naturally.”
Clank—.
Blood trickled from Sharon’s lips.
“Are you… my mother’s disciple?”
“Yes.”
“…”
Her always expressionless and sharp eyes faltered.
“What… have I done.”
Ian intercepted the sinking Sharon.
“Listen, Sharon.”
“…?”
“You’re not strong. You’re foolish and worthless. It’s mediocrity.”
“…”
“You just pretended to be mature early.”
His words stabbed Sharon like a dagger.
“You still need your mother. Come back after you’ve received more education.”
“…?”
“Go find your mother. She’s in the snowfield.”
“Mother…?”
“Wasn’t she everything to you? Your mother.”
That’s right.
His words were right.
The reason Sharon Pierce could always walk looking ahead was because she had only one goal in her life.
Mother. Sasha Asilia.
Click. Her body moved.
Sharon instinctively took a step forward.
That step was blocked by Richard.
“Sharon Pierce.”
His cold voice stopped her.
“Isn’t your father calling you.”
It was a voice Sharon had never been able to rebel against.
“If you continue like this, your wounds will never heal.”
But that was solely because of her mother’s words.
Now that she realized reality, now that she knew where she belonged, nothing entered her ears.
Sharon’s pupils completely lost their light.
Since she already knew where to go, her sight didn’t matter much.
Sharon just moved forward.
— Thud.
A sound of something breaking.
As Sharon walked, she vomited blood.
Richard’s expression contorted.
It was the sound of the connection being severed.
— Clank!
With a sharp sound.
Sharon left a long trail of blood as she walked away.
◆
The receding figure of Sharon.
Richard asked.
“Why did you send her away? Even if you wanted me to deal with her, she would have listened.”
“You said go, and she’s going.”
Ian chuckled.
“Usually, in a situation like this, you’d say, ‘You’re right. Let me help you’. But no, the kid’s always looking straight ahead. That’s no good.”
“It’s unbelievable.”
“We should have educated our daughter better. Then I might have gotten some help.”
“Hahaha!”
Richard burst into laughter like a madman.
“Actually, there might be another way to steal someone else’s dantian. How did you manage to sweet-talk her like that?”
“Are you curious?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll tell you.”
“How?”
“I’m going to make your dantian mine. Bring it on. There’s no other way now.”
The corners of Ian’s mouth quirked up once again.
Ian’s smirk widened.
“Oh. I asked for seven attacks.”
“That’s right.”
“That was just a ploy to get Sharon out. Does that even matter now?”
“…?”
“Your prison is already gone, leaving behind just the shell.”
Richard’s face contorted.
— Kwaahhh!
A huge explosion enveloped the surroundings.
◆
Snow poured from the sky.
A distant roar.
— Iaaan!
Someone’s scream pierced through the snow.
Sharon, walking dazedly, stopped in her tracks.
“It was 10,000.”
Ten thousand, her mother had surely said to meet after ten thousand nights.
Suddenly, Sharon realized.
She had counted up to today, ten thousand nights.
The starlight she had counted while yearning only for her mother’s embrace.
If she could break through the snowflakes before her, in half of that promise, she would meet her mother.
But.
Her feet wouldn’t move.
“Why.”
Tears began to flow from Sharon’s eyes.
“Why can’t I go.”
Thud. Thud.
She struck her own legs, hitting and hitting, but they wouldn’t move.
The legs that had always walked upright, yearning only for her mother, now refused to obey.
Even when she was abused by Herman, she never lost her direction.
But now, so close to her mother, Sharon’s legs stopped.
“My mother’s there. Why can’t I go…”
She wanted to meet her mother first.
She wanted to become trash once more.
She tried to push all her emotions aside and walk forward.
But she couldn’t push them away. None of her impurities could be washed away.
For a human, that was not the way.
Thuck, thwack… thuck.
Sharon’s hand, striking her legs, went limp.
With her head bowed, she murmured.
“… Mom.”
Surely it was a straight line.
Surely it was a straight path toward her.
Sharon turned back.
“… I’m sorry. Mom.”
The light returned to Sharon’s eyes that had lost it.
There were still stars to count before she could meet her mother.
Following the footsteps in her mind, Sharon ran back.
