Winter.
It was a night when the snowstorm was severe.
Asilia grasped the sword.
Someone grabbed and pulled Asilia’s hem as she cautiously stepped out of the house.
– Um. Where are you going, Mom?
Asilia suddenly felt afraid.
Would she not be able to see her daughter anymore?
If that were the case, could this small child of hers stand alone?
But she had to do it.
To hide her trembling eyes, Asilia hugged her daughter.
-Mom has something important to do.
– Are you going to catch the bad guys? M-Mommy, are you going to the blood religion?
– That’s right.
– What if something happens while you’re gone? Can’t you stay?
Asilia hesitated as she looked at her tearful daughter.
Should she just run away?
If they ran away together, could they survive a little longer?
… That wouldn’t be possible.
They are everywhere.
So Richard made sure that even her daughter…
Therefore, they couldn’t run away together.
– Sharon. My baby.
– Sharon isn’t a baby anymore! I can wait!
– Huh?
– How many times do I have to count this time? Last time, I counted thirty times!
Asilia looked at Sharon.
With a determined expression, she folded her fingers back and forth, eventually bending both hands three times, the odd child.
– Th… Thirty! See, Mom! So tell me. How many times do I have to count this time!
Could she give the child false hope?
But she couldn’t bring herself to say it to those round, innocent eyes.
This time, she probably wouldn’t come back.
All that her mom could do would be to go on a journey.
– … Ten thousand times.
– Ten thousand times! I don’t know how many that is.
Sharon, who bent all ten fingers, asked.
– You have to count a hundred times a hundred.
– Huh… A hundred times! That’s too much!
Asilia hugged Sharon.
She would hug her as much as she couldn’t in the future.
– Mom… I’m suffocating…
– Sharon, while counting to ten thousand, you must chew your food well, okay?
– Okay.
– And don’t leave any carrots behind. Eat them well.
– Ehh… Carrots…
– Don’t you have to practice swordsmanship a lot? Don’t you have to become strong enough so that nobody can hurt you?
– Yes! I want to become the best knight like mom!
– That’s right. Promise.
– Yes. I promise!
– Mom!
– I’ll eat my carrots diligently!
– So, you must come back?
She couldn’t bring herself to answer.
◆
Asilia hugged the boy, reminiscing about the day she was defeated by Richard.
Anxiety, restlessness, and tension.
The boy was pushing away the emotions that should rightfully be there into a corner of his heart.
Asilia wanted to relieve him of that burden, even a little.
“You’ve been through a lot.”
Why did she want to comfort this child?
Perhaps because he reminded her of her own childhood.
Or maybe because he was the same age as her daughter.
‘…Sharon must have grown up by now.’
There were many things she wanted to teach her.
Many things she wanted to do together.
She wanted to see her talking proudly about her days at the Academy.
She wanted to see her arguing with friends and sulking, and also see her excited about making good friends.
‘Why do you fight with such a good child?’
Asilia looked at Ian kindly.
Only after their skin touched did she truly feel the worth of this boy.
Gathered pure magic power. A solid foundation.
She could even sense a vaguely noble aura that seemed to be of a higher order.
A prodigy born with innate talent.
‘…She must be jealous. She’s a child with strong ambitions.’
It seemed she vaguely understood why the relationship between the boy and Sharon wasn’t good.
Sharon was just as dishonest with the person she was interested in, as was Asilia herself.
But the reason the boy’s emotions seemed deeper…
Did he catch Sharon in the wrong position?
Since she has a personality that doesn’t give in easily, she must learn through experience.
Asilia swallowed her overflowing worry.
Now that she didn’t have much time left, it was all just a matter of hope.
Instead, Asilia wanted to focus on the boy in front of her.
Why did this boy seem so pitiful to her?
Now she knew the answer.
“Ian.”
“?”
It was because the boy resembled her when she was young.
Striving to the point of death, pondering.
A life where she cut everything for her goals alone.
That was the path Asilia had walked.
It was also a path of failure for her.
She couldn’t overlook the boy who seemed to repeat the same failures as herself.
So, she asked.
“Will you become my disciple?”
◆
His throat felt dry.
He was nestled in Asilia’s embrace as if enchanted.
Receiving comfort from someone was a first for him.
Feeling this much at ease was also a first.
In that state, Asilia asked.
If he would become her disciple.
Ian, who had slipped out of her embrace, asked.
“A disciple?”
Asilia cleared her throat loudly and straightened up.
“Am I not recognized as the Snowflake Swordmaster?”
Ian was taken aback.
Of course, he knew how strong Asilia was.
It was because he knew the power of the ‘Snowflake Sword’.
He just didn’t expect her to volunteer to be his master first.
While Ian was still bewildered, Asilia’s face flushed.
“Oh, uh… Do the young people these days not know who the Snowflake Swordmaster is? Well, there shouldn’t be such a generation gap. I may have been a bit less active lately, but…”
“No. It’s not that. I’m just curious why someone like you would want to take me as a disciple.”
“Oh.”
Asilia blinked her large eyes.
“You’re quite cheeky. Are you expecting a woman to confess first?”
… This woman.
Is she really the same person who was just overflowing with maternal warmth? Asilia, who sometimes seemed excessively naive, now resembled a fox waving its long tail.
To be precise, a professor who lures innocent students into graduate school with a beautiful tail. …But quite an impressive professor.
Hehehe. Asilia chuckled mischievously.
“It’s a joke. Judging by Ian’s expression, it seems my sense of humor isn’t dead yet.”
With a bashful smile, Asilia said seriously.
“Even if I disappear, I hope some traces remain.”
“Traces? Like what, teaching swordsmanship?”
Ian vaguely thought so.
That she wanted to inherit the swordsmanship, the Snowflake Sword technique she had founded.
But Asilia shook her head slowly.
“Hmm. It might be a little different. For example…”
Asilia took Ian’s hand.
It was a natural movement, as if there was no way to avoid it.
She massaged the calluses scattered here and there on Ian’s hand.
“Training immediately upon waking up. Thinking about how to get stronger even while doing other tasks. Food is about nutrition rather than taste. Pursuing efficient meals rather than chatting with others. Lucky days if you can train even for a short while during rest time. Days of falling asleep exhausted after finishing work and training a bit more.”
“……”
Ian couldn’t respond with anything.
It was too accurate, as if she had been observing his daily routine.
“You’ve put in a lot of effort, just looking at these hands tells me.”
That was true.
That’s how he could survive.
“But have you ever felt it?”
Asilia, holding Ian’s hand, placed it directly on her left chest.
“What it feels like to hear someone else’s heartbeat.”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Through his hand, he could feel her heartbeat.
It was gentle. But there was a definite resonance indicating that she was alive.
“It’s my first time feeling it.”
“How was it?”
“I felt vitality.”
“Good.”
With a bright smile, Asilia nodded.
“What I want to convey is values.”
“Values?”
“Shall we take the Bloodstone Cult as an example? They are those who have chosen to absorb others as a means of growth. They don’t know how to love or acknowledge anything other than themselves. They only see others as objects of absorption.”
“…”
It’s true.
There’s no normal way to catch up with the growth of the Bloodstone Cult.
“Then how should we confront them?”
“You’re not suggesting more effort…?”
Asilia tilted her head, asking.
“Have you ever heard the sound of snow piling up?”
Ian shook his head.
“Have you seen Danya’s lips curl up beautifully when she secretly looks at you?”
He couldn’t know since it was done secretly.
“Lina’s passion may seem excessive at times, but sometimes new experiences aren’t so bad.”
He knew that… too well.
“Then what about love? What does it feel like?”
“I don’t know.”
Asilia’s face drew closer.
Her soft hair brushed gently against his cheeks.
Her eyes were clear and blue, like the sky after a snowfall.
A gentle touch on the shoulder.
It traveled down his arm to the fingertips.
“There are things you only learn when you love.”
She clasped his hand with hers.
“How the other person’s fingers move when they’re happy. The disparity between the eyes and lips when they’re upset.”
“…”
“The trembling when sharing love, the rough breaths.”
Ian was lost in thought.
He felt like he understood what she was trying to say.
But it eluded him as if it were just out of reach.
“Feel the world. Listen to the various sounds and colors, landscapes and shapes. Pay attention to everything.”
Asilia’s face was warm.
Infinitely natural.
“When I become one with the world.”
He realized then.
Why he couldn’t help but miss Asilia’s movements moment by moment.
“The moment when the world becomes a part of me.”
Asilia was the sky.
She was the wind, the earth, and soon, nature.
“…Everything is one.”
Asilia chuckled at Ian’s murmur.
“It’s not quite that profound.”
She took a step forward.
Footprints engraved on the snow.
Asilia raised her hand high.
It resembled a tree branch in winter.
One, then two snowflakes fell from the sky.
As the weight of the accumulated snow overpowered the branch, Asilia’s arm gently descended.
Snow scattered.
Countless snowflakes bloomed following Asilia’s hand movements.
It looked like snowflakes, hence people called it the Snowflake Sword, Snowflake Technique.
It was a sword technique but at the same time, it was undoubtedly snow.
Thus, like melting snowflakes leaving traces on the wall, they disappeared.
She sheathed her sword.
It was only then that Ian realized Asilia was holding the sword.
“If I exist within the world.”
Asilia turned to Ian.
“Then soon, the world will exist within me.”
Sasha Asilia, the Snowflake Swordmaster.
She asked him to become her disciple.
