Fox (3)
There was a memory she could never forget.
A scene where, even after all this time, the fresh scent remained vivid.
- Always remember, Irene.
The warm feeling of a hand stroking her hair.
Master was smiling gently.
Back then, she had turned her head away, annoyed by the nagging, but now even that had become a fond memory.
- As you live your life, there will be times when you want to give up.
A voice that resonated calmly.
More than the aged timbre, it carried the weight of an old fox's long life.
- Irene.
- The world is a dawn where storms rage.
- No matter how desperately you try to escape, misfortune will eventually find you.
Sadness welled up in the corners of her eyes.
The old man, bedridden, struggled to sit up and continued speaking.
- It will hurt. You'll be scared, sad, lonely... You might even want to collapse.
- You might find yourself kneeling before the raging storm.
- That's what life is.
But, Irene.
- This old master, I don't want you to surrender.
Become someone who doesn't submit.
Become someone who can stand tall even in the face of a raging storm, someone who can wield their sword.
- Even if you are blocked by an unreasonable force.
- Even if everything about you is denied and only a pathetic trembling remains.
Just don't bend what you believe is right.
Be a pine tree that fights back desperately rather than a reed that sways in the wind.
This is the sword I taught you.
- Swing your sword at the storm.
- Leave behind the cowardly comfort and be the first tree to break.
This is your master's last lesson.
What is essential is invisible to the eye. You must always see with your heart.
Even in the dawn when waves crash, life goes on.
- Just as sailors of old found their way by the stars, life requires a direction to move forward.
- So, Irene.
Master said those words.
Even now, his voice remained etched in a corner of her memory.
It had become a guidepost on a path filled with nothing but wandering, supporting her weak self.
- Find your own star.
It had always been like that.
I, wanted to be like you.
***
Silence.
'······.'
She could hear nothing.
In a world where a deathly silence had descended, the fox stood alone in the darkness.
Her body was literally battered and bruised.
Irene staggered.
Her legs had already given out, but she was barely managing to keep her balance.
Only a tingling sensation remained in her fingertips.
She desperately clung to her fading consciousness.
"Gasp, gasp······."
Her breath caught in his throat.
As she gasped for air, a voice broke the silence.
"You seem to be struggling."
Appearing in her blurred vision was the enemy.
An enemy of overwhelming power, as if embodying all the unreasonableness of the world.
A sly taunt whispered in her ear.
"You were so eager to end this just a moment ago... What will you do if you can't even lift your sword?"
The shadowy figure smirked.
It was blatant mockery, but Irene didn't react.
She didn't feel the need to.
It was a strange feeling.
Irene's heart was at peace.
A provocation that would normally infuriate her only caused a ripple of calmness.
The girl simply breathed.
"······."
Was this what it felt like to be resigned to death?
An inexplicable comfort washed over her.
The sound of her own heartbeat. The thump-thump resonated with an unusual clarity.
Click-.
She tightened his grip on the sword she had been leaning on like a cane.
The back of his hand, gripping the hilt. For a brief moment, a tingling sensation spread through his entire arm.
'This strange feeling...'
It was elusive, just out of reach.
Irene pushed aside the lingering thoughts and lifted her weary head.
There, fate awaited her.
'Death.'
For a moment, the girl's shoulders trembled.
She was afraid, of course. But there was a good reason why she didn't back down.
-This old master, I don't want you to surrender.
The nagging words echoed in her ears.
Irene chuckled wryly.
To think that this would be the thing she remembered at a time like this.
'Of all things.'
Words she had ignored and dismissed back then, but now he felt like she understood them a little better.
What is essential is invisible to the eye.
You must always see with your heart.
It didn't matter if she was blocked by unreasonable hardship. It didn't matter if all her footprints were denied.
- Just don't bend what you believe is right.
- Leave behind the cowardly comfort and be the first tree to break.
Even in the dawn, life goes on.
As long as the star she had set in her heart did not waver, the world would not crumble.
She would move forward with just a sliver of will.
"I..."
A paltry courage.
It might seem like a pathetic relic in the eyes of others, but to the girl, this was her compass in life.
The only light flickered.
"I'm still alive."
The moment of realization.
Crackle-!
Sparks flew from her fingertips.
Following the tingling sensation that spread through her, a faint radiance enveloped the sword.
The halo of light grew increasingly distinct.
"Oh."
The watching snake let out a gasp.
A scene of brilliant blossoming.
The radiance had completely covered the rusty sword, illuminating the surrounding darkness in a dazzling display.
Fragments of pure white scattered in the air.
What was this unfamiliar power?
A sense of omnipotence she had never felt before. At this moment, she felt like she could cut through anything.
Awakening comes unexpectedly.
Wheeooo-!
Amidst the roaring sound, the fox raised her sword.
Her focus was solely on the blade.
She poured all her energy into it, unleashing it with full force.
She intended to expend every last ounce of her strength in this final attack.
- Find your own star.
This was the star the girl had chosen.
Irene mustered her last bit of strength and spoke to the stranger standing before him.
"Come then, to my star."
A single sentence rang out briefly.
The girl, having assumed her stance, immediately swung her sword. In that instant, the entire passage was bathed in light.
It was a beautiful, dazzling strike.
Kwaaaaaaa-!
A golden line sliced through the pitch black.
A flash of light streaked forward at lightning speed.
The snake, as if startled, tried to dodge the attack, but the fox was slightly faster.
And it finally reached the boy.
'It connected.'
That thought crossed her mind.
Just as she was about to strike down her opponent without a moment's delay······.
"This is as far as you go."
The snake murmured.
He was looking at the fox with a relaxed expression, as if he had never been flustered.
His eyes, for a fleeting moment, opened slightly.
"You pass."
His eyes were bleached white.
As the boy and the girl's gazes met, a large crack appeared in the air between them.
Crack, crackle-!
As if a mirror was shattering.
The background surrounding the two of them shattered into pieces. An unbelievable sight.
The boy whispered to the girl, who couldn't help but be astonished.
"It's time to wake up from your dream."
Thud-!
The world that had been turned upside down returned to normal.
***
Thud-!
When Irene's consciousness, which had been plunged into darkness, returned, she found herself standing in the passage.
Her vision flickered and blinked.
The girl stared blankly, her mind filled with question marks.
"······Huh?"
It seemed that the situation wasn't as dire as it appeared.
Watching the fox's bewildered reaction, I couldn't help but chuckle.
'It's understandable that you're confused.'
Until just now, Irene had been trapped in a fabricated world of illusion.
She had been engaged in a fierce life-or-death struggle in an illusory magic that I had arbitrarily created to resemble reality.
In short, she had been deceived by a "lie."
I hadn't moved an inch from the beginning.
Or rather, from the moment Irene shouted for the young foxes to run away and charged at me.
The girl had been trapped within her own mind.
"Did you enjoy your brief dream?"
I greeted her with a refreshingly cheerful good morning.
Actually, since hardly any time had passed in reality, it was still dawn.
"What in the world...?"
The fox mumbled, still frozen in place.
It didn't take long for her to grasp the current situation and her face to drain of color.
Her black eyes focused on me.
"······Illusion magic?"
"Correct."
"That's impossible... I didn't feel any sense of disparity."
"Haha, I'm rather special, you see."
After all, I was capable of single-handedly destroying the world. In the original story, at least.
I leisurely looked the girl up and down.
Her pupils were strangely unfocused.
It seemed the aftereffects of the hypnosis lingered.
As I waited for Irene to collect herself, I replayed the previous scene in my mind.
- Come then, to my star.
The girl, uttering those profound words before unleashing her swordsmanship.
A shiver ran down my spine as I witnessed the rapidly approaching flash of light.
I couldn't hold back my laughter.
"I'm impressed."
=Damn, she's gonna be the death of me.
I had just witnessed something far more precious than I could have ever imagined.
To think she would show a glimpse of her awakening so soon.
It was a shame that it had happened in her mind rather than reality... but it was still a moment that stirred my soul.
-Ding!
[The target's emotions have fluctuated dramatically.]
(Despair -> Determination)
[Due to the rapid emotional change, a large amount of Lies has been restored.]
[Current remaining output: 100.0%]
Thanks to that, my output was back to full capacity.
It had been a while since I had filled it up completely, so it felt quite refreshing.
It just went to show how intense her emotions had been.
As I was savoring the afterglow, a sharp cry pierced my ears.
"H-Hey, guys?! Wake up...!"
It seemed she had finally noticed the young foxes behind her.
The children were scattered on the ground, unconscious.
Irene panicked for a moment. Then, her eyes, filled with rage, shot towards me.
"Damn it! What did you do to them?!"
"Now, now, calm down."
"To think you would go so far as to do this to these children...!"
"They're just sleeping."
"······."
The girl hurriedly checked on the foxes.
Only after confirming that all ten of them were safe did she lower her guard, though her eyes remained wary.
"······What do you want?"
Irene asked, her voice trembling.
She must have concluded that I didn't intend to kill them, since I hadn't harmed the defenseless children.
She had even sheathed her sword.
I put on the most harmless smile I could muster.
"First, why don't you put down your sword?"
"And what makes you think I'd trust you?"
"Hmm~ If a fight were to break out here, these young ones might get caught in the crossfire, don't you think?"
"······Damn it."
Clang-!
Irene hesitated for a moment before finally disarming herself.
"Good. It seems we can have a civilized conversation now."
"······."
"You don't have to be so tense. I actually have quite the goodwill towards you."
"Goodwill...?"
"Yes, I promise I won't hurt you."
I raised both hands in a gesture of peace.
Truthfully, if I wanted to kill the foxes, I could have wiped them all out with a flick of my wrist.
Irene had no choice.
"······What do you want to talk about?"
"An excellent question."
I fixed my gaze on the fox, a mischievous glint in my eye.
The image of her displaying a sliver of her awakening was still fresh in my mind.
Even at the edge of a cliff, she hadn't abandoned her nobility.
'How cool.'
A swordsman with an unyielding heart.
A cliché and childish story.
And yet, I loved these kinds of stories to death.
- Come then, to my star.
Star. What a beautiful word.
And it was even more so because it had come from her lips.
Because she herself was someone who shone like a star.
Humans, by nature, develop a desire to possess the light they lack when they see it in others.
I was no different.
"I'll buy your star."
I had decided to make her mine.
"Won't you let me tame you?"
A vague question. I extended my hand gracefully.
Like the little prince who had first tamed the fox, I wore a smile of pure innocence.
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Omg, it's peak!?
ReplyDelete"A swordsman with an unyielding heart.
ReplyDeleteA cliché and childish story.
And yet, I loved these kinds of stories to death."
relatable🙏🏻