Vengeance Upon Fate - Chapter 19

“Hey, you there!”

An unknown voice suddenly called out from a distance.

For someone who had just arrived in the city with a rather messy appearance, the last thing Kurogane would expect is for someone to call out to him. Hardly a minute had passed since the coachman had left.

A boy presumably near his teens walked towards Kurogane, waving his hand with a welcoming smile on his face.

He had long, orange-toned hair that pointed upwards with thick bangs hanging from the sides of his head. His shiny, emerald-colored eyes stood out of the ordinary while in terms of height, he stood slightly taller than Kurogane.

It seemed as if he were from a middle class family at minimum, since he wore a white, long-sleeved collared shirt that topped off with a brown vest along his finely crafted, rosewood trousers.

Seeing that he had a black sheath tied to his waist strap, it was clear that he had a small sword on him, deducting that he could potentially be a starter adventurer.

Kurogane, startled from the suddenness, looked at the boy, unaware of what to do.

“You’re new here, aren’t you? Haven’t seen you around before.”

Unsure of what to say in return, Kurogane placed his hand behind his head, his eyes nervously turning to the side.

“Well, yes… I guess you can say that.”

“Good to hear! I apologize, I should probably introduce myself, haha. My name is Nakahara Mitsuo. I’ve been here for a month and I gotta say, life is pretty great here!”

“N-Nice to meet you.”

“Relaaaax! Don’t be shy. Say, if you want, I can show you around! I catch on fairly quick so I pretty much have this whole place down,” said Mitsuo, grinning in excitement.

(Now that I think about it, there’s not much else left for me to do..)

“Sure, I’d be down..!”

Kurogane forced an excited tone, since he didn’t know how to respond otherwise. He wasn’t very social with others, especially with people outside of his village.

“Sweet! Meet me at the city’s central fountain right after dawn. Sounds good?”

Mitsuo pointed towards the eight-foot, silver-stone structured fountain. It sat several blocks down the city path – somewhat distant but still within their view.

“Yea, see you there I guess…”

In an alley several feet away stood two men who quietly listened as the boys conversed. They eventually left, not leaving a trace of their presence behind.

As the evening was coming near to its nightly transition, both of the boys waved each other goodbye. Wuxiaworld for visiting.

Kurogane stood there, suddenly remembering that he had nowhere to go. The feeling of having no family around and no home walk into – it was a lot more painful than he imagined.

Overtaken by depression, he sighed and turned around with his head down.

After walking around the city for a what seemed like an hour, the walkways started to empty. People were in their homes – safe and sound for the night. All that could be heard were the light taps from the wandering, delicate feet of Kurogane.

Eventually, he paused and looked around, noticing that it was deep into the night and that he needed to rest somewhere. Upon finding an alley, he turned and made his way inside, as he could no longer think of a better option at this point.

By a pair of trash cans he found a fairly thick, rolled up piece of cloth. It looked old and worn out, which could’ve been the reason why it was no longer needed from its previous owner. Kurogane placed it on the floor and used the roll as a pillow, lying down near the side of the alleyway.

Looking into the night sky, Kurogane began to ponder on what had happened throughout the day.

“Tomorrow at dawn, huh?”

A statement of the coachman suddenly flashed into his mind.

〔But know one thing… Your life will be a lot tougher from now on.〕

Kurogane shook his head – forcing himself as much as he could to erase the thought.

(I’ll be fine… That person from earlier was really kind. Maybe he’ll get his family to help me if I open up more to him.)

〔It is beyond me for what fate truly has in store for you.〕

Another statement from the coachman suddenly flashed before him. It was starting to become too much for him to bear.

“He was overthinking it. Yea… overthinking it all.” mumbled Kurogane as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, desperately trying to fall asleep.

This was halted after the images of his mother haunted his mind. Her irreplaceable smile… her unforgettable hugs… the delicious, homemade, incomparable meals…

A hand ruffled through his hair. It was gentle, loving, but only a memory. He briefly smiled at the presence of his mother until coming to sheer realization that it would no longer be a part of his life.

It all rained upon him one by one. It was as if stones were pelting his fragile heart one after another.

Kurogane placed his arm over his eyes as tears began to roll down the sides of his head.

“I miss you.. mother… just.. just why did it have to be like this? How am I supposed to keep going?”

…

I can’t move on without you… I just can’t. If only.. I could have disappeared with you that day.

…

If the young boy had possessed a little more courage, he would have ended his life with any means necessary.

“I don’t know what awaits me from this day.. but I promise… I promise I-”

Having become so saddened and emotional, Kurogane could not get himself to finish what he was saying, leading him to break down into a sob. Everything that happened – all the changes that were now going through his life. It was far too much for young Kurogane to take in.

“I promise to keep on living, for your sake alone. Even if I must suffer through all of it. You would want that from me… right?”

Knowing deep down that he would never hear a response, Kurogane slowly turned towards the alley wall, stabilizing his lying position and miserably crying himself to sleep for the remainder of the night.