53 Unveiled (2/2)

”No-yes it's scary. Mom, dad, Alphonse, Edward, Ruby, Sarah, Seth, Sylph, uncle Mahmoud, Auntie Aisha, all of them are dead. Even the old Sakamoto and the great mage are going to die. We left them there.”

At this point, Amaterasu was on the verge of breaking down. She hiccuped multiple times as she covered her teary face with her hands.

”Amaterasu…”

From the side, Kazumi just helplessly looked at his friend. He already knew of the weight she was carrying on her two tiny shoulders. In fact, his heart was as heavy as hers. However, he knew that if he were to break down too, then there would be no one to lift Amaterasu back up.

”However, that's not my biggest crime.” She looked up at Shesmu with watery eyes. ”My crime-my biggest crime is… My hate for you!”

That final cry shocked Shesmu. He just looked at her blankly as she stormed out of his view and crawled on the far of the platform.

A deafening silence covered the map with neither of the four players moving an inch or uttering a word.

”Great Master.”

These words broke the spell.

”I'm sorry for Amaterasu. It's just that, she went through a lot.”

Shesmu shook his head at Kazumi's apology.

”Don't worry, I understand that. It's just… I have never seen someone saying ”I hate you” with such a sad face. Did I dump her in a previous life or something?”

At Shesmu's remark, both Kazumi and Leo snickered. It was difficult to imagine Amaterasu having a boyfriend, to begin with. Her getting dumped on? Whoever had the guts to do so must be awarded a medal.

”Well, it's not far from that actually. It has to do with something in the future-”

”Let me guess, I didn't dump her, I dumped her mother.”

”Hahaha, off again. Actually, it's not something that you did directly. You see, in our timeline, you died before we even reached three years old. Sir Isshin, Amaterasu's father was your disciple at the time.”

By this point in the story, Leo had already understood what was going on. Even though he had his doubts, the fact that Shesmu didn't even flinch at Kazumi's words was enough evidence. He thought back to the conversation he and DepressedRyan had with Shesmu about his secret and decided to leave Kazumi and Shesmu alone. However, just as he took his first step back, Shesmu's voice stopped him midway.

”Leo, you stay here. From now on, there will not be any more secrets between us brothers. Sorry to have made you wait this long.”

For a second, Leo was flustered. However, in the end, he stood still, locked eyes with Shesmu and declared.

”Shesmu, after all of this, wanna drink together?”

This one sentence brought overflowing joy to Shesmu's heart. Leo, you really never change. You only open your heart to someone when you share a drink with them. Don't worry, unlike last time, I'll bring enough booze to make you throw up last month's dinner.

Shesmu focused back on Kazumi and saw that the latter was smiling wildly. However, that smile quickly turned more serious when Shesmu signaled for him to continue.

”The thing is, after your death, your disciples had to shoulder the burden of protecting humanity. Your disciples numbered a hundred. They all had varying degrees of power, even though even the weakest of them had the power to kill a king ranked monster. However, our enemy at the time wasn't the monsters alone. The Devils were the scariest. Even the four heroes, your strongest disciples couldn't do anything against them.”

Kazumi then took a deep breath and looked upwards, reminiscing of events long past.

”But your disciples never gave up. They all worked hard to increase their power. They sacrificed themselves to protect humanity. Whatever fort we had, they would defend, whatever devastated family they would feed. And, among all of them, Sir Isshin worked the hardest. In the day he would fight the monsters and defend the city. At night he would train like a madman until he collapses. That was the type of man Sir Isshin was. However, not every effort is rewarded and not every man is born equal. Even though he trained twice as much, Sir Isshin was half as strong as the heroes. In the end, he couldn't defend everyone. Monsters kept claiming more human territories, children were orphaned, women widowed and fathers devastated. The people's tongue is sharper than the knife. ”Oh, if only the Great Master was still alive,” they would say. Even after just being saved. And, Amaterasu would hear those words, and…”

”I see.”

Shesmu more or less understood the situation. Even in his career as a professional player, things were the same. There will always be that guy that stays as a legend in the fans' eyes no matter how bad he later on becomes. And there are people that will never receive the recognition they deserve no matter how well they perform, or how many hours they put into their training. This was the sad truth of life.

”Well, this is not something that I can help her out with. She has to reach her own answers herself, only then can she move forward.”

Shesmu then looked at Amaterasu.

”Amaterasu! You have five minutes to sort out your mental breakdown before we leave. The countdown starts from now.”