Chapter 8: Burying the Past

Since arriving in this world, the thing Rorschach hated most was the strange disease he had. He called it "bulimia," and it was somewhat similar to the illness Charlotte Linlin had as a child in the manga. However, Linlin was addicted to sweets, while Rorschach's bulimia was related to everything edible.

Since he could remember, he felt hunger as if his stomach was burning with concentrated sulfuric acid. He was never full, even though his parents, Old John and Mrs. Elizabeth, gave him most of the food they got daily. Old John would go out fishing every day, and Mrs. Elizabeth would weave baskets to exchange for grains. All this was enough for a regular family, but due to Rorschach's insatiable appetite, they had no savings or money to pay taxes.

The kingdom's tax collectors were not lenient, and Old John was frequently beaten, with their wooden house being demolished annually due to their inability to pay taxes. Because of this strange disease, his father ate sparingly to leave more for Rorschach and continued intensive fishing the next day, which led to his health deteriorating year by year. His mother, on the other hand, caught a simple cold and they had no money to treat it at Miruz Port.

Despite Charlotte Linlin's parents choosing to abandon her, Rorschach's parents, who were commoners, never gave up on him. Instead, they encouraged him and gave him hope to continue living. Initially, he thought his illness was a gift from heaven, but it turned out that this "gift" destroyed his life.

In the rest area, Rorschach sat quietly on the broken bed after stopping his violent actions. Only his stomach was growling, as if mocking him. Skye looked at him with sympathetic eyes, hiding behind Sakazuki.

Sakazuki said in a low voice, "Have you calmed down now?" Rorschach slowly lifted his head, looking at the man in front of him with a square face and cold features, a majestic figure over three meters tall, making him feel immense pressure. He wore a red military uniform, black gloves, and a white cloak. Just standing near him caused a sense of suffocation.

Rorschach took a deep breath to calm himself, trying to ignore the severe hunger, then stood up. Before he could say anything, Sakazuki turned and left. Rorschach followed him silently, and they went out onto the deck. The sky was still as dark as it was that day, indicating it was evening.

The deck was spacious enough to accommodate hundreds of soldiers, with three massive masts standing upright, and sturdy ropes hanging from them. The white sails were rolled up, and the seagull emblem could be seen embroidered on the fabric.

Sakazuki stood at the bow of the ship, the sea breeze blowing his white cloak. He said in a deep voice, "Your family is buried where they were found. Go and bid them farewell. I've stayed here long enough."

Rorschach pressed his lips without saying a word, descended the ship's ladder, and headed to the small island where he had lived for twelve years. On the way, he examined his body and found that all his wounds had healed. Scars covered his body, especially the cross-shaped wound on his chest and the penetrating wounds on his left side.

He noticed that the doctor who treated his wounds was very skilled because in this world, where even a simple cold could be deadly, his condition that day was extremely severe. Most of the village houses were made of wood, and after the pirate attacks, they became burnt ruins, with everything destroyed or burned.

Rorschach didn't see any bodies, whether of pirates or villagers, perhaps they were thrown into the sea or buried elsewhere. Only in front of his house was there a small mound of earth. He stood before it for a long time, then knelt and began digging the soil with his hands.

The soil was packed so hard that Rorschach had to find a charred black stick to dig it. Despite his extreme hunger and lack of energy, he continued digging until he unearthed his father's body after about an hour. The body had started to decompose, but Rorschach showed no expression. He carried his father's body to the beach where his mother was buried, thanking the soldiers who buried his father, but he wanted to bury his parents together.

After placing the final bit of soil, Rorschach sat quietly in front of the new grave, carving some words in Chinese on a wooden board: "Here lie my parents Elizabeth and John. Your son Rorschach." He added the date of their death, then placed the board on the grave.

Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him say, "What writing is this? It looks very beautiful." He didn't turn around immediately but finished carving the words, then turned to see the person who spoke. There stood a man wearing a white coat and glasses, with a young girl who seemed uneasy, smiling gently.

The man smiled and said, "We didn't mean to scare you, but we were worried when you were late returning, so we came to check on you."

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