Chapter 23: I know that, but I couldn't care less (6)

Chapter 23: I know that, but I couldn't care less (6).

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Suddenly, the environment changed.

There was an invisible field distorting the space.

This field covered the three of them.

The field had no effect on them, but it prevented external sounds from reaching them.

The three stared at Leon.

'This will block the eavesdropping, invite me to a meal later if you want to thank me.'

Leon sent his voice into the minds of the three, speaking humorously.

From his talk, it meant that the field prevents sounds from entering and prevents them from exiting.

'Don't worry, no one heard anything after the wretched girl said about ending her life.'

After saying this, Leon's voice fell silent, leaving them to talk freely.

"As for now... I feel mentally clear."

She opened her mouth as she spoke indifferently.

But the two of them knew that.

Her hand trembled slightly.

That made it clear how difficult it was for her to talk about the matter.

It wasn't because it was painful for her, but because it was the first time she was telling someone else about herself.

She didn't know how to react to the matter, so she spoke in her usual way.

"I think it's something else now?"

He looked into her eyes as he spoke.

Dio was always like this.

His words were fierce like his eyes.

"I don't know why, but I feel like I know what I want."

Her struggle and what she lived in her life, she told everything.

Of course, she didn't talk about her father and mother.

There were things that couldn't be easily said.

This is strange, just strange.

These two people she met today, she felt a closeness to them.

It was strange, they didn't even know her name, but they listened to her carefully.

Whether it was due to trust, or perhaps because she could no longer bear loneliness again, the girl spoke without hesitation.

It was strange, and at the same time it was natural.

"In fact... I'm like you, I've lived in isolation and loneliness all my life."

Fernando opened his mouth.

The boy had lived his life without companionship or someone to rely on.

They were certainly different, but their closeness was the same.

The fear of loneliness and isolation.

From time to time, the thought crossed his mind.

Friends.

This was something the boy did not have, nor did the girl.

They did not know what a friend meant or what its value was.

They wished to have such a person called a friend throughout their lives.

But the world was simply cruel.

This is how they lived their lives.

Dio watched the two standing in silence.

After each told their story, silence fell over the place.

Fortunately, Leon had closed the eavesdropping from them.

These stories were not something to be told easily.

Humans can be really cruel.

The cause of people's misery was other people as much as they could be the cause of their happiness.

This is how life is with others.

"You have been alone for a long time."

Dio spoke slowly.

He approached the two quietly.

This fight was reaching its end.

Only the untying of the knot from their hearts remained.

He had given the girl her sword.

But he did not take his sword, he still wanted her to carry it.

Standing in front of them, he contemplated silently.

"Do you know? You are no longer like that."

With such an unexpected statement, Dio smiled gently.

"... What??"

"Huh?"

The two were naturally confused.

His words were incomprehensible.

"Did you not notice? You have already built a brotherhood!" Dio laughed as he answered their doubts: "You fought together with impeccable coordination, even protecting each other without hesitation, more than anything, why did you talk about yourselves without hesitation to each other?"

His words were true.

In the first place, Fernando would not have talked about himself so easily, but something within him urged him to do so.

Not just him, even the girl felt it.

The girl felt no aversion to these two young men, for some reason.

Trust, and comfort.

These were the emotions that roamed in their hearts after fighting and talking together.

"This is what is called a friend."

"... Is that all?"

"Yes, that is it."

"Just??."

Question marks fluttered in the heads of the two.

"... Yes? That is it! In the first place, friendship is not complicated, just being able to rely on someone gives comfort to the soul."

"It is someone you trust, you support and they support you, you protect them and they protect you, that is simply it."

"But it's not easy, giving trust in this world is not easy."

"Anyway!"

After looking at the others for a while, he turned to the two standing.

"Answer me now!"

His question was still unanswered.

As if he was waiting for the question, Fernando immediately answered.

"I have always been confused about what to do in my life... but the answer formed when my talent was revealed."

"What I thought were the worst days of my life, in fact, might be the best."

"The feeling of my sword... that is what I want."

There was the same determination in his eyes that he had throughout his life.

But there was a difference.

Unlike all previous times, his eyes were clear.

This was certainty.

"Um, good, this answer, engrave it in your heart, it will guide you when you get lost."

Dio nodded as if his words were satisfying.

The girl approached Dio shyly.

For some reason, what she wanted to say was embarrassing for her, and she didn't want anyone to hear it except the person concerned.

As if he understood what was happening, Fernando walked away.

"I'll leave you two to talk freely."

Even with the boy's departure and their being alone, the girl was still close to Dio, as if she wanted to whisper to him.

She didn't know how to act, she was just overwhelmed by a feeling of embarrassment.

"I have always lived my life without certainty..."

She opened her mouth with difficulty, while staring down.

She couldn't bring herself to look into Dio's eyes.

"Ah... is that true?"

He didn't know where to look himself, so he scratched his head and looked up, before his eyes met Leon's.

He had a tendency to retreat due to embarrassment.

'What are you doing, you scoundrel! Don't move away from her, I'll look away from everyone, just behave well!!'

'Huh!!? Since when did you become a lover of advice, you bastard?!'

'What is it to you?! Just do what I said!'

Of course I will, my life depends on it, who cares what happens to her! But I will face the consequences if that fool fails to untie the knot from her heart!

He grumbled in his mind as if complaining, but his words reached no one.

Fernando was standing next to Lloyd, who seemed to be looking at Dio with an unpleasant gaze.

Bah! That scoundrel...! Look at him talking to an embarrassed girl, acting shy? Huh? Damn you, you bastard!

Lloyd felt betrayed to see his fighting companion talking to a girl while he was sitting with a guy.

Tears fell from his eyes.

Life is not fair.

Click.

Leon snapped his fingers and the distorting field became more foggy.

The two inside became invisible immediately.

Now, neither the ear hears, nor the eye sees.

"Um..." the girl, in response to Dio's words, nodded her head down.

"But you are completely opposite to me, let me ask once, please answer me honestly."

After standing for a while, the girl raised her head.

Their faces were very close.

Dio was taller than the girl, so he looked down, while the girl looked up, but that did not deny how close they were.

They were literally a few inches apart from each other.

Her face was as red as sunset.

Was that a coincidence, or on purpose? The wind began to flutter the girl's hair.

Her previously dead eyes were clear.

Beautiful.

Dio had never seen a girl more beautiful than this girl in his life.

In his eyes, he had never seen anyone more beautiful than her.

Whether it was her golden blonde hair.

Whether it was her red crystal eyes.

Or even her flushed face, everything about her was beautiful.

He felt really embarrassed.

Had he been in a situation like this before?

Certainly not!

He had been a swordsman all his life, and he had not been interested in women.

What if he had experienced life experiences and become wise and mature enough for his age?

He was still a young man in his prime!

Unlike Leon, he still had hot blood!

"Damn...! I feel like someone is mocking me now..."

Leon felt a shiver and looked right and left.

Lucia laughed at his situation, this young man was funny.

She was now sure.

"He does not intend any harm to the academy."

The reason she did what she did was to measure this young man's intentions.

She wasn't planning any tricks or anything, her kind nature was what led her to follow him.

That's it.

"... Go ahead," Dio opened his mouth quietly to calm himself.

He wanted to avoid her clear eyes, but he felt that it would be an insult to the girl's determination, so he kept staring at her.

The environment fell into silence.

No matter how long the silence lasted, the girl did not move away, and gathered her thoughts.

"Why are you so confident in your sword, don't you have doubts that you might live in isolation one day?"

"... Aren't you afraid?"

Her words were brief, but they came out with difficulty.

According to his answer, the knot in her heart would either untie or become more tangled.

"Afraid? Of course I am!" Dio laughed at her question simply.

His response was different from what the girl thought.

She expected something like: I'm not! Fear is a stupid thing! Or something similar.

But he easily admitted that he was afraid.

Of course, the girl did not understand immediately.

This is ambition.

This was something everyone would go through one day.

When people strive for something, they fear despair and the emotions of anxiety and sadness arising from that ambition.

The pursuit of what can be achieved with certainty brings comfort to the soul.

This is the prevailing opinion in the world.

But that is not everything.

Things cannot be judged with a one-sided view.

Life is complicated and difficult for some.

And life is simple and easy for others.

Was it ability or luck that made the difference?

This is a completely wrong view.

It was about how we see life itself, how we see others, and how we see ourselves.

There is no difficult life, only those who see it as difficult exist.

There is no easy life, only those who see it as such exist.

"Isn't it scary? Living with anxiety and uncertainty about what one does, will I achieve my goal one day? Will I die before I see it with my own eyes? What if I achieve it, what then?"

"These questions will become daily things one must deal with when one has a goal, it becomes clearer the bigger the ambition."

"You say such depressing things but... why do you seem happy?"

He is incomprehensible.

This young swordsman, his actions were strange.

He had the kind of power that shakes the world, but he does not boast.

With such talent, there is no doubt that he will become the best in the world.

This was absolutely certain.

But his pursuit was something heartbreaking, it was uncertain.

People have strived for certainty all their lives.

If he were someone else, he would have walked the expected path of events and enjoyed the pleasures of being the best.

But this person...

Was striving for the opposite.

"Was that clear?"

He smiled fiercely as his eyes were.

He brought his face closer to the girl, until their faces almost touched.

A man must do what a man must do!

No time for embarrassment!

"I am afraid of not achieving my ambition, that is a fact, do you know another harsh truth? This fear will always accompany me, as long as I am alive, that is it."

Their eyes met.

The girl's eyes were clearer than ever before.

Only the question remained.

Not fear or anxiety, just curiosity.

The young man's eyes were as they always were.

Fierce, no anxiety or fears, they were sharp.

His eyes looked sharp as a sword.

"Still, do you think you will move forward without such a feeling?"

"... Without this feeling? I can't move forward?"

Doesn't a person need motivation to do something?

You tell me that the fear everyone runs away from is the motivation?

How is that?

The girl did not refute his words, nor did she respond to that, she just wanted to hear what he had to say.

"The rock gathers moss because it is stable, corpses decay because they remain in place."

"No matter how wonderful a person is and how much talent or confidence they have, if they live in comfort, they will slack off themselves, this is the poison of living with certainty."

"Not everyone will accept this truth, fear and frustration is what drives a person faster, in fact."

"Is that why you...?"

"Yes."

He answered decisively.

The girl looked at him for a while, before lowering her head.

The girl slowly moved her hands.

A hug.

Why, how, when.

The boy did not ask anything.

He just stood with her.

The girl hugged him.

She herself did not know why, she just wanted that.

He did not push her away.

He let her do as she pleased with that simplicity.

The girl buried her head in the boy's chest.

His body made her feel the same as she felt from his sword.

He made her feel safe.

"As you think, I am happy because I am afraid."

"That means I am not idle, as long as this fear and uncertainty chase me."

"That simply means the road is not over yet."

"That is why I am not hesitant, once I let go of my doubts and cut them instead of running away or suppressing them, my heart relaxed."

"Acceptance is the key to insight."

The boy spoke about what was on his mind.

"Was my answer satisfying?"

To answer his words, the girl tightened her hug and buried her head deeper into his chest.

She was completely tired.

"I... don't know what I want to do in my life."

"I have always pretended that it doesn't matter to me, but it came back to bite me in the end."

Her heart had slowly been eaten away since she was little without her realizing it.

She had always been indifferent, but that indifference had gnawed at her without her awareness.

When you don't care about your wounds, it doesn't mean they will disappear.

You are just burying them deep inside you.

Nothing has been resolved, the problem still remains.

The only way to get used to isolation is to accept it as an unavoidable truth.

The death of her mother and father, she had always been sad about it.

But what could she do? She was just a little girl.

Accepting the death of her parents was too much for her to bear alone, and so, the girl closed her emotions.

Or so she thought.

Warm hands embraced her cold body.

Winter was still present.

Since the place was by the sea, the cold was higher than in other places.

"This is how life always is, we must move forward no matter what happens, this is how a person grows."

The boy reassured her with a hug.

He didn't know how to act, he just did what came to his mind.

Hugging is an effective way to calm others.

That helped her calm down a little.

"After you showed me your sword... it has been on my mind."

"I have finally achieved my life's goal, there are no more burdens I carry."

The last movement in her father's sword technique, she had mastered it.

It was a simple movement, but it always lacked something.

Today, she knew what the deficiency was.

The movement lacked foundation.

Returning to the origin, instead of the embellishment of other movements, one must be honest with their nature and question themselves.

There was no longer a reason to live now.

She could finally rest.

But that left a deep void in her heart.

It filled her with a feeling of loneliness.

She could let go of her life now.

Dio did not let her body go no matter how much she wanted.

She clung to him tightly.

The boy only returned her hug.

This was her own battle, and no one could save her but herself.

The girl who lost her parents.

Obsessed with the sword.

Struggling with her sword.

And.

The girl who lived alone.

This is how she summarized her tragic life.

Will it end here?

Even if she stayed alive, what could she do after this?

She did not know, this girl was lost about how to live.

"What next? For what can I live? I don't know... I honestly don't know..."

Her voice was weak.

The girl was scared, that was what her voice seemed to convey.

"What is your name? My name is Dio Antarius, your turn."

Upbringing.

The boy extended his hand, and gently tousled her soft hair.

He stood hugging her, gently patting her hair.

Dio asked a question he should have asked before anything, but he said it at the end of the conversation.

Yes... he does not know how to treat women in conversation well.

Anyway!

"Chai... Chai Naion."

The girl whispered her name softly.

"Your name is beautiful, if I remember correctly, it means little star? It really suits you."

"Um..."

She nodded her head in his embrace, she was now feeling shy.

Yes, just because he praised her name, she felt shy.

This girl... she is hopeless.

The two really resembled each other in some way.

The two remained in comfortable silence.

The calm and serenity filled the world around them.

The sounds outside did not reach here.

Only silence dominated the place.

"Chai Naion, have you decided what you want next? Or are you confused?"

The knot in her heart was untied, as if intentionally, Dio skillfully asked her.

"I think so..."

For the first time in years, the girl smiled.

"Ah... will you say what it is or..."

Confused by her response, Dio spoke uncertainly.

"I want you with me."

"... Huh?"

Now, what did she say?

With her...

That is what she said, right?

Right??

"W-what did you just say???"

"Your sword, how will the path of your sword end, how will your journey be, I want to see it."

As if she were unperturbed, the girl spoke clearly.

She had lived her life in uncertainty, and now, she would live in another uncertainty.

From one goal to another.

What drives a person to move forward is uncertainty.

This is what Dio told her, she wanted to understand that for herself.

"I want you to be with me, I want you to be my guide in my life."

"The new meaning of my life... I want you to be the meaning of my life and my goal."

"I want you to always be in front of me."

As a swordmaster, and as a person.

I want you to be there for me.

"This... what a nuisance."

Dio sighed quietly, and tightened his hug around the girl.

The two remained like this until the girl lost consciousness in the boy's arms.