556: Take Off 556: Take Off Editor: TheSloth “…In the end, I killed Nero.”
Borrowing the munication device stripped from Nero, Kuck was now connecting with Maple Club.
On the other end, silence hung, listening to Kuck’s report.
After a long while, a voice finally came: “The tyrant has always been hard to control, but for such a long time, only Nero could wield the Yama Sword.
Still, it’s her own fault—having pushed you too far, she should bear the consequences…
As long as the Yama Sword has been recovered, that’s enough.
Kuck, since the task in the east failed, e back at once.”
“I understand,” Kuck replied quietly.
On the table lay his Precious Spear, and also the rusted Yama Sword.
After turning off the municator, Kuck set it down with the others.
He fetched a basin of warm water, and waited for the towel to soak, then wrung it out a little.
San Er and Xiao Zhi were arranged on the chairs now.
He wiped the marks off San Er’s face with the towel, then did the same for Xiao Zhi.
The pain of this man showed clearly in his careful motions.
Because he was so gentle.
With his memory restored, he was fully aware of one thing.
He didn’t love this woman… The only one who felt anything unusual toward San Er was a man named Mr.
Markem.
“My original name was Kuck.”
Once he’d tidied San Er and Xiao Zhi’s bodies to look as if they were simply sleeping, Kuck sat nearby and began polishing his long spear.
“When I was three, someone told me I was a citizen of the Kingdom of Shadows.”
Kuck squinted one eye, calmly raising the tip of the spear to his line of sight, then gently wiped it clean.
“But where is the Kingdom of Shadows?
I never knew.
Later, a woman took me in and brought me up a snow peak, where she trained me.”
“I guess it was when I was ten—I killed a bear myself up on that snow peak.”
He spoke of things he’d never told anyone before, memories that belonged only to him.
“I lived with her like that for fifteen years…
That woman was my teacher.”
Kuck gave a faint, detached smile and continued to polish his spear.
“To me, she was not just my teacher, but also an impossibly important woman.
Not love, exactly—just someone I couldn’t be without.”
“Its name is Gáe-Bolg.
She gave it to me.
The only thing she ever gave.”
…
“All these years, I’ve been searching for her.”
Kuck took a deep breath and sat in long silence before slowly sighing and softly saying, “Maybe it’s better this way.
Let Mr.
Markem stay with you here forever.”
…
“To sum up, I’m not a very lucky person.”
He sat quietly.
After a while, he stood up and packed away the spear, the sword, and some other gear.
He always seemed like a traveller.
Since he was a traveller, after a brief stay, departure was inevitable.
Kuck remembered something the woman who gave him everything used to say: Stop pursuing her shadow, because one day, he’d find something worth longing for.
“But things break just the same, don’t they…
Teacher.”
Kuck gave a sorrowful smile.
After packing his things, he looked one last time at the mother and daughter on the chairs, and then pulled open the door to the living room…
and left.
“Turn the lights on first!
You’ll bump into something!
Xiao Zhi!!”
But…
“Got it, Mom!”
The moment the lights snapped on inside the shop, Kuck stiffened all over…
Was this a dream?
“Uncle Mark!
You’re back!!” The little girl kicked off her shoes at the front of the shop and rushed over, throwing herself into Kuck’s arms.
Was…
this a dream?
“You’re back.
Hungry?
Should I go fix you something to eat?” San Er still seemed hesitant, but asked softly.
Was…
this a dream?
Kuck instinctively glanced back into the living room.
On the chair…
at some point, all that remained was a pile of sand.
“Uncle Mark, why is there so much sand in the house?” Xiao Zhi tugged at Kuck’s pants leg, looking up to ask.
“Really!” San Er was surprised to see sand covering the chair in the living room.
“Did you bring this in?”
“You two…
What on earth?” Kuck muttered to himself.
San Er said, “We went to the police station, then Xiao Zhi suddenly had a stomachache, so we went to the clinic for some medicine and a shot.
They said it was a stomach bug.
We just got back.”
“Police station?
When?” Kuck frowned.
San Er replied thoughtfully, “Hmm…
Not long after you went out this afternoon, I think?
A policeman came and knocked, said he wanted me to help with an inquiry.
Might have something to do with those words painted yesterday…
I guess someone called the police?
He asked me to go make a statement, but I wasn’t fortable leaving Xiao Zhi alone, so I brought her with me.
By the way, when did our town get such a young policeman?
I never saw him before.”
“Xiao Zhi hasn’t seen him either!” Xiao Zhi answered like an eager student, raising her hand.
“But that policeman big bro smelled so nice!
Way better than the perfume Mom hides in the closet!”
“Xiao Zhi!!” San Er gently tapped her daughter’s forehead, then mock-sternly said, “Go get into the warm water — you need your medicine.
Or you want a stomachache at midnight?”
“knew it!” Xiao Zhi dashed into the living room.
San Er glanced at Mark, her cheeks quietly flushed.
“What are you carrying?” she asked gently.
Kuck took a deep breath and said calmly, “Your problems are solved.
I’m a bit tired.
If there’s something else, let’s talk tomorrow.”
“What about dinner…”
“No need.”
It wasn’t a dream.
…
…
No one knew when the great fire at the mill had stopped.
It had burned away so much, but being by the riverside, the flames couldn’t spread forever.
All that was left of the old mill was some charred remains—some were the original wood of the mill, and some were…
just bodies.
Boss Luo walked among the ashes, stopping before a burned corpse and snapped his fingers lightly.
The charred body suddenly cracked open, one layer of black peeling away to reveal a glimpse of pale, then splitting pletely—a figure sat up from the burnt cinders, stretching, utterly unclothed.
“Really thought I was a goner.” …Nero.
Even without clothes, Nero sat cross-legged on the ground, swinging her arm to loosen her neck, grinning: “So when that mother-daughter pair got home, did Kuck cry?”
Boss Luo shook his head.
Nero instantly heaved a sigh, devastated, her spirits slumped: “Not only did I lose, I couldn’t even wring a couple tears out of Big Uncle Kuck…
What a flop.”
Boss Luo said nothing.
Nero didn’t mind, stretching out again and sprawling on the ground, mumbling to herself, “With Big Uncle Kuck’s temperament, he’s probably already reported me as dead.
So I don’t have to go back to that suffocating place…
which is fine, I guess.”
She sat up abruptly and asked, “Isn’t tonight’s moon just beautiful, boss?”
Luo Qiu looked up and said gently, “Full moon.”
Nero blinked suddenly, “By the way, boss…
you really not going to give me some clothes?
Or do you prefer me like this?
I don’t mind, but I charge for it, y’know.
And it’s pricey.”
Luo Qiu waved his hand, and an outfit identical to Nero’s came floating down from thin air, landing in front of that body marked by countless scars—a crosshatched web of old wounds, grim and fearsome.
“Thanks.”
She slipped into the clothes with easy, unabashed grace.
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