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« …. Have you finished reminiscing? …. »
Sid, or Sigrid snapped from his thoughts once more for reminiscing those old memories of his when he heard that familiar voice from his head and without a doubt, that voice came from the mysterious woman who was still fighting against that hybrid-looking dragon.
'Godd*mn it! Why am I suddenly thinking about my life back then?'
He composed himself as he prepared his bows and arrows to shoot once more but before he could aim at the monster to assist the mysterious woman who was still fighting that d*mn monster, another transmission came through his head once more.
« …. Are you still running away from your past? …. »
Sigrid got startled by those words and he clenches his fists as he trembles in anger while glaring back at the moving silhouette of the mysterious woman who was still battling against the monster.
"JUST WHAT DO YOU KNOW?! WHO ARE YOU TO SPEAK LIKE THAT?!"
Sigrid never riled up and he had better control of his emotions when he was still back at the House of Anatole since the Countess is the one who teach him about politics and social intrigues that he needs to learn as part of his duties as one of the nobles of the kingdom.
'The nerve of this whoever she is?! Just how nonchalant can she be?!'
« ….. Why don't you focus on this matter first before scolding me? …. »
*BOOOM!
Before Sigrid could refute back, he saw how the mysterious black hooded woman throw a kick on that monster, and he didn't expect that the monster would be thrown at his direction at the high speed.
'Sh*t!'
Sigrid immediately dodge the monster that was thrown at his direction and before he could compose himself.
« …. I was going to take care of it, but I remember that this should be your prey, together with your party members. I'm not that shameless to take away someone's hunting ground …. »
*COUGH!
*COUGH!
*COUGH!
He coughed as the dust surrounds them as Sigrid tried to locate the mysterious black hooded woman, but he couldn't see her traces within the scene, but Sigrid could still feel her presence around the area.
"You're the one who declared yourself that you can handle things from here and now, you're taking it back? Are you that coward or something?"
Sigrid didn't mean to say those words but right now, he felt frustrated because of the previous statement coming from this unknown stranger who talks as if she knew everything about him.
What irked him the most is how this mysterious black hooded woman dared to speak something like to him in a nonchalant way, as if she is mocking him or something.
After he said those words, Sigrid felt something bitter on his lips and deep in his consciousness, he felt guilty for what he said and not only that but also, he felt shameless as well.
Since this mysterious woman didn't do anything to harm them and all she did is to help him and his other party members with their injuries with the help of her magic and she even fought the monster who suddenly attacked him and his party members.
Right now, Sigrid watched as the monster that was thrown at his direction are now in a battered state and almost looked defeated but still breaths as the monster is now laid on the ground without much power to fight back.
Upon inspection, he noticed those cut wounds on the monster's body but what caught his attention are, those cut wounds aren't from any kind of sword technique because of how crude those cuts are but Sigrid could tell that these wounds are too deep that makes this monster weakened.
However, Sigrid frowns at the moment when he remembered something odd.
'She didn't have a sword with her and from the way she fought this monster earlier, I saw her using nothing but her bare hands as she confront this monster so how come there are deep wound cuts from this body?'
The more he thought of it, the more he couldn't fathom about this whole situation.
What is the true identity of this mysterious woman who just happened to bypass in this place?
Or …
'Did this woman knew who am I? Also, I remember that she called out my real name before….'
Sigrid became anxious because it seems that this mysterious woman knew who he was and for sure that this woman knew about his past as well.
« ….. I don't want to meddle with the other adventurers and this monster should be your prey, not mine. I told you before, pick up your sword and walk to the path that's destined for you. Don't run away and hide in fear …. »
He snapped once more when those words came to him and Sigrid was debating himself on what he should do at this moment because right now, he is a hopeless case.
His pride hurts but what this mysterious woman was saying is all nothing but the truth.
Yes, he is running away from his past mistakes, and he blames himself for what happened to his family and how he abandoned them.
« …. I told you it's not your fault. Your family just wanted you to be safe, that's all …. »
Sigrid chuckled bitterly as he didn't know where to looked at because he couldn't find where the mysterious woman was hiding but he could still feel her presence within the area, it's just so happened that he couldn't pinpoint the woman's exact location.
"What do you know? You speak as if you knew what happened back then…"
His words were cut off when the words coming from the mysterious woman made him halted for a moment….
« ….. Of course, I knew because I was there and had saw everything within my own eyes… I know exactly what truly happened, even the whole truth, I know of it …. »
He didn't know what to think any further as he could only feel his insides swelling in anger all of the sudden because of this unknown woman's statement and he was about to refute back when suddenly….
*ROOOAAAR!
« …. Tsk! It seems like our little fella here has regained some of its strength. I know you had some questions but for now, finished this first and will see …. »
Sigrid protected his eyes from the dust that started to surround him because of the monster's regained strength, and he feels like a second phase of the battle would start soon.
« ….. Hmmm… This won't do good. I guess it's my fault for being a busybody then. Ha! How troublesome …. »
Before Sigrid could react, he felt his body weakened all of the sudden and he didn't know what kind of sorcery the mysterious woman had done to him, but he tried his best to fight back not to lose consciousness.
But at the end, his body stumbled on the ground as he felt weakened and as he was about to lose consciousness…. Sigrid's blurry eyesight had caught the silhouette of the mysterious woman but what truly caught his attention is her hood had fallen down and, in that moment,
He was sure that he saw the mysterious woman's fiery crimson-colored hair…
'Crimson-colored hair…. Just who….'
Before he could think any further, Sigrid heard the mysterious woman's actual voice once more…
"A sword that not only protects but also to eliminate. The moment you choose to wield a sword, that's a moment that you should accept whatever consequences that would take."
And everything went blank….
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