Karni knocked on the door of the hospital room, heard the familiar voice welcoming him in and entered. He brought a bag with some sweets with him, something he started bringing with him ever since the corrupt policemen appeared. After the first robbery, Karni asked the receptionist if it's okay to do so and was given the green light.
It started out as a way to comfort the grandma and luckily for him, she had quite the sweet tooth. Now it's become a constant occurrence. Each time he brought different sweets for her to try, while including the ones she had said she liked.
He sat down in the usual chair and put the bag of delicacies onto the table. Karni was in a bit of a weird mood at the moment. He wanted to immediately tell her the things about the three thugs, but he didn't really know how to begin.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Grandma Ying had now known him quite well enough and for a long time. She was familiar with this kid's behaviour.
"Everything okay?"
"I… Well, I have something to tell you. I've been keeping some secrets and I feel I shouldn't do so anymore."
Shi Ying's heart sank for a bit. Her mind immediately thought of the worst possible scenario. That it was, just like she feared, Karni who actually hurt her son. She was afraid to hear what he had to say. She almost didn't want to hear it. Even though she already guessed it.
"Me and my friend. We've been tailing those thugs." Karni said in a quickened voice.
"You WHAT!?"
It was something completely different from what she expected. No, this might actually be worse. Her feelings aside, this kid was in danger!
"Don't worry. We're being careful about it." Karni tried to calm her down. The old lady was clearly breathing heavily right now. She was in complete shock.
"That doesn't make it any better! You have to stop. Stop and never look back! They are corrupt police! Do you realise how dangerous this is? They might not care that you are a child!"
Karni sighed inwardly. "I know all this, but I'm sorry. This is more of a 'letting you know' than asking for permission."
Grandma Ying was speechless. He was just letting her know? What kind of statement is that? "But… You're just a kid, let this to the grown ups."
"We tried, but they didn't want to do anything, because of the… Well, who was involved."
"Then even more so! If even they don't want to, then you should do even less."
"Well, we had our reasons… This is what we've discovered so far." Karni did a quick summary of yesterday, even taking the camera from the hidden place and showing it. There was the big brother, the three thugs were lesser 'minions' and then there was the missing boss. He told her everything.
The grandma was speechless the whole time while she simply listened. She had a hard time believing it. "How… How did you do all this? Did you go to someone? Did they demand something? You shouldn't trust people like that!"
"No, no it's nothing like that it's…" He stood up and stretched his hand. "I'm a soul master." He summoned his martial soul, the rich yellow soul rings showing themselves.
Grandma Ying muttered. "A Soul Grandmaster? How… How old are you again?"
"I'm ten."
She was silent for a second. A sinking feeling about her son rose up in her mind once again, one that now made even more sense, but she repressed it. There were more important matters right now. "Still! One of those guys is a Soul Elder! Do you know how big the difference is? And there's a big brother? An absent boss about to become a Soul Sage? What are you thinking!"
"I'm actually rank 29 already, in two months I'm confident I can reach rank 30."
"Y- You're about to be a Soul Elder?"
Karni nodded. "All that's left to do after that is to upgrade my soul rings to a thousand years. That might take a while longer. I'm confident I can beat most Soul Elders. My friend and I together should probably be able to handle a Soul Ancestor as well."
"Thousand Year Soul Rings? All of them?"
"Mm." Karni nodded.
Grandma Ying put her hand on her forehead. Taking it all in. "You're amazing. That friend of yours is also so talented?"
"She's actually more talented." Karni chuckled a bit.
"Amazing." For a moment she looked at Karni with pride, but it quickly disappeared. "But what you're doing is still dangerous."
Karni nodded. "We know. We're planning to wait until we're both Soul Elders before even attempting anything. If their boss returns… We don't know what we'll do. I guess we'll use all the evidence we've gathered to at least temporarily stop them. At least stop them from doing this to you."
The end statement forced some tears out of Grandma Ying. "Are you doing this for me?"
Karni nodded, then paused and shook his head instead. "Yes and no. I'm doing this for my own peace of mind as well. My friend is just accompanying my whims."
Shi Ying smiled a bit. "You have a good friend."
"I know." Karni showed a genuine smile.
"Wait, so the money comes from you? It's not your parents or anything else? It's you alone?" The grandma suddenly realised.
Karni stared for a second before he chuckled. "Yeah, I'm a Mecha Designer by profession."
"Let me guess, you're already a 3-star Designer?"
"Um. Not yet officially, since I'm not a true Soul Elder yet. But yes, since Mecha Designers progress differently to some other professions due to our reliance on spiritual power."
"So you paid for everything here?"
Karni nodded.
She fell into her own mind yet again. Everything in her head was spinning a bit. She was proud, but the looming feeling of doom that was there before was now stronger than ever.
This innocent child in front of her… who wasn't so innocent. He got her boy into such a state, but so did she. And he was doing all this for her son and herself. He was taking care of them. He was even investigating the ones who manipulated her son, despite the danger.
She thought out loud to herself. "I don't even have the right to judge."
She asked him for money, and she manipulated the boy as well, knowing his own feelings by now. But Karni didn't know that.
"I mean, everyone has the right to judge to a certain degree. Unless it has nothing to really do with them. Everyone has their own thoughts. I know what Siduo and I are doing is dangerous. But I'm still going to do it."
Shi Ying chuckled a bit to herself. The kid was right. So mature at times like these, yet understanding it wasn't as simple as actually thinking of it that way.
The two fell silent for a while after this. Both were in their own minds. Shi Ying was mostly replaying the conversation. Thinking about everything she learned. She was even a bit upset with herself.
When it came to her son she decided on one thing. If… When Karni tells her about her son, she will understand. She was sure he didn't have full control over the situation. Knowing the child, he was probably ridden with guilt if that were the case. She didn't want to force anything out of him. She decided she can wait for him to come to terms with everything on his own. In such a time, she ought to act like an adult. But… Could she forgive him?
Karni was in his own mind as well, though he was thinking about an entirely different thing right now. He was feeling rather relieved at the moment. He has gotten a lot of secrecy out in the open. It felt good to talk about things rather than to keep them bottled up.
Now the only secret left between them was the case of her son. As for that, he has made a personal resolution. After he defeats the thugs, he will tell her everything. Even if she doesn't accept it, at least he'd have done something good for her. Even if she won't like it, he'll know he did everything he could, and that he tried his best. But right now, he has yet to do everything. He has yet to repay what he owes. So he'll keep it hidden.
It was ironic that the grandma had already guessed many things. He wasn't as good at being secretive about his wordings as he thought.
He glanced at her. Reminded that she's stuck here in this room. And that the only one keeping her alive right now was actually him. He felt sad. If he could've done anything for her. To make her healthy, he would've. In a way, she became his parental figure in this world. Or the closest to that he's had.
"Hey, Grandma Ying? Why are you really in this hospital? Is it a chronic illness?"
The grandma sighed as she heard the question.
"It wasn't an illness. It was an injury, a spinal injury. So I can't move any parts of my body anymore, and have to constantly be monitored in case it suddenly worsens."
Karni's heart clenched a bit when he heard that. She had permanent paralysis of her body. Perhaps… If he applied everything he knew about prosthetics and their inner workings. Someday he could reconnect those nerves. Fix what was severed.
"How did it happen? If you're okay with saying it."
She averted her eyes. "Maybe some other day. Let's just say I hung with the wrong crowd, and there was an incident."
Karni looked worried. Wrong crowd? He's heard her mention those words before when mentioning her son. Could she have gone through something similar?
"Don't look so worried. Let this old lady keep some secrets for some time still. You have some too, no?" She gave him a reassuring smile.
Karni stood there awkwardly when she said that. She had him figured out to a degree. But if so…
"Say Karni, do you have any dreams?" His thoughts were interrupted.
"Hmm… I don't know. None in particular, more like goals. Return to my family for example. But I wouldn't say they're actual dreams."
"What do you find enjoyable to do then?" She asked.
"I enjoy playing the drums, though if I could I would play other things as well. So maybe start a band someday?"
"If you could? Can you not play anything else, you can just learn, no?"
"Well… My martial soul is a bit weird. Even when I play drums, I have to use my martial soul to do it. It's like it's… rejecting anything else?" Karni scratched his head. It was still a mystery for him.
"Your martial soul? What are its abilities?" She then shut for a second and showed an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I know soul master's abilities are very private and that it's rude to ask about."
"It's fine." Karni waved his hand. He summoned his martial soul again.
"Doesn't look like an instrument." The old lady commented.
Karni nodded, then split the bo staff into two. "This way I can play the drums. But other than that, the abilities have so far had an effect on seeing the future. I can see the split second future of the surroundings and share the perception of the future I see with someone else. Honestly I'm not quite sure why it's connected to playing instruments at all."
"There are all kinds of Soul Masters huh. Your abilities sound quite wondrous." She praised him. There was clear interest in her eyes.
"Grandma Ying, I don't remember you being so interested in such things." Karni chuckled.
"I had quite an interest in soul masters when I was younger. I wanted to be a researcher before I studied psychology." She chuckled as well.
"That sounds fun as well." Karni noted. "Thinking about it, I found teaching a friend of mine quite fun. Becoming a teacher in a soul master academy could be fun as well."
"It's good to have ambitions. They drive you forward."
Karni scratched his head. "I'm not really that ambitious. If not for circumstances, I wouldn't really wish to become a strong soul master, I'd be perfectly content with just living in a small town. It's just that becoming strong is the only way for me to some day return home."
"Where is your home really, child."
"Far away. Very far. I'll tell you someday, maybe. It's kind of personal, sorry." He couldn't just actually reveal he's from another world. Though thinking about it, it might not be too bad to tell someone else this secret.
"That's okay. Though becoming strong should be your goal anyway, only strong people can truly protect those dear to them in this world." She looked sad while saying this.
Karni had to agree with that statement. He's lived too peacefully in this world for the past few years, to really feel the need to protect. But… That would change eventually. He'll have to become strong enough to protect. He thought of Siduo in that manner as well, he was sure she thought the same of him. Perhaps it wasn't just home that drove him forwards anymore. And Grandma Ying as well. "Say, Grandma Ying, what is your dream these days? Something personal."
She thought a bit. "Hmm. I wouldn't know. To become healthy? For my son to have ended up differently. To raise him better? To do things differently?"
Karni was quiet for a bit. "And if all of those became real?"
She was silent. "I don't know."
"Anything you want me to create?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know. I'm a Mecha Engineer, you know? I can create things. Besides, maybe someday I can make a soul tool that will allow you to walk again."
"That would be nice. But I doubt I'll be able to. It's more than just my nerves that were paralysed, I have an internal injury around it as well. So I might not be able to live to see the day you invent such a thing." She chuckled to herself.
"You don't know that." Karni was a bit distressed hearing her say this so casually.
"Oh child. I have long accepted that I don't have that long to live for anymore." She was honest with Karni. She knew he was emotionally mature enough to understand such things by now.
"Do you know how long?"
She shook her head. "It might be a month, it might be years. We don't know when it will worsen. It's up to fate"
Karni clenched his fists. At least before anything happens, he vowed to get those thugs.
… … …
Karni has been actively cultivating for the past week and he planned to intensify it even more in the future. Their investigation had yet to progress. Whether it was misfortune that the three thugs weren't there or they were at school and weren't able to find much.
They knew that the thugs hanged out there during the weekends, so they were planning to be more thorough today, but Grandma Ying wanted to meet Siduo before they continued.
"Are you sure this is okay?" Siduo asked Karni. The two were standing right in front of Shi Ying's room.
"It's fine. I trust both of you."
She sighed, unconfident. "If you say so."
The two entered.
"Grandma Ying, this is Wu Siduo, Wu Siduo, Grandma Ying." He gave a quick introduction.
As if the two women had a connection both of them said at the same time. "I've heard a lot about you."
Karni laughed on the side.
Wu Siduo was the first to speak after that.
"So what did he tell you?"
"Oh quite a lot. How you're his best friend, annoying, smart, stubborn, foul mouthed, things like that."
Siduo glanced at Karni when Shi Ying said this. "Hmm. Did he now?"
"Yes. So what did you hear about me?"
"Not that much." It was true. It was her who usually avoided the topic. She knew very little about Grandma Ying.
Grandma Ying was a bit confused.
"But you just said you heard a lot about me?"
"It's just a thing people say right? It's kind of cool, no?"
Shi Ying was speechless. "You did say she's a bit weird, but I didn't think this kind of weird."
"She gets weirder."
Siduo scoffed. "Hey, pot. Don't call the kettle black!"
"I like her." Grandma Ying noted. "You need a bit of an assertive friend."
Siduo smiled when she heard that. "Mm. I like this grandma too, she knows how to judge people."
The two women laughed, though Karni had a weird look instead.
"So, girl. Is this thing you're doing safe?"
"Of course not." Siduo answered plainly.
Grandma Ying sighed. "Just… Be careful you two."
"Of course. I'd never play with our lives." Siduo made a proud and confident expression.
"We shouldn't play with lives in general though." Karni commented.
"Oh Kiki, you're such a sweet person, that's why I like you so much." She gave him a teasing smile.
"She calls you nicknames and cares about you? Karni, she's quite a catch."
"Hear that? I'm quite the catch."
"Sheesh, it's not like that! We're ten!" Karni was grumpy.
Siduo whispered, so only Karni could hear. "Not in mind we ain't."
Karni hit her in the ribs and Siduo stumbled and grumbled. "What!? I'm just telling the truth!"