「Have you ever been lost in confusion?
Have you ever felt helpless when faced with an uncertain future?
Have you ever experienced the collapse of all your life values and the very meaning of existence in a single moment?
When fate turns into a raging beast ready to tear you apart, do you have the courage and confidence to fight it?
Especially when family deceives you, close friends betray you, and you find yourself bereft of support, hiding in the dark to face an unknown tomorrow, do you feel fear and dread, sorrow and tears?
When the path of life is shrouded in mist, how do you choose your way forward?
Or do you even have the courage to choose?
Or, do you let yourself fall into oblivion?」
***
Night had fallen deeply.
Darkness danced wildly over the city.
An ignorant youth faced off in a filthy corner against a stray dog over a morsel of food. As his blood dripped, was he aware of the lives of others like him?
A shadow fell over them, and the dog fled in fear. The injured boy clutched the soiled food to his chest, looking up at a figure almost merged with the night. His pale face was expressionless, his once bright eyes now dim. His right hand tightly gripped a staff with a white gem. The night wind lifted his black robe to dance in the air.
The black-robed man halted before the boy and looked at him. The boy shrank back, instinctively fearful. His experience told him that no one other than wild dogs would compete for his filthy food.
He watched as the black-robed man slowly knelt, his pale face revealed beneath the gem's gentle glow, lifeless yet present.
"Why do you live?" the man murmured.
The boy did not understand, but he heard voices behind the man. Looking up, he saw two men whispering as they observed the black-robed man.
"Roderick, what do you think Charmion is doing with that child?"
"I don't know, what about you?"
"I'm baffled. Ever since he emerged from that tower, he's been as silent as a corpse, and now he's lurking around like a ghost."
"Yeah, wandering the streets in the dead of night and staring at a beggar boy. He might have gone mad."
"Could be. The guy turned down a cave full of gold for that cursed staff, picked a fight with the Marquez Kingdom, and got us involved. He's a lunatic."
Roderick frowned, "Though when he emerged looking so dead, he still remembered to tell the soldiers to release us. That surprised me."
Wesley glanced at Charmion and whispered, "He seems complicated. That handsome officer let us go just at his word. Though I dislike him, acting all righteous and telling us never to return to Chisu City."
Roderick chuckled, "Is it because you're jealous? That was the deputy commander of the Marquez royal guard, Lant. A high-ranking officer indeed. By the way, did you notice the teacher next to Lant? She kept looking at Charmion too. She's beautiful, so gentle…"
"Oh, all you see is a pretty woman. Anyway, what should we do now?"
"Uh, Lant told us to leave the city immediately. I hate leaving Miss Nia, but staying alive is crucial. Should we leave this madman? Staying with him doesn't bode well."
"True. Though he saved us, he also got us caught. We owe him nothing."
"Yeah, so you're suggesting we sneak away?"
"Oh, that's your idea. Though I seldom do anything so cowardly, for your sake, I'll do it just this once," Wesley declared righteously.
"You'd actually say something so heartless?"
"What are you talking about? Running was your idea."
"I was just testing you. Would I, a person so loyal and emotional, do such a thing?"
…
"Wesley, really, Charmion isn't too bad. He saved us several times on Dragon Mountain. Leaving him like this, during his lowest, isn't right."
"…True. Okay, as friends, seeing him so defeated, let's help him out."
"Ha, didn't expect such compassion from you, Wesley."
"Of course. Besides, he owes me so much money; can't let him off the hook."
"…Wesley, are you changing your mind just for the money?"
"Don't be silly. Do I look that way to you?"
"No, you don't look it. You are it."
Behind them, the two continued their tasteless quarrel, while Charmion seemed oblivious, fixated on the boy before him, observing this humble life, and softly repeated, "Why do you live?"