SAI SHINU
The world snapped back into place as the Astral Gate dissolved. The endless dark sky and pale floor were gone, replaced by the night air of the village outskirts. My legs felt heavy, my body screaming, but I forced myself to stay upright.
Namae was there—just where I had left her—eyes wide, relief flooding her face when she saw me. She ran forward a few steps, then stopped, her voice trembling.
"You're alive…"
I gave her a tired smile, though it didn't reach my eyes. "Barely."
Her gaze darted over me, lingering on the blood that wasn't mine, then back to my face. "What happened in there? What did you do?"
I exhaled slowly, staring down at my hand where the ring glimmered faintly. "I ended it. Your master… he's gone."
Her lips parted, but no words came out at first. The silence between us stretched until she finally whispered, "Gone…?"
I nodded, my throat tight. "He called himself a god, Namae. A creator. He thought those chimeras made him divine. But gods don't bleed." I clenched my fist around the ring. "And he bled."
She flinched, as if the truth cut her deeper than she wanted to admit. "I… I don't know how to feel. He raised me, Sai. He taught me everything I know. But the man you faced… the one you killed… I barely recognize him anymore."
I stepped closer, meeting her eyes. "You don't have to carry his sins. That weight is mine now."
Namae staggered back, her hand flying to her mouth. "Sai… I…"
I cut her off gently. "Don't. I don't want pity. Just… understand that everything I've done—everything I will do—is to make sure no one else suffers like my mother did. Not you. Not anyone."
She stared at me for a long time, eyes wet but steady. Then she nodded, slowly, almost reluctantly. "Then I'll stand with you. No matter what comes next."
For the first time since the battle ended, I let out a breath that wasn't filled with rage. I looked at her—truly looked at her—and whispered, "Thank you, Namae."
After we returned to the house, I let myself rest until the next day. When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the kid in my room. He was smiling, cheerful as if nothing in the world had changed. Seeing him like that made me feel lighter inside. At least he was fine—that was enough to give me a moment of peace.
Not long after, Namae came in. Her face carried a weight I hadn't seen since yesterday.
"They found the body," she said quietly.
My breath caught. How is that possible? I thought. We buried it so carefully near the sanctuary, hidden from any wandering eyes. There shouldn't have been a way.
"Who found it? And where?" I asked, my voice sharper than I intended.
"One of the villagers," she replied. "It was lying near the entrance gate."
The first light of dawn crept over the village rooftops, and with it came a quiet tension that hadn't been there yesterday. The guards had found the body near the village gate. Not my mother's, of course—no one would have recognized her—but the villagers murmured in hushed tones, their eyes following me wherever I went.
Whispers wrapped around me like thorned vines: "Who could have done this?", "He came from nowhere, and then this happened…"
I kept my distance, moving among them, silent and deliberate. Every step felt heavier than the last. They didn't know the truth.
Only Namae did. And the burden of that secret pressed me to my knees with every breath. I could have used the Astral Gate and vanished, left the whispers and suspicions behind, but I couldn't. Namae had promised to protect a child. I couldn't abandon her.
So I kept moving, blending in, allowing suspicion to hover over me without revealing myself. Days passed like this, a slow march of judgmentless eyes and unspoken accusations. Yet the village remained intact.
The tension became a silent pact; I could move freely as long as I didn't push the walls too far.