Above the distant horizon, the fierce sun was casting scorching rays onto the desert, keeping the temperature unbearably high.
The howling wind swept through, creating a plethora of sandstorms, mingling in the hot desert space, causing the air in this area to seem slightly distorted. If anyone were to look here, they would surely feel that everything in their field of vision was swaying.
And in this vast desert, a petite girl was running continuously.
“Ha… Ha… Ha… Ha…”
With somewhat irregular breaths and non-stop running, Shana attempted to escape from the comfortable place she had been in before.
(So hateful…)
Despite being a Flame Haze, and known as the “Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Assassin,” at this moment, Shana found the high temperature around her to be so hateful.
(So hateful…)
Normally, she wouldn’t care about the environment around her, but at this moment, Shana found the endless expanse of desert before her to be so hateful.
(So hateful…)
Even though she usually welcomed this kind of exercise to maintain her combat readiness, at this moment, Shana found the labored breathing and heavy footsteps from running to be so hateful.
(So hateful…)
Without any apparent reason, Shana felt as if her heart was being tightly squeezed, causing a pain that was so hateful.
For this girl, who had been trained since childhood to be a Flame Haze, having such feelings was definitely a first in her life.
Without any reason, without any cause, yet finding everything around her extremely annoying and detestable.
(Why?)
Why did she have this feeling?
(Why?)
Why did she run from that place?
(Why?)
Why did no one tell her what happened?
(Why?)
Why did she faintly feel so scared, scared of what was to come?
One by one, questions flooded Shana’s mind, leaving her with no choice but to continue running to shake off this hateful feeling.
Because, besides this, Shana didn’t know if there was any other way to resolve it.
So, Shana could only keep moving forward.
Destination?
Unknown.
How long to run?
Unknown.
What to do?
Unknown.
Shana only knew that staying in that place and listening to that person continue speaking was absolutely not an option.
In that case, Shana could only flee.
Though she didn’t know what was going on, staying there would only prolong this hateful feeling, perhaps even intensifying it.
So, there was no other option.
To avoid continuing to harbor this hateful feeling, she had to run.
It was solely with this thought in mind that Shana kept on running.
Naturally, Shana didn’t realize.
In the past, even if things were hateful, as a Flame Haze, she would choose to face them to maintain the world’s balance, rather than run away.
Just like when she found Fang Li detestable at first, yet because of the midnight treasure, she ultimately chose to stay in Misaki City, by Fang Li’s side.
Or like when she found the feeling of fighting alone detestable, yet because of Margery’s antics, she still chose to confront her, defeating her in battle.
However, this time, Shana didn’t choose to face it but chose to run away.
Unaware of it completely.
If it were just Shana alone, would she probably keep running like this?
However, Shana was not alone here.
After who knows how long had passed, a heavy voice akin to thunder finally resounded.
“It’s about time to stop.”
“————!”
The familiar voice from the pendant in front of her startled Shana as if waking up from a dream, abruptly halting her steps, her feet skidding on the sand-covered ground, suddenly coming to a stop.
“Ha… ha… Ha… ha…”
Her breath is still as irregular as before.
“Drip, drip…”
Sweat trickled down from her forehead.
Shana stood there, catching her breath, feeling somewhat lost as she glanced around, as if just realizing she had run away, sinking into an indescribable silence.
Until her breathing returned to normal, Shana still didn’t speak, only keeping her head down, remaining silent.
Alastor, looking from head to toe, also fell into silence.
After a while, Alastor finally spoke.
“What happened exactly?”
From Alastor’s words, Shana could hear genuine confusion.
Clearly, even Alastor didn’t know why Shana suddenly reacted so vehemently.
One can only imagine the astonishment in the heart of Alastor, Shana’s contractor and guardian, who had watched her grow up and had been with her all along.
Unfortunately, Alastor was destined to remain surprised.
Because…
“…I don’t know either.”
Shana muttered in a bewildered tone, like a child who couldn’t find their parents.
“It just felt so hateful…”
“So… incredibly hateful…”
Hearing Shana’s words, Alastor fell silent once again.
Instantly, a silence comparable to the one in the small wooden hut pervaded the surroundings.
This silence, in Shana’s feelings, also became extremely hateful, making her really want to continue running, to escape from this feeling.
In such a situation, Alastor suddenly spoke.
“Is it so hateful to leave that man’s side?”
Indeed.
Ultimately, the reason for such an extreme feeling of hatred was because of this, right?
However, Shana only realized this at this moment.
(I… don’t want to leave Fang Li’s side?)
At this moment, an incredibly incredulous expression appeared on Shana’s face.
With this expression, almost subconsciously, Shana asked such a line.
“But why don’t I want to leave Fang Li’s side?”
This question prompted Alastor to fall silent once again.
No.
This time, it wasn’t silence, but rather, it became silent.
Because Alastor knew.
He knew why a person would have such feelings.
So, after being silent for a while, Alastor spoke.
“There’s only one reason for having this feeling.”
“That’s because, to you, the other person is such an important presence that you don’t want to part from.”
With this sentence, Shana’s chest felt as if it had been struck by an invisible force, freezing her in place.
And at that moment, the voice pierced through Shana’s chest once again with an invisible force, entering her ears.
“What’s wrong? Have you run enough?”
…
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