Chapter 123

Burdens (I)

Cain stared wordlessly at the weeping Taima, the young boy sprawled on the floor, wrapped in the oversized robe that stained rather easily, he realized. It was not a good feeling, being responsible for making a fourteen-year-old boy cry. In his defense, though, Cain certainly did not know that Taima was fourteen at the moment. Rather, it was always quite difficult to pinpoint his age due to the fact that he wore shovels of makeup every time he went out in public.

However, guilt was soon pushed down in lieu of excitement; if he was this talented at the age of fourteen... with proper nurturing... I can’t even imagine, holy shit...

And, against all odds, it turned out that Cain was quite a nurturer -- for some reason, one he was yet to fully comprehend and decipher, younger folk tended to look up to him and listen to his advice, even someone as brash as Senna. On the other hand, Taima was like a pup, like a lamb lying in front of a wolf -- but not the ilk of a wolf that would kill the lamb, but the one that would pick it up and raise it as his own.

“... listen, I’m sorry,” Cain crouched in front of the boy and patted the rainbow-dyed hair, startling him. The dark eyes looked up, reddened because of the crying, and widened. “I thought you were some old geezer who wanted me to behave like this, y’know? Hardass and all.”

"...I--I..." Taima sniffled, though no other words came out. It was difficult for him to process everything that he was feeling at the moment; yet, staring into those rather pretty-looking green eyes... was calming. Like nature itself is. Most of the time. He’s just like nature! Taima realized. Mostly calm and warm, but then boom! Kills everyone!

"Lemme help you up," Cain said as he carefully unraveled the boy and heaved him at his armpits, slowly taking off the robe. Looking at it now... yes, he certainly was fourteen, Cain mused. He barely hit five-foot-three and looked to not even have a hundred pounds in him. Furthermore, with the tears having smeared the makeup, the boyish naivety and innocence were now on full display. "Gotta say, you look much cooler without that stupid thing on."

"I... I do?" Taima asked, not even concerned that he was being held up by his armpits. Cain quickly put him down, though, and smiled.

“Yeah,” he nodded, patting the boy’s head again. “Clothes never make a man, no matter how fancy they are. You know what does?”

“... not... not crying?” Taima mumbled, biting his lip.

“Huh? No. Men cry.” Cain said.

“They do?!”

"Yeah, of course they do," he nodded. "Everybody cries. If we weren't meant to cry, our bodies wouldn't have that function, to begin with. No, what makes a man is what he does after a failure. We learn from each mistake, from each wrong step. Real men do, at least. Those who don't... stay tiny little boys forever.”

“...” Taima stared intently at Cain, making the latter somewhat uncomfortable. The boy’s eyes were alight like the sun, shining brilliantly for a moment. “You’re a man.”

“I sure try to be.”

“You are,” Taima said, gritting his teeth. “You didn’t know me, but you knew I meant a lot for the City. Still, you didn’t let me do whatever I want. But me... I’m not a man! I... I couldn’t handle your manliness--”

“--oi, this chat could easily be misinterpreted, dude!!”

“--you’re right,” Taima nodded as he took a deep breath. “Clothes and titles don’t make a man. Manliness does!! Please, become my Master!!”

“...” Cain sighed inwardly; though he had hoped it would come to this... the way it did... left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth. “Are you sure? You know nothing about me.”

“I know that you’re a man!” Taima exclaimed with conviction, raising his fist. “A manly man!” What the... “And because of that... I know I need to learn from you! I... I was always made fun of. Always,” the boy added, dropping his head. “For... for my looks... for my likes... for the things I wore... for the way I spoke... but if I were like you, they would never--”

“I’ll stop you right there.” Cain suddenly said, startling the young boy. “If you just copy me, you’ll never become a man.”

“H-huh?”

“Who gives a shit what you like? What you wear or how you speak? None of that ‘makes a man’.”

“It... it doesn’t?”

“No,” Cain said, sighing and shaking his head. Feeling somewhat tired, he walked past Taima and sat upon the throne, noting that it was extremely uncomfortable. Luckily, there was a huge robe right there that he used as a cushion. “Let the world say whatever it will. That’s just how things are. What? Do you think that everyone respects me?”

“... they don’t?!” Taima exclaimed in shock, seeming genuinely surprised over the revelation.

“No,” Cain chuckled bitterly. “But that doesn’t matter. People that I care for... and people that I love... they do. And that’s... that’s what matters, Taima. For all that’s worth, I respect you now.”

“......huh?!” Taima’s eyes widened into saucers, his cheeks blushing, causing Cain to cough awkwardly.

“Y-you noted that you lack something, and are willing to correct it. It doesn’t matter that you got what you lack wrongly... I’m here to help with that. But a real man always knows he can improve and that he should never stagnate. That’s what matters.”

“... o-okay,” Taima nodded. “I will remember the lesson, Master!” Ai... this... aah, to think just how much energy I spent on worrying... geez, kids are really fucking easy to manipulate. First Senna, then him------I might just be a genuine sociopath, huh? “Is... is everything okay, Master?”

“H-huh?”

“Your eyes suddenly turned full of worry... ah! Was I wrong?”

“N-no, it’s nothing,” Cain said, somewhat pensive over how intuitive the kid was. “Anyway, Akkatov told me that you egged the King on to start a war. Why? Don’t tell me because you wanted to seem manly?”

“It’s...” Taima seemed conflicted, though just for the briefest of moments when he made a quick decision. “You’re my Master! I should have no secrets in front of you!”

“... s-sure.”

“Truth is that the King himself killed the Queen.”

“...”

“...”

“... say what now?”

"Hm," Taima nodded. "I don't have any concrete proof, but all the circumstances point at him. I egged him to start a war because he wanted to do it anyway, and this way I got to gain his trust. Right now, I'm in charge of pretty much the whole of the army. I never planned on actually going to war -- this is more of a prelude until I figure out a way to expose the truth to the world.”

“...” Damn, for a crybaby, this kid sure has got big balls... “And you’re certain the King did it? Why?”

“Why? Because he’s a greedy hedonist,” Taima spoke with a growl. “Nothing like the manly Master!” Dude... “A few months back, I heard he hired a new batch of maids, and among them was supposedly someone so beautiful she took his soul.”

“Maybe she Bewitched him?”

"No, she's a fifty-eight-year-old hag with tits so saggy I swear she stretched them on purpose."

“...”

“He’s just a loony,” Taima added. “With weird sexual tastes. What are your sexual tastes, Master? I’m assuming you only go for Heavenly Beauties worthy of you!”

“... not that I wouldn’t love to discuss my sexual preferences with a fourteen-year-old-boy, but I’d much rather hear about how did you plan on exposing this.”

“He’s a dumbass,” Taima said without hesitation. “I’m certain at least a couple of people know. I just need to figure out who and how to get them on my side. Right now, we are just posturing; even though it’s gonna cost the city economically, I’ve tied up a lot of wealth in here so we’ll have enough to funnel into the recovery progress.”

“...” by now, Cain was starting to get lost a bit -- he realized that he was much dumber than the boy in front of him. First Diya... and even Senna... and now this kid... am I just the dumbest father-figure fucking ever?!! “That’s... that’s smart,” Cain ventured a guess. “And, I’m assuming, you’re only picking out Champions you think would be trustworthy?”

“Yes! Master is so smart!” Ugh, that hurt... “But, so far, I’ve only gotten two. The rest are either just some rugged mercenaries with faces so ugly I could barely prevent myself from doing the unspeakable, and those that aren’t, are just money-chasers.”

“... o-okay, good.” Cain coughed awkwardly and nodded. “I’ve come to the city with some friends. Your... khm... your Master doesn’t really like planning and all that, so how about I introduce you to someone who does?”

“Oh?! Someone Master approves of?!” Taima exclaimed excitedly.

“Y-yes, she’s very smart.”

“S-she?”

“What?”

“Uh... I... I just find that women tend to be harder to work with...”

“Ah, tell me about it; but, hey, a real man can handle anything! Even a woman!”

“T-that’s right!” Damn, this is easy---yup, I’m going straight to hell... goddamn... “A real man can handle everything and anything! Okay! I can sneak out later tonight. Where would you like to meet?”

“We’re staying at that stupidly-shaped lodge. You know where it is?”

“T-the one... the one that looks like... you know...” Taima mumbled shyly.

“Like what?” Cain asked, tilting his head.

“Y-you know... our... uh... our unders.”

“Oh, you mean balls?”

“M-Master!! That’s profane!!”

“A real man is profane!”

“Yes, like balls!!” Hey, this is kinda fun... “Like---like testicles! Nuts! Nads! Junk! Stones!”

“... you’ve been waiting to say all that for a while, huh?” Cain asked with a grin.

“M-maybe...” Taima replied. “Te-he~~”

“... meet me there at midnight.”

“Okay!” Taima nodded. “He he, this... this sounds like one of those rendezvous--”

“Stop right there! Khm, alright, see you tonig--nevermind, just see you...”