A ray of light pierced through the dark sky, bouncing against the surface of the lake to the side, announcing the arrival of the sun in the sky.

My head moved, looking up at the sky. A large expanse of darkness with stars slowly vanishing as it gradually grew bright, the colour of a burning fire, similar to a bar of metal placed in a furnace.

Similarly, my head was clear, having gone through a tempering of my will and emotions. A bitter smile spread across my face as gears in my head started spinning, thinking of what to do next for my goal.

Soon, an idea came to my mind before I rejected it thoroughly.

I won’t return to that village. Not until I am strong enough to make each and every one of those villagers regret their actions — both of being there and to watch without doing nothing.

Following the line of thought, I had an epiphany.

Worst case, they will never talk to me again, right?

Turning my head rapidly, I confirmed that the couple watching over me was still there. The smile on my face grew just a tad warmer. Heaving a sigh, I got up before bracing myself mentally for what I was about to do next and its possible ramifications, at least the ones I could think of.

Rehearsing what to say and how to say a few times, I heaved a deep breath to affirm my resolve.

Walking towards the couple, my mind, which was calm as a lake, had ripples. Nervousness flooded my head, falling through to my actions. I felt like a kid who hid a broken dish from their parents and was now approaching them to ask the location of glue while hoping they won’t find out about the broken dish. Just in my case, the thing being hid was my new goal and the thing I was about to ask was —

“Umm, Aunt, I remember Samuel going with his teacher to… to learn to become stronger sometime soon. Is th-that correct?”

Aargh! I hesitated at the start! You moron! The one who arranged the whole thing was Uncle. Don’t hesitate again! That’s not how you practised. If you talked to him, your chances would’ve been better. Nooo! Don’t stutter, you idiot!

While speaking, my brain kept pointing out mistakes I made and how it went better in my head than when I was actually facing the situation. The only thing that kept me going was the fact that I managed to not immediately bury myself due to the shame and could hide it somewhat well.

Uncle averted his head after hearing me talk, making my heart feel cold. On the other hand, Aunt had an all-knowing gaze, looking at me like a knowing mother aware of the son breaking the dish and being humoured at his flawed attempt at getting the glue. Instead of being happy about it, however, it made me more nervous.

“Mnn, you’re right. But what about it?” Aunt replied while staring me in the eye.

Beads of sweat covered my forehead and back of the neck while my brain went into turmoil. However, I somehow opened my mouth and uttered: “So, um, I wanted to ask that if I also can maybe join—”

Meanwhile, simultaneously, within my head, Don’t hesitate! Be confident, you idiot. You’re just asking for going on a trip and not for robbing a vault. What was that sloppy ‘maybe?’ It wasn’t there in the rehearsals either. What? Aunt, please let me complete what I was saying. You’re scaring me.

Aunt sighed, cutting me off as she said, “I know what you want to do. But you’d be better off asking your Uncle about it instead of me. He was the one who arranged that. He is the best shot you have.”

Aunt’s reply made me speechless. Inwardly, it made my anxiety reach a new level while simultaneously emphasising how inadequate my vocabulary of curses was.

I knew it! Stupid me, why did you mess up at the start? See what’s happening! This was not in your plans. At all. Whatever, I’ll wing it.

My gaze landed on the man beside her, causing my gaze to brush past immediately and land at another point. Complicated feelings welled up in my heart — feelings I didn’t want to explore.

Thus, while unable to look at the man himself, my eyes wandered around as I tried to ask, “Uncle…”

“I’ll do it.” His reply was brief, yet firm enough to make my heart ease up. After a pause, he continued, “I owe your parents a lot, your father in particular. His last wish was to take good care of you, and I simply couldn’t do anything to fulfil that. So this is the least I can do. The least I should be doing. He did say to let you do whatever you wanted and, after waking up, if you wanted to, then to not stop you from—”

When he spoke initially, jubilation filled my heart. But the words afterwards, one after another, felt as if they poured icy water over it, causing a mixture of my rage and resentment to bubble up.

Because of that father who was missing at the time when we needed him the most? Do I even need any help from him? Is he anyone to help me at this point? And if for my mother, am I even qualified to get that after causing her to die?

The smile on my face vanished as I spouted, “I don’t need anything from that, father. Nothing! He wasn’t even there when we needed him the most. Isn’t what a father should do is to protect their family? Was it too much to ask? The person who you owe to is that father of mine. Not me. And it will never be me. Never! This is something that I ask of you. I will definitely pay it back. Many times over. Just… Just…”

Just what… Why did I? How can I? He already helped me this much and just… just what am I doing? Getting angry at him? Is this how you repay kindness?

A sense of shame flooded my heart, washing away the rage and resentment bubbling up within me. In an instant, the forest grew silent as a grave.

Unwittingly, my gaze wandered to the man’s face, catching his forehead held within his arm as he rubbed his temples while having a dark expression spread across his face. His eyes seemed deep in thought, staring at somewhere in front of my feet.

After a long lull, he lifted his head. His expression was blank, leaving me nothing to guess what he was thinking. Inadvertently, my gaze wandered to his side, looking at Aunt who was giving Uncle a look I couldn’t read through.

My heart beat slowed as I wanted nothing more than to bury my face in the lake nearby. Time seemed to go as slow as possible, making the moments between when he lifted his head to when he opened his mouth to speak feel like a few months.

His gaze met mine. His solemn gaze filled me with a sense of intimidation, like I was a prey being eyed by a lion. A sense of fear welled up within my heart, making me take a gulp involuntarily. I bit my tongue to calm down before perking my ears up so as to not miss a single word about to be spoken.

With a solemn voice, he said, “Alright. I agree.”

Is that it?

I blinked in a mixture of confusion and surprise.

However, in the next moment, his voice, a few shades grimmer than before seeped through my ears, dragging my attention towards his piercing yellow eyes.

An eerie smile spread across his face as he said, “But because you have nothing you can give me at the moment as an assurance, I’ll give you a condition to fulfil. Still willing to continue?”