Shadow Slave novel Chapter 799

They stood silently under the tree for a while. Eventually, Nephis looked at him and said evenly:

"You did well."

Sunny glanced at her with a pale smile, then nodded.

"I guess I did, didn't I? My mom would have been very happy. If she was alive, that is. I am healthy, well-fed, and have a house in a good part of the city. I even found my… a student. These things might not sound like much to you, but to her, they would have been like a dream."

He turned to the tree and added after a short pause:

"I don't really remember my dad too well, because I was too little when he passed away. But my mom, I remember her perfectly. She was… like a ray of sunshine. The strangest thing, though, is that when I was a kid, she was the whole world to me. I thought that she knew everything, could do anything. But now, I realize that she was barely older than we are. She was more or less a kid herself."

Nephis looked at him and said:

"But we aren't kids."

Sunny tilted his head, then shrugged.

"That is true, I guess. We are adults, which is a strange thought. I don't really feel very different from how I was before, at least not in terms of being confident and knowing what the hell I am doing."

Changing Star sighed, then shook her head a little.

"That is because you have been an adult for a long time. People like us have to grow up early."

Sunny thought about it for a moment.

"I don't know. I have a suspicion that when I look back on today in a decade or so, I will be dismayed by how big of an idiot I was."

Nephis smiled with the corner of her mouth.

"...That has nothing to do with adulthood."

He spared her a short glance and scoffed.

"That was the point where you were supposed to say that I am not an idiot, you know."

She stared at him with a deadpan expression, then said in her usual tone:

"I know."

Sunny couldn't help but laugh.

"Anyway. I don't really understand why I wanted to come here. I guess I expected to feel something… and I do. It's just not what I thought I wouls feel."

Nephis lingered for a few moments. Eventually, he said with a hint of hesitation in her voice:

"Do you maybe want to say something to your mother?"

Sunny lingered for a while, then shook his head.

"What is the point? She is dead, and the dead can't hear anything. They are simply gone. They only exist in the memories of the past. I would rather concentrate on the future."

Despite the fact that he had achieved many things that his mother would have wanted for him, it had not been without a cost. His house, his wealth, and the fridge full of food he had back home were only one side of his life. The other side was full of dire things like the Sovereigns, the Obel Scale…

And Nephis.

His bond with her was a dire thing, too.

His future was not cloudless at all.

The past few weeks had been some of the calmest and most enjoyable in Sunny's life. He had mostly been in Neph's company, doing nothing but training and spending time with her. He had hidden his head in the sand and refused to think about all the troubles that loomed on the horizon.

That pleasant time was coming to an end.