Martel once talked with Duran and Freyja in a room dimly lit by candles as the sun had already set. The conversations migrated from combat to things such as economics. Duran had also talked about ways he can emotionally please the Mrs., much to Martel’s confusion as he had no personal experience. During the conversation, Morgan ran into the room.

“Have you seen Shiro?” She asked while she panted. “I can’t find her anywhere.”

“When was the last time you saw her?” Martel asked.

“Five minutes ago, I only left her for a moment, came right back, and she wasn’t there. I got worried, so I looked around for, and I haven’t been able to find her.”

“Any idea where she could’ve gone?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know… Wait… She did say she left her favorite ball in the garden. I told her we could get it tomorrow.”

“Hey Duran, if she did go out to find the ball...”

“She could run into the night guards.”

“Well, it should be okay, but… I have a bad feeling.”

 

The bushes rustled in the dark as Shiro made her way to where she left her ball in the garden. Morgan had said they would get it tomorrow, but she went anyway because she could see better in the dark than an average human. As Shiro walked, she could see the lanterns and hear the guards as they patrolled around. She had to look around for a while before she spotted her ball, walked up to it, grabbed it, turned towards home, and *thunk*. In her excitement, she lost track of her surroundings and bumped into something hard, which caused her hat fell off.

“Ouch,” She said as she rubbed her head.

“Hey, are you okay?” The young guard she ran into asked as he raised his lantern. 

He froze upon seeing her. “Ears?” He said as a look of shock spread across his face. “Demihuman?” He whispered under his breath. In a flash, his Ki turned hostile, and he drew his sword and infused his Ki into it. 

Shiro couldn’t move as her fear gripped her heart as ghosts from her past appeared in her mind.

[“Hide here, Little One. Don’t move, don’t make a sound.”

“Mama, Papa,”]

The desire to run filled her as her mind came back to the present, but she couldn’t move. She saw the blade as it fell and blood appeared, but it was not her blood. A man wearing a cloak rushed in front of her and took the Ki infused blade with his arm. In one swift motion, he swooped around, picked her up, and began to run.

Her mind was blank in panic as she tried to move. It was then she looked at her hands.

[Blood.] 

[“Mama, Papa, get up.”

“There’s another one. Get it!”

I have to run. Run!]

That single thought consumed her. 

[Run! Run! Run!]

“Shiro”

[A voice?]

“Shiro”

[Shiro?]

“Shiro”

[I’m Shiro?]

“Shiro!”

With a start, she came to her senses she found herself back inside of her home. She looked around in a daze and found herself being held by Martel. His arm had a thin cut along its length, and there were several scratch marks from her nails as well.

Tears started to well up in her eyes. [What… What have I done? I hurt him. I hurt the one who saved me. The one who protected me. The one who named me.] “I’m sorry,” She said as she started to cry. She gently licked the wounds she made as he took his free hand and gently wiped the tears from her face.

“I’m sorry, I was late. I’m just glad you’re safe.” He said with a smile as he patted her head.

Shiro collapsed into his embrace. [I’m glad he doesn’t hate me.]

“What happened?” Freyja asked with a shocked look on her face as she enterd.

“This… This is-”

“We had a small situation,” Martel said as he interrupted Shiro while he held up his arm. “This was the result.”

“I can take care of that,” Freyja said as she sat down and started to use healing magic on his arm.

“I can do something about this level of injury myself.”

“I’m here, so I’ll do it. Are you hurt anywhere, Shiro?”

Shiro shook her head.

“Freyja, we’re going to have to make Shiro’s hat a little more secure. It fell off, and a guard spotted her. Don’t worry, Duran is taking care of it.”

“I see.”

“You must have been scared Shiro,” Martel said with a delicate expression “Say, Shiro… When you were… Scared… You kept saying, ‘Mama, Papa.’ You don’t have to say anything, just know, if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here for you.”

“We are here for you,” Freyja added with a sweet smile as she held her hand.

[What… What should I do? I’m afraid.] Shiro thought as she hesitated. Then she remembered what Martel said. [“It’s okay to feel fear, and it’s a good lesson to learn when you should or shouldn’t act on it.”]

She looked at Martel and Freyja, who were both gently smiling at her. “Will… Will you listen?”

““Of course.” “They said in unison.

Shiro took a deep breath, mustered up her courage, and told them what had happened to her.

 

Sunlight trickled through the trees and illuminated the forest that Shiro and h her parents gathered food in. Families were expected to provide for themselves or trade with other families, for food. Every month for the last couple of years, Shiro and her parents would go on a three-day trip to the forest to scavenge for food and hunt. Usually, Shiro would be too young, but her strength was beyond her years. 

At the time, the three of them had tracked a deer, but Shiro’s inexperience showed and she made a mistake. The deer bounded away and Shiro, in her embarrassment at her failure, dashed after it. The trees became a blur as she focused on her preay.  Eventually, she managed to catch up and knock it out. She beamed with pride at her first catch. She looked behind her and saw her parents.

“Good job.” “As expected of our daughter,” They said.

Shiro looked around and noticed that the forest seemed to end. [Did we accidentally get too close to the edge of the woods?]

“What was that noise?” A foreign voice asked. “Demihuman attack!”

“Quick, little one, run!” Shiro’s mother shouted. The three of them turned and sprinted away, but arrows flew in pursuit. One struck her mother’s leg while another struck her father’s back.

“Mama, Papa,” Shiro said in a panic when she saw the blood. 

Her mother grabbed her and hid her in the roots of a tree. “Hide here, Little One, don’t move, don’t make a sound,” Her mother said as she forced a smile. Even though she tried to hide it, Shiro could see the pain on her face. 

While she was hidden, she could barely make out the form of her parents. They tried to lead the soldiers away, but a couple of them knew how to use Ki well. They fought as best they could in their wounded state until an arrow struck her mother’s chest. Then another. Then another. Shiro watched as her father tried to protect her mother, but he was hit by an arrow too. A man in armor came up and sliced her with his sword. 

Shiro couldn’t move. In that instant, her body, her mind, even her soul had frozen. The next thing she realized, it was nighttime covered by rain clouds. She made her way out of the roots and walked over to her parents.

“Mama.” She cried out as she shook her mother. She didn’t move. “Papa.” She cried out as she shook her father. He didn’t move. Shiro couldn’t stop shaking them as I cried. As she sat there, the heavens opened and seemed to join her as she wept.

“Hey! There’s another one.” A voice shouted.

[Run! I have to run!] she thought as she dashed into the forest out of pure instinct. She ran and ran until she couldn’t run anymore and fell passed out on the ground. When she woke up, she didn’t know where she was. She had wandered for a full day before she reached the edge of the forest, but she still didn’t know where she was. 

For a couple weeks, Shiro wandered along the edge of the woods. She found fruits, seeds, and roots to eat. After some time, she reached a river where she could fish and get fresh water. Deer would come by to drink so she could hunt them as well. With a source of food, she decided to make a camp just like her parents had shown her. 

After a time, snow started to fall. She barely had enough food for the cold and was very weak by the end of winter. One day soon after, a net was thrown over her, and she was brought to the palace grounds.

 

After she had recounted what had happened, Shiro looked at Martel and Freyja. Freyja wept as she squeezed Shiro’s and Martel’s hand together. Martel’s eyes watered as he held Shiro gently. For a while, nothing was said. Then Martel broke the silence. “I’m very sorry to hear that you had to go through all that. If I could, I would change it, but I can’t. As such, I can only sympathize with you. However, I am happy to hear one thing. That your parents loved you very much. No, I know that wherever they are, they are still loving you and watching out for you.” He said with a soft smile.

Shiro’s eyes went wide as she took in his words. Then, all of her pain and suffering crashed down on her. She grabbed Martel’s chest and wept into it. She did not know for how long she wept as she cried herself to sleep.

... 

Hours later, Shiro woke up. She saw her ball and hat next to Martel. Martel had fallen asleep while he held her gently. His head rested upon Freyja’s head, which rested on his shoulder. The two of them slept soundly. Shiro looked at them and couldn’t help but smile.

[Thank you for caring about me, for protecting me. Mama, Papa, wherever you are, thank you for always loving me.] She thought as she fell back asleep.

When she thought back on that night where the three of them were together, a smile would always appear on her face because that night, both herself and her heart became Shiro.

End of Day -228

 

Martel spoke with Duran in the early morning the day after. “So you have the information on the guard that encountered Shiro?”

“Yes, basic information. He’s diligent and gifted with Ki.”

“I could’ve told you that. Sure I’ve only been practicing a few months and sure I was rushed, but I put a lot of Ki in my defenses, and he still managed to get through.”

“Still, just barely I hear.”

“Enough for his blade to physically touch me. If it had been poisoned, I would be in serious trouble right now.”

“So? What are we going to do?”

“What is his family situation?”

“Apparently his father died years ago. His mother is sickly, and he has a younger sister.”

“… We… We are going to have to be very delicate about this situation, aren’t we?”

“Any ideas?”

“… Yeah, I got one, lend me your ear.”

...

Roughly an hour later, Martel was joined by Freyja and Shiro.

“Now then, Duran has been making him sweat for a while. I told him to go and sit down in the room with him without speaking or even looking at him. You guys both just have to stay silent and follow in after me. Shiro, just try to look a little shy and cute behind Freyja okay?” Martel said with a smile as Shiro nodded her head. “Okay then, let’s go.”

As they entered the room, Martel adopted a serious face as he entered the room. Duran had sat down on a chair over at the side of the room, his eyes closed as he faced down. The young guard was seated at the table. His pale face got even more white as the three of them walked into the room. Without a word, the young ladies stayed near the wall as Martel sat down and looked through the papers that were at the table.

“So, has our… guest said anything.” Martel asked after some time while he kept his eyes on the paper.

“Not a word.”

“Not a word? Admirable, very admirable. I’m here because I received an interesting report. Would you care to tell me what happened?”

“I… I found Demihuman and attacked it.” The guard said hesitantly.

“Oh, I see. Let’s see here, you’ve been a part of the guard for two months now after training. High praise from your trainers, excellent excellent. What’s this? A deceased father, a mother who was reported to be sickly, and a younger sister. Be a shame if something were to happen to you, I don’t know what they are going to do if you were to disappear.” Martel said with a smile that hinted at evil intentions while he rubbed his arm that was cut. The guard got even paler when he realized the person he cut was the Hero. “So I take it this Demihuman was a monster.” Martel continued to ask.

“No, sir.”

“Oh? Then what did it look like?”

“… Her.” He said after he hesitated and pointed toward Shiro.

“A little girl? You mistook this cute, sweet little girl for a Demihuman? Hahaha. Tell me, why do you think she looks like a Demihuman.”

“She… She had animal ears.”

“Animal ears? Haha. Are you sure you just weren’t mistaken because of the dark? Are you sure you didn’t imagine it? That, in fact, you saw nothing at all?”

“I… I saw-”

Obviously intentionally, Martel accidentally let a piece of paper fall in front of him. “Say, Duran. Have you seen the orders for the safeguard position near, oh where was it, somewhere near this fella’s house, with a pay raise? The one where you just need to show it to the commanding officers to get the position? I seem to have misplaced it.”

“Nope, I haven’t seen it,” Duran replied, his eyes still closed.

“Such a pity. Ah, how rude of me. Where were we? Oh yes. Tell me, did you see anything… out of place recently?” 

The guard eyed the paper, looked at Martel, then eyed the paper again before he took it. “No, sir. I haven’t seen anything out of place.”

“Good, this whole situation was a mistake that never happened,” Martel said with a smile. “Well then, let’s go. You are free to leave.” He continued before he left the room. 

After they got out of earshot, Freyja started to speak. “That was… Excessive.”

“Really? I had fun.”

“Yes, I could tell from your facial expression,” She said with a tone that expressed her displeasure.

“Oh? That was just me being in character.” Martel replied with a chuckle.

“Oh, I’m sure.”

“I’m sorry for causing such a problem,” Shiro said very sadly.

“What are you talking about?” Martel replied as he bent down and gave her a smile. “You’d only be a problem if you weren’t worth the trouble. Personally, I like your kind of trouble.” 

“I… I want to help you. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I’m sure you can find something.”

“Then can I help make you stronger?”

“Of course, if you know such a way.”

Shiro nodded her head. “Mama and Papa said I was gifted and taught me things like fighting. Can I teach it to you next time you train?”

A small moment of shock covered Martel’s face at the unexpected offer. “I look forward to it.”

End of Day -227