…

Fate sat in his room, frequently gazing at his wrapped up hand and the blood underneath that was slowly tainting the torn shirt red. 

 

He just couldn’t figure out whether anything she was saying was true or not. It wasn’t that he completely believed her story, but somehow he couldn’t find it within himself to refute her…

 

-Damn! Why can’t she just be predictable?! Some fake-ass sounding sob story, achievement, holding the advantage for the first time, what kind of bullshit is that?!?

 

Fate was furious with himself for not taking advantage of the situation but still couldn’t shake his own confused feelings. He brought himself up from his cot and began beating his fists rapidly against the wall! 

 

Fate: “WHY DIDN’T I DO IT?!”

 

He repeatedly slammed his fists against the wall, reopening his slowly healing wounds. His pain continued to grow worse, but he ignored it. 

 

Eventually, though, he wore himself down through exhaustion and blood loss, by which point his arms had long since lost a good deal of color. He struggled to remain standing but was forced to awkwardly stumble back to his bed and promptly collapsed upon it.

…

 

Fate awoke a few hours later, weak and in pain. He checked the wounds on his fists...a good deal of flesh on them was raw and they had only recently begun to scab. The blood that had leaked from the wounds had dried on the floor and bed, but still wasn’t a pleasant thing to look at.

 

-Sh*t...I really lost control...didn’t I? Damn, this...hurts like a b*tch…

 

He wasn’t able to remove himself from the cot, nor could he alter his position. Instead, since he wasn’t able to move, he began to pool mana and soon, a blue bubble appeared in the air near his head. 

 

Fate: “Forward.”

 

The bubble moved towards the dresser, however, it was going a bit too fast.

 

Fate: “Stop!”

 

Fate winced from yelling while realizing that he could have spoken in a normal tone as it was ‘no skin off his back’ and he would only need rest if his plans wouldn’t work out. He was still thinking about earlier, albeit more subconsciously than before…

 

-I shouldn’t...have lashed out on...my own body...It’s much worse...when your own enemy is yourself, not...just your mother...or brother...or evil servants...or death...Speaking of which…

 

Fate: “...Journal, status...page…”

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Name: Fate
• HP: 30.77/167.80
• MP: 32.577/35.44
• Level: 0
• Race: Human
• Age: 4 year-old(4 year(s), 0.7 month(s) (22+ years old)))
• Job: None
• Previous Jobs: None
• Titles: 【Familiar of Fate】

--------------------------------

• Stats: 
  • Strength: 18.50
  • Endurance: 37.4
  • Wisdom: 7.0
  • Intelligence: 8.47
  • Stamina: 21.0
  • Agility: 13.625
  • Fortune: 1.0
  • Magic: 17.22

            ---------------------------------

• Passive Skills:『Balance - (Lv.3)』, 『Natural MP Restoration』
• Active Skills: 『Mana Manipulation(Minor) - (Lv.3)』, 『Fire Magic(Minor) - (Lv.2)』
• Unique Skills: None
• Equipment: Fate’s Journal(Soul-bound)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-2 sets of 77 in my HP and MP…? That’s one more 7 than I need...that means bad luck…

 

Fate continued to form his mana into odd shapes to reach the tin until he finally managed to create an odd tentacle shape that was able to pluck the salve from under the dresser…

 

『Skill,『Mana Manipulation(Minor)』has increased to level 4!』

 

Fate: “Oh…”

 

He was quite shocked by this development, so shocked in fact that he stopped supplying mana to the tentacle that was dragging the tin, causing it to cease to be and drop the salve to the floor.

 

Fate: “F*ck...”

 

He slipped into slumber once more…

…

The door to Fate’s room creaked open, revealing Liza standing just beyond the doorway. She was stunned at the state of the room, but mostly at the state of the left wall that Fate had been punching earlier.

 

However, what stunned her most of all was the condition that her master was in, his wounds were reopened and he had clearly strained himself extensively. She immediately rushed to his side but stumbled for a moment before regaining her footing.

 

Liza: “Wha…?”

 

She lifted her foot to find the tin underneath her, at which she immediately panicked, believing that she might have ruined the container. However, upon closer inspection, there was no apparent damage to it and she was visibly quite relieved.

 

Liza picked up the tin from the ground and returned her attention to her master on the cot. Her lips quivered at the sight of him, not in fear of him but worry for his life…

 

-Why do you do these kinds of things to yourself…? I’m...not trying to hurt you...and I’m sorry that I can’t tell you, for now at least…

 

She quickly removed the cloth that was wrapping his hand, opened the tin, and rubbed the salve on his fists, which caused his body to instinctively grasp her wrist! 

 

-Is he awake?! Wait, no he’s still asleep...why is he holding me…?

 

Although she had one of her wrists grasped, she continued to dutifully smear the rest of the salve that was on her fingers onto his knuckles. His grip loosened and Liza had finished applying the salve, however, she seemed reluctant to let go.

 

Instead, she stroked his palm with her fingers, examining every inch of Fate’s hand. Unlike when she had attempted to apply the salve for the first time, his body did not respond by grasping her. His fingers twitched and locked with hers, seeming to savor the feeling of her skin…

 

-So cute…

 

Her gaze shifted from worried to gentle and a similarly gentle smile replaced her quivering frown. She continued to stroke his palm but suddenly stretched her body so that her face was directly above his. 

 

-I will continue to watch over you, my lord...Maybe someday...I’ll be able to tell you…

Liza lowered her face and planted a gentle kiss on his forehead before raising her head. She reviewed his injuries while continuing to hold his hand, but he suddenly started twitching slightly. It seemed apparent that he had begun to wake up.

 

She quickly closed the tin of salve and tossed it underneath the dresser as Fate had done in their last encounter. Then, she walked out of the room with a gentle smile on her face.

 

-Please...don’t hurt yourself too much my lord. I’ll see you tomorrow...and don’t worry, I’ll always be here for you.

 

With that done, she walked down the hall while gazing down at the blood-soaked cloth that had once made up her sleeve. She began to think about how she was going to be able to sew this back onto her dress without any of the other servants noticing.