Chapter 82 – Nemesis (5)
The next morning.
Mason had been re-engraving himself in his mirror since early morning.
The way she looked at herself in the mirror was both familiar and unfamiliar. There was still a sharp contrast between her short-cropped short hair and the old look with long hair on her head.
She had seen her countless times, but now her appearance, which was far the same as before, made her uncomfortable. As if she was wearing clothes that didn’t fit, a tangled feeling of frustration remained in a corner of her heart.
Mason shook her head quickly to clear her thoughts.
A life of desperation that she was so familiar with and felt comfortable with at one time.
She was so accustomed to it that she was clearly aware that she was repulsed by the process of finding herself again.
That’s what she was, so she had to get over it, and she insisted on doing it again, even if she was forced to.
Not just for herself, but also for poor Sianna.
It is her responsibility and her duty, and it is the only way she can ask for forgiveness from Shiana.
She clapped her cheeks with both of her hands. She forced her eyes shut, took a deep breath, and turned away from the mirror.
Leaving her room and going down her stairs, she stood in front of a small side door at the bottom of the stairs.
A space she hadn’t cared about except for the first few days after arriving in her hometown. Grabbing the doorknob, which was unusually untouched by her fingers, and pulling hard.
Ki-Ik- Tung-
The stiff hinges made a strained noise, revealing her dusty insides. Feeling the smell of dusty warehouses brushing her nose as her hinges groan and spread, Mason stepped her foot into the graying darkness.
She was able to find an object leaning between a wall and an object among the piles of objects.
Mason stopped her on the spot and looked at her things. It was still there in the whitish darkness, just as she had put it in storage the last time.
Mason walked slowly and lifted her object into her hand.
She gripped it tightly, feeling the shallow layers of dust loosening at her fingertips.
Long untouched by her master, the cold feel of her sword seemed to reproach her.
She touched her scabbard as if stroking it, biting the tip of her lips lightly in blissful emotion. It was the first time in her life she had been so far away from the sword, and she felt even more so because she thought she would never touch the sword again.
Feeling bittersweet and nostalgic, Mason looked down at her sword with a small smile. It wasn’t until the warmth in her hands warmed her sword that she took her sword and stepped out of her house.
As she opened her door, her soft summer breeze engulfed her. Now feeling her short hair waving awkwardly, she came out into the yard and calmly caught her breath.
Soon she grabbed the hilt of her sword and carefully drew her sword from her scabbard.
Gigi-
The poorly maintained knife came out of its scabbard with a rather odd sound, but Mason didn’t care, held her sword straight and swung it.
Booung-
With the sound of her sword cutting through the wind, Mason clumsily restrained her recoil. Handling her sword was not easy. At one time, she was an object that was as easy as my arm and as close to her family as I was, but now it has become a foreign object to her.
Mason gritted his teeth and continued to swing his sword. Stronger, faster.
Bauung-!
The momentum of the sword cutting through the sound of the strong wind was fierce, but the end of the action was not concise. The center of gravity of the body could not hold the strength properly, so it continued to stumble.
But Mason did not give up.
She continued swinging her sword into the air. The movement transformation that started from the basic posture of her swordsmanship that she remembered continued and drew a single sword dance. The sword dance she drew could not be called a good sword dance, and she herself was clearly aware of this.
She continued to stumble, stumble, and eventually took her sword dance until she tripped and fell.
Dump-
As Mason fell, dirt rose from her. Feeling the smell of the smoky dirt floor and the smell of sweat on his clothes mixing together to create an unpleasant smell, Mason stood up again.
In her remorse for herself, Mason put her sword in her hand to break it.
Neglecting to take care of herself, her once-proportioned body was complaining of her sore muscles.
The connection between the swords was not smooth, and there were too many awkward places.
She eventually lost her composure and swung her sword at random. Calm thinking was impossible, and she surrendered herself only to the flow of emotions.
Mason straightened her sword again.
She struggled to keep the tip of her sword swinging in front of her eyes, catching her breath once more and tightening her arm.
Again.
She swung her sword. Even if her muscles screamed, her sweat-soaked clothes rubbed against her body, and the sun beat down on her, she didn’t stop swinging.
One more time.
Just one more last time.
Her grip hurt like it would tear, but she didn’t stop.
This was her own rebuke and punishment. But at the same time, it was also a commitment that was engraved all over her body.
Chaenggang-!
Eventually, she couldn’t hold out and let go of her sword, and then she sat down and let out her rough breath. Even as she wiped the sweat pouring down like rain with the sleeve of her dress, her heart could not calm down.
I was upset. Her stamina was too weak, and her swordsmanship also became dull. Her aching muscles all over her body laughed at her, and her knife flung on the floor seemed to laugh at her.
As if you believe that you can come back like before.
She clenched her teeth in her malice, and stretched her wobbly arms toward the sword that had fallen to her floor.
“Yap.”
Before her hand gripped the sword, someone quickly raised it with a playful sound. When Mason’s head naturally turned upward, Grace was there with a smile.
“If you do more, you will get hurt.”
Mason looked at her in dismay as she said, “It’s amazing how tenacious she is that she wielded her sword so much that I didn’t even notice when she came.” No, to be precise, she was drawn to her movements.
“It was a pretty good move. It looks like she’s been holding the sword for quite some time-“
Chain fluid-!
Between Grace’s words, there was the sound of a sword cutting through the air. She changed her stretching posture, spinning and stabbing her sword as if performing her tricks.
“-The balance of the lower body is poor. It would be great if you added a little strength training to her.”
Her movements were like those of a graceful leopard. Her footsteps are light, her body movements are flexible, and at the same time, the movements that follow are elegantly smooth. Her steps lightly spurred the ground, and the movement of her sword did not falter even with great motion.
“Still, the basics are so well mastered that if you do a little more, your skills will come back soon.”
Wow-!
As I swung the sword with a quick, accurate, and powerful horizontal slash, the sword drew a semicircle with fierce momentum. Then, after swinging lightly a few times as if shaking off a sword on the battlefield, she immediately picked up the scabbard that had fallen on the floor.
“Well, it’s a good sword, but it’s a little under-maintained. I think I need to oil it up a bit later and sharpen the blades.”
Placing the sword in her scabbard, she came over to Mason, who had fallen to the floor, and held out her hand. Mason did not refuse her hand.
“There was a lot of dust and a lot of sweat. Should I take a bath again?”
Grace chuckled and brushed the dust off her shoulder. Mason couldn’t help but be immersed in her question as she acted as if nothing happened.
That should be the case, because the sword and body movements she showed me just now were of a fairly high level.
Conscious of the staring gaze, Grace looked at Mason for a moment, then smiled softly and said,
“Just know that Miss Mason isn’t the only one with a great story.”
Grace winked lightly in one of her eyes, then snapped her fingers as if remembering.
“Well, this is not the time to be like this. Isabella invited us today and I came to pick her up!”
She paused for a moment at the sudden, unprepared news. The news made her forget all her curiosity about Grace in an instant.
But maybe it was because she used her body violently, her heart didn’t flinch as much as she thought. She didn’t choke on her breath, nor did she wet her already wet body with a cold sweat.
“This is not the time! I’m going to see her at her mansion at 3pm, so wash up and get ready! OK?”
Grace pushed Mason into her house as she forced herself into it. Soon after, the sound of the door closing behind them dissipated, and she was once again enveloped in silence.
She climbed her stairs feeling a strange tremor. She was busy calculating the information and situation that suddenly poured into her head.
Three o’clock in the afternoon, Grace, Isabella’s invitation.
Going into the bathroom and taking off her sweat-soaked clothes, she thought again, chewing on what Grace had told her.
It was the first time since winter that I had visited Isabella’s mansion.
From that day on, her daily life was only the days of being swung around. It was a busy day to rationalize herself by making excuses after losing the purpose of her life.
Afraid.
I had a sudden thought.
I was afraid to face Isabella. She wasn’t sure she wouldn’t be swayed by her. She feared that if she set foot in the mansion again, her painful memories of her Sianna would come back.
And if I had to run into Cyana there.
She sat naked in the cold bathtub, scooped up the water with a small ladle, and stopped.
Should I say that I can’t go even now, that it’s too hard since I’ve been practicing swords for the first time in a while, or that I’m suddenly feeling unwell?
With that thought in mind, let’s look down at the bucket full of water.
Now, the bobbed hair, which was cut short, was slightly reflected on the surface of the water.
Cheak-
Mason quickly poured cold water over his head. Starting with her head, cold water ran down her unprotected skin. She struggled with the chilling sensation, but at the same time she was able to get out of the negative thoughts.
Wake.
From the start, nothing ever went your way.
She swung her sword for some reason, vowed to cut her hair, and didn’t even eat it so unseemly.
Mason grabbed her heart by splashing water on her several times in succession. Goosebumps ran across her skin, and as she shrank in the cold water, she was able to clear her mind.
Have to go
It’s today.
I apologize to Siana.
Soon she was shivering from the cold and then she stopped pouring the cold water on her. After wiping her drippings off her body and putting on her new clothes, she stared at herself in the mirror.
Her eyes were sharp, though not as sharp as before, and her body, though not strong, was upright, with no bends.
Mason checked her collar and buttons one last time, when she suddenly felt a slight foreign body in her pocket.
Stunned for a moment, she reached into her pocket and found a small crumpled piece of paper. It took her a little while to figure out what it was for.
It was a testimonial she received when she went on an outing with Lucia.
It took her a little while to come up with a reason why the things she obviously tucked into winter clothes were in these clothes. She must have, in the height of her obsession with Lucia, tried to fiddle with her perfume paper and smell her light scents whenever she was gone.
She held her old, crumpled perfume paper to the tips of her fingers, brought it to the tip of her nose, and inhaled.
Instead of a pleasant fresh scent, there was only an old, old smell.
Mason left her room that way. As she descended her stairs and opened her door, she was greeted by her waiting Grace.
“Are you ready?”
At her words, Mason smiled resolutely.
“Yes. Let’s go.”
Saying that, Mason tossed her testimonial paper from her hand. Even if the small paper flew, how much it would have flown, but a sudden gust of wind blew the paper away without a trace in an instant.
“… ?”
Mason said to Grace, who had a puzzled look on her face as she watched her actions.
“Never mind. Because it’s nothing.”
With that said, she made her way ahead of Grace.
She did not look behind her or follow the direction in which her test paper had flown.
