– The 21st of June of the year 3031, Wednesday –

“Thanks for the food.” Amon wipes his mouth, picks up the dirty dishes, and heads towards the sink.

“You’re welcome.” Sonia smiled softly.

In the last few days, she realized the big mistake she had made. Amon was not who she thought he was and, recapitulating everything that had happened in the past, she realized that many of her actions had been rash. The fear that she had initially of Amon had turned to pain at abandoning him. But, there is no remedy for regret and she could only do her best to redeem herself. Even if he is already 17, she would try to be a better mother for him.

Sonia usually left early, today she stayed late especially to make breakfast and for everyone to eat together as a family. Of course, that was far from enough, but it was a start.

“I finished.” Amon said indifferently as he dried his hands and walked past them, “I’m going to change.”

“I’m done too.” Julia and Maísa got up and took their dishes to the sink. Initially, they would go straight to change but, remembering that Amon washed what he soiled, the two sisters ended up washing the dishes that they soiled too.

Amon came down the stairs, and no, he didn’t wear the school uniform, he wore a cloth uniform, light and loose enough not to interfere with his movements. It was a typical uniform that is used for training, white with a black rope to tie around the waist. It was still early, just 6:30 in the morning. Classes start at 7:45 am.

On Amon’s arms, there were 20 kilos of weight each, and on the feet, there were 30 kilos of weight each. It was 100 kilos more in total weight, making it a little difficult to train, which was ideal at the time.

Luckily, the terrain was large, and he had enough space to train.

“We are counting on you.” Julia and Maisa arrived. Like Amon, they wore training clothes, but instead of white, it was pink with white rope around the waist.

“Mm, start stretching,” Amon said indifferently as he stretched.

“Yes.” Maisa and Julia joined him.

Maisa and Julia, stretching upwards with both hands together like a bow, bent left and then right.

Some crackles echo as they stretched. Their muscles are less tense, and they feel lighter.

Maisa and Julia start sparring, Amon trains alone with weights.

“You are using a lot of unnecessary movement,” Amon said indifferently.

“But, isn’t that cool?” Maisa turned and said.

“Do you want to be cool or strong?” Amon asked with the same indifference as always, arching his brow.

“Both!” Julia and Maísa responded in unison.

“…” Amon was speechless.

He reflected and said with indifference, “It’s not impossible, but it’s going to be harder to stay strong. Instead of trying to look cool, get strong, and then try to be cool.”

“Mm, is that so?” Maisa still preferred to be cool, but hearing this, she was uncertain.

Julia thought and said, “Okay, I’ll do this, I still prefer to be strong over cool, and I can do something nice later, yeah?”

“Yes, as long as you master something, you can change it in the best way, but without mastering it will be difficult to do both at the same time.” Amon gave a demonstration.

First, he did an ordinary kick, then he did an effect on the kick that seemed to make the silhouette of his foot.

“It’s called shadow kicks.” Amon looked at her and said nonchalantly, “To be able to do something like this, you need to be at least a Master’s level in Taekwondo or another martial art related to the feet.”

“Wouldn’t that take a long time?” Julia asked. She puts her hand to her head while she thinks.

“It all depends.” Amon said, “My grandfather once told me that martial arts are something you can be born to do or something you do because you want to. Simply put, if you put in the effort, you will be rewarded, regardless of whether you were born for it or not. The same is true with singing. I was horrible before my grandmother taught me.”

“Wow! I can’t believe it since you sing so well these days.” Julia said and a strange glint crossed her eyes.

“But won’t a genius always be superior, no matter how much effort you put in?” Maisa sighs.

“Not totally.” Amon said, remembering his grandmother’s words: “A genius has a better starting point. But without effort, it’s no use. An example is the Human Emperor, did you know that he was branded without talent and was criticized by his colleagues?”

“Seriously? Where did you hear that?” Maisa almost jumped on him as she grabbed his hands.

Amon is a little surprised but doesn’t pull his hands away, and, before he can speak, she has already withdrawn her hands. He said with a neutral expression:

“The book I had at my grandparents’ house, its name was: ‘A mysterious adventure’. It’s not focused on the Human Emperor; the story portrays a student who was in the same classroom as him and quotes the Human Emperor a few times. Another book also says something similar when talking about the Human Emperor; it portrayed him as if he was a recluse and nobody wanted to be his friend, and the focus of the stories was never him. In fact, some were just ancient texts, and all portrayed Human Emperor likewise, someone without talent who struggles to no avail.”

“Why don’t they teach this at school?” Maisa didn’t understand, if there are so many records, why wouldn’t they say that in classrooms?

“Amon? How do you know who the Human Emperor is? No one knows his real name, so how do you know who he is?” Julia asked when she remembered.

“Hehe…” Amon laughed, but his laugh was extremely chilling. Julia and Maísa rubbed their arms, feeling chills run through their entire being.

Amon said after laughing with a somewhat scary and even slightly funny face: “He was the one who was portrayed with blood-red hair and red eyes. It was so scary and attractive at the same time that every book that talked about the same boy, portrays it. And I ask you, what is the most striking feature of the Human Emperor who was always wearing a mask that covered his face?”

“Red eyes and red mercury hair!” Julia and Maisa responded in unison.

The two were fascinated, not fully believing it, as it is not proven, but it was very possible to analyze the records.

“Can you show me these books later?” Julia asked.

“Sure.” Amon snapped back to normal and responded nonchalantly, “But I’m just going to say the names, you guys are going to deal with the troublesome business of finding the books.”

“Yes of course.” Maisa and Julia agreed.

“Mm, I’m going back to training.” Amon turns and picks up the weights from the floor.

*

It was almost noon, Barbara was still a little chubby, she couldn’t lose weight as fast as she gained weight. She had stayed up until she almost fainted on the mat, if it wasn’t for her mother who told her to go to bed, maybe she would have actually passed out.

“This place is cool.” Julia looked around and said with a smile.

It was a place surrounded by five sakura trees and, although a little cold, it was refreshing; on the ground was a lawn and some flowers nearby. Barbara put a picnic blanket for them to sit on, although she preferred to be alone with Amon, she had to accept these two comings together, since Amon invited them.

“I like to eat outdoors.” Barbara said, “I come here sometimes.”

“It’s cool,” Maisa commented and started to eat the sandwich she brought.

“Amon, I made you a lunchbox.” Barbara reached out, a lunchbox wrapped in a pretty cloth.

“Thanks.” Amon accepted.

“…” Julia and Maísa blushed with embarrassment. The two didn’t know how to cook, the best thing they could do was to fry eggs, cook rice, and pasta. Anything more complicated was difficult for them.

Opening it, it revealed a silver thermal canister.

“It must still be hot.” Barbara smiled eagerly.

“Mm.” Amon opened it and saw a succulent piece of meat and sausage, rice noodles, and shrimp sauce. The smell alone was delicious.

Julia and Maísa start to salivate.

Amon takes the fork Barbara hands him and looks at the two girls, “Want to taste it?” But then he looks at Barbara, “Is it okay if they taste it?”

“No problem.” Barbara didn’t seem to mind. ‘As long as you eat I’m happy.’ She thought.

Julia and Maisa looked at each other. After an exchange of looks, they decided to try a taste, “Thank you.”

After eating, the two assessed Barbara again, she was not only hardworking, she was also a good cook!

‘We need to learn how to cook… But can we get as good as her?’ That’s what Julia and Maisa thought.

“Oh yes, Amon, my mother wants to meet you,” Barbara said suddenly.

*

Please read the author’s notes down here! s2 ↓↓↓

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Edited by: IsUnavailable