Chapter 18 - Childhood? 1

Shi made her way over to the small wooden table that decorated their living room, it was small enough to fit only around four people, yet it only had two chairs to each side, they never needed more anyways, they always lived alone together. The living room was just as she remembered it, empty, they didn't have the luxury to afford both a living room and a dining room, so they simply fused it into one and used it as such, the room itself didn't even have much in it, just the wooden table and wood chairs, a desk to a side that has some photos on it, and that's about it.

With the small smile still plastered on her face, Shi took a seat at the empty table. It didn't stay empty for long though, her mother soon came out from the kitchen carrying what Shi could only describe as a godly dish. The mere aroma of it made her salivate from the mouth, her eyes following the dishes of food as it was placed on the table, ready to pounce and eat it out. 'This may be fake, but damn do I wish it wasn't.' She thought to herself as the dish was placed on the table, shaking her head afterward as she wondered why she thought this was fake, 'Weird.'

She was just about to grab a slice, but her mother stopped her before she could.

"Now now, don't forget to give your daily thanks for the food." Her mother reminded her. Every time they ate dinner, they would give their daily thanks to Kami for granting them life and granting them food to live, even if they didn't have the best of life, they should be happy to be alive, that's what her mother always told her at least.

"Yes, mom. Thank you Kami for this meal, blessing be upon me." She replied while clasping her hands and bowing her head slightly. It was a short prayer to god, and Shi didn't think Kami even cared about the prayer, but her mother did so she did it anyway.

Once the prayer was finished, she smiled and grabbed a plate, taking a large chunk of the pie for herself. She wasn't just being selfish and greedy here, no, the food tasted very good so she naturally wanted a lot of it, but her mother also didn't eat a lot, which lead to some of the food often remaining behind. Which would be a waste. She was a proud woman who wouldn't let any food go to waste, especially when it came to food like this.

She didn't wait for any longer and started to quickly devour everything. It made her remember back to when she was in the desert, fighting the people, and drinking the blood from the person's necks. 'Wait what, what a weird thought, I've never been to the desert.' She said, shaking her head as she kept eating.

Glancing up, she noticed her mother looking at her with a small smile, making her somewhat embarrassed about her appearance. Giggling nervously, with a hand behind her neck, she spoke, "Mother's food is just sooooo good I couldn't help myself~" She stuck her tongue out, and did a small, 'Tee-hee', to show her playfulness.

A soft laugh escaped her mother's lips as she listened to her child's excuses, but then she simply smiled and spoke, since she didn't mind how her little princess ate, "I'm glad you're enjoying it. So, tell me how was your day today, anything interesting happened?" She spoke out of curiosity. They usually spoke during dinner, as it was one of the only times during the day when Shi could speak with her mother since she was often working, so Shi had no issue with talking and eating.

Shi sat there for a moment before speaking out loud, "Nothing really, it was as boring as always, the kids kept trying to annoy me, but I'm too smart for them to annoy so I simply ignored them. Oh! I also found a really cool looking rock." She replied in a prideful tone as she was talking about being smarter than all the kids, though she still found her lack of friends saddening.

While she was speaking happily about her day, she couldn't help but get the feeling she was forgetting something. But that was just odd, what could a ten-year-old girl possibly be forgetting that was so important? Well, as they always said, if you forgot it, it's not important. 'Whatever, if i can't remember there's nothing i can do about it.' She thought to herself, yet the nagging feeling didn't leave her mind.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Her mother suddenly interrupted her thoughts, causing her to pause in her words, and raise her gaze to look at her mother's, "Your father is coming home today, aren't you excited?" She asked. Shi paused for a moment, 'What?', was the only thing she could think about. She knew she didn't have a father, or rather, her father was supposed to be dead. So what was her mother talking about him coming home today like it was such a casual thing?

Then, like a tap that was turned on and a part of her mind that was previously empty got filled, memories came to her mind about her father, and how often she spent time with him as a kid, how he worked far away from the village, and would often only get to come back and stay for a few months before leaving again. He worked as a knight, 'Wait, knight? Why does that seem familiar.' She thought once more. However something in her simply didn't want to question the sudden memories, and the instant she smiled.

"Yep! I can't wait to play with him alllll day, i hope he brings home cool things with him like last time!" She nodded happily to her mother, flailing her arms around to show her happiness, and to show the things he brought for her previously. She couldn't quite remember what it was he brought, but she knew he did.

Her mother smiled as she watched her daughter, she was always so happy whenever her father came home, it seemed that no matter how many years passed by, the joy of seeing her father never faded. She also loved her husband dearly, and she wished for nothing but the best for him, and his happiness, her only desire was that he could stay home longer, or that he didn't work so far. But she knew he was doing what was best for them, and she would always support him for that.

Dinner finished rather quickly, how could it not with Shi eating like someone was going to steal her food. Once done, Shi helped carry the dishes to the kitchen for her mother, which her mother kept telling her she didn't need to do, but she was a good girl so she did it anyway. Her mother thanked her for carrying the dishes to the sink and sent her away afterward, telling her she didn't need her help to wash them and to just go enjoy herself outside for a bit, "Remember to be back before the sunsets!"

"Yes mom~" Shi was more than happy to comply with her mother's request, as she was free to roam the village as she pleased, and she had no problems exploring it on her own, in fact, she quite enjoyed exploring the village on her own, she especially liked exploring the forest near the village.

Though her mother has constantly told her to never enter that forest due to how dangerous it is, she kept doing it anyways and exploring just the borders. With the thought of exploring the forest later in mind, she left the house and headed to the market first, she was always interested in new things, and she wanted to see if the merchants had brought anything new from outside the village.

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Strolling down the gravel-packed street, Shi's dull red eyes darted around the area, glancing around at each of the merchants selling at their stalls, along with the people chattering around her. She didn't like to be out in crowds, but it wasn't that big of an issue as long as she didn't get caught. 'Hmm, why does it feel so weird being here for some reason?' She thought to herself, as she felt a stinging feeling in her heart that didn't make any sense. Well, she didn't pay much attention to it and decided to just look around without drawing attention to herself.

The market district as it was called, was a place where the merchants both from the village, or passing through, was allowed to sell their goods and items from outside the village, and many other things that were made by the villagers themselves. Shi always had an interest in learning about new things, especially about learning of the world behind her small village which she one day wished to explore, so she would often come to the market district in order to look around. That didn't mean she could buy anything here though, and not buying anything while only looking was like cursing to the merchants, so she naturally wasn't well-liked here.

However that wasn't the only reason why Shi was hated by the merchants, she was also disliked because she was considered a nuisance since she would often try to talk to the merchants, ask them questions about the items, where they found them, how they did so, even try to find out about the history behind the items. She even once asked a merchant so many questions out of curiosity, that the merchant got frustrated enough to not return to the village for an entire year, which she thought was an insane overreaction.

Well, none of that today Shi thought, today she was just here to watch.

Her mind was drawn away from her thoughts when she heard a voice call out to her, or rather, a voice calling out directed towards her. "Hey look it's pale skin."

The young male voice said loud enough for her to hear, she knew this voice all too well, it came from an idiot. 'Ah, Dinkleberg, why does he have to be so annoying.' She thought as she turned around to see the young boy along with his group of friends. Six young children, six annoying children. They always enjoyed harassing her because of her pale skin, which was apparently unusual in the village, she didn't really care all that much, not anymore, but she did find it annoying that they kept finding her.

"Dinkleberg, do you not have anything better to do?" She said with a sigh, only to get a reply from one of his five minions, one of the three males among them.

"We thought we saw a ghost with how pale you are, you're scaring the girls." The short kid said, and honestly, Shi couldn't remember what his name was so she didn't even bother trying.

"Yea, you're sooooo, ug- i mean scary." Said one of the two girls that were with them, 'Was she seriously going to say ugly, this little shit.' thought Shi in response, but she didn't bother even looking at them. Something felt so weird about this situation, like, jamais vu, this was so unfamiliar yet it seemed like it should be familiar. She couldn't understand why.

"Ah, i see you bought the five stooges as well, good to see you're walking your dogs." Shi had a quick tongue, and she was quite proud of that. She wouldn't have been able to stay sane this long if she allowed them to get to her, and she wouldn't be herself if she didn't pay them back for insulting her.

That clearly struck a nerve, seeing as most of the group quickly got angry, and was going to say something in return, however, their leader stopped them and instead spoke in for the entire group, "At least i have friends to spend time with, you can't even talk to merchants." Clearly proud of that insult he snickered to his group.

All Shi did was sigh and turned around, arguing with this group would be a waste of time, she didn't care to waste time right now, she only had a little bit of time before the sunset and she had to return home. Plus this happened too often for her to care about. So, as she walked away, and some of the groups threw insults at her from behind, or just looked at her back, she looked back to the merchants' stores.