Serena Knightwalker (3)

"What..?" Every student in the classroom looked at me in disbelief, not understanding whether I was joking or not.

Seraphir jumped up in surprise, facing my gaze with widened eyes, "She is?!"

Ignoring my beating heart, I nodded slowly. "Yes, she is my mother."

"You have such an amazing mother!" Lost in excitement, Seraphir grabbed my arms, as she flashed me a wide smile. Her eyes sparkling with a rush of curiosity, "Can I meet her?!"

Although I understood her excitement, I couldn't answer her and just cracked a small smile in response.

Noticing my reaction, Seraphir stopped, her eyes widening, as she seemingly realized why I was so quiet.

"Oh." she muttered, lowering her head. "..is she..?"

"I think that's something we shouldn't speak about…" Ellen stood up and grabbed her arm, pulling her back in her seat,

Raum, who was staying silent until now, scratched his cheek before awkwardly glancing at me. "..is she alright..?"

Realizing the misconception of my students, I flashed a small smile. "I don't know."

"You don't know..?" Raum responded, his voice sounding confused.

I nodded before chuckling lightly, noticing the own irony of my words. "Yes, she just disappeared when I was ten."

I rested my chin on my hand, sighing tiredly. "To be exact, it was around the second 'rampaging guardian' incident on the second layer of the depths."

My face grimaced as I recalled some unpleasant memories of that day.

*

It was early in the morning.

I woke up early to prepare breakfast for my mother, as she was a terrible cook.

Well, terrible was an understatement. Every time she even came near the kitchen, a fear for my life awakened inside of me.

Seriously, it was a wonder when the kitchen didn't burst into flames.

And as such, I took it into my own hands to cook for us, even going as far as banning her from the kitchen.

At first, she complained about it, telling me that it was too dangerous for a kid and the responsibility of an adult.

A small smile formed on my face, as I remembered the nostalgic memory of her whining on the dining table and complaining to me that it was unfair, that a little kid was a better cook than her.

On that day again, she complained at the dining table, after I finished making breakfast.

"I am a terrible motheeerrrr" she whined, as she buried her face in her arms, ignoring the food in front of her.

The little me rolled his eyes, sighing in response. "No, you aren't mom. You are great and I love you."

Slowly, my mother raised her head, flashing me a weak smile. "No, you don't understand, Zeni. I really am a terrible mother."

"You mean that you'll be gone for a while to help your friend in an expedition?" I crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow. "That doesn't mean that you're a terrible mother. You'll come back after all, right?"

Discovering a newly found determination, my mother jumped up, grabbing my face and squeezing it, as she spoke in a baby voice. "Thank you, my cute little babyyyyy!"

She then hugged my head, suffocating me, as she pressed me against her chest. "You are the best decision I have ever made!!!"

"..M..om..I..can't..breat..h."

Realizing that she was practically suffocating me, she let go, taking a step back and kneeling down.

She gently patted my head as she reached my eye level. "I'm sorry, baby. Are you alright..?"

Flashing her a weak smile, I nodded. "Yeah, I am."

The little me then paused, repeating her words in her head, as he seemingly noticed something. "..but I was never really a decision, was I? You adopted me by accident."

My mother rolled her eyes, playfully huffing in response. "Those are insignificant details."

"Whatever," I said while rolling my eyes. A small smile hid on my face as I continued eating breakfast.

"You're such a cute baby, Zeni." With a perverted grin on her face, my mom ruffled through my hair.

"H..Hey!" I grabbed her hand in annoyance, finding her action uncomfortable. "..Stop this..!"

However, she didn't listen to me and just kept ruffling through it, while laughing creepily.

"..hehe...my cute baby.:"

While I acted like I didn't like it, deep down, I really enjoyed it. In fact, I didn't want her to go and hoped that she would stay by my side.

But I knew that she wanted to. And I loved her, so I couldn't stop her from going. After all, her happiness was my number one priority.

While it felt a little regretful for me, I knew that she would come back to me. After all, she wouldn't abandon her adorable little son, would she?

And as such, the both of us stood in front of the door, preparing for her departure.

"I got everything, didn't I Zeni?" My mother looked through her dimensional storage once again, checking if she had everything with her.

I rolled my eyes, sighing. "Yes, you do, mom. We have checked like four times already."

"Aaaalrighty!" My mom patted me on the head before opening the door and turning her back toward me. "Mama will go, alright?"

One last time, she turned her head to me, facing me with a sad smile, as she tried her best to form a smile.

While I should have known that, her sad smile was a bad foreboding, I was still a kid and thus didn't give it very much thought.

"Yes, please come back!" I responded with a bright smile of mine, wanting it to be a smile that she would remember on her expedition. "I love you, mom."

"I love you too, sweetie." She bowed down and gave me one last kiss on my forehead before disappearing behind the door.

Her long, brown hair was the last thing I saw of her.

After my mom set off to support her friend on the expedition, my mother's close friend, Mr. Roywid, came to look after me.

"She really left such a kid alone, didn't she?" Irritated, he shook his head, massaging the bridge of his nose. "She really is such an irresponsible woman."

Sighing, he turned his head toward me, showing me a compassionate smile as he, too, ruffled through my hair.

I seriously did not understand why everyone did such a thing.

"But you still love her, don't you?" I said as I gave him a smug look, watching the tall man turn red.

Mr. Roywid was an adventurer.

And not just any adventurer at that.

He was a legendary one.

An S-rank adventurer.

Throughout the continent, he was known as 'steelblade Roywid', the master of swords and a pioneer of sword fighting.

I've heard from my mother that they met when they were still in Sylpheon, and befriended each other there.

I giggled, as I watched 'steelblade Roywid' turning red from embarrassment. "I am right, ain't I?"

"Gosh." The usually serious man sighed, as a small smile formed on his face. "You really are her kid, aren't you? Even if you guys are not blood-related."

"Like mother, like son." I just responded with a cheeky grin.

Mr. Roywid already came over very often, so I was already familiar with him. Not only that, but he was also my teacher in swordsmanship, teaching me many of the things that I know today.

Weeks passed, and my anxiety grew.

While I trusted my mom, the expedition took way longer than expected.

And on the fated day, my morning began with a sparring between Mr. Roywid and me.

THUMP!

I disarmed Mr. Roywid with my wooden sword, and took a step back after that, rejoicing in my win.

Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I looked over at Mr. Roywid with a solemn expression.

"Hey, Roywid," I said as I watched his tired figure finishing a whole water bottle in a single gulp.

"Yeah, little monster?" He responded, turning his head toward me.

"When is mom coming back?"

The little me watched as his eyes widened for a split second, before returning to their normal state, as he realized that he had to be an example for me. "She'll probably come back soon."

"Really?"

"Yeah." He gave me a weak smile. "Really."

Even as a kid, I knew that his smile wasn't a genuine one.

It just looked really fake to me.

However, I just decided to accept it, hoping that his false reassurance would come true.

Fortunately, only a few hours later, their return was announced.

At around this time, we didn't live in the empire but in a small kingdom nearby.

Thus, the news spread quickly and Mr. Roywid and I rushed to the place where they should've been returning.

"They are really back!" I said in an excited tone, as I jumped up, trying to see through the crowd, which didn't really work out for me, as I was still too small.

"Now come here, you little rascal." Mr. Roywid chuckled lightly, and excitement could be seen in his eyes. He picked me up and put me on his shoulders, giving me a better view of the return.

One by one, the expedition team came back through a portal.

And while every one of them seemed bruised and badly hurt, everybody was there.

However, for some reason, the expedition team seemed to have a horrified expression, trembling with every step they took.

Even as a kid, I noticed something like that, but didn't give it another thought:

I just excitedly waited until my mother arrived.

And waited.

And waited.

Until the last person came out of the portal, and the portal closed.

However, my mother was nowhere to be seen.

"..Roywid..?" I asked, feeling how my heart beat steadily, getting louder with each passing second. "..where is mom.?"