Chapter 11: Abomination

Chapter 11: Abomination.

The days were slowly getting colder and colder. In fact, premature snowflakes were already falling from the sky.

Shiro watched the flakes drift through the air. Leisurely. Careless. Without any worry, completely free.

He exhaled a frosty breath from his mouth while flexing his limbs. This coldness present within the environment invoked a dull pain within his joints.

After a few more quick breaths and hand rubs invoking warmth, Shiro looked back at those flakes.

They drifted in corners, blowing in the breeze and curling around them. Unrestrained, this was what freedom looked like.

Sometimes Shiro wondered... What if he were those flakes, unrestrained, doing whatever he wished to do?

They seemed so uncaring. What would that be like?

He was very immersed in the thought but snapped out of it quickly, by the seas.

"Haa... It's snowing... What a rare occurrence... Sigh..."

At the end of the day, he was nothing but a human, a cursed creature with cognitive ability.

A conflicted expression appeared on Shiro's face. He himself couldn't discern himself...

Sometimes he would take pride in being human, but then he'd suddenly think of being human as a curse. Sometimes he was as childish as a puppy or a fish, while other times he could be as mature as a sage.

At the end of the day... He was very conflicted... He couldn't even understand what he wanted, he couldn't even understand what he was...

But one thing was sure...

In the face of the sea, he could find solitude, peace, calmness... His love for the sea was never going to change, that was for sure...

"Yawn..." A yawn suddenly escaped his lips. He rubbed his eyes roughly.

"I wonder, has Mom returned yet?"

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"Where's Shiro?" Loyola asked her daughter.

"Mom, Shiro went out to play... But now I think you should rest. It's still early in the morning."

"He woke up so early?"

"Yeah, but right now I think you should sleep..." Worried would be an understatement for Sera; she was feeling much more than that.

"No, Sera, first I need to pay the tax." An exhausted smile appeared on her face. However, this exhausted smile was also a smile of relief.

Seeing that Shiro wasn't home, she grabbed her daughter's hand, and with her other free hand, she grabbed the pouch filled with coins.

Exiting the house, she put on the shabby lock. There wasn't anything of much value in the house after all.

On the streets, most of the people had a dull look on their faces. Most of them didn't possess an optimistic smile or straight back.

They walked with a slouch, eyes down, sticking near to the sides of the corners.

The tax center at the Village Square. Some had gathered here, the ones who had collected enough coins to pay the tax.

The ones who didn't pay this so-called village development tax would not only have to face punishment but 10 coins would be added every day to their required payment.

It was an open secret. All those local officials were scums who put all the development tax and funds into their pockets. But their recent activities of developing the city ignited hope in the hearts of some people.

'Hopeless...' Loyola thought. She couldn't believe how stupid these people could be. An official was going to visit today.

Obviously, these increased taxes would be either used as bribery or used as compensation.

As for the recent effort to develop the village? It was a shabby try to hide all their wrongdoings.

But at the end of the day, even she was weak... Like all these people. She had two children to take care of.

The only way to survive was to bow her head in front of these officials. She could only hope... Hope like these people.

Well, at least she would be able to survive today. Letting out a quiet sigh, she increased the pace at which she was taking steps.

"Mom."

"Mn?"

"I..." Sera clenched her small fist. "I want to join you in selling the shells!"

"You're too young, Sera."

"No... Please, Mom... Me and Shiro are worried about you..."

Loyola froze in her steps.

Indeed... I've been neglecting them... A little too much...

At the end of the day, these two were small kids, nothing more, nothing less.

Sigh... I wish I was more of a capable woman. Then I'd be able to raise them properly.

"Don't worry, Sera." Loyola tried to give a warm smile. "Today's the end of the suffering. I'll be home early from today onwards, just like how it used to be in the past." Loyola tried to console her while trying to hide the exhaustion in her voice.

"If... If you say so." She pouted.

"That's my girl."

Loyola patted her daughter's head, and then they both continued to walk.

"Loyola. You look exhausted."

"Here to pay tax?"

"Yeah." Mornil nodded. He was a doctor and even though he possessed a small clinic, an increased tax for a single month wouldn't have much impact on him. He was even willing to help Loyola, but she declined as he had already done a lot for her in the past.

If not for him, perhaps she wouldn't be here patting the head of her daughter.

They both continued their lighthearted conversation, soon reaching the village square.

Mornil quickly felt the sudden heaviness within the air, its tendrils creeping into his mind.

Even Loyola froze as she hid Sera behind her.

In the middle of the village square... A... A monster... An Abomination was standing with a metal gauntlet in his left arm and a metal spike clasped in his right one. His skin... it looked infected and was somewhat wrinkled. Moreover, there wasn't a single strand of hair on his body.

No one dared to breathe in the presence of this bastard.

'Does he have silver toxin accumulation? Or heavy metal poisoning?' Mornil wondered. The thing which scared him the most was...

This abomination's eyes... They looked hollow... lifeless... As though he was but a corpse...