Morning came quickly.
That day, Lasha did not appear in Shien's room to help him wash up and dress.
The reason was simple: Shien had not slept all night. He had stood by the window the entire time, gazing at the scenery outside.
Lasha had actually come by, but upon seeing Shien like that, she immediately stopped in her tracks and silently withdrew.
Shien had stood by the window, thinking for the entire night.
Unfortunately, although he had sorted out his thoughts somewhat, his emotions remained a mess.
Only when dawn was close did Shien suddenly raise his hand and sharply turn it over.
"Clang!"
A brilliant radiance immediately appeared, illuminating the entire room.
The Holy Sword, emanating intense sacred fluctuations, appeared in Shien's hand.
Yes.
Shien had taken out his Holy Sword.
He had voluntarily halted his transcendent transformation and withdrawn the Holy Sword from within his body.
There was no helping it.
"I always thought I was your first owner, and your only owner. I never expected that I had merely inherited you."
Shien looked at the Holy Sword raised before him, gazing at the companion that had been with him ever since he arrived in this world. His expression was rather complicated as he muttered to himself.
"Now that I think about it, I'm actually the same as Roxie. We can only use you because you acknowledged us, right?"
"Although Roxie's Holy Sword is still essentially Mitra's, while your exclusive wielder had long since become me and no longer belonged to your previous owner."
"But I truly want to know what you and she went through back then."
Shien continued speaking like this, as though he were confiding in someone else who was not present. His tone was completely unlike his usual one.
That tone, that expression...