Companionship

After Jon sat silently on the reef for a day and a night, an unexpected visitor appeared.

Zhu Sha had brought wine.

"I have a jug of wine, enough to soothe the dust of the world, but there's no way to share this jug with everyone today. Want a drink?"

"How did you get here?"

"Stephen said you weren't doing too well, so he wrote me a letter and told me where this place was."

Zhu Sha looked Jon over from head to toe and nodded lightly.

"Just as he said. Why are you in such a bad state?

Theoretically, having reached your current level, what could possibly trouble you besides finishing what remains to be done?

Don't tell me you're thinking about disproving me. I know it definitely isn't because of him. At our current stage, Voldemort is nothing more than a clown jumping about on the stage. He's merely a tool for you to cultivate a hero. He absolutely wouldn't be enough to trouble you."

"You've already said everything I wanted to say. What else is there for me to say?"

"Can't you be a little vulnerable? Can't you show me that vulnerability, like you did before you grew up? It's been a long time since I've seen any side of you besides this one. Watching you always look so confident is honestly irritating after a while."

Jon fell silent, then squeezed his eyes shut with effort.

"I'm sorry," he said to Zhu Sha. "Maybe I've worn the mask for too long, but I seem to have forgotten how to show what I was like back then. So just make do with how I am now. Even if it's irritating... forget it. If it's irritating, then it's irritating. It's not a big problem."

This time, Zhu Sha completely