Ruger felt the air enter, then the breath flow out. Each inhale and exhale was long and steady, like the atmosphere in the room at this moment, or the pitch-black city beyond the window. Though he wanted to read that booklet, he did not show it too strongly.
Wizard Zorn seemed to be enjoying this tranquility as well, silently studying the woman across from him.
A smile hung on the female wizard's face, and she seemed to be thoroughly enjoying this little game of tormenting and teasing Zorn.
"You are not as calm and indifferent as you pretend to be, Zorn Qiong'ang Lebunt," the female wizard said softly, as though she too could not bear to shatter the peace flowing through the room. "Child of Cursed Spirits—an aberrant being who was born by accident and yet survived. From another perspective, you are also a miraculous child inevitably brimming with Spirituality. People like that are often sensitive. You—you are not as slovenly, as casual and free-spirited as you look, nor are you utterly unconcerned about those who died because of you. Otherwise, there would not have been so many, nor would there have been so many survivors—"
"You must feel guilty—you must suffer—"
The smiling woman's words were like a soft whisper at his ear.
"Zorn Qiong'ang Lebunt, forever suffering. Your pain comes not only from the torment of the soul and body you were born with, but also from being unable to accept yourself. And finally, from the people you hurt during your journey from childhood to adulthood, while wandering from place to place—perhaps you were even a mercenary for more than a decade. Surely you had some friends among those mercenaries, some friends you got killed—"
As she spoke softly, her finger tapped the table beside the booklet, then