Blade: Uncle? Am I that old?

Blade stood on the roof with his arms folded. Though he had finally returned to his homeland after so long, he felt little joy.

He silently watched Stelle's retreating figure, and memories of the days when she had tormented him suddenly surfaced in his mind.

That was right.

Firefly was not the only victim.

After all, Stelle's original personality had been that of an S.

The kind of person who could not resist going up to tease anyone she saw.

Back when Stelle had been with the Stellaron Hunters before losing her memories, even Blade—the cold, ruthless, taciturn Blade—would be harassed whenever she saw him.

She treated everyone equally when it came to sending them flying.

No one could escape Stelle's persecution.

And most importantly, every victim seemed to have been S'd while alone with Stelle.

That day happened to be when Blade's Mara-Struck condition flared up.

Come to think of it, it had been truly strange. For some reason, Kafka, Silver Wolf, Firefly, and even Elio had all been absent that day.

Enduring the headache brought on by his Mara-Struck episode, Blade staggered out of his room and slowly made his way toward the living room.

Damn it, Kafka isn't here...

He swept his gaze around the living room and found no one there—or rather, the person he needed most urgently was not there.

Blade clenched his fist, pressing his fingers against his throbbing temple as he turned to head back to his room.

The little gray-haired girl sitting on the sofa was naturally ignored.

But Stelle did not mind in the slightest.

When she lifted her head from her phone screen, she happened to see Blade bracing himself against the wall as he surveyed the living room.

His complexion looks awful. Is his Mara-Struck condition acting up again?

The moment she reached that conclusion, she shut off her phone, sprang to her feet, and rushed at Blade, who had already turned away, firmly catching hold of him.

Calling it supporting him would be less accurate than saying she had clamped him in place.

"Blade, are you okay?"

"...Don't call me that."

Blade endured it and endured it, but in the end, he still muttered that quiet objection.

"Huh? Why not?"

Stelle blinked. Seeing Blade about to enter his room, she immediately shoved him hard against the nearby wall.

"Why can Kafka call you that, but I can't? Uncle Blade, don't play favorites. Give me a reasonable explanation."

Amid the dizziness and spinning world, Blade let out a pained grunt. Pain had already slowed his reactions by half a beat.

So by the time his brain issued the command to dodge, his back had already hit the hard wall.

This was what they meant by only learning to turn after crashing into a wall.

Then, he watched as a hand reached out beside his head.

Blade forced his eyes wide open, doing his utmost to ignore the discomfort caused by his Mara-Struck episode. In disbelief, he turned to look at that hand, then lowered his gaze to Stelle's serious face.

He suddenly realized that he had been kabedon'd?!

This was a kabedon, right? This was definitely a kabedon!

Stelle had actually taken advantage of his vulnerability—while none of the other Stellaron Hunters were around, while his Mara-Struck condition was acting up, while he was weak—and pressed right in.

At that moment, Stelle's left hand was braced against the wall.

Her right hand, meanwhile, casually pinched Blade's chin. Her thumb gently stroked across the man's skin as she exclaimed in wonder.

"Uncle Blade, I never would've guessed your face would be this smooth to the touch."

If Blade had not been affected by his Mara-Struck condition right then, he would have slipped back into his room long ago without giving Stelle a single word of acknowledgment.

But clearly, in his current state, merely keeping his Mara-Struck condition from fully flaring up was already pushing him to his limit, much less escaping Stelle's clutches.

In other words, there was no way he could get away from Stelle at all.

And besides.

Wait, something had been bothering him since earlier.

What had Stelle called him? Uncle?!

Was he really that old?

Blade wanted to open his mouth and retort, but he suddenly remembered that he was no longer Yingxing, the unremarkable short-life species from the Xianzhou Crafting Commission.

The faint, lingering pain throughout his body heralded the onset of his Mara-Struck condition—a pain that only long-life species could experience.

He should not have forgotten.

He really had stolen many extra years of life. In truth, he should have died long ago.

Unfortunately, for Blade, even "death" was an extravagant luxury.

Death was not terrifying. Being unable to die was what was terrifying.

Worse still was being unable to die while constantly enduring the torment of becoming Mara-Struck.

"Uncle Blade, why are you spacing out?"

"...Let go of me."

Blade lowered his lashes. He was so weak that his voice was barely more than a breath, as though it would scatter in the wind and be impossible to hear clearly.

There was no way Stelle would leave Blade alone in that condition.

The more one suffered, the less one should immerse oneself in it.

Instead, one should do something to distract oneself.

Having made up her mind, Stelle pressed Blade against the wall even harder and leaned closer as well.

"But I've never looked at you this closely before, Blade. Now that I'm looking carefully, I've realized you're actually so handsome. Let me look a little longer."

Was she acting cute like a little girl?

Blade was utterly disdainful of it. He did not fall for that sort of thing at all.

Just as he was about to sneer and refuse, he inadvertently met Stelle's eyes and only then realized how close they were.

Stelle was practically pressed against his entire body. When he breathed, her body rose and fell along with the rhythm of his breathing.

Blade froze, feeling his mind buzz.

A flush crept across his cheeks before slowly spreading to the tips of his ears.

He opened his mouth, but could not say a single word.

Just then, footsteps gradually sounded from the doorway, drawing nearer.

The other Stellaron Hunters had returned!

"They're back. Let go of me."

Blade kept looking toward the entryway, terrified that his companions would suddenly burst through the door the next second and witness this scene.

Though he was the one who had been taken advantage of while vulnerable, and his conscience was perfectly clear.

For some reason, though, he simply did not want his companions to see him being pinned against a wall by a younger girl.

"Oh, right, Kafka is coming back. Blade, you're saved."

Stelle said this with a smile, but the force with which she held Blade down did not lessen in the slightest.

"That's enough, let go already... Don't let Kafka see us!"

Blade's voice grew softer and softer, until the final words were practically squeezed out of his throat. One could imagine how much effort it took for him to get out a complete sentence.

What kind of beautiful, strong, tragic character setup was this...! Stelle's heart was practically bubbling with pink hearts. She really did not want to let this weakened Blade go.

But.

As an old Xianzhou saying went, "Leave some leeway for others, so you can meet again in the future."

"Alright, alright. Don't look at me so pitifully. I'll help you back to your room now."

Perhaps Blade's repressed, restrained gaze had truly struck some chord in Stelle. Smiling, she put on the air of someone understanding and mercifully letting him off, slung his arm over her shoulder, and dragged him toward his room.

By the time Blade finally lay down on the bed, he had no strength left at all.

—He lay there stiff as a dried salted fish, playing dead on the bed.

Blade's mind was filled with the image of Stelle pinning him against the wall just now. It would not go away, following him like a shadow.

He suddenly regretted that the Mara-Struck affliction had not simply tortured him into unconsciousness.

When Kafka entered, this was the scene she saw.

Blade: (Unable to live, unable to die, face full of despair.jpg)

Kafka: Blade, are you alright? Did your Mara-Struck episode get this bad? I came back too late. "Listen to me": get some good sleep. Everything will get better once you wake up.

Meanwhile, Blade lay in bed, glaring fiercely with a deeply resentful look at Stelle, who was hiding behind Kafka.

Stelle: ૮₍ˊᗜˋ₎ა Uncle Blade, isn't your gaze of gratitude a little too sharp? I can barely handle it.