Mage Manual

Chapter 1647 - 1210: Hard Days and a Heavy Heart

The Sevi family home isn’t large. Although it underwent some external repairs over the past year, the interior hasn’t been redone. It still holds the same decor from over a decade ago; for instance, the floors aren’t tiled but are concrete.

Sonia’s room isn’t big, but it’s evident she put considerable thought into it: she cut out the pockets from her unused clothes and shirts and attached them to the wall as colorful little compartments, serving as both storage and decoration, inserting some Windship Vine planted by her mother and wheat stalks dropped in the fields, making the room naturally warm and refreshing.

The wind chimes by the window, stickers on the wardrobe, her own drawings on the wall, traces painstakingly accumulated by the young girl over ten years, and her yearning for a beautiful life, cast a warm hue over this simple room.

When Sonia lay down on the creaky hard bed, she curled up and held onto her small quilt, sleepily rubbed her eyes, and looked blankly at Martha and Ash beside her: "Mom... Ash...?"

Unsure if her thoughts were iterating here or if she still felt she was in a dream, Sonia pulled up the quilt to cover her mouth, her cheeks blushing, shyly saying, "I’m not ready for marriage yet..."

"We aren’t here to discuss a wedding... at least not now," Ash said, amused yet helpless, "this time, we just came to visit Auntie."

Sonia looked at Martha, reaching out to grab her mother’s hand, "Mom... this is Ash, Ash Heath."

"I know, I’ve always been keeping an eye on you two." Martha wiped the fine sweat from Sonia’s forehead with a towel, "Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

"I’m just sick, don’t worry." Sonia said softly with her eyes closed, "I’ll be fine soon, because we’re really strong, right Ash?"

"Of course." Ash stood up, "I’ll step out for a bit, you two chat slowly."

Seeing Sonia had no objections, Ash opened the room door and went out. A reunion after a long separation between mother and daughter needs privacy, not to mention he came this time precisely to let Sonia have a good time with her mother. If he stayed here, it would be too lacking in sensitivity.

But at this time Martha stopped him, "You..."

After saying just one word, the middle-aged woman couldn’t utter anything else. Her expression was complex, seemingly wanting to express her gratitude, yet the undisguised resentment in her eyes was glaring.

Ash could very much understand her feelings, after all, in her eyes, he was essentially the villain who led her daughter astray. If it weren’t for him, Sonia would still be one of the top students at Sword Flower University, belonging to the level of ’Yesterday I was proud of Sword Flower, today Sword Flower is proud of me’. Bright future ahead, why would she be reduced to being wanted by five countries?

Moreover, according to the current urban rumors and gossip, Sonia was actually the innocent victim, and it was all Ash’s fault as the cult leader. Using despicable and shameless means to brainwash the Kingdom of Stars’ most talented female Sword Master into a pawn. If Ash’s daughter ran away with a bad boy, he would certainly be willing to believe this assumption.

The Sword Maiden’s mom did not verbally attack him, which fully illustrates that Sevi family’s standards indeed need lowering. If Ash were the observer, seeing Sword Maiden’s mom not attacking the villain who abducted her daughter, he would feel a bit like chastising Sword Maiden’s mom.

"I understand." Ash sincerely said, "No thanks needed, Auntie, this is what I should do."

He closed the door and went out, walked all the way to the outside of the house, closing the main door, standing under the eaves watching the rain curtain that covered heaven and earth.

This time, returning to the Kingdom of Stars, there were only Ash and Sonia, to be precise, Ash carried Sonia. Naturally, Weiser strongly requested to accompany them, with a very valid reason: if two people can go, surely three people can go.

But Ash still refused, firstly because even the Witch Vishi had to remain in the Yisu Imperial Palace. If anything went wrong, Felix and Dedarose, the two Holy Domain entities, couldn’t control the situation. A Divine-level combat unit had to station the rear. Secondly, this time when returning with Sword Maiden to meet her mother-in-law, although Ash thoroughly understood that he was an incurable refuse bin, if he also brought other lovers to meet his mother-in-law, it isn’t just an emotional intelligence problem, it’s an insult.

However, even without Weiser around, she could still assist them.

Ash touched his ear, where his earlobe was embedded with a silver light, which when glanced at, looked like an earring. This was Silver Lamp’s long-distance communication wonder, allowing uninterrupted communication through differing country signal paths.

This time, returning to the Kingdom of Stars, the greatest risk naturally lay with the guardian Angels stationed on earth. Once Ash’s trace in the Kingdom of Stars was exposed, it would be akin to droplets of oily fat being thrown into a pan, the entire nation would boil instantly, and the Angels would surely swarm in.

Let’s not even mention not being able to win the fight. Even if he could win, Ash wouldn’t dare fight: carrying a sickly Sword Maiden and a mother-in-law without any means of defending herself, a minor mishap would result in irreparable mistakes. He was already in enough difficulty, no need to up the difficulty level.

The best tactic is to sneak in quietly and leave the same way; the current plan is going smoothly. Ash hid in a convoy, and after arriving in Kingdom of Stars from Gospel, he stealthily rushed to the Sword Maiden’s hometown without setting off alarms throughout the journey. Weiser borrowed the Witch’s Gospel Divine Being and was monitoring the overall situation in Kingdom of Stars; as soon as noticing an Angel’s movement, she would immediately notify him to retreat.

Actually, it would be best to leave now with the mother-in-law and Sword Maiden, but for Sword Maiden, ’mother’ plus ’old home’ is her safe haven where she can totally relax and indulge in pampering. To allow Sword Maiden to complete the trial as soon as possible, and to release her from suffering as quickly as possible, Ash was willing to take risks and stay.

Only now did Ash’s heart truly ease. Sonia’s status has clearly improved significantly, seemingly indicating bringing her back to visit her mom was indeed the correct solution, now only waiting for Vishi’s good news, this Six-winged Trial can be deemed nearly over.

He closed his eyes, focusing his attention on his hearing, catching the intimate dialogue between the mother and daughter amidst the dense sound of rain—although slightly immoral, he was genuinely curious how Sword Maiden would pamper her mother.

"...Has anyone bothered you?" Sonia softly spoke: "If anyone does, tell me, I’ll have Ash chop them to pieces..."

"No, no." Martha quickly shook her head, "I’m fine, everyone is quite polite to me, every now and then someone comes by to give me grains and oil, no one is targeting me."

"They’re watching you..." Sonia hummed and said, "I remember..."

"Linda, what about you?" Martha asked, "Are you... doing well lately?"

"Good, very good, extremely good," Sonia chuckled softly, "Your daughter will soon become the Divine Lord... that’s right, by then I’ll be the Divine Lord ruling Heaven, happy? Jiale City is insignificant now, later I’ll take you to enjoy life in Heaven!"

"How Linda makes mom happy." Martha didn’t really understand Sonia’s meaning, Heaven in her mind was just a vague concept, but it didn’t stop her from hearing Sonia’s joy: "So are you happy?"

"Happy, why wouldn’t I be?" Sonia said, "Going on adventures with the person I love is more wonderful than any fairy tale."

"Is he... is he good to you?"

"In this world, apart from you, mom, only he treats me wholeheartedly." Sonia chuckled softly, "He’s like a fool, I haven’t even asked, and he eagerly gives me good things. Technique Spirit, Realm, Wonder, temple, and many more, I am so strong all because of him... but he can’t take them back! My things are mine, his things are also mine!"

"...sounds like a very good person."

"He’s not that good, he’s too responsible," Sonia pouted, "Always getting himself into danger, there was a time I worried about him every day... but not anymore, because I will face all future challenges with him, without me he can’t achieve big things, there are no invincible opponents ahead of us!"

"Mom, I know you might have prejudices against him, but it’s not like you think, he didn’t deceive me... it’s your daughter who deceives people, who can deceive your daughter? We’ve been through so much to be together, we are the most important people to each other, knowing him is the happiest memory in my life." Sonia said, "He’s the one I chose, don’t give him attitude. If you two argue, I wouldn’t know what to do..."

Martha quietly looked at her daughter, shaking her head saying, "I won’t argue with him."

"Thank you, mom." Sonia smiled sweetly.

"But Linda, you are clearly talking about the person you like the most."

Martha reached out and wiped Sonia’s tear stains, her tone full of distress: "Why are you crying?"

Outside the door, Ash was stunned. He was next to the door, the rain stopping just beyond his step, but the chill from the wind and rain seemed to seep into his soul, freezing within his veins.

"Eh?" Sonia wiped the corners of her eyes, "How strange, why am I crying? Clearly I’m with the person I like the most, clearly I’ve gained so much, clearly I’m so happy..."

The more she rubbed the more tears came, unable to stop, until being held in Martha’s arms, she cried and laughed, like a bullied little girl clinging to her mom, choking back sobs: "But why do I still feel sad?"

Martha sniffled, her eyes red, gently comforting her daughter, said: "Because Linda is a good child?"

"No, no, it’s because I’m a greedy child." Sonia murmured almost dreamily, "Why am I still not satisfied, clearly I’ve gotten so much I wouldn’t even dare dream of, I should feel satisfied, yet I keep being greedy, greedy to the point I’m sad every day, greedy to the point I can’t breathe, greedy to the point..."

Sonia finally couldn’t hold back, bursting into tears in her mother’s arms: "Greedy to the point I can’t help but want to hate him!"

"Then don’t keep going like this." Martha couldn’t help crying too, holding her daughter and choking back tears: "Mom will be with you, mom will be with you, don’t wrong yourself like this..."

"But I can’t bear to!" Sonia cried until she couldn’t catch her breath, tears streaming, eyes swollen, voice hoarse like the sad sound of a stringed instrument: "I can’t bear to... no matter how sad I am, no matter how much I hate him, I can’t bear to let him go! When I was young, I always mocked those silly girls in dramas who knowingly jumped into a pit of fire, I thought I wouldn’t become that type of person, turns out I’m even more foolish than them... at least they dare to love and hate, but I can’t pick up or let go, I’m the dumbest fool!"

"Not at all, my daughter is the smartest person under the starry sky," Martha wiped Sonia’s tears, biting her lip saying: "Linda you are not wrong, the wrong thing is—"

"No, it’s all my fault, I deserve it!" Sonia shook her head: "I’ve thought more than once, if life could start over, that would be great, then I could go to different cities, meet different friends, learn different magic, eat different foods, and then..."

"Fall for the same person again."

In the yard, Ash unconsciously stood under the rain curtain, his Holy Domain seemed to have failed, allowing the rain to soak through his hair, flow into his clothes, body growing heavier and colder, heart weary not wanting to beat, just wanting to hide in a corner and squat, or lie down even.

"Ash!"

A voice from Silver Lamp sounded in his ear: "The Six-winged Angel is moving towards you, quickly retreat!"