The Moonlight Swordsman

Aizel attempted everything in his power to detect mana. He meditated with a clear mind over and over. He next tried yoga to see if it helped, but he still couldn't perceive mana.

He became agitated and frustrated.

"Fuck it." Aizel sighed and opened his eyes, wondering if the old man had lied to him.

"No, he has no reason to lie to me." Aizel pondered in his mind. "Even though he is on the death door, he has no reason to lie to me. I don't want to assume, but it seems like I am a normal human just like him." Aizel collapsed on the ground, exhausted.

"Giving up already, young man?" Henry asked Aizel.

"I'm not sure, but I don't seem to be able to sense mana," Aizel answered Henry while trying to remember some good memories from his life if he had any.

"I have already given up my life." Aizel started talking in a low voice. "There is only loneliness, headaches, and pain in my life."

"I suppose dying here, sucked by that woman, isn't such a bad way to go."

"What the fuck did you say?" Henry stood up from the corner and pulled Aizel through his collar to look straight into his eyes with an angry expression on his face.

"It's just loneliness, headaches, and agony. That's your reason to give up on life." Henry's voice suddenly became loud; it was clear that he was not happy with Aizel's response.

"Why the fuck are you yelling at me? What have you done, rotting in the cell; clearly, you've also given up on life. Am I right?" Aizel also raised his voice a little.

"What pain, what headache, what loneliness describe me?" Henry asked with a serious expression. Aizel couldn't believe this old man. Has he gone insane?

"I've lost all recollections; I didn't even know who my parents were before I lost my memory." Aizel paused for a moment to observe Henry's expression, only to be met with an expressionless face.

"I was bullied throughout my youth. They... He began to sweat just thinking about his high school memories, which made him nervous. I...I, I've always been an outcast; no one wants to be near me or be my friend. I was an antisocial person who was always immersed in novels and manga."

Henry listened patiently, still with an expressionless face.

"I've lived my entire life with depression, and every time I think about my old memories, a pain appears in my mind, as if countless needles are poking me at the same time." Aizel sighed while recounting everything to the old man.

Henry took his hand off of his collar and then asked him, "How can you remember all this when you told me that you have lost your memory?"

"There are some things that I still remember," Aizel answered while fixing his collar.

"So that's it. That's your fucking reason?" Henry suddenly started laughing loudly.

Aizel stared at him with eyes wide open, wondering whether this old man had really gone mad.

"And you referred to yourself as a man. Tell me, are you a real man? The old man asked while staring straight into his eyes. Have you ever accomplished anything in your life?"

"Or you just cry about your life problem?" Aizel stared at him in disbelief, and even though he was angry with him, he couldn't answer him. In a way, the old man was right.

He has never done anything in his life and simply appears to cry in front of Dr. Shelly about his condition.

"You know, my daughter was born blind." The old man's face softened and went back to sit in the corner.

"Her mother died when she was giving birth to her."

"I raised my daughter on my own. She was bullied and even abused throughout her life, but she never cried or tried to end her life." Aizel listened patiently to the old man.

"In her life, she constantly stood up and marched forward. Finally, at the age of ten, she began to sense mana and attempted to learn how to use it. She was able to use mana after a few months." The old man recalls how pleased her daughter was when she first showed him her accomplishment.

"Time passed smoothly, but after six years, our village had a festival. When a young man from a nearby town came to our village for the festival, he befriended my daughter and even assisted her in a variety of ways, except on the night of the festival." The old man's voice became heavy, and his face darkened.

"That jerk put some type of potion in her drink, and...fucking raped her again and again. Even that was not enough; he even fucking beat her up with whips until the next morning."

"The next day, my daughter returned to me with a lifeless expression on her face. When I asked her what had happened, she burst into tears. That was the first time I saw my daughter cry. She informed me of everything that had happened to her."

"I went to that guy's hut the next night and sliced his throat with this dagger." The old guy removed a little dagger from his baggy sleeves and showed it to Aizel.

Aizel examined the dagger. It was nine inches long and had a straight, pointed black blade.

"My daughter then became pregnant. I begged her to abandon the child, but she refused. She gave birth to my granddaughter, who resembled his father. Despite all of this, I still loved my daughter and was determined to be a part of my granddaughter's life."

"She raised her daughter happily and continued on with her life. After that, I moved her to Chester town, where she now lives with her daughter. She is the strongest woman I have ever seen in my life." Thinking about her daughter, the old man's face brightened up.

"So that's why you also shouldn't give up that easily. If she can do it then I am sure you can do it." The old man looked towards Aizel.

"I am sorry. I should learn something from your daughter." Aizel answered Henry while thinking how he can also have a strong will just like the old man's daughter.